On July 10, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reacted to the killing of the Uighurs—an ethnically Turkic group—in China by likening the atrocities to genocide. More than 150 people died during the ethnic clashes earlier this week, including many Uighurs.
“These incidents in China are as if they are genocide,” Erdogan said. “We ask the Chinese government not to remain a spectator to these incidents. There is clearly a savagery here.”
Doubtless, the events in China should be condemned. Yet, there is another factor at play here, which reminds us of the saying, “People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.”
Turkey has its own legacy of genocide and denial, as the killing of 1.5 million Armenians remains unrecognized. It also has Kurdish blood on its hands.
For the Turkish prime minister to have the audacity to compare the killing of a few dozen Uighurs to genocide while it continues to spend millions to deny the killing of a million and a half Armenians is—if we must put it mildly—ridiculous.
But it also begs the following: Would the prime minister—who seems quick to use the term genocide to refer to the Uighurs or, before that, the atrocities in Eastern Europe and the Palestinian territories—refer to the “events of 1915” as genocidal?
After all, even by the official Turkish account, there were more than 150 people who were killed in 1915…
well said and i couldn’t argree more.
This Editorial should enter every literate space,
Translated to every langue that still exists till spreads.
To say, to the slayers, “You are gene vanishers
Can’t you smell your bad breaths?”
________________________________________________
Gene Vanishers
When you vanish children,
It is genocide.
You are vanishing the gene,
Vanishing DNAs.
You, stopped the growth
To reach mature age:
To speak
To express
To write
To create
To demonstrate
You are a “vanisher.”
Do not escape.
You vanished
A human,
A soul,
Stopped a heartbeat
Never can return to life
Yet to Seed and Laugh
No more can Touch… Feel
No more, can see
Smile-Talk-Feed
No life to breathe
No Love to Creed
Think about what you have done,
Denial is inhumane
Confirm what you did,
Clearly admit.
Clear your insight.
The day soon will sight,
You will disappear.
See, with conscience clear!
Nice editorial Armenian Weekly! You forgot to mention that Turkey also has Greek-Cypriot blood on its hands.
Good editorial.