stanbull-s on fire

[Arpa]

stanbull-sh* t on fire.

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/11/world/europe/turkey-protests/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

 

Maybe now Syria can send back all those turkey supplied weapons back , along with a few thousand al qaidans .

[Arpa]

The Armenian connection.

 

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a32_1370928821

 

 

Monument to Armenian Genocide victims in Istanbul to be restored

Monument to Armenian Genocide victims in Istanbul to be restored“Say No to Racism and Nationalism” NGO in Turkey plans to erect a new monument in place of the old one that was built in the Gezi Park of Taksim Square in downtown Istanbul in 1919 and was later dismantled, Ermenihaber.am reported.

 

NGO spokesman Cengiz Algan said the monument was in memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, adding that the past should not be buried in oblivion.

 

According to Algan, the area of present-day Gezi Park and the adjacent area where a military unit is now located belonged to Armenians once. The land was given to the Armenian community by the sultan Suleiman Kanuni in acknowledgement of the act of his cook of Armenian descent who saved his life. An Armenian cemetery was there.

 

“The Kemalists seized the land from the Armenians in the 1940s. The stairs of the Gazi Park were built from Armenian gravestones. The Armenians were killed. Yet tens of thousands have survived and they are trying to prove the tragedy of their ancestors on these lands. We intend to remind people about the Genocide, not to conceal the truth. We want to inform visitors of the Gezi Park that a monument to the Armenian Genocide victims stood here in 1919. And we hope that one day a new monument to the Genocide victims will be built in this place,” Algan stated.

===

And this from AZG

http://www.azg.am/AM/2013061204

[Zartonk]

The most curious thing about these events is the immediate solidarity expressed by some Armenians, without pausing to consider that the bulk of the protesters are staunchly anti-Armenian Kemalists, engaged in a movement that started out of a vandalized Armenian graveyard. Edited June 11, 2013 by Zartonk

[gamavor]

The name of the city is and always will be CONSTANTINOPLE.

[man]

When Turkey turned against Syria helping in military-way the so-called "rebels," and took sides --its recent publicized policy of "zero problems with Turkey's neighbors" as expected proofed to be a false and deceptive policy, furthermore this deceptive falsehood has been reaffirmed with Turkey's refusal to negotiate its north Cyprus occupation, come to an agreement with the Kurds or open its borders with Armenia. When Turkey's PM was provoked with some of Turkey's neighbors and the Kurds and Israel he acclaimed loudly: "Beware of the wrath of the Turks!"

It turned up this wrath is equally applicable to the protesters to his regime who now are calling him Sultan Erdogan after their Islamic government leaders have abandoned the "zero problems with Turkey's neighbors policy". The last time Turkey had a protest strong as of today was in 1826, when the Janissaries started banging on pans and big soup pods, as some of today's protesters are doing in Turkey: banging on kitchen utilities -its goes in their blood.

What happened to those 1826 protesters? They were brutally suppressed, killed and eliminated. In JUNE 1825 the centuries-old Janissary corps was forcibly disbanded by Ottoman sultan Mahmud II when the Janissaries revolted against him demanding more food and decent meals; after the rebellion was suppressed by the sultan, and after its leaders were killed, many of their members exiled or imprisoned, the Janissary corps was replaced with a more modern military force.

It is as if on JUNE 2013 (after 188 years and in same month) the dead Janissaries have come back during the era of "Sultan" Erdogan and apparently will meet the same fate that those of the year 1825 "beware of the wrath of the Turks" means also wrath that the Turks can unleash against each other and between their own kind. This shortened article(for lack of space) of Stephen Lendman below explains why the government forces will prevail over the protesters who are mostly educated and may be US CIA inspired while during the past 10 years Erdogan have tripled the force of police with unlimited funds consisting of mostly uneducated Turks and peasants in short the typical brut Turks.

The irony in this situation is that Gezi Park and some of its surroundings belonged to the Armenians and any stolen land is bound to cause the sheding of the blood of those who stole it, sooner or later. The area of blood in Turkey is limited currently in this currant protest but the rivers of blood will flow all over modern Turkey someday because of the Genocide against the Christians and Armenians unless Turkey makes repatritation gives the Christian lands back to their owners and makes billions in compesasion, like Germany did to Israel, to the real owners, the fate of Turks in Turkey will remain doomed to extinction:---

 

Turkey - Epicenter Of Police State Violence

by Stephen Lendman June 13

For over two weeks, daily anti-government protests rocked Turkey. Police attacked peaceful demonstrators intermittently. They've done so brutally. Turkey's notorious for police state viciousness.

 

It's a democracy in name only....On June 11, Russia Today headlined "Turkish police oust Taksim protesters with tear gas as Erdogan cheers removal of 'rags,' " saying:

 

"Hundreds of Turkish police clashed with protesters in Istanbul." Doing so followed removal of barricades and banners. Erdogan's tactics are polarizing. He called peaceful demonstrators thugs, looters, revolutionaries, marauders and extremists.

 

RT correspondent Ashraf El Sabbagh said "(t)here are serious clashes in the small streets surrounding (Taksim). They are running after each other tossing stones, bottles and smoke grenades. It's a meat grinder in there."

 

On June 12, RT headlined "Istanbul warzone: Thousands of protesters try to reclaim Taksim Square," saying:

 

Riot police attacked protesters viciously. Clashes were fierce. "Thick smoke blankets the square. Turkish police are driving thousands into narrow side streets."

 

Bystanders are attacked. Tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray, and water cannons target indiscriminately. A man in a wheelchair was struck....Turkish protests appear to have legs. The more brutality Erdogan orders, the larger crowds grow. Growing popular sentiment opposes him. On June 11, dozens of Turkish lawyers joined protesters. They came to defend those arrested.

 

Police attacked them viciously. They did so in front of Caglayan Courthouse. Witnesses called what happened brutal. Lawyer Fatma Elif Koru explained, saying:

 

"We were just gathering to make a press statement about Gezi Park and then the police attacked. It was very brutal. Now 49 lawyer friends are in custody and many are injured."

 

"They even kicked their heads. The lawyers were on the ground. They were hitting us they were pushing. They built a circle around us and then they attacked."

 

On June 11, hundreds of police encircled Taksim Square. They fired rubber bullets and tear gas. They ripped down banners calling for Erdogan's resignation.

 

Later on Tuesday, dozens more lawyers were arrested. Since protests began, thousands were arrested. Thousands more were injured.

 

On June 12, brutal attacks continued. More arrests followed. Erdogan's uncompromising. He announced an "end to tolerance." None existed before his pronouncement.

 

He dismissively ignores criticism. He governs by what he says goes. "If you call this roughness," he said, "I'm sorry, but this Tayyip Erdogan will not change" [ironocally "Tayyip" means "Good"]......They're "manipulated" to protest, he claims. He won't let them dictate policy, he said. They're the "greatest threat to the society."

 

"For those who want to continue with the incidents," he said, (i)t’s over. As of now, we have no tolerance for them. Not only will we end the actions, we will be at the necks of the provocateurs and terrorists and no one will get away with it. I am sorry, but Gezi Park is for taking promenades, not for occupation."

 

A previous article called Turkey more police state than democracy. Press freedom is compromised. Censorship is standard practice. Dissent is verboten. Challenging government authority is called terrorism.

 

No country imprisons more journalists than Turkey. Television channels largely ignored protests. A bureau chief was arrested for airing what authorities wanted suppressed.

 

On June 11, TV channels broadcast a staged incident. Viewers saw half a dozen "demonstrators" throw molotov cocktails at police. They advanced on police lines provocatively....doing so lets authorities claim peaceful demonstrators are violent.

 

So-called protesters were undercover cops. Their mock attack was staged. Expect more like it if protests continue. Expect greater violence ahead. It's already brutal and increasing.

 

Instead of engaging protesters responsibly, Erdogan wants them crushed.

 

Can Oz is an Istanbul publisher. His London Guardian op-ed headlined "I can never trust the Turkish police and government again." Why before he'll have to explain.

 

Longstanding Turkish policy is brutal. Now it's more public, widespread and visible.

 

"For years I did not speak up enough, but no more," said Oz. "I could lose everything, but I cannot live a dishonorable life any longer."

 

"I am scared. With every speech that prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives, I feel the hatred and disgust against me and young people of my generation increase."

 

"All we are after is a bit of freedom, a bit of space to live and a few trees."

 

"(O)ver the past few days, I have witnessed so many lies from the police and government that I don't think I can ever trust them again. I have spent days with the protesters - withstanding another gas attack, cheering, singing chants and sharing food in the park - and I haven't encountered any signs of weapons or violence on their behalf."

 

Oz said he received hate mail and death threats. Participating in "passive resistance" leaves him vulnerable.

 

For years he feared expressing his views publicly. He failed to criticize political wrongdoing he witnessed.

 

He'll no longer stay silent, he said. He listed five demands he and other protesters want:

 

(1) They want Gezi Park left unchanged.

 

(2) They want arrested protesters released.

 

(3) They want police brutality ended. They want responsible officials prosecuted.

 

(4) They want the right to protest publicly.

 

(5) They want Erdogan-ordered violence stopped. They want him held accountable for his actions.

 

Oz is a large Turkish publisher. He's unaffected by neoliberal harshness. Most Turks want relief. Erdogan spurns popular interests. He's beholden solely to wealth, power and privilege.

 

Turkish workers and youths demand social justice. Young ones are especially outraged. Their living standards significantly eroded.

 

They've tasted neoliberal harshness far too long. They know nothing else. Their ability to make ends meet troubles them. Their futures are seriously compromised. They want something better. They deserve it. Perhaps now's their chance for change.

 

Turkey's economic model features capitalism's dark side. It includes economic freedom as a be-all-and-end-all, unrestrained profit-making, privatizations, cheap labor, deregulation, corporate-friendly tax cuts, marginalized worker rights, and speculative capital inflows.

 

Economic conditions are inherently unstable. Turkey suffers rolling recessions, crisis conditions, and fragile largely jobless recoveries. It's increasingly dependent on imports of resources and capital goods.

 

Youth unemployment tops 22%. It's rising. It's socially and economically unstable. It's untenable. It's fuel for public rage.

 

When well-connected private debtors are troubled or go bankrupt, their losses are socialized. Turkey's next crisis is certain. It's only a matter of when.

 

Ordinary people are hardest hit. Youths most of all. Growing numbers have no viable futures. Profits matter more than public needs. Insecurity haunts an entire generation.

 

The common thread is democracy in name only, inequality, political corruption, unemployment, growing poverty, insecurity, and corporate priorities over social justice.

 

Turkey has a long history of rebellion. Turks know what's going on in troubled EU countries. They've seen it throughout the Middle East.

 

People only take so much before reacting. Protesting is fashionable to do. It's unifying and energizing. It remains to be seen where things go....Turkey's military remains a wild card. Maybe it'll intervene. It's done it before. It may again. If not generals, perhaps party leaders or political opposition....

 

[man]

http://en.rian.ru/images/18165/91/181659152.jpg

Those are the stairs in Gezi Park which were made by the stones of the Armenian cementary that used to be in the site of that park.

[man]

Or-Dogan took off the statue of Turko-Armeno friendship statue in Erzurum because he said he did not like it but in reality was motivated by his religious belief that forbids friendship between the two religions. Now he decided he did not like Gezi Park and ordered its demolition to make way for a mosque and a shopping complex, despite disapproval of official mayoral and planning commission of Istanbul and the inhabitant of Istanbul, a city that already has many mosques and shopping complexes. What Or-Dogen wants he gets, he always wanted to make that clear despite the Muslim beliefs of doing everything in "council" with other Muslims.

On June 16, the party of Or-Dogen gathered a kangaroo crowd of 100,000 supporters for a speech and show of support to him. If you asked anyone in this crowd "what is tweeter?" he will answer: that must be a new brand of tea. So this crowd had to be brought to the meeting by buses from all over Turkey.

Or-dogan began his speech by evoking the Turkish Ottoman Empire, "Where is Sarajevo? Where is Gaza tonight?" he called out. He apparently was making allusion to the fall of the empire, hinting as the empire fell so modern Turkey will fall without him if the protests against him continue (he is looking forward to be the President next year). Or-Dogan addressed the protesters directly, he called them terrorists, plunderers and that they aren't real Turks. The arrests are continuing even doctors who are treating the wounded are being arrested. Since his opponents, who are citizens from various social backgrounds and from various political and religious beliefs, were not real Turks, he felt free to deal with them as "outsiders" from his Turkish society or as the enemies of the state --today with clouds of tear-gas, water cannons, boots, clubs and bulldozers; and tomorrow with something worst. After all who remembers today the annihilation of the gavours from among them, of course he did not say that but then..he said: "Those who work against Turkey will tremble with fear".

A few kilometers away from his meeting, tens of thousands fearless demonstrators had gathered again at Taksim Square voluntarily. Despite the use of violence and brute force by the police, the protesters continued to march and demand Or-Dogan's resignation.

Or-Dogan said in his public-relations speech that the protests was a conspiracy conducted by foreign powers. "These forces want to harm Turkey," he said. This may be only partially truth as the West does not want Or-Dogan as the president of Turkey next year since he will modify the Turkish constitution and give the presidency more powers and thus virtually make himself a virtual despot.

 

Or-Dogan, as a devout Muslim, before he began his final crackdown war against the protesters and the citizens' revolt, offered peace and reconciliation to them. He met their leaders in the middle of the week before 16 June. He said that judges would deliberate on the future of the controversial park and held out the prospect of a referendum on the future on the park even if the judges approved his plans. When the leaders rejected his plea bargain saying the issue is more than the park's future and more now about you as PM, Or-Dogan felt free to order total war upon them. Muslim belief says to approach your enemy with peace first, if the peace is rejected then declare war and annihilation upon your enemies. So now it looks either the PM will prevail or his opponents, there will be no meeting point.

[Yervant1]

US REJECT CLAIMS THAT TURKEY PROTESTS PLANNED BY AMERICAN THINK TANK

 

Today's Zaman, Turkey

June 18 2013

 

The US State Department has rejected reports in Turkish media which

claimed that the ongoing protests in Turkey were planned by the

American Enterprise Institute (AEI) with the help of the Jewish lobby

and the Armenians.

 

"We absolutely reject the accusations that US groups or individuals

are responsible for or have elevated -- or escalated, I should

actually say -- the protests in Turkey," Jen Psaki, the US State

Department spokeswoman, at a daily briefing late Monday.

 

After consecutive statements were issued by the international

community expressing concern over nationwide protests, the Turkish

government reacted harshly to the Western powers and accused "foreign

fingers" of manipulating the demonstrations.

 

When Psaki was asked about the limits of a US ambassador, who is

working abroad, in terms of this interference within the domestic

policy of another country, the US spokeswoman said the ambassador,

referring to the US ambassador to Turkey, was calling for the same

things publicly and privately other US officials have been calling

for.

 

"Being on the ground is something entirely different. Working closely

with counterparts he's known for a number of years is certainly

different. But one individual can't change what's happening on the

ground. He can just continue to add to the chorus of people who are

calling for restraint and calling for calm in handling this moving

forward," Psaki added.

 

Psaki was also asked if the US thinks both sides, demonstrators and

the police, are using equal amounts of violence during the protests,

and she replied that the reported violence did not come from those she

termed the "peaceful protesters."

 

"We have seen some incidents or some reports of violence or escalation

from all sides. So certainly we would encourage that from all sides,

but I'm not equating them," she said, adding: "We believe and still

believe -- and we said this, I think, on the first day -- that the

vast majority of people here are peacefully protesting, expressing

their rights to freedom of speech. We are not on the ground. There

will be investigations into what happened on the ground. So we don't

know all of the entities of it, but that's how it started, and we

still feel the vast majority of people are doing just that."

 

Psaki also maintained that the US was confident that Turkish

authorities will be able to do a "thorough and complete investigation"

regarding reports of police violence.

[man]

With a modern military force exceeding the 500,000, Turkey did not put its army at the service of the West despite the fact that US enlarged the Turkish army by Billions dollars in help for decades during the cold war with the Soviet Union and after that.

 

When US armies needed a passage to invasion of Iraq by the way of Turkey, Turks said NO, NOT POSSIBLE, and they prevailed.

 

Now, US can't afford another war in the Middle East, in Syria, and so they told Erdogan to do it for them. In Spring of 2012 the clashes at the borders of Turkey & Syria increased but it did not lead to open war between those two countries. Ordogan has aspirations for re-establishing the Ottoman Empire and the West has promised him he can become the new Caliph of the Middle East if he just obeyed the West as their tool. They made Erdogan believe that all he has to do to become a powerful Caliph is to invade Syria as proxy for the West.

 

When it seemed that the war will erupt at any moment, Putin paid a visit to Turkey in December 2012 under the guise of trade talks but in reality to give a personal face to face warning to Erdogen: To keep Turkey's hands off Syria and not even think about invading Syria. Ordogan obliged, he backed-off and declared a "cease-fire" with Syria.

 

In March 2013 Israel apologized to Turkey and they restored their broken relationship in hope that this will encourage the Turks to go on the offensive against on Syria.

 

On May 11, 2013, in the Turkish border town of Reyhanli, near the Syrian border, a sudden explosion killed 50 Turks. Now it was time, that killing surly would have galvanized the Turks to declare war on Syria and start their open invasion. But Erdogen would not take the bait, and the Turkish people in place of venting their anger on Syria, have opted for neutrality and with no-problems with neighbors.

 

June 2013 uprisings and protests in almost most cities and towns of Turkey against Ordogan, but Ordogan surprisely has prevailed against them.

 

Now the West has a change of tactic. Never depend on those unreliable stubborn Turks. The West's invasion on Syria will come from the south, from Jordan. Turkey's role would be humanitarian only during the coming war, for passage of humanitarian help and helping the refugees.

Edited June 22, 2013 by man

[man]

Or-Dogan and his party strike back

 

After calling the protesters "white sheep" and calling his supporters "black sheep" [when the Turks came from Central Asia invading Middle East & Armenia they were mainly divided into 2 large tribes: the White Turks & Black Turks. The "Whites" were weak and were eliminated by the "Blacks"] so in Or-dogan's words, the protesters will meet the same fate of the historical White-Turks.

 

Plus Or-dogan and his party have unleashed enormous criticism against Germany and European Union whom they accused being behind the protesters, organizing and instigating them. And according to recent news by Reuters the Eu was on the verge of scrapping a new round of membership talks with Turkey, evaporating for the time being Ankara's slim hopes of joining EU bloc. Moreover, according to Reuters, Germany has joined France --up until 25 June-- in blocking efforts to revive Turkey's EU membership bid, because of Turkey's handling of anti-government protests.

 

The protests started peacefully and the Turkish police had the obligation to PROTECT the peaceful protesters from pro-Ordogan powers and not attack them like savage wolves, without warning and in vicious brutish inhuman ways. So at last Germany in particular and Europe (if not the world) has come to know one more time that when it comes to the Turks they are not dealing with human beings but with savage beasts from Central Asia. Those savage wolves can put on sheep's skin & wool upon them, like a way of camouflaging themselves, in order to deceive the West but ultimately they will reveal their true inhuman beastly nature.

 

What is next for Turkey? They most likely will turn toward an alliances inside Middle East, despite sectarian and race differences, in order to establish a Middle East power bloc to attack by it Europe that has insulted Turkey during the recent protests, and a West that brought their Ottoman Empire to en end. Eu and Germany, trembling in fear and terror from the Turks, have agreed on Tuesday June 25 to continue accession talks with Turkey, but only after a progress report due in this coming October. This compromise deal helped to defuse the recent acrimonious dispute between Ankara and Berlin. 2 points for Turkey, 0 for Germany. 2 points for Ordogan, 0 for devil Merkel.

[man]

More important than the architect [Krikor Balian] though is the memory of a former Armenian cemetery left to oblivion. The place in which Gezi Park stands, where the Turkish Prime Minister now wants to build a shopping mall and a mosque, was once an Armenian cemetery. In 1551, following an epidemic, the land was given to the Armenian Church by Sultan Suleyman. It was later enlarged and walled.

 

In 1837 Surp Hagop (Saint James) Armenian Hospital was constructed next to it, and continues to function. On the ground of the cemetery a church, Saint Gregory the Illuminator, was also built. And between 1919 and 1922 a monument dedicated to the Armenian victims of 1915 was erected.

 

The cemetery was confiscated in 1930, on the pretext that the Armenian Church did not have a property title for the cemetery. The Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul, Mesrob Naroyan, attempted to reclaim the cemetery through the courts, arguing that Turkish law permitted ownership after fifteen years of uncontested occupation. But the court supported the government decision, and imposed a heavy fine on the Church.

 

The government allowed only two weeks to remove the graves. Some were taken to the Sisli Armenian cemetery, most were left behind. The cemetery was then taken over by the authorities, which sold off the tombstones. Some of the remaining marble stones were later used to build the staircases and fountain of Gezi Park while the confiscated land was sold to private businesses -- the Turkish radio company TRT offices, and luxury hotels such as the Divan Hotel, Hyatt, and Hilton.

 

4 July 2013

The Hidden History of Gezi Park

by Vicken Cheterian a journalist based in Geneva

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=59881

[man]

Considering the symbolism with which the site has been imbued, it is an uncanny and unpleasant fact of history that, for an entire people, Taksim Square already represents the demolition of the past. In an alleyway in Gezi Park, activists recently installed a makeshift tomb marked “Armenian Cemetery Sourp Hagop, 1551-1939: You took from us our cemetery, you will not have our park!”

 

Unknown to most of Istanbul’s brave protesters is that, centuries ago, members of Istanbul’s Armenian community were buried beneath the place where they stand. In the sixteenth century, when Suleiman the Magnificent was sultan of the Ottoman Empire, a group of conspirators is said to have approached an imperial chef, Manuk Karaseferyan, with a plan for him to poison the sultan’s dinner. Karaseferyan, however, reported the assassination plot to Suleiman, who offered him a favor in return. Karaseferyan requested a place for his people, the Armenians, to be buried. The Pangalti Armenian cemetery would become the largest non-Muslim cemetery in Istanbul’s history, although, after an outbreak of cholera in the eighteen-sixties, Armenian burials moved to the city’s Sisli district.

 

When the First World War began, there were two million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire; by 1922, fewer than four hundred thousand remained—a slaughter of 1.5 million that historians call a genocide. (The word “genocide” was coined by Raphael Lemkin, a Jewish lawyer and Holocaust survivor, after his study of the Armenian massacres.)

 

The campaign against Armenians involved confiscating their land, such as the cemetery; it was razed in the nineteen-thirties. Now part of Gezi Park, it is the site of hotels, apartment buildings, and a Turkish Radio and Television center. Gravestones remain on view, however: they were used to construct stairs.

 

Nearly a hundred years later, the Turkish government has not recognized the Armenian genocide. Few Armenians remain in Turkey. The Washington Post recently published an article about an elderly woman named Asiya—the last Armenian in Chunkush, a town that once had ten thousand.

 

In 1919, a memorial to the Armenian genocide was built in the Pangalti cemetery, but it was destroyed in 1922, years before Gezi Park was erected. Every year, a Turkish human-rights group called DurDe organizes a silent commemoration on April 24th, when, in 1915, several hundred Armenian intellectuals were rounded up for execution. It intends to reinstall a memorial in Gezi Park, but pressure from nationalists has prevented this thus far.

 

June 28, 2013

The Armenian Past of Taksim Square

Posted by Emily Greenhouse

whole article in the link below:

http://www.newyorker...sim-square.html

Edited July 5, 2013 by man