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ANTI ARMENIAN DEMONSTRATIONS IN TURKEY: 'YOU ARE ARMENIANS; YOU ARE BASTARDS'
By Michael Santo
HULIQ.com
http://www.huliq.com/3257/anti-armenian-demonstrations-turkey-you-are-armenians-you-are-bastards
Feb 27 2012
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Isanbul's Taksim Square on
Sunday carrying anti-Armenian posters and slogans, some reading
"you are Armenians, you are bastards." The Interior Minister of
Turkey and other political leaders joined into the demonstration,
which organizers say will spread to 50 cities.
Some of the placards threatened the security of Turkey's Armenian
minority, while others called for revenge using violence. According
to pictures taken by Armenian Weekly and posted on its Facebook page,
large groups of protesters were seen in Istanbul's Taksim Square
chanting "Taksim Square today, Yerevan Tomorrow: We will descend upon
you suddenly in the night."
Demonstrators said they were seeking to avenge for those killed in
the tragic events of Khojaly, which Azerbaijan claims is a massacre
by the Armenian forces. However, the president of Azerbaijan of the
time Ayaz Mutalibov has said in an interview that this was a well
planned provocation by Azerbaijan against his presidency. "As the
Khojali inhabitants, who narrowly escaped, say, it was all organized
in order to have ground for my resignation. Some forces functioned
for the effort to discredit the president," Mutalibov told to Czech
reporter Dana Mazalova (Njvaya Gazeta," 2.04.92).
"These hate rallies are aimed at increasing the tension between
Turkey's and Armenia's unstable political relationship. This is being
viewed as pure propaganda to create an anti-Armenian rally due to
the unresolved conflict related to the right of self-determination
of the people of Nagorno Karabakh, which Azerbaijan does not want
to recognize. At the head of these discriminatory demonstrations
are leaders of political parties and Turkey's Interior Minister,
Idias Naim Sahin who is fueling an already enraged group of Turks and
Azerbaijanis," said California based Leo Bagdasarian, and Armenian
student from Los Angeles Valley College.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), was quick to condemn
the demonstrations and urged the U.S. Ambassador in Turkey Francis
Ricciardone to to take action and condemn the "government-sanctioned
incitement" to violence.
"Today's anti-Armenian demonstrations in the streets of Istanbul --
with the Interior Minister and prominent political parties at the
helm -- were clearly aimed at inciting increased racism and renewed
violence against Turkey's own Armenian citizens and neighboring
Armenia," stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "These are
not simply the violent echoes of a post-genocidal state, but the
determined actions of a pre-genocidal Turkish society that is angrily
lashing out at its imagined enemies and seeking out its next target.
We urge U.S. Ambassador Ricciardone to immediately, forcefully, and
publicly condemn this government-sanctioned incitement to violence."
According to the Hurriyet Daily News, Turkish authorities also took
"extreme security measures" in the French and Greek consulates because
of the unrest and fear of protester violence.
NORA-YR (National Organization of Republican Armenians - Young
Republicans,) UCLA Chapter chairwoman Knarik Gasparian released a
statement to HULIQ condemning the anti-Armenian demonstrations.
NORA-YR Statement
"For a nation and a country which seeks entrance into the European
Union and masterfully hides its true face of a murderer under the
facade of a secular, developed and compassionate Western country,
yesterday's government sanctioned anti-Armenian protests in Taksim
Square in Turkey could be seen as an uncharacteristic miscalculation.
In reality, this was the natural outburst of racism, animosity and
irrational hatred towards the Armenian people, which existed in the
country and was suppressed for far too long.
"This violent outburst leaves no doubt that anti- Armenian propaganda
is propagated by the Turkish government itself. Inadvertently, strong
anti-Armenian sentiments which existed and were facilitated by the
Ottoman government in the beginning of the twentieth century come
to mind. For a country which claims innocence concerning the events
of the Armenian Genocide and characterizes the recent pass of the
Genocide denial criminalization proposal in France as "tantamount to
discrimination, racism and violates freedom of thought"; signs which
read 'You are all Armenians, You are all bastards,' and 'Today Taksim,
Tomorrow Yerevan: We will descend upon you suddenly in the night,'
are quite in accordance with the freedom of thought and speech and
contain no racism.
"As a representative of the Armenian youth, it is painful for me
to see that the barbaric sentiments, which fueled the racial and
religious discrimination against Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, and
culminated into the Armenian genocide are still very much present and
loudly expressed in broad daylight. It is hard to fathom how so much
hatred, prejudice and violence can exist in a society which praises
democracy and condemns human rights violations in Syria.
"Only after Turkey accepts that the Armenian massacres of 1915
constitute a genocide, will the two nations be able to peacefully
coexist, have mutual respect and achieve stability in the region.
Unfortunately, today's public show of hostility, with its violent
rhetoric and offensive threats, does nothing to facilitate this
process of rapprochement."
ANCA reports that somewhere between 20,000 to 50,000 people have
participated in these demonstrations and that the protest organizers
have issued statements stating they plan to organize similar
demonstrations in over 50 cities in Turkey.
By Michael Santo
HULIQ.com
http://www.huliq.com/3257/anti-armenian-demonstrations-turkey-you-are-armenians-you-are-bastards
Feb 27 2012
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Isanbul's Taksim Square on
Sunday carrying anti-Armenian posters and slogans, some reading
"you are Armenians, you are bastards." The Interior Minister of
Turkey and other political leaders joined into the demonstration,
which organizers say will spread to 50 cities.
Some of the placards threatened the security of Turkey's Armenian
minority, while others called for revenge using violence. According
to pictures taken by Armenian Weekly and posted on its Facebook page,
large groups of protesters were seen in Istanbul's Taksim Square
chanting "Taksim Square today, Yerevan Tomorrow: We will descend upon
you suddenly in the night."
Demonstrators said they were seeking to avenge for those killed in
the tragic events of Khojaly, which Azerbaijan claims is a massacre
by the Armenian forces. However, the president of Azerbaijan of the
time Ayaz Mutalibov has said in an interview that this was a well
planned provocation by Azerbaijan against his presidency. "As the
Khojali inhabitants, who narrowly escaped, say, it was all organized
in order to have ground for my resignation. Some forces functioned
for the effort to discredit the president," Mutalibov told to Czech
reporter Dana Mazalova (Njvaya Gazeta," 2.04.92).
"These hate rallies are aimed at increasing the tension between
Turkey's and Armenia's unstable political relationship. This is being
viewed as pure propaganda to create an anti-Armenian rally due to
the unresolved conflict related to the right of self-determination
of the people of Nagorno Karabakh, which Azerbaijan does not want
to recognize. At the head of these discriminatory demonstrations
are leaders of political parties and Turkey's Interior Minister,
Idias Naim Sahin who is fueling an already enraged group of Turks and
Azerbaijanis," said California based Leo Bagdasarian, and Armenian
student from Los Angeles Valley College.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), was quick to condemn
the demonstrations and urged the U.S. Ambassador in Turkey Francis
Ricciardone to to take action and condemn the "government-sanctioned
incitement" to violence.
"Today's anti-Armenian demonstrations in the streets of Istanbul --
with the Interior Minister and prominent political parties at the
helm -- were clearly aimed at inciting increased racism and renewed
violence against Turkey's own Armenian citizens and neighboring
Armenia," stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "These are
not simply the violent echoes of a post-genocidal state, but the
determined actions of a pre-genocidal Turkish society that is angrily
lashing out at its imagined enemies and seeking out its next target.
We urge U.S. Ambassador Ricciardone to immediately, forcefully, and
publicly condemn this government-sanctioned incitement to violence."
According to the Hurriyet Daily News, Turkish authorities also took
"extreme security measures" in the French and Greek consulates because
of the unrest and fear of protester violence.
NORA-YR (National Organization of Republican Armenians - Young
Republicans,) UCLA Chapter chairwoman Knarik Gasparian released a
statement to HULIQ condemning the anti-Armenian demonstrations.
NORA-YR Statement
"For a nation and a country which seeks entrance into the European
Union and masterfully hides its true face of a murderer under the
facade of a secular, developed and compassionate Western country,
yesterday's government sanctioned anti-Armenian protests in Taksim
Square in Turkey could be seen as an uncharacteristic miscalculation.
In reality, this was the natural outburst of racism, animosity and
irrational hatred towards the Armenian people, which existed in the
country and was suppressed for far too long.
"This violent outburst leaves no doubt that anti- Armenian propaganda
is propagated by the Turkish government itself. Inadvertently, strong
anti-Armenian sentiments which existed and were facilitated by the
Ottoman government in the beginning of the twentieth century come
to mind. For a country which claims innocence concerning the events
of the Armenian Genocide and characterizes the recent pass of the
Genocide denial criminalization proposal in France as "tantamount to
discrimination, racism and violates freedom of thought"; signs which
read 'You are all Armenians, You are all bastards,' and 'Today Taksim,
Tomorrow Yerevan: We will descend upon you suddenly in the night,'
are quite in accordance with the freedom of thought and speech and
contain no racism.
"As a representative of the Armenian youth, it is painful for me
to see that the barbaric sentiments, which fueled the racial and
religious discrimination against Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, and
culminated into the Armenian genocide are still very much present and
loudly expressed in broad daylight. It is hard to fathom how so much
hatred, prejudice and violence can exist in a society which praises
democracy and condemns human rights violations in Syria.
"Only after Turkey accepts that the Armenian massacres of 1915
constitute a genocide, will the two nations be able to peacefully
coexist, have mutual respect and achieve stability in the region.
Unfortunately, today's public show of hostility, with its violent
rhetoric and offensive threats, does nothing to facilitate this
process of rapprochement."
ANCA reports that somewhere between 20,000 to 50,000 people have
participated in these demonstrations and that the protest organizers
have issued statements stating they plan to organize similar
demonstrations in over 50 cities in Turkey.