Two Armenian Women Attacked in Istanbul in Past 24 Hours

Second attack not confirmed independently 

ISTANBUL, Turkey—Two elderly Armenian women were attacked in Istanbul’s Samatya district on Jan. 22 and 23, less than a month after an 84-year-old Armenian woman was brutally murdered in Istanbul, raising the number of violent attacks against elderly Armenian women to at least four in recent months.

Two elderly Armenian women were attacked in Istanbul’s Samatya district on Jan 22 and 23.
Two elderly Armenian women were attacked in Istanbul’s Samatya district on Jan. 22 and 23.

The Jan. 22 attack happened around 5 p.m. when the victim, 83-year-old Sultan Aykar, was about to enter her ground-floor apartment. She then saw the intruder and, frightened, she fell. The attacker proceeded to kick her. Hearing her screams, neighbors came down, scaring off the masked man, reported Bianet. The neighbors described the attacker as a male between the ages of 35 and 40, with gray hair, and dressed in black. During the attack, Aykar suffered damage to her eye. She has now lost sight in that eye, despite surgery on Jan. 23. The victim’s daughter, Menzar Etik, said her mother did not have any enemies, as she was a quiet woman. Etik did not believe the attacker’s intention was robbery, as the attacker did not attempt to steal her purse, and there was nothing more than a broken TV in her apartment.

On Jan. 23, another attack was reported on yet another elderly Armenian woman. The attack happened on the street, near the Samatya High School, sources reported. The two assailants ran away.  The victim was covered in blood. Shortly thereafter, she disappeared.  Community members and plainclothes policemen have been unable to find or identify the woman.

The Armenian Weekly could not independently confirm the report on the Jan. 23 attack.

Agos editor Rober Koptas told the Weekly, “We spoke to churchmen, taghagans, shopkeepers, police, and lots of people but none of them confirmed it.”

The Samatya area is home to many Armenians. The community is weary of these attacks, and calls for caution have been made.

In recent years, there have been several attacks against Armenians in Turkey. In early December 2012, another Armenian woman was attacked and robbed; while months earlier an Armenian woman was attacked by a taxi driver and called an infidel.

On Jan. 6, three assailants tried to kidnap an elderly Armenian woman, according to Turkish sources. The attempt failed.

According to human rights activists, the common thread that runs through all of these crimes is not just their being motivated by hate or being committed in an environment that breeds intolerance against Armenians, but also the efforts of the authorities to play them down and cover them up.

The Armenian Weekly will continue to closely follow this issue.

44 Comments

  1. Shame on these cowardly murderers! I guess they still don’t understand that the more of us innocent Armenians they murder the LOUDER and LONGER our voices for JUSTICE AND REPARATIONS will haunt them. Going after our elderly women will only show the international community just how barbaric and intolerant some Turks truly are.

  2. I think the time is approaching to revive operation nemesis – against any Turk bringing any harm to Armenians. Against the Turk, only applying our own justice is effective.

  3. To our Turkish, Kurdish and other Moslem friends:

    Our people would be grateful if you organized with ours civilians to patrol our neighborhoods to protect our elders, and forcefly to speak out to protect your fellow citizens. I assume the nationalists will deflect this string of racist political attacks. Let your voices be stronger that to the contrary it is your culture and state which teaches your young that Arnenian, Greek, Assyrian and other Christian lives are not worth living.

    • I read it will be a big demonstration is planned soon with theme ” dont touch my neighbor” masses walking towards Samatya. Silence is not gold when it comes to this.

  4. Attacking old women regardless of nationality is despicable. But when four old Armenian women are targeted in Istanbul within a matter of months, one can’t help but view it as a hate campaign. When will Turkey deal with this anti-Armenian sickness?

  5. Dear Jda, as you know, It’s not the Kurdish people whom think are backing other Muslims up to violate Armenians! We Kurdish people have been suffering from the same atrocities and crimes committed by Turkish state for decades now. We have never been supportive to the Turkish brutality whether it has been against the Armenians, Kurds, Alewives and other minorities in turkey, and never will be.
    We all know about April 24, 1915, the execution of Sheikh Seid Piran, the valley of Zilan and many others, We, Kurds have been able to stand up for our nation as much as we could and I am sure if Armenians had a group of freedom fighters just we do. Neither, Turks nor anyone else could harm your people.

    Turks think they are the real owners of our land, they never openly accept the fact that we are the indignant of Kurdistan and our land, our home and our properties have been forcibly taken from us, and so does yours. The real country for turks is Mongolia! sooner or later they will have to face that reality.

    Anyway, I just wanted to participate in your conversation to make sure that we Kurdish people have always been supportive to our fellow Armenians and will always be. We have gone through the same oppression, we share the same pain and outrages of Turkish savagery. If we stand by each other hand in hand, we will win and our enemies will face the judgement and bring all those criminals to justice.

  6. These and any subsequent attacks can and should be made known more broadly on the likes of NPR (if it were a Jewish issue I think it sure would make the news) and major American and international newspapers.

  7. This is strategy by these scum Turks. It is sad that Armenians especially elderly women are being attacked and killed. Remember Turkey is FEARING the genocide centennial coming up. Their organizations are scrambling, especially after being caught with the Dink conspiracy. These latest attacks are just provocations so Armenians would do something and they would publicize in a few years, “see, Armenians are terrorists.” I wouldn’t even be surprised if they are planning a false flag op by 2015.

  8. The Turkish government, Prime Minister Erdogan in particular, is personally responsible for these murders. The attack on the Armenians began by the introduction of the article 301 of the Turkish criminal code or so-called the law on “Insulting Turkishness”. The first victim of this ad-hoc racist law was Hrant Dink. The murder of the Armenian conscript in the Turkish army on the Armenian Genocide commemoration day and the recent cowardly attacks on defenseless Armenian elderly women are the continuation of what began on January 19, 2007 when Hrant Dink was murdered in cold blood.

    The wild boar and genocide denier Erdogan put this law in place purposely to stifle and punish people who dared to speak openly about the murder of 1,500,000 Armenians in 1915. Unlike true democracies where the judiciary exists to serve the public, the Turkish judiciary and the corrupt judges whose sole purpose is to serve the government deliberately misinterpreted Dink’s peaceful and conciliatory statements and handed him a guilty verdict and accused Dink of insulting Turkishness. This law along with the deceitful verdict against Dink not only emboldened but gave the green light to the fascistic Turkish ultra-nationalists to plot Dink’s murder. Then, came Dink’s murder followed by all the cover-ups, the acquittal and the subsequent promotions of the police and the gendarmes involved in the crime.

    Next, came the dismissal by the corrupt Turkish courts of any conspiracy and involvement of the “deep state” in Dink’s murder. Furthermore, the hateful speech by the cowardly and racist Turkish Interior Minister to demonstrators holding racially-motivated anti-Armenian signs made things even worse. There was an obvious pattern here. The government by enacting these absurd laws and the corrupt judges backing up the government facilitated the murder of Hrant Dink. These recent attacks on the defenseless Armenians and non-Armenians associated with them are acts of intimidation by the ultra-nationalist cowards because of the European Court of Human Rights ruling that Dink’s right to life was violated and the fact that Dink’s case is going back to court to expose and convict the actual conspirators behind his murder.

    We must take seriously these recent racist and anti-Armenian murders by Turkish cowards who wear masks and attack the Armenian elderly women twice and three times their age and respond in kind and in many folds. We must go after them, give them a big dose and a bitter taste of their own medicine and send them, one by one, where they belong.

    • You do understand that the “insulting Turkishness” law you are referencing was NOT made by Erdogan right? It was made by the Military dictatorship government of Kenan Evren in 1982.

    • It does not matter who the original author of the article 301 of the Turkish criminal code, aka “insulting Turkishness” was. My point was the fact that the Erdogan’s AK party has been in power since 2001 and this law was adopted in 2005 and made a criminal offense in 2008 and offenders were actively pursued by the government of Erdogan and punished by his corrupt judges, therefore this makes Erdogan himself personally responsible for fostering and creating the atmosphere of hate to cause the death of Hrant Dink and others that followed his death.

      These crimes happened and are still happening during the AK party rule headed by Erdogan. In other words, they happened on Erdogan’s watch, not to mention that he is an avid liar and genocide denier, thus making his initiatives on this article to criminalize these offenses as the catalyst for these murders. Erdogan must be held responsible and prosecuted for these crimes, no matter how you try to spin it.

  9. You probably can not patrol the entire neighbourhoods to catch the killers. Unfortunately, Killers can not stop until they are stopped .The good news is they couldn’t kill this time so they must have left lots of evidences for police. Police claim that the evidences they have do not indicate that these are racially motivated attacks however the Armenian papers have a different idea.the Armenian community is almost invisible in Istanbul.Frankly, I can not see any benefit for Ultra-nationals over these attacks and killings but nevertheless we do not know the truth yet

  10. some of you may recognize my name and some of you may not.. I am the granddaughter of Maritsa Kucuk who was brutally murdered.. This message is for John the TUrk… In the previous posts you had mentioned that my uncle may have been delusional or confused when he mentioned the cross that was carved on my yaya’s body.. I have spoken to him and he was the first person to see my yaya the way she was.. The way she was slumped over against the wall with her head cracked open, her face was smashed all over the place, her teeth were broken and YES there was a crucifix carved on her body.. My uncle is not blind and not delusional and he knows what he saw.. it’s the Turkish government that’s trying to cover it up..

  11. what a sad situation we, armenians constantly find ourselves in. how can we fight ‘the great satan’ which borders armenia with our stollen land, how do we fight turkey which is backed by the u.s. they are operating an airbase there which
    actually is on armenian land, the owners have deed in hand. as mardehros
    points in his blog above, if this was a jewish issue, everything would have been solved by now, everything.
    the great statement of france, general charles de gaulle once said,
    “l’union fait la force”. we can only survive this constant onslaught by these backwards, barbaric people by being ONE.

  12. John the Turk, if Armenians are invisible in Istanbul it is because denial has made you blind. Armenian presence is in the art and architecture all around you and in the eyes of the people you walk past everyday. Look deeper.

    If I was a Turk in Istanbul I would start a neighborhood brigade to escort the elderly Armenian women and protect them from these attackers. What are they waiting for?

    Linda, my prayers are with you and your family.

    • Boyajian:

      I am guessing the vile denialist John the Turk means Armenians would not stand out in a crowd, therefore according to that logic it is just random crime: Armenians were not specifically targeted, because they are ‘invisible’.

      But the very fact they are ‘invisible’ proves that somebody specifically went after ARMENIAN old women. If it was some sick psycho targeting vulnerable old women, the mix would be random: Turk, Kurd, maybe one Armenian. Maybe. Given Armenians are such a miniscule percentage of the overall population, by statistics alone, it cannot be random. It would be astronomically improbable to randomly choose 3 victims and they all turn out to be Armenians.

      I also suspect the ethnic Turk Armenian-school teacher that was murdered was mistaken to be Armenian by the assailant(s).

    • Agreed, Avery. Random chance that random hooligans randomly selected random elderly Armenian women in a city where Armenians are vastly outnumbered by Turks and Kurds is highly improbable. Someone found these ‘invisible’ old Armenian women. They were targeted. The question is why?

    • Boyajian,

      “Someone found these ‘invisible’ old Armenian women. They were targeted. The question is why?”

      I can think of at least two reasons:
      1. They want Armenians out of Turkey. If they keep attacking Armenians sooner or later majority will move out from Turkey.

      2. To have something against Armenians worldwide since 1915 is approaching. Turkish government will claim that “poor” Turkish Armenian citizens are being targeted by the ultra-nationalists because of Armenian “Diaspora’s activity” in the genocide recognition, and that they have no way to effectively stop them targeting the Armenians in Turkey. This is a well known Turkish tactic.

    • I will give you real motives that are fundamental to the reason why the minorities, the Armenians in particular, are being targeted.

      The republic of Turkey was founded in 1923 on the corpses of the indigenous Christians they murdered. At the end of WWI Turkey was the only country that gained more territory despite the fact the Turks lost the war.

      Most of the genocidal Turkish leaders were from the Balkans. Others were those expelled and deported from the northern Caucasus region and implanted in Anatolia, such as the Circassian criminals.

      Having been defeated by the Europeans and having lost the Balkans, these Turkish genocidal leaders became refugees holding a grudge and considered Anatolia as the ultimate homeland of the Turkish people and the final stand for their existence in a land their predecessors invaded, plundered, occupied and its people they subjugated centuries ago. They had to protect their stolen property from their true owners. To that end, they equated the indigenous Christians of the land with their European victors and viewed all non-Turks, non-Muslims in particular, as a possible and perceived threat.

      The Ottoman Empire was also known as the Center of Islam. To qualify as a Turk, one had to be both Turkish and Muslim. Armenians were neither. Naturally this excluded Armenians from Turkish citizenship. Like the Armenians, the Kurds were also non-Turks but unlike the Armenians they were Muslim. They were half-way there. To qualify as Turkish citizens, the Turks labeled them as “Mountain Turks”. The idea behind this label was to align the Kurds with the Turks and trick them, voluntarily or otherwise, into participating in the Armenian massacres in return for their territories and properties. After using them, the Turks used the very same label to deny the Kurds their rights, as we are witnessing today, since according to this label the Kurds are not a separate entity from the Turks.

      Make no mistake about it, Turkey is for the Turks only to majority of the Turks, if not all. This ideology and mentality is nothing new and has its roots from the times of the Ottoman Empire and it continues to this day. The tactics used in the past was mass murder, massacre and genocide to wipe out and drive out the natives of the land. Those same tactics are not feasible today so the Turks have resorted to inventing haphazard and ad-hoc laws to make life miserable for the non-Turks and through murder and intimidation they are trying to achieve the same goals of the past: Turkey for Turks only.

  13. It might not be all about attacks from blind hatred. It could be done to silence the Armenians of Turkey or to drive them out of the country by scaring them. Hrant Dink’s murder was organized by the deep state. This could easily be the same.

    • We don’t know the facts, but the Deep State could easily foment ‘blind hatred’ in order to incite such crimes….

  14. I strongly condemn the recent racist attack against elderly women. Even in the war condition elderly women don’t get killed! Too coward! It is too sad, heartbreaking. Although neighbors heard her screams and came down, but they were scared off the masked man, and didn’t do anything at all! This is outrage. So neighbors became part of this crime. I am sure if it was Muslim elderly lady they would help her.

    Probably it is not the right time to talk about Kurdish position but I think Zaza is very young man. As a Kurdish women I suggest that you should do a proper research and find out Muslim Kurd role in the Armenian Genocide and don’t bring this issue here, especially racist attack happened. Being oppressed doesn’t make anybody or group innocent!

    • Fatma, as you know a true Muslim would protect an Armenian as well. These are not religiously motivated crimes. These are crimes that use religion as an excuse for hate crimes. Pan-turkism is alive and well in Turkey.

    • Dear Fatma Kayhan,
      First of all, I have no doubts that you are not Kurdish, and if you are then you should know how We feel about our fellow Armenians! I wanted to shed a bit light on your statement when you said’ It is not the right time to talk about the Kurdish position” well, Fatma! It’s my dear, Who better to support Armenians than Kurdish people?

      Secondly, I can NOT deny the fact that some Kurdish tribes were used to participate in Armenian genocide, but I can NOT hide the truth that Kurds were forced to take part and had no choice. With that being said. had no other choice dose not mean they were willing to but, they were forced to!

      I might sound young to you but, trust me I care more about Armenian than anyone you could ever imagine. In fact, I mention the atrocities of Turkish state against our people and Armenians everywhere I go in the United States. And, it’s a privilege for me to make as many efforts as possible to make our voices heard. We Kurds sympathize with our Armenian brothers and sisters on the occasions of massacres and recognize their genocide before any nations world-wide, and that’s because we have common traits, have mutual respect and suffer the same agonies and miseries on daily basis.

      I also would like to inform you that I do all my researches independently and I have never depended on My enemies’s sources to see what they say about me or about the ones I am very keen to. Turkish intelligence agencies along with ultra-nationalists have been working advisedly with self-possession to fabricate the reality and to cover up the mess and the crimes they have committed against other nations in Turkey. We all are pretty aware of the facts, and none of those falsified accusations can segregate the Kurdish-Armenians brotherhood. We are fed up with the assimilation policies of Turkish state and their racial discrimination!

      Let’s all pray that this flame will be washed away, and this long-term violence will come to an end, Amen.

      Viva Kurdistan Viva Armenia

    • “but I can NOT hide the truth that Kurds were forced to take part and had no choice.”

      That’s pretty convenient. Take part in the genocide, and then say the Turks “made you”. Who is it today that lives on Armenian lands more? Turks or Kurds? Ataturk made a series of promises to Kurds, including a Turkish-Kurdish federal state if Kurds would ally with Turks in driving out the “occupying” forces, including Greeks, Armenians, the French, and the British. Kurds accepted, I repeat, accepted willingly. And their loyalty and belief in Ataturk was repaid with violent oppression and massacres by Ataturk’s Turkish government.

      Just because Kurds today apologize to Armenians doesn’t make it okay. What price have Kurds paid to make up for the crimes of their ancestors? Will you be willing to give up your home if it belonged to an Armenian or a Greek? Talk is cheap….. (My father’s family are ethnic Zazas from Sivas, and my father was born in a former Greek village- in which my grandparents moved to once the Greeks were “sent” to Greece.)

    • well, RVDV, it takes a lot of inner strength and integrity for a Kurd by birth, now a proud Turk by choice, to write what you wrote above.

      Your great-grandfather must be proud.

    • Ataturk “promised” a Turkish-Kurdish federal state? Wow, one learns “new facts” on his site every time. That is why I keep visiting.

      I am sure there is some document, some witness, some record, at least some basis for this fantastic piece of “fact”. Maybe it was hidden with the Andoyan telegraphs and that is why we did not find them till now, maybe that is where they hid the WMDs too!

      Kurds, who have had amounted to so little in their long history, and have given not much but grief to Ottomans with their uruly and uncivilized ways (Ottoman Armenians being the main victims of their robberies and violence) had very little to contribute to a new state at most levels.

      The very concept is laughable because what was in store for Kurds was no different than other Muslims of the region if they had not fought for their very existence right next to Turks. They were not doing any favors to anyone but themselves.

      The scope and depth of revisionism on these pages has always impressed me and continues to do so after all this time.

  15. Linda
    i am not saying that your uncle was confused but He made a statement in Agos that contradicted what you are saying here. I translated his statement and posted on AW however, it wasn’t published as AW is too selective

    • john the turk,

      You need to understand, Armenians of Turkey, even those living nicely in Istanbul hold their tongues out of fear. This fear has been instilled by the Turkish government over the years.

      But you can’t understand, because you’re not a minority living in Turkey.

  16. To John the Turk..

    Have you ever thought about the Turkish police telling him to say that so it doesn’t get out of control being that a crucifix was on her body…. He knows and we know what he saw.. That’s that…

    • My dear Linda…

      Don’t ever expect for a denialist to see the wrongdoing of his brethren. Their Sh*$(#)*$)(#*$)( does not smell bad.. EVER…

      so expecting John TT to think is asking too much of him.. he is unfortunately does not have the ability to think before he writes…..that is that.

    • John Turk,

      In other words, Linda cleared, that police involvements in “Turkish deep state” scenario!!

      Linda you are a brave Armenian lady, like Hrant Dink, in that part of the world. I
      congratulate you, for your bravery, that even some brave Turks are afraid to talk about the truth!!Please take care of yourself!!

      This is another reason, why penal code 301 is working fine, within Turkish intellectuals. Unfortunately, most of Turkish liberal minded journalists having breakfast meeting in jail houses, before going back to work, otherwise some of them will be hanged as “suicide” like Hrant Dink lawyer!!

      http://asbarez.com/81638/lawyer-for-slain-turkish-armenian-journalist-found-dead-in-istanbul/

  17. Commendations to both Fatma Kayhan and Zaza and RVDV for their support of the Armenians regardless of their differences on this or that issue of the Armenian Genocide.
    Considering the similarities between the curcumstances of the crimes at issue it can be safely concluded that these murders are racially motivated, the most probable culprits being the Turkish ultra-nationalists who are always present in the successive Turkish governments. It is also possible that Azerbaijani elements who have a free hand in Turkey are at work. Blind hatred knows no reason. In any case, by the approaching of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide it can be expected that such incidents will be repeated. It is time for the Armenian community in Turkey to undertake precautionary measures for the protection of its elderly and vulnerable members. It might also be advisable for its individual members to take self-defence courses to be prepared for the worst.

  18. Turkey is playing a dirty and sadistic game, not only with Armenians and other Christian minorities living on “its” territory, but indirectly from around the world. I think time has come for the world to react firmly and STOP this before reaching the worst, before reaching the point of no return. A state that has never recognized the most horrible crime of its existence, the genocide of the Armenians, Greeks, Assyro-Chaldeans and other minorities of the Ottoman Empire, is able at any time to repeat the same act in modern ways. PEOPLE OF THE WORLD, TIME HAS COME TO DO SOMETHING, anyone sensible and reasonable, and working for peace and tranquility of the inhabitants of this planet, anyone fighting terrorism that makes us lose our precious time, whatever your religion is, lets get united against this “cancer”, that is being spread by Turkey and its ally azerbaidjan worldwide, otherwise people believe me our world is headed for a third world war !

  19. Dear Zaza,
    I agree with Avery. How is it that Kurds were forced to take part in the killing of Armenians? Needless to say there was a lot of booty to be had by plundering Armenians. And I believe Kurds were especially wary if they lived in the “six vilayets” that had been promised by the powers for the Armenians. There may even have been cases of “let us kill them before they kill us”. we should not be naive about these cases. I have Kurdish friends from Malatya living in Norway who tell me that at the time some Kurdish asirets refrained from harassing, plundering or killing Armenians, and they condemned the Kurdish brothers who did so. The division might even be inside the single village. Poverty and greed drove them, as well as fear of a future in an Armenian state. but they were not forced.

  20. To Arshag,
    Glad to see ande read sensible “suggestions”such as your here and elsewhere.I just wrote on another thread here,but very much irritated and in bad |English and bad typing… I believe under what a certain Bedrosian has an article,here in AW.
    Few if any are receptive of your and mine like “suggestions”‘ some are happy that AGHTAMARA AND SOURP GIRAGOS has been allowed to conduct Mass and once a year have those of us who are shall we say Kind hearted*not to say BARZAMID…..go be ahppy.nEXT ,MOST PROBABLY ANOTHER mass ALLOWED IN CATHEDRAL OF kARS…AND IF aRMENIANS INSIST TOOMUCH that the 100th Anniversary is to be a TSUNAMI…then allow that on future maps AGHRI DAGH,read Mt.Ararat be with Republic of Armenia boundaries…
    CASE CLOSED AND WE CAN GO VISIT ANATOLIA and conduct once a year Mass es there.Oh near forgot Kurdish issue is also being handled within the very generous great Turkey parliament so as great Turkey will be a FEDERAL STATE, encompassing future Kurdistan with that entity as a sate with that Federal one.
    Ermenis?????? well we can handle tham with some such ¨offerings¨¨ as above mentioned , SHEKLER HELVASI!!! or Bakhlava, some Lokums too!!!

  21. Shame on the US for selling their souls to the Turkish government and calling it “politics.” Enough Armenians have been slaughtered, and yet Turkey has secured a lock on the mouths of US diplomats, essentially filtering out all truth regarding Turkish crimes. Turkey is not an example for the Middle East– it is an example of failed US diplomacy as we, Americans, are NOT content with Turkey’s genocidal past, fictitious present, and intolerant future due to present policies and the US’s apparent ambivalence.

  22. Hello to Everyone,
    Zaza, I am Kurdish and this is my true name, I think you can search it in your own way. You can see all Kurds don’t share the same idea and don’t have to. I think we urgently need to question our bloody history with collaboration with Turks and its implication of today. This is our responsibility. We can’t go with “how we help Armenian to survive” stories. It doesn’t help.
    I totally agree with Linda Bakur.
    I’ve found the call from JdaOur; ” people would be grateful if you organized with ours civilians to patrol our neighborhoods to protect our elders, and forcibly to speak out to protect your fellow citizens” is very important. We should think about it very carefully. Now I am living in London. Perhaps I can do something here.
    Yes, I agree with Boyajian about this attack racially motivated and Pan-Tukism is very alive.
    It is a big shame for especially Kurds, Turks to allow this brutal attack happened.

  23. These poor women Turkified their last names to conceal their Armenian roots and still get beat up.
    Even this doesn’t satisify the blood thristy Turks who want to destroy any trace of Armenian culture, language, people, etc.,

    it is hard for them to accept that Armenians were the people who built what today is called Republic of Turkey established in 1923.

    Armenians have been around centuries before the mongolian Turk invaders. What really irks them is the fact that the majority of Turks today have Armenian, Greek, Kurdish blood in them.

    • I am positive I am a Turk who has Armenian, Kurdish and Lezgi blood in me. Nothing about it irks me frankly, since I am not a racist.

  24. RVDV: {“Ataturk made a series of promises to Kurds, including a Turkish-Kurdish federal state “}
    Murat: {“ Ataturk “promised” a Turkish-Kurdish federal state? Wow, one learns “new facts” on his site every time. That is why I keep visiting.”}

    [Atatürk and the Kurds]
    http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist-161239-ataturk-and-the-kurds.html

    {One of Mango’s articles on Atatürk that is not so well known in Turkey is the one titled “Atatürk and the Kurds” published in the 35th issue of the journal of Middle Eastern Studies in 1999. In this article, on the basis of meticulous research on the subject, Mango reaches the following conclusion: “To sum up, during the years of the War of Independence, Mustafa Kemal recognized specifically the multiethnic character of the Muslim population of Turkey, while insisting on its fraternal unity. He also promised that local government would accommodate ethnic specificity. After 1923, any idea of the self-rule of individual Muslim ethnic communities dropped out of Turkish political agenda}

    “…on the basis of meticulous research on the subject”
    “He also promised that local government would accommodate ethnic specificity”

    Sure sounds like a promise by MK to Kurds : a federation with local self-rule.

    The mind of Denialist Murat – who has called the AG a ‘myth’ – is so warped and confused in the up-side down Denialverse that all denialists inhabit, that he is even confused about real facts in the sordid history of Turkey.

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