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Pre-election campaign in Turkey checks `blood purity' of politicians

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  • Pre-election campaign in Turkey checks `blood purity' of politicians

    Pre-election campaign in Turkey checks `blood purity' of politicians


    Nothing good will come out of this pre-election campaign, as the
    Turkish population consider themselves pure Turks, Ottomans by origin.
    Any other origin is considered `unclean'.

    This week the Turkish press publicized two news items worthy of close
    attention. The first was about the decision on Leo Suren Halepli,
    Turkish citizen of Armenian descent,to be employed by the Turkish
    government. Tthe second item referred to publication of the names of
    Armenian journalists killed in the years of the Armenian Genocide of
    1915. It is unlikely that we would be interested in these posts, but
    for the gaining momentum campaign for parliamentary elections.


    March 4, 2011
    PanARMENIAN.Net -

    Any statement given by the main contenders for the majority should be
    treated in this context. As for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
    he, as always, does his usual, playing to the gallery on the brink of
    a scandal, accusing every possible and impossible one. Once more he
    swears fidelity to the Turkic Union, EU, Arabs and anyone, except the
    recent strategic partner and ally - Israel. But there is an
    explanation to everything: it is impossible to enlist the support of
    the Arab world, meanwhile maintaining good relations with Israel. Only
    Hosni Mubarak and to some extent, the League of Arab States (LAS)
    headed by Egyptian diplomat Amr Moussa have so far managed to do so.
    But alas, all is gone, and now Turkey is trying to play a major role
    in the Arab East, completely forgetting both about Saudi Arabia and
    yet quite competent Gaddafi. However, Turkey is well aware that the
    path to Arab states that have experienced a `revolution' lies through
    Egypt. Especially to that end did President Gul leave for Cairo.
    `We'll share our mutual experiences and will describe how we
    implemented reforms in our country. The transition period must be
    open, transparent and satisfying; it must meet people's expectations,
    and must involve people in this process,' Gul said. He also stressed
    in this issue the sincerity of Turkey, which forms part of the region.
    `We have gained a high reputation and our opinion counts. What
    happened is a people's revolution. What needs to be done today is to
    act rationally and decisively. It is necessary to ensure democracy and
    supremacy of law,' the Turkish president said.

    As always, words and actions of Turkish officials are diametrically
    opposite. Democracy is good, of course, but how to deal with
    dissatisfaction of the OSCE, regarding the harassment of journalists.
    The ability of Turkey to fog the truth is known for long, since the
    times of the Ottoman Empire. One may even say that nothing has changed
    for over 600 years, except the look of Turkey - from a gown with a
    hookah to a business suit from the best designers.

    Within the same pre-election campaign there also began the process of
    `defaming' the leaders of major political parties. At least so Turkish
    politicians interpret the mention of their non-Turkic roots. It all
    started a couple of years ago, when MP Canan Aritman `accused'
    President Gul of the Armenian descent of his mother. Now Armenian
    roots are attributed to Kemal Kılıcdaroglu, leader of the Republican
    People's Party (CHP), and the other day they started to talk about the
    Jewish origin of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Nothing good will come out of
    this campaign, as the Turkish population consider themselves pure
    Turks, who were Ottomans by origin. Any other origin is considered
    `unclean'. We will not mention that the Young Turks and Mustafa Kemal
    Ataturk were Donmeh (Jews who converted to Islam). Neither shall we
    mention about their Armenian grandmothers. But the most interesting
    point is that among the ancestors of Turkish politicians no
    Azerbaijanis are found. This fact alone means nothing, unless you take
    into account that they did not exist at the time of the Ottoman
    Empire, when Circassians, Albanians, Slavs, and anyone but the
    Caucasian Tatars were captured or taken into harem ... And the fact
    that the Turkish Premier is a Laz by nationality is not news.

    However, it's strange enough that a country avid for getting into
    Europe, should care about `purity of blood'. Europe once experienced
    this in 1930s. The good news is that everything that's happening now
    in Turkey is merely a campaign.


    Karine Ter-Sahakyan / PanARMENIAN News




    From: A. Papazian
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