TURKEY ABUSES ALEVI DEAD

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TURKEY ABUSES ALEVI DEAD

By Jirair Tutunjian, Toronto,

24 July 2013

Alevis around the world would scratch their heads--if not get
angry--when they hear the truth about Toronto Turkish consul-general's
plan to install a monument for "Turkish" WWI internees buried in
Canada after the war.

Although the identity of the 15 to 20 Muslims buried at the Brantford
(Ontario) Mount Hope cemetery is not known, the most credible
candidates are Alevi immigrants, since they made up the majority of
the Brantford internees sent to northern Ontario by the government as
enemy aliens. The Canadian government--an ally of Britain--considered
the Alevis hostile or suspect because the latter had come from the
Ottoman Empire or had Ottoman citizenship.

The Turkish government, long adept at appropriating the lands,
property, and culture of minorities such as the Alevis, is now trying
to appropriate the dead Alevis to enhance Turkey's image in Canada
and to depict Turks as victims. The long-buried men at the Canadian
cemetery, who are most probably Alevis, are being identified as Turks
by the Turkish diplomat. This is manipulation to the nth degree. This
is "kidnapping" of the dead Alevis and is ghoulish.

Three years ago a Canadian researcher in Brantford revealed that the
internees came from Kharput and Dersim, a traditional region of the
Alevis and Armenians. The researcher informed the Turkish government
representative of his findings. Despite knowing this fact, Ankara
decided to erect a monument to the "Turks" buried at the Canadian
cemetery. Ankara is even sending an adviser to Prime Minister Raccep
Erdogan to officiate at the commemoration of the phony monument.

Because of his conquests, Suleiman I (1494-1566) of the Ottoman Empire
was given the misnomer "Magnificent". A more appropriate title for
the absolute monarch would be "Butcher", if one inquired the Alevis
and the Kurds. The "magnificent" sultan massacred more than a million
members of these two Ottoman minorities. Since then successive Turkish
governments have maintained an official policy of persecution against
the Alevis and the Kurds. To this day Turkish imams consider it a sin
to conduct the funeral ceremonies of Alevis in a mosque. Alevis are
"heretics" in Turkey.

While Alevis continue to be considered outcasts by official Turkey,
Ankara is brazenly using the long-buried Alevis to enhance Turkey's
image in Canada. One could call it double irony.

It's high time Alevis in Canada and around the world raised their
voices and demanded that Turkey stop its abuse of Canada's dead Alevis.

http://www.keghart.com/Tutunjian-Alevis