Comedistan

[Arpa]

MASHALLAH

 

http://news.yahoo.com/report-saudi-men-detained-dancing-birthday-party-141228851.html

 

Report: Saudi men detained for dancing at birthday party

 

By ABDULLAH AL-SHIHRI and AYA BATRAWY 1 hour ago

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) Saudi Arabia's morality police detained a group of young men for dancing at a birthday party and referred them to prosecutors, according to a state-linked media report.

The news website Ayn al-Youm reported Saturday that the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice raided a private property in the city of Buraydah, arresting the men inside for "loud music and inappropriate dancing."

Buraydah is the provincial capital of Saudi Arabia's Qassim province, which is home to some of the kingdom's most conservative clerics, who practice a strict interpretation of Islam known as Wahhabism.

An unnamed official told the website that when members of the morality police raided the private property, they found the young men in "a comprising situation in their dance and shameful movements." The official said there was also a cake and candles to celebrate one of the men's birthdays.

No details were released about how many men were arrested or their ages. The official did, however, say that the young men's hairstyles and dress were not traditional, and urged parents to monitor this kind of behavior "because it can lead to immorality and even homosexuality."

A hashtag on Twitter quickly went viral about the arrest, with many Saudis ridiculing the raid and pointing out that the men were not caught drinking alcohol or partying with women both crimes in Saudi Arabia.

Others shared photos of Saudi royals performing a traditional men's sword dance, though supporters of the raid claim that form of dance is socially acceptable and "masculine."

Wahhabi clerics view Western music as sinful and birthday celebrations as un-Islamic. The morality police are empowered to enforce Islamic law as practiced in Saudi Arabia, including enforcing dress codes.

Shortly after King Salman ascended to the throne last month, he relieved Sheikh Abdullatif al-Sheikh seen as a reformer as head of the religious police and appointed Sheikh Abdulrahman al-Sanad to lead the force.

___

Batrawy contributed reporting from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

[Yervant1]

Turkey in Pimping business????????????????

 

Uproar Over Plans to Pay Turkish Men 'Prostitute Allowance'

© AFP 2015
Life
18:58 20.02.2015(updated 19:18 20.02.2015)


An attorney in Turkey has caused widespread outrage after suggesting
single men should be given a government pension to pay for sex with
prostitutes.

Yazuv Balkan put forward the plans to pay single men a 'sexual
necessity credit' of 75 Turkish lira (£19) per week as part of an
attempt to curb the levels of rape and violence against women in
Turkey.

Balkan's bizarre suggestion has drawn the ire of many female activists
and members of the general public alike after he said that male
aggression was a result of sexual frustration, and providing money to
single men to have sex with prostitutes would alleviate the risk of
further abuse to women.

He was quoted in the local Turkish media saying: "If men can meet
their sexual needs, I am confident that 99% of female murders will be
eliminated."

Increase in Violence Against Women

The heavily criticised proposals come amid serious debate in Turkey
about what can be done to stem the high rates of murder, violent and
sexual assaults committed against women.

The Turkish government has set up a parliamentary commission to
investigate violence against women, which statistics have shown has
skyrocketed dramatically in recent years.

Official government figures revealed that there had been a 1,400 per
cent increase in the number of murdered women in Turkey between 2003
and 2010, however many human rights activists have stated that many of
the crimes committed against women weren't previously reported as
murders, which may be a reason behind the dramatic increase in
statistics.

Some researchers have also cited historical factors as a reason behind
the gulf between the rights for men and women, despite women being
granted legal equality in many areas.

The Concept of 'Honour'

The concept of 'honour' in Turkish culture has been blamed as a major
factor contributing to domestic violence against women, with many
people not willing to intervene if they see a women being abused by a
partner.

© Flickr/ web wizyon
Mass Protests in Turkey After Student Murdered and Burnt in Attempted Rape

There is a grey area in Turkish society surrounding the debate of
whether a woman can be abused for bringing dishonour to her family or
community, and how severe the punishment should be.

In May last year, a woman was beaten to death in broad daylight in
Turkey's Mulga province, in an example of honour-based violence.

One of the female witnesses to the crime told media organisation Al-Monitor:

"We do not want to be involved in a private family matter. It is
between a man and a woman. A woman is like a fig tree. If a branch is
infested with worms, you must cut the tree or your entire orchard will
be lost."

These attitudes, along with suggestions of introducing a 'prostitute
pension' have raised many questions about the value given to women in
Turkish society and sparked debate about if and when these trends will
change.

In order to combat the ongoing effects of honour-based violence, a
refuge for Middle Eastern and North African women at risk of
honour-based abuse is set to be opened in London, to provide support
and assistance to those affected.


http://sputniknews.com/art_living/20150220/1018536949.html#ixzz3SJ7XzupZ

 

 

[Yervant1]

If you could, you would have done it already! Keep on fooling your people.

AZERI DEFENCE CHIEF VOWS CRUSHING BLOW AT ARMENIA IF LANDS NOT LIBERATED

APA news agency, Azerbaijan
March 23 2015

The Azerbaijan defence minister has pledged a crushing blow at Armenia
if "it does not voluntarily abandon our lands."

Col-Gen Zakir Hasanov made the remarks while inspecting military
units stationed along the front line on the occasion of Novruz holiday.

"I am clearly stating that in the very first strike we will destroy
70 per cent of them [adversary]. We have so many weapons and equipment
that if we hit Armenia, they will not be able to recover for hundreds
of years. Armenians should understand this until it is not too late
and leave our lands on their own," the minister said.

Zakir Hasanov said that "there can be no doubt" that Azerbaijan will
regain control over its breakaway Nagornyy Karabakh region and the
seven surrounding districts that have come under the control of ethnic
Armenians in the war since early 1990s.

"We must expel the invaders out of our lands. We are capable to do
that and we will do it," he added. The minister also spoke about the
army-building process, saying that President Ilham Aliyev is doing
his best for the strengthening of the army.

"Our armed forces are growing stronger day by day, new weapons and
equipment are procured... It is high time. We will liberate our lands
in a short period of time. You have watched Commander-in-Chief's Novruz
speech. The president said that we will return to our historical
lands. We will return to Iravan [Yerevan], Zangazur, Susa and
Xankandi. This will certainly happen and nobody should doubt it,"
Zakir Hasanov said.

"The enemy is in panic. We strike such blows at them that they run
scared. They do not want to serve on the front line any more and
leave the trenches. They are forced to deploy civilians in the posts,"
the minister went on saying.

[Groong note: The above was translated from Azeri]

 

 

[Yervant1]

Man you have no idea what shame means!

 

ERDOGAN: ARMENIA FIXED APRIL 24 CEREMONIES TO COINCIDE WITH GALLIPOLI EVENTS

14:33, 30.03.2015
Region:Armenia, Turkey
Theme: Politics

President of Turkey said Armenia had fixed April 24 date to coincide
with the anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli.

In an interview with France 24 television, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said
Turkey is commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli Battles
and "we are in no position to obtain permission from Armenia".

"It is a date in history and it has nothing to do with the ceremonies
in Armenia. Quite on the contrary, they fixed their ceremonies to
coincide with our date," Erdogan said.

Speaking about problems between Armenia and Turkey, he said it was
Ankara that always "took a positive step"and "extended our hand
in peace".

Armenia News - NEWS.am

http://news.am/eng/news/259520.html

 

[MosJan]

ohhh boyyyyyyy

[Yervant1]

Here comes the new god!!!!!!!!!!!! (Not)

MUSLIMS PRAISE KEY MIDEAST LEADER 'LIKE GOD'

World News Daily
April 6 2015

Supporters say he has 'all the attributes of Allah'

Leo Hohmann

Reports continue to pop up in Middle East publications that Turkey's
leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is seen within his ruling AK Party as
more than just a president.

Consider the following reports out of Turkey:

A billboard has appeared in the GölbaÅ~_ı district of Adıyaman
province inviting people to attend a "holy birthday" event to celebrate
Erdogan's birthday. The negative reaction this billboard received
on social media stems from the fact that such an event is usually
held to celebrate the birth of the Prophet Muhammad. The billboard
was an invitation to "a program of unity and togetherness organized
on the occasion of the birthday of our president." The event was
organized by the GölbaÅ~_ı Municipality, reported Today's Zaman,
a secular Turkish newspaper. No government officials or supporters
have objected to the billboard or the statements.

AK Party Bursa deputy Huseyin Å~^ahin said touching Erdogan is a form
of prayer, while AK Party Duzce deputy Fevai Arslan said Erdogan has
"all the attributes" of God.

Last year during a political rally, as a woman fainted, Erdogan
gestured to the crowd to carry the woman up to the platform, where he
touched her, causing her to shake out of her spell, shouting, "Allah
Akbar!" The headline at Vocativ.com read: "Prime Minister 'heals'
sick woman on campaign trail." (Watch video of the "healing" here.)

A March 30 article for Al Monitor by columnist Mustafa Akyol notes
that devotion to Erdogan or "Erdoganism" is "morphing into an ideology
unto itself, disillusioning veterans of Turkey's Islamist movement."

Akyol, whose articles also appear in the International New York Times,
the Wall Street Journal and the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News, wrote:

"Pro-Erdogan propaganda, to which almost half the Turkish media is now
fully devoted, has taken the shape of a cult of personality, which is
also not a typical Islamist phenomenon. A recent book, 'Recep Tayyip
Erdogan: The Sun of the Age,' proudly refers to him as 'an idol for our
youth,' which would sound bizarre, if not heretical, to the average
Islamist. In 2011, an AKP deputy declared, 'Even touching Erdogan is
a form of worship,' and in 2014 another AKP deputy proclaimed that
Erdogan 'carries all the attributes of Allah in himself.' Such views,
heretical from a traditional Islamic perspective, were criticized and
ridiculed by Erdogan's opponents, but he conspicuously said nothing."

Voice crying in the wilderness

Joel Richardson, author of "The Islamic Antichrist" and director of
the documentary film "End Times Eyewitness," does not believe Erdogan
is the Antichrist. But he has been warning for years that something
is going on in Turkey worth watching, and that this country of 78
million people and home to the region's largest army could ultimately
be more dangerous than ISIS or even Iran. In short, it is fertile
ground for an antichrist figure to rise up and lead a large portion
of the world's 1.5 million Muslims.

The acclaimed documentary film "End Times Eyewitness" explores what
Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders in the Middle East are saying
about the times in which we live, the prospect of rebuilding the
Jewish Temple and the return of a messianic figure in the last days.

It's available in the WND Superstore.

It should be remembered that the death toll caused by ISIS, which
has shocked the world with its brutality toward Christians and other
religious minorities, is still miniscule compared to the genocidal
feats of the Ottoman Empire, which slaughtered 1.5 million Armenian
Christians and another million or so Greek Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox
and Protestant Christians. The 100th anniversary of the Armenian
genocide is being commemorated on April 24.

What do YOU think? Where will the Antichrist come from? Sound off in
the WND Poll

More than four years ago, while being interviewed for Glenn Beck's
documentary, "Rumors of War Part 2," Richardson made the statement
that in Erdogan, "We have the modern-day Adolf Hitler of the Middle
East emerging right before our eyes."

This seemed like an extreme statement to make at the time. But in
light of recent developments, Richardson's assessment of Erdogan now
appears less controversial.

"He is a megalomaniacal dictator of the worst stripe, in a nation
where nationalism is a religion, and that celebrates excessive exalted
leadership like their Sultans of the past," Richardson told WND.

It is nearly impossible for most Americans to grasp the degree of
nationalism that exists in Turkey, he said.

That's why he tried to provide a taste of the leader-worship during a
rally he filmed for "End Times Eyewitness." Richardson gives viewers
of this documentary a front-row seat at an AKP rally in which a sea of
adoring fans wave flags and chant songs to exult their leader, Erdogan.

Watch clip of Nazi-like rally in Turkey captured by the documentary
"End Times Eyewithness."

"When we look back at the Nazi rallies, we recoil at the way Germans
had an almost religious devotion to their nation and to their leader,
Adolf Hitler," Richardson says. "Although there is a strong contingency
of those who do not support Erdogan in Turkey, for those of the AK
party who do, their support for him is nearly religious."

Man of the hour?

Not only is Erdogan the embodiment of Turkish success over the past
decade, but more importantly, he is the embodiment of Turkey's future
aspirations, specifically at a time when many Muslims believe Islam
is rising up to take its rightful place in the world.

It remains to be seen whether Erdogan's god-like appeal among his
own party in Turkey will translate beyond his borders. Right now
he is just one of several international Muslim leaders competing
for influence among the wider "uma" of Muslim believers. Abu Bakr
Al-Baghdadi, the leaver of the ISIS caliphate, would surely have
something to say about who leads the restored Ottoman Empire.

"As so much of the Muslim world now believes that we are on the very
cusp of the messianic age or the age of the Mahdi, Erdogan is looked to
(by his followers) as the chosen one, poised to lead the Turks into a
position of exalted leadership over the Islamic community, and thus
the world," Richardson said. "In the eyes of many religious Turks,
Erdogan is the one who will forever enshrine the Turkish people as
divinely ones, the race called by Allah to lead the world."

Some Christian prophecy watchers, such as Walid Shoebat, believe
Erdogan is essentially claiming to be God by not rebuking those who
have anointed him with such lofty status.

Richardson doesn't go this far.

"This isn't really true, although he is most certainly pushing the
boundaries of orthodox Islam and upsetting some imams in the process,"
he said. "In the same way that President Obama imbibed upon and played
up the messianic devotion that swirled around him during his candidacy,
so also is Erdogan playing the Mahdi card."

The similarities between Nazi Germany and present-day Turkey can be
seen in numerous ways.

It is plainly evident in the philosophy of Turkey's prime minister,
Ahmet Davutoglu, who is the architect of the Islamist party of Turkey's
rise to success over the past decade.

In his 2001 book, "Strategic Depth," Davutoglu draws upon the political
philosophy of German Karl Haushofer, who popularized the idea of
Lebensraum, or living space, a phrase employed by Germany during
the 1920s and 1930s to emphasize the need to expand its borders into
Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia and beyond.

Davutoglu believes the nations established after the breakup of the
Ottoman Empire are artificial Western creations.

"Turkey must reclaim these nations in order to carve out its own
Lebensraum - a phrase he uses unapologetically throughout his book,"
Richardson said. "Davutoglu argues that reclaiming the nations that
comprise the former Ottoman Empire is an act of saving them. He
believes it would bring about the cultural and economic unification
of the Islamic world, which Turkey will lead into the messianic era."

And every messianic era needs a messiah.

"In the imagination of many Turks, Erdogan is the man to fill this
role," Richardson said.

"In the years ahead, the world must keep its eyes on the profoundly
dangerous combination of Islamism and messianic nationalism that has
arisen in Turkey," he said. "Never before have we seen a moment where
so many dangerous trends are all emerging at the same time."

http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/muslims-praise-key-mideast-leader-like-god/#azZP5WmUgs44KyXq.99

 

[Yervant1]

Hey Mr. ErDOGan your remarks belong here in the humor section!

ERDOGAN SLAMS POPE, WARNS HIM ON REPEATING ARMENIAN "GENOCIDE" REMARK

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Germany
April 14, 2015 Tuesday 3:00 PM EST

Istanbul

DPA POLITICS Vatican Armenia Turkey diplomacy Erdogan slams pope,
warns him on repeating Armenian "genocide" remark Istanbul Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday accused Pope Francis of
speaking "nonsense" and cautioned the Catholic leader not to repeat
remarks about the Armenians being victims of "genocide."

At St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on Sunday, the pope described the
Armenians as the victims of "the first genocide of the 20th century,"
rankling Turkey, which immediately recalled its ambassador to the
Vatican for consultations in Ankara.

"The honorable pope will likely not make this mistake again," Erdogan
lashed out during a conference of Turkish exporters in Ankara, adding
that he was "warning" the Catholic leader.

"When politicians and clerics take on the work of historians, it is
not the truth that comes out but rather, like today, nonsense."

Turkish officials have slammed the pope's remarks as historically
"false."

Turkey denies that the killing and mass deportation of Armenians
in the final years of the Ottoman Empire during World War I was
genocide. Armenians say up to 1.5 million people were killed.

Turkey will also have to deal with a vote in the European Parliament
on Wednesday on a resolution which calls for joining "the commemoration
of the centenary of the Armenian Genocide."

The legislative body of the European bloc in 1987 recognized the
events as genocide. Several European nations have also recognized
the massacres as such, though others have refrained from doing so,
some fearing damage to their relations with Turkey.

On Monday, a spokesman for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had
desribed the killings as an "atrocity crime," and not genocide.

Turkey, the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, says both Turks and
Armenians were killed in unrest during the war and accuses Armenia
of inflating the number of people who died. The deportations were
said to be for security reasons.

Official commemorations of the massacres are to take place on April
24 in Armenia. Memorial events are also scheduled in Istanbul, where
on that day in 1915 more than 200 Armenian community leaders were
rounded up by police to be deported.

 

[Yervant1]

LOL

PRO-GOVERNMENT COLUMNIST CLAIMS ARMENIANS PAID VATICAN FOR GENOCIDE REMARKS

Today's Zaman, Turkey
April 16 2015

Sabah daily columnist Mehmet Barlas. (Photo: Today's Zaman, Turgut
Engin)

April 16, 2015, Thursday/ 18:05:15/ TODAY'S ZAMAN / ANKARA

A columnist for the pro-government Sabah daily has put forward the idea
that the Vatican may have received money from the Armenian diaspora
living in the US in exchange for Pope Francis' description of the mass
killings of Armenians under Ottoman rule at the end of World War I as
"genocide."

Saying in his column on Wednesday that the Vatican must have been
"short of money," Mehmet Barlas suggested that members of the Armenian
diaspora in the US may have transferred $25 billion to the Institute
for the Works of Religion, commonly known as the Vatican Bank. The bank
is a privately held body in the Vatican City and is run by a board that
reports to a supervisory commission made up of cardinals and the pope.

According to Barlas, after the $25 billion transaction, the pope
used the word "genocide" during Mass last Sunday. The pope's remarks
prompted strong criticism from the Turkish government.

Referring to a book called "God's Bankers: A History of Money and
Power at the Vatican" by Gerald Posner, Barlas claimed that the Vatican
Bank has been a center for murky relationships since its establishment.

"Never say never," Barlas said with regards to a possible connection
between the Vatican and the Armenian diaspora and speculated that
Kirk Kerkorian, an Armenian-American businessman from Las Vegas,
may have been behind the deal. Barlas added that if Jesus could see
what had happened, he would be revolted. He even suggested that if
the right amount of money was paid to the Vatican Bank, the pope may
even condemn the Fourth Crusade, which reached Anatolia in 1204 A.D.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's son-in­-law Berat Albayrak and
his brother Serhat Albayrak are alleged to manage Sabah and the
ATV station.

The involvement of the National Intelligence Organization (MÄ°T)
in disclosing the private data of citizens to pro-government media
in order to advance the interests of Erdogan and his allies in the
government was exposed last year when a Twitter account leaked a
voice recording of a conversation allegedly between Erdogan and his
son Bilal a day after the Dec. 17, 2013 graft scandal in which the
two discussed the headlines of pro-government newspapers.

In the recording, Bilal tells his father that he met with Berat
Albayrak and Serhat Albayrak to decide on the headlines of the
pro-government media outlets for the coming day and that he would wait
for confirmation from his father. "We have to do something to make
them [the Hizmet movement, a faith-based civil society organization]
pay the price so that they will know their place. This job will be
finished. Something must be done until we reach the one at the top
[referring to Fethullah Gulen]," Bilal tells Erdogan in the recording.

Bilal then asks his father to order MÄ°T to provide a background
check on Hizmet, such as documents or inside information about its
operation or internal structure. Then-Prime Minister Erdogan answers
his son's request by saying that he will take care of it. Bilal says
pro-government reporters are finding information via their own sources
but that it would be "very different" and more effective if MÄ°T lent
a hand.

http://www.todayszaman.com/anasayfa_pro-government-columnist-claims-armenians-paid-vatican-for-genocide-remarks_378180.html

 

Edited April 17, 2015 by Yervant1

[Yervant1]

Let the fake historians come forward!

ErdoÄ?an to try to put on a show ahead of Armenian Genocide Centennial

14:15, 18 April, 2015


YEREVAN, 18 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. As we approach the Centennial of the
Armenian Genocide, the President of Turkey is trying to let the world
know about its policy of denial by putting on different kinds of
shows. This time Recep Tayyib ErdoÄ?an has decided to meet with Turkish
historians and academics at his residence to discuss `the events of
1915', as `Armenpress' reports, according to aktifmedya.com.

According to the source, during the April 21 meeting, ErdoÄ?an will
discuss the events of 1915 with experts on Armenian issues with the
purpose of creating a task force that will be in charge of dealing
with these issues.

 

[Yervant1]

Here is one of those pseudo historian, who says that Armenians killed Armenians Wow!

TURKISH SCHOLAR CLAIMS OTTOMAN ARMENIANS KILLED THEIR OWN PEOPLE

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
April 22 2015

KAYSERÄ°

A scholar from a university in central Turkey has claimed
well-disguised Ottoman Armenians attacked their own villages in 1915
to win independence from the crumbling Ottoman Empire.

"According to our studies in the Ottoman archives, Armenians wore the
clothing of Kurdish, Laz, Circassian and Turkish peoples in Anatolia
and raided their own villages, killing their own people for the sake
of winning independence," associate professor doctor Cevdet Kırpık
from Erciyes University in the Kayseri province told the state-run
Anadolu Agency on April 22.

As the only large non-Turkic, non-Muslim nation remaining in the
Ottoman Empire during the 1870s, Kırpık suggested that Armenians
decided to resort to "rebellion and terror" to secede like Serbia,
Bulgaria and Montenegro had previously done. "By raiding their
villages in Turkish clothes, they were trying to provoke Armenians
against the Ottomans," he said, adding the Ottoman state caught and
killed some assailants during their attacks on Armenian villages.

The Turkish scholar's unconventional explanation for the many deaths
of Ottoman Armenians came days before the tragedy's centennial
anniversary.

Armenia says up to 1.5 million Ottoman Armenians were killed in
a genocide which began in 1915. Turkey denies the deaths amount
to genocide, saying the death toll of Armenians killed during mass
deportations has been inflated and that those killed in 1915 and 1916
were victims of general unrest during World War I.

April/22/2015

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-scholar-claims-ottoman-armenians-killed-their-own-people.aspx?PageID=238&NID=81409&NewsCatID=359

 

 

[Yervant1]

Pork it out!!!!!

ISIS SENDS CONGRATULATORY NOTE TO TURKISH LEADER ON ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

The Israeli Daily
April 2015

by Cliff Magnum

The President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan received an unexpected
show of support from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria on the
centennial of the massacres that killed an estimated 1.5 million
Armenians.

"Your modesty about Turkey's involvement is endearing. Your people
have showed generations of young, insecure Jihadists everywhere that,
with just a bit of stick-to-itiveness, it is in fact possible to
obliterate crusader armies. The devil worshippers have been looking
over their shoulders ever since the Ottoman Empire went apeshit in
1915. Thank you," ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi wrote to Erdogan.

In response, the Turkish leader said during a television interview,
"The Western world supports Armenian lies and sides with hatred. We
continue to maintain that almost two-million Armenians perished
as a result of a curiously undocumented 8.5 magnitude earthquake
during World War I. Still, we are proud of our growing relationship
with ISIS and look forward to meeting all the organization's future
ransom demands."

In another sign of the strengthening ties between Ankara and ISIS, the
militant group recently made the turkey club sandwich its official,
mandatory meal. "Yes, Islam prohibits pork, which is why we use soy
protein bacon strips. Allahu Akbar and Bon appetite, y'all! "The
Islamic State's Executive Chef Ramzi Ghannam said.

http://www.theisraelidaily.com/isis-sends-congratulatory-note-to-turkish-leader-on-anniversary-of-armenian-genocide/

 

 

[Yervant1]

BAKU GOT NATIVES TO POSE AS FOREIGN TOURISTS PRAISING AZERBAIJAN

15:33, 18 Jun 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

A propaganda campaign to drum up support for the Olympic European
Games is fuel for memes.

The first Olympic European Games are currently underway in Azerbaijan,
and President Ilham Aliyev is extremely worried about his nation's
image. So much so that pro-government TV stations have been dressing
up native Azerbaijanis as foreign tourists or getting sympathetic
vacationers to praise the oil-rich Caucasian country in outlandish
terms, The Daily Beast reveals.

On Lider TV, for instance, a channel owned by one of Aliyev's cousins,
carried this brief but hilarious exchange with a young man who
identifies himself in heavily accented English as "James Bonner." He
claims to have come from London on his first ever trip to "beautiful"
Baku, which he describes as "a very fantasy, just fantasy." Also, the
food is "really, really, really good, very good."He would certainly
know since James Bonner is in fact an Azeri-born man called Seymur
Safarov, from the Jebrail region, according to Emin Milli, the
managing director of independent Meydan TV and a recent contributor
to The Daily Beast.

Clever social media sleuths at Meydan found Safarov's original
Facebook page, where he's dressed exactly the same as he was for
his Lider spot.ANS TV, another pro-Aliyev outlet, aired a testimony
from a vacationing Russian who says that he's been to Hawaii and the
archipelago has got nothing on the glorious Caspian Sea, a body of
water where most of the aquatic life has disappeared due to overfishing
and pollution--120,000 tons of sludge per year dropped by oil tankers,
by one estimate."People started to ridicule the government's stupid
idea to fake even tourists," Milli said.

Meydan TV, for instance, published a cartoon showing grey, drab
Azeris being put through a metamorphosis machine and coming out
beamish citizens of rich European nations, ready for their close-ups
on state-friendly television.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/18/hawaii-s-got-nothing-on-azerbaijan-say-paid-stooges.html?via=mobile&source=twitter

http://www.armradio.am/en/2015/06/18/baku-got-natives-to-pose-as-foreign-tourists-praising-azerbaijan/

[MosJan]

clasic

[Yervant1]

IT'S NOTHING BUT CIRCUS

Friday, 06 November 2015

Azerbaijan sent a letter of protest to the Administration of St.

Petersburg. This was reported by the Azerbaijani mass media, citing
the country's Consulate General in the Northern Capital of Russia.

As the astute reader may have guessed, the protest is, surely, related
to Nagorno Karabakh. But, we'll not continue keeping the intrigue
and will open the brackets - the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in St.

Petersburg sent a letter of protest to the Administration of the
city in connection with the information on the guest performances of
the Saint-Petersburg moving circus 'Imperial' in the NKR scheduled
for November 6-15. According to this diplomatic mission, "meetings
are planned with officials of the Administration of St. Petersburg,
Committee for Culture of St. Petersburg, and the Russian Foreign
Ministry representative in St. Petersburg to discuss this crying
(!!!) fact". As circus is generally a merry genre of art, then it is
impossible to refer to the diplomatic circus of Azerbaijan without a
smile. What heights, of not circus, but verbal equilibration should
one reach to call the tour of a harmless moving circus a crying fact?!

However, as we can see, in this case cries not even the fact, but the
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, as they say, in its full tinned throat.

In order to demonstrate the Azerbaijani citizens and, first of all,
its top leadership, the degree of vigilance, similar to it, i.e.

leadership, in guarding the state interests. Although it should be
noted that the vigilance is betraying the Foreign Ministry, which
is, apparently, losing its visual acuity. Otherwise, the Azerbaijani
portal haqqin.az wouldn't have hurried to support it, which sounded
the alarm before the Foreign Ministry and called the administration
of the moving circus 'Imperial', trying to defend the speculative
interests of Azerbaijan. But, having failed in achieving any progress,
the portal expressed hope that "the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry will
react in any way, at least, in the form of a letter to the Committee
on Culture of St. Petersburg and to the Governor of the Northern
Capital of Russia, Georgy Poltavchenko". As we can see, haqqin.az was
not disappointed in its hopes - its patriotic prompting was to the
point, and the Foreign Ministry reacted accordingly. The Azerbaijani
diplomacy displayed its weakness not only for the circus, but also for
the epistolary genre, sending letters of protest to the Administration
of St. Petersburg and the Committee for Culture of the city. As you
know, high-Q circus, with the elements of merry clownery, can cause
tears in the audience - tears of laughter. Alas, the authorities of
Azerbaijan have no time for laughter. And it is clear. Before they
could recover from the summer tour of opera star Lyubov Kazarnovskaya
to Artsakh and her premiere of 'Requiem' by Verdi on September 1 in
Stepanakert, another music-like silver slap followed. There really is
something to fall into despair. The Azerbaijani authorities failed to
prevent the arrival of Lubov Kazarnovskaya in Artsakh and especially
her triumphant performance of 'Requiem' in the central square of the
NKR capital city, in spite of the threats to include Kazarnovskaya
and other representatives of the opera art in the "black list" of
the Foreign Ministry of this country. And now Baku decided to achieve
progress in the circus sphere. Now Baku has decided to try its luck at
the circus arena. By the way, the administration of 'Imperial' moving
circus is aware of Azerbaijan's sanctions, but it merely ignores them.

Thus, when the stubborn haqqin.az appealed to the representative of
the administration, Adele Romanova, trying to explain that tours
to Artsakh are "violation of the laws of our country", she stated
bluntly that they were aware of the fact that after visiting Karabakh
artists would not be allowed to Azerbaijan. That is another slap to
official Baku. After all, it often tries to explain the visits to
the NKR by foreign politicians, political scientists and businessmen,
representatives of culture and art by the fact that they were allegedly
lured to Artsakh fraudulently. People arrived and will arrive in the
NKR, despite the restrictions and "black lists" of Azerbaijan. Producer
of 'Imperial' Andrew Mitachkin said in an interview to the Armenian
mass media, "If Azerbaijan uses our tour for political purposes,
then I believe it is not right - to mix art and politics". It seems
to be a simple truth, but the Azerbaijani authorities, the mind of
which is muddled with ardent hatred towards Armenians, cannot realize
it. Most likely, both Ms. Romanova and Mr.

Mitachkin will be included in the "black list". At the same time, the
fate of their pets - trained animals - remains unclear: will they be
included in the notorious list or will they avoid it? But seriously,
Azerbaijan had to realize long ago that its "black list" does not
"work". Otherwise, the number of its residents would not multiply.

Attempting to politicize everything, including cultural events, and
to show the world its alleged, but actually illusory jurisdiction
over Nagorno Karabakh, Baku looks merely ridiculous. It looks like
a failed clown in an evil mask, causing not only ironic laughter,
but also pity. Pity for the political squalor.

Leonid MARTIROSSIAN

Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/component/k2/item/6414-it%E2%80%99s-nothing-but-circus

[Yervant1]

Talk about paranoia!

 

Armenians Rule the U.S. Classic Animated Series

http://www.ragmamoul.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/63.jpg

Armenians Rule the U.S. Classic Animated Series

Posted By: adminPosted date: December 07, 2015in: News & ArticlesNo Comments

The following is a translated article written by a news website based in Azerbaijan. It was launched by an NGO called “For Human Rights” in 2011. They refer to themselves as “an information, analytical and monitoring portal” and state that their mission is to educate society and fight for human rights.

Original article: http://m.haqqin.az/news/58335 (in response to The Armenians of Springfield )

Author: Murad Samedov

All Azerbaijanis who have ever been abroad and talked to foreigners have definitely come across the fact that ordinary people from Europe, America and even Asia do not know about the existence of a country named Azerbaijan. When this happens, we have to hide our disappointment and explain that we come from Azerbaijan, a small country located on the Caspian shore at the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains between Iran and Russia.

Still, it’s a great shame that the country that gave the world the great Fuzuli and Nizami, declared the first democracy in the East, and now supplies oil and gas to almost every European consumer is not known abroad. It’s even a bigger shame when people trying to get a clearer idea of where exactly Azerbaijan is located, ask a question: “Is it near Armenia?”

So, how come we are losing the PR battle to the Armenians and why is Armenia more widely known around the world today than Azerbaijan? This fact overlooked by the public authorities and expat communities is usually attributed to the influence of the powerful Armenian lobby that has penetrated the world. This is why there are calls to recognize the so-called Armenian Genocide or the “independence” of Nagorno-Karabakh, sometimes from places where you would least expect it, such as New South Wales in Australia.

Over the last ten years the government of Azerbaijan has made enormous efforts, including economic and cultural promotion to raise the country’s international profile. In addition to a variety of international exhibitions and conferences for all industries, Azerbaijan hosted the Eurovision Song Contest and the first European Games. Thanks to the support from Azerbaijani companies, football players from big-league European clubs come on the field in T-shirts with the word “Azerbaijan” on them and the logo of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) sponsoring important international competitions is already a familiar sight.

However, despite billions of dollars spent on the promotion these efforts do not contribute much to the image and prestige issue.

Experience has shown that Armenians are doing a good job of making their country famous all over the globe without such huge expenses. First of all, the Armenian propaganda counts on the pop culture and it works perfectly. The reader has probably noticed an increasingly large number of Armenians featuring in recent popular Hollywood films. Armenians are shown as mafia bosses in almost every U.S. action film where Armenia, its history and culture also get a mention and you can hear the duduk playing at the end. Eventually, all this is shaping certain ideas in the minds of the cinema and TV audience all over the world and when the time comes, some of them will definitely remember the “Great Armenia”, probably when talking to you.

Today, one of the U.S. websites posted a review of The Simpsons, the world-famous animated series. The show has been broadcast in over 100 countries and its audience has long ago reached hundreds of millions of viewers. The authors of the review conclude that most of the characters living in the fictional American town of Springfield where The Simpsons takes place are of Armenian descent.

It turned out that Principal Seymour Skinner, one of the main characters in the show, is in fact Armen Tamzarian, an ethnic Armenian who has been hiding under the name of Skinner for years. In the episode called “The Principal And The Pauper”, Skinner is celebrating twenty years of his career as a principal. Superintendent Chalmers and the other teachers are throwing a big party for Principal Skinner. All goes well until the real Sgt. Skinner who was passing the school by chance exposes him. It emerges that Skinner (born Armen Tamzarian) is an impostor who once was a street punk in Capital City. The court gave him a choice to go to jail or the army. Having no idea that there was a war in Vietnam going on, he chose the latter.

There, he was befriended by Sgt. Seymour Skinner, whom he came to idolize. When Sgt. Seymour Skinner was reported missing presumed dead, Tamzarian decided to assume his identity. Skinner’s mother deliberately mistook him for Seymour. Since then, Tamzarian made Skinner’s dream of becoming a school principal come true. The real Seymour Skinner had been alive after all: he had been taken prisoner and then sent to a Chinese sweatshop where he made Sneakers. After the sweatshop was closed down, the real Skinner returned to Springfield.

If you think that the appearance of Armen Tamzarian in the show can be considered pure coincidence then think twice about other characters of Armenian descent. In Episode 16, Season 17 of The Simpsons, a Dr. Egoyan appears, also of Armenian descent. When the Springfield football team loses out the finger of blame is on Grampa Simpson aka Abe, who gets depressed and decides to seek out Dr. Egoyan. Instead of helping Abe, Dr. Egoyan tells him about the easiest ways to commit suicide.

The fans have found one more character of Armenian descent in the show. In the final episode (Episode 23) in Season 10, the main character Homer Simpson says that he has attended the Chuck Garbedian Mega-Savings Seminar. As you can guess, Chuck is also of Armenian descent.

And, finally, here is the biggest surprise. As it turns out Moe the bartender, one of the funniest characters in the show, is half Armenian. In “Lisa Goes Gaga”, Moe describes himself as “half monster, half Armenian”, which also proves that he is of Armenian descent.

This is by no means an exhaustive list because after more than 20 years of running, the series was officially renewed with more seasons coming. So we cannot help but wonder how come Armenians feature so prominently in such a popular show. Characters of Armenian descent outnumber those of Spanish, Italian or German descent. Skeptics may call it a mere coincidence but I call it one of the most successful Armenian propaganda projects in popular culture.

 

 

[Yervant1]

Azerbaijan's Parliament Introduces
Outrageous Anti-American Resolution

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com

Given the joyful spirit of the holiday season, I wanted to dedicate my
article to a cheerful subject. However, when I saw the text of the
bizarre Resolution submitted to Azerbaijan's Parliament on Christmas
Eve, I knew that I could not pick a more disgustingly amusing topic.
The proposed Azeri bill is in response to the U.S. House Resolution
4264 (Azerbaijan Democracy Act of 2015) introduced by Helsinki
Commission Chair Cong. Chris Smith (R-NJ) on December 16, calling for
denial of U.S. entry visas to Azerbaijan's leaders, their business
partners, as well as security, law enforcement, and judicial
officials. The Resolution also demands the curtailment of
U.S. economic and energy projects with Azerbaijan.
Cong. Smith criticized Azerbaijan's government for jailing
journalists, opposition leaders and human rights activists, holding
fraudulent elections, and violating rights of religious minorities.
To counter Cong. Smith's initiative, Rovshan Rzayev, Deputy Chair of
Azerbaijan's Parliamentary Committee on Legal Policy, fearlessly
rushed to propose a counter-Resolution on December 24 that would:
1) Refuse entry to Azerbaijan of: U.S. officials and family members;
Senators and House members involved in discrediting Azerbaijan;
politicians cooperating with Armenian Diaspora organizations;
journalists, representatives of Non-Governmental Organizations, and
experts conducting a `smear campaign against Azerbaijan'; Americans
who have earned `huge funds as a result of their collaboration with
U.S. authorities'; politicians elected `with the support of the
Armenian Diaspora' and lobbying groups; persons involved in fraud in
U.S. elections; and finally, those `opposing U.S. ratification of
international human rights treaties'!
2) Break all business ties between Azerbaijani and American companies;
3) Ban U.S. Non-Governmental Organizations from implementing programs
in Azerbaijan and close down their bank accounts; terminate activities
in Azerbaijan of NGOs funded by the U.S. government and Congress; end
all `cooperation with the United States in the fields of trade,
energy, military and security;' withdraw Azeri troops from joint
military operations in Afghanistan; prohibit transit of American
military and civilian goods through Azerbaijan; and remove the
U.S. co-chair from the Minsk Group of mediators on Nagorno Karabagh.
Incredibly, the proposed Azeri Resolution orders the United States to
make substantial improvements and changes in the following areas
before Azerbaijan would lift its sanctions:
1) Violations of human rights; racial and religious discrimination;
manifestations of xenophobia and Islamophobia; and inhuman treatment
of prisoners;
2) Disproportionate use of force against protesters;
3) Restrictions of freedom of speech and press, and violation of the
privacy of U.S. citizens;
4) Corruption and lobbying activities;
5) Widespread electoral fraud;
6) Interference in the internal affairs of foreign countries;
7) Slander and smear campaigns against the Republic of Azerbaijan;
8) Unambiguous position on `the Nagorno Karabagh conflict in
compliance with international law, sanctions on the aggressor country
[Armenia], and no ties with the separatist regime of Nagorno
Karabagh.'
The lengthy text of the proposed Azeri resolution accuses the United
States government of scores of violations, such as:
1) Refusal to ratify 12 out of 16 United Nations human rights
treaties;
2) Growing racial and religious discrimination, xenophobia and
Islamophobia: `Some 50% of the people are shot by the police; 70% of
those arrested and killed in New York are black; and one third of the
black people between the ages of 20-29 are in prison';
3) Genocide against the indigenous people of the United States,
resulting in the killing of `more than three million American
Indians';
4) Importing `more than 12 million slaves' from Africa;
5) Violations of the freedom of expression and press; illegal
interference by the intelligence agencies in the people's private
lives; widespread bugging and persecution; and `police attacks and
arrests of journalists have become an everyday occurrence in the
United States';
6) `Legal corruption and lobbying': In the first months of 2015 alone,
2,320 criminal cases on charges of bribery were filed against
officials at various levels;
7) Widespread fraud in U.S. elections;
8) `Interference in the internal affairs of independent states on the
pretext of fighting terrorism and establishing democracy;'
9) Support for `separatist regimes,' such as Nagorno Karabagh.
There is no question that the United States is not a perfect
democracy, but to have the parliament of one of the most corrupt and
despotic regimes in the world criticize the American Government and
its shortcomings is totally ridiculous and outrageous!
Since Azerbaijan needs the U.S. far more than the U.S. needs
Azerbaijan, we hope Azerbaijan's Parliament will quickly adopt the
proposed Resolution and cut off all ties with the United States. Good
riddance! Americans would then have a better reason to celebrate the
New Year!

[Yervant1]

There is no Armenophobia in the baboon country is like saying there is no air.

APA, Azerbaijan

Jan 22 2016

No Armenophobia in Azerbaijan - state adviser


Baku. Javid Zeynalli - APA. There is no Armenophobia in Azerbaijan,
Kamal Abdullayev, Azerbaijan's state adviser on inter-ethnic,
multicultural and religious affairs, told reporters Jan.22.

The world is gradually realizing that there is no Armenophobia in
Azerbaijan and we show it in each of our step, said Abdullayev.

`When the Armenians came to Azerbaijan within the public diplomacy,
they were surprised to see the Armenian church in Baku and
Armenian-language books and materials preserved in Azerbaijan. They
phoned Moscow and said that they saw valuable manuscripts in Baku,'
the state adviser said, regarding it as an indication of Azerbaijani
people's religious, moral and intellectual values.

Abdullayev added that the continuation of the public diplomacy could
be interesting.

`Third countries also wanted it to continue. However, the Armenians
refused it. Azerbaijani people have a potential for co-existence with
Armenians. There is still potential for a peaceful solution to the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Azerbaijan wants peace,' he said.


http://en.apa.az/xeber_no_armenophobia_in_azerbaijan_____state_ad_238223.html

 

[Yervant1]

Unbelievable!

INTERNATIONAL

Outcry over the net after a Saudi fatwa forbidding chess


A fatwa by senior Saudi cleric declaring chess forbidden by Islam and
calling it a waste of time caused an uproar on social networks.

In a video taken from a television program and posted online, the
grand mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, is adamant
about the game of chess. "Chess is prohibited," the highest religious
authority of the ultra-conservative kingdom. "It's a waste of time and
money and (they) cause animosity between the players."

The causes of the resurgence of this video, which dates a month, are
not clear but the reactions to this on-line are not made to wait. "The
attempt by Saudi Arabia to ban chess is stupid, we should be more
concerned with bans on human rights and democracy", published the
legendary chess player Garry Kasparov on his Twitter account .

"The Mufti of Saudi failures declared 'haram' (forbidden by religion,
ed.)Apparently this game requires the use of your brain and that is
'haram', "quipped the same social network Lebanese TV producer Nasser
Fakih."Okay, and what about the PlayStation and Xbox, halal or haram?"
Asks a Twitter user under the account @ RaKaN4you.

In 2001, the same Mufti had already recommended a ban on children's
adventure Pokémon games that "are like a money game because of the
competition, sometimes involving the payment of sums of money between
collectors cards ".

Sunday, January 24, 2016,
Stéphane © armenews.com
http://www.armenews.com/article.php3?id_article=121282

 

 

[Yervant1]

Another tall tale from Tal, a hired pen of baboons. This can be put only under comedy!

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GENOCIDE AND DENATIONALIZATION

Daily Sabah, Turkey
Feb 16 2016

TAL BUENOS

The so-called opposition of Armenians today to the Turks, which is,
in fact, quite contrary to the traditional brotherhood established
in Anatolia in the Ottoman times, is an Anglo-American success

Before the advent of the word "genocide," Anglo-American literature
on international law described the action of a government that revokes
the official status of its subjects as denationalization. It meant that
whoever betrayed the allegiance to the nation was rendered stateless.

After World War II, the term "denationalization" took on different
meanings. It has been used in reference to the procedure in which
a state ceases to own industries and properties or it might even
express the idealistic vision of abandoning the in-group mentality
of nationalism for the sake of world citizenry.

However, when the Ottoman Empire disenfranchised many of its Armenian
subjects in particular areas of its territory as part of defensive
wartime considerations in 1915, denationalization was the most fitting
term one would use to denote the Armenian loss of state protection,
as the Ottoman government was struggling to protect itself from the
invasion of multiple foreign forces.

Denationalization was seen as a legitimate practice because it was
anchored in state law and intended to pwromote the sovereign's safety
and the national's loyalty. Article 6 of the Ottoman Law of Nationality
from Jan. 19, 1869 states that the Ottoman Empire reserves the right
to nullify the subjection of those who change their nationality or
join the service of a foreign military.

Such laws toward a people's statelessness were issued in the Western
world. For instance, a U.S. law enacted on March 3, 1865 declares that
all persons who desert their military or naval service will be deemed
as having lost their citizenship. Moreover, in the name of functional
governing, the U.S. officially sought to keep Native Americans in
a stateless condition. For example, this is articulated in Article
3 of the treaty in which Russia sold Alaska to the U.S. in 1876. It
says that while the inhabitants of the territory have the option of
returning to Russia or becoming citizens of the U.S., this does not
apply to the "uncivilized tribes" who were not to be recognized as
nationals until further notice. Similarly, according to a May 6,
1882 law, no American court was allowed to recognize the Chinese
as citizens of the U.S. As late as the 1920s, Indian immigrants in
the U.S. were denationalized, and even their American-born partners
became stateless simply because their "blood" disallowed them from
being considered "free white persons."

During World War I, both Britain and France enacted laws to
denationalize naturalized citizens whom they suspected of possibly
posing a threat to the safety of the state. Britain's Nationality
and Status of Aliens Act from 1914 stipulated that certificates of
naturalization may be revoked if people are found to have traded or
communicated with the enemy at wartime. France had already enacted a
law of denationalization in 1848 as punishment for slave trafficking,
and there was no protest noted when a French law from April 7, 1915
looked to protect the state against anti-national activities by making
it legal to denationalize any naturalized citizen who either bore
arms against France, aided its enemy or left the country to avoid
military service.

ANGLO-AMERICAN COMPASS

Domestic laws were put in place to protect belligerent states from
treason. Britain and France were legally prepared to do the same
as the Ottomans did, but they never needed to denationalize entire
ethnic communities. The Ottoman state was defending itself against
those who sought to conquer its land. The Battle of Gallipoli took
place in the Dardanelles, not in the Strait of Dover.

While Britain and France enjoyed the ability to exploit Ottoman
Armenians as a fifth column for results on the ground, and as Christian
victims for results in public opinion, the Ottoman rulers were forced
to de facto denationalize Armenian communities en masse.

Nonetheless, it was not indiscriminate denationalization. Only
Armenians in areas in Anatolia where cooperation with the enemy
could have facilitated the foreign conquest of Ottoman land were
denationalized and sent away unprotected. Ottoman officials were
facing an extreme case of the exact situation for which laws of
denationalization were made.

Following World War I, the winning side began to institute legal
language that described denationalization also as the destruction of
a national pattern. Accordingly, it would be considered a violation
of international law if groups of a national affiliation were shown
to have been culturally denationalized by a state as part of a policy
to homogenize its population.

OLD FRIEND IN ANATOLIA

Significantly, in a 1919 report titled "Violation of the Laws and
Customs of War," the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace - in
whose later publication the term genocide made its first appearance
- announces that Ottoman Armenians were deported and massacred,
but does not consider the Ottoman government to have imposed its
national characteristics on the Armenian population. Instead, the
Bulgarians are said to have attempted this form of denationalization
on the Serbian inhabitants of an occupied territory. Thus, as the
meaning of denationalization started to evolve toward the invention
of genocide, those who produced selective yet influential information
about war crimes did not even try to pretend that the Ottoman state
had an agenda against the very "Armenian-ness" of its subjects.

In sharp contrast to the denationalizations of World War I, the Nazi
laws of the 1930s exhibit a unique deprivation of legal rights against
Jews and other non-Aryans under a racial ideology and during a time
of peace. The nationality of German citizens was withdrawn by their
government in keeping with the Nazi regime's beliefs about race.

German nationals who did not even consider themselves to be Jewish
were suddenly informed by German legislation that they were of this
affiliation if they had two Jewish grandparents. Ultimately, the Nazi
government went far beyond denationalization, and during World War
II it carried out a policy to gather and exterminate European Jewry.

Genocide was designed to serve the U.S. government in its efforts to
establish military, economic and moral control over Germany once World
War II was over. In the famous book that was published under Raphael
Lemkin's name - but not written by him - in 1944, the emphasis was not
on Nazi Germany's treatment of its own nationals. Rather, as the full
title of the book "Axis Rule in Occupied Europe: Laws of Occupation,
Analysis of Government, Proposals for Redress," suggests, there was
such a preoccupation with the idea of occupation that both the noun
"occupation" and the verb "occupied" are mentioned. In addition,
each of the book's three parts has either "occupation" or "occupied"
in the title. The term genocide is first explained in the context of
a "synchronized attack" for the "extermination of nations and ethnic
groups" by the "invaders." Meaning that in this book genocide relates
to Nazi war crimes in occupied territories such as France, Luxembourg
and Poland. It most certainly did not address circumstances in which
a government denationalizes members of a group whose leaders had
engaged in revolutionary activities for several years and colluded
with invaders during a war.

Not only was the Armenian case irrelevant and non-existent in the
original text on genocide, it presents a case of denationalization
in which the people who lost their legal status and became stateless
refugees during the war were of a group whose leadership had already
undergone a process of denationalization by a foreign power. Since
the major cultural revolution that was instituted by American
missionaries in the 1840s - before World War I or even the first
reported set of Armenian riots and massacres - some Haik people in
the Ottoman Empire were essentially de-Haikized and de-Ottomanized as
they were turned into Americanized Armenians. The Protestant doctrine
under Anglo-American guidance had given them a new Armenian national
purpose and prepared them for service of Anglo-American interests
during World War I.

The case of an unfortunate denationalization by the Ottoman government
is prominently featured as genocide, thereby pointing at Turkish
criminality and denial, because the Anglo-American imperialist union
that used the Armenians in World War I won the war and has since
dominated the writing of the war's history according to its interests.

* Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the University of Utah

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.dailysabah.com_op-2Ded_2016_02_17_the-2Ddifference-2Dbetween-2Dgenocide-2Dand-2Ddenationalization&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=dUPP4f6BuXOoNndQBzdOBKBxS0D2OryiA2Ek-9F5KPs&s=65myRsL3chqfJ9_BTkhiaevooTAiXyxhtR020TaljPk&e=

 

 

[Yervant1]

More of the same, deny, deny and deny some more!

THE 1915 EVENTS, JUST MEMORY AND THE ARMENIAN QUESTION

Journal of Turkish Weekly
Feb 17 2016

February 17, 2016
by KAMER KASIM

The Ottoman Empire's final years were turbulent ones, with the empire
facing numerous revolts originating in the Balkan region. Greece
became independent in 1830, and the Greek revolt, which began in 1821,
served as a model for others, so that through the nineteenth century
until the onset of World War I, Balkan nations were gaining
independence. Throughout this process Muslims living in the Balkans
were killed or expelled for the sake of creating nation states.

Armenians mostly lived in Eastern Anatolia where they constituted 17%
of the region's population. Armenian uprisings organized by Armenian
associations started mainly in the 1890s with revolts in Erzurum and
Kumkapi in 1890; Kayseri, Merzifon, Yozgat, Corum, Sasun, Zeytun, Van
and Adana witnessed the Armenian revolt from 1890 to 1909; and the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation occupied the Ottoman Bank in 1896
and attempted to assassinate Sultan Abdulhamit II in 1909[o1] . The
aim of these actions was to terrorize the population, to stir up
disturbances and to foment an atmosphere that would provoke the
intervention of European powers. During these revolts not only
Muslims, but also Greeks and Jews who did not support the Armenian
revolutionary movement fell victim to various atrocities. Armenians
who did not cooperate with the revolutionaries were also targeted;
even the Armenian Bishop of Van was killed during this time. The
Ottoman Administration had difficulty handling the revolts and faced
European pressure to pardon rather than punish the revolutionaries.

Such pressure, combined with negative propaganda in the European
press, led to the release of captured revolutionaries. Yet the Ottoman
Administration's attempts to take control and prevent the atrocities
committed by the revolutionaries continued to be labeled as massacres.

Despite the fact that Armenian revolutionaries used the same tactics
that were used during the Balkan uprisings, there was a key
demographic difference between the two: Armenians were not even close
to constituting a majority in any of the cities of Eastern Turkey.[1]

The Ottoman Empire's entry into the Great War changed this picture. As
Russian forces in Eastern Anatolia advanced on Van, an Armenian revolt
began in the city, as did the slaughter of the Muslim population of
Van. The Ottoman Administration shut down Armenian revolutionary
committees and 235 people were arrested on April 24, 1915. Van was
captured by Russian troops with the help of the Armenian volunteer
units. On May 24, 1915 the Armenian newspaper Gochnak, published in
the United States, reported that "only 1500 Turks remain in Van," and
that the rest were killed.[2] The Ottoman Administration decided to
relocate Armenians on May 27, 1915, with the purpose of keeping them
away from war zones. The implementation of the decision began on June
1, 1915. Basically, the Armenian population of Eastern Anatolia was
relocated to Mosul province, Aleppo province, the province of Syria,
etc. At that time these Ottoman territories were not part of the war
zone. Relocation later expanded to include Armenians who were living
in areas other than Eastern Anatolia and who were found to be engaging
in harmful activities and collaborating with the enemy. Detailed
arrangements were made regarding where these Armenians were to be
settled, how they would be transported, and what would be done with
their property. For example, the property of deported Armenians was
placed in state custody, while their perishable goods were auctioned
off by special commission with the proceeds being sent to the
owners.[3]

The Armenian questions and allegations started from there. Later, the
Armenian side claimed that the Ottoman Administration made a
deliberate decision to eliminate Armenians, and when the concept of
genocide was introduced after the Second World War, Armenians made
allegations of genocide. On the other hand, the Turkish side argued
that the Ottoman Empire was fighting for its survival and the
relocation decision was taken due to war time conditions. Deaths
occurred from disease and clashes between different ethnic groups,
etc. There are also disputes and counter claims regarding the size of
the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire as well as the number of
Armenians who reached their destinations.

In order to assess these allegations, it is necessary to mention the
Genocide Convention that was adopted in 1948 and came into force in
1952. According to the Convention, genocide means any of the following
acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a
national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, such as:Killing members
of the group;

Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to
bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.[4]

The Convention sought to protect four groups: national, ethnic,
racial, and religious. Political and other groups were left outside of
the scope of the Convention. The crime of genocide consists of two
parts. One is the subjective element, referring to the intention, aim
and will to commit a crime. The other is the objective element. Thus,
the crime of genocide only exists if acts are committed with the
intent to destroy one of the four groups mentioned in the convention.

The concept of general intent is not enough to constitute genocide, it
can only apply to simple offences.[5]

The application of the Convention to the 1915 events was impossible
considering the circumstances in the Ottoman Empire at the time. First
of all, there was no discrimination against Armenians under the
Ottoman Administration. There was no racial hatred harbored against
Armenians in Ottoman society. Here, Osman Bey, the first Ottoman
ruler, permitted Armenians to establish a religious center in Kutahya.

Then, in 1326, this center moved to the Ottoman capital, Bursa. In
1461, Fatih Sultan Mehmet issued a statement for the establishment of
the Armenian Patriarchate in Istanbul. Moreover, there were 29
Armenian *****s, the highest governmental rank in the Ottoman Empire;
22 Armenian Ministers, including Ministers of Foreign Affairs,
Finance, Trade, etc.; 33 Armenian representatives were appointed and
elected to Parliament, as were 7 Ambassadors, 11 consuls general,
etc.[6] In 1912-1913 Gabrial Noradunkyan, an Armenian, was the Foreign
Minister of the Ottoman Empire, and was responsible for drawing up the
international agreements of the Ottoman state.

When compared with the position of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire,
the position of the Jews in the Nazi Germany was clearly quite
different. Discriminatory laws were passed against the Jews. They
faced "pogrom" type attacks such as the infamous "Crystal Night"
(Kristallnacht) of November 1938. Jews were driven out of German
society and forced to live in isolated ghettos. Most importantly,
anti-Semitism was nurtured in Germany, by the government, to provide
motivation for the genocide; such never existed in the Ottoman Empire
with regard to the Armenians.[7] The Ottoman Empire also provided
shelter for the Jews who fled from prosecution in Spain in 1492.[8]

The most important difference between Jews in Germany and Armenians in
the Ottoman Empire, however, remains that Jews in Germany did not
engage in an armed struggle for independence and they did not have
organizations that attacked government officials, civilians and other
ethnic groups.[9] Alternately, as mentioned above, Armenian
organizations did in fact engage in armed struggle, using terror
against civilians and government officials even before World War I,
and when the Ottoman Empire entered the war, they collaborated with
foreign occupying forces. A great deal of evidence for this exists in
the archives of various countries.[10] Armenians did not hide these
facts and many prominent figures admitted the existence of an Armenian
armed struggle and the massacres committed in the service of attaining
independence. Hovhannes Kachaznouni, who was one of the founders of
the Dasnaksutyun Party and the first Prime Minister of the independent
Republic of Armenia in 1918, said:

"In the beginning of fall 1914, when Turkey had not yet
entered the war, but was preparing to, Armenian volunteer groups began
to be organized with great zeal and pomp in Trans-Caucasia. In spite
of the decision taken a few weeks before at the General Committee in
Erzurum, the Dashnagtzoutune actively helped the organization of the
aforementioned groups, and, especially, armed them, against Turkey. .

. . There is no point in asking today whether our volunteers should
have been in the foreground. Historical events have a logic of their
own. In the fall of 1914 Armenian volunteer groups were formed and
fought against the Turks. The opposite could not have happened,
because for approximately twenty years the Armenian community was fed
a certain and inevitable psychology. This state of mind had to
manifest itself, and it did."[11]

Former Armenian Deputy in the Ottoman Parliament, Armen Garo or
Karekin Pasdermadjian, who led Armenian forces against the Ottoman
Empire, argued that Armenian participation in armed conflict was the
leading factor in the Allied victory of World War I. In an official
letter addressed to the French Foreign Minister, head of the Armenian
Delegation to the Paris Conference Bagos Nubar ***** stated that
"Armenians since the beginning of the war, had been de facto
belligerents."[12]

There are many examples of Armenian organizations participating in the
conflict against the Ottoman Empire by killing officials as well as
civilians, destroying telegraph lines and burning houses. Under these
circumstances the Ottoman Administration made the relocation decision.

As Gunduz Aktan mentioned "There is no evidence to prove that
relocation was planned to commit genocide in an indirect way. It is
not possible to come across statements or instructions that would
indicate the presence of the intent to destroy through relocation,
which must be done to prove genocide."[13] The Ottoman Administration
expended great effort to implement the relocation process with little
harm to the Armenians. For example, during the relocation process,
relief organizations were free to operate and assist Armenians. The
American Near East Relief Society was allowed to conduct its mission
despite the fact that the Ottoman Empire and the US were in different
camps during World War I. If the Ottoman Administration had any
intention of destroying the Armenians, it would not have allowed
foreign organizations to help during the relocation, and if the
Ottoman Administration had anything to hide, it would not have allowed
relief organizations to operate in the field.

As genocide is a concept in international law, the crime of genocide
can only be judged by a decision of the international court. At the
end of the World War I, 144 high level Ottoman officials accused of
massacres were arrested. British occupation forces took these persons
to Malta for trial. Great Britain appointed Haig Kahzarlan to conduct
a documentary investigation in search of evidence against the
detainees, and in the end the British could not find any evidence
against Ottoman officials or the Ottoman government. The British
government then asked for assistance from the US State Department in
searching for evidence against the Ottoman officials. An expert from
the British Embassy in Washington scoured the American archives, and
on July 13, 1921 the British Ambassador sent a message to London
stating that "There was nothing therein which could be used as
evidence against the Turks who are being detained for trial at Malta...

The reports in the possession of the Department do not appear in any
case to contain evidence against these Turks that could be useful even
for the purpose of corroborating information already in the possession
of His Majesty's Government."[14]

Like the British, the Americans could find no evidence despite the
fact that they exerted all of their authority and looked everywhere
for evidence. In the end, all Ottoman detainees were released.

The 1915 events and the tragedies before and during the First World
War impacted all communities of the Ottoman Empire. Even Chairman of
the Armenian National Assembly Boghos Nubar ***** acknowledged that
the Turks lost more people than the Armenians. However, the propaganda
that accelerated in the 1960s, combined with the terrorist attacks
against Turkish diplomatic missions from the 1970s until the mid-80s,
created an atmosphere that shaped public opinion to identify the
events of 1915 as genocide. The propaganda machine and lobbyists even
used fake documents such as telegrams attributed to Talat *****, or
used Russian artist Vassili Vereshchagin's oil painting, which had
nothing to do with the Armenians. Ambassador Morgenthau's story has
been used to support the Armenian allegations, while American scholar
Heath Lowry's work, Story Behind Ambassador Morgenthau's Story, which
questioned the credibility of Morgenthau's book, has been ignored.

Another source that was used to support the genocide allegations was
the Blue Book prepared by Britain. Historian Arnold Toynbee took part
in the preparation of the book, but he later confessed that it was
actually a piece of war propaganda.

The Armenian question and the one-sided construction of its history
may be explained by Vamık Volkan's concept of chosen trauma, which
refers to the mental representation of an event that causes a group to
feel victimized: "The group mythologizes an event, and draws it into
its identity... For each generation, the event is modified. What remains
is the central role it plays in the group's identity, even though the
modified version of the event is different from the historical truth.

This tendency goes hand in hand with the temptation to seek out a
scapegoat. For groups of Armenians, that scapegoat is the Turks."[15]

The only way to reach a point at which an atmosphere favorable for the
reconciliation of the two sides may arise, is to create a Just Memory.

This is a concept that highlights the necessity to refrain from
viewing history with a one-sided memory. As Turkish Prime Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu said, "...We should be empathetic about what the
Armenians lived through, what they felt, and what followed for them
afterwards. But while expecting respect for their memory, they in turn
should show respect for ours too. We shouldn't construct a one-sided
memory."[16] Here, he has gone on to explain the concept of Just
Memory in the case of Turkish-Armenian relations in an article,
stating that:

"If intellectuals and politicians do their part to overcome the
psychological barriers on both sides and to build a 'just memory,' we
can expect a new, more grounded era of peace. Otherwise, both sides
will inevitably be exploited by those who benefit from a sector that
feeds off the status quo."[17]

In this sense, it would be possible to give life to a constructive
dialogue and to create a new atmosphere for future generations, if
only we manage to build a Just Memory.

________________________________
[1] See Justin McCarthy, "The Population of the Ottoman Armenians", in
Turkkaya Ataöv (Der.), The Armenians in the Late Ottoman Period,
Ankara, 2001, pp. 65-85.

[2] Å~^ukru Elekdag, "The Turkish-Armenian Issue: The Complex Tragedy of
1915", The New York Times,
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nytimes.com_1983_05_11_opinion_l-2Dturkish-2Darmenian-2Dissue-2Dthe-2Dcomplex-2Dtragedy-2Dof-2D1915-2D157631.html&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=iufEiY-JKS3wb9_4UcHTUIbjeoH6lya5vJG0DUTCEnk&s=KkpEBaP1FZwYkZwlTMTxtS840dicfy_QTOS6JAARk8k&e= ,
11 May 1983.

[3] For the details of relocation see Yusuf Halacoglu, Facts on the
Relocation of Armenians (1914-1918), Ankara, 2002. Yusuf Halacoglu,
"Realities Behind the Relocation", in Turkkaya Ataöv (Der.), The
Armenians in the Late Ottoman Period, Ankara, 2001, pp. 109-154.

[4] https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__treaties.un.org_doc_Publication_UNTS_Volume-252078_volume-2D78-2DI-2D1021-2DEnglish.pdf&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=iufEiY-JKS3wb9_4UcHTUIbjeoH6lya5vJG0DUTCEnk&s=N6MD0gsdoECGeJfzfbQOGXSe7lrZE_wCWaV3GhLn00c&e=
[5] Gunduz Aktan, "The Armenian Problem and International Law", Omer
Engin Lutem (Der.), The Armenian Question Basic Knowledge and
Documentation, Ankara, Terazi Publishing, 2009, pp. 131-169.

[6] See Sadi KocaÅ~_, Tarih Boyunca Ermeniler ve Turk-Ermeni Ä°liÅ~_kileri,
Ankara, 1967. "Facts from the Turkish Armenian"s, Jamanak, Ä°stanbul,
1980, p. 4. See "Armenian Allegations and Historical Facts, Questions
and Answers", Ankara, Center for Strategic Research, 2007.

[7] Gunduz Aktan, "The Armenian Problem and International Law", Omer
Engin Lutem (Der.), The Armenian Question Basic Knowledge and
Documentation, Ankara, Terazi Publishing, 2009, pp. 139-140. Sedat
Laciner and Ä°brahim Kaya, The Armenian Issue and the Jews, London and
Ankara, 2003, p. 49.

[8] See Stanford J. Shaw, The Jews of the Ottoman Empire and the
Turkish Republic, New York, New York University Press, 1991.

[9] Gunduz Aktan, "The Armenian Problem and International Law", Omer
Engin Lutem (Der.), The Armenian Question Basic Knowledge and
Documentation, Ankara, Terazi Publishing, 2009, pp. 147-148. Sedat
Laciner and Ä°brahim Kaya, The Armenian Issue and the Jews, London and
Ankara, 2003, p. 50.

[10] Russian archieves and memoirs of Russian officials are important
source in this context. See Mehmet Perincek, Rus Devlet ArÅ~_ivlerinden
150 Belgede Ermeni Meselesi, Ä°stanbul, 2013.

[11] Kamuran Gurun, Armenian File, The Myth of Innocence Exposed,
Ä°stanbul, 2007. Dashnagtzoutiun Has Nothing to do Anymore, the
Manifest of Hovhannes Katchnouni, translated by Matthew A. Callender,
editted by John Roy Carlson, New York, 1955.

[12] See Turkkaya Ataöv, The Armenian Question, Conflict, Trauma and
Objectivity, https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.politics.ankara.edu.tr_yearbookdizin_dosyalar_MMTY_24_9-5Fturkaya-5Fataov.pdf&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=iufEiY-JKS3wb9_4UcHTUIbjeoH6lya5vJG0DUTCEnk&s=oI-CkJoZjbZW7TbUs2CbjA9ntPHSMA9RaorY72YiZN0&e=
[13] Gunduz Aktan, "The Armenian Problem and International Law", Omer
Engin Lutem (Der.), The Armenian Question Basic Knowledge and
Documentation, Ankara, Terazi Publishing, 2009, p. 155.

[14] Gunduz Aktan, "The Armenian Problem and International Law", Omer
Engin Lutem (Der.), The Armenian Question Basic Knowledge and
Documentation, Ankara, Terazi Publishing, 2009, p. 161. (Cable of the
British Embassy in Washington to London dated 13 July 1921, No. 722,
FO 371/6504).

[15] See Turkkaya Ataöv, The Armenian Question, Conflict, Trauma, and
Objectivity, Ankara, SAM Paper, 1997, taken from
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.tetedeturc.com_home_spip.php-3Farticle187&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=iufEiY-JKS3wb9_4UcHTUIbjeoH6lya5vJG0DUTCEnk&s=DN-RnQFRVDWHXdYYkAq9zF7sWtRjYolNQ3AZZiOwgKM&e= . See Vamık Volkan,
"On Chosen Trauma", Mind and Human Interaction, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1991,
pp. 3-19.

[16] Murat Yetkin, "Davutoglu: Ermeni Diasporasıyla Temas İstiyoruz",
Radikal, https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.radikal.com.tr_yazarlar_murat-5Fyetkin_davutoglu-5Fermeni-5Fdiasporasiyla-5Ftemas-5Fistiyoruz-2D987815&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=iufEiY-JKS3wb9_4UcHTUIbjeoH6lya5vJG0DUTCEnk&s=D5GY84xtQLnkZaNBQXjd0TB_XHDTAhUftYtTkLM6-cA&e= ,
26 March 2010.

[17] Ahmet Davutoglu, "Turkish-Armenian Relations in the Process of
De-Ottomanization or 'Dehistoricization': Is a 'Just Memory'
Possible", Turkish Policy Quarterly, Spring 2014, p. 29.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.turkishweekly.net_2016_02_17_comment_the-2D1915-2Devents-2Djust-2Dmemory-2Dand-2Dthe-2Darmenian-2Dquestion_&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=iufEiY-JKS3wb9_4UcHTUIbjeoH6lya5vJG0DUTCEnk&s=hmb7b7kLrWV6XCqwWB-GGhN-shoJDwpWCbTIse-2k6M&e=

 

[Yervant1]

MOTION ON KHOJALY MASSACRE SUBMITTED TO SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

APA, Azerbaijan
March 4 2016

Sandra White, MP from Scottish National Party, has submitted to the
Parliament of Scotland a motion on the Khojaly Massacre.

The parliament recognizes that 26 February 2016 marks the 24th
anniversary of the attack on the town of Khojaly in Azerbaijan by
the invading Armenian forces, the motion reads.

The document expresses sympathy to the families of the 613 men,
women and children who were killed during this attack, notes that the
UN Security Council resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884, which call
on the Armenian forces to end the occupation of Azerbaijan, remain
unfulfilled, is concerned about the recent reported escalation in
tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The events in Khojaly a sobering reminder of the terrible damage
that can be inflicted in wartime and the enduring need for greater
understanding, communication and tolerance among people around the
world. Azerbaijanis living in Scotland and around the globe observe
26 February every year as a day of remembrance, honoring the victims
of the Khojaly massacre, and hope that, through highlighting the
anniversary of the tragedy, international efforts to find a lasting
peaceful resolution to this long-standing conflict will be renewed,
the motion reads.

The document was developed thanks to the diplomatic activities and
efforts of the Azerbaijani community in Scotland.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__en.apa.az_xeber-5Fmotion-5Fon-5Fkhojaly-5Fmassacre-5Fsubmitted-5Fto-5F-5F240189.html&d=CwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=Dx9qGrkWgdhKMA22rmooWx_lM4KP6iCVhrhufjWVP1w&s=bBRfC2SNNDCJacBzmXGy_zyzXkcXXWsI71pQOzYmxN8&e=

[Yervant1]

Talk about misguided mentality, are you for real emine?

TURKISH FIRST LADY SAYS HAREM WAS 'SCHOOL' FOR WOMEN

13:02, 10 Mar 2016
Siranush Ghazanchyan

The wife of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday
hailed the harem of the Ottoman sultans as "a school for preparing
women for life," AFP reports.

Emine Erdogan's comments come a day after the president triggered
protests by saying he believed that "a woman is above all a mother"
in a speech marking International Women's Day.

Critics have accused Erdogan's government of trying to impose strict
Islamic values on Turkey and curtailing women's civil liberties.

"The harem was a school for members of the Ottoman dynasty and
an educational establishment for preparing women for life," Emine
Erdogan said at an official event on the Ottoman sultans in Ankara,
according to Turkish TV stations.

President Erdogan has come under fire in the past for urging Turkish
women to have at least three children and railing against efforts to
promote birth control as "treason".

He and his wife regularly speak of their attachment to Islamic
principles and the values of the old Ottoman empire, from the ruins
of which the modern Turkish state was founded in 1923.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.armradio.am_en_2016_03_10_turkish-2Dfirst-2Dlady-2Dsays-2Dharem-2Dwas-2Dschool-2Dfor-2Dwomen_&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=Mg3cYvN-kcetYkYVCAP2i2x1--NytJPnX-EtMY4GWWA&s=mUyPEoKS1-4sCWe5zlQBqbFDvxThnVuJbwfOqAPucco&e=

 

[Yervant1]

STATE AGENCY SETS OUT TO FEND OFF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CLAIMS

Daily Sabah, Turkey
March 22 2016

DAILY SABAH

The Turkish Historical Society (TTK) compiles data, articles and other
works on the alleged genocide of the Armenians by the Ottoman Empire
during World War I to stave off claims by Armenia in a long-standing
dispute between the two countries.

Armenia claims up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed in an act of
genocide by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 during World War I. Turkey
accepts the mass deaths of Armenians during their forced deportation
during the war, but claims the death toll was much lower and attributes
mass deaths to diseases and isolated cases of attacks.

Ankara has also urged Armenia to let historians handle the matter,
though Armenia demands recognition of the incidents as "genocide"
in order to advance relations between the two neighboring countries.

TTK started compiling all articles on the issue written in Turkey and
throughout the world to publish books on the genocide claims. Books
will be sent to libraries across the country as well as international
historians. Speaking to Haberturk daily, TTK President Refik Turan
said articles included indisputable scientific facts. "We never
set out to collect articles with claims that may be disputed. The
facts in the books we will prepare may contain information that may
displease an Armenian defending genocide claims, but at least they
would ascertain that this is the truth based on facts. We have the
upper hand to counter the allegations as we have enough documents
and data to back Turkey's claims," he said.

In April 2014, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was prime minister
at the time, offered condolences for the Armenian deaths that occurred
in 1915 - a first for a Turkish leader as the country froze diplomatic
relations with Armenia both over the genocide issue and Armenia's
occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave also claimed by Turkey's
close ally, Azerbaijan. The move was seen as a significant step toward
a possible reconciliation. Separately, Turkey has called for a joint
Armenian-Turkish research project into the events, making use of the
archives in both countries, to establish the facts.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.dailysabah.com_nation_2016_03_22_state-2Dagency-2Dsets-2Dout-2Dto-2Dfend-2Doff-2Darmenian-2Dgenocide-2Dclaims&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=kIw9zlHhLcRUK-tBXsPLYabPze0_s_E1JngoYKHdrgw&s=XfcAmZhL6BujbCT117GDhGwHdkq90Wf5VHqILL30fNc&e=

[gamavor]

 

Turkey, the best friend of USA, Great Britain and number of other "civilized" countries. Where Darwin went wrong:)))

[Yervant1]

Erdogan's Visit to Washington 'Reduces Turkey's Image to Nothing'

© REUTERS/ Joshua Roberts
POLITICS
17:02 04.04.2016(updated 17:04 04.04.2016)

Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent visit to the US has been marred by an embarrassing incident that saw the Turkish president's security detail scuffle with journalists and protesters. Turkey's image will surely suffer as a result, journalist Amberin Zaman told Sputnik.

"Now when anyone mentions Erdogan's visit to Washington, this is the first thing that comes to mind – unacceptable and disruptive behavior of the bodyguards of the Turkish head of state. Sadly, after similar incidents Turkey's image abroad, which has not been too positive to begin with, has been ultimately reduced to nothing," she said.

Zaman knows firsthand what happened at the Brookings Institution shortly beforeErdogan was scheduled to deliver a speech at the Washington-based think tank. Erdogan's bodyguards verbally insulted the journalist.

Zaman added that the bodyguards acted as if they considered themselves to be above the law.

"The Washington visit ended with scenes making a mockery of Turkey's image. While Erdogan was telling Americans that Turkey is a democratic and free country that guarantees freedom of _expression_, scenes outside were contradicting him," Turkish journalist Fehim Taştekin wrote for al-Monitor.

© REUTERS/ JOSHUA ROBERTS
Turkish security personnel struggle to take a sign away from protesters in front of the Brookings Institute before the arrival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Washington.

© AFP 2016/ JIM WATSON
Rolling in the Deep: 'Sultan' Erdogan Was Bound to 'Fall Out of Obama's Favor'
Turkey has long been chastised for its abysmal record when it comes to the freedom of the press. The authorities have recently made headlines when they took over the leading opposition newspaper, Zaman, much to international condemnation.

Following a brief meeting with Erdogan, US President Barack Obama said he was troubled with the current trend in Turkey and urged Ankara to refrain from pursing "a strategy that involves repression of information and shutting down democratic debate."

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160404/1037461345/washington-erdogan-bodyguards-assault.html#ixzz44rnwlAd2