TURKISH JOURNALIST URGES TO RELENTLESSLY EXTERMINATE KURDS

[Yervant1]

The savage shows it's ugly truth again! Turks will never change.

TURKISH JOURNALIST URGES TO RELENTLESSLY EXTERMINATE KURDS

00:04, 09.09.2015
Region:Turkey
Theme: Politics

Correspondent of Turkey's Anadolu agency Mustafa Uygun has urged on
his Facebook page to brutally exterminate the Kurds. Uygun's post
greatly resonated with Turkey.

He wrote: "Our last responsibility before the dead is not to carry
his coffin but shed blood. These mountains must turn purple with blood.

Our last responsibility must be slaughter, regardless of who they are:
young or old men, pregnant woman or a child."

Interestingly enough, the comment gained "likes" and also received
words of praise.

http://news.am/eng/news/285202.html

 

[Yervant1]

ARMENIAN-POPULATED DISTRICTS OF ISTANBUL ATTACKED

14:27, 10 Sep 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

The situation was tense in the Armenian-populated districts of Istanbul
this night, Arevelk.am reports quoting its sources in Turkey.

Turkish nationalist groups attacked Istanbul's Sisli, KurtuluÅ~_
and Besiktas neighborhoods.

"We must turn these districts into Armenian and Kurdish cemeteries,"
the nationalists were chanting.

According to the source, the violence is a consequence of the recent
clashes between the Turkish army and the Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK).

http://www.armradio.am/en/2015/09/10/armenian-populated-districts-of-istanbul-attacked/

[Yervant1]

ARMENIAN PATRIARCHATE OF CONSTANTINOPLE URGES TO REFRAIN FROM STATEMENTS TARGETED AT ARMENIAN COMMUNITY

15:54, 10 September, 2015

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Patriarchate of
Constantinople has released a statement condemning the ongoing
terrorist acts in Turkey urging to withhold from making statements
and announcements targeted at the Armenian community in Turkey.

"Armenpress" reports, referring to Anadolu news agency, that the
Patriarchate informs in the statement that they pray for the cease
of terrorist acts threatening the unity and integrity of Turkey and
establishment of long-term peace.

The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople expressed its concerns
that very often different articles can be found in Turkish media
targeted at the Armenian community in Turkey.

"From time to time expressions of some writers targeting our community
and identifying it with that terrorist group deeply insult the
Armenian citizens who have always been committed to this country
and possess civic consciousness. Using unjust expressions referring
to the Armenian citizens considering themselves a part of Turkey is
an attitude not fitting in the frames of goodness. We are convinced
that the majority of our nation does not agree to these alienating
expressions.", reads the statement.

Patriarchate strongly condemns any terrorist act in the country
expressing their condolences to the families who had losses during
these days.

http://armenpress.am/eng/news/818225/armenian-patriarchate-of-constantinople-urges-to-refrain-from-statements-targeted-at-armenian-community.html

[Yervant1]

FROM ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO KURDISH REBELS, TURKEY IS A NATION IN DENIAL

Worldcrunch
Sept 10 2015

Turkish political leaders and ordinary citizens are blind as ever
to why Kurds continue to fight for freedom. It recalls another open
chapter in the nation's troubled history.

by Umit Kivanc (2015-09-10)

OpEd-

ISTANBUL -- One of the most distinguishable qualities of Turkey's
Sunni Muslim majority is their penchant for jumping. Jumping one step
forward from where they're supposed to be, jumping one paragraph
below the one they should actually read, jumping just clear of the
matter they should consider or the historical issue at hand.

They can't, for example, discuss Armenian genocide. Because it's
not possible to talk about the period when the genocide was planned
and practiced. They always jump to what happened after because that
is where Armenian acts of revenge can be found. They rationalize
the mass organized slaughter and deportation of people from their
homeland by saying, "but, but..." and talking about "Armenian gangs"
and their actions. Somehow, though, there is never consideration for
how and why these gangs were formed in the first place.

I start with Armenian genocide because I don't think the handling of
the Kurdish issue is isolated from that. In fact, I don't think any
issue in Turkey is isolated from that. This is our national style.

The objection, "but the PKK!," the acronym for the Kurdistan Workers'
Party, comes the second the Kurdish issue is mentioned. This is how
the majority and the government rationalizes dealing with and talking
about this persecuted minority. Because the PKK considers murder part
of politics. The PKK kills people and does things that many supporters
of equal citizenship and civil rights for Kurds find deplorable.

Denying the facts

But most of the people who blindly hold anti-Kurd views and who fail
to consider why there is a militant faction of Kurds simply don't want
to accept the truth. They would have to do something about if they
accepted the truth. They would have to share life in this country
with the Kurds as equal citizens, an idea that disturbs them. The
Sunni majority doesn't want to lose its dominance.

What are these unacceptable truths that make them jump?

First: The truth that the Kurds are oppressed in this country. Why
should they be oppressed? Why is this an unchangeable situation? The
majority doesn't have an answer. Neither does the state. "It is like
that. You will be oppressed. Who will we oppress if not you?"

Second: The majority of Kurds consider the PKK the "armed organization
of the Kurds." There is a bond between them that can't be severed
by speaking about the crimes and wrongdoings of the PKK, no matter
how justified the criticism. The majority and the state have burned
their villages, which only further convinces these people that they
should have an armed organization.

Am I going too far? Excuse me if I go back to the Armenian genocide
again. Memories from that time push a threatened and oppressed people
to prioritize how they can survive. Most of the surviving Armenians
who managed to escape were from areas where they could arm and defend
themselves.

Can the Kurds, who were siding with the oppressors back then, forget
this? What do the state's actions regarding Kobane, Tal Abyad and
Carablus tell the Kurds? The message is clear: "We can have you
killed for our own benefit. We can turn a blind eye to your women
being kidnapped and sold as slaves. We can take your land from
you." For those who might have doubts, check to see that Qandil is
being bombed again.

Turkey's self-created monster

The Kurdish belief that they need an army is a direct consequence of
actions by both the state and the Sunni majority more generally.

Because too many Kurds who tried to create change through politics
and not arms wound up dead or in jail.

Burning down villages and forests were important counter-guerrilla
methods of the state in the 1990s. These methods alone must have
gained the PKK a few thousand militants. This also caused domestic
migration and created a poor and angry young generation in the cities.

This message from the Turkish government was, "I can burn your
village. I can burn your forests. I can kill your cattle. You will
not make a peep. You will move to the ghettos of the city and become
beggars, street vendors and porters." The Kurds preferred to make a
peep. Is that so strange, so unexpected?

And now, after June elections saw the legal Kurdish political party
receive enough of the vote to get 80 seats in parliament, the majority
and the state effectively say, "It doesn't matter that your party
transformed from a local to a nationwide movement. It doesn't matter
that you passed the election threshold and were able to enter the
parliament. It means nothing that this path promises a peaceful future
for the country. There will be no path of peaceful politics for you.

There will be no peace in your villages and cities. You do not have
the right to live unless you kneel."

The state was showing its hand when it was building fortified military
posts (kalekol) during the peace process, which was a hope for the
Kurds despite everything. Construction of these posts were like
billboards screaming to the Kurds, "We will get you the first chance
we get."

The government has announced the nullification of the June vote in
which the Kurdish party won 80 seats and is now seeking new, early
elections -- a second chance for the country's leadership to regain the
majority. July's fragile cease-fire collapsed, the Turkish government
has declard war on the Kurds, and the PKK leadership accepted the
offer to fight with haste and joy.

Finally, let's go back to the beginning and ask a question that may
seem silly. But not asking would be even more so. Why does something
like the PKK exist? Why are the Kurdish people willing to pay for
freedom with their lives, children and property? That we even need
to ask this question in 2015 after 35 years and over 40,000 victims
gets to the heart of the problem.

http://www.worldcrunch.com/opinion-analysis/from-armenian-genocide-to-kurdish-rebels-turkey-is-a-nation-in-denial/c7s19588/

[Yervant1]

CIZRE UNDER SIEGE: POLICE "BASTARDS OF ARMENIANS!"(VIDEO ADDED)

Turkey

A Cizre district of Å~^ırnak province, located on the banks of the
Tigris, blockaded for a week, the speaker of the Turkish police,
insult the Kurds by launching their "You are Armenians! Bastards of
Armenians!"ReportsAvaXascar on Twitter, adding that the city is under
siege. Firing mortars, shells and snipers have several casualties
among civilians, including 5 children. A call Selahattin Demirtas
leader, members of the pro-Kurdish party HDP coming towards Cizre,
denied access to the city by the Turkish authorities.

Twitter Images

Cizre encircled by Turkish police: "The Armenians, you ètes Armenians,
Armenians are proud of you! Bastards of Armenians! "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=4&v=ynYWp2k9vRE

Friday, September 11, 2015, Jean Eckian © armenews.com
http://www.armenews.com/article.php3?id_article=115970

[Yervant1]

'LYNCHING CAMPAIGN' TARGETS KURDS IN TURKEY, HDP OFFICES ATTACKED

By Rupen Janbazian on September 9, 2015 in Headline, News //

Kurdish National Congress: Erdogan must end violent, racist, and
divisive policies

DIYARBAKIR (A.W.)--In a Sept. 8 press release, the Kurdish National
Congress (KNK) said that coordinated mob attacks and lynchings on
Sept. 6-8 targeted hundreds of Kurdish civilians in Western Turkey,
injuring many and killing some. According to the KNK, the Turkish
police participated in some of the attacks against the civilians,
who have sought safety in the offices of the pro-Kurdish People's
Democratic Party (HDP).

A part of the destruction in Diyabakir (Photo: Dara Melike Gunal)

"The mobs are organizing themselves across social media, forming groups
and attacking homes known to belong to Kurdish families," read a part
of the KNK statement, which claims that attacks on Kurdish homes,
civilians, and neighborhoods are still ongoing and that hundreds of
thousands of Kurds are currently in direct danger.

Over the past few days, there have also been several attacks on the
HDP headquarters across Turkey, according to the KNK. "Attacks on 128
HDP offices have occurred with HDP signs and slogans ripped off and
replaced with the Turkish flag. Other offices have been set on fire."

The KNK has called on the international community to urge Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to "end its violent, racist, and
divisive policies" in light of the coordinated attacks.

Demirtas: We are facing a lynching campaign

HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtas accused the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP) of orchestrating the mob attacks and of
forcing the country into a civil war, reported the BBC.

A scene from the destruction in Diyarbakir (Photo: Dara Melike Gunal)

"We [Kurds] are facing a campaign of lynching," said Demirtas, who
accused both President Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu of
taking "the decision to start this war and intensify it."

Speaking to reporters on Sept. 8, Demirtas said the ruling regime
had manufactured the crisis after losing their majority in the June
general election. "We want to stop young people dying and let the
public decide the future at the ballot box," he was quoted as saying
by Today's Zaman.

Garo Paylan, one of three Armenian Members of Parliament in Turkey and
an outspoken critic of the ruling regime, said that authorities stood
idly by as his party's (HDP) offices were attacked. "Police are just
watching...what's being broken there is our hope of living together,"
Paylan told the BBC.

Diyarbakir's Surp Giragos Armenian Church Suffers Minor Damages

One source from Diyarbakir (Dikranagerd) described the situation
as an ongoing war in the city. Speaking to the Armenian Weekly, the
source explained how due to the imposed curfew and ongoing violence,
residents were forced to remain in their workplaces and homes for days.

Diyarbakir's Surp Giragos Armenian Church suffered minor damages
during clashes between Turkish authorities and Kurdish rebels on Sept.

7

The largest Armenian church in the Middle East, was left with broken
windows and damaged walls as a result of an explosion and gunfire

Meanwhile, Diyarbakir's Surp Giragos Armenian Church suffered minor
damages during clashes between Turkish authorities and Kurdish
rebels on Sept. 7, reported Turkey's Demokrat Haber. Surp Giragos,
the largest Armenian church in the Middle East, was left with broken
windows and damaged walls as a result of an explosion and gunfire.

Speaking to the Armenian Weekly, Raffi Bedrosyan, one of the organizers
of the Surp Giragos Diyarbakir Church Reconstruction Project and a
member of the Surp Giragos Armenian Foundation, said that plans to
resume Armenian-language classes in September have been postponed
indefinitely.

"We were planning on conducting Armenian-language classes in September
in Dersim and Diyarbakir," explained Bedrosyan. "Even though there are
no teachers, I had made arrangements for online courses for free. But
right now everything is on hold because no one wants to go outside,"
he said.

Constant Unrest

There has been constant unrest throughout Turkey after a suicide
bombing on July 21 in Suruc targeted members of the Socialist Party of
the Oppressed (ESP) Youth Wing and the Socialist Youth Associations
Federation (SGDF). The young activists were giving a press statement
on the reconstruction of Kobane, Syria, when the bombing took place.

A scene from the destruction in Diyarbakir (Photo: Dara Melike Gunal)

Four days following the Suruc attack, two Turkish police officers
were killed by the PKK's military wing, which claimed the officers had
collaborated with ISIS in the Suruc bombing. Since then, more than 100
Turkish police and military officers have died in attacks throughout
the country, according to several pro-government Turkish news outlets.

On Aug. 9, Abdullah DemirbaÅ~_, the former mayor of the Sur
municipality in Diyarbakir, was arrested by Turkish authorities
in Diyarbakir.

DemirbaÅ~_ has been an advocate for the rights of minorities in Turkey,
and was active in the reconstruction of the Surp Giragos Church. On the
occasion of the re-opening of the church, he addressed the Armenians
who had gathered there: "Welcome, my brothers and sisters...

We are very glad to see you in your own country, your own city."

On Aug. 18, reports surfaced that the pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions
Party (DBP) had declared self-governance in the districts of Sur
and Silvan in the province of Diyarbakir. The following day, the
co-mayors of the two districts--Sur co-mayors Seyid Narin and Fatma
Barut, and Silvan co-mayors Yuksel Bodakci and Meliksah Teke--as well
as Democratic Regions Party (DBP) representative Ali Riza Cicek were
detained by police.

http://armenianweekly.com/2015/09/09/lynching-campaign-targets-kurds/

[Yervant1]

TURKISH POLICEMEN VOICE ANTI-ARMENIAN EXPRESSIONS IN CIZRE

13:23, 11 September, 2015

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. Hatred of the Turkish police
towards their own nation was again manifested by anti-Armenian
expressions in Cizre district, which has been in blockade for already
a week. "Armenpress" reports that "Taraf" released a video in which
one of the policemen exclaims with irony after shots are fired:
"The Armenians are proud of you. All of you are Armenians."

In response to the voiced exclamations, one of the Cizre inhabitants
started shouting tearfully: "Mister President, I am talking to you.

It's enough already. Mr. President, it is enough. For heavens sake,
it is enough."

[Yervant1]

Armenian editor: When situation exacerbates in Turkey, someone always
remembers Armenians
01:55, 13.09.2015


Armenian community in Turkey wants stability to be restored in the
country and the bloodshed to be over, editor of Istanbul-based
Armenian `Zhamanak' newspaper Ara Gochunyan told Armeian News
`NEWS.am, referring to the statements circulated in Turkey that
Armenians are helping Kurds.

`Armenian community in Turkey joins the single position of the
overwhelming majority of the society, which wants solidarity to rule
in the country and everything to normalize. When the atmosphere
exacerbates in Turkey, the irresponsible mass artificially adds the
word `Armenians' to the agenda and brings certain accusations. This
isn't something unexpected for us. This seems to have become something
hereditary for the given part of the society,' he said.

Gochunyan also said that with this regard Archbishop Aram Ateshyan has
sent a letter to the Turkish PM, and also made a report, excluding the
credibility of the information that the Armenian community is
connected with the terrorist acts and current situation in Turkey.

`There's no crisis atmosphere; the life of the Armenian community is
going on in its usual course, and everyone expects the bloodshed to be
over as soon as possible and everything to calm down after the
elections on November 1,' he said.

After the parliamentary elections held in Turkey on June 7, the
relations between Turks and Kurds have become rather tense.


http://news.am/eng/news/285826.html

[Yervant1]

ARMENIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN DIYARBAKIR DAMAGED

14:40, 17 Sep 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

The Armenian Catholic Church in Diyarbakir became the target of attacks
by Turkish policemen during the curfew announced in Sur municipality
of Diyarbakir, Akunq.net reports, quoting Turkish Dicle News Agency.

According to the source, the policemen not only attacked the church,
but also stole some historic items.

Armenians are going to take the case to court, President of the
Armenian Association of Mesopotamia Arat Karagozyan told the agency.

He said the loss amounts to 300 thousand Turkish liras.

Karagozyan added that the Police broke the historic doors to enter
the church. He said six large historic faience pictures and a number
of carved stones were stolen.

Remind that the Armenian St. Giragos Church in Diyarbakir had earlier
suffered as a result of clashes between PKK and the Police.

http://www.armradio.am/en/2015/09/17/armenian-catholic-church-in-diyarbakir-damaged/

[Yervant1]

WE MUST TURN THESE DISTRICTS INTO ARMENIAN AND KURDISH CEMETERIES

September 23, 2015

Ottawa, Ontario - The Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC)
condemns the recent rise of Armenophobia in Turkey.

On September 4, the Kurdish town of Cizre in the province of Å~^ırnak,
Turkey declared autonomy by the Patriotic Revolutionist Youth Movement
(YDG-H) -- an affiliate of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Turkish
Government declared a curfew on September 4th and was lifted 6
days later.

During the 6 days of clashes the Turkish police were making
announcements via megaphones to the people of the town: "You are
all Armenians!"

On September 7, in the city of Diyarbakir, the largest Armenian church
in the Middle East, Surp Giragos, was left with broken windows and
damaged walls as a result of an explosion and gunfire.

On September 8, Turkish nationalist groups attacked the Sisli,
Kurtulus, and Besiktas neighborhoods of Istanbul, in an apparent
retaliation against the recent wave of violence that has gripped
Turkey. They chanted "We must turn these districts into Armenian and
Kurdish cemeteries".

Dr. Basmajian, President of ANCC stated "Whenever Turkey faces
internal conflicts, the government quickly blames its minorities of
wrongdoings. 100 years have passed since the Armenian Genocide yet
the same mentality and mindset is found in Erdogan's government. We
strongly condemn the recent rise of Armenophobia and ask Canada,
a NATO ally with Turkey, to condemn the recent acts of hate towards
its minorities by the Erdogan government."

* * *

The ANCC is the largest and the most influential Canadian-Armenian
grassroots human rights organization. Working in coordination with
a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout Canada
and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCC actively
advances the concerns of the Canadian-Armenian community on a broad
range of issues.

http://www.horizonweekly.ca/news/details/73479

[Yervant1]

Grew up Kurdish, forced to be Turkish, now called Armenian

By Pinar Tremblay
Oct. 11, 2015


Political prisoner Selman Gulbahce asked the judge for a translator in
Turkish court on Sept. 1. Gulbahce wanted to speak in Kurdish, his
mother tongue. However, the judge allegedly got very upset at the
request. Based on Gulbahce's writings after the court session, the
judge said, `There is no Kurd. You have been educated in this
country's schools. You are impudent, insolent. Leave my courtroom.'

And according to the reports, it did not end there. Justice Sevval
Akkas then turned to the gendarmerie soldiers in the courtroom and
said, `They are killing your comrades every day. They are killing the
police. As a woman, I am battling them, and you guys are just standing
there and watching. They are like the Armenians. If they are not
stopped in time, God knows what will happen.'

The alleged statement of Judge Akkas can be seen as part of a
spine-chilling trend in Turkey.

During the presidential election campaign of August 2014, then-Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, now president, said, `Let the Turk say
he is a Turk, and the Kurd say he is a Kurd in Turkey. What is wrong
with that? In the past, they spread rumors about me. They said I am a
Georgian. Excuse me, but they have said even uglier things. They have
called me Armenian.'

Erdogan's words caused an uproar, as Al-Monitor columnist Cengiz
Candar explained at the time. However, now we must ask why one would
be offended to be called an Armenian.

When the Kurdish-majority southern town of Cizre was under curfew in
September, the police taunted over loud speakers: `Armenians are proud
of you. You are all Armenians.'

In the Sur district of Diyarbakir, an Armenian Catholic Church was
targeted during another curfew in mid-September. The doors of the
church were broken and the signboard showing its establishment date
removed. Arat Karagozyan, chairman of the Mesopotamia Armenian
Association, told the media, `On the centennial of the Armenian
genocide, this is reminding us of the events of 1915 all over again.
These words, `You are all Armenians,' are also proof of the 1915
genocide. They are trying to portray Armenian as a bad thing. We are
quite distraught.'

In a rather mind-boggling tweet Sept. 7, presidential senior adviser
Burhan Kuzu wrote, referring to Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) members,
`The killed terrorists' bodies must be examined. It would be seen that
most of them are not circumcised. Wake up my Kurdish brother, wake up
already.' The pundits' and public's reaction to Kuzu's comments are
noteworthy. Most of them were sarcastic and below the belt. Yet, the
underlying idea was to differentiate the non-Muslims (as
uncircumcised) and identify them as terrorists. The tweet was
suggesting that PKK members are not Muslim, therefore, they are not
our brothers. But Kurds are Muslims, hence our brothers. Kuzu was
implying that Armenians, not Kurds, are the ones rebelling. And once
again, "Armenian" becomes a derogatory term to justify hatred and
enmity.

Al-Monitor interviewed more than 10 Armenian and Kurdish politicians,
pundits and activists to understand how this trend of branding the
Kurds as Armenians is affecting society and what kind of repercussions
it may have in the near term. Why do Justice and Development Party
members and government employees employ such a hatred-filled rhetoric
during the heated election campaign?

Fethiye Cetin, a lawyer and friend of slain Armenian intellectual
Hrant Dink, who has also discovered her own hidden Armenian roots,
told Al-Monitor, `Ogun Samast [the convicted murderer of Hrant Dink]
shot Hrant, he screamed 'Die Armenian!' Yet he had never known another
Armenian in his life or met one before. In the court, Samast said,
'Had I known Dink had a family, had kids, I would not have killed
him.' That explains how the political system is producing disposable
lives. Armenian is one of those worthless lives on the list. The new
generations are being taught to see Armenians not as human, but [as]
an entity to be despised and destroyed, the worst enemy. And the
school curriculum adds fuel to the existing fires.'

Cetin's explanation matches the real-life experience of Hatice
Altinisik, a Kurdish Alevi, who is a member of the Central Executive
Council of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). She told
Al-Monitor, `For decades, the governments in Turkey tried to wipe
Anatolia of any traces of Armenian identity. Murders and forced
immigration were not sufficient. Names of towns, streets, even recipes
were altered. Their churches became mosques. They attempted to rewrite
history. Now, [they are] telling the people of Cizre, under curfew for
nine days, 'You are all Armenians.' This shows us the fabricated 'one
nation, one belief' has collapsed. They have failed to destroy the
Armenian ghosts of history.'

Indeed, Altinisik has experienced firsthand verbal attacks by Veil
Kucuk, a retired brigadier general, who is allegedly the founder of
Gendarmerie Intelligence and Counterterrorism (JITEM), a secret
anti-terror military unit. Kurds attribute several cruel acts of the
1990s to JITEM. Kucuk confronted Altinisik, calling her an `Armenian
whore, Armenian bitch.' Altinisik explained to Al-Monitor that she
would not let that get under her skin. She told him, `Better to be a
whore of any ethnicity, than a murderer like you.'

HDP Deputy Chairman Alp Altinors told Al-Monitor, `Since the 1990s,
the official rhetoric has attempted to distance the PKK from the
public by branding it as Armenian." It was common to hear slogans such
as `They are not circumcised,' `Armenian seed' and `ASALA [Armenian
Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia] finished as the PKK
started."

"What is new is, they used to say PKK members are Armenian, not
Kurdish, but now they are calling all Kurds in the region with a
blanket 'accusation' as Armenian,' Altinors said.

Aline Ozinian is a regional analyst for the Armenian Assembly of
America and an Armenian correspondent for AGOS, an Armenian daily
published in Turkey. She told Al-Monitor, `HDP's success showed that
efforts to brand the HDP just as the Kurdish party failed. So to curse
it now they had to find another label, and Armenian is the worse label
they found. But if we think about it, do Kurds have some Armenian
blood? Possibly. Just like the Turks. We know that many young
Armenians were left behind, and today we hear some of their stories as
secret Armenians.' Ozinian blames Turkey's dwindling Armenian
population on public reaction to officials' statements. It's bad
enough, she said, that the word Armenian is used as a slur, but it is
not even a crime to kill an Armenian in Turkey.

"That is why Armenian children are struggling so hard to hide their
identity,' she said.

Bedo Gesaratsi, an Armenian from Turkey, views the issue from an
interesting perspective. He told Al-Monitor, `Calling one an Armenian
is killing two birds with one stone nowadays. Anyone opposing the
state deserves the treatment Armenians once received. Also, equating
the Armenian identity with that of the PKK helps the government, since
they cannot punish all Kurds for being Kurdish, simply because they
cannot afford to alienate all Kurds.'

We see that the `They are Armenian' labeling is aimed at the pious
Kurds, to distance them from those who might be sympathizing with the
HDP and to attract ultranationalist (Nationalist Action Party) voters
by igniting fires of patriotism. That said, the longer-term effects of
these populist policies are rather scary. As tensions increase in
Turkey, identifying with any minority group (be it Kurd, Alevi, LGBT,
Shiite, non-Muslim, Greek, Armenian or another) becomes a source of
fear again, and people try to hide who they are.

As Mari Esgici, an Armenian from Diyarbakir who owns a tavern in
Istanbul, once said, `We were Armenians by birth, Kurdish while
growing up and Turkish as adults.' That sentence on its own should be
a source of deep concern for anyone living in Turkey.


http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/10/turkey-armenian-kurds-minorities-forced-to-be-turkish.html#ixzz3oIMg3jNA