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ERDOGAN TARGETS ETHNIC IDENTITIES IN PRESIDENTIAL MOVE
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Aug 7 2014
GUNAY HÄ°LAL AYGUN
In a live TV broadcast on Tuesday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, presidential candidate of the Justice and Development Party
(AK Party), made a highly offensive remark about being Armenian
and being Georgian. Erdogan drew criticism for labeling Republican
People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıcdaroglu an "Alevi" and
presidential candidate Selahattin DemirtaÅ~_ a "Zaza," after having
already received criticism for his over-emphasis on the religious
and ethnic backgrounds of his political rivals.
This time, in response to a question regarding the negative reaction
provoked by his words, Erdogan said: "Let all Turks in Turkey say they
are Turks and all Kurds say they are Kurds. What is wrong with that?
You wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have
said I am Georgian. ...Excuse me for saying this, they have said even
uglier things -- they have called me Armenian, but I am Turkish."
Social media users showed public outrage following Erdogan's remarks,
while CHP deputies filed criminal charges against the prime minister,
accusing him of hate speech.
Hurriyet daily columnist Mehmet Y. Yılmaz wrote a piece on Thursday
in which he claimed Erdogan will make history with his remarks about
being Armenian. Yılmaz reminded his readers that Erdogan sparked
a similar controversy on June 11, 2011, when he said, in another
televised speech, "They have said we are Jewish, Armenian and, excuse
me saying this, but Rum [Greek]." According to Yılmaz, the fact
that Erdogan made the same remark on ethnic origins in two separate
speeches in three years clearly reveals that it was not a slip of the
tongue or a mistake. "Sadly, it leads to the image of a racist prime
minister. Regarding an ethnic identity as an insult and feeling a need
to add 'excuse me' to it does not point to anything other than that,"
Yılmaz said. According to the columnist, Erdogan's words were a clear
racial hate crime, though he is not likely to be prosecuted for it.
Yılmaz stated that, though he might not be charged with a hate crime,
Erdogan will carry this "racist" brand as a black stain for the rest
of his life. "From now on, he can speak about brotherhood and 'loving
the created for the sake of the creator' all he wants. We already
knew that it was empty speech, and it was verified once again the
other night," Yılmaz commented.
In his column on Thursday, the Radikal daily's Cengiz Candar wrote
that he was not surprised by Erdogan's statement one bit, as he has
been following the prime minister for over 20 years and has written
extensively about his mindset over the last year. Recalling that
Erdogan had said a 2011 speech that he was of Georgian origin, Candar
wrote, "The origin of the claim that he is Georgian is him. Now, with
only a few days left before the presidential election, he decided
to cast off his Georgian background, designating it as 'less ugly'
than being Armenian, because he thinks that every identity other than
Turk would cause a burden on him ahead of the election."
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/gunay-hilal-aygun/erdogan-targets-ethnic-identities-in-presidential-move_354886.html
From: A. Papazian
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Aug 7 2014
GUNAY HÄ°LAL AYGUN
In a live TV broadcast on Tuesday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, presidential candidate of the Justice and Development Party
(AK Party), made a highly offensive remark about being Armenian
and being Georgian. Erdogan drew criticism for labeling Republican
People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıcdaroglu an "Alevi" and
presidential candidate Selahattin DemirtaÅ~_ a "Zaza," after having
already received criticism for his over-emphasis on the religious
and ethnic backgrounds of his political rivals.
This time, in response to a question regarding the negative reaction
provoked by his words, Erdogan said: "Let all Turks in Turkey say they
are Turks and all Kurds say they are Kurds. What is wrong with that?
You wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have
said I am Georgian. ...Excuse me for saying this, they have said even
uglier things -- they have called me Armenian, but I am Turkish."
Social media users showed public outrage following Erdogan's remarks,
while CHP deputies filed criminal charges against the prime minister,
accusing him of hate speech.
Hurriyet daily columnist Mehmet Y. Yılmaz wrote a piece on Thursday
in which he claimed Erdogan will make history with his remarks about
being Armenian. Yılmaz reminded his readers that Erdogan sparked
a similar controversy on June 11, 2011, when he said, in another
televised speech, "They have said we are Jewish, Armenian and, excuse
me saying this, but Rum [Greek]." According to Yılmaz, the fact
that Erdogan made the same remark on ethnic origins in two separate
speeches in three years clearly reveals that it was not a slip of the
tongue or a mistake. "Sadly, it leads to the image of a racist prime
minister. Regarding an ethnic identity as an insult and feeling a need
to add 'excuse me' to it does not point to anything other than that,"
Yılmaz said. According to the columnist, Erdogan's words were a clear
racial hate crime, though he is not likely to be prosecuted for it.
Yılmaz stated that, though he might not be charged with a hate crime,
Erdogan will carry this "racist" brand as a black stain for the rest
of his life. "From now on, he can speak about brotherhood and 'loving
the created for the sake of the creator' all he wants. We already
knew that it was empty speech, and it was verified once again the
other night," Yılmaz commented.
In his column on Thursday, the Radikal daily's Cengiz Candar wrote
that he was not surprised by Erdogan's statement one bit, as he has
been following the prime minister for over 20 years and has written
extensively about his mindset over the last year. Recalling that
Erdogan had said a 2011 speech that he was of Georgian origin, Candar
wrote, "The origin of the claim that he is Georgian is him. Now, with
only a few days left before the presidential election, he decided
to cast off his Georgian background, designating it as 'less ugly'
than being Armenian, because he thinks that every identity other than
Turk would cause a burden on him ahead of the election."
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/gunay-hilal-aygun/erdogan-targets-ethnic-identities-in-presidential-move_354886.html
From: A. Papazian