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STEVEN SIMPSON: IF THERE HAS EVER BEEN A COUNTRY IN THE MIDDLE EAST GUILTY OF COMMITTING CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, IT IS TURKEY
http://www.panorama.am/en/politics/2013/03/21/s-simson/
13:16 21/03/2013 Â" ANALYSIS
Below is an article by Steven Simpson, published in The American
Thinker, in which he presents the crimes committed by Turkey.
Turkey's Islamist prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is once again
engaging in his favorite political pastime - Israel-bashing.
Late last month at a U.N. convention held ironically to promote
religious tolerance, Erdogan lambasted Israel by calling Zionism
"a crime against humanity." Indeed, Erdogan even outdid the biggest
anti-Israel institution in the world - the United Nations - which in
1975 passed its infamous "Zionism is Racism" resolution.
But Erdogan's continuous contempt for Israel shows the arrogance
and hypocrisy of Turkey. For if there has ever been a country in
the Middle East guilty of committing crimes against humanity, it is
Turkey. Indeed, next to Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, 20th-century
Turkey ranks right up there when it comes to massacres, rapes,
expulsions, and rapine perpetrated against ethnic and religious
minorities - namely Armenians, Greeks, and Kurds.
Before documenting Turkey's crimes against other people, it should
first be noted that today's Turkey has for all intents and purposes
become an Islamic republic in everything but name only. The so-called
"Turkish-Israeli" alliance has been in tatters since Erdogan came
to power in 2003. Aside from veering Turkey on an Islamist course -
and cause - the Turks (even with Obama's "apology tour" that began
in Turkey back in 2009) remain extremely anti-American. This writer
back in 2010 documented Erdogan's democratic ascent to power, his
ideology and goals, and what an Islamist Turkey means to America,
Israel, and the West in general.
Regrettably, Israel allowed herself to once again be verbally slapped
down by the vitriolic and sanctimonious Erdogan. With Erdogan's latest
diatribe, all Israel could weakly say was "that it was a sinister
and mendacious comment." America, fearful of losing its only Muslim
NATO "ally," also was quite quiet when it came to Erdogan's latest
bombastic tirade.
Ironically, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was on his way to
Turkey to meet with officials when Erdogan had his latest verbal
apoplectic attack against Israel. Though the mainstream media made
it out that the U.S. was furious with Erdogan, Kerry simply called
the comments "objectionable." Indeed, Erdogan upbraided Kerry when
Kerry had apologized for being late to a dinner with the Turkish
prime minister after holding talks with Turkey's foreign minister,
Ahmet Davutoglu. Mr. Kerry had commented to the prime minister that he
had held lengthy discussions with Mr. Davutoglu. An irritated Erdogan
then acerbically stated to Kerry that they "must have spoken about
everything so there is nothing left for us to talk about." Kerry
meekly responded "that there's a lot to talk about." However, it
remains unknown what the two actually discussed, and if Kerry raised
any objections to Erdogan's statements on Israel, no one has yet
reported on the event.
This now leaves us with Erdogan's hypocrisy in lecturing Israel about
supposed "war crimes" and leads us to actual war crimes perpetrated
by Turkey during the 20th century - crimes that still go on today
against the Kurds. It is a record that not only has caused of blood
to be spilled, but still has repercussions felt to this day.
Probably the most well-known war crime that Turkey engaged in was
the slaughter - if not genocide - perpetrated against the Armenians
in the first two decades of the 20th century. In fact, the Turks
were already slaughtering Armenians in the late 19th century in
what has come to be known as "the Hamidian massacres." Estimates
of the slaughter range from hundreds of thousands to millions. In
any event, Turkey has consistently and constantly denied that such
crimes against the Armenians took place. Turkey is so sensitive to
the charge of genocide that when the U.S. Congress in 2010 finally
passed a resolution condemning this crime, Turkey threatened
"serious consequences" to the "partnership" between America and
Turkey. Ironically, Barack Obama, who had the audacity to say back
in 2007 that "nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people,"
sought to stop the congressional resolution on the Armenian genocide.
Continuing with Turkish war crimes, and the hypocrisy of the
neo-Ottoman crypto-Sultan Erdogan, there were the massacres and
expulsions of the Greeks from their ancestral homelands. This is
another Turkish crime against humanity that is little-known, and even
less spoken or written about. "The Pontian Genocide" took place between
the years of 1916 and 1922. Again, estimates vary in the casualty
rate, but the slaughter could have been as close to 1,000,000 Greeks
killed. This doesn't even take into account the surviving 1.5 million
Greeks who lived in Asia Minor (Anatolia) for millennia before being
expelled by the Turks to European Greece during this era.
Finally, there are the Kurds. If there was ever an authentic Middle
Eastern minority of Muslims that deserves a nation-state, it is
the Kurds. While Islamist governments in Iran and Turkey (as well
as the Arab world) talk about "Islamic solidarity" when it comes to
the so-called "Palestinians," there is not even a syllable of talk
regarding the plight of the Kurds. The Kurds have been killed and
suppressed by Arab, Persian, and Turk for centuries, all of whom
see the legitimate aim of the Kurds to establish their own state as
a threat to the status quo of continuous Arab, Persian, and Turkish
imperialism.
While the Kurds are spread out over Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey, it
has been in the last country that the Kurds have basically been written
out of history by the Turks. The Turkish quest to deny any semblance
of a Kurdish existence has been so bizarre that Turkey even banned the
Kurdish language during the years 1983-1999 and routinely referred
to them as "mountain Turks." To this day, Turkey routinely crosses
the Syrian and Iraqi borders to fight against "Kurdish terrorists."
This background on Turkish war crimes is just a brief sketch of the
brutal actions that Turkey has committed over the decades (if not
centuries). The next time the arrogant, bellicose, and venomous Erdogan
along with his fellow Islamists lectures Israel about "crimes against
humanity," they should look in the mirror and admit to true war crimes.
Indeed, Israel - and America, for that matter - would do history
a great justice if they reminded Turkey in the strongest language
possible, of the Turks' bloody crimes against their own minorities,
instead of sitting back and allowing Turkey to pontificate about
Israel's nonexistent "crimes against humanity." Continued silence
will only strengthen bullies and thugs like Erdogan, lend credence
to his outlandish slander, and allow Turkey to continue to rewrite
history in its own image.
Source: Panorama.am
http://www.panorama.am/en/politics/2013/03/21/s-simson/
13:16 21/03/2013 Â" ANALYSIS
Below is an article by Steven Simpson, published in The American
Thinker, in which he presents the crimes committed by Turkey.
Turkey's Islamist prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is once again
engaging in his favorite political pastime - Israel-bashing.
Late last month at a U.N. convention held ironically to promote
religious tolerance, Erdogan lambasted Israel by calling Zionism
"a crime against humanity." Indeed, Erdogan even outdid the biggest
anti-Israel institution in the world - the United Nations - which in
1975 passed its infamous "Zionism is Racism" resolution.
But Erdogan's continuous contempt for Israel shows the arrogance
and hypocrisy of Turkey. For if there has ever been a country in
the Middle East guilty of committing crimes against humanity, it is
Turkey. Indeed, next to Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, 20th-century
Turkey ranks right up there when it comes to massacres, rapes,
expulsions, and rapine perpetrated against ethnic and religious
minorities - namely Armenians, Greeks, and Kurds.
Before documenting Turkey's crimes against other people, it should
first be noted that today's Turkey has for all intents and purposes
become an Islamic republic in everything but name only. The so-called
"Turkish-Israeli" alliance has been in tatters since Erdogan came
to power in 2003. Aside from veering Turkey on an Islamist course -
and cause - the Turks (even with Obama's "apology tour" that began
in Turkey back in 2009) remain extremely anti-American. This writer
back in 2010 documented Erdogan's democratic ascent to power, his
ideology and goals, and what an Islamist Turkey means to America,
Israel, and the West in general.
Regrettably, Israel allowed herself to once again be verbally slapped
down by the vitriolic and sanctimonious Erdogan. With Erdogan's latest
diatribe, all Israel could weakly say was "that it was a sinister
and mendacious comment." America, fearful of losing its only Muslim
NATO "ally," also was quite quiet when it came to Erdogan's latest
bombastic tirade.
Ironically, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was on his way to
Turkey to meet with officials when Erdogan had his latest verbal
apoplectic attack against Israel. Though the mainstream media made
it out that the U.S. was furious with Erdogan, Kerry simply called
the comments "objectionable." Indeed, Erdogan upbraided Kerry when
Kerry had apologized for being late to a dinner with the Turkish
prime minister after holding talks with Turkey's foreign minister,
Ahmet Davutoglu. Mr. Kerry had commented to the prime minister that he
had held lengthy discussions with Mr. Davutoglu. An irritated Erdogan
then acerbically stated to Kerry that they "must have spoken about
everything so there is nothing left for us to talk about." Kerry
meekly responded "that there's a lot to talk about." However, it
remains unknown what the two actually discussed, and if Kerry raised
any objections to Erdogan's statements on Israel, no one has yet
reported on the event.
This now leaves us with Erdogan's hypocrisy in lecturing Israel about
supposed "war crimes" and leads us to actual war crimes perpetrated
by Turkey during the 20th century - crimes that still go on today
against the Kurds. It is a record that not only has caused of blood
to be spilled, but still has repercussions felt to this day.
Probably the most well-known war crime that Turkey engaged in was
the slaughter - if not genocide - perpetrated against the Armenians
in the first two decades of the 20th century. In fact, the Turks
were already slaughtering Armenians in the late 19th century in
what has come to be known as "the Hamidian massacres." Estimates
of the slaughter range from hundreds of thousands to millions. In
any event, Turkey has consistently and constantly denied that such
crimes against the Armenians took place. Turkey is so sensitive to
the charge of genocide that when the U.S. Congress in 2010 finally
passed a resolution condemning this crime, Turkey threatened
"serious consequences" to the "partnership" between America and
Turkey. Ironically, Barack Obama, who had the audacity to say back
in 2007 that "nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people,"
sought to stop the congressional resolution on the Armenian genocide.
Continuing with Turkish war crimes, and the hypocrisy of the
neo-Ottoman crypto-Sultan Erdogan, there were the massacres and
expulsions of the Greeks from their ancestral homelands. This is
another Turkish crime against humanity that is little-known, and even
less spoken or written about. "The Pontian Genocide" took place between
the years of 1916 and 1922. Again, estimates vary in the casualty
rate, but the slaughter could have been as close to 1,000,000 Greeks
killed. This doesn't even take into account the surviving 1.5 million
Greeks who lived in Asia Minor (Anatolia) for millennia before being
expelled by the Turks to European Greece during this era.
Finally, there are the Kurds. If there was ever an authentic Middle
Eastern minority of Muslims that deserves a nation-state, it is
the Kurds. While Islamist governments in Iran and Turkey (as well
as the Arab world) talk about "Islamic solidarity" when it comes to
the so-called "Palestinians," there is not even a syllable of talk
regarding the plight of the Kurds. The Kurds have been killed and
suppressed by Arab, Persian, and Turk for centuries, all of whom
see the legitimate aim of the Kurds to establish their own state as
a threat to the status quo of continuous Arab, Persian, and Turkish
imperialism.
While the Kurds are spread out over Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey, it
has been in the last country that the Kurds have basically been written
out of history by the Turks. The Turkish quest to deny any semblance
of a Kurdish existence has been so bizarre that Turkey even banned the
Kurdish language during the years 1983-1999 and routinely referred
to them as "mountain Turks." To this day, Turkey routinely crosses
the Syrian and Iraqi borders to fight against "Kurdish terrorists."
This background on Turkish war crimes is just a brief sketch of the
brutal actions that Turkey has committed over the decades (if not
centuries). The next time the arrogant, bellicose, and venomous Erdogan
along with his fellow Islamists lectures Israel about "crimes against
humanity," they should look in the mirror and admit to true war crimes.
Indeed, Israel - and America, for that matter - would do history
a great justice if they reminded Turkey in the strongest language
possible, of the Turks' bloody crimes against their own minorities,
instead of sitting back and allowing Turkey to pontificate about
Israel's nonexistent "crimes against humanity." Continued silence
will only strengthen bullies and thugs like Erdogan, lend credence
to his outlandish slander, and allow Turkey to continue to rewrite
history in its own image.
Source: Panorama.am