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ALARM AT ATTACKS ON TURKISH ARMENIANS
Institute for War & Peace Reporting, UK
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #677
Feb 22 2013
While Istanbul police say common criminals carried out assaults,
others suspect an ethnic motive.
By Aline Ozinian - Caucasus
CRS Issue 677, 22 Feb 13
A series of attacks on elderly Armenians in Istanbul has left human
rights activists fearful of an upsurge of xenophobia in Turkey.
The latest victim was Sultan Aykar, an 80-year-old who lost an eye
when she was attacked.
"If her neighbours hadn't come to her aid, my grandmother would
be dead now," Aykar's granddaughter Karin Etik said by phone from
Istanbul. "She had blood in her mouth, and she was so scared that
she couldn't speak."
It was only the latest in a series of attacks targeting Armenians. At
the end of December, an 85-year-old woman called Maritsa Kucuk was
murdered, in the same Istanbul neighbourhood, Samatya.
Samatya where the attacks have taken place, has traditionally had a
large community of Armenians, who have enjoyed good relations with
Turkish and Kurdish residents over many decades.
The Turkish press initially ignored the assaults, but concerns began
to grow in the international media and among human rights groups.
A January 27 demonstration in Samatya was attended by Turkish and
Kurdish members of parliament, as well as representatives of women's
rights organisations. Participants held up banners saying, "Don't
hurt my Armenian neighbour".
"They want to scare the Armenians, to remind them that they will
not die of old age in their beds," said AyĆ~_e Gunaysu, a member of
anti-racism committee of the Human Rights Association of Turkey. "The
fact that the police are describing these fascist assaults as robberies
only helps to encourage fascism. They are attempting to ethnically
cleanse Samatya. We mustn't forget the fact that the Armenian genocide
is still denied in this country, and these events are a result of
this denial."
Turkish police have treated the attacks as ordinary crimes, perhaps
the work of drug addicts who share the common belief that Armenians
tend to be wealthier than others.
"We need to be prudent when we discuss these attacks. I would like
to wait before speaking," Mustafa Demir, mayor of Fatih district,
which includes Samatya, told Hurriyet Daily News. "All these attacks
have involved theft as well, so it seems there's little chance that
these are nationalist crimes, if you look into the details."
Others disagree, and suspect a more sinister motive.
"I have no doubt that these events are hate crimes. They need to
be looked at against the background of attacks on Greeks and other
Christians," Orhan Kemil Cengiz, a journalist for the Radikal and
Today's Zaman newspapers, said. "I think that by creating fear among
Christians, someone is trying to recreate the chaotic atmosphere that
dominated Turkey prior to the murder of Hrant Dink,"
Hrant Dink was an ethnic Armenian journalist murdered in 2007 by a
young Turkish nationalist, apparently because of Dink's comments
criticising Ankara's refusal to recognise the early 20th-century
killings of Armenians as genocide . Public outrage at this murder
led to a wave of dismissals from Turkey's security services, but
analysts say extreme nationalism is again spreading , encouraged by
rogue elements within the state.
"Such incidents are the result of deep-laid plans and have deep roots.
The Turkish government must solve these crimes not only to save the
lives of individual Armenians, but to strengthen its own authority,"
Berat Bekir Ozipek, a political analyst with the Liberal Thinking
Association and a journalist for the Star newspaper, said.
Aline Ozinian is a PhD student in Yerevan.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/alarm-attacks-turkish-armenians
From: Baghdasarian
Institute for War & Peace Reporting, UK
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #677
Feb 22 2013
While Istanbul police say common criminals carried out assaults,
others suspect an ethnic motive.
By Aline Ozinian - Caucasus
CRS Issue 677, 22 Feb 13
A series of attacks on elderly Armenians in Istanbul has left human
rights activists fearful of an upsurge of xenophobia in Turkey.
The latest victim was Sultan Aykar, an 80-year-old who lost an eye
when she was attacked.
"If her neighbours hadn't come to her aid, my grandmother would
be dead now," Aykar's granddaughter Karin Etik said by phone from
Istanbul. "She had blood in her mouth, and she was so scared that
she couldn't speak."
It was only the latest in a series of attacks targeting Armenians. At
the end of December, an 85-year-old woman called Maritsa Kucuk was
murdered, in the same Istanbul neighbourhood, Samatya.
Samatya where the attacks have taken place, has traditionally had a
large community of Armenians, who have enjoyed good relations with
Turkish and Kurdish residents over many decades.
The Turkish press initially ignored the assaults, but concerns began
to grow in the international media and among human rights groups.
A January 27 demonstration in Samatya was attended by Turkish and
Kurdish members of parliament, as well as representatives of women's
rights organisations. Participants held up banners saying, "Don't
hurt my Armenian neighbour".
"They want to scare the Armenians, to remind them that they will
not die of old age in their beds," said AyĆ~_e Gunaysu, a member of
anti-racism committee of the Human Rights Association of Turkey. "The
fact that the police are describing these fascist assaults as robberies
only helps to encourage fascism. They are attempting to ethnically
cleanse Samatya. We mustn't forget the fact that the Armenian genocide
is still denied in this country, and these events are a result of
this denial."
Turkish police have treated the attacks as ordinary crimes, perhaps
the work of drug addicts who share the common belief that Armenians
tend to be wealthier than others.
"We need to be prudent when we discuss these attacks. I would like
to wait before speaking," Mustafa Demir, mayor of Fatih district,
which includes Samatya, told Hurriyet Daily News. "All these attacks
have involved theft as well, so it seems there's little chance that
these are nationalist crimes, if you look into the details."
Others disagree, and suspect a more sinister motive.
"I have no doubt that these events are hate crimes. They need to
be looked at against the background of attacks on Greeks and other
Christians," Orhan Kemil Cengiz, a journalist for the Radikal and
Today's Zaman newspapers, said. "I think that by creating fear among
Christians, someone is trying to recreate the chaotic atmosphere that
dominated Turkey prior to the murder of Hrant Dink,"
Hrant Dink was an ethnic Armenian journalist murdered in 2007 by a
young Turkish nationalist, apparently because of Dink's comments
criticising Ankara's refusal to recognise the early 20th-century
killings of Armenians as genocide . Public outrage at this murder
led to a wave of dismissals from Turkey's security services, but
analysts say extreme nationalism is again spreading , encouraged by
rogue elements within the state.
"Such incidents are the result of deep-laid plans and have deep roots.
The Turkish government must solve these crimes not only to save the
lives of individual Armenians, but to strengthen its own authority,"
Berat Bekir Ozipek, a political analyst with the Liberal Thinking
Association and a journalist for the Star newspaper, said.
Aline Ozinian is a PhD student in Yerevan.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/alarm-attacks-turkish-armenians
From: Baghdasarian