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HAARETZ ARTICLE URGES TURKEY TO ACKNOWLEDGE GENOCIDE
asbarez
Friday, October 14th, 2011
In response to Turkey's continued calls on Israel to apologize for
last year's flotilla incident, Emanuele Ottolenghi, a senior fellow
at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, in a piece posted on
the leading Israeli newspaper Haaretz Web site on Friday, says that
Turkey should acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.
"Turkey continues to practice state-sanctioned genocide denial and
prosecutes those who dare challenge it. Isn't it time, 90-something
years after the Ottoman Empire eliminated as many as 1.5 million
Armenians that Mr. Erdogan's 'mildly Islamist' party, as The Economist
leniently defines it, acknowledges Turkey's dark past and apologizes
on behalf of its country's crimes?" asks Ottolenghi.
"Not to belabor the point, but the list of things Turkey should
apologize for is long. It continues to illegally occupy Northern
Cyprus, the territory of a European Union member, after having
conquered the land through an act of aggression that ended in
ethnic cleansing and illegal settlements. No apology there so far -
in fact, Turkey has just threatened to freeze ties with the EU if
Cyprus receives the Union's rotating presidency next year, as it is
supposed to. Meanwhile, Mr. Erdogan is directing his gunboat diplomacy
threats at Cyprus as well - as if occupation, ethnic cleansing and
the creation of a fictitiously independent republic in the northern
part of the island were not enough," adds Ottolenghi.
"Moral of the story: If you behave like a bull, you should not live
in a china shop. And if you live in a glass house, think twice before
you throw stones at your neighbors. Mr. Erdogan wants an apology? How
about starting with one?" concludes the author.
Read the entire Haaretz article here.
asbarez
Friday, October 14th, 2011
In response to Turkey's continued calls on Israel to apologize for
last year's flotilla incident, Emanuele Ottolenghi, a senior fellow
at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, in a piece posted on
the leading Israeli newspaper Haaretz Web site on Friday, says that
Turkey should acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.
"Turkey continues to practice state-sanctioned genocide denial and
prosecutes those who dare challenge it. Isn't it time, 90-something
years after the Ottoman Empire eliminated as many as 1.5 million
Armenians that Mr. Erdogan's 'mildly Islamist' party, as The Economist
leniently defines it, acknowledges Turkey's dark past and apologizes
on behalf of its country's crimes?" asks Ottolenghi.
"Not to belabor the point, but the list of things Turkey should
apologize for is long. It continues to illegally occupy Northern
Cyprus, the territory of a European Union member, after having
conquered the land through an act of aggression that ended in
ethnic cleansing and illegal settlements. No apology there so far -
in fact, Turkey has just threatened to freeze ties with the EU if
Cyprus receives the Union's rotating presidency next year, as it is
supposed to. Meanwhile, Mr. Erdogan is directing his gunboat diplomacy
threats at Cyprus as well - as if occupation, ethnic cleansing and
the creation of a fictitiously independent republic in the northern
part of the island were not enough," adds Ottolenghi.
"Moral of the story: If you behave like a bull, you should not live
in a china shop. And if you live in a glass house, think twice before
you throw stones at your neighbors. Mr. Erdogan wants an apology? How
about starting with one?" concludes the author.
Read the entire Haaretz article here.