The Turkish Cihan wire service made a sensational revelation last week—a Turkish hit squad had planned to assassinate a visiting Armenian Parliamentarian on March 22, 2009.
Based on information obtained from Turkish security services, Cihan disclosed that Mutlu Erdogan and Selcuk Onur Ozyilmaz, members of the Turkish Unity Revenge Squad (Turk Intikam Birligi Teshkilati), were plotting to kill an unnamed ARF (Tashnag Party) leader. They were tipped off about his presence in Turkey, after he had acquired a Turkish cell phone.
The Armenian Weekly, a Boston-based ARF publication, speculated that the target of the Turkish hitmen may have been Ara Nranyan, an ARF Parliamentarian from Armenia, who was in Turkey to attend a Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) conference as chairman of the Audit Committee of BSEC’s Parliamentary Assembly.
During a phone conversation, the hit squad members discussed their plan to assassinate Nranyan, but decided to postpone their intended action, having learned that the security forces were trailing them. “Let a few months pass and we will slowly begin to conduct operations. We won’t stand idly by,” the conspirators told each other on the phone call which was monitored by Turkish authorities.
The ARF Bureau press office expressed concern that “information about Nranyan’s entry to Turkey was made available to a terrorist organization,” noting that “such information could have only been provided by the Turkish state.”
Meanwhile, a Turkish police report established a link between the hit squad and Ergenekon, a covert group of military and intelligence officials who carried out terrorist operations, including political assassinations, in order to create mayhem and instability in Turkey with the aim of toppling the elected government.
“Nranyan’s visit was not secret, but it was not a high profile visit either. So, it is possible that the information the alleged plotters had was from a source within the Turkish government,” ARF Bureau political affairs director Giro Manoyan told the Armenian Weekly. “We are taking the issue seriously and looking into it, trying to find out as much information as possible,” he added.
“The information is disturbing because it corresponds with certain facts,” said Manoyan. “In a country where someone like Hrant Dink who was considered a ‘dove’ was gunned down in broad daylight, we wouldn’t be surprised that a member of the ARF, generally viewed in Turkey as ‘hawks,’ would be targeted,” Manoyan noted. Indeed, it was revealed that the Ergenikon group had even planned to assassinate the Armenian Patriarch of Turkey!
It is surprising that ever since this most serious revelation, no Armenian government official has bothered to make a statement or issue a condemnation. Not even the chairman of the Armenian Parliament has raised his voice at the news that a member of his legislative body had been targeted for assassination.
One would have expected that the Armenian government would have pressed Ankara to disclose how a hit squad was alerted about the upcoming visit of an Armenian Parliamentarian to Turkey—was it through a phone company insider, a Turkish visa officer, or a state official who knew of Nranyan’s plan to attend the BSEC conference?
Armenia should demand that Turkey conduct a thorough investigation of this ugly incident and disclose the steps taken to ensure that such leaks to terrorists about visiting Armenian dignitaries do not take place in the future. Until Yerevan becomes satisfied that the Turkish government is doing everything possible to guarantee the safety and security of Armenian visitors, no Armenian official or tourist should step foot on Turkish soil, and no Armenian athlete or sports team should participate in any tournament in Turkey. No more soccer diplomacy! Also, until further notice, no Armenian from the diaspora should visit Turkey.
Strangely, some naive Armenians do not seem to realize that when they go to Turkey on vacation, they are not simply visiting another country, but going into enemy territory. Since there are no diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey, no Armenian consular official can come to the assistance of an Armenian citizen in trouble, as was the case in the killing of a pregnant Armenian woman near Ankara and the beating of an Armenian family vacationing in Antalya.
Armenians should raise this assassination plot at every opportunity through the global media and international meetings, particularly the Black Sea Economic Cooperation conference, demanding that Turkish officials bring severe charges against the accused hit men, disclose the findings of their investigation, and take preventive steps before Armenia agrees to send another official delegation to Turkey.
Harut Sassounian
Most tourists from the Diaspora are aware that when they go to turkey, they are being followed by the police. We are told we are not in “tourist areas” when we go to our villages, and that we have to move on. So you travel half way around the world and get to spend half an hour in your father’s village. In one trip, our entire bus of tourists had to get off, the Turkish army held all our passports, and a Turkish bus took us the rest of the way. Our passports were returned (whew!!) after we returned to the checkpoint. Checkpoints with uniformed armed men and dogs are everywhere. You feel hated. You know you are in enemy territory. You are afraid. That we go at all is an indication of the yearning our Fatherland still holds within all of us. We know the land is soaked with our blood. We know it is still ours.
Thank you Harout & Perouz for your comments.
I live in Western Canada and had a Turkish neighbour for the last few years. He build & sold 2 new houses & moved on. We got along fine. I did some work for him and we are still friends.
He offered for me to travel to Turkey with him to visit his family in Adana/Mersin. I think like both of you that unfortunately Turkey is still enemy territory and as much as we long to be there (on our own ancestral property, in my case, Kayseri) at least for the moment it is super dangerous.
If and when stolen lands are returned & our own military is doing the check points then things may be different.
I agree with Harout, that people should resist visiting Turkey and understand that it is difficult to do this.
As if being harassed by Turk soldiers is not humiliating enough, the Armenian tourists are also contributing to their economy, with which weapons are being bought and shipped into Azerbaijan to fight our brothers and sisters. While we’re at this subject, Diaspora Armenians, PLEASE STOP BUYING TURKISH PRODUCTS. Otherwiose I’m gonna be forced to call you ESH AVANAG. Thank you and have a nice day.
Jay you are hillarious… i know this will make you happy… even though I only know very very very very very very small portion about what company buys TUrkish oil/products/goods/ect… I do everything in my power not to purchase or use anything that is Turkish related…any food that is made in TUrkey.. BANNED IN OUR HOUSE.. I don’t use CHevron for any gas purposes because they are financed or receive funds from Turkish govt… LOTS OF MONEY.. so BANNED FROM MY GAS STATION LIST… so i do my part… i hope every Armenian does their part as well… the more we buy their stuff, the more powerful they get (this is in addition to everything else they stole and prospered from ur own people…)
Perouz.. it is absolutely heartbreaking to read that we can’t even walk freely on our own lands.. we have to fear for our lives.. the thought of a Turkishmen scares the crap out of me… i understand we can’t put everyone in the same pot but lets e honest … we can only handpick the honest, sincere, and caring Turks from all the ones that have hatred toward Armenians…i just hope that one day we will tell them that the land they call home was and will always be the home of the original inhabitats.. ARMENIANS..
God Bless
Gayane
Hate never arrives of emptiness
Hate arrives through a reason!
Can you hate a bird
Who twitters and dance!
Can you hate flocks
As they herd on the yards!
Can you hate a honest dog who barks
To protect you from enemies!
You hate the tiger
As is fierceful scavenger
Can tear your flesh
After gulping your Heart…
Your Liver…your thoughtful
Brain-convoluted-cells
Even if you give thy…
A fresh piece of meat…
Even if trained well
To live with you near
Can’t be a cormorant.
This is the real reason
We…hate those genes
Those genocided* us
For many centuries…
Raped our virgin girls
Hurled our youths
In the happy rivers
Till the rivers flooded
With our innocents’ blood
The stream screamed…
Could not accept any more
Calling the clouds of the sky
To take their souls…rest
At least in a safe place…
How can we love a race
Who vanished all our scholars?
Still insist dative
To end our trace!
Sylva-MD-Poetry
December 6, 2010
_________________
Genocided: a new verb in ‘my glossary of terms’; when people are killed Turkified ( lost their identity completely) many times through centuries…as Armenians have been slayed from 1064-1923 until now followed every where to suppress recognition of their genocide by other states…
It reminds me of the video of Austria MP, talking about how barbaric turks are and how a turkish men cut the head of a catholic bishop in turkey and italy has good relationship with turkey, so imagine us going there.
watch..
Austrian MP Ewald Stadler to Turkish Ambassador: “People are Sick and Tired”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThQ61K04Sbo
Armenians in diaspora must establish a national guard to protect our national interest and pursue all injustices done against our people around the world. The traditional political parties including ARF have been unable to solve Armenian Question for 120 years. I would like to see ARF to establish a center in Armnenia to develop modern weapon systems.
ARF shoud also establish centers in diaspora to train volunteers for future conflict with enemy. Only strong nation allowd to negociate with the enemy.
Wise comments Papken. My grandparents were strong/dedicated ARF members.