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Today's Zaman, Turkey
Aug 10 2014
Excuse me, I'm Armenian!
by GÃ`NAL KURÅ?UN
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an remarked on TV last Tuesday: `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. ...They have said
even uglier things -- they have called me -- excuse me for saying this
-- Armenian, but I am Turkish.'
What an intellectual way of complaining about aggression from the
press. There was an expression of loathing on his face when he talked
about being an Armenian.
I remember him saying exactly the same thing, using the same words
about Greeks, a few years ago.
Last week he made statements about the ethnic and religious
backgrounds of Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal
KılıçdaroÄ?lu and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) leader Selahattin
DemirtaÅ?. As the leader of the opposition, KılıçdaroÄ?lu is the biggest
supporter of presidential candidate Ekmeleddin Ä°hsanoÄ?lu, and DemirtaÅ?
is another candidate himself. ErdoÄ?an said in recent remarks:
`KılıçdaroÄ?lu, you are an Alevi and I am Sunni. You should state this
openly. DemirtaÅ?, you are Zaza. Don't be worried about speaking out
about this.'
If your conscience blinds you, you will be not able to see any truth
except yours. ErdoÄ?an's only truth is the Muslim population of 99
percent and the voters at his presidential rallies. He is not able to
see the position of the 1 percent of non-Muslims, Armenians, Greeks or
even Muslims not belonging to mainstream Sunni Islam, Alevis and
Zazas. This `You should state this openly' expression deserves a
better approach, which I will write in the upcoming days using the
judgments of the Nuremberg trials, because there is an odious pattern
we can follow related to this part of history. Might the next step be
wearing a star?
After these shameless statements from Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an, the
Birgün daily used the headline `Excuse me, Fascist,' and the
Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos used the headline `May Allah excuse him.'
Let's visualize ourselves as belonging to a minority group living with
a 99 percent majority group. What would you think or feel if the
leader of the society you live in used your minority identity to
persuade the majority to vote for him? Can you stay safely in your
home and disregard what might happen to you or your family just
because of your identity? Will this policy of using identities brings
us peace, as there are lots of things to confront in our past?
`Inciting the population to enmity or hatred and denigration' is the
title of the famous Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). This
article was used to punish the assassinated Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink, although it must be used for the opposite. We can see clearly to
whom this article should be applied, but unfortunately we have
suspended our impartial and independent judiciary because of
government policy. All I can do is stand together with all minority
groups, act as one with them and say I'm an Armenian, Greek, Alevi,
Nusayri, Kurd or Zaza. Belonging to the majority sometimes requires
acting as a member of the minority, if you have a conscience.
As I write this article, the people of my country are going to vote
for the next president of the republic. I hope we can wake up tomorrow
to a brighter future, but a voice coming from inside me says hard days
are coming whatever the result. As Nelson Mandela stated, `There is no
easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass
through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we
reach the mountaintop of our desires.'
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/gunal-kursun/excuse-me-im-armenian_355163.html
From: A. Papazian
Aug 10 2014
Excuse me, I'm Armenian!
by GÃ`NAL KURÅ?UN
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an remarked on TV last Tuesday: `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. ...They have said
even uglier things -- they have called me -- excuse me for saying this
-- Armenian, but I am Turkish.'
What an intellectual way of complaining about aggression from the
press. There was an expression of loathing on his face when he talked
about being an Armenian.
I remember him saying exactly the same thing, using the same words
about Greeks, a few years ago.
Last week he made statements about the ethnic and religious
backgrounds of Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal
KılıçdaroÄ?lu and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) leader Selahattin
DemirtaÅ?. As the leader of the opposition, KılıçdaroÄ?lu is the biggest
supporter of presidential candidate Ekmeleddin Ä°hsanoÄ?lu, and DemirtaÅ?
is another candidate himself. ErdoÄ?an said in recent remarks:
`KılıçdaroÄ?lu, you are an Alevi and I am Sunni. You should state this
openly. DemirtaÅ?, you are Zaza. Don't be worried about speaking out
about this.'
If your conscience blinds you, you will be not able to see any truth
except yours. ErdoÄ?an's only truth is the Muslim population of 99
percent and the voters at his presidential rallies. He is not able to
see the position of the 1 percent of non-Muslims, Armenians, Greeks or
even Muslims not belonging to mainstream Sunni Islam, Alevis and
Zazas. This `You should state this openly' expression deserves a
better approach, which I will write in the upcoming days using the
judgments of the Nuremberg trials, because there is an odious pattern
we can follow related to this part of history. Might the next step be
wearing a star?
After these shameless statements from Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an, the
Birgün daily used the headline `Excuse me, Fascist,' and the
Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos used the headline `May Allah excuse him.'
Let's visualize ourselves as belonging to a minority group living with
a 99 percent majority group. What would you think or feel if the
leader of the society you live in used your minority identity to
persuade the majority to vote for him? Can you stay safely in your
home and disregard what might happen to you or your family just
because of your identity? Will this policy of using identities brings
us peace, as there are lots of things to confront in our past?
`Inciting the population to enmity or hatred and denigration' is the
title of the famous Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). This
article was used to punish the assassinated Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink, although it must be used for the opposite. We can see clearly to
whom this article should be applied, but unfortunately we have
suspended our impartial and independent judiciary because of
government policy. All I can do is stand together with all minority
groups, act as one with them and say I'm an Armenian, Greek, Alevi,
Nusayri, Kurd or Zaza. Belonging to the majority sometimes requires
acting as a member of the minority, if you have a conscience.
As I write this article, the people of my country are going to vote
for the next president of the republic. I hope we can wake up tomorrow
to a brighter future, but a voice coming from inside me says hard days
are coming whatever the result. As Nelson Mandela stated, `There is no
easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass
through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we
reach the mountaintop of our desires.'
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/gunal-kursun/excuse-me-im-armenian_355163.html
From: A. Papazian