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DEATHS IN EGYPT ARE OVERSHADOWING THIS OTHER BIG EVENT
PolicyMic
Aug 21 2013
Haykaram Nahapetyan
Adly Mansour, Egypt's interim president, tweeted on Saturday,
"Egypt decided to sign onto the international document recognizing
the Armenian Genocide." Raymond Ibrahim, a prominent Middle East and
Islam expert reported about this on his personal web page.
He tweeted in Arabic, "Our representatives at the UN will sign the
international document that acknowledges the Armenian Genocide,
which was committed by the Turkish military, leading to the deaths
of one million."
Many Turkish human rights activists and intellectuals - including
the writer and Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk - recognize the
Ottoman-Turkish genocide of the Armenians in 1915. But the government
of Turkey continues to deny it; recognition of the Armenian genocide
difficult for Ankara officials.
If Cairo accomplishes what Adly Mansour allegedly has tweeted about,
Egypt will become the first country on the African continent and the
second predominantly Muslim state, after Lebanon, to condemn the
Armenian genocide. At this point, about 20 countries have adopted
decisions labeling the organized massacres of the Armenian people as
genocide, including Switzerland, France, Germany, Canada, Slovakia,
and others.
Ibrahim said that Cairo's leaders were angry at Turkey for dooming
the interim authorities for recent violations. On Monday, Ankara even
moved further by criticizing the Organization of Islamic Cooperation
(OIC) and the group's Secretary-General for not taking an active
stance against Egypt, The Associated Press reported. The Turkish
citizenship of the OIC's secretary general didn't stop Ankara's deputy
Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag from calling for his resignation. Irbahim
qualifies the tweet as a response to Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan's
recent condemnation of Egypt. Erdogan even used the g-word, saying
the Egyptian forces committed genocide against its own people. The
two countries withdrew their Ambassadors respectively from Ankara
and Cairo.
According to Levent Gumrukcu, the spokesperson for the Turkish Foreign
Ministry, Turkey's diplomatic channels found no evidence that the
above-mentioned tweet was authentic. On Monday, Egypt's mission to the
United Nations in New York City confirmed in telephone conversation
that the Twitter account in reality didn't belong to Mansour. Nabil
Fahmy, Egypt's Foreign Minister, said, "As far as I know, Egypt did not
sign anything in the UN over the past two days." He also described the
Turkish stance toward Egypt as "unacceptable". According to the State
Information Service in Cairo, "The decision to scrap the planned naval
exercise with Turkey was made in protest at the unacceptable Turkish
statements and a clear interference in Egypt's domestic affairs."
In social media, both Armenians and Turks extensively reacted to the
latest news. Some Turkish users on timeturk.com claimed, "Mansour is
Christian," similar to the Muslim Brotherhood's statements regarding
the Christian affiliation of the interim leader. Turkish users saw his
religious profile as something, which shouldn't make the recognition
of the Armenian genocide in current day Cairo unexpected.
In Armenia, Gevorg Altunyan, the director of First Channel's news
service, referred to these developments on his Facebook page.
"Although Cairo rejects the genocide recognition rumors at this point,
the importance of possible acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide by
a predominantly Muslim country shouldn't certainly be underestimated.
And it doesn't really matter what is the reason behind recognition,"
he said. An Armenian scholar Gevorg Poghosyan appeared on the ArmNews
TV channel, saying, "The Armenian genocide condemnation normally comes
to the international agenda when some countries experience problems
with Turkey."
However, some users describe the scandalous tweet as an attempt to
alarm Ankara about possible developments if Erdogan doesn't revise
his anti-Mansour attitude. Interestingly, the Egyptian press recently
has published several articles on the Armenian genocide. Cairo's Sata
Balad newspaper reported Turkey's interference with Egypt's internal
affairs is reminiscent of atrocities of the early 20th century. Essam
Kamel, the editor-in-chief of Veto, an Egyptian independent daily,
also reported on the same topic.
Summarizing the controversy around recognition of the Armenian genocide
by Cairo's interim leadership, Kamel said, "The Egyptian government
has the right to hesitate in acknowledging the massacres of Armenians
by the Turkish forces due to the high incitement of Asitana [today's
Ankara] as this acknowledgement will have bad repercussions on the
Egyptian-Turkish relations."
http://www.policymic.com/articles/60215/deaths-in-egypt-are-overshadowing-this-other-big-event
PolicyMic
Aug 21 2013
Haykaram Nahapetyan
Adly Mansour, Egypt's interim president, tweeted on Saturday,
"Egypt decided to sign onto the international document recognizing
the Armenian Genocide." Raymond Ibrahim, a prominent Middle East and
Islam expert reported about this on his personal web page.
He tweeted in Arabic, "Our representatives at the UN will sign the
international document that acknowledges the Armenian Genocide,
which was committed by the Turkish military, leading to the deaths
of one million."
Many Turkish human rights activists and intellectuals - including
the writer and Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk - recognize the
Ottoman-Turkish genocide of the Armenians in 1915. But the government
of Turkey continues to deny it; recognition of the Armenian genocide
difficult for Ankara officials.
If Cairo accomplishes what Adly Mansour allegedly has tweeted about,
Egypt will become the first country on the African continent and the
second predominantly Muslim state, after Lebanon, to condemn the
Armenian genocide. At this point, about 20 countries have adopted
decisions labeling the organized massacres of the Armenian people as
genocide, including Switzerland, France, Germany, Canada, Slovakia,
and others.
Ibrahim said that Cairo's leaders were angry at Turkey for dooming
the interim authorities for recent violations. On Monday, Ankara even
moved further by criticizing the Organization of Islamic Cooperation
(OIC) and the group's Secretary-General for not taking an active
stance against Egypt, The Associated Press reported. The Turkish
citizenship of the OIC's secretary general didn't stop Ankara's deputy
Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag from calling for his resignation. Irbahim
qualifies the tweet as a response to Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan's
recent condemnation of Egypt. Erdogan even used the g-word, saying
the Egyptian forces committed genocide against its own people. The
two countries withdrew their Ambassadors respectively from Ankara
and Cairo.
According to Levent Gumrukcu, the spokesperson for the Turkish Foreign
Ministry, Turkey's diplomatic channels found no evidence that the
above-mentioned tweet was authentic. On Monday, Egypt's mission to the
United Nations in New York City confirmed in telephone conversation
that the Twitter account in reality didn't belong to Mansour. Nabil
Fahmy, Egypt's Foreign Minister, said, "As far as I know, Egypt did not
sign anything in the UN over the past two days." He also described the
Turkish stance toward Egypt as "unacceptable". According to the State
Information Service in Cairo, "The decision to scrap the planned naval
exercise with Turkey was made in protest at the unacceptable Turkish
statements and a clear interference in Egypt's domestic affairs."
In social media, both Armenians and Turks extensively reacted to the
latest news. Some Turkish users on timeturk.com claimed, "Mansour is
Christian," similar to the Muslim Brotherhood's statements regarding
the Christian affiliation of the interim leader. Turkish users saw his
religious profile as something, which shouldn't make the recognition
of the Armenian genocide in current day Cairo unexpected.
In Armenia, Gevorg Altunyan, the director of First Channel's news
service, referred to these developments on his Facebook page.
"Although Cairo rejects the genocide recognition rumors at this point,
the importance of possible acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide by
a predominantly Muslim country shouldn't certainly be underestimated.
And it doesn't really matter what is the reason behind recognition,"
he said. An Armenian scholar Gevorg Poghosyan appeared on the ArmNews
TV channel, saying, "The Armenian genocide condemnation normally comes
to the international agenda when some countries experience problems
with Turkey."
However, some users describe the scandalous tweet as an attempt to
alarm Ankara about possible developments if Erdogan doesn't revise
his anti-Mansour attitude. Interestingly, the Egyptian press recently
has published several articles on the Armenian genocide. Cairo's Sata
Balad newspaper reported Turkey's interference with Egypt's internal
affairs is reminiscent of atrocities of the early 20th century. Essam
Kamel, the editor-in-chief of Veto, an Egyptian independent daily,
also reported on the same topic.
Summarizing the controversy around recognition of the Armenian genocide
by Cairo's interim leadership, Kamel said, "The Egyptian government
has the right to hesitate in acknowledging the massacres of Armenians
by the Turkish forces due to the high incitement of Asitana [today's
Ankara] as this acknowledgement will have bad repercussions on the
Egyptian-Turkish relations."
http://www.policymic.com/articles/60215/deaths-in-egypt-are-overshadowing-this-other-big-event