"There is no difference between Saddam Hussein’s occupation of Kuwait and Armenia’s occupation Azerbaijan."


Turkish PM to Armenian President: ‘Turkish History Never Made Turks Bow Down’

Jan SOYKOK (Ankara) - The Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said the history of the Turkish people has never made them bow down.

Turkey’s Prime Minister has called on the Armenian President Robert Kocharyan to end the claims of ‘genocide’ before the two counties could start diplomatic relations.

In response to a letter sent by Robert Kocharyan responding to Ankara’s calls to set up a joint committee of historians to use state archive to study the genocide claims, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it was impossible to establish formal relations between the two countries without dealing with the Armenian allegations.

“If it is necessary to question our history we will do
so. We are not a nation that denies its history,” Erdogan said during a joint press conference with visiting New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark.

In reaction to the allegations that the Ottoman Empire committed ‘genocide’ against its Armenian citizens during the First World War, Turkey submitted a note of protest to Russia for its parliament giving recognition to the Armenian allegations.

The speaker of the Turkish parliament, Bulent Arinc, also sent a letter to his Polish counterpart condemning Poland’s recognition of the so-called Armenian allegations as truth.

The Armenian allegations issue is not the only problem between Turkey and Armenia. Armenia does not recognize Turkey’s national borders. Armenia has also occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan territories and refused to withdraw its forces. More than 1 million Azerbaijani have been refugees for more than a decade. Turkey says it will not open its borders till Armenia end the occupation. “There is no difference between Saddam Hussein’s occupation of Kuwait and Armenia’s occupation Azerbaijan. Saddam’s Iraq and Milosevic’s Serbia were punished by the international community. However the EU, UN and the US did not fulfilled their responsibilities in Armenian case. Armenian forces occupied, massacred and they continue the occupation and human rights abuses” said a diplomat.

After the Armenian riots against the Ottoman State, many Armenians were relocated from the eastern parts of the State to Southern Ottoman provinces. During the relocation campaign many Armenians and Turkish people died. The communal clashes, famine and epidemic diseases cost hundreds of thousands life. More than 523,000 Turkish Ottoman were killed by the Armenian armed groups and 500,000 more Turkish people died due to the famine and epidemics in the Eastern Ottoman provinces. According to Turkish Historian Society about 100,000 Armenians died during the clashes and war. However the Armenian side argue that the events was a genocide. Turkey has never accepted the allegations.

Davut sahiner says the 1915 Relocation Campaign was not a ‘genocide’ but a tragedy for Armenians and for the Turks:

“Armenians follow the Jewish case. However there are great differences between the Armenian and Jewish examples. The Jewish people never rioted against any Government. In Ottoman State in particular, the Jewish people and Turkish Muslim people showed a great solidarity. Turkish society has been one of the safest countries for the Jews and many more ethnic groups. The Armenians lived in peace among the Turks for a 1000 years. After a 1000 year-period what changed. I think nothing but the Armenians. The imported Armenian separatism destroyed the peace environment. The Armenian militants first massacred many Armenians who opposed the separatism, and then they targeted the Muslim ethnic groups in the Empire. Thus they created a communal hatred between Turks, Kurds and Armenians. The Armenian terrorists also tried to destroy the trust between Ottoman Government and its Armenian citizens. During the First World War ten thousands of Armenians in the Eastern provinces joined the occupier Russian Armies while the Armenians in Istanbul, Izmir and other Western cities remained loyal to their state, Ottoman Empire. As a result, the Istanbul Government decided to relocate the Armenians near the war theatre to southern provinces. Many lost their live. The relocation campaign was not so successful. The Ottoman Government failed to protect many Armenians. However the Government was not the only responsible for the failure, but the Armenian militants groups. While the Armenian armed groups were massacring Kurds and Turks, the Ottoman guard could not fully protect the Armenian immigrants from the ethnic and other attacks. Moreover the famine and epidemic diseases should not be ignored. Do not forget, the famine killed more than 200,000 Armenians in Tashnak’s First Independent Armenia.”

Dr. Nilgun Gulcan says the ‘genocide legacy’ was created after tehcir (relocation):

“Most of the Armenians who forced to leave their provinces reached the southern provinces or to other countries (today’s Armenia, Europe or North America). When they reached the new territories, they realized that the Armenian people faced a great assimilation. Armenians were still speaking Turkish, Arabic, Persian, Russian or Greek. They understood that they could not unite the Armenian peoples without a cause. The Armenian Church and Tashnaks in particular re-produced the ‘anti-Turkish legacy’. Thus the next generations became more anti-Turkish than their grant parents. They did not see Turkey, they never met a Turkish, they never experienced any bad experience about Turkey, but they learnt to hate the Turks. Turkish people were introduced as monsters among the Armenians. Many lobbying groups were established. And the Armenians learnt to earn money from the ‘genocide industry’. The Armenian diaspora became a real society thanks to the ‘genocide allegations’. At the end, the problem became a solution. No Armenian diaspora organization now wants to end the problems with the Turks, because the problem feed them in term of finance, prestige and influence. Thanks to the Turkish-Armenian problems, the 300,000 Armenians can manipulate the French politics. In the US they enjoyed all the privileges the genocide allegations granted them. On the other hand Armenia suffers from the problems with Turkey. Diaspora does not care. As Dr. Laciner said once ‘Armenian diaspora is egoist’. They do not think of the Armenians faced the problems in Armenia. Armenia needs Turkey; but Armenian diaspora needs conflict with Turkey. Their interests completely different.”