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RETURN OF OTTOMANS... TO LA
By Garen Yegparian
ASBAREZ
Tuesday, September 6th, 2011
No, this is not about living room footrests.
Nor is it about the so-called "neo-Ottomanism" of Turkey's Foreign
Minister Davutoghlu.
It is about an UNBROKEN tradition of Ottoman (possibly even earlier
Turkish, but still at least terminologically stolen, er, borrowed
from the Persians) origin.
Who knew that the Ottoman Military Marching Band, "Mehter Takimi",
still existed? Further, it seems its core was comprised of the
janissaries (yeneecheree, and more on this later). After that bloody
corps was eliminated, this traditional marching band, one of the
earliest in history, almost disappeared. Its revival commenced in
1911, SURVIVED THE TRANSITION FROM OTTOMAN TO REPUBLICAN TURKEY, and
since 1953 (in "celebration" of the fall of Constantinople to the
Turks) has been fully reconstituted as a band of the Turkish Armed
Forces. Most of this is from WikipediA.
Isn't it interesting that the core of Kemal Ataturk's "republic",
the armed forces, are maintaining the band of a state with which the
current Turkish state doesn't easily associate itself, for obvious
genocidal reasons in all likelihood?
Even worse, the janissaries, in their day, were among the most
egregious murderers of Armenians and other non-Moslems in the
Ottoman Empire. You'll remember they were an elite corps composed
of the children of murdered Christians whose children were raised as
extremist Moslems.
So why this issue now? Well, this latter-day representative of
murderers is coming to town, for the SECOND time, on October 3. They
have pulled a permit from the City of Los Angeles to march and perform
along Hollywood Boulevard starting at Highland. They (35 individuals
according to the permit) plan to assemble at 4:00 pm, start marching
at 4:30, end at 6:15, and disband (no pun intended) at 6:30.
This is a despicable thing. It is occurring during Armenian culture
month, and just before the visit to the area by Catholicos Aram. It is
occurring in one of the biggest concentrations of Armenians living in
the LA basin. It is "related to the Anatolian Cultures & Food Festival
in Costa Mesa" according to the permit-yet another manifestation
of Turkish theft of indigenous culture. Plus, as mentioned above,
this would be the marching band's second appearance in the area
this year, the first having been in April at the festival when it
performed. Clearly, I shamefully missed being aware of that one.
It is important, terribly so, to give these representatives of Turkey
and its government an unwelcoming greeting they'll never forget! Who
remembers our success two decades ago when the Red Army Band's
performance at the Shrine Auditorium was cancelled by the organizers
because of our demonstration? Something like that is what we need.
It would be even better if the permit were revoked! It a failure of
our community that such a permit was issued without our awareness
and input. But now, our organizations must make every effort to
prevent this event from becoming a success. Otherwise, we will be in a
situation comparable to early- and mid-1980s New York City. Back then,
the Turks, using "Children's Day" (a legitimate holiday in Turkey,
falling on April 23)as their cover, started organizing a parade,
which is now annual and draws thousands, providing that genocidal
state lots of positive publicity. Let's not allow October 3, 2011 to
become the wedge that creates a similar situation in Los Angeles.
Also, the Pacifica Institute, about whom I've written before, and
which may well be connected to Turkey's Gulen movement, and which
is involved in constituting charter schools in the U.S. to spread
Turkish propaganda, is a sponsor of the food festival.
Some may wonder why we should care about a mere manifestation of
Turkish culture, which is the way organizers are passing this off
(based on the press releases on their website). Aside from the obvious
fact that culture is often used as a political tool, I always remember
Leo Sarkissian's admonition that our policy had always been: if it's
local Turks conducting an activity, that's one thing; if it is a
state-based group from Turkey, then we respond.
Clearly, Mehter Takim meets the second criterion. Let's get to work
and not let the Turkish government achieve another propaganda coup.
By Garen Yegparian
ASBAREZ
Tuesday, September 6th, 2011
No, this is not about living room footrests.
Nor is it about the so-called "neo-Ottomanism" of Turkey's Foreign
Minister Davutoghlu.
It is about an UNBROKEN tradition of Ottoman (possibly even earlier
Turkish, but still at least terminologically stolen, er, borrowed
from the Persians) origin.
Who knew that the Ottoman Military Marching Band, "Mehter Takimi",
still existed? Further, it seems its core was comprised of the
janissaries (yeneecheree, and more on this later). After that bloody
corps was eliminated, this traditional marching band, one of the
earliest in history, almost disappeared. Its revival commenced in
1911, SURVIVED THE TRANSITION FROM OTTOMAN TO REPUBLICAN TURKEY, and
since 1953 (in "celebration" of the fall of Constantinople to the
Turks) has been fully reconstituted as a band of the Turkish Armed
Forces. Most of this is from WikipediA.
Isn't it interesting that the core of Kemal Ataturk's "republic",
the armed forces, are maintaining the band of a state with which the
current Turkish state doesn't easily associate itself, for obvious
genocidal reasons in all likelihood?
Even worse, the janissaries, in their day, were among the most
egregious murderers of Armenians and other non-Moslems in the
Ottoman Empire. You'll remember they were an elite corps composed
of the children of murdered Christians whose children were raised as
extremist Moslems.
So why this issue now? Well, this latter-day representative of
murderers is coming to town, for the SECOND time, on October 3. They
have pulled a permit from the City of Los Angeles to march and perform
along Hollywood Boulevard starting at Highland. They (35 individuals
according to the permit) plan to assemble at 4:00 pm, start marching
at 4:30, end at 6:15, and disband (no pun intended) at 6:30.
This is a despicable thing. It is occurring during Armenian culture
month, and just before the visit to the area by Catholicos Aram. It is
occurring in one of the biggest concentrations of Armenians living in
the LA basin. It is "related to the Anatolian Cultures & Food Festival
in Costa Mesa" according to the permit-yet another manifestation
of Turkish theft of indigenous culture. Plus, as mentioned above,
this would be the marching band's second appearance in the area
this year, the first having been in April at the festival when it
performed. Clearly, I shamefully missed being aware of that one.
It is important, terribly so, to give these representatives of Turkey
and its government an unwelcoming greeting they'll never forget! Who
remembers our success two decades ago when the Red Army Band's
performance at the Shrine Auditorium was cancelled by the organizers
because of our demonstration? Something like that is what we need.
It would be even better if the permit were revoked! It a failure of
our community that such a permit was issued without our awareness
and input. But now, our organizations must make every effort to
prevent this event from becoming a success. Otherwise, we will be in a
situation comparable to early- and mid-1980s New York City. Back then,
the Turks, using "Children's Day" (a legitimate holiday in Turkey,
falling on April 23)as their cover, started organizing a parade,
which is now annual and draws thousands, providing that genocidal
state lots of positive publicity. Let's not allow October 3, 2011 to
become the wedge that creates a similar situation in Los Angeles.
Also, the Pacifica Institute, about whom I've written before, and
which may well be connected to Turkey's Gulen movement, and which
is involved in constituting charter schools in the U.S. to spread
Turkish propaganda, is a sponsor of the food festival.
Some may wonder why we should care about a mere manifestation of
Turkish culture, which is the way organizers are passing this off
(based on the press releases on their website). Aside from the obvious
fact that culture is often used as a political tool, I always remember
Leo Sarkissian's admonition that our policy had always been: if it's
local Turks conducting an activity, that's one thing; if it is a
state-based group from Turkey, then we respond.
Clearly, Mehter Takim meets the second criterion. Let's get to work
and not let the Turkish government achieve another propaganda coup.