Advice To erdogan

[Aratta-Kingdom]

ADVICE TO PRIME MINISTER ERDOGAN CONTINUE DENYING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

 

By Harut Sassounian, Publisher, The California Courier

 

It is a well-known fact that Turkish leaders are exceptional diplomats. However, as soon as they hear the words Armenian Genocide, Greece, Cyprus or Kurdistan, these diplomats lose their "cool" and resort to emotional outbursts and undiplomatic actions that harm their own interests.

 

Realizing that this is the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Turkish officials have been nervously preparing themselves for the upcoming tsunami of commemorations that would remind the international community of the crimes against humanity committed by Ottoman Turks.

 

The first unexpected shot was fired on February 26 by the Parliament of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia, Spain, when it unanimously recognized the Armenian Genocide. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu immediately contacted his Spanish counterpart and Catalonian officials venting his anger and demanding an apology!

 

Two days later, an expose of the Armenian Genocide was aired by CBS’s 60 Minutes, showing bones of Armenian victims still protruding from Syrian desert sands, almost a century later! The Turks were livid, accusing Armenians of unduly influencing the CBS network and questioning, as usual, the authenticity of the bones and the sand!

 

Four days later, the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee adopted a resolution acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. Turkey lost despite:

 

Pressuring the Obama administration to oppose the resolution;

 

Hiring multi-million dollar lobbying firms;

 

Sending teams of Turkish parliamentarians to Washington;

 

E-mail campaigns by Turkish and Azeri Americans; and

 

Threatening to boycott U.S. defense contractors if they did not oppose the resolution.

 

Immediately after losing that vote, Turkey recalled its Ambassador from Washington, indicating that he may be kept in Ankara until after April 24. State Minister Zafer Caglayan postponed his U.S. visit, intended to develop economic ties, "until the United States corrects its mistake." A scheduled trip by the executive board of the Turkish Industrialists' & Businessmen's Association to Washington on March 16 and 17 was also canceled, and anti-American protests were held in Turkish cities. More importantly, Prime Minister Erdogan indicated that he might cancel his planned participation in the global summit on nuclear security to be held in Washington next month.

 

Before Turkish passions had cooled down, Sweden’s Parliament dealt a second devastating blow to Ankara on March 11, by reaffirming the genocide of Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks, by a vote of 131-130. Once again, Turkey recalled its Ambassador, and Prime Minister Erdogan canceled his upcoming trip to Stockholm which was to be accompanied by a large trade delegation. And, anti-Swedish demonstrations were held in several Turkish cities.

 

These overly dramatic reactions prompted Turkish and foreign commentators to have a field day, speculating that if more countries recognize the Armenian Genocide, Turkey won’t have ambassadors left anywhere in the world, and Turkish officials won’t be visiting other countries, having to cancel their overseas trips. Furthermore, Turkey would be left without any imported goods and a weakened military, having canceled all purchases from the outside world. Turkey’s isolation is a just retribution for its denialist policy. By trying to punish others, Turkey is simply punishing itself.

 

Vahe Magarian of Cincinnati, Ohio, sent a pointed letter to the New York Times last week, suggesting that Turkey’s recalled Ambassadors, "rather than flying home, should be made to march home on foot. Forced marches were the preferred means of travel during the dying days of the Ottoman Empire."

 

Prominent Turkish commentator Can Dundar wrote in Haber1 an article titled: "Are we going to recall all our Ambassadors?" He stated that, at this rate, by the time the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide rolls around in 2015, there won’t be a single country left not accusing Turkey of genocide. Isn’t it about time that we search out what dirty work our fathers did 95 years ago? Shouldn’t we ask what did we do wrong, Dundar implored.

 

The main reason why Turkish officials panic every time the Armenian Genocide is acknowledged by yet another country is their fear of being asked to pay compensation for Armenian losses and return the occupied lands. Prime Minister Erdogan and his colleagues don’t seem to understand that Genocide recognition by itself does not lead to legal claims. How many inches of land have Armenians managed to liberate from Turkey as a result of such recognition by more than 20 countries? If Turkish leaders would only understand that parliamentary resolutions have no legal effect, maybe they would not get so excited over them!

 

Nevertheless, there should be no doubt that Armenians still demand the return of their ancestral lands located in Eastern Turkey. Such claims have to be pursued in various courts, unless an unexpected cataclysmic event occurs first, causing the collapse or dismemberment of the Turkish State.

 

In the meantime, we advise Mr. Erdogan to continue denying the Genocide at every opportunity, in order to encourage Armenians to persist in their efforts to expose Ankara’s lies. Were it not for Turkish officials’ vehement denials, there would not have been a worldwide outcry to reaffirm the facts of the Armenian Genocide by airing TV documentaries and adopting genocide resolutions.

 

Mr. Erdogan, please keep up the good work. Armenians need your kind assistance to pursue their cause until justice is done.

 

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

From the Bosphorus: Straight - If this is what counts for tolerance…

 

 

 

Hurriet

March 18, 2010

 

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=from-the-bosphorus-straight-----if-this-is-what-counts-for-tolerance8230-2010-03-18

 

 

Comments by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, remarks amounting to a threat to expel undocumented Armenian workers from Turkey, are so deeply offensive they hardly deserve reaction. But this latest shoot-from-the-hip missive needs to be explored.

 

This latest outburst came as a warning that continued meddling by Britain or Sweden, or whatever legislature is up next in the political fireworks chain of “genocide” resolutions, could prompt Turkey to retaliate by kicking out undocumented workers, mainly domestic servants and manual laborers.

 

As quoted by Agence France-Presse: “So what will I do tomorrow? If necessary, I will tell them 'come on, back to your country'... I'm not obliged to keep them in my country. Those actions [on genocide resolutions] unfortunately have a negative impact on our sincere attitudes.”

 

First, let’s clean up the spin-doctoring on behalf of the boss done by Suat Kınıkloğlu, the ruling Justice and Development Party’s deputy chairman. Kınıkoğlu explained this was simply a statement made to highlight the tolerance Turkey has shown to Armenian citizens illegally in Turkey. Don’t misunderstand, Kınıkoğlu is one of the most decent members of parliament, a former columnist for the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review whom we deeply respect.

 

But all we can say is, “Nice try, Suat!” If this is how the prime minister highlights his benevolent tolerance, please let us know when it looks like he’s going to have a bad day. We’ll lock the doors.

 

A second point is the numbers. Erdoğan used the figure of 100,000, a mistake he has made in the past. Turkey does have a population of Turkish citizens of ethnic Armenian origins of roughly this proportion. As we reported several weeks ago, the best studies on the size of undocumented Armenian citizens here is no more than 14,000. We will leave it to the psychologists to tell us what this persistent confusion tells us. But it reminds of the gaffe made a couple of years ago when Colin Powell, the United States Secretary of State, referred to the “Islamic Republic of Turkey.”

 

Thirdly, of course Turkey has the right to control refugee flows, undocumented workers, international migrants, etc. This is a huge problem. There are tens of thousands of Iranian, Iraqi, Afghan, Nigerian, Moldovan, Russian and other workers in Turkey.

 

A few years ago we reported how police in Istanbul gang-pressed a group of Nigerians into shouldering the removal of police barricades one night. Other reports of abuse are even more grave. The sex trade, drug trafficking, child exploitation… all of these are nourished by flows of illegal migrants. We would agree that this is a problem deserving of address.

 

But to single out one minor ethnic group in this picture? To link this to performance on unrelated issues by legislatures in the European Union and the United States? What more can be said?

 

Erdoğan should apologize.

 

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

The Exodus - Part II?

 

 

 

Hurriet

 

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=the-exodus-8211-part-ii-2010-03-18

 

BURAK BEKDIL “The killings of Uighur Turks by the Chinese police during demonstrations constitute genocide. I use this term intentionally.” (Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, July 2009)

 

“I went to Darfur myself and saw no genocide there. Muslims don’t commit genocide.” (Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, November 2009)

 

“Politicians cannot decide on genocides. This is the duty of historians.” (Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, March 2010)

 

This concise compilation of three statements on three different dates within a span of eight months has been brought to the public’s attention by Cem Toker, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, or LDP. Put in chronological sequence, the three remarks unmistakably summarize Mr. Erdoğan’s mindset on genocide.

 

When combined, the three statements allow us to safely conclude, on the prime minister’s behalf, that: 1) Politicians other than Mr. Erdoğan himself should not make judgments about genocide, a crime Muslims don’t commit but others – non-Muslim Chinese, for instance – do; 2) The deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians cannot amount to genocide, but the deaths of less than a hundred Uighur Turks can; and 3) Genocide is something visiting dignitaries can “see,” and if they don’t see it, a genocide did not take place.

 

How convincing this mental calculus can be is a question we had better leave to the reader’s judgment.

 

More alarmingly, what Mr. Erdoğan and his foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, are trying to “market” in a nice gift wrapping that reads “Turkey: A regional power” is becoming what it is privately: a regional bully.

 

Almost a century after the mass deportation of Armenians from Ottoman Turkey, a Turkish leader is talking about a second mass deportation of Armenians, this time from Turkish Turkey. The Western press agrees that Mr. Erdoğan’s threat to expel thousands of illegal Armenian immigrants in retaliation to American and Swedish lawmakers’ recognition of the Armenian “genocide” amounts to racism.

 

Your taxi driver, or the owner of the shop on the corner, could have made such insane proposals and you would smile back and tell him it would not be nice if we made “Exodus II” in the 21st century. In 10 minutes time, you might forget what your taxi driver or the shop owner had suggested, but it makes a difference if it is your prime minister threatening Armenian immigrants with mass deportation – not because of something they did wrong, but because foreign lawmakers had passed resolutions.

 

In reality, how could Turkey deport 100,000 illegal Armenian immigrants? Would the police launch a collective Armenian-hunt throughout the country? Stop every illegal immigrant, raid their homes? You are illegal here. Yes, sir. What’s your nationality? Georgian, sir. Good, you can go. How about you? I am Armenian, sir. Ha ha, got you! You are under arrest!

 

Of course, some cabinet minister, some advisor, some party bigwig must be sitting on his desk by now, trying to find the diplomatic language to “correct the prime minister” and to tell us that “Mr. Prime Minister’s remarks were misunderstood.” Similarly, the army of pro-Erdoğan columnists must be pondering how to pen articles in defense of our liberal prime minister who would never think of such a racist act. Here are a few proposals to help our colleagues:

 

They can claim that Mr. Erdoğan threatened to expel the Armenian immigrants because he was under pressure from the fascist generals to do so. They can also claim that what the prime minister said was really meant not as a threat to expel the Armenians but as a way to illustrate to the world how hospitable we Turks are, especially Islamist Turks. Would the secular Turks tolerate 100,000 illegal immigrants? God forbid, they would have executed the Armenians had they been in power!

 

A note to the prime minister’s advisors: Quickly organize an “Armenian immigrant initiative.” Organize a fancy gathering. Let the prime minister speak to them, embrace them and shower them with precious gifts. Tell them they are our dearest guests. The Armenians smile, cheer for the prime minister, thundering applause, curtains down. Make sure there is plenty of local and foreign press coverage. And, presto, our liberal, warm-hearted, tolerant prime minister is back!

 

But, just in case, poor Armenian immigrants should better start praying that some new distant foreign parliament does not join the 20 or so others already in genocide recognition these days. Or they should start practicing to pose as Georgians if they come under police interrogation.

 

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

PM Erdoğan's Armenian hostages

 

 

Hurriet

 

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=pm-erdogan8217s-armenian-hostages-2010-03-18

 

 

Semih Idiz Angered at the Armenian “genocide” resolutions passed by a U.S. House of Representatives committee and the Swedish parliament, Turkey’s prime minister says he is prepared to deport 100,000 Armenians living illegally in Turkey if necessary.

 

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made the following remark in an interview with the BBC’s Turkish Service during a visit to London a few days ago:

 

“Look, there are 170,000 Armenians in my country; 70,000 are my citizens. But we are not making a fuss over the remaining 100,000. So what will I do tomorrow? If necessary, I am going to tell these 100,000, ‘come on, back to your country.’ I will do this. Why? Because they are not my citizens. There is nothing that forces me to keep them in my country.”

 

Erdoğan was referring to people who, due to the hardships in their own country, have somehow made their way to Turkey and are working here in order to be able to send their meager earnings back home to sustain their families or loved ones.

 

This is not something that is alien to Turks, given that millions have had to travel to Western countries over the past decades, leaving home and hearth for the same reasons, many of them entering those countries illegally as well.

 

Pressed on by his interviewer, Erdoğan made a feeble attempt later to backtrack by saying that he “was not referring to something that would be happening today or tomorrow, but only if necessary.”

 

So innocent Armenians are again potential victims of ugly politicking. But Turkey is not the “hell-hole” in terms of human values that some Europeans and Armenian activists like to make it out to be. Erdoğan’s remarks were condemned by a significant number of Turkish politicians, columnists and other opinion makers as “inhumane,” “unjust” and “a violation of human rights.”

 

Some columnists, such as Can Dundar of daily Milliyet, referred to a new “tehcir,” the term Turks use for the deportation of Armenians in 1915. Dundar indicated that Erdoğan’s remarks amount to saying that “100,000 Armenians are hostages, and if European parliaments don’t stop pressuring Turkey over the 1915 events, we will make them suffer.”

 

Ergun Babahan of daily Star went the whole way and wrote, “If Hitler had been Turkish, we would also be denying the Holocaust today.” He added, in so many words, that that the spirit of Enver Paşa and his “Ittihadists” was alive and kicking in today’s Turkey.

 

Erdoğan’s remarks are unconscionable, of course, and represent a slur to Turkey’s reputation. They are also seriously out of tune with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s position on this issue.

 

Davutoğlu was recently reported as telling the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP’s, abrasive and Armenian-baiting deputy Canan Aritman that deporting illegal Armenians would be counterproductive, and leave Turkey facing international charges of “racism.” Naturally, one wonders how Davutoğlu feels after Erdoğan’s remarks.

 

This brings us to the opposition’s position. As far as the ultranationalist Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, is concerned, the reaction was predictable. Senior party members challenged Erdoğan, with apparent glee, to carry out his threat. “Why employ so many illegal Armenians when there are unemployed Turks?” was the attitude of Oktay Vural, a key name in the party.

 

As for the supposedly “social democratic” main opposition CHP, it raised eyebrows again. Senior party members such as Aritman and Onur Oymen did not miss the chance to insist it was the CHP that had first suggested the Armenians should be deported (as if this is something that merits a medal).

 

That was true, of course. The suggestion to deport all illegal Armenians from Turkey came initially from another senior CHP personality and a former ambassador to Washington, namely Şükrü Elekdağ.

 

It must also be mentioned here that Oymen had insulted and said hurtful words in the recent past concerning Kurds also, when referring to the Dersim massacres of 1937-38 perpetrated by Turkish forces against rebellious Kurds.

 

It seems, however, that the CHP leadership is trying to dissociate itself this time from the attitude of people such as Oymen, Elekdağ and Aritman – who once baited President Abdullah Gül by claiming he had Armenian blood in him that he was keeping secret.

 

CHP spokesman Mustafa Ozyurek said in a statement that Erdoğan’s suggestion of deporting the Armenians was “wrong and discriminatory.” Much to the annoyance, no doubt, of the trio mentioned above, CHP leader Deniz Baykal also came out against Erdoğan’s suggestion.

 

To use people who came to work in Turkey in this way was “a violation of human rights,” Baykal said. Undoubtedly referring to members of his own party, the CHP chief added that “individual opposition deputies may have their own views, which are not binding in the end,” but that it was “totally unacceptable” for the prime minister to come out with such a proposition.

 

Whether Baykal really believes his own words, or simply did not want to end up in the position of having to support a suggestion by Erdoğan – his political enemy – is another question. Whatever the case, the CHP has to work overtime to not only prove its social democratic credentials, but also its humanistic ones.

 

Finally, it must be said that Erdoğan’s figure of 100,000 illegal Armenians living and working in Turkey has not been corroborated by the Ministry of Labor or the Interior Ministry. The figures mentioned by Turkish and Armenian sources vary from 5,000 to 60,000.

 

But whatever the figure may be, there is not one reported incident of trouble between Armenians working in Turkey and Turks. To the contrary, all the reports in the Turkish press about these people have been highly positive, indicating how Turks and Armenians can work, live and love (yes, there are even marriages taking place) together.

 

But it makes no difference if the number of illegal Armenians is only 100. To turn innocent people, who have little to do with politics and are merely trying to eke out a living in difficult circumstances, into hostages for political considerations is morally reprehensible.

 

Even members of Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party, or AKP, have apparently understood this, and are now claiming, as Huseyin Celik – one of the party’s deputy leaders – did, that the prime minister “was only expressing Turkey’s good intentions” in saying what he said.

 

Another leading AKP member, Suat Kınıklıoğlu, tried to repair the damage by arguing unconvincingly in a written statement that Erdoğan was “merely trying to show how tolerant Turkey was toward Armenians in Turkey,”

 

Those who are prepared to buy this are welcome to do so. But it is clear from the reactions at home that the AKP can not fool everyone.

 

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

 

 

 

Talking Turkey about Armenian genocide

 

Calgary Herald

 

 

 

 

By Tim Giannuzzi, For The Calgary HeraldMarch 18, 2010

 

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Talking+Turkey+about+Armenian+genocide/2695978/story.html#ixzz0iZyrNGyG

 

 

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Talking+Turkey+about+Armenian+genocide/2695978/story.html

 

 

If you want an ugly reminder of the past to stay there, you shouldn't throw a fit whenever someone brings it up. This is a lesson Turkey ought to learn sometime.

 

The world's freest and best-developed mostly Muslim democracy has a very large skeleton in its closet, one to which it has lately been drawing a great deal of attention, despite harbouring a strong desire that everyone forget about it completely. That lingering remnant would be the Armenian genocide.

 

In the spring of 1915, the First World War was in its second year, while the Ottoman Empire, the precursor to modern Turkey, was on its sickbed and none too likely to get up again. Believing that their Armenian inhabitants constituted a potential fifth column which would work against the Central Powers (the alliance to which the Ottomans belonged), prominent Ottoman politicians devised a deportation scheme which provided cover for an organized attempt at mass extermination. As many as 1.5 million Armenians met horrid ends.

 

Turkey has always denied any systematic murder and prefers to ascribe the deaths to the chaos swirling around the Ottoman Empire's last days, but reams of historical evidence would say otherwise.

 

Various countries and groups have taken up the cause of historical truth and recent weeks have brought more of the same. Three weeks past, the Parliament of Catalonia, in Spain, recognized the genocide. Two weeks ago, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives squeaked out a resolution (by one vote) which labels the killings as genocide and last week, Sweden's parliament, the Riksdag, passed a similar measure.

 

Turkey reacted to the moves as it always does, recalling its ambassadors, cancelling conclaves and hinting grimly about the damage each country has done to its standing with the Turks. The Swedish and American governments, which each opposed the motions, appear to believe this, with the former calling the vote a mistake and the latter, in the form of the White House, promising to prevent the bill from passing.

 

The usual arguments cited for toeing Turkey's line are its strategic importance as a bridge between East and West (potentially as a member of the European Union) as a transit point for Central Asian oil pipelines, and the country's NATO membership (Turkey has the alliance's second-biggest army and its Incirlik base is a major staging area for U.S. efforts in Iraq). Dire things will happen, it is often said, if Turkey is crossed over this issue. At the very least, its slowly improving relations with Armenia will be hurt, although these have stalled recently anyways.

 

Most of this is bunk. Canada officially recognized the Armenian genocide in 2004 with insignificant consequences, as have nearly two dozen other countries, and the Harper government ought to encourage more nations to follow suit. While the Turks bluster and bellow, they are not about to damage themselves by alienating their most powerful allies just to distort the truth.

 

Turkey's chances of joining the EU are slim since most Europeans and an increasing number of Turks don't want to see it happen, while Incirlik is of diminishing importance as the U.S. draws down in Iraq. The Turks are not about to give up the revenues they earn from the pipelines, nor do they want a Russia-like reputation for erratic behaviour, which would encourage potential customers to look elsewhere. There are too many oil-rich competitors (like Canada) who could potentially fill the gap.

 

Aside from the harm recognition of the Armenian genocide would do to their puffed-up nationalist preconceptions, Turkish opposition centres on fears of being forced to pay hefty compensation to their victims' descendants. They can put their minds at ease. There is no interest in forcing Turkey to make reparations, not least because plenty of other countries have self-inflicted historical black marks which would get undesired attention if they pushed Turkey to literally pay for its crimes. In this case, a hug and a handshake will work fine.

 

Timothy Giannuzzi is a Calgary writer specializing in foreign affairs.

 

 

 

 

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

 

 

 

 

Uncomfortable Truth

 

Turkish threats to expel Armenian migrants to make a political point are shameful

TimesOnline

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/leading_article/article7066163.ece

 

 

 

 

Deportations have powerful symbolism in modern European history. The notion that the government of a would-be member state of the EU might propose the forced collective expulsion from its territory of a specified nationality ought to be unthinkable. Yet that course was casually threatened yesterday by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister, against 100,000 Armenian migrants.

 

Its purported justification was the recent passage of non-binding resolutions in the US Congress and the Swedish parliament. These motions describe as genocide the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during and after the First World War. Turkey takes strong issue with the claim of genocide. The history and politics of TurkishArmenian relations are convoluted, but the ethics of Mr Erdogan’s remarks are not. His intervention is demagogic and disreputable.

 

The US and Swedish votes were carried by narrow margins and were opposed by their respective governments. The historical events that they recall began with the massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. The very word “genocide” is a post-1945 coinage, intended to define the peculiar barbarity of Nazism. Only gradually did the Armenian massacres come to be recognised as the first authentic case of genocide in the 20th century. But so they were. On conservative historical estimates, around a million Armenians were killed in a xenophobic purge that continued till 1923. It was a crime without precedent in modern history.

 

Historical truth matters. It is extraordinary that the Government of modern Turkey should resist it. No one alive today was responsible for these barbarities. They were committed by an imperial power that has long since passed into history along with Wilhelmine Germany, to which it was allied in the First World War. While running for the presidency, Barack Obama declared his intention of being a leader who would speak the truth about the Armenian genocide. In practice, while his views are a matter of record, Mr Obama has been conciliatory in relations with Turkey.

 

Mr Erdogan has little cause for complaint about the symbolic diplomacy of resolutions on historical events. He has no justification whatever for threats against Armenian migrants. Turkey is home to thousands of illegal immigrants from Armenia. Few would dispute that sovereign nations have the right to determine barriers to entry on the part of non-citizens, but these are migrants who have sought refuge from disaster. Forming an impoverished population that does necessary but low-wage work, they include many whose homes and livelihoods were destroyed in the Armenian earthquake of 1988. Mr Erdogan estimated yesterday that of 170,000 Armenians in Turkey, only 70,000 held Turkish citizenship. He threatened directly to tell the rest to leave.

 

Turkey is a member state of Nato and a strategically important power within the Western alliance. It borders Iraq, in whose stability the Western democracies have an intense interest. But the Government in Ankara cannot exploit that status in order to advance its own diplomatic goals at the expense of liberal values. To object to a proper historical accounting of awesome crimes is a demeaning and destructive stance. But then to retaliate against the most vulnerable people within Turkey’s borders is unconscionable.

 

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

 

 

 

 

An inexplicable triple threat

 

 

The Daily Star

Lebanon

 

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&article_id=112861&categ_id=17

 

 

Editorial

 

 

 

Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has laid down a dangerous and seemingly inexplicable threat – a triple threat, in fact. Erdogan told the BBC’s Turkish service that while an estimated 170,000 ethnic Armenians live in his country, only 70,000 or so are actually full-fledged citizens, meaning that the rest faced the possibility of deportation.

“If necessary, I will tell the remaining 100,000 to leave. I can do so because they are not Turkish citizens and I’m not obliged to keep them in my country,” Erdogan said.

There’s of course the direct, domestic threat, to thousands of people covered by this sweeping pronouncement. Why now? These stateless people didn’t enter Turkey in the last few years. If 100,000 stateless Armenians have been residing there for decades, seemingly without major incident, why has Erdogan suddenly remembered their status and threatened them with expulsion?

The answer of course lies in another dimension of the issue: the world. The Swedish Parliament and US Congress have recently taken steps to pass resolutions recognizing the Ottoman genocide of World War I, against the Armenians, and according to the Swedes, against the Assyrians, Chaldeans and Pontiac Greeks as well.

Naturally, Erdogan is reacting to these pronouncements from foreign states, but rather than cut ties with these countries, he’s issued a threat that’s politically counter-productive and morally deplorable.

 

 

 

But the most worrying dimension of his move is regional. Erdogan told Armenia that it should distance itself from its diaspora, which he considers a source of evil, saying in effect: “Yerevan, focus on your relations with Ankara, or we’ll kick 100,000 Armenians out of our country.” It’s not exactly a positive plank in Erdogan’s announced policy of “zero conflict” in the region.

 

 

 

It also comes after Turkey distinguished itself by criticizing the policies of a certain state, Israel, against a certain stateless people, the Palestinians. One interview to the BBC could destroy all of the credit amassed by Erdogan and his government, and make him out to be a petty settler of scores, not a statesman.

 

 

Our region has its own worrying precedents. A fit of pique by Saudi Arabia in the wake of Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait saw Riyadh expel around 1 million Yemenis. It might have served some domestic purpose at the time, but it’s long-range effects have been devastating for Saudi Arabia’s state, its economy, and the world, since the Yemeni factor in the growth and actions of Al-Qaeda has been quite pronounced.

For the region, Turkey hasn’t been a shining beacon of free civil society and democracy, but it’s served as a possible model for the future of Arab states: civilian governments and a military that doesn’t directly hold the reigns of power. How could Ergodan’s move possibly benefit anyone?

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

Turkish PM Counters Armenian Genocide with Threats of Expulsion

 

 

 

DC Progressive

 

March 17, 2010

 

 

http://dcprogressive.org/2010/03/17/turkish-pm-counters-armenian-genocide-with-threats-of-expulsion/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turkish Prime minister Erdogan’s proposed course of action regarding the Armenian genocide is painfully ironic. The logic goes something like this: “Our nation did not systematically round up and murder over one million Armenians during World War I. And to prove it, I will now systematically round up and expel hundreds of thousands of Armenians living on Turkish soil.” Try arguing with that.In response to recent resolutions passed in the US Congress and Swedish Parliament characterizing the war-time massacres of Armenians as genocide, the Turkish government has recalled its ambassadors from both countries. Then, the Prime Minister suggested in an interview with the BBC that such international recognition of the genocide would prompt an expulsion of Armenian immigrants living in Turkey.

 

“There are currently 170,000 Armenians living in our country. Only 70,000 of them are Turkish citizens, but we are tolerating the remaining 100,000. If necessary, I may have to tell these 100,000 to go back to their country because they are not my citizens. I don’t have to keep them in my country.”

 

The undocumented workers to which the PM refers are mostly women from Armenia’s impoverished countryside who have migrated to Istanbul where they work in the service sector. While a number of politicians have described Erdogan’s comments as empty threats, they are a troubling reminder that Armenians are still unwelcome in Turkey.

 

To date, over twenty countries have officially recognized the Armenian genocide, as well as international organizations including the European Parliament and MERCOSUR.

 

Posted By Mary Tharin

 

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

Turkey goes into "dark ages mode" following Armenian expulsion threat

 

 

 

 

The London Daily News

Thursday, 18 March, 2010

 

http://www.thelondondailynews.com/turkey-goes-dark-ages-mode-following-armenian-expulsion-threat-p-3904.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Editorial

Turkey once again is retreating into "dark ages mode" with threats by Prime Erdogan following comments during a recent visit to London to expel 100,000 Armenians in Turkey "if necessary I will tell the 100,000: OK, time to go back to your country".

The issue of the Armenian genocide and the failure by Turkey to recognise this ever happened, not only discredits any aspirations that Turkey has of joining the European Union, but also its supporters which include the current Conservative and Labour party's in the UK.

 

Over 20 countries have accused the Ottoman Turks of genocide over the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians during the First World War; Sweden this week passed a resolution in its parliament recognising the genocide and calling for Turkey to follow suit. Prime Minister Erdogan then cancelled his visit to Stockholm and recalled the Turkish Ambassador in protest.

 

Turkey is now at its most dangerous, and may also as some have pointed out more likely to swing towards the East than the West, with ever closer ties to Iran.

 

Turkey needs some carrots, but must also begin to play ball over the gambit of issues that are pre-requisites it must resolve before EU membership is seriously considered. The United States has warned Turkey that it would pay "the price" if it was to side with Iran in the UN Security Counsel over the nuclear issue.

 

Once again Turkey is not interested in what the "political mood" is in Brussels, Paris or London, but is not more interested in what is in Ankara's and Islam's interest.

[Aratta-Kingdom]

 

 

 

 

Armenia says Turk expulsion threat rings of 1915 18 Mar 2010

 

 

Reutershttp://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE62H18N.htm

 

Turkish PM threatens to expel thousands of Armenians

 

* Bitter exchanges threatening deal to mend ties

 

YEREVAN, March 18 (Reuters) - Armenia on Thursday compared a threat by Turkey's prime minister to expel thousands of illegal Armenian immigrants to the language that preceded the World War One mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks.

 

The two neighbours signed a deal last year to overcome a century of hostility and reopen their border, but the agreement has stalled as they exchange recriminations.

 

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan made the expulsion threat late on Tuesday in reaction to the adoption by U.S. and Swedish lawmakers of non-binding votes branding the massacres of the last century as genocide.

 

He told the BBC Turkish service there were 100,000 Armenians living illegally in Turkey. "If necessary, I may have to tell these 100,000 to go back to their country because they are not my citizens. I don't have to keep them in my country."

 

Armenia and Turkish-Armenian groups say the figure is inflated.

 

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said on Thursday such statements "lead to absolutely negative consequences."

 

"The events that led to the Armenian genocide of 1915 began with such statements," he told a news conference, urging Turkey to move ahead with ratifying the accords to establish diplomatic ties and open their land frontier.

 

Since signing the deal in October last year, Turkey and Armenia have accused each other of trying to rewrite the texts.

 

A backlash by oil-producing Azerbaijan, Turkey's fellow Muslim ally and enemy of Christian Armenia in the conflict over breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh, has also slammed on the brakes.

 

The issue of the Armenian massacres is deeply sensitive in Turkey, which accepts that many Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks but vehemently denies that up to 1.5 million died and that it amounted to genocide -- a term used by many Western historians and some foreign parliaments.

[Aratta-Kingdom]

"...Talaat's first objection was merely an admission that the Armenians were more industrious and more able than the dull-witted and lazy Turks. Massacre as a means of destroying business competition was certainly an original conception. His general charge that the Armenians were "conspiring" against Turkey and that they openly sympathizes with Turkey's enemies merely meant, when reduced to its original elements, that the Armenians were constantly appealing to the European Powere to protect them against robbery, murder, and outrage. The Armenian problem, like most race problems, was the result of centuries of ill-treatment and inuustice. There could be only one solution for it, the creation of an

orderly system of government, in which all offenses were to be punished as the acts of individuals and not as of peoples. I argued for a long time along these and similar lines. "..."It is not use for you to argue," Talaat answered, "we have already disposed of three quarters of the Armenains; there are none at all left in Bitlis, Van, and Erzeroum. The hatred between the turks and the Armenians is now so intense that we have got to finish with them. If we don't, they will plan thier revenge. "

 

 

"...I have asked you to come here so as to let you know that our Armenian policy is obsolutely fixed and that nothing can change it. We wil not have the Armenians anywhere in Anatolia. They can live in the desert but nowhere else"

 

 

 

Henry Morgenthau, U.S. Ambassador to turkey

[Yervant1]

It's not the first time that Erdogan threatened to send the illegal Armenians from Turkey, what is so different this time around that he is getting so much negative responses from within and from outside of Turkey.

Very simple this time around he crossed the line with the West and of course Israel, he is paying the price and will get a warning as well continue like this and more of this to follow, tow the line and will make the AG disappear for the time being. This is great Erdogan did for us a lot more than we could have imagined, I hope he keeps on pissing the West even more and throws some more tantrums like a little bully.

Who knows maybe he is working for the benefit of the Armenians secretly.

[Aratta-Kingdom]

Erdoğan said "some states that had imperialistic desires. Irresponsible announcements, passing unfair judgments” against Turkey, which “needs an apology.” “There is no genocide in our civilization. Our civilization is the civilization of love, tolerance and brotherhood,” Erdoğan added. “Those who stay in the past can never reach a bright future.”(Zaman)

 

“I should underline that this country’s soldier is bigger than history and that this country’s history is as clean and clear as the sun. No country’s parliament can tarnish it,” Erdoğan said, speaking at the ceremony at the March 18 Stadium.(Zaman-March 18, 2010)

 

 

“Look, there are 170,000 Armenians in my country -- 70,000 of them are my citizens, but we are [tolerating] 100,000 of them [illegally] in our country. So, what will we do tomorrow? If it is necessary, I will tell them, ‘Come on, back to your country.’ I will do it. Why? They are not my citizens. I am not obliged to keep them in my country. I mean these are [defenders of the Armenian claims of genocide]. Their attitude is negatively affecting our sincere attitude, and they are not aware of it,” Erdoğan told the BBC Turkish service

 

“Let’s send them via the Erzurum-Kars route, barefoot,”----Canan Aritman

 

 

“The killings of Uighur Turks by the Chinese police during demonstrations constitute genocide. I use this term intentionally.” (Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, July 2009)

 

“I went to Darfur myself and saw no genocide there. Muslims don’t commit genocide.” (Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, November 2009)

 

“Politicians cannot decide on genocides. This is the duty of historians.” (Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, March 2010)

 

 

 

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

“Look, there are 170,000 Armenians in my country -- 70,000 of them are my citizens, but we are [tolerating] 100,000 of them [illegally] in our country. So, what will we do tomorrow? If it is necessary, I will tell them, ‘Come on, back to your country.’ I will do it. Why? They are not my citizens. I am not obliged to keep them in my country. I mean these are [defenders of the Armenian claims of genocide]. Their attitude is negatively affecting our sincere attitude, and they are not aware of it,” Erdoğan told the BBC Turkish service

 

 

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

 

 

Turkish PM Erdoğan accuses media of distorting 'expelling' remarks

 

 

Hurriet Daily News

March 19, 2010

 

 

 

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=erdogan-criticizes-media-apologizes-to-turkeys-roma-people-2010-03-19

 

PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has once more slammed the media, accusing the press of distorting his remarks to the BBC about 'expelling undocumented Armenian workers' from Turkey. 'Regretfully, it was quoted by cutting off the word 'undocumented.' It is malicious destruction because of the significant difference between Armenians and undocumented Armenian workers,' Erdoğan says

 

 

 

 

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has again lashed out at the media, this time claiming news outlets misreported his remarks about deporting Armenian workers. The outburst came despite most news outlets reporting that he was referring to undocumented workers.

 

In the same speech Friday, Erdoğan also had harsh words for Israel regarding settlement plans in east Jerusalem and Tel Aviv’s treatment of Palestinians.

 

Erdoğan suggested the “possibility to expel 100,000 Armenian undocumented workers in Turkey” in response to U.S. and Swedish lawmakers passing resolutions recognizing the Armenian “genocide” when he spoke to the BBC Turkish service late Tuesday.

 

Without giving any names, the prime minister Friday criticized “some” columnists for comparing Roma and Armenian citizens to undocumented immigrants. “This is disrespectful to my Roma citizens and my Armenian citizens,” Erdoğan said, addressing his party’s members in a televised speech.

 

The prime minister stressed that he was not referring to Turkish citizens of Armenian heritage in his remarks made to the BBC. “Regretfully, it was quoted by cutting off the word ‘undocumented,’” he said. “It is malicious destruction because of the significant difference between Armenians and undocumented Armenian workers.”

 

“Especially the foreign press is attempting to arouse indignation by purposely ignoring the adjective ‘undocumented,’” Erdoğan said. “There are dirty games [being played] even though I was the first Turkish prime minister to speak about mistreatments of minorities in the past.”

 

The Turkish prime minister emphasized that “baseless genocide claims” will harm the normalization efforts with Armenia. “You cannot write history through parliamentary votes,” he said. “If you are sincere about learning what happened, you can examine the archives and see what is true or not.”

 

“I re-call on Armenia and third countries to be constructive and responsible,” Erdoğan said. “All initiatives that deteriorate the [normalization] process will carry a heavy cost – [not to] Turkey but [to] the creators and supporters of those malicious initiatives.”

 

The prime minister also expressed his anger at columnists who had criticized his remarks to the BBC. “Those columnists trying to teach me humanity should first defend the rights of Turkey. Look in the mirror first,” he said.

 

“Have you ever heard them saying anything positive about the government?” he asked, referring to his critics. “They have eyes, but are blind to our achievements.”

 

Erdoğan also highlighted that his government’s “democratic initiative” encompasses more than just increasing rights for Kurds. Apologizing to Roma citizens on behalf of the state, he said: “My Roma citizens have not benefited from citizenship rights. We will fix these problems.”

 

“We have changed a lot of things with the [democratic] initiative. We are now in a position to understand each other better,” he said.

 

The prime minister also countered critics who claim that his government’s democratization efforts have slowed down. “The process of national unity and brotherhood has managed to create mutual empathy,” Erdoğan said. “It has economic, social and security dimensions. We support this hope [of democratization] with concrete steps.”

 

PM slams Israel again

 

Erdoğan also harshly criticized Israeli settlement plans in east Jerusalem and vowed not to normalize relations unless the humanitarian tragedy of Palestinians comes to an end.

 

“Building 1,600 new settlements in east Jerusalem is not acceptable. It is a tactic to wipe Palestine out, piece by piece,” Erdoğan said, noting that Turkey’s role is not confined within the country’s borders.

 

“We are aware of multi-headed politics in Israel. But this multi-voiced government should review this situation. As both the U.N. and the U.S. oppose [the settlements], such a step means ignoring the 1967 agreements,” he said.

 

Erdoğan threatened not to normalize ties with Tel Aviv as long as the situation continues. “How can we make contact, my brother?” he asked, addressing Israeli politicians. “First, you need to align with international law and avoid any cruelty or outrages.”

 

“Turkey will not be present anywhere innocent people suffer,” he said.

 

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

 

Turkish deputy: There is no enough background for perception and implementation of democratic values in Turkey

 

 

Panorama.am

http://www.panorama.am/en/politics/2010/03/19/cumhuriyet/

 

 

The scandalous statement made by Turkish PM Erdogan over deporting Armenians continues to be condemned in Turkey. So did Turkey's Pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Istanbul deputy Ufuk Uras.

 

The deputy highlighted there is no enough background for perception and implementation of democratic values in Turkey yet, according to Turkish Cumhuriyet. He qualified Erdogan’s statement on deporting Armenians as a statement with the implication of resettlement made in the 21st century.

 

“When such a statement is made over the Turkish Emigrants living in Europe, it is called racism. Hence, any similar statements about people having the same status are unacceptable. Speaking about deportation should not be allowed in 2010.”

 

 

[Yervant1]

TURKEY GOES INTO "DARK AGES MODE" FOLLOWING ARMENIAN EXPULSION THREAT

 

London Daily News

http://www.thelondondailynews.com/turkey-goes-into-dark-ages-mode-following-armenian-expulsion-threat-p-3904.html

March 18 2010

 

Turkey once again is retreating into "dark ages mode" with threats

by Prime Erdogan following comments during a recent visit to London

to expel 100,000 Armenians in Turkey "if necessary I will tell the

100,000: OK, time to go back to your country".

 

The issue of the Armenian genocide and the failure by Turkey to

recognise this ever happened, not only discredits any aspirations

that Turkey has of joining the European Union, but also its supporters

which include the current Conservative and Labour party's in the UK.

 

Over 20 countries have accused the Ottoman Turks of genocide over the

killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians during the First World War;

Sweden this week passed a resolution in its parliament recognising

the genocide and calling for Turkey to follow suit. Prime Minister

Erdogan then cancelled his visit to Stockholm and recalled the Turkish

Ambassador in protest.

 

Turkey is now at its most dangerous, and may also as some have pointed

out more likely to swing towards the East than the West, with ever

closer ties to Iran.

 

Turkey needs some carrots, but must also begin to play ball over

the gambit of issues that are pre-requisites it must resolve before

EU membership is seriously considered. The United States has warned

Turkey that it would pay "the price" if it was to side with Iran in

the UN Security Counsel over the nuclear issue.

 

Once again Turkey is not interested in what the "political mood"

is in Brussels, Paris or London, but is not more interested in what

is in Ankara's and Islam's interest.

[Aratta-Kingdom]

TURKEY GOES INTO "DARK AGES MODE" FOLLOWING ARMENIAN EXPULSION THREAT

 

London Daily News

http://www.thelondon...eat-p-3904.html

March 18 2010

 

The United States has warned

Turkey that it would pay "the price" if it was to side with Iran in

the UN Security Counsel over the nuclear issue.

 

 

First they tried to please the turks by forcing Armenia to sign the protocols. David Axelroad and Rahm Emanuel are the architects of the protocol based diplomacy. They sent Mattew Bryza to spent 17 hours at the Armenian foreiegn ministery, to blackmail Nalbandyan and Sargsyan in all possible ways. After the turks got what they wanted, they refused to cooperate with the U.S. and Israel. Berman-Sherman team from the Foreiegn Affairs Committee used the Armenian Genocide bill to put more pressure on the turks. That didn't work either. While in London, turkish erdogan declared "why Israel can have an attomic bomb, and not Iran?". Hours later, talking about the Armenian Genocide bill, Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon said they cannot stop the Congress. "Congress is an independent body and they are going to do what they decide to do".

 

How much more needs to be done in order to understand that the turks will always side with Iran? The turkish government even accuses Israel of Genocide against the Palestinians.

[Yervant1]

TURKEY'S TURNING INTO NAZI GERMANY?

 

Tert.am

17:00 * 18.03.10

 

Turkish news source Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review

correspondent Yýlmaz Ozdil, referring to Turkish Prime Minister Recep

Tayyip Erdoðan's recent statements on deporting Armenians living in

Turkey, said that Turkey mustn't be allowed to become Nazi Germany.

 

We mustn't allow the issue to get to the point where, in Turkey,

they begin to say, "Our citizens are unemployed, why are you

giving foreigners work?" That's the most dangerous. If we say,

"the Armenians came, they took our work from our hands," we will

turn into Nazi Germany, said Ozdil in an interview with CNN Turk,

while calling Erdoðan's statements a joke"

 

"To prove that we're not oppressing Armenians, we deport them. To prove

that we haven't initiated an eviction, we're initiating a contemporary

eviction. That's simply mockery," said the Turkish journalist.

[Aratta-Kingdom]

 

 

Armenians ‘Sought To Wipe Out Turks’

 

Radio Liberty

http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/1988729.html

 

 

Armenians in the Ottoman Empire never faced a genocidal government policy and, on the contrary, themselves plotted to exterminate Turks, according to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

 

 

Erdogan was reported to angrily dispute many historians’ view that 1915 massacres of Ottoman Armenian constitute genocide as he marked the 95th anniversary of a rare Turkish military victory during World War One.

 

“In 1915 and before that, it was the Armenian side that pursued a policy aimed at exterminating our people which led to hunger, misery and death,” he said in a speech delivered in the city of Canakkale. “Forgetting all that is unfair and heartless. Our warriors always respected ancestral laws and did not kill innocent people even on the battlefield.”

“I should underline that this country’s soldier is bigger than history and that this country’s history is as clean and clear as the sun. No country’s parliament can tarnish it,” Erdogan said, in a clear reference to U.S. and Swedish lawmakers’ latest resolutions recognizing the slaughter of more than one million Armenians as genocide.

 

“There is no genocide in our civilization. Our civilization is the civilization of love, tolerance and brotherhood,” he added, according to “Today’s Zaman” daily.

 

Erdogan followed a similar line of reasoning last November when he stated that the universally condemned killings of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Darfur, Sudan were not a genocide. “Muslims don’t commit genocide,” he said.

 

The Turkish premier did use the word “genocide,” however, when he condemned the deaths of several dozen Turkic-speaking and Muslim Uighurs during unrest in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region last July. “The killings of Uighur Turks by the Chinese police during demonstrations constitute genocide,” he said at the time. “I use this term intentionally.”

[Aratta-Kingdom]

Armenians 'Sought To Wipe Out Turks'

 

 

"In 1915 and before that, it was the Armenian side that pursued a policy aimed at exterminating our people which led to hunger, misery and death," he said in a speech delivered in the city of Canakkale. "Forgetting all that is unfair and heartless. Our warriors always respected ancestral laws and did not kill innocent people even on the battlefield."

 

 

Isn't there anyone in turkey to question this son of a turk about the 1909 Adana massacres? Armenians have lived in those lands for thousands of year. Armenian Highland is the birt place of the Armenian people. Yet, today there are only 70,000 Armenians left in the land where they have lived for thousands of years. If their warriors didn't kill unarmed, innocent people, then why is it less then 100,000 Armenians are left in turkey?

[Aratta-Kingdom]

 

Turkish Premier smoothing over his statement

 

 

http://news.am/en/news/17078.html

 

At a conference attended by the heads of regional chapters of the Justice and Development Party, Turkish Premier Recep Erdogan, the party leader, addressed his statements about the deportation of 100,000 illegal Armenian immigrants, which evoked a violent response both in Turkey and worldwide. Premier Erdogan severely criticized the journalists slating him.

 

He said that Turkey’s first step to resuming air communication with Armenia. The Turkish Premier called on some journalists “teaching humanity” to Turkey to perform their “functions as advocates” properly. “First of all, you are advocates of the Turkish people. Let them look in the mirror first and then write. We have renovated the church on Akhtamar Island without receiving anyone’s order. They do not see. There has not been any problem with Armenian citizens in our country. We are now trying to get the Syrians that left our country to return to Turkey. They do not see that either,” the Turkish Premier said. He stated that he by ‘deporting Armenians from the country’ he meant illegal immigrants. Erdogan expressed his regret that mass media misinterpreted his words. He reminded the attendees that he is the first Turkish Premier that has clearly stated Turkey’s attitude to national minorities. Addressing those urging him to apologize, the Turkish Premier stated that the Turkish leaders know very well who they should apologize to. “It is most important for me that my nation have what is becoming to it,” Erdogan said.

 

The Turkish Premier is well aware that the word “illegal” in the phrase “deporting 100,000 illegal Armenian migrants” does not matter. What matters is the word “deporting.” “Deporting,” which is close to the Turkish spirit, “mass deportation,” as one of his fathers, Talaat would say. As regards media outlets, most of them accurately quoted Mr. Erdogan. As to the third-rate mass media, their reports by no means justify the Turkish Premier.

 

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

Turkish Premier smoothing over his statement

 

 

http://news.am/en/news/17078.html

 

 

He stated that he by 'deporting Armenians from the country' he meant illegal immigrants. Erdogan expressed his regret that mass media misinterpreted his words. He reminded the attendees that he is the first Turkish Premier that has clearly stated Turkey's attitude to national minorities. Addressing those urging him to apologize, the Turkish Premier stated that the Turkish leaders know very well who they should apologize to. "It is most important for me that my nation have what is becoming to it," Erdogan said.

 

The Turkish Premier is well aware that the word "illegal" in the phrase "deporting 100,000 illegal Armenian migrants" does not matter. What matters is the word "deporting." "Deporting," which is close to the Turkish spirit, "mass deportation," as one of his fathers, Talaat would say. As regards media outlets, most of them accurately quoted Mr. Erdogan. As to the third-rate mass media, their reports by no means justify the Turkish Premier.

 

 

 

 

Why is he making the Armenians his target? Does he hates the Armenians? We already know from the history that iff these events were to take place 100 years ago, all the Armenians would have been massacred. Even today Armenians of turkey cannot elect a realgious leader without the approval from the government. Why do the Christian Armenians need an approval from a muslim let government officials?

 

I wonder how he would respond to the europeans, who would make same kind of remarks about millions of illegal turks who live in their countries.

Edited March 19, 2010 by Aratta-Kingdom

[Yervant1]

I guess Erdogans parents never had a frank talk with him about the Armenians or he is a pathological liar who believes in his own lies. But in reality he is looking very bad at home domestically that all this is happening under his watch and under his government.

[Yervant1]

What does 'silent diplomacy' means? Does it mean let's not talk and consider it a progress? Does it mean let's keep this silent mode until everything looks favorable for Turkey and then resume? Does it mean let's keep it silent untill all those countries who accepted the AG reverses their resolutions?

 

Hey Mr. president what does 'silent diplomacy' mean can you tell us? Or are you out of your mind just like your prime minister.

 

 

 

TURKISH PRESIDENT OPTIMISTIC ABOUT ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS

 

The Messenger

March 18 2010

Georgia

 

Turkish President Abdullah Gul has condemned the decision of certain

countries' Parliaments to recognise the Armenian genocide, commenting

that this will negatively influence the normalisation of relations

between Turkey and Armenia. He stated however that Turkey will continue

seeking this.

 

Gul also mentioned that the protocols signed in Geneva are already

being discussed in the Turkish Parliament. He said the ratification

process has not stopped and Turkey and Armenia are in a stage of

'silent diplomacy'.

Caucasus issues are our issues, and we as part of the region make all

possible efforts to maintain peace and stability here, the Turkish

President added.

[Armat]

Dare I say on the positive note if that happens we can increase our population by 100k if that figure is correct however real figure is about 15k.Turks are known in exaggerating facts.

I think sadly there are probably 2.5 million Armenians left in Armenia and still thousands want out.That's something to be concern.