Escalates Genocide Denial, Pushes Preconditions, Reinforces Pressure on Nagorno-Karabagh
Watch the video at www.anca.org/press_releases/press_releases.php?prid=1788
WASHINGTON—Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, having secured at least temporarily the silence of yet another U.S. administration on the Armenian Genocide, has used his U.S. visit to further press Turkey’s advantage—dramatically escalating his genocide denial rhetoric, reinforcing Turkey’s protocols preconditions for lifting its blockade of Armenia, and attempting to use Ankara’s new found leverage in the Nagorno-Karabagh peace process to deliver a pro-Azerbaijani settlement of this conflict, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
“Today, more than seven months into the silence of yet another U.S. administration on the Armenian Genocide, it’s painfully clear that Erdogan has not, as President Obama had hoped, moved toward a full, frank and just acknowledgement of the facts—but rather sprinted in exactly the opposite direction, dramatically ramping up his denial rhetoric and pressing more aggressively against U.S. recognition of this crime,” said Aram Hamparian, the executive director of the ANCA. “As we’ve said from day one, for Erdogan and his government, the protocols are not about peace. They represent simply another tactic by Turkey to extend U.S. complicity in Turkey’s denials from one April 24th to the next,” added Hamparian.
In addition to escalating his Armenian Genocide denial demands, Erdogan also made clear that his government would not respect either of the two U.S. priorities for Turkey-Armenia normalization: no preconditions and a reasonable timeframe. He continued to press for both the two Turkish preconditions hardwired into the protocols, namely a historical “commission” and the confirmation of borders, as well as a third unwritten precondition that the Karabagh issue be settled to Azerbaijan’s satisfaction. At the same time, he firmly established that Turkey does not feel any obligation to move forward in a timely manner.
Erdogan’s comments came during a press conference held at the Willard Hotel, followed by a presentation at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced and International Studies (SAIS) and an evening speech at SETA-DC, touted as the only Turkish think-tank in Washington, D.C. He will continue presentations this week at the German Marshall Fund and later do a PBS television interview with Charlie Rose.
During his think-tank appearances, Erdogan pontificated—often in a lecturing and self-righteous tone—on a broad range of topics, from foreign policy to climate change and world poverty. The formats of these presentations, which featured highly controlled third-party participation, lent themselves to this type of one-way communication. The only exceptions were the few questions, submitted in writing, dealing with the Armenian Genocide and freedom of speech in Turkey. Both of these topics sparked angry and unscripted responses from Erdogan.
Asked during his Johns Hopkins presentation by ANCA communications director Elizabeth Chouldjian about his thoughts on repeated statements by Obama that his views had not changed on the “events on 1915,” Erdogan descended into a strident diatribe of denial of the Armenian Genocide, dismissing decades of scholarship documenting the systematic destruction of the Armenian population from 1915-23. “My ancestors have never committed genocide,”
asserted Erdogan. “This is, in my opinion, not possible… Those people who speak of genocide, I don’t know what documentation they base it on.”
Asked about recent congressional rebuke of media repression in Turkey, Erdogan denied that there are restrictions on the press in Turkey, stating, “The press in Turkey is perhaps freer than the press in the U.S.— much more so, in my opinion.”
At SETA-DC, in response to a question on the ratification timeline of the Turkey-Armenia protocols, Erdogan stated: “There are certain connections, which need to be taken into consideration, the first one of which being the relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. There is at the moment this concern in the parliament and that’s why we called the MINSK group—the United States, Russian Federation, and France especially—to move forward in this area. If they can work on the Nagorno-Karabagh problem between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which has been ongoing for the last 20 years, and if progress can be made towards a solution to the problem of Nagorno-Karabagh, then not only will problems between Azerbaijan and Armenia be resolved but also there will be a positive contribution to the process between Turkey and Armenia, whereby the parliaments will reflect upon their work, the good will and progress in the issue of Nagarno-Karabagh, and this what we would like to see happen.”
Should anybody wonder why Turkey will never become a full member of the European Union, they need to look no further that the current prime minister with his county bumpkin macho manners and his very primitive acquisition of the Turkish language.
If Mr. Erdogan is appalled at the fruitless talks on NK that have been going on for the past 15 years, what is his attitude towards the fruitless talks going on for the past 35 years on Cyprus? The common denominator is basically Turkey!
That’s OK Sevan jan, let the EU accept Turkey amidst them to know the taste of Turkey’s belligerent behaviours; like the annihilation of our Armenian race in the form of the Armenian Genocide, then their Code of 301, the protocols to push Armenia to accept their stolen illegal territories from Armenians, Turkey’s illegal entry into Cyprus after killing a great deal of Greeks in there, the Kurdish massacres of late, the denial of the Armenian Genocide and Turkey’s continuation of the AG; and the list goes on and on. Other nationalities do not understand what we went through and are still going through huge injustices and annihilations by Turkey. And their allies; who stood by and watched while Turkey committed the first Genocide of the 20th century. The countries that stood by and watched the Armenian Genocide committed by Turkey were; Britain, Germany, Russia, USA and France. They all owe us our historical Armenian lands back as well as an apology to have stood still and simply watched while Turkey annihilated more than 1.5 million Armenians and Turkey continues to be in denial and the powerful countries of today mentioned above except France are still on the side of the belligerent Genocidal Turkey.
Seevart–I watched my grandmother walk through a life of depression and paranoia due to her village being burned, her relatives killed, and enduring a life as a servant-girl to Kurds before escaping to America. It still makes me sad even though she is no longer alive. I assume that you live here in th U.S. and own property. So I ask you this: would you be willing to give back your property to and acknowledge the genocide brought against the Native Peoples (Indians) here in America ? If you would, then you can complain about what the Turks should or shouldn’t do to rectify past transgressions against Armenians. Do you think it is pleasent for Indians to be living on some of the worst land in the U.S.A. ? Do you think it is right that the Mount Rushmore Monument was made on one of their sacred grounds ? OPEN YOUR MIND AND LOOK AROUND and see what YOU are a part of too.