Tweet
TURKISH CONSUL GENERAL EXPLOITS INTERNEE SUFFERING
Gary Antourian, Toronto, 10 July 2013
The Toronto Turkish consul general's ongoing attempts to exploit the
memory of the First World War internees in Ontario, Canada is not an
isolated propaganda affair. Ankara has a global campaign in place to
burnish Turkey's image as an up-and-coming important country so as to
give weight to its denialist policies on the eve of the centenary of
the Genocide of Armenians by Turks. Everywhere Ankara is organizing
cultural activities, erecting monuments, commission documentaries,
exhibiting Ottoman to Hittite artifacts at foreign museums, launching
'Turkish' food festivals... 'Scholarly' articles are being published in
for-hire Western journals to spread Turkish lies and all-expenses-paid
symposia are organized by Ankara to repeat those same lies. Armenians
everywhere should be aware of Ankara's activities and combat Turkey's
falsehood machine.
The Ottoman subjects' internment issue is such a Turkish charade to
advance the above strategy. There is much more to the story than what
has been stated publicly. Knowingly or unknowingly, some of the players
(researches, journalists, elected officials) of this drama are being
used by the Turkish propaganda machine. As well, the players have not
been forthcoming, and have digressed from the federal government's
guidelines and intention when Ottawa established the Canadian World
War I Internment Recognition Fund. The federal government did not
envision that one day the fund would be hijacked by a handful of
people and the fund would become a tool in the hands of a foreign
government to conceive divisiveness among Canadians.
A Canadian-Turkish monthly recently reported that the Turkish
government and its consul-general in Toronto are preparing to
inaugurate a monument at Mount Hope Cemetery in Brantford, dedicated to
the memory of the 100-plus Ottoman internees. A high level delegation,
headed by a senior advisor to the current Turkish prime minister,
will attend the inauguration. There's also talk that a Canadian TV
station will cover the sham inauguration.
This is the acme of dishonesty, not only to the Ottoman internees but
also to other internees. The overwhelming majority of the 100-plus
Ottoman internees were Alawites. The remaining were Armenian, Greek,
Kurd, Syriac and others. The Turkish consul general disdainfully and
deliberately is stealing and exploiting the identity of the internees
for crass political reasons. Even though he knows the identity of the
internees, the consul general insists on victimizing the internees
for a second time by asserting that the internees were Turks. The
first victimization occurred when the internees fled the Ottoman
Empire to escape the persecutions of bloody Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
It is ironic that the representative and the adviser to the Turkish
prime minister (who recently suppressed the civil and human rights
of his people during the Taksim Square protests) is coming to Canada
to give Canadians and their elected officials lessons in democracy,
human rights and freedoms. Turkey is distinguished as the country
which has jailed more journalists than any country. Do our politicians,
journalists, researchers, academics need to learn from or be seen to
be associated with such a government and its representatives?
I am wondering if the relatives of the victims and their communities
are aware what the Turkish consul general is planning. How did the
mayor of Brantford and city council agree to the Turkish consul
general's request to erect a monument in one of their cemeteries?
Since when have our municipal governments begun to allow their
cemeteries to be used for a foreign government's propaganda?
The Library and Archive Canada website states: "There were no Turkish
prisoners in Canada." So why do the Turkish consul general and his
Canadian cohorts continue this farce?
I applaud the Ukrainian community for petitioning the government to
recognize the injustice of the WWI internments While this work is
commendable, it doesn't give the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties
Association (UCCLA), Mr. Luciuk and others license to collaborate
with the Turkish government and its representatives who regularly
deny other people's suffering. This is pure hypocrisy.
Since 1999 the UCCLA has not missed an opportunity to suppress the
memorialization of the Armenian Genocide. We have often seen the
repetition of the deplorable policies of Mr. Gregorovich. Let's suppose
for a minute that Mr. Luciuk is an individual with a personal agenda
who is not consulting the UCCLA and the fund council. Why then have
we not seen a condemnation of such policies or dissociation by the
fund council, the UCCLA, and other Ukrainian community representatives?
It is time for the Canadian World War I Internment Recognition Fund
Council, internment researcher William Darfler and everyone involved
in the story of the internment of the Brantford residents to come
clean and set the record straight. The City of Brantford should
stop building the monument which is intended to polish the image of
a repressive government. As the creator of the Canadian First World
War Internment Recognition Fund, the federal government should step
in to stop the Turkish government underhanded games.
We are fortunate to live in a country where we have leaders with the
courage and moral fortitude to apologize for the mistakes of the past
and to try to remedy the wrongs of their predecessors. In contrast
to our government, the Turkish government has a dismal record--I dare
say they have an unmatched history when it comes to the abuse of human
rights, the organizing of genocides, and crimes against humanity. When
we associate with such scandalous behavior, we damage our country's
reputation and do disservice to our forefathers who scarified so much
for freedom and democracy.
http://www.keghart.com/Antourian-Exploiting-Internees
Gary Antourian, Toronto, 10 July 2013
The Toronto Turkish consul general's ongoing attempts to exploit the
memory of the First World War internees in Ontario, Canada is not an
isolated propaganda affair. Ankara has a global campaign in place to
burnish Turkey's image as an up-and-coming important country so as to
give weight to its denialist policies on the eve of the centenary of
the Genocide of Armenians by Turks. Everywhere Ankara is organizing
cultural activities, erecting monuments, commission documentaries,
exhibiting Ottoman to Hittite artifacts at foreign museums, launching
'Turkish' food festivals... 'Scholarly' articles are being published in
for-hire Western journals to spread Turkish lies and all-expenses-paid
symposia are organized by Ankara to repeat those same lies. Armenians
everywhere should be aware of Ankara's activities and combat Turkey's
falsehood machine.
The Ottoman subjects' internment issue is such a Turkish charade to
advance the above strategy. There is much more to the story than what
has been stated publicly. Knowingly or unknowingly, some of the players
(researches, journalists, elected officials) of this drama are being
used by the Turkish propaganda machine. As well, the players have not
been forthcoming, and have digressed from the federal government's
guidelines and intention when Ottawa established the Canadian World
War I Internment Recognition Fund. The federal government did not
envision that one day the fund would be hijacked by a handful of
people and the fund would become a tool in the hands of a foreign
government to conceive divisiveness among Canadians.
A Canadian-Turkish monthly recently reported that the Turkish
government and its consul-general in Toronto are preparing to
inaugurate a monument at Mount Hope Cemetery in Brantford, dedicated to
the memory of the 100-plus Ottoman internees. A high level delegation,
headed by a senior advisor to the current Turkish prime minister,
will attend the inauguration. There's also talk that a Canadian TV
station will cover the sham inauguration.
This is the acme of dishonesty, not only to the Ottoman internees but
also to other internees. The overwhelming majority of the 100-plus
Ottoman internees were Alawites. The remaining were Armenian, Greek,
Kurd, Syriac and others. The Turkish consul general disdainfully and
deliberately is stealing and exploiting the identity of the internees
for crass political reasons. Even though he knows the identity of the
internees, the consul general insists on victimizing the internees
for a second time by asserting that the internees were Turks. The
first victimization occurred when the internees fled the Ottoman
Empire to escape the persecutions of bloody Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
It is ironic that the representative and the adviser to the Turkish
prime minister (who recently suppressed the civil and human rights
of his people during the Taksim Square protests) is coming to Canada
to give Canadians and their elected officials lessons in democracy,
human rights and freedoms. Turkey is distinguished as the country
which has jailed more journalists than any country. Do our politicians,
journalists, researchers, academics need to learn from or be seen to
be associated with such a government and its representatives?
I am wondering if the relatives of the victims and their communities
are aware what the Turkish consul general is planning. How did the
mayor of Brantford and city council agree to the Turkish consul
general's request to erect a monument in one of their cemeteries?
Since when have our municipal governments begun to allow their
cemeteries to be used for a foreign government's propaganda?
The Library and Archive Canada website states: "There were no Turkish
prisoners in Canada." So why do the Turkish consul general and his
Canadian cohorts continue this farce?
I applaud the Ukrainian community for petitioning the government to
recognize the injustice of the WWI internments While this work is
commendable, it doesn't give the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties
Association (UCCLA), Mr. Luciuk and others license to collaborate
with the Turkish government and its representatives who regularly
deny other people's suffering. This is pure hypocrisy.
Since 1999 the UCCLA has not missed an opportunity to suppress the
memorialization of the Armenian Genocide. We have often seen the
repetition of the deplorable policies of Mr. Gregorovich. Let's suppose
for a minute that Mr. Luciuk is an individual with a personal agenda
who is not consulting the UCCLA and the fund council. Why then have
we not seen a condemnation of such policies or dissociation by the
fund council, the UCCLA, and other Ukrainian community representatives?
It is time for the Canadian World War I Internment Recognition Fund
Council, internment researcher William Darfler and everyone involved
in the story of the internment of the Brantford residents to come
clean and set the record straight. The City of Brantford should
stop building the monument which is intended to polish the image of
a repressive government. As the creator of the Canadian First World
War Internment Recognition Fund, the federal government should step
in to stop the Turkish government underhanded games.
We are fortunate to live in a country where we have leaders with the
courage and moral fortitude to apologize for the mistakes of the past
and to try to remedy the wrongs of their predecessors. In contrast
to our government, the Turkish government has a dismal record--I dare
say they have an unmatched history when it comes to the abuse of human
rights, the organizing of genocides, and crimes against humanity. When
we associate with such scandalous behavior, we damage our country's
reputation and do disservice to our forefathers who scarified so much
for freedom and democracy.
http://www.keghart.com/Antourian-Exploiting-Internees