For years, official Turkish policy was to sow seeds of division between Armenians who still reside in Turkey, those residing in Armenia, and the diasporans by categorizing them as the good, the workable, and the ugly.
The Turkish government knew full well that the Armenians in Turkey had to be very careful in their expressions, as their lives and those of their families along with their livelihood and belongings could be jeopardized very easily. So, at times these Armenians and the community leadership had to repeat official Turkish propaganda in order to stay safe, hence the “good” Armenian label.
The “workable” group referred to the Armenians in Armenia, who were led to believe that the financial ills of their landlocked country would be alleviated the moment the Turkish-Armenian border was opened and that economic activity would abound between the two nations. (In a related case, Turkey promised the EU to open the Cyprus border many years ago, yet no such action has taken place). If the Turkish government was so worried about these Armenians’ financial wellbeing, why did it close the border in the first place? And why did it need a set of protocols to open them now?
Finally, the “ugly” group referred to the Armenian Diaspora, who are by majority the direct descendants of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide, with millennial roots in Western Armenia (Eastern Anatolia), and both land and financial claims.
After the failure of the recent “rapprochement” efforts, by way of the protocols, directly due to the insincere nature of Turkey’s policies in this arena, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is aiming to engage the Armenian Diaspora as a means to buy more time towards its denial campaign. Therefore, he has instructed his ambassadors and consuls general in North America to reach out to the Armenian Diaspora. They have stratified the diaspora into three groups: “those who derive benefits from claims of [genocide], those who migrated from Turkey but still have contacts there, and those who are in the middle. Seeking ways to establish dialogue with these groups, the ambassadors and consuls general will particularly focus on the second (middle) group.”
Davutoglu’s double entendre is not coincidental, neither is the real target of his latest “dialogue” efforts. He is well aware of the tight rope that an Armenian who lives in Boston, but is originally from Istanbul, and still has friends and family in Turkey, must walk in order to engage in a “dialogue” with the Turkish government.
That government is eons away from acknowledging the sins of its forefathers, as is painfully demonstrated by the remarks made by Davutoglu’s boss, the Turkish prime minister. Davutoglu knows that the Turkish archives have been cleansed of incriminating evidence over the past 95 years. Davutoglu knows that his boss has just threatened to deport 100,000 Armenian from Turkey working there illegally (a grossly overestimated figure, but one that resonates painfully with the Diaspora Armenians whose families have tasted the realities of Turkish “deportation” efforts). Davutoglu knows that his boss has categorically denied the Armenian Genocide and has said that the Ottoman Empire even gave pocket money to the deportees to help with their journeys. Davutoglu knows that his boss has embraced President Bashir of Sudan and declared upon his visit to Sudan that he saw no genocide there. And Davutoglu knows that his boss has cried genocide in Israel (victims: Palestinians) and China (victims: Uighurs) over the past year or so, where there has been none.
So, Davutoglu, whose ministry could well be called the Ministry of Damage Control, is grasping at every straw to make its Armenian problem go away. It is trying to engage the Armenian government with insincere efforts, which seem to have backfired now. It has engaged in temper tantrums and blackmail when friends and allies have dared to speak about this issue. And now it is trying to engage the diaspora in a last-ditch effort to salvage something out of the deadlocked protocols. This is of great importance for the Turkish government, since its parliament is unlikely to ratify the protocols that were supported heavy handedly by the U.S. government. It is against sanctions against Iran, another point of contention with the U.S. government, and it has markedly ratcheted up its hostility towards Israel, the United States government’s most important ally. Therefore, it is quite likely the United States may finally decide to officially acknowledge the Armenian Genocide to let Turkey know of its displeasure, and in the process dust off its plans to bypass the Incirlik Base in Turkey as a supply route, since there is a good chance Turkey will block access to Incirlik, albeit temporarily.
While acknowledgement would be a great step for all humanity, it would be one taken for all the wrong reasons, as the U.S. government, the so-called champion of human rights in the world, should have recognized the Armenian Genocide decades ago on its merits, as it acknowledged the Holocaust, the Cambodian Genocide, the Rwandan Genocide (albeit belatedly), and the Darfur Genocide.
Ara Nazarian, PhD
Latest posts by Ara Nazarian, PhD (see all)
- The Emperor is Naked - September 20, 2023
- The Curious Case of the Diaspora Knocking on Every Wrong Door - August 16, 2023
- Hayaqve: A Civil Legislative Initiative to Stop the Betrayal of Artsakh and Armenia’s Future - July 26, 2023
I have 3 words for the Turkish Gov. No it is not have a nice day!But GFY.Their efforts to divide and conquer will not succeed.We survivors ;second ,third generation will not cave in .We the diasporan Armenians from Lebanon ,Argentina,USA , Europe and everywhere;will prevail .Turkish government will cave in to Human rights activist who are Turkish ,Armenian ,American and from everywhere on this planet.
Truth and justice will prevail.
I would like to share Mr Ara nazarian’s optimism regarding the recognition of the genocide in US congress. Optimism based on the fact that The protocols are the first major foreign policy failure for Obama administration, and definitely Turkey is to blame for it(as they didn’t ratify it, and they made Obama look like a liar).
But knowing how Turks play politics and run their affairs, I loose my optimistic enthusiasm.
Beautifully analysed by Ara Nazarian, the trap in which Turkey has fallen by its own actions; Turkey’s fastly growing arrogant behavior, built-up by its recent desperate bogus diplomatic successes, is leading the Turks to the brink of erratic trance.
The Turkish dream-like unrealistic actions are further exacerbated by the continued Armenian gains: the presence of a revived independent and sovereign Armenia at Turkey’s doors; the liberation of the Armenian territory of Artsakh from the genocidal intentions of Azerbaijan; the acknowledgement of the Armenian Holocaust by twenty or so important countries and 42 US states.
Turkey is cornered, it is at the mercy of the super power, Europe’s door is closed for her, it can no longer find in its neighborhood a vulnerable country to invade and occupy to survive a few more years with the stolen booty, like it has done for the past six centuries.
The world nows those facts and watches with expectations the demise of Turkey to come soon.
Kudos to Ara Nazarian.
Obama, although he has personally recognized the genocide, will not do so in an official capacity…no US President will until the Turks are no longer in a position to blackmail (this will not happen until Incirlik is closed and the US finally decides to set up a base in Northern Iraq instead–which is being considered as we speak). What the US has done and is doing is the following; they are supporting Armenia’s position of keeping the “protocols” and the Artsakh stalemate separate, in fact they share the same position as Russia regarding Artsakh. We will also see increased US aid (military and development) for Armenia. The US realizes Turkey is not going to open the border anytime soon. The US also recognizes that the Turkish position is untenable and it is the Turks who sabotaged the process the day after the awful protocol was signed. The current administration is not happy with the Turks regarding Iran sanction and the Armenian/Turkish peace process. There is also a sea-change related to the US position in the Caucasus as the current administration is neither pro-Saakashvili and they will not increase support or increase relations with Azerbaijan. After the about-face of the US position vis-a-vis Armenia since 1997, things are now turning around again. Armenia is smart to continue courting both the US and Russia. This isn’t everything we want but is not entirely bad nor is this wishful thinking either, it is already happening.
Joseph,
the current administration is happy that Turkey is engaging with Iran. USA can not establish direct ties with Iran. this would be the end of the current administration and the world would recognize that Iran has prevailed.
So, it is the advantage of washington that Turkey is engaging with Iran.
Another thing is that it is not all about Incirlik. it is about the entire region that has increased Turkey’s importance. even if incirlik closed (which will not be at least next two decades) Turkey will continue to play important role for its geopolitical importance. anything serious erupts in mid east would trigger earthquakes in the world economy which is not desirable for the west.
the US has lost its ability to reach to multiple regions militarily and economically. Rising powers are Russia, Turkey, (although their sphere of influence coincide) and China. Washington has realized this and let Turkey be active in the region. the PKK is almost over. the Kurdish problem is on ts way to be solved. separatists have understood that free Kurdistan will be established only after New Mexico, Arizona and California have become part of Mexico.!!
Turkey has become the 15th biggest economy in the world and joined G-20.
somethings are not developing as you want them to be, armenian brothers !!!
Dear Ahmet
With all due respect, US foreign policy is not about to throw in the towel and hand in the sphere of influence in one of the most volatile regions of the world to Turkey and Russia. Very adverse scenarios have been happening in the region for a long long time with primary US involvement one way or another.
There is no denying that Turkish economy has grown with a per capita GDP of around 11K. However, it has an unemployment rate of ~15%, population below poverty of ~18%, annual deficit of 45 billion and industry centered around textile, food processing and mining with other sectors such as electronics that do well mostly in domestic and central Asian markets. This is hardly the picture of a powerhouse nation, given that its military (which account for about 6-7% of the nanual budget) is fully dependent on US import and expertise to stay battle ready. So, Turkey is certainly overplaying its hand for strategic reasons, which is fine, but those in the know in the US and Europe and Russia are fully aware of the picture of the true strength of the country.
Given the desired volatility of the region, and the decades long precedents for constant shifts in local powers in the region, it will not take a miracle to replace Turkey from its current position of power. Imagine what will happen if a friendly government was to come to power in Iran? Turkey could easily be back to the pre- late 70’s place in the pecking order in the region in a very short while.
Yes, obviously a Turkish attempt to divide the Diaspora.
Sadly, there may be Armenian groups who would take up the offer of the geeky Davutoglu to talk.
Such conversations have actually taken place before, with no results. Back in the 1970’s or early 80’s the Turkish government spoke face to face to representatives of the ARF, ADL, and Hunchak parties in a meeting. This is well-known and has been written about publicly.
Turkey talks to its hostage Armenians all the time. Again, nothing has been gained. Turkish officials spoke with Diasporans quite often in the ill-fated TARC affair.
Again, nothing was gained.
Just look at the nutty Turkish genocide deniers who blog and post comments on this site and the Web. Nothing is gained by that. Those particular Turks have closed their minds. What a nasty, uninformed bunch they are.
Armenian diasporans dialogue with those Turks who do acknowledge the genocide. Thus, there is no need to talk to Davutoglu or his cronies, and it would do no good anyway. If Davutoglu wants to talk about the Genocide, let him talk to those Turks, including academicians, who acknowledge the Genocide.
Otherwise, we don’t wish to waste our time or Davutoglu’s.
Dividing the Armenians has been the Turks’ ploy for centuries. That has not and will not change. What is imperative is for Armenians all over the world to unite in the name of the Armenian race so that we can all prosper. Genocide recognition is the first step. Reparations and the return of the land stolen during and after the Genocide will be next.
You are wrong Ahmet. The US is not please whatsoever with Turkey’s relationship with Iran; Turkey is not supporting sanctions and Erdogan has embraced Iran/expanding relations and so forth (as well as Syria coupled with the deterioration in relations with Israel). This was one of the main themes of the US-Turkish talks in DC last week. Turkey was read the riot act by the administration. Davotoglu is now in Iran playing message boy. He is off to Baku next to give the Aliev ( whose father was the patriarch of the PKK btw–additionally, the Kurdish issue is growing more acute in Turkey despite superficial changes) with the message to butt out of the protocols. The Azeris are not at all pleased. Artsakh is permanently lost to them.
The base at Incirlik will be closed sooner than you think. Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo is almost complete and their are joint US-Israeli plans afoot in South Kurdistan. The grumblings in the Pentagon regarding Turkey is that they are tired of the threats and temper tantrums emanating from Ankara. Furthermore, the US feels that Turkey is growing unreliable. We will pull out of Iraq in the near term but will have a permanent presence in N. Iraq/Southern Kurdistan.
Regarding the Caucasus region, Russia, especially after the events in September 2008 (as well as Central Asia with the Kyrgystan coup) is tightening control of their near abroad. Georgia’s catastrophic failure was an indication to all interested parties that Russia is well in command of the region. While Russia is happy to have a magnanimous relationship with Turkey, they will not cede any control to Turkey and have a number of trump cards and levers to ensure this. Turkey might be able to bully Armenians and Kurds, but taking on Russia would mean they are punching well above their weight.
And please do not call us brothers. We are not your brothers nor will we ever be. It is insulting.
As in Sion Arakelian post, Armenian diaspora is making this sound as if this is all about reparations and land; otherwise, money– not really for human rights or human suffering. If only the Armenian diaspora approached this as it truly is, a human tragedy of enormous proportions all around where not only Christian Anatolian lives but also hundreds of thousands of Muslim Anatolian lives lost. As Hrant Dink correctly pointed out, this will not be resolved in foreign parliaments. This will be resolved by Turks and Armenians getting together and nursing each other’s wounds– as he put it, becoming each other’s doctor– to cure this malady that’s inflicted both, by listening to each other by showing sympathy and empathy toward each other. I have never heard Armenian diaspora utter a word about Muslim Anatolian lives lost. If human suffering we’re talking about, why is this so hard to accomplish? It is what the Turkish masses think that will make a difference, especially having been in the dark about this for so long. But one sided arguments as if Christian lives are worth more will always fall on deaf ears. Please people, your rhetoric is not working. It is time to rethink.
Hi,
Why most of people talks like official goverment spokesman in here. Dont you fed up from official history. I beilive that all official history is liying, in Turkey, in the USA, İn Armenia, in France, etc… We must belive the memories, because they are real and they are really painfull.
Dear friends you will see a few movies from Turkey about 1915, in near future, you will surprise like Hrant Dink’s funeral ceremony. Right now in Turkey in everyday and everywhere people are thinking and talking about 1915 some of them say ‘it was genocide’ some of them say ‘thousands of innocent Armenians died but it was not genocide’.
Best wishes from istanbul
Dear Ara,
Thanks for the comments. But, I disagree with you with regards to your determinations about Turkey. The official unemployment rate is %13 and and below poverty is %18 (according to UNDP) But, I advise you to take into consideration the current global economic situation. No coutry, Russia and USA included is immune from above normal unemployment and below poverty rates. (In Russia and USA figures are around %10.)
Russia’s artificial growth has been due to the past oil prices and Putin’s presidency. And Russia has its own internal problems. Your ominous prophesies about Turkey can well occur in Russia. The population in Russia is declining. Drinking is a big problem. Current popularity of Putin is in decline. Chechen problem is persistent. The artificial oil bubble has already burst after prices fell. The same miracles that you expect happen for Turkey may well happen to Russia too. And so on.
As for the US, I disagree with you too. The US can not disregard Turkey’s importance whatsoever. Turkey is indispensable. Last time it did in March, 2003, when Turkey’s sensitivity about the invasion of Iraq was not taken into consideration, it cost US thousands of its soldiers in Iraq. 75% of the logistic to Iraq goes through Incirlik. No other base can replace Incirlik. If it was the case, the US would have already done that.
I would wait some couple of decades to expect a friendly administration in Iran. Such a change would not come without a major collapse of this country, which renders it not a feasible candidate for the US.
The competition for sphere of influence is not between US and Turkey but between Russia and USA. Therefore the US will always support Turkey against Russia, although Russia and Turkey are in good terms with regards to trade.
US understood that, for example, how the Israeli policies have damaged its interests in Mid East. Therefore, I am watching the paradigm shift in this regard. Washington keep rebuking Tel Aviv. But I am aware that US and Israel are still allies.
I am not naive to assume that the US has lost its ability to intervene in the world events. It has the power but that does not mean it will necessarily utilize it. the American public opinion and world is not ready for another military adventure by the US. and will not be any time soon. For example, I would expect Washington to strike Tehran or at least support Israel to do this. but America vehemently rejects a military option.
In brief, Turkey is important in the region, has always been and will always be. This is the nature of international politics. With its 75 million population, strong army, and growing economy, noone can deny that Turkey has become a regional actor.
Turkey’s importance for Washington will once again be proven on April, 24.
Dear brother Joseph,
Please read what i wrote to Ara. There are some references to your points.
Moreover, Azerbaijan does not have the luxury to deny Turkey as its ally. no matter what happens Turkey and Azerbaijan will remain allies.
Yes, and Jews, Gypsies, Poles and other victims of the Nazi should say prayers and feel the pain of Germans/Nazis killed in the Dreden bombings. Ridiculous.
istanbul,
where did you get this notion that everybody in Turkey is talking about the events in 1915?
apparently you are from the armenian populated district of istanbul. look at the newspapers, TVs in Turkey? how many of those who talk about it can you find? NONE!
look at the armenian newspapers and web sites. almost everything is about Turkey.
you are telling not the truth but what you want to see, which is not happening.
Ahmet,
Allow me to demonstrate a typically Turkish, that is, sly and snakelike behavior that we, Armenians, as well as other nations who came to know the Turks firsthand, abhor. In one of your posts you call Armenians ‘brothers’, although this sounds highly duplicitous, while in the other you insult us by stigmatizing the Holy Trinity that Armenians, as part of a two-billion strong army of Christian believers, worship, as nonsense.
Armenians know the Turks too well, and we know your insincerity, slyness, sham flattery, and cruelty. How can you call someone a brother when you know that your co-ethnics have brutally killed, mutilated, raped, burnt and buried alive millions of us? Despicable…
Because of people like Peter A, two nations could not solve problems. Peter A and the like, throw up hatred everytime they talk. Then they blame Turks for being hate breeders.
PeterA, go read what you posted. it is full of slanders and hatred.
When you re-read you previous posts in which you dared to call Christian ONE Godhead–the Holy Trinity–a nonsense, do please come back and apologize. And after that I’ll drop my slanders. Sounds fair? Otherwise you’ll be a Turk Ahmet and the like for me, whim we know too well…
Greetings, Ahmet –
I’m just wondering: do Turks know what repentance is? Being a Christian I’d love to know whether anywhere in the Holy Koran, in which your prophet urged believers to respect the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) and not offend them, like you did? Seriously, I’d love to know if there are religious postulates and/or socially accepted behavior norms that acknowledge the notion of repentance. Could you refer me to any sura or a passage in the Koran, if you know of course, that calls the believers for repentance for their sins?
Thanks in advance.
N
This poem is for tyrants who think they can live forever
Those lost humanitarian genes.
“Life Roles, Like a Wheel”
A person called AB in the Armenian weekly wrote,
“500 years paced since Turks invaded Armenia”
AB, Ahmad and others…!
You’re a great provokers,
Do you want to turkify Us?
We’re born free we will live free
Even in an arid desert under the strong sun
Without shades of green trees.
And able to teach deniers
What the real democracy means.
If you know Turkish,
Remember their proverb
That says, “Life roles like a wheel”
So let us be pessimistic to reach the impossible
And let the wheels turn to where the justice exists.
Let truth invade and abolish invaders
Who wanted to abolish us and could not accomplish.
We are living the Internet Century;
If they invaded us 500 years ago
By their scimitars,
The Internet can invade them
And abolish their aggressive ‘cruel genes’.
It was just a than a month ago
When P. Rajab Endogen said (March 17, 2010)
“I will throw all Armenians out”.
The literates of the world seem shocked by his speech.
Turkey will be divided soon between Kurds and Allowes
And then Armenians will achieve their dreams.
Anatolia will return to thee original ancestries.
April 20, 2010
Dear Istanbul,
As far as I can see you are misjudging the political agenda in Turkey. Armenia and Armenians have been and will be always discussed in Turkey in terms of what sort of damages Turkey can face due to Armenian peoples and Armenia’s claims. I am well aware that in certain ‘intellectuals’ minds this is an important historical issue that Turkey no matter what should face with. I also believe that Turkey should freely discuss everything. However, for the vast majority of people this is nothing of importance or it is even a betrayal to the nation.
I agree that some moves by some groups will come from Turkey like the commemoration to be held in 24th April in Taksim. If you think that this kind of moves are important, then you are right. However I believe that is not so. People try to reflect that this kind of moves are indications of increasing public awareness regarding to 1915 in Turkey. This has nothing to do with it. What it does only increases the animosity against Armenia and the countries, which pass the resolution in their parliaments.
As for the US, I disagree with you too. The US can not disregard Turkey’s importance whatsoever. Turkey is indispensable. Last time it did in March, 2003, when Turkey’s sensitivity about the invasion of Iraq was not taken into consideration, it cost US thousands of its soldiers in Iraq. 75% of the logistic to Iraq goes through Incirlik. No other base can replace Incirlik. If it was the case, the US would have already done that.
A good replacement for Incirlik is obviously necessary. Perhaps somewhere else close by in the Caucusus… or maybe in an independent state in norther Iraq. Thank you for making this clear
There is NO country in the Balkans, in the Caucasus and in the Middle East that could replace Turkey in terms of strategic importance.
Give me a name of the country other than Turkey and I will tell you why it wont happen .
Maybe we could start with armenia? :-)
Maybe you could just voluntarily tell us why you think it would be impossible instead of playing children’s games
Do you mean, having a strategical importance, will give you right, to not acknowledge the Armenian genocide, committed by your government predecessors.
I am sorry for you. You will have to wait 5oo years more…
Turkish Republic is stronger than ever.
Don’t forget! 21st century will be the Turkish Century.
You will see.
Ahmet – The only reason why Turkey has been ‘strategically important’ for the West is because there was a Cold War confrontation, a NATO-Warsaw Pact confrontation until early 1990s. But it is clear to policy experts that Turkey’s ‘importance’ is now waning. The country grows more and more unreliable for the West both in terms of its deviation from supporting NATO troops in the Iraqi war and growing tendency towards Islamism. The human rights situation is terrible, Hrant Dink’s assassination and repressions against your intellectuals under the Article 301 have left negative impression on the world.
In addition, several plans exist to replace Incirlik. A new NATO base ‘Bondsteel’ is almost finished in Kosovo and there are US-Israel plans to build another one in the Southern Kurdistan. All nuclear weapons are also considered to be taken out from Incirlik.
These are the developments to start with. You may insert a smiley face next to Armenia, but you never know what can happen in the future. However, events on the ground show that Turkey’s behavior is becoming less tolerable by the West…
Sooner or later turks will pay for their monsterous crimes agiant many peoples including the Armenias.
Ahmet,
Keep pumping your turkish self up. This is because of your typically deep psychlogical defeciacy representing nothing but what is bad and evil in this world.
your “turk” is nothing but centuries of genocide and oppesion and forced conversion into a “turk”. making it a complete hoax.
Narek,
What you want to see blinds your eyes and you can not see what is happening. I am sorry for you.
After the cold war, Turkey’s importance has increased considerably. Turkey is the source of stability in an area.
Why would Turkey support troops in Iraq? Who supports them to begin with? If this is your criterion to say that Turkey is leaving the west, then Germany, France are not westerns.
There is nothing more natural for Turkey to embrace Islam. The more Turkey becomes Islamic, the stronger, more prosperous it will get. Islam is our religion, our culture. Things are going back to what they are supposed to be. I am glad for that.
Before talking about Turkey being Islamic, you better talk about how significant role the armenian church has in your daily life.
A base in Kosovo can only be a small substitute for Incirlik. Why would Kosovo be important? There are bases in Germany and Kosovo is less than an hour from Germany.
USA would not invest a major base in north Iraq where things are very unpredictable. USA needs Turkish air space for all the combinations to get to the middle east and afghanistan.
Turkey’s importance is not only because of Incirlik. Turkey’s population, strategic location, dynamic economy (15th largest economy in the world), strong army make Turkey inevitably the most important country in its region.
So, Narek. Remove your armenian glasses and take a look at the real world. you will see things very differently! :-)
Why would Turkey support troops in Iraq? Who supports them to begin with? If this is your criterion to say that Turkey is leaving the west, then Germany, France are not westerns.
There is nothing more natural for Turkey to embrace Islam. The more Turkey becomes Islamic, the stronger, more prosperous it will get. Islam is our religion, our culture. Things are going back to what they are supposed to be. I am glad for that.
Okay, so embracing Islam includes embracing Iran and all its policies? Is this what we are hearing?
USA would not invest a major base in north Iraq where things are very unpredictable
You mean like when Turkey feels like bombing the Kurds in northern Iraq? I see. This is a strange version of stability. And an even stranger version of what the US seems to need in the region.
Erdogan also seems to have savaged the protocols process. That’s something the US and Russia are counting on to work, not to have Turkey insist on things not in the protocols. Did you say something about stability??
Ahmet — I only wear glasses when I exchange comments with the Turks so I make out what is it that they’re trying to say. So don’t you worry about it. By the way, aren’t you the one who insulted Holy Trinity in some other discussion and never apologized? Well, guess what, in contrast to you I respect Islam and would never descent to the level of derogating other religion’s relics. But you did. Think for a second, and you may put glasses to appear more intelligent, how this characterizes you as a human being.
As for your arguments, I read them with a grin. Turkey is a source of stability? Are you kidding me? How can a country be a source of stability when it has problems with almost all of its neighbors and a bunch of internal problems, Kurdish being the most explosive? You call this stability?
Why would Turkey support NATO troops in Iraq, you ask? Noone asked your government to support troops in Iraq in the direct sense of the word. You were only required to secure the use of a NATO base (not Turkish base) as a transportation route. Yet, you refused.
As for notions ‘Islam’ and ‘Islamism’, I’m afraid you need to educate yourself further because these notions bear a different meaning. Islam is the monotheistic religion of the Muslims. Islamism (a term I used), on the other hand, is a set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion, but also a political system. And this clearly contradicts secularism that your state has embraced.
By the way, Armenians never had problems with Muslims, they have problems with Turks. Most of the Muslim nations respect Christian Armenians, because we are the People of the Book and because they came to know how successfully Armenians, descendants of those who were deported or barely survived Turkish barbarism in 1915, contributed to the development of their nations: Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Sudan, UAE, etc.
For the time being US needs Turkish airspace, but things change, and this was basically the point of my comment. Other multiple bases are being constructed and other routes are being explored. You can say Turkey is the 15th largest economy in the world, but economists take into account such important variables as unemployment rate, which is 15%, population below poverty appx. 20%, and annual deficit of 45 bln USD. Not to mention the military spending that accounts for about 7% of the budget per annum. By Western standards, this is hardly the image of a powerhouse state.
Narek wrote:
As for your arguments, I read them with a grin. Turkey is a source of stability? Are you kidding me? How can a country be a source of stability when it has problems with almost all of its neighbors and a bunch of internal problems, Kurdish being the most explosive? You call this stability?
I too, find this strange. Most notably what calls me to remember that other Turks posting in this forum have asked me, “Why do you want to destabilize our country? — Meaning, of course, recognition of the genocide. I kept asking, “Why should recognizing something true about history destabilize your country? What terrible thing will happen?” But I didn’t ever get an answer. So, again, so much for stability among so much fear (and of the Kurdish parties as well I think).
By the way, Armenians never had problems with Muslims, they have problems with Turks. Most of the Muslim nations respect Christian Armenians, because we are the People of the Book and because they came to know how successfully Armenians, descendants of those who were deported or barely survived Turkish barbarism in 1915, contributed to the development of their nations: Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Sudan, UAE, etc
True. Armenians have and still do live in peace among Muslim people all around the Mid and Near East