ANKARA, Turkey (A.W.)—On Nov. 8, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan answered questions about the visit of the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, on a TRT program.
The English-language Hurriyet Daily News reported the statements made by Erdogan but left out key parts. Below, the Armenian Weekly provides a complete English translation of Erdogan’s comments, broadcast on Turkish TV and carried by some news sources in Turkish.
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“We should not confuse Gaza with Darfur. In Gaza, 1,500 people were killed. If something like that happens in Darfur, we will follow up on the issue all the way to the end as well. I cannot discuss such issues openly with Netanyahu but I can discuss them with Omar al-Bashir. I can say, ‘What you are doing is wrong,’ I can say it to his face. A [genuine] Muslim cannot commit genocide. If there is something to this, it is impossible to overlook it. We would say that as well. We would say, ‘You cannot do this, you have no right.’ Turkey has self-confidence after all. I expressed my firmness to the secretary general of the UN, Ban Ki-moon. I said that we were ready to do our part.”
“A Muslim cannot commit genocide”? That doesn’t quite ring right for us Armenians. Erdogan will meet with the President of Sudan who is under indictment for mass murder but won’t meet with Netanyahu who is defending his country against Hamas that wants to commit mass murder. No surprise here. Islamic history is full of mass murder and always sweeps it under the rug. 1.5m Armenians, 1m Assyrians, 80m Hindus (that’s right, eighty million!), and untold millions of others, at least 250m in fourteen centuries.
My father who survived the genocide told us not to trust Muslims, that “they don’t think like us”. I didn’t understand then, but after studying the history of Islam I now know what he meant. But Americans don’t get it, like General Casey saying after the slaughter at Foot Hood that “the loss of diversity is worse than mass murder”(!) How would I explain that to my many relatives that died in the Syrian Desert in 1915?
The first two sentences say that you cannot compare (Gara and Darfur) because 1,500 people died in Gaza, meaning that far less or no one has died in Darfur? What follows after that does not make sense. I don’t know if it’s a bad translation or what?
The hatred of Turks towards foreigners is not only towards the living,but their desecration of cemeteries in Nachichevan,Cyprus and Anatolia today is proof of their hatred even towards the dead.
“A Muslim cannot commit genocide?” may be; but of course Turks can and have committed Armenian Genocide and continue even create a false history on the face of the world. For example, the so called protocols state wrongfully as if both the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey have closed boarder between them. Whereas, the truth is that only the Turkey unilaterally has closed the boarder not Armenia.
Under the the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, whoever lives in Turkey is a Turk. ” Turk” means “..a cruel, brutal, and domineering man.” See Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, ISBN:0-517-11864-5.
Turk Erdogan does not respect the verdict of the International Criminal Court, however he expect us to believe him that he would respect the verdict of joint commission on Armenian Genocide. Who is kidding?
It is the precise time for Mr. T. Sarksyan to say, “Mr. Erdoghan, You should not confuse Cyprus with Artzakh.”
I thought only Ottoman history was being revised in Turkey. It seems history as it happens is also being revised to suit the agenda of Ankara’s bandits.
I’m sure half dead Darfuri’s are livid over this outrageous charade and rightly so. When the world is trying to galvanize efforts to stop the continuation of the genocide in Darfur and isolate Bashir, Ankara is happily selling them arms and attempting to cleanse Sudan’s bloodied international reputation.
But then again the turks seem most comfortable in this role, not to mention their vast experience…
If Erdogan keeps up this distorted self image, he’s like to get classified with Ahmadinejad…
Please Arius, Don’t mix things together. Arabs also suffered from Turks. The religin nothing to do with humanity. I never heard an Arab killing Armenian they respect us.
Read those translated poems by Arab poets. from the book A Poetic Soul Shined of Genocides
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When the poet, Assad Rustom heard that his friends were hanged, he wrote the famous poem, sharply criticizing,insulting Jamal the butcher.
The Sons of Turks You are Never Muslims
“Jamal – Sir! your name means beauty
But you’re awfully ugly
Your tongue and palms are fully dirty.
You are senseless, criminal, full of sins
You have no spirit, no clean soul,
Deficient of manhood humanity.
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he Syrian poet, Nasseb Areedah wrote his untitled poem:
“Coffin his body
Bury his soul
In the deepest grave
Don’t feel sorry
Don’t lament
Who is disloyal
Remain soulless dead
Can never woke up to feel
Yet to regret.”
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Another poem from Alzarkali
The Arabs and the Turks
“Those Turks the grandsons of Genghis Khan.
Took young Arabs pushed them to a slave bazaar.
Promised statements changed abruptly,
Acting exactly the opposite for those held in custody
Torturing, humiliating, insulting the braves.
Yet on what they swore, pretending agreed.
They are dishonest, soulless, enjoys greed.”
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The Lebanese poet, poem, Fuad Al Khateeb blaming the Turks,
“You Turks harmed our people in their joints so hard
Till swords blade awoke to vengeance sharply shard.”
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The Armenians helped Jamal the so-called the Ottoman Empire-Astana. Later he betrayed not only the Armenians but also the entire nationalists of the Middle East. He started killing them from Anatolian mountains reaching Yemen including holy land of Muslims, the Arabia.
If you read their poems you will get shocked what they did for Arabs in Macca( Now Saudi Arabia) also are doing for kurds who are Sunni muslims.
If you read their poems you will get shocked what they did for Arabs in Macca( Now Saudi Arabia) also are doing for kurds who are Sunni muslims.
I’m disturbed by the comment of Arius, who says Hamas wishes to commit mass murder against Israel. That is as farfetched as suggesting Armenians wished to slaughter Turks in the early 1900s. Hamas is fighting a defensive battle with few military resources against an invader and looter. Hamas should be supported for the same reasons I, a Greek, support Armenians against Turkey’s lying historians.
Darfur’s Dark Dawns in 2008
Darfur* dark days
Still as started, remains.
This is the year 2008,
Can each one of us yell
For hearing screams?
The pains in hearts
All deeply carved.
Who’s able to heal
The past-present injuries?
Thy must be born of heroic seeds!
Thy need a brave soul,
A virtuous human
Who can sand their fists
Blind slayers eyes
To stripe bloods.
Where are the teargases,
Silencing horse riders; the Janjaweeds.
Those teargases are always
Used to diffuse hard workers, strikers—
Who always inquire peace.
They need some—I can’t say what!
To paralyze those shark minds.
Someone must invent such mats.**
Let us promote those tasks stimulate, support,
Treating broken hunches, to run advance!
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* Darfur genocide: The conflict started in February 2003, ethnic, tribal, non-religious.
Nevertheless Arabs against non-Arabs. Muslims killing Muslims’ humans.
** mats: materials
Erodogan is a master politican. The Turks have had many in their grand plan of denial. Let’s keep in mind that his public inconsistencies would not tolerated were it not for the political capital of Turkey in the world of geopolitics. Sylva makes a very good point that we need to remind ourselves as we pursue justice. Our issue is with the governmental policy of Turkey….. not with Muslims or even Turks as a people. Remember that this seemingly endless proceess of governments “recognizing”
the Genocide(and then “unrecognizing” when the government changes) will end only as change continue within Turkey.
We can debate this , but the fact remains that Turkey will acknowledge the Genocide when they view it is in their interests. Now that may come as a result of a final EU hurdle or perhaps from internal enlightenment. They know what happened, but they have a huge political problem. After
decades of rewriting history and educating their young as if the Armenian homeland in Anatolian
never existed; how do they tell their people it was all denial? That’s a process for them. We can accelerate it by encouraging the enlightened elements emerging in Turkish society.
If we are serious about being a player in this game,thereis no room for racism or ethnic
stereotyping. That has sustained our devastated self-esteem for years; but now we have a real chance
to bring this to light. We must be commited to the political process and not distractions.
We must show the world that we are the descendants of this glorious people that has contributed so much to civilization. We should be the loudestvoices against what is happening in Darfur; not because al-Bashir may go to Turkey, BUT BECAUSE IT IS GENOCIDE AND AS VICTIMS WE KNOW AND HAVE A MORAL RESPONSIBILITY TO SPEAK. Does it sound familiar? There was no genocide.
There were war casualties. It’s an internal matter. Kharpet, Erzerum, Bosia, Darufur!!!! As Armenians; where is our outrage? We want respect because we were victims.That’s fair, of course. It’s also fair to expect that we will use our misfortune to help others. As a Chrisitian people, we must expect noless from ourselves. Perhaps ,these are new fronts that can also help our cause.
Please!!!never mix Islam or muslim with Ottoman turkish inherited present great Turkey.Arabs,Persians and other muslim people have nothing in common with t u r k s …Just try to remember,when war had broken out in NK Karabagh , the Azeris and great Turkey tried hard to wrap it around our necks that Armenians were killing muslims,plainly in order to get the Muslim world on their side…no such thing!it was because of Ottoma n inherited diplomacy to further decimatge Armenians on their way to greater turkey,or if you will Turanism -.as Turgut Ozal ex Premier ,or President of latter boasted ,”we shall extend our reign from the Balkans to the Chinese walls once again and make it a great TURAN, read great Turkey-as he used to dub it-when ,luckily we somehow convinced the other muslims that we have had no problem living amongst persians arabs or any other muslim country.
Now while I do appreciate what Stepan so well distinguishes between people and Government Policy of great Turkey,trying to make us aprehend-comprehend this,it is as yet the GOVERNMENT and Erdogan´s like that rule that strengthened republic of Turkey…………. by allies…who are incognizant of latter´s true intentions…
Making an effort to enlighten the turkish intellectuals and by extgension their public is fine, a good idea and approval by all,however,please do not forget the fact that people ARE RULED BY SUCH CORRUPT AND DECEITFULL, not to say fascist,or perhaps yes fascist people.It is incumbent on the ordinary turk to wake up to stand up and emancipate and throw out such filth from amongst themselves and become a repentent ,humble and honest neighbour with Armenia and others…
Thence to argue that that they are ALRFEADY SO is futile, they still need to be educated as to what transpired in the last two centuries in their usurped lands…conquerers are known to be driven out,dont´forget…´from land not their own…some day great Turkey will be properly divided between Lazistan,Kurdistan,Western Armenia and possibly partially also Greeks…
Times change….
gaytz