BEIRUT, Lebanon—I have been following with horror the news on the Israeli attack on the flotilla of ships carrying aid to Gaza. The outrage here in Lebanon and the Arab world is palpable. What is even more evident is the pride with which people here speak about Turkey’s “heroic stand” in the face of Israel.
On May 31, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement in which it protested “in the strongest terms the use of force by the Israeli Defense Forces against the civilians from many countries who want to transport humanitarian assistance to the people in Gaza.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry wrote that “Israel has once again clearly demonstrated that it does not value human lives and peaceful initiatives through targeting innocent civilians…such actions against civilians who are involved only in peaceful activities cannot be accepted. Israel will have to bear the consequences of these actions which constitute a violation of international law.”
In turn, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, “It should be known that we will not stay silent and unresponsive in the face of this inhuman state terror,” according to Hurriyet Daily News. “International law has been trampled underfoot,” Erdogan added.
Irony alert?
Of course, most Arab commentators said nothing about the irony in the statements above, and the many similar statements coming out of Turkey these days. That is not surprising. After all, Turkey—a strategic ally of Israel—has, in recent years, reached out to the Islamic world and presented itself as a defender of the Palestinian cause. Why rock the boat?
Some intellectuals, however, highlighted the hypocrisy of the Turkish state and of most Turkish commentators. On one online discussion board, Stergios Kaprinis, a psychiatrist from Greece, wrote: “There is no doubt that the events are tragic. The Freedom Flotilla attack by Israeli commandos can only be described as an act of piracy. However, I have been following the reactions of the Turkish government and I must say that I am appalled at their hypocrisy at the expense of the Palestinians. In the past 15 years, the Turkish government has ethnically cleansed large parts of Turkey’s ethnically Kurdish southeast, has invaded Iraq more than a few times, and keeps occupying and colonizing the northern half of the Republic of Cyprus, a sovereign country, member of the UN and the EU. Yet today, the Turkish government has somehow managed to proclaim itself the defender of international law and protector of the oppressed.”
In an article published in the Huffington Post, Israeli writer Dana Agmon, noted: “And finally, a word to the sponsors—Turkey—did anyone float into Turkey when it murdered over a million Armenians? Or did anyone do it when you arrested hundreds of Kurds, including children, merely four years ago and violated their rights? Or maybe when you invaded Cyprus?”
An intellectual from Turkey told me that had the Kurds in Turkey had access to sea, “God knows what kind of horrors would befall on those who tried to support them.” Another noted how the discourse on the Palestinians in Turkey on one hand, and the Armenians and Kurds on the other, are so disparate, even among progressive Turkish intellectuals, that “the double standards sicken me to my stomach. States are, by definition, hypocritical. But when intellectuals who present themselves as the beacons of enlightened thought engage in such hypocrisy, is there any hope left?”
Irreparable damage?
On June 3, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said, “From now on, Turkish-Israeli ties will never be the same. This incident has left an irreparable and deep scar.”
The myth of “irreparable relations” seems to be floating around the entire Islamic world since the attack on the flotilla. Arab news sources and analysts in the Middle East continue to insist that Turkish-Israeli relations have been damaged beyond repair. Regardless of what Turkish officials declare in their public statements, this is naiveté and wishful thinking at best.
What the Arab world fails to see is that the Turkish state cannot and will not bury its strategic relations with Israel because of the flotilla attack or in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Ankara is playing an ambitious political game in the Middle East. Yes, its tactical maneuvers are already reaching beyond the bounds of its strategic capabilities (and it might soon be forced to fold back), but to view the Turkish state—or even the current government—as the extension of the Turkish street is self-deception.
Turkey and Israel will soon repair the damage done to their relations. There’s no two ways about it.
Dr. Khatchig Mouradian
Latest posts by Dr. Khatchig Mouradian (see all)
- Khatchig Mouradian’s Eulogy of Henry D. Astarjian - April 16, 2024
- Teaching about Resistance to Genocide - May 24, 2023
- Christmas in the Time of Genocide - December 28, 2021
You’ve left our the most important part of your presentation.
What are the reasons why Turkey cannot and will not bury its strategic relations with Israel?
Here is another commentary from “End of the Day” by Gary Bauer which, I believe, gives a more balanced view of what actually happened:
Blame Israel First
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama were scheduled to meet at the White House today to attempt to mend U.S.-Israeli relations. But Netanyahu cut short his trip in Canada and cancelled the White House meeting to return home to deal with mounting international criticism of the Israeli response to a “humanitarian aid” group’s attempt to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
Israel imposed the blockade three years ago after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip and turned it into a launching pad for rocket attacks against Israeli citizens. (CNN is reporting that two rockets were launched from Gaza today.) Under international law, any nation that is under repeated attack has the right to intercept suspect ships to make sure weapons are not being smuggled in.
The group that sent the six ships from Turkey, Islan Haklary Ve Hurriyetleri Vakfi or IHH, is an Islamist charity that has been on the Israeli terror list in recent years and under scrutiny by the CIA since 1996. The IHH is connected to a Saudi organization run by Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, who has issued fatwas supporting homicide bombings against Israeli civilians. The entire effort was a PR stunt – “a provocation” as one Israeli official put it. One “peace activist” who participated in the IHH effort told Al Jazeera before the ships departed Turkey, “We are now waiting for one of two good things – either to achieve martyrdom, or to reach Gaza.” Note which “good thing” she put first.
When it was clear that Turkey would not stop the vessels, Israel offered to let the ships dock at Ashod where Israel would inspect the material on board and transport any humanitarian supplies by ground. The group refused this offer, saying that its purpose was to break the blockade.
After repeatedly warning the ship to turn back, Israel sent in commandos –armed primarily with paintball guns and non-lethal weapons–to take control of the ships. It was only after several commandos were attacked by these “peace activists” that they were given orders to defend themselves with lethal force if necessary.
On five ships, there were no attacks and no one was hurt. On one ship, the Israeli commandos were attacked and they responded after going to extreme lengths to show restraint. Seven Israeli commandos were injured, two seriously. Nine “peace activists” were killed.
Israel reacted with great restraint and in self-defense. But, as usual, Israel is being condemned by the U.N., the E.U., Muslim nations, media elites and Palestinian peace activists. The response from the White House isn’t much better. Far from supporting our ally, all the White House could muster was an acknowledgment that it is “working to understand the circumstances surrounding this tragedy.”
and the winner is … turkey
the only thing I know is that now, Turkey is seen like an “hero” because of its participation in the flotilla aid to Gaza. now, nobody will talk about the genocide of armenians in 1915, or about the situation of the kurdish people, because now turkey is a simbol against oppresion and injusticy … turkey did all good… all ended as they expected …. sorry for my english
Because Arto jan, Israel is selling military technology to Azerbaijan and Turkey as we speak of right now. Israel is 100% supporting Azerbaijan just like USA is 100% supporting Turkey. The Zionist are infiltrating the Republic of Armenia to destroy Armenia from within, cooperating in synch with Turkish diplomatic maneuvers. The missiles they erected in the southern borders near Syria, is not destined to deter Israeli airplanes, but to control from Syrian positions, whenever they attack Kurdish land in Iraq, and of course under the fake umbrella that they are cooperating with Iran.
Finally, it’s the same way the USA-Turkish relations are, Turkey denies passage for US troops during the second Gulf invasion, and later Turkey becomes the best ally of USA. Quite contradictory behavior you would say, but it did happen several times in the last 20 years.
How about the Armenia blockade by Turkey for the last 18 years… remember when our compatriots were cutting the Yerevan trees for firewood?
This is triple hypocrasy & nobody is talking about this point…
I’m not quite sure if Khachig has got this right, especially his conclusions about Turkey’s actions regarding the Arab world being “tactical” in contrast to its relations with Israel, which, it is true, HAVE BEEN STRATEGIC for decades.
There are several new factors here which have been slowly developing and are now leap to their full bloom, as it were, at the same time:
The collapse of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact on the one hand and US invasion of Iraq/the Middle East in 1990s and especially 2003, left Turkey almost redundant and bankrupt – its US master didn’t need it as much as during the Cold War or at all now.
So the Anglo-Americans gently pushed it towards the European Union (EU). There was some wishful thinking that it could join the EU until Europe told Turkey to get lost as it was not a European country – and not just because it was Muslim and mainly in Asia but BECAUSE EUROPEAN VALUES OF FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY, HUMAN AND MINORITY RIGHTS… were completely alien to it and its political system which was more akin to Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Francoist Spain and Apartheid South Africa. It was told to work on its historical problems, denial of the Armenian Genocide in particular, as well as its mass and brutal oppression of its substantial Kurdish population, not to mention occupation of European territory in northern Cyprus and closed borders there as as with Armenia contrary to specific European demands, and to CARRY OUT MAJOR URGENT REFORMS OF ITS POLITICAL SYSTEM before membership negotiations could be seriously considered.
Turkey has failed to make any progress in any of those areas vital for any progress in its bid to join the EU. And at this rate of negotiations it was not difficult to see that Turkey’s membership of the EU was a matter of centuries if not millennia! It therefore got the message and drew the conclusion that it needs to get closer to the Muslim Middle East. Come forward Mr Ahmed Davoutoglou and his neo-Ottomanist plans to restore the Ottoman Empire.
It must be noted that behind the scenes this neo-Ottomanist ideology and policy of the Turkish state is quietly encouraged by certain circles in the State Department and Anglo-American policy in general as a new Cold War bulwark against nascent Russian assertiveness in the Balkans, the Middle East and the Caucasus and is doomed to fail due to its many contradictions, not lest due to the tensions it will create between it and Israel, which as we have seen have been growing rapidly over the past few years.
It must also be noted that the Arab world, despite appearances, is unlikely to fall for for Turkey’s overtures to return to the Middle East and the Arab World as in general there’s no love lost between the two. The Arabs remember well the brutalities and the oppression (and later the Young Turk racism and mass crimes) committed by the Ottomans and have no wish for their return. Syria is in fact in territorial dispute with Turkey over Alexandretta and over the flow of the Euphratus river, and Iraq has been invaded repeatedly over the past twenty years by Turkey. As for the Kurds, both in Iraq as well as in Turkey and elsewhere in the Middle East, Turkey is committing ethnic cleansing and genocide against them and can never be considered a benign “pro-Muslim” power. In fact the hypocrisy of Turkish “sympathy” for the “Muslim” Palestine is belied by its naked oppression, brutality and genocide against equally “Muslim” Kurds, not tomention millions of Alevites and other “Muslims”.
As for us Armenians we should be extremely wary of this new danger for us and the security of the Republics of Armenia and Artsakh.
This should be a clarion call for us A) to strengthen our lobbying efforts in the Diaspora to expose Turkey more as a genocidal state based on the ultra racist-nationalist ideology of Turkism which rules it out as a friend of any nation, Muslim or otherwise; and B) the Republics of Armenia and Artsakh to make our Eastern borders (with Azerbaijan, the eastern flank of the same racist-nationalist poisoned ideology of Turkism) completely impregnable.
Badgraduni.. excellent comment.. I agree with you…
Daniel Ben Y. The only people that Turkey is looking like a “hero” with is their Moslem buddies. Otherwise they defiantly tried to break a blockade, Turkey was warned by Israel to re route to Ashod for Cargo inspection but NO Turkey wanted to take it directly to the Hamas controlled section of Gaza.
Turkey attacked the IDF when they came on the boats, then over acts when a mere 4-6 people are killed out of 600 by calling it a “massacre” or like “September 11th. Talk about grand standing and sensationalism!!
Al Jazerra TV has video of the boat crew singing in Turkish “Death to the Jews” this video is all over the internet along with how the Turkish Hamas Sympathizers attacked the IDF when they entered the boat.
So what would Turkey do if a country tried to break the 20 year blockade they have had with Armenia? Turkey does far worse and has a bloody history to answer for.
No one will call a Turk a hero.
It has been reported elsewhere that Turkish military representatives have said nothing about the flotilla. All the anti-Israel noise coming out of Turkey is from AKP people in the government. Previous comments have already mentioned the monstrous hypocrisy of the Turks.
Bagraduni’s observation is correct, but that is exactly what is being imposed over us by media and PR. On checking the details that are not publicized by the media, the picture is an entirely different game. Why is Israel supporting Azerbaijan? Why are the military personal of Israel still in excelent relations with that of the Turks? The game they are playing now is the same polarization game of good vs. evil. USA created Al Gaida to invade Iraq, and now Israel and Turkey are jointly playing this game. My advise is to trust none of these staged extremes. Israel’s actions cannot be trusted, Israel and Turkey seem to play the game of the foes, but they are buddies in the same strategic plan. The plan will be clear soon, and don’t be surprised when you here that Israel has joined with Turkey erecting some missiles towards Iran.
For one thing, the destruction of Hamas and Hezbellah can be much easier done if their backbone is Turkey rather than Iran. First, Turkey gains their trust (with the help of Israel), and then 8 months later, Palestinians and southern Lebanon, find themselves deceived by Turks, while a major battle destroys Gaza and Southern Lebanon (once for all).
The Arabs are naïve, they don’t see the danger coming. Turks have used this technique more than a hundred times in their past history. The last time they used it was the deception of ARF followed by the Genocide.
Finally, what I am saying, Bagraduni is fallen into this Turkish-Israeli PR trap head on…
While everything said about Turkish governmental hypocrisy is totally true, perhaps this is a time to also recognize that Israel is equally hypocritical and destructive. The plight of the Palestinians is very real, and it is criminal for Israel to go after those who are trying to help them. If they are justified in what they did (which they are not), then aid givers in Darfur are also legal targets, as are the three American ‘hikers’ captured by Iran and those who administer humanitarian aid in Iraq or Afghanistan. Let’s not forget that during the genocide many foreign workers, nurses, doctors, etc. were stationed throughout the Armenian provinces and gave as much help as they could, not to mention the huge efforts of the Near East Relief. This is an opportunity for Armenians and Armenia to stand with the oppressed and on the side of right, no matter who is helping them. All hypocrisy aside, there is absolutely no justification for murdering unarmed civilians on the open seas – period. If there were, the French rescuers of those at Musa Dagh would also have been fair targets. Luckily, they were not.
Turkish hypocrites posing as humanitarian nationalists for the Palestinian cause while denying the Armenian Genocide and ignoring the plight of their own Kurdish populations…PRICELESS.
Perhaps the development of a Turkish Israeli Reconciliation Commission (TIRC) can help clarify all the facts regarding this Mediterranean tragedy and resolve this debate…
Davos was a hiccup Khatchig this latest damage is indicative of a change of course.
Turkey has promised reforms (this time to be considered to enter the EU) in the past and has not honoured the ‘promises’. Why would anyone believe that any promise is more sincere now?
It seems that the ‘fabric’ of Turkish leaders has not changed since the Ottoman Regime. The term ‘Neo-Ottamanists’ is therefore very fitting!
Some or most Turkish citizens are unable or not interested in learning the truth?
Or, more than likely, afraid to speak up?
Mr. Erdogan looks very exhausted (tired) and easily irritated in recent interviews with the media.
We know honesty is still the best policy & so liberating!
G
i think you dont understood me, maybe because my english. i agree with you, turkey is an hypocrite republic. they want Israel to lift the blockade, but at the other hand they, together with azerbaijan, They have imposed a blockade on Armenia 20 years ago, that is still in effect. what I mean is that here in latin america (i am from chile) people… who even can’t find turkey, israel or armenia in a map, think Turkey is an hero because of its participation on the flotilla aid to Gaza (turkey is seen as the leader against oppression and injustice) . but they have no idea of the situation with Armenia, the genocide of 1915, or the situation of the kurdish people. all comments you can read here in newspapers are pro turkish… total ignorance…
all Turkish propaganda was successful… people, at least here, believe them
Armenia and Artsakh , as well as Armenians in the Diaspora need to stay away from the games of others and concentrate predominantly and to the optimal extent on matters of domestic and national security concerns of both Armenian entities. How many times do we need to be deceived by the great powers to realize that as a result of their games we suffer. Three quarters of historical Armenia and 1.5 millions of innocent lives have been lost because of indecency, callousness, and slyness of great powers and the Turks. In modern times Turks, along with their next-of-kin Azeris, are being supported by the Jews, and we must take a note and keep a watchful eye on it. Concentrating on Armenia and Artsakh’s development, while securing militarily what we were able to salvage from the past great games, is the most important prerogative for all Armenians, and I agree in this with Bagradouni.
Look, neither of their hands are free of blood or hypocrisy…the Turkish treatment of minorities, including Kurds, has been deplorable, but then so has Israel’s. Let’s not forget that they’ve indicated they would like to take the Armenian quarter of Jerusalem out of Armenian hands and their unending support for anti-Armenian genocide efforts over the last half century. We also should not overlook the huge amount of help and refuge the Arabs gave to survivors of the genocide. The bottom line is that Turkey has what we want, and they’re the only ones who can give it to us. So, at least on a moral level, we can give this to them, as it costs us nothing and puts us on the side of right. We should not be afraid to say that Turkey was in the right and Israel was in the wrong, and perhaps at a later date, this will earn us a favor or two when we need it from Turkey. There is nothing we need or want from Israel, so we should be grateful about that.
“In modern times Turks, along with their next-of-kin Azeris, are being supported by the Jews (…)”
turkey and azerbaiyan are not being supported by the jews… they are supported by the israeli goverment … please dont mix, as we say here, potatoes with sweet potatoes. I, as a jew, support 100% the armenian position, and believe me.. we jews (the vast majority) support the recognition of the armenian genocide… why Israel dont recognize it is obviously because of its political relation with Turkey. we jews are friendly to armenians because of our common history and suffering (remember armenia received 12 points in the last eurovision :-) … )
Saying that Turkey is in the right hardly will earn us a favor or two from Turkey, because a favor, so to speak, that Armenians demand from Turkey is by far incomparable to merely taking the Turkish side in an isolated incident. Turkophilic comments need to be saved because of our first-hand knowledge of who the Turks are. The wiser and more delicate Chinese stance of standing aside and watching as two tigers shred each other to pieces is more appropriate in this situation. It’ll also be more beneficial for the Armenians in the long run if, as a consequence of their stand-off, Israel will adopt more pro-Armenian stance and (finally!) recognize the Genocide. The effect of Israel’s official recognition might be greater, and its reverberations much stronger than any ‘favor or two’ that the Turks might, or, more possibly, might not offer.
If we are talking about the specific situation that occurred between Turkey and Israel on May 31, then we should stop talking about all the interrelationships between Armenia and Turkey and Israel and Azerbaijan and anybody else. We should only care about the truth. The truth is that Turkey was the aggressor in this particular situation, period. As a full-blooded Armenian, all I care about is the truth, and I don’t care whose side I’m on.
Daniel — This is exactly what I meant: the Israeli government. I put ‘Jews’ as an unceremonious adequate of Israeli government, knowing that Armenian commentators would appreciate the deference even without the precise term. Sorry if it created confusion. Cheers, A.
Karekin writes: “We should not be afraid to say that Turkey was in the right and Israel was in the wrong.”
I don’t think Armenians or Armenia have any obligations or any inclination to feel compelled to join the chorus of kangaroo court verdicts, of mainly the Muslim world, in decrying either party of wrongdoing. Partly because we don’t know all the facts and an impartial investigation is ongoing. Irrespective of what pans out from any investigation into the details of this Mediterranean tragedy, one fact is clear: two staunch deniers of the Armenian Genocide are at each others throats and as politically astute Armenians we should capitalize on raising awareness about both parties hypocrisy.
And dear Karekin regarding your comment about scoring brownie points with Turkey: if you truly think this defeatist stance of yours will yield a high ROI in the future for our cause and Armenia I feel sorry for you. You should know better than that if you follow anything that happens in Turkey, Armenia, Israel, America or anywhere else for that matter in anything remotely associated with global governance and realpolitik. Seriously….
Sorry for being a tad harsh here Karekin but anyone who holds too much hope (like you did) for our cunning neighbors to throw us Armenians some breadcrumbs in the aftermath of this flotilla flap is living in one hell of a naive fantasy world!
To get a more accurate analysis of the related geopolitical events, please read the following article (in Armenian):
http://7or.am/hy/news/2010-06-04/14775/
P.S. It’s ironic how we (Armenians) are so much bugged down with humanitarian heroism, while we forget and ignore how our Mother Language is being destroyed in Armenia as we speak of.
I agree with Harry. Karekin’s comments elsewhere in these pages are saturated with Turkophilism. Aren’t you the one who called Jesus Christ ‘some carpetner with his magic tricks’? Ugh…
Of course, there is no ‘big ROI’ on anything involving Turkey, but some ROI is better than no ROI. And, ike it or not, Armenia is tiny and Turkey is right next door, so it’s best to be on good terms w/ your neighbors even if you don’t like them all that much. Let’s face it, Jewish organizations around the world and in the US are and have been waging war on anything Armenian for a very long time. They are opportunists and will use anything to advance their cause, not ours. Iran is and has been the only consistent friend of Armenia and asks for little or nothing in return. I leave Russia out of this equation because Armenians are murdered in Moscow and other Russian cities on a regular basis, and because Russia has basically taken over Armenia’s infrastructure for a pittance. However, I do think Armen is correct in saying Armenia should watch from a distance….there is no room to get involved, and as we all know, three is a crowd. That said, joining the other civilized nations around the world in condemning what Israel has done would not be a bad thing, because by failing to condemn it, you are tacitly supporting it, which I find very distasteful. It is not supportable. As I said, we cannot forget the help and support given to us by the Arabs for a very long time…and the total lack of support offered by Israel or any Jewish organiztionl
news.am (http://news.am/eng/news/450.html) reports:
On June 3 evening, over 1,000 people gathered in front of the Turkish Embassy in Tel-Aviv to protest Ankara’s anti-Israeli policy.
The protestors carried posters calling for boycotting Turkey, recognizing the Armenian Genocide and independence of Kurds.
Israelis praised Armenia’s silence on attack on the international flotilla, as it was one of the few countries which refrained from criticizing Israel in its conflict with Turkey.
Armen, I do agree with you, there is humongous work needs to be done in Armenia , Artsakh and Chavakh, we all must and need to participate in it harmoniously and within our best possibilities, these in order to regain our strength and respect in the region and in the world, I believe we can do that united together, and set it to be our goal that to be achieved, and together by bringing down all the enemies obstacles that exist, and by being accountable to each other, like Dashnagtsoutyoun did it on May 28 of 1918, we will bring back Armenia where it deserves to be.
Israelis praised Armenia’s silence on attack on the international flotilla, as it was one of the few countries which refrained from criticizing Israel in its conflict with Turkey.
I think Armenians did the right thing. I hope we’re learning from our history to be utterly suspicious about the games or promises of the mighty. Never trust the power centers or regional powers unless firm, and I mean firm, tangible, and immediate, guarantees are given. If possible, try to step into the game as one of the last, not the first players.
Excellent Point Armen jan.. Excellent point… Harry you too… thank you for making everyone wake up and say.. “Armenia should stay as far away from this as possible..”..
Karekin, I hear what you mean when you say lets score brownie points with the good.. however, as we all know Turkey is NO GOOD… no point scoring any points with them.. i dont’ care what they say or do in regards to this matter… the end of story..
Gayane
Israelis praised Armenia’s silence on attack on the international flotilla, as it was one of the few countries which refrained from criticizing Israel in its conflict with Turkey.
Perhaps, individuals can do as they please, but their government (w/ its nuclear weapons) and every single major Jewish organization has an official anti-genocide stance.
The Turks should try to practice what they preach to others regarding past injustices. They should just forgive and forget this flotilla tragedy. I wonder if Turkish propagandists would enjoy the taste of their own medicine…???
“On five ships, there were no attacks and no one was hurt. On one ship, the Israeli commandos were attacked and they responded after going to extreme lengths to show restraint”
Out of nine murdered five were shot in the head, almsot all in the chest,and they had over 30 bullet wounds total. Many shots were to the face from 50 cm, and some were from behind. Some restraint, no? This was not about self-defense at all. Note that all the video of the shootings and the equipment of the journalists on board are missing.
Actually much of this information and details are not really out in the Turkish press yet. I think they are trying to avoid more rage. Now that would be restraint.
This was obviously a trap, and Israelis took the bait gladly. They massacred people on a ship that is known to be carrying no arms. Murders were commited not to stop the non-existent weapons reaching Gaza, since they could have simply demanded to inspect the cargo, which they did not, but simply as a matter of principle and show. When overwhelmed by the passengers, IDF chose to kill instead of looking “bad”. Non-jewish lives meant nothing.
It is also important to point out in this context that as many claimed here, Turkey does have blockade around Armenia. Turkey has simply closed its borders, which as a soverign nation they can choose to do. Armenia is not restricted in what they do with their air space or other borders. I do not believe there has been any interference. In fact. as I understand it there are flights to Istanbul from Armenia. How does this compare with Gaza?
We can never ever trust Turkey which has committed the Genocide & cannot trust them even when they recognise that they committed the Genocide.Any country that denies the Genocide is morally bankrupt & Israel tops this list having its own Holocaust.Israel trains Azerbeijan,Georgia & you know their 60 year old relationship with Turkey…three countries that border Armenia & we have issues with these three countries…Two Armenian Genocide denialist states deserve to be on each other’s throats…We can only depend on ourselves & our worries are to keep what we’ve left with whether it is Armenia or Artsakh,as Turkish/Azeri plan policy has always remained the same & that is to erase Armenia from the map so that they can join geographically with other Turkic countries…panturkism…
On the other hand we should not wait for Turkey to recognise the Genocide & then start claiming for our forced left behind properties whetheer land,bank accounts,insurance policies,artefacts & so on…when the Eastern Europe collapsed all stolen or nationalised properties & so on were claimed back by their rightful owners & most of these were Jews…Egypt,Greece & other nations have & are successfully claiming back their stolen national treasures…
Please read the following article titled “Turkey Emerges as Middle East Leader”, which was published on CNN.COM
This is what the world reads.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/06/03/barkey.turkey.israel/index.html
I cant stop laughing when I see that the author of this page includes Armenians, Kurds and Cyprus into “Ship to Gaza”.
Read the history of Cyprus from 1950s to 1974 and than try to write something related to them. Go to Turkey and talk with the Kurds, not only with the radicals but with all. Unfortunately you are going to hear things you dont want to.
Arabs always blamed Turkey for having better relations with western world and turning their back to middle east and asia. For once Turkey leads a protest against Israel and than Turkey is still the bad-boy.
I strongly suggest you to change the theme and name of this page.
http://www.anti-Turk.com would satisfy your egos much better.
Mr. Mouradian, your conclusion is incorrect. The turkish-Israeli alliance is dead. The begining of the end was when the turkish people voted to become islamic and the army lost its power. When erdogan the little islamofascist decided that he is on the same team as ahmadinejad and not with the civilized nations of the world, that was the middle of the end. The end of the end is near because the little islamofascist has something else planned just like he had this flotilla planned to the last detail.
Hilarious comment from enver turk, a pen name reminiscent to that of the internationally-renowned butcher enver pasha. I presume enver turk might take pride of his fascist predecessor, murderer and criminal. Well, blood calls. Aren’t you both of the same savage Seljuk/Mongol flesh and blood? No wonder… Read the United Nations Charter about the sovereignty of states and inviolability of their borders, and then try to mumble something in regard to Cyprus. Go read the history of your own ‘nation’, where you originated, how you appeared in Asia Minor, and who inhabited the area before your nomadic forefathers invaded the region before inviting others to read the story of independent UN member-state Cyprus. The world knows well who invaded the island in the 1970s. Isn’t it a Turkish nomadic tradition to invade the lands of other, nobler and more civilized peoples? No wonder…
Yeah, and now the political expediency required that the Turkish chameleon changes its color, just as it did in the 1920s when unmatched falsificator Mustafa Kemal changed red in order to please the Russian Bolsheviks and conquer more lands of Western and Eastern Armenia. Now, as the Turks were made understood that they’d never enter the family of civilized European nations, they remembered that they’re nominally Muslims, not so much seculars, and turned to the Muslim world. Who in the world knows the Turks better than the Armenians?
I suggest that enver turk reads his own nightmarish comments to satisfy his miserable ego and inferiority complex of being of a barbaric origin on the site: http://www.genocideperpetrator.com.
Murat, Enver, Ahmet, Binyamin get a grip. Its been a week since the tragic events on the Mediterranean and the miserable debate amongst radical groups on both the Turkish and Israeli sides is making everyone nauseous. Turks and Jews should both learn to accept history as it happens and let bygones be bygones. After all you can’t change the past now can you and its probably better to look to the future instead. It seems like investigating this controversial issue any further will stir up too much raw emotion and hate amongst both nationalists on either side. Think about how trivial the blame game your playing really is: The Jews committed the first offense and the Turks committed that offense. Yes the death of 8 activists is tragic but how long will you dwell on this past injustice? Does it really make sense to play the blame game day after day seeking a measly apology from either country? Where does it end, this black hat, government-sponsored, hall of national shame? As an American citizen I can understand the pain of those on both sides of this very contentious debate and hope both peoples can learn from this aggrieved week of tragedy, forgive each other and forget this tragedy ever happened.
Yours truly,
A Concerned American
It is obnoxious and utterly cynical that a Turk calling himself Murat, uses such terminology as ‘[Israelis]… massacred people…,’ ‘murders committed,’ and ‘non-jewish lives meant nothing.’ Wow! A Turk, whose nation’s most history is about invading, looting, murdering, slaughtering, converting, and finally perpetrating genocide of indigenous, native inhabitants of lands on which the Turks have now settled, dares to use the terminology that his both predecessor and current governments are best described with.
About the Turkish blockade of Armenia, what a primordial attempt, made in a typical Turkish sly manner of distorting the truth, to justify another Turkish crime against Armenia that the world came to call by its name: the blockade. ‘Turkey has simply closed its borders,’ says Murat the Turk. Is ‘closing the borders’ a new definition of blockade in ‘modern’ Turkey? Before this new Turkish ‘invention,’ the world knew that blockade was ‘the isolation of a nation, area, city, or harbor by hostile ships or forces in order to prevent the entrance and exit of traffic and commerce.’ In modern times, in which the Turks never belonged and will never belong, closing borders is not a ‘choice’ of a sovereign state, its violation of the UN Charter, the OSCE and the EU principles. Whether it’s closing the borders or blockade, to be exact and truthful, it’s ISOLATION of a nation. Therefore, it’s a hostile act, or an act of hostility. There HAS been interference in 1993 when an open border was closed in solidarity with the Azeris over the issue of self-determination for Atsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Turkey clearly showed that you interfered in the affairs of two other states that by any measure should have been Turkey’s business. Flights to Istanbul from Armenia? Maybe through Georgia, or occasionally, through Turkey or Armenia, is a special permit is given. How does this compare to the Turkish rejection to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia and the Turkish blockade of goods and services to and from Armenia? Unmatched slyness… Armenians know it firsthand and well… Too well.
To Murat:
Israel & Gaza are in a state of war.They do not recognise each other.Blockade is a tool in war.Turkey & Armenia are not in a state of war & they recognise each other.
Turkish blockade of Armenia was a response to the war between Artsakh/Armenia with Azerbeijan over Artsakh(I bet by now you know what Artsakh means).Turkey was not a party to this war or conflict.So how could you justify the Turkish blockade of Armenia?
This is the Turkish hypocrasy…its blockade is a good one & the other one is a bad one?
I believe this camparison will shed a bit of light to your understanding.
just to clarify one salient matter for Christians and Jews of the world.
Jews have been always persecuted by the christian world, Spanish, german, russian, polish , armenians, Italians and many more countries.
However, whenever Jews were persecuted in the world Turks opened their arms to protect them, from Spanish persecution of Jews – Turkish governemnt sent ships to bring them to Turkish lands, Istanbul, Selanik- today greece. World World II was more then the second time jews were protected by the Turks. You can not tell and prove any pogrom and expelling jews by the Turks.. Turkey is the second government to recognize Israel after US.
Because of Turks wants to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians , that does not mean Turks will not again protect Jews again from another christian would be extermination of Jews… we will have differences for certain issues but will overcome this as well. Turkey is a democracy not a military dictatorship therefore government makes the decision not military as in this flotilla Israeli governemnt made the decision not Military..
Let’s not overlook that the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians is the abuse of the natives, who, (like the Armenians in Turkey), were turned into refugees in their own land, thrown out of their homes and had their lives destroyed by the influx of European Jews who had no place else to go after WWII. Plus, they brought their racist attitudes along with them. Turkey became a haven for the Spanish Jews, but guess what? Those same Jews, some of whom converted, worked very hard to overthrow the Ottoman Empire and steal its riches from the native Armenians and Greeks. Perhaps this episode will illuminate for today’s Turks the horrible treatment endured by the Kurds, Armenians and others in Turkey during the last century? We can only hope. But, as we all know, no one living in a glass house should throw stones at anyone else. In this instance, Turkey is right to call attention to the plight of the Palestinians, but the world cannot overlook the hypocrisy of how they still treat Kurds in the southwest, the Alevis and others. Little by little, it is changing and becoming more positive, but maybe if they call back their troops from that area and stop bombing Kurds in Iraq, their position would be stronger.
I agree…the Israeli’s and Jews need to move on from this historic tragedy………………………..LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOLOLOLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Isn’t this what the 3 Stooges above (Ahmet, Enver and Murat) try stuffing down our throats each week on this website? “Get over the past”? …. “Move on from 1915” … “Your all stuck in the past”? …. “It was a 100 year old tragedy”…”we feel your pain but really don’t give a damn” ….etc.
Sound familiar????????
So now all of a sudden Turkish hypocrisy is in the open for all to witness AND they want an “impartial investigation” to render justice…………………HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH….LOLOLOL!
Does it get better than this??!!!!!!!!!!!????????!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????!?!?!?!?
Humanitarian posers whining like children and demanding what they haven’t been able to do themselves for over 95 years regarding the INJUSTICE OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE.
So let me guess, whats good for the goose isn’t good for the gander now???????????????
To Concerned American: Bravo. An excellent comment addressed to both Turks and the Israelis using the clichés that both of them use when addressing the suffering of the Armenians. The whole ancient Armenian homeland lost? Never mind, learn to accept history as it happens and let bygones be bygones. A 1.5 million of unarmed, defenseless, innocent Armenian men, women, children, and the elders slaughtered? Never mind, you can’t change the past and it’s probably better to look to the future instead. Yes, the mass annihilation of the Armenian race, destruction of their civilizational artifacts, memories, theft of their private property is tragic, but how long will Armenians dwell on this past injustice? The Armenian genocide was a ‘tragedy,’ not genocide similar to the Jewish Shoah which is unique, but we can understand the pain of those on both sides—the Jews and the Germans—of this very contentious debate and hope both peoples can learn from this aggrieved week of tragedy. Let’s just all forgive each other without repenting and offering an apology and forget this tragedy ever happened by hugging, kissing, and rejoicing with the genocide perpetrators….
editor or whatever you are called. Once again you showed me your objectivness. Thanks for removing my post while there are many hateful comments against Turks on this page. Such a shame that people like you are called as intellectuals or researchers. Actually you are extreme nationalists and racists. Keep going on what you do but remember, you have to kill all the Turks in order to build your so called great armenia. A land means honour for a Turk and it is impossible to take it unless you kill them all.
To: Kurt the Turk
Your slick move to give a religious undertone to the matter is easily understood because it’s primitive and very distortive.
Jews were not always persecuted by the Christians. Only in the Middle Ages, especially during the centuries of the Crusades, anti-Semitism in Europe was religious. The Spanish did persecute them, but then the Spanish Inquisition burnt at stake millions of fellow Christians. Germans (you mean Nazis?), as well as Nazi Italians, mass exterminated the Jews, just like the Turks of the Armenians some 20 years earlier, but, of course, in the typically Turkish barbaric forms of extermination. But guess what? Nazis were Christians as much as you, a Turk, are a Christian. Like Bolsheviks in Russia they were anti-religious bustards, therefore Nazis’ persecution bore no religious implication, rather racial. Some Christian nations did persecute the Jews as they were seen as killers of Jesus Christ, but the process slowed down after Pope Clement VI’s Bulls were issued in the 14th century. Several Christian nations, like Denmark, saved the Jews from Nazi persecutions during the WWII.
And where the hell did you dig up that Jews have been always persecuted by the Armenians? Is it what they teach at schools in ‘modern’ Turkey or this is a figment of your sick imagination? Armenians have always been a homogeneous nation, not many other nations lived amongst them. You just added the Armenians just in cases, didn’t you? Typical Turkish tricks: primitive and easily detectable. Armenians consider the Jews an archetype nation, sympathize with the loss of millions of innocent Jews during the Holocaust. As a genocide survivor nation, Armenians acknowledge the cruel fate of the Jews. In contrast to the Turks, where almost artifacts of the Armenian civilization are converted to mosques and sheep barns, or destroyed, Armenians preserved a cemetery of a very insignificant Jewish community that once existed in Armenia.
The issue of flotilla is not religious, it’s political. As for words about Turkey being ‘a democracy not a military dictatorship,’ I laughed my a** off. Do you really believe in what you say? Watch as in the Turkish democracy people: Armenians, Catholic bishops, lawyers are being shot and hanged. Shall I bring up the Kurds and others, or I’d rather stop here?
Concerned American:
Yes, let bygones be bygones and WWI is certainly history but the Middle East conflict is in the present, not past. Nothing presents a greater threat to US security than the continuing hostilities in Middle East by the way. I think you know that already.
teyleirian:
A blockade means something different than closing borders. This is not about word plays. I am personally not in favor of either, but closing of borders in repsonse to the brutal invasion of Karabag, lands of a close ally, was a rather mild and proportional response I think. If Turkey were applying a blockade, Armenia would have no control over any of its borders and airspace. Consider what happened to Iraq when it entered Kuwait. Just imagine what the US response would be if a part of Israel were to be run over by one of its enemies.
VTiger:
Blockades are hostile acts, no less than home made rockets lobbed in the direction of Israel. Chicken or egg? You decide. A blockade that runs for 3 years or more has other things than immediate security concerns. There is a clear UN resolution on this anyway. Blockade also implies the right to stop and inspect a ship that is “believed” to be carrying war material. Clearly Mavi Marmara was no such immediate threat to Israel. They could have asked for cargo to be inspected, by themselves or by UN for example. There were many other options rather than killing unarmed civilians. Clearly Israel is/was interested not in security but punishment. That was never the intention of the internationally recognized and understood legal definition of a blockade.
To all:
If and when a flotilla or a convoy is organized to provide relief and aid to Kurds besieged and brutalized by Turkey, please count me in, because I am really curious where these blockaded and deprived Kurds are. As for Cyprus, as far as I know 60% of it is in Greek hands and they live rather nice lives (thanks to EU generocity, sex trade, money laundering, etc.) as EU members. Unfortunately (or not) same can not be said of their Turkish counterparts north who ARE isolated!
Kurt said..
Turkey is a democracy not a military dictatorship therefore government makes the decision not military as in this flotilla Israeli governemnt made the decision not Military..
I said.. LMAO..you got to be kidding me right KURT? Turkey a democratic country?? Have you come from the moon? Do you not know what Turkey stands for?? Turkey stands for everything BUT democracy… Kurt, Murat, Enver Turk (this choice of the name is very errie and very disturbing), Ahmet, Ragnar and everyone who thinks Turkey is a democratic nation… wish we can put all of you on the ship and send you somewhere..cause the more you write, the more ridiculeous the comments sound……
Gayane
I am in Armenia and for a while have not commented here.I praise all of your above views.The turks here ,like someone said above are fast at work trying to undershadow the “Ermeni” Cause,rather in my terminology “Case” a judicial case.
Time for the Diaspora to re-organize its structures to become a Super Structure with head-remember my advocacy please in this respect-gather up real CLOUT with “a 100,000 strong “Professional Colleagues Associations”, aiming towards “a National Investment Trust fund”in Geneva,CH then launch our drive for Real claim from great Turkey.That of “Blood Money”.Latter more feasible,has precedents and is what must aim at through our 500 strong BAR Associaition one of 16 of above PCA´s.it is there for the taking.Otherwise it is too soon to for Land ,property etc. claims .We shall do that a bit later…
With all due respect to our political parties and their offshoots,we need the Huge Collectivities(PCA´s) up on foot.Best to you all an d
Hama haigagani SIRO(think about it ..2/3 at most 5% political party members or as suppert to them,alongside them, the PCA´s with their huge FUND.
G.P
Hye, another Turkish PLOY… and the Israelis fell for it… Manooshag
Here is an interesting article from the following website:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3899835,00.html
Breaking News ▪ Lexicon ▪ Special coverage ▪ Magazine
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Turkey’s Boomerang
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Gaza-bound ship (archives) Photo: Avi Rokach
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Students plan counter-flotilla
Flotilla organized to aid Turkey’s oppressed Kurds, Armenians; show up world’s hypocrisy after sharp criticism of Israel’s raid on Gaza flotilla
Yaheli Moran Zelikovich
Published:
06.06.10, 17:21 / Israel News
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Israeli students are planning a “peace flotilla” to Turkey with humanitarian aid for nations who suffered under Turkish imperialism – the Kurds and Armenians. The initiative comes in response to the world’s sharp criticism of Israel’s lethal raid on the Gaza flotilla which left nine activists dead and many wounded.
The organizers are currently seeking a suitable vessel and trying to recruit other students to the cause. No date has yet been set, but a skipper has been found: Arik Ofir, a member of the navy veteran’s union and owner of a private business. They have also obtained medical supplies, and hope that by the end of the week they will be able to set out.
Murky Waters
IDF troops shown bleeding in Turkish press / Ynet
Hurriyet newspaper publishes photos of Israeli Commando soldiers bruised, bleeding after being beaten by activists aboard Gaza-bound Marmara aid vessel. Report says army erased photos, but they were reproduced. IDF: Images prove ship was carrying mercenaries
Full Story
“The whole world saw the flotilla and thought Israel is a terrible state, which comes to shoot people who call themselves peace activists,” said Chairman of the National Students Union Boaz Torporovsky, who is also involved. “It’s absurd that they always put the Israeli occupation in the headlines and don’t talk about extreme Islamic terror. There’s a lot of hypocrisy in the world.
“Turkey, which leads the campaign against Israel and makes all sorts of threats is the same Turkey that carried out a holocaust and murdered an entire nation of Armenians, and oppresses a minority larger than the Palestinians – the Kurds – who deserve a state, who have demanded a state for longer than the State of Israel has existed.”
Ottoman massacre of Armenians according to a 19th century etching (Photo: Visual/Photos)
“For this reason,” he continued, “we have decided to help that minority and show up the hypocrisy of the Turkish government. We are sure that they won’t care if we sent humanitarian aid. It’ll be a peace flotilla without the knives or stones that hurt IDF soldiers, without violence, which is intended for all those oppressed by the Turkish government.
“If (Prime Minister Recep Tayyip) Erdogan’s heart is where his mouth is, which we all know isn’t so, he has no reason to prevent the flotilla from arriving.”
And what about the practicalities? “For the flotilla to work, we need three elements: Money, logistics and balls,” he said. “We’re bringing the balls and some of the logistics, but we need lots of money.”
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The National Student Union has been active in PR for a long time. Torporovsky even infiltrated into a UN conference once, and slammed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an incident which received extensive coverage around the world.
Student representatives even got in contact with Iranian students oppressed by the regime in an attempt to raise awareness about what is happening in Iran.
How about listening to a Palestinian instead of Israeli propaganda for a change? There are lessons here for Armenians, as well:
I don’t write poems but, in any case, poems are not poems
Ghassan Hage 6/2/10 http://australiansforpalestine.com/
Long ago, I was made to understand that Palestine was not Palestine; I was also informed that Palestinians were not Palestinians; They also explained to me that ethnic cleansing was not ethnic cleansing. And when naive old me saw freedom fighters they patiently showed me that they were not freedom fighters, and that resistance was not resistance. And when, stupidly, I noticed arrogance, oppression and humiliation they benevolently enlightened me so I can see that arrogance was not arrogance, oppression was not oppression, and humiliation was not humiliation. I saw misery, racism, inhumanity and a concentration camp. But they told me that they were experts in misery, racism, inhumanity and concentrations camps and I have to take their word for it: this was not misery, racism, inhumanity and a concentrations camp. Over the years they’ve taught me so many things: invasion was not invasion, occupation was not occupation, colonialism was not colonialism and apartheid was not apartheid… They opened my simple mind to even more complex truths that my poor brain could not on its own compute like: ‘having nuclear weapons’ was not ‘having nuclear weapons’, ‘not having weapons of mass destruction’ was ‘having weapons of mass destruction’. And, democracy (in the Gaza strip) was not democracy. Having second class citizens (in Israel) was democracy. So you’ll excuse me if I am not surprised to learn today that there were more things that I thought were evident that are not: peace activists are not peace activists, piracy is not piracy, the massacre of unarmed people is not the massacre of unarmed people. I have such a limited brain and my ignorance is unlimited. And they’re so f**king intelligent. Really. Ghassan Hage
Listen, Enver Turk, or whatever cursive name has been given you. Hateful comments against the Turks, you said? Well, if you find them hateful they’re well justified: you stole my ancestral homeland of Western Armenia in 1915-1921 and slaughtered, as barbarians, millions of innocent people, deported them to starve to death in the desert, portray the Armenian artifacts as Turkish, and continue to deny your crime against humanity. Can we be hateful or you expect us to give you hugs and kisses for that? And you dare to give me shame for my rightful indignation over your crime?! What a joke! Racists are those who annihilate the whole race, as your forefathers did, and not those who demand justice for the mass murdered people. There was Greater Armenia l-o-o-o-n-g before your predecessors: nomadic savages of Seljuk and Mongol origin, invaded Asia Minor. Where have the Turks been 3000 years ago, might you know? Armenians don’t have to kill all the Turks in order to return our lands and our civilization, we are not barbarians, like you, to slaughter innocent women, children, and the elders. This is a typically Turkish mentality: ‘you have to kill, KILL, in order to gain something.’ A nomadic, savage mentality in the 21st century. Nothing has changed from the times your hordes of nomads appeared in the region in the 11th-13th centuries AD. Nothing! A land means honor for a Turk? Wow! What a brilliant idea we’re hearing from a Turk. Have you ever thought that a land could also mean honor for those indigenous peoples, like Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians, who inhabited it for millennia? Or you see things only through your narrow-minded Turkish perspective?
Yes, Murat, I know that ‘a blockade means something different than closing borders.’ I gave you an internationally-accepted definition of the blockade in my older post, which the Turkish blockade of Armenia obviously falls under.
So you think that blockading a third country ‘in response to the brutal invasion of Karabakh, lands of a close ally, was a rather mild and proportional response?’ Wow! Look who’s talking! A representative of a nation-state internationally known as brutal ethnic cleanser of indigenous peoples—Assyrians, Greeks, Armenians, Alawis, Kurds—of Asia Minor. A representative of a nation that brutally occupied a sovereign UN member-state of Cyprus in 1974 and established TRNC in contradiction of the terms of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee.
Let me clarify some things for you. Armenia did not invade Artsakh (Karabakh). The overwhelming majority of Christian Armenians inhabiting Artsakh for centuries, a region that was unjustly and illegally placed under Azerbaijan’s jurisdiction by unilateral decision of Stalin in the 1920s, voted to exercise the universally-accepted right of the people for self-determination. It is essentially a conflict between Artsakh and Azerbaijan as it responded to Armenians’ petition by constant shelling and slaughters of Armenian residents in Sumgait and Baku. Where do you see Turkey in this conflict, may I ask? What does relationship between other nations have to do with Turkey so it imposed blockade of Armenia? Has Cyprus been a historically Turkish territory? Has it been populated by majority Turks at the time of invasion? Has it been transformed from Turkey to, say, Greece by an illegal decision? Your juxtaposition of a self-determination struggle, as in Artsakh, and an explicit application of military invasive Turkish force, as in Cyprus, would amuse erudites and intellectuals. Do you know that the UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution 3314 (XXIX) with the Definition of Aggression annexed to it, following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus? No? Adopted on 14 December 1974, the Definition reads as follows: ‘Invasion of a State by the armed forces of another State, with or without occupation of the territory.’ The issue of self-determination was singled out in the resolution as a different case in a clause in article 7 of the said resolution. A territory of a sovereign state of Cyprus must be 100% and not 60% in the Greek Cypriots’ hands. It’s THEIR country. Whether they live rather nice lives thanks to whatever is THEIR business. Whether the same can or cannot be said of Turkish residents or whether they are isolated or not, doesn’t matter: Turks are not the native inhabitants of Cyprus, they’re invaders.
Turkey is applying a blockade of Armenia regardless whether Armenia has control over its borders and airspace, because blockade, I repeat it for you once again, is ‘isolation of a nation, area, city, or harbor by hostile ships or forces in order to prevent the entrance and exit of traffic and commerce.’ This is exactly what Turkey does: it prevents the entrance and exit of traffic and commerce. Shall I repeat the international norm again or you understood from the second attempt?
I don’t have to preoccupy my mind with what would or wouldn’t happen to Iraq when it entered Kuwait or imagine what the U.S. response would be if a part of Israel were to be run over by one of its enemies. Relationship between the third states should not bother Armenia, just as the relationship between the third states should not bother Turkey.
As for Kurds, are you reading reports by a multitude of human rights organizations and advocacy groups regarding brutal suppression and mass murdering of Kurds in Turkey or you live on the moon? Had Kurds not been blockaded and deprived by the Turks, why does your government attempt to suppress their struggle for liberation, captured Ocalan, emptied their residential areas in the south and south-east, and qualify them not as Kurds but as ‘Mountain Turks’? Why do you commit these acts if the Kurds live unblockaded, unsuppressed, and privileged? Might you know?
An article by Dov Fischer posted on FrontPage magazine reads as follows:
Flotilla “supported financially by Hamas and peopled primarily by their Turkish allies” intended to transport 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid, while Israel supplies Gaza with 15, 000 tons of food and humanitarian aid every week,In the context of Turkey’s indignation with blockade of Gaza the author proposes to have a look at Turkey’s attitude towards Armenians, Christians and Kurds. “Does her treatment of religious and ethnic minorities model Western humanitarian values?” Fischer wonders.
Turkey has refused to recognize the Genocide perpetrated against Armenians in the beginning of the 20th century, he notes. Ankara did not apologize or even acknowledged it. Israel regretted publicly for killings of Turkish citizens in attack on humanitarian ships, though “Turkey still denies the Armenian Genocide ever happened.”
As regards Kurds, they do not have a right to give their children Kurdish names. The Turkish government restricts educational efforts of ethnic minorities, including Greeks and Armenians.
WOW.. WOW.. WOW.. that is all i can say after I read Turks’ replies…
my idea of putting likes of Murat, Enver Pasha, Kurt on a big ship and sending them away sounds better and better…
G
Please don’t be so quick to embrace Dov Fisher’s comments, people….or that the Israelis/Jews are using the genocide to serve their own purposes at this moment. If you can’t realize that you’re being used, only to be thrown away once they are done, then think again.
Noone ’embraces’ Dov Fisher’s or anyone else’s comments. Just posting them. In politics, everyone’s using someone else or some other issue to serve their own purposes. No action is needed in this stand-off. Just observance.
We do not need this kind of ‘help’…
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3899835,00.html
As much of a Turkish Ultra-Nationalist I am, Turkey has no right to meddle in Israel/Palestine affairs. AKP is garbage, long live CHP.