ErdoFascism turks In Their Natural Behavior

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Asbarez.com

Erdogan Accuses Paylan of Treason for Genocide Recognition Resolution

by Contributor

April 26, 2022

in Armenia, Featured Main, Latest, News, Top Stories

Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Turkish parliament representing the People's Democratic Party (HDP)

YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has strongly condemned an Armenian member of Turkey’s parliament for demanding that Ankara officially recognize the 1915 Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire.

Erdogan said that a corresponding parliamentary resolution drafted by the opposition lawmaker, Garo Paylan, amounts to high treason.

The resolution not only calls for a formal recognition of the genocide but also says that the Turkish authorities must rename streets bearing the names of Ottoman masterminds of the genocide and offer Turkish citizenship to Armenian descendants of its survivors.

Paylan circulated the measure ahead of the 107th anniversary of the slaughter of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians marked on Sunday. Speaker Mustafa Sentop refused to include it on the parliament agenda.

Paylan’s initiative provoked a storm of criticism from other senior Turkish officials as well as a spokesman for the ruling AKP party.

“We regard as clear treason the manifestation of such brazenness in this body symbolizing the _expression_ of national will,” Erdogan said after chairing a cabinet meeting in Ankara on Monday.

Erdogan said that the Turkish authorities will take “appropriate actions” against Paylan. But he did not clarify whether the 49-year-old lawmaker representing the pro-Kurdish opposition party HDP will face criminal charges.

The authorities have for years tried to strip Paylan of his parliamentary immunity from prosecution.

Speaking to the CNN-Turk TV channel, Paylan described the furious reaction to his initiative as unprecedented. He said that similar resolutions drafted by in the past did not cause such a government outcry.

“I haven’t changed, which means that Turkey has,” he said, adding that Erdogan’s government is no longer willing to tolerate public actions challenging the official Turkish version of the events of 1915.

The HDP is the only major Turkish party to have recognized the World War One-era mass killings of Armenians as genocide.

Successive Turkish governments have denied a premeditated government effort to exterminate Ottoman Turkey’s Armenian population. Erdogan alleged in 2019 that Armenians themselves massacred Muslim civilians and that their mass deportations to a Syrian desert was “the most reasonable action that could be taken” by the Ottoman government.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu underscored Ankara’s stance on Saturday when he publicly made a hand gesture associated with the Turkish ultranationalist group Gray Wolves during a visit to Uruguay. Cavusoglu gestured to members of the South American country’s Armenian community demonstrating outside the Turkish Embassy in the capital Montevideo.

https://asbarez.com/erdogan-accuses-paylan-of-treason-for-genocide-recognition-resolution/?fbclid=IwAR0kOSCwP6VVksT-ncxvkhlnsfdtcEQXRvNtL908Lq74wZA4ZWyQfPR1x0U

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April 27 2022

Armenian genocide monument in Brussels vandalized by ultranationalist

Grey Wolves

By

SCF

-

April 27, 2022

An Armenian genocide monument in Brussels was vandalized on Tuesday by the Turkish ultranationalist Grey Wolves.

Armenian journalist Aris Nalci shared photographs of the monument, sprayed with red paint, on Twitter. The group spray-painted three crescents, the symbol of the right-wing Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), on the monument. They also wrote “F**k [Garo] Paylan,” an Armenian lawmaker from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

Paylan has faced an unprecedented level of backlash due to a motion he submitted on Friday asking the legislature to declare the mass killings of Armenians over a century ago a genocide.

Turkey categorically rejects the 1915-16 killings of more than a million Armenians as genocide.

In his motion Paylan asked parliament to recognize the massacre of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire as genocide and the removal of the names of the perpetrators of the genocide from public venues.

The motion was rejected by Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop on the grounds that it contravened parliamentary bylaws.

Conservative politicians and the Turkish right wing also expressed outrage over Paylan’s motion.

The Grey Wolves are linked to the far-right MHP, an ally of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Earlier last year, the European Parliament called on the European Union and its member states to examine the possibility of adding the Grey Wolves to the EU terrorist list.

In its 2019-2020 report drafted by Turkey rapporteur Nacho Sanchez Amor, the EP voiced concerns about the group, saying it was expanding to worrying levels not only in Turkey but also in EU countries.

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https://stockholmcf.org/armenian-genocide-monument-in-brussels-vandalized-by-ultranationalist-grey-wolves/

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Armenpress.com

Armenian community of Istanbul warns of risk of losing management of landmark Surp Pirgic Hospital

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09:32, 2 May, 2022

YEREVAN, MAY 2, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian community of Istanbul is alarmed by rumors that soon they might face obstructions in holding elections of the board at the Surp Pirgic (Holy Saviour) Armenian Hospital, thus losing the 188-year-old landmark national institution of the community.

Surp Pirgic (Holy Saviour) Armenian Hospital in Yedikule, Istanbul is technically regulated as a foundation.

In 2013, the Turkish government abolished the regulations governing the elections at foundations of national minorities, and new regulations have not been approved since then.

Bagrat Estukian, an editor-in-chief at the Istanbul-based Armenian Agos newspaper, says there are rumors circulating in the community that the authorities will soon introduce the new regulation, but the community is concerned that this won’t solve the issue.

“Very concerning developments are taking place. It’s about the 2013 abolition of the regulation, which they said was taking place because a new charter was being prepared. Back then, the elections were indefinitely delayed at the Surp Pirgic Armenian Hospital, which has a status of a foundation. They couldn’t prepare a new charter until now. Now there are rumors that a new charter will be introduced but nevertheless we won’t be able to hold elections of the executive board of the hospital. This could be an attempt to capture our biggest institution. It’s about an 188-year-old institution that is considered to be a national hospital in the community. It also has an elderly care component,” Estukian said.

Estukian warns that if the Armenian community would be unable to hold elections of the board then they could possibly “lose the hospital as an Armenian institution.”

“All Armenians of Turkey go and elect the current board of trustees of the hospital in the status of a foundation. Now, if we get deprived from this right, this would mean that this isn’t an Armenian hospital anymore,” he said.

The Armenian community recently organized an online petition against any charter or regulation that would potentially prevent them from taking part in the electoral process.

Moreover, Estukian added that this problem concerns all other national minorities of Turkey as well.

Asked whether or not national minorities could come together and join efforts against the regulation, Estukian said there are no developments like that yet.

Anna Gziryan

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1082115.html?fbclid=IwAR06BHN9kMWr2HMveiByKdVLiiwrIdDMBTzVerE06vrWcyySkis_mFIfT7Q

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Public Radio of Armenia

May 4 2022

Uruguay’s Senate puts appointment of ambassador to Ankara on hold after Cavusoglu’s nationalist gesture to Armenians

Uruguay’s Senate unanimously agreed Tuesday not to move on with its advice and consent regarding the appointment of Hugo Cayrús as the country’s next ambassador to Ankara following the embarrassing incidents caused in Montevideo by Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, MercoPress reports.

The decision was mooted by Broad Front (Frente Amplio – FA) opposition Senator Liliam Kechichian, at whose request the Upper House agreed to send the dossier back to the International Affairs Committee.

Cayrús “is a career ambassador of whom we have a high regard, it is rather a reason of opportunity,” explained Kechichian, who has already admitted she would prefer this appointment to be parallel to that of the ambassador to Armenia.

Çavuşoğlu had shown his fingers in a gesture linked with the Turkish far-right group Grey Wolves, to a group of Armenians objecting to his presence in the Uruguayan capital just days before another anniversary of the Armenian genocide perpetrated in 1915 by the Ottoman Empire, of which Ankara has admitted to descend.

The Turkish minister was in Montevideo to attend the opening of the new embassy and also to sign documents marking the beginning of negotiations for a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

The Senate is now waiting for Foreign Minister Francisco Bustillo to report on the current state of relations with Turkey after the incident. Cayrús already appeared weeks ago before the Senate International Affairs Committee to present his curriculum vitae and a work plan.

Earlier this week, Çavuşoğlu maintained his gesture was “the necessary response” to the protesters’ “unpleasant attitudes.”

“After these unacceptable and ugly attitudes, we gave the necessary response,” said Çavuşoğlu, according to Turkish media Hurriyet.

The minister also said he did not consider his attitude an insult. “We said that we should look to the future,” he added.

https://en.armradio.am/2022/05/04/uruguays-senate-puts-appointment-of-ambassador-to-ankara-on-hold-after-cavusoglus-nationalist-gesture-to-armenians/

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Bianet

Turkey - May 5 2022

Çavuşoğlu’s Grey Wolf salute to Armenians leads to diplomatic row between Turkey, Uruguay

Reactions continue against Çavuşoğlu’s flashing the Armenian protesters with the Grey Wolf sign in Uruguay. Uruguay Senate has delayed the appointment of an ambassador to Turkey.

İstanbul - BIA News Desk

After Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu saluted the Armenian protesters by flashing the ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves sign during an official visit to Montevideo on April 23, one day before the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Uruguay delayed the appointment of an ambassador to Turkey.

Upon the request of the opposition, the Senate unanimously agreed on Tuesday (May 3) to postpone the appointment of ambassador Hugo Cayrus to Turkey.

Senator Liliam Kechichián, one of the leaders of the "Frente Amplio" (The Broad Front) bloc, announced that they decided to re-send the file of Cayrus back to the International Relations Committee. In the Senate session, Kechichián emphasized that the decision had nothing to do with Cayrus ' person.

The first country to recognize the genocide

Uruguay is the first country to recognize the 1915 events as genocide on April 20, 1965, and a sizeable Armenian community, comprised of 1915 survivors and their descendants is living in the country today making Uruguay to have one of the largest Armenian populations in the world.

What happened?

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu visited Uruguay for the opening of a new Turkish embassy in Montevideo on April 23. After the opening, a group of Uruguayan-Armenians protested Çavuşoğlu with Armenian flags to mark the 107th anniversary of the bloody events of 1915.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu, smiling from his car, showed the "Grey Wolves" sign to Armenian protesters. The Grey Wolves sign, symbolizing Turkish nationalism, is mainly used by the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in Turkey. Çavuşoğlu's action created a reaction among various politicians in Uruguay including President Luis Lacalle Pou and Foreign Minister Francisco Bustillo.(AEK/TB/VK)

https://bianet.org/english/diger/261419-cavusoglu-s-grey-wolf-salute-to-armenians-leads-to-diplomatic-row-between-turkey-uruguay

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Shame on you! New Zealand.

New Zealand - May 6 2022

'Shameful' suppression of Armenian flag at Ataturk memorial

8:12 pm on 6 May 2022

Hamish Cardwell, senior journalist

@HamishCardwell hamish.cardwell@rnz.co.nz

A Wellington man who claims police threatened to trespass him from an Anzac Day memorial if he displayed an Armenian flag in memory of genocide victims says it is "shameful".

He said the exclusion kowtowed to an authoritarian Turkish regime, while a lawyer said it trampled on fundamental human rights.

Meanwhile, the Christchurch City Council has shot down a proposal for a flag pole, citing international relations implications for flying certain contentious flags.

Authority's actions 'shameful'

The genocide of a million Armenians by the rulers of the Ottoman empire is one of the terrible chapters of human history. Turkey disputes the number killed and the label genocide, but most scholars on the topic and many countries recognise the events as a genocide.

For a few years, without incident, Richard Noble has gone to Wellington's Ataturk memorial on Anzac day to silently protest the New Zealand government's lack of formal recognition of the extermination.

This year he introduced himself to a police officer on site letting him know he was going to hold his Armenian flag, but he was told doing so would be offensive to Turkish officials.

Masses of Armenians were deported from Erzurum during WWI, many into the desert, and few survived. Photo: Viktor Pietschmann.

Noble said the officer told him he had been authorised by the Wellington City Council to trespass anyone with an Armenian flag - on the request of the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Turkish Embassy - something they both deny.

"It was a shameful and expedient move by council to circumvent my freedom of _expression_ guaranteed under ... [the] Bill of Rights in order to protect the sensibilities of an authoritarian and repressive regime," Noble told a council meeting yesterday.

Noble said he left the council owned area that day, but stood out on the public road with his flag.

He said he was an RSA member and his grandfather fought and was wounded at Gallipoli - and his action was in no way to disparage the solemnity of the event.

Richard Noble protesting for recognition of the Armenian genocide, at the Ataturk Memorial in 2017 Photo: Supplied/ Richard Noble

Wellington City Council said it supported the rights of people to protest, and that it delegated trespass authority to Police on Anzac Day.

It denied ever being asked to stop or dissuade those protesting against Turkey.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry and Turkey's Embassy also denied making any request - and MFAT said no such request was made to it by the Turkish Embassy.

The police said "they were made aware a flag the man intended to display could be offensive to people of Turkish heritage attending the service".

It said a senior officer told Noble he would be asked to leave if he displayed the flag, and he could be arrested for trespass if he did not comply, but he was welcome to stay if he kept the flag away.

"The man has has then left the service without incident. He was not arrested or issued with a trespass notice."

Action breaches Bill of Rights - human rights lawyer

Human rights lawyer Douglas Ewen said the officer's actions were totally inappropriate.

He said it was hard to find rights in the Bill of Rights that were not being impinged upon.

"I find it remarkable to say the least that the police officer thought this was a good idea - that police officer needs some re-training."

Ewen said it would not hold water in court, and the fact Noble's protest was at an Anzac event changed nothing.

He said it was a was a terrible idea for the council to devolve power in this way.

'It is devastating for us' - Armenian calls for police apology

University of Auckland senior politics lecturer Maria Armoudian said a large number of her family was wiped out in the genocide and the incident on Anzac day was traumatising.

"It is devastating for us, ... deeply disturbed by this.

"Your wounds can't heal without some kind of acknowledgement that what happened in the past was wrong.

"We just want our history acknowledged and everything that was taken from us, and taken in the most brutal and violating ways - that's not that much to ask for."

Armoudian wants an apology from police.

NZ balancing criticism of Turkey's leader with maintaining access to Gallipoli

New Zealand has to strike a difficult balance while sticking up for human rights in the face of mass arrests and other human rights abuses by Turkey's leader President Tayyip Erdogan.

There was a serious falling out between the countries when the New Zealand's ambassador last year joined nine international diplomats calling for the release of a jailed Turkish businessman and philanthropist.

It has [https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/anzac-alarm-why-commemorations-at-gallipoli-are-under-threat/E7J5C57Y3DJUWA33FE6VFPCBQ4/

raised the spectre] of New Zealand being denied access to the Gallipoli peninsula for official Anzac celebrations.

Christchurch Council warns of flag pole's impact on foreign relations

Meanwhile, authorities in other parts of New Zealand are feeling pressure to avoid offending overseas powers.

The Christchurch City Council has denied permission to a community board to reinstate a flag over a Sumner community centre.

A council memo cites the cost and possible impact to international relations if the flags of Taiwan, Tibet or West Papua were flown.

It said there were no flags managed by the council in other suburbs, besides the city's airport which displays the city's sister-city national flags, so there needed to be a strong rationale for installing one in one suburb but not others.

Christchurch has seven sister cities, including two in China.

Christchurch City Council's head of the office of the mayor and chief executive, Jonathan King, said the memo was not provided to the mayor and councillors prior to it being sent to the community board.

Councillors have informally expressed concern about the protocols and have asked staff to review them, King said.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/466609/shameful-suppression-of-armenian-flag-at-ataturk-memorial

 

[Yervant1]

Kurdish News (Belgium) June 3 2022

Armenians and Syriacs: Turkish threats spares neither component

Armenians and Syriac figures in the Hasaka Canton said the Turkish threats against the NES spares neither component affirming their utter rejection to colonial projects in the region.

Since the first incursion into Syrian territories in 2016 by the Turkish occupation forces and the occupation of the city of Jarablus Turkish threats against NES and the peoples are on the rise. Turkey depended on foreign and Syrian mercenaries.

Components of NES are very aware of the threats posed and the dangers made by the Turkish occupation state against the region. This was inducted from the history of the Turkish occupation state and the massacres committed against peoples and by the current situation and reality on the ground in the occupied areas of Azaz, Jarablus, Sere Kaniye, Bab, Tal Abyad, Idlib And Afrin.

Co-chair of the Armenian Social Council Arif Qasiban affirms that the Turish occupation state seeks via its constant attacks to continued threats to occuy and annex more Syrian territories contrary to what it alleges. Its threats against the region threaten the local peace and security.

Arif said ''the Turkish occupation state by its attacks and threats seeks to subvert the co-habitation in the region and the coexistence in North and East Syria. Arif says 'this to make its aspirations a reality and to re0enact the scenario of massacres committed against Armenians. This is well seen as it targets the Assyrian and Armenian villages in Tal Tamr to expand the spot of it occupation.

Arif believes that the complementarity in the North and East Syria is the reason that aborts all schemes of the Turkish occupation state against the region and in occupying new areas. Arif laid stress of the necessity that international powers and countries bear their responsibilities in protecting people of the NES and to prevent further attacks by the Turkish occupation state against the region.

In turn activist Lusnak Kavorian says that ''the attacks of the Turkish occupation state are on the rise and its threats continue. These are an extension to the previously ones committed by the Ottomans against the Armenians and aim to annihilate the other components living peacefully in the North eastern Syria and to occupy more lands as it was the case of the Ottomans against her forefathers''.

Kavorian expressed confidence in the NES peoples and t=in the military formations to stand up to any potential attack on the region for the NES people depend on their will.

Syriac citizen Silva Bri agrees with Kavorian that the bids of the Turkish occupation state aim to occupy more lands citing what is being taking in the Assyrian villages in Tal Tamr district of the Hasaka Canton and the destruction afflicted upon villages and churches due to the shelling carried out on daily bases by the Turkish occupation forces and the affiliated mercenary groups.

Silva said '' the Turkish occupiers seek to expand the spot of areas they occupy and to occupy more lands. And to pass its Ottoman project in the region and to occupy NES.

Silva called on the human rights organizations and foundations and the guarantor states to bear their responsibilities to cease fire and to find solutions to the crisis.

L.a

https://hawarnews.com/en/haber/armenians-and-syriacs-turkish-threats-spares-neither-component-h31093.html

Watch the video report at the link below:

https://www.hawarnews.com/en/video/armenians-and-syriacs-turkish-threats-spares-neither-component-v1757.html

[Yervant1]

Public Radio of Armenia

Armenia - June 7 2022

In new report on Turkey, European Parliament calls for recognition of Armenian Genocide, urges ban on Grey Wolves

Without clear and significant progress on EU-related reforms, Parliament cannot envisage resuming accession negotiations with Turkey, warned MEPs on Tuesday.

In a report adopted on Tuesday by 448 votes in favor, 67 against and 107 abstentions, MEPs warn that in spite of Turkey’s repeated statements that it aims to become an EU member, over the past two years the country has consistently gone back on its commitments in relation to the accession process.

Referring to the European Parliament resolution of 15 April 2015 on the centenary of Armenian Genocide, the MEPs once again encourage Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

The European Parliament commends the recent rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia with regard to the decision to start bilateral contacts, the appointment of special representatives and the resumption of flights between the two countries; considers this attempt a highly positive development which has a positive impact on prosperity and security in the region; encourages both sides to pursue these efforts with a view to fully normalizing their relations and calls for the EU to actively support this process.

The Parliament encourages Turkey to pave the way for genuine reconciliation between the Turkish and Armenian peoples, including settling the dispute of the Armenian Genocide, and to fully respect its obligations to protect Armenian and other cultural heritage; expresses the hope that this may lead to a dynamic of normalization of relations in the South Caucasus; further welcomes Turkey’s diplomatic efforts to normalize relations with various countries in the Middle East, especially Israel; encourages Turkey, once again, to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

The report also urges Turkey’s authorities to increase their efforts to effectively address the dire situation of Armenians and other minorities in the country.

The European Parliament remains worried that the racist right-wing extremist movement known as the Grey Wolves, which is closely linked to the ruling coalition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), is spreading not only in Turkey but also in EU Member States. It calls for the EU and its Member States to examine the possibility of banning their associations in EU countries; calls on the Member States to closely monitor.

https://en.armradio.am/2022/06/07/in-new-report-on-turkey-european-parliament-calls-for-recognition-of-armenian-genocide-urges-ban-on-grey-wolves/

[Yervant1]

June 14 2022

Historic Church Service in Turkey Marred By Attack on Assyrian Family

https://www.barnabasfund.org

Posted 2022-06-13 23:02 GMT

 

A service was held in Mor Gevargis Church, Brahîmîye village for the first time in nearly a century. (http://www.aina.org/images/cameraicon.png Süryaniler)A Christian family were attacked in a village in Mardin province, south-eastern Turkey, shortly before a church service on Sunday, June 5.

 

The service in Mor Gevargis Assyrian Church, Brahîmîye village, was the first held in the building in almost 100 years, after renovation work which began in 2015.

The Yilmaz family -- the only Assyrian family who live in the village -- were attacked at their home by a group of around 50 Muslims. The family were at the time entertaining visiting clergy who had come to officiate at the service.

Dispute Over Land

The mob attacked the home with stones, sticks and other weapons. They then set fire to wheat being grown by the Yilmaz family. None of the family were injured, and the fire was eventually extinguished after witnesses alerted the police.

Some members of the Muslim family were arrested in connection with the incident.

"They threatened us," said Cengiz Yilmaz, "saying that they would not let us live in the village ... But we are not afraid. We will continue to stay here." He accused the attackers of specifically choosing the day of the church ceremony to re-open the land dispute.

The tiny remnant Christian community in Turkey is mainly historic Christian ethnic groups such as Assyrians (like the Yilmaz family) and Armenians; they still bear the trauma of the Armenian, Assyrian, Syriac and Greek genocides of the early twentieth century. During these genocides, at least 3.75 million believers were killed by Ottoman Turks, with many attacks occurring in south-eastern Turkey.

There are also a small number of Turkish converts from Islam.

In August 2021 an Assyrian Christian village in northern Syria was bombed by the Turkish air force in a campaign against Kurdish militants.

http://www.aina.org/news/20220613180207.htm

[Yervant1]

June 20 2022

The 'Christian East' Is Bigger Than You Know (And Worth Helping)

June 20, 2022 | By Alberto M. Fernandez*

Lebanon | MEMRI Daily Brief No. 392

Where does "the East" begin? The question is as much political as historical. For some the divide is that Europe is the West and Asia is the East. But borders and people move. British adventurer Sir Samuel Baker rescued the teenage girl who was to become his wife from a Turkish slave market in 1859. That was at Vidin, on the southern banks of the Danube in what is today northern Bulgaria. The papal agency known as the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA) was established with that name in 1924 to initially help persecuted Christians in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. The focus was more on Slavic and Greek Christians rather than what we associate today with the terms Near East or Middle East.

We see a similar, expansive and holistic, vision of the East in a recent effort launched by the American nonprofit the Philos Project called the Abraham’s Missing Child Initiative, seeking to "leverage recent developments in the Near East to strengthen and protect indigenous Christians by promoting religious pluralism" (fair warning: I am involved with this initiative and support its goals).[1]

One of the unique and most welcomed features of the Philos initiative has been to include Greece, Cyprus and Armenia in the broader discussion. There is little doubt that the Christians of the Middle East have experienced a bitter century of violence, displacement and repression. Much of the world’s focus – such as it is – has been, for example, on the depredations of extremist groups like ISIS against religious minorities in Syria, Iraq and Egypt. Those who follow the region more closely would be aware of Iranian inspired violence and repression against Christians, inside Iran, of course, but also in Iraq and Lebanon, perpetrated by Iranian directed death squads. The struggle for survival of Christian communities in the Arabic and Farsi speaking Middle East continues, these communities under tremendous pressure, with the outcome very much in doubt.

But Greece is a NATO and EU member. Cyprus is a member of the European Union as well. And Armenia was for decades a part of the Soviet Union, smothered and oppressed by Soviet Power but certainly not at risk of elimination. Their situation is, on the surface, different from the plight of Christian minorities in Muslim majority countries of the Middle East. And yet today all three of these majority-Christian "European" countries (confusingly, the South Caucasus is seen as an extension of Europe) are very much threatened, on the frontlines of an aggressive ideological and security challenge in the form of Islamist Turkey. Turkey, also a NATO member and European country, has under Erdogan’s AKP embraced an increasingly intolerant and belligerent political Islam dismissive of non-Muslims internally and non-Muslim states regionally. Kemalist nationalist Turkey was not exactly a good neighbor. The horrific 1955 Istanbul pogrom orchestrated by the government against the city’s remaining Greek population and the 1974 invasion of Cyprus that divided the island was carried out by nationalists rather than Islamists. But today Islamism and nationalism in Turkey combine in an even more ambitious form. Erdogan’s Islamists are allied in government with the neo-fascist MHP of Devlet Bahçeli.

Beset by economic problems of his own making, President Erdogan and his regime make constant threats directed against all three of these neighbors. On Cyprus, Turkey not only supports the permanent division of the country and has ethnically cleansed the northern part of the island it occupies militarily, it even seeks to prevent Cyprus from exploiting natural gas reserves in its own territorial waters. Cyprus – long before the war in Ukraine – was the only European country whose territory is still occupied by a foreign army.[2]

As for Armenia, Turkey and Azerbaijan orchestrated a bloody war of conquest over the ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) in 2020, but the aggression didn’t end there. Azerbaijan, with Turkey’s blessing has repeatedly sought to landgrab every exposed meter of the Republic of Armenia’s own territory – cutting roads, moving borders, seizing lakes and high points, sniping at soldiers and civilians, engaging in a constant, low-grade campaign of aggression and intimidation. Meanwhile Baku’s dictator, Turkey’s closest ally, threatens to take whatever else he wants of Armenia by force, "whether Armenia wants to or not."[3]

Meanwhile Armenia seems almost paralyzed as demonstrators seek to bring down a Prime Minister blamed for disastrous leadership in war and peace and for wanting to surrender still more Armenian territory to Azerbaijan.[4] Prime Minister Pashinyan, elected as a pro-Western reformer in 2018, Pashinyan is caught between aggressive adversaries Turkey and Azerbaijan and a dependence on Putin’s Russia, the only country strong enough and close enough to even minimally deter Ankara’s and Baku’s ferocious ambitions against their despised Armenian enemy.[5] Azerbaijan’s publicists in the West make much of the charge that Armenia is a Russian satellite but the Armenians have little choice in the matter given such a perilous neighborhood.

While Greece is the strongest of these three frontline Christian states, it too has felt the lash of constant Turkish incitement and threats. Turkey has recently blustered about Greece needing to "demilitarize" Greek islands (that is sovereign Greek territory) close to Turkey.[6] But Turkish incitement is much deeper and longer, with Turkey’s "Blue Homeland" (Mavi Vatan) doctrine, originally promoted by Turkish admirals in 2006 and now more openly embraced by Ankara, calling for expanded Turkish hegemony in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas, including in Greek and Cypriot territorial waters.[7] Turkey has also unsuccessfully attempted to use migration flows of desperate people trying to get to Europe as a weapon against Greece.[8]

Turkey’s constant threats and incendiary rhetoric against its neighbors backfired in the Middle East and, coupled with Ankara’s own economic problems, has caused Turkey to give in to Arab adversaries in Egypt, UAE and Saudi Arabia and to Israel.[9] Only time will tell how sincere and lasting is this latest Erdogan policy shift. The same softening of policy and rhetoric has not yet happened when it comes to Greece, Cyprus and Armenia. Those that care about the Christians of the East but also those concerned about the sovereignty and survival of small nations threatened by a bully should watch closely what is said and what happens in the Eastern Med and the Southern Caucasus.

*Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice President of MEMRI.

[1] Prnewswire.com/news-releases/philos-project-unveils-abrahams-missing-child-initiative-301554223.html, May 24, 2022.

[2] Washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/henry-kissinger-should-apologize-for-serving-turkish-imperialism, June 16, 2022.

[3] Asbarez.com/aliyev-again-threatens-to-forcibly-open-zangezur-corridor, December 7, 2021.

[4] Armenianweekly.com/2022/06/08/violence-escalates-at-protests-calling-for-pashinyans-resignation, June 8, 2022.

[5] Nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/armenias-protests-mask-reality-russian-influence-202845, June 6, 2022.

[6] Msn.com/en-gb/news/world/greek-pm-mitsotakis-says-turkeys-position-over-greek-islands-sovereignty-absurd/ar-AAYsJO2?ocid=uxbndlbing, June 15, 2022.

[7] Ifri.org/en/publications/etudes-de-lifri/mavi-vatan-blue-homeland-origins-influences-and-limits-ambitious, April 29, 2021.

[8] Ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/politics/2022/06/06/greece-say-turkey-can-no-longer-instrumentalize-migration_5481b4dc-8bfb-40de-944e-3b5951d9a03c.html, June 6, 2022.

[9] Agsiw.org/turkeys-ties-with-saudi-arabia-and-the-uae-walking-back-ten-years-of-tensions, January 28, 2022.

https://www.memri.org/reports/christian-east-bigger-you-know-and-worth-helping

[Yervant1]

PanARMENIAN

Armenia - June 24 2022

Armenian graves in Turkey targeted by Turkish treasure thieves

June 24, 2022 - 18:12 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Historical Armenian graves in the the Turkish city of Kars continue to be destroyed and looted, with the residents of the city demanding that the country's authorities protect said sites, Cumhurriyet reports according to Akunk.net.

There are many tombstones with crosses in the site known among the locals as the Armenian cemetery. There's also an Armenian church nearby, which is in danger of collapsing.

Both the church and the tombs have been targeted by treasure hunters who have dug large holes in there.

https://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/301114/Armenian_graves_in_Turkey_targeted_by_Turkish_treasure_thieves

[Yervant1]

Kurdish Press - Belgium

June 28 2022

Armenians hold AL, world responsible for Turkey for settlement in their lands


The co-chair of the Armenian Social Council, Arief Kasbian, held the Arab League and the international community responsible for Turkey’s settlement projects on the lands of the displaced Armenians in the occupied Syrian regions, Turkey and its endeavors to change the demography of the region, indicating at the same time that this policy is an extension of the Armenian massacres at the hands of the Ottomans in the nineties of the last century. .

NEWS 28 Jun 2022, Tue - 07:44 2022-06-28T07:44:00 Al-Hasakah - Hanar Ibrahim

The Turkish occupation state continues its settlement projects within the occupied Syrian areas amid the silence of the international forces, despite the rejection of the region’s residents and the warnings of the Autonomous Administration and human rights organizations in north and east Syria against Turkey’s efforts to carve out and annex the occupied Syrian lands.

The Turkish settlement projects are funded by "Qatari, Kuwaiti, and Palestinian" organizations and associations, especially in the Afrin canton, the occupied Serêkaniyê and Girê Spî/Tal Abyad areas. It was within the land of the Armenian diaspora in Girê Spî / Tel Abyad.

A local source from the town of Al-Ali Baglia in the occupied canton of Girê Spî / Tal Abyad told our agency on June 23 that the Kuwaiti "Sheikh Zayed Organization" had started building a religious complex on a land of 170 dunums owned by the Armenian diaspora Akop.

With Kuwaiti money, the occupation is building a religious complex on the land of an Armenian diaspora in Girê Spi - Hawar News Agency (hawarnews.com)

Commenting on the issue, the co-chair of the Armenian Social Council in al-Hasakah Canton, Arief Qasbian, confirmed to our agency that "the occupation of the lands and the forced displacement of the Armenians, and the seizure of their lands, is a systematic and continuous policy pursued by the Turkish occupation state, to eliminate the history, civilization and presence of the Armenians," indicating that this policy began since the massacres of Armenians at the hands of the Ottomans.

Arief noted that their occupied areas in northern and eastern Syria are witnessing a demographic change before the eyes of the world, considering the silence of international forces as tacit approval and partnership in the genocide of the Armenians and the rest of the region’s components of the Kurds, Arabs, Circassians, and others.

Arief Kasbian pointed out the silence of the Arab community towards the Arab organizations participating in financing the settlement projects of the Turkish occupation state, saying: "The organization that supports the settlement project on the lands of the Armenians is Kuwaiti, and Kuwait is a state in the Arab League, but the League is silent and did not express a clear position regarding the settlement on the Syrian lands. through these Kuwaiti organizations.

Arief Qasbian also held the community and international forces, led by the League of Arab States, responsible for the actions of the Turkish occupation state in terms of displacing the people, seizing their property, and changing the demography of the region. Turkey's settlement projects in northern and eastern Syria.

The co-chair of the Armenian Social Council in Al-Hasakah Canton, Arief Qasbian, called on human rights organizations and the United Nations to intervene and limit the project, which she described as "the Turkish-Kuwaiti-Qatari project", and the crimes of the Turkish occupation state against the peoples of the region, and to protect the existence of the components in light of attempts to exterminate them.

A

https://www.hawarnews.com/en/haber/armenians-hold-al-world-responsible-for-turkey-for-settlement-in-their-lands-h31510.html

Watch the report in Arabic at the link below

الأرمن يحمّلون الجامعة العربية والعالم مسؤولية استيلاء تركيا على ممتلكاتهم والاستيطان أراضيهم

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OpO3I0uopI&t=220s

[MosJan]

#putin now you know who your friends are 

[MosJan]

[Yervant1]

Why the sudden change? ErDOGan crossed Putin!

June 29 2022

Moscow Says Armenia Must Retain Sovereignty Over Zengezur And Azerbaijan Over Lachin – OpEd

June 29, 2022

By Paul Goble

In Moscow’s latest move on the Qarabagh dispute, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says that Armenia must retain sovereignty over what many call the Nakhichevan corridor through Zengezur and that Azerbaijan must maintain sovereignty over what has long been called the Lachin corridor between Armenia and what was Artsakh.

On the one hand, this reflects a Moscow tilt toward Yerevan as Armenia has objected to any talk of an Azerbaijani corridor through Zengezur; but on the other, it gives Baku something it has long wanted, clear support for Azerbaijani sovereignty over the Lachin corridor, something it can use to control the movement of people and goods between Armenia and Stepanakert

Lavrov’s words may allow Yerevan and Baku to make progress on delimiting the state border between them because they would appear to suggest that Moscow doesn’t want the area around Lachin to be the stumbling block to such an effort. Many observers had suggested that the two Caucasian countries will have little difficulty in drawing the border except near Lachin.

That is because drawing the border there would mean an acknowledgement by Armenia that the corridor is within Azerbaijan rather than a lifeline to what Yerevan hopes will be to a revived Armenian community or even political entity in and around Stepanakert protected by Russian “peacekeepers.”

Now, Moscow has come down on Azerbaijan’s side on this issue, something that will undercut European efforts to keep open the question of the final status of Qarabagh. But at the same time, Moscow has sweetened the deal for Armenia by taking a harder line on Zengezur/Syunik and insisting that there be no talk of an Azerbaijani-controlled corridor there.

Moscow clearly expects that the only way to make these twin positions work is for the Russian troops and border guards in both places to remain in place and that if that occurs, it will be Russia rather than the European Union that will be in a position to resolve or at least continue to exploit the Qarabagh conflict in the future (kavkaz-uzel.eu/blogs/83772/posts/55109).

Paul Goble

Paul Goble is a longtime specialist on ethnic and religious questions in Eurasia. Most recently, he was director of research and publications at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy. Earlier, he served as vice dean for the social sciences and humanities at Audentes University in Tallinn and a senior research associate at the EuroCollege of the University of Tartu in Estonia. He has served in various capacities in the U.S. State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency and the International Broadcasting Bureau as well as at the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

https://www.eurasiareview.com/29062022-moscow-says-armenia-must-retain-sovereignty-over-zengezur-and-azerbaijan-over-lachin-oped/

 

[Yervant1]

Public Radio of Armenia

Armenia - June 30 2022

Armenia does not see much progress in talks with Turkey

June 30, 2022, 14:00

1 minute read

Armenia does not see much progress in the negotiation process with Ankara, Armenia’s Special Representative for normalization talks with Turkey Ruben Rubinyan told reporters at the National Assembly today.

“Since the beginning of the process, Armenia has been very constructive, Armenia has the political will, and the success of this process depends on the political will of Turkey. As you can see, up to this point there has not been much progress” he said.

Rubinyan said there is no specific document on the table and reiterated that there is no issue of “re-delimitation” of borders on the agenda.

The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly noted that the proposal of the Turkish side to hold a meeting in Yerevan implies that “the Turkish colleagues consider the process to be two-sided.”

“But in this context, the statements of some Turkish officials that they coordinate or coordinate the process with Azerbaijan are a bit strange. But I repeat that the main thing in the process is political will, if there is will, the rest is easy to solve,” Rubinyan stated.

He added that the lack of progress so far does not mean there cannot be any in the future.

The Special Representatives will hold their fourth meeting in Vienna on July 1.

 

https://en.armradio.am/2022/06/30/armenia-does-not-see-much-progress-in-talks-with-turkey/

[Yervant1]

Public Radio of Armenia

Armenia - June 30 2022

Armenia rules out any road within “corridor logic”

June 30, 2022, 16:02

1 minute read

Any road within the corridor logic is excluded, Secretary of the Armenian Security Council Armen Grigoryan told a briefing today.

“Our policy remains unchanged. When we declare that our positions are now closer, we have progressed only with the logic that any road within the corridor logic is ruled out,” the Secretary said.

He said the issue of unblocking of communications has been discussed in both Brussels and Moscow.

“Azerbaijan had long been declaring that a corridor is being discussed. If I am not mistaken, on November 6, when Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk was in Yerevan, he announced that no issue with corridor logic is being discussed. The same happened after the Brussels talks. The spokesperson to EU Council President Charles Michel publicly stated that no corridor has ever been discussed. This shows that our approach in the negotiations has been this and continues to be this,” he added.

 

https://en.armradio.am/2022/06/30/armenia-rules-out-any-road-within-corridor-logic/

[Yervant1]

 

1945

July 20 2022

 

Is Turkey Sincere About Peace With Armenia?

By

Michael Rubin

Fifteen years ago, a Turkish nationalist shot Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink point-blank in the head, shouting to horrified onlookers in the heart of Istanbul that he killed the “infidel.” The murder made international headlines and shocked not only Armenians but also liberal Turks. There was a silver lining, though, as the Turkish government sought to change the narrative by addressing its bilateral tensions with Armenia.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan invited his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gül, to a soccer game in Yerevan, and more such exchanges followed. Finally, in October 2009, Armenian and Turkish negotiators agreed on two bilateral protocols that created a roadmap to formalize diplomatic relations, opening the border to end Turkey’s unilateral blockade and setting up a joint committee to address the Armenian Genocide.

Within days, however, optimism turned to defeat. The Turkish parliament refused to ratify the Zurich protocols, absent a greenlight from Azerbaijan. It was a nonsense excuse: Ankara commands Baku, not vice versa. It was also classic Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He feigned diplomacy to avoid accountability for the violence that logically flowed from his nationalist and extremist excesses.

At the same time, Erdogan sought advantage from a lack of relations. The Turkish-Azerbaijani blockade of Armenia forced Armenia to rely on Iran as its economic outlet to the world. Partisans then pointed to these ties as reasons to ally with Turkey and Azerbaijan over Armenia. In reality, this policy was like an arsonist setting his neighbor’s house on fire next door and then complaining about the smoke. Nevertheless, in Washington, such tactics work, both because the Turkey cadre at the State Department far outnumbers employees assigned to manage the relations of other regional countries and because Azerbaijan and Turkey’s embassies have traditionally been more active than Armenia’s.

History repeats. As Turkey today faces triple-digit inflation and looming bankruptcy, Erdogan again signals a willingness to bury hatchets and talk. Whereas he once berated Israeli President and Nobel Laureate Shimon Peres as a murderer, he now welcomes his Israeli counterpart to Ankara. And whereas he once promised he would stop at nothing to hold Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman (MBS) accountable for the murder of Saudi journalist and former intelligence operative Jamal Khashoggi, he welcomed MBS to Ankara last month after ordering the court case against him dropped. That Riyadh played hardball with Erdogan and forced his retreat raises questions about why Washington and Brussels always opt for a softer approach and then wonder why it never works.

Now, it is Armenia’s turn to be the subject of Turkey’s diplomatic turn. Almost two years ago, Azerbaijan, along with Turkish Special Forces and Israeli drones, launched a surprise attack on Artsakh, the Armenian-populated republic in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region whose status they had pledged to resolve diplomatically. That the attack occurred on the 100^th anniversary of the Ottoman assault on the Armenian-populated region was no coincidence. Erdogan repeatedly framed the attack in religious terms as a jihad against Christians.

Today, however, Turkey signals renewed interest in negotiating with Armenia. On July 1, Turkey agreed to open the border for cargo and non-Armenian, non-Turkish passport holders. Erdogan and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke directly as a result. While Turkish officials said they were coordinating with their Azerbaijani counterparts, Baku has been generally cool to Turkey’s diplomatic moves. The looming question now is whether Turkey truly wants to normalize ties with Armenia or, conversely, just wants to appear moderate.

There are ways to find out.

Rather than meet in Austria or other third countries, Turkey and Armenia can resume their talks in Ankara and Yerevan. Turkey signals willingness. Should Turkey be sincere, Turkish negotiators should pay their respects at the Armenian Genocide Memorial. They can also signal that they support a fair solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute by encouraging Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to resolve it rather than supporting his attempts to eliminate the Armenian population and erase their cultural heritage. The elimination of cultural heritage and restraint from ethnic cleansing should not be something over which Turkey should seek to bargain. Indeed, there is hypocrisy about Erdogan complaining about the treatment of Muslims while presiding over the elimination of Christian presence in Turkey, Azerbaijan, and even northern Syria.

It is in the interest of all parties to resolve disputes in the South Caucasus diplomatically. To do otherwise only benefits Russia and Iran. If the State Department wants to show diplomacy to be back, however, it can play a role. First, rather than reward Ankara for signaling conciliation, it should instead judge Turkey on the substance of its actions. Never again should Turkey reap the benefits of a policy it has no intention to implement. Second, it should appoint someone with ambassadorial rank to succeed U.S. Minsk Group Co-Chair Andrew Schofer, who has rotated into a new assignment. That the French and Russian co-chairs were ambassadors, but Schofer was a self-inflicted wound to U.S. influence. Third, maximalist approaches will never bring peace. Only cultural and political autonomy will. Artsakh is not Donetsk; it is not an artificial creation. Instead, it predates and has survived Ottoman, Soviet, and Azerbaijani attempts to erase it. It is time to embrace the Kosovo model.

Expert Biography – Now a 1945 Contributing Editor, Dr. Michael Rubin is a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Dr. Rubin is the author, coauthor, and coeditor of several books exploring diplomacy, Iranian history, Arab culture, Kurdish studies, and Shi’ite politics, including “Seven Pillars: What Really Causes Instability in the Middle East?” (AEI Press, 2019); “Kurdistan Rising” (AEI Press, 2016); “Dancing with the Devil: The Perils of Engaging Rogue Regimes” (Encounter Books, 2014); and “Eternal Iran: Continuity and Chaos” (Palgrave, 2005). You can follow him on Twitter: @mrubin1971.

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2022/07/is-turkey-sincere-about-peace-with-armenia/

[Yervant1]

July 23 2022

Armenians – A Century of Collateral Damage

23/07/2022

By David Davidian

Armenians became collateral damage twice in just over a century when great powers and those with parallel interests used nationalism in achieving their congruent goals. This article is meant to be less of a history lesson than it is to expose the consequences of manipulating nationalism for the benefit of third parties.
David Davidian

During the lead-up to WWI, the British and their supporters, to dismember the Ottoman Empire, needed to supplant (but not remove) Islam as the centripetal force uniting the Empire’s varied Muslim populations and replace each with senses of nationalism. The British plan, albeit one supported by others including Germany, was to create an ethnic glue—one of the strongest forces of nationalism—to supplant Islam.”

This operation was the most ambitious. As a British intelligence officer, TE Lawrence led much of the Arab uprising against the Turks, fulfilling the dreams of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, a secret arrangement between England and France with nods from Russia and Italy for the engineered dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire. The days were numbered for the archaic, despotic, and bureaucratic Ottoman Empire. Twentieth-century republics had their basis as nation-states. Germany’s Bismarck and Italy’s Garibaldi both architected the unification of their states within established borders. Nation-states, unlike kingdoms and empires, need a population with some form of shared identity.



Many internal and external forces contributed to supplanting Islam as the primary identity vehicle for Turkish-speaking Muslims in the Ottoman. The list included Pan-Turkism such as the Hungarian Turkologist Armin Vámbéry. Balkan Turks were exposed to the successes of European republics, including Mustafa Kemal, later known as Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and even Pan-Turkish writers in Baku. The 1908 Young Turk revolution that deposed the Ottoman Sultan had clear Turkish nationalist overtones. Young Turk ideologues such as Ziya Gokalp and pan-Turkist Munis Tekinalp, envisioned a Turkey for the Turks. Crypto-Jews (see Donme) in positions of influence encouraged a Turkish national identity. Zionists needed such dismemberment as a precondition for the 1917 Balfour Declaration. The 1913 coup d’etat by the proto-fascist wing of the Young Turk party set the stage for eliminating the unassimilable in an envisioned Turkish state. Under the guise of WWI, Armenian civilization was cleansed across Anatolia, followed by the Greek and Assyrian. Eventually, an _expression_ of Kurd identity became an enemy of the Turkish state. As the Empire was being dismantled, much of the Turkish war effort was being expended on deporting Armenians, killing a million and a half of them, looting their property, and escorting Muslim refugees from the Balkans and the Caucasus into former Armenian homes. Young Turks, especially those associated with Mustafa Kemal, were more interested in an eventual Turkish state than the rest of the Empire, already being disassembled by imperial Europe. Many interests did not like the presence of Armenians throughout the region. Exterminating the Armenians was one solution to the Armenian Question.

Today, some forces wish to dismember Iran if it will not unilaterally end its nuclear program and much of its advanced delivery systems. Despite Turkish President Erdogan’s anti-Semitic rants, Turkey is allowed to serve a neo-Ottoman policy that pressures Iran as well as Russia in Central Asia. The West, particularly Israel, actively encouraged and supported Azerbaijan’s capture of the historic Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020. This support was not based on so-called internationally recognized borders (note: Israel’s silent annexation of Syria’s Golan Heights and NATO’s creation of Kosovo violated such tenets) but rather to encourage a sense of an Azerbaijani nationalist success that is hoped to spill over into Azerbaijani-speaking northwest Iran. An increase in Turkish influence in the southern Caucasus that would supplant Russian influence would serve Western interests. What initially might have been a Russian-Turkish quid pro quo, with Turkey increasing its regional influence, instead resulted in a multi-thousand strong Russian contingent having installed itself ostensibly to protect what remains of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians on land that Azerbaijan considers its territory. It’s not that Israel or Georgia, the latter having offered its airspace to Turkish jets, with ISIS fighters imported into Azerbaijan to fight Armenians, had anti-Armenian policies, but rather both had pro-Azerbaijani policies for different reasons. The Azerbaijani capture of Nagorno-Karabakh and especially lands extending to the Iranian border is hoped, by certain regional powers, to impress upon Iranian Azerbaijan (called southern Azerbaijan by Baku) to consider demands for union with the Republic of Azerbaijan. The immediate goal is to add to Iran’s internal social and political pressure. The loss of Iranian Azerbaijan would dismantle Iran, as the British and others accomplish with the Ottoman Empire.

Over four thousand Armenian young men, and civilians, lost their lives fighting Azerbaijan’s 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, run by the Turkish General Staff. Unrestrained Turkish nationalism created a century ago is continuing to be used today generating more collateral damage.

Yerevan, Armenia

Author: David Davidian (Lecturer at the American University of Armenia. He has spent over a decade in technical intelligence analysis at major high technology firms. He resides in Yerevan, Armenia).

https://wgi.world/armenians-a-century-of-collateral-damage/

[Yervant1]

JNS.org

Uzay Bulut

Turkey: Why are non-Muslim cemeteries attacked?

Attacks against the cemeteries of Christians, Jews and Yazidis have a long history in the country.

(July 22, 2022 / JNS) The Istanbul community woke up on July 15 to learn of painful news published on social media: A Jewish cemetery had been subjected to the most cruel and callous attack. Gravestones had been desecrated, and some of the badly damaged graves had even been opened.

The Chief Rabbinate Foundation of Turkey announced on Twitter that the Jewish cemetery in Istanbul’s Haskoy neighborhood was targeted at midnight and 36 gravestones destroyed.

A later investigation revealed that the scope of the attack was even more devastating than earlier thought. The marble stones of 81 graves were broken, according to the newspaper Duvar. Some graves were found to have been excavated.

“After the attack, many people went to the cemetery to check whether the tombstones of their relatives were broken.

“Those who destroyed the graves are allegedly children under the age of 18. The police took five children into custody for the damage they did to the gravestones.

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“Beni Yohay went to the cemetery to check the graves of his relatives and said: ‘This is barbaric. This is a burial place. My blood froze when I saw the broken graves. I don’t understand why they are doing this. This is not the first time such an attack has been carried out.’

“Eli Yohani also went to the cemetery after seeing the news on social media. He said: ‘Here are the graves of my father-in-law, grandfather, grandmother, and my father, who died two months ago. … Things like this have also happened a few times before. There is nothing to say. Shame on those who did this.’ ”

Jewish cemetery desecration in Turkey. Source: antisemitism.org.il.

Muhlis Tatlı claimed that the children may have targeted the cemetery upon the instruction of adults. “Kids don’t do such things. An elder may have directed them,” he said. A shopkeeper who works next to the cemetery said that the graves were previously desecrated by those searching for gold.

Garo Paylan, an Armenian Parliament member of the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), wrote on Twitter:

“The fact that the attack on the Jewish cemetery was carried out by children aged between 11 and 13 does not alleviate the situation; it aggravates it. Who and what mentality have filled those children with hatred towards Jews?”

Attacks against non-Muslim cemeteries are widespread in Turkey. When Assyrian (Syriac) Christians in the city of Mardin, located in southeast Turkey, went to the cemetery of the Mor (Saint) Paul and Peter on June 29—their namesake’s feast day—Christians saw that the graves had been destroyed and the bones thrown out.

David Vergili, a prominent Syriac-Assyrian journalist and editor-in-chief of the Syriac newspaper Sabro, has family roots in Mardin. He has lived in Europe for the past 20 years and written about minorities in Turkey for more than a decade. Vergili told JNS:

“In the past two months, the graves of Syriac and Jewish communities in Turkey have been attacked and destroyed. The graves and holy places of the Armenian community have also experienced similar attacks before. These incidents and especially the attacks on the sacred places, graves and values of non-Muslim communities are not new and they constitute hate crimes. These attacks have racist, religious motives and mostly target groups that are not part of the Turkish-Islamic ideology. These attacks have been happening for years and there has been no improvement in the way the government responds to them. Given the past trauma of and attacks against the Christian and Jewish communities as well as the Turkish government’s denial of its own crimes, it is obvious that even the dead are affected by these violations. The hatred and humiliating discourse towards minority groups in Turkey manifest themselves as direct attacks on minority groups. Not only the living non-Muslim minority communities, but also their sacred places and their dead are not fully recognized and respected by large segments of the society and the government/state of Turkey.”

As Vergili pointed out, Armenian cemeteries in Turkey are also familiar with similar attacks. An Armenian cemetery in the province of Van was reportedly destroyed by bulldozers in August of 2021. A deputy of the HDP, Murat Sarısaç, asked Turkey’s vice president, Fuat Oktay, in a parliamentary motion:

“Has any investigation been initiated regarding the destruction of the Armenian cemetery?

Why are the Armenian cemeteries, cultural and religious structures in Van not protected? If there is a protection measure, why do similar destructions occur frequently?

Will you take any initiative to repair the destroyed cemeteries, cultural and belief structures in Van?

Do you have any plans to protect the many derelict Armenian cemeteries in Van?

Has an inventory of Armenian monasteries, churches and cultural structures in Van been prepared?”

Oktay is yet to answer the questions.

Sarısaç also pointed out these sorts of incidents are often reported in Van. “In 2017, a public toilet, some sort of dressing room and a carpark were built on Dilkaya Tumulus and the Armenian cemetery in Van,” he continued. “Because of treasure hunters and the negligence of the authorities, precious historical and cultural patrimony in and surrounding Van are damaged.”

Attacks by Muslims against non-Muslim cemeteries—the cemeteries of Christians, Jews and Yazidis—have a long history in Turkey. Ottoman Turkey committed genocide against Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks from 1913 to 1923. This crime is also recognized as genocide by the International Association of Genocide Scholars. Following the genocide, cultural and religious heritage belonging to those communities including their cemeteries were targeted, and in many cases, destroyed, across Turkey.

Even after the founding of Turkey in 1923, such attacks continued. During the pogrom that targeted Greeks, Armenians and Jews in Istanbul on Sept. 6-7, 1955, cemeteries were violently attacked. According to an article by Speros Vryonis Jr., a historian who specialized in Byzantine, Balkan and Greek history, Turks “profaned and soiled the Greek Orthodox religious vessels; they smashed and dug up the graves in Greek cemeteries, throwing out the bones and remains of the dead; they affected circumcisions on some elderly priests on the streets during the pogrom.”

Yazidis, a non-Muslim community native to the Middle East, are also victims of such assaults. Subsequent Turkish governments and Muslim citizens of Turkey have made varied efforts to Islamize the Yazidis. Author Yasar Batman writes that Yazidi temples were destroyed, and Yezidi graves were defaced in Turkey.

According to Batman, Yazidis lay their dead in graves on their backs facing the sun. But many Yazidi graves were opened, and the dead bodies were placed according to Islamic rules—this time facing the Qibla, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca.

Sadly, Turkey has transported this destructive tradition to Cyprus. Christian and Jewish cemeteries have been destroyed in the Turkish-occupied northern part of the Republic of Cyprus since the 1974 Turkish military invasion. According to a 2012 report,

“Even the cemeteries in occupied Cyprus became a target for the mania for the destruction of the Turkish invaders and their associates.

“British journalist John Fielding reported (The Guardian, May 6, 1976) that he and his TV crew had visited 26 villages in occupied Cyprus where Greek Cypriots used to live and did not find a single cemetery which had not been desecrated.

“In another report from Cyprus The Observer (March 29, 1987) states that vandals desecrated a great number of British graves in occupied Cyprus, some of them belonging to soldiers who fought in the First World War. According to the article, in the British cemetery at Famagusta all the crosses have been smashed, while at a cemetery in Kyrenia, the graves had been opened and the headstones smashed to pieces.”

Among the desecrated and destroyed cemeteries in the occupied north of Cyprus is the historic Margo Jewish Cemetery in southeast Nicosia.

Why are attacks against non-Muslim graves so commonly committed by many Turks, and why is there so much apathy towards these abuses? Ayse Gunaysu, a member of the Commission Against Racism and Discrimination of the Human Rights Association (IHD), told JNS:

“Turkey is a land of genocide. After the 1913-23 genocide against Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians, hatred against non-Muslims has been encouraged by the state’s anti-minority policies ever since the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, and this hatred has dominated the societal climate. The destruction of cemeteries is the destruction of the memory closely linked to the genocide.

“Photographs of the looting of the stores and businesses during the Sept. 6-7, 1955 pogrom in Istanbul are often shared, creating a perception as if this pogrom stemmed from “hostility towards the wealth of non-Muslims.

“However, the Sept. 6-7 pogrom showed a particularly terrible face in the attacks on churches and the graves of saints in churchyards. Graves were destroyed, and bones were scattered. Even a newly buried dead body was hung from a tree and a Turkish flag was stuck in its stomach. Photographs by Dimitros Kalumenos, the official photographer of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, published in two books by Istos publications, recorded the devastating images of attacks on churches and cemeteries during the pogrom. Hatred of non-Muslims is a state of existence that dominates large sections of Turkish society. As long as this hatred continues in Turkey, the destruction of non-Muslim graves will continue.”

Uzay Bulut is a Turkish journalist and political analyst formerly based in Ankara.

 

https://www.jns.org/opinion/turkey-why-are-non-muslim-cemeteries-attacked/

[Yervant1]

NEWS.am

Armenia - July 29 2022

Garo Paylan: Armenian youth beaten in Turkey on racist grounds

16:49, 29.07.2022

Karo Paylan: Armenian youth beaten in Turkey on racist grounds

A group of people attacked an Armenian youth named Arlen in Uskudar. An Armenian member of the Turkish parliament, Karo Paylan noted, calling the reason for the attack 'racist'.

“The fact that the assailants beat Arlen with intent to kill, and the perpetrators were not prosecuted, raises the suspicion that this was a hate crime. Arlen was beaten for being an Armenian?” the MP tweeted.

https://news.am/eng/news/714029.html

[Yervant1]

NEWS.am

Armenia - Aug 8 2022

Erdogan acknowledges direct participation in aggression against Armenia and Artsakh

19:18, 08.08.2022

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the conference of ambassadors spoke about the war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh and Armenia.

According to Turkish CNNturk, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that it was with the support of Turkey that Azerbaijan defeated Armenia in 2020.

He also believes that Armenia will correctly assess developments and respond positively to the calls of Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Thus, Erdogan recognized the direct participation of the second most powerful NATO country in the aggression against Armenia and Artsakh.

https://news.am/eng/news/715371.html

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.com

Garo Paylan accuses Turkey of deliberately destroying 1600-year-old St. Bartholomew Monastery

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19:02, 2 September 2022

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 2, ARMENPRESS. The Saint Bartholomew Monastery in the region of Baskale of Turkey’s Van province has been standing for 1600 years, however, in the past 100 years it has been damaged, isolated and now is being deliberately destroyed, ethnic Armenian member of the Parliament of Turkey Garo Paylan said on Twitter.

Paylan visited Van province these days and got acquainted with the conditions of Armenian churches, monasteries and other historical and religious monuments.

“The monastery is completely destroyed. The arch of the entrance door has been maintained, but the dome is in a damaged state. I am applying to the Ministry of Culture of Turkey from here. What do you think? What is the benefit from the destruction of that monastery? What do you think? Will Turkey gain or lose from the destruction of the monastery?”, Paylan said.

 

 

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Sept 2 2022

Kalçık: Historical buildings reminiscent of Kurdish and Armenian identity are being destroyed

Van ÇEVDER President Ali Kalçık said that all areas with historical buildings reminiscent of Kurdish and Armenian identity were destroyed by a conscious policy.

• ANF


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• VAN




• Friday, 2 Sep 2022

The old city of Van, whose history dates back 3,000 years, is on the way to extinction as it is abandoned to its fate, although it is a protected area.

The Urartians founded the city on the south side of Van Castle 3000 years ago. The city, which was the cultural, artistic, economic and political center of the time, served as the capital of the Urartians for centuries. Kurds and Armenians lived together in the city, which tried to preserve its former glory until 1915. With the Armenian Genocide, the historical city was plundered and destroyed.

This ancient city was waiting to come to light under the ground, but it was left to its fate due to the conscious policy of the state. The historical city, which is the target of treasure hunters today, is used as a place for grazing, shelter and rest.

Van Historical Artifacts Preservation Research and Development Association (ÇEVDER) President Ali Kalçık said: “There were mosques, churches, artisans’ workplaces, Kurdish and Armenian neighbourhoods and a bazaar center in the historical Tusba. Such an important ancient social space has come to the point of complete extinction today. They repaired one or two mosques in this old city, but Kurdish and Armenian buildings such as historical Turkish baths, workplaces, mansions and houses have come to the point of extinction.”

Cuneiform inscription destroyed

Kalçık continued: “As the saying goes, wherever there is a cross, there is always a treasure. Following this logic, they seriously destroyed Van's historical buildings and Van Castle, and took away many of their treasures. There is also Meher Kapı there. Meher Kapı is an inscription in cuneiform. On 12 September [1980], they smashed that inscription with cannons. They tried to destroy it in such an incomprehensible way. It is now in ruins in Tusba, the ancient Van. The authorities, who did not give importance to this historical city, turned Van Castle into a business. They cut people off from history, culture and tourism.”

A policy of destruction

Stating that the historical city must be reformed and cleared of treasure hunters, Kalçık said: “The old city has almost been turned into a molehill. Animals should be prevented from entering here. This old city is our culture. If taken seriously, it means a great income for the city of Van and its people. A great profit will be obtained both in terms of economy and tourism. Unfortunately, the administrators of the city don't do that. Decision makers and local authorities are responsible for protecting the values, culture, history, geography, water and soil of this province. Van Castle, the old city of Van, and other historical structures in the Van Lake basin, which are the building blocks that provide our connection with history, should be preserved and restored in accordance with their original form. Unfortunately, stones have been removed and destroyed in all areas where historical buildings are located. The destruction of these buildings is the product of a conscious policy. It is to destroy life, culture, Kurdish and Armenian identity and all values that belong to them here. This is a deliberate practice.”

https://anfenglish.com/ecology/kalcik-historical-buildings-reminiscent-of-kurdish-and-armenian-identity-are-being-destroyed-62238