The Armenian government’s decision to send massive humanitarian aid and dozens of rescuers to Turkey following the powerful earthquake has generated much controversy among Armenians.
The Turkish government is not a friend of Armenia or Armenians. Turkey is a mortal enemy having committed the Armenian Genocide in 1915 and continuing its denials until today. More recently, the Turkish military and imported Islamic terrorists supported Azerbaijan during the 2020 Artsakh War, causing the deaths of thousands of Armenian soldiers. Last week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan acknowledged that Azerbaijan was reciprocating for Turkey’s support during the 2020 war by sending several hundred rescuers to the earthquake zone. Erdogan then added his often repeated mantra, “Azerbaijan and Turkey are one nation, two states.” Furthermore, a week ago, while Armenia was providing humanitarian aid to Turkey, the Turkish government, in the midst of the disastrous earthquake, found the time to condemn the Mexican Senate for recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
Armenia’s decision to send 27 rescuers and 100 tons of food, medicines and other relief supplies to Turkey was controversial because the aid was provided not only to an unrepentant enemy and on the heels of the Armenian losses inflicted by Turkey during the 2020 War, but during the current humanitarian crisis in Artsakh due to the Azeri blockade of the Lachin Corridor, which is supported by Turkey. While 120,000 Armenians in Artsakh are slowly starving to death being deprived of food and medicines for over 60 days, Armenia’s Prime Minister, President and Speaker of the Parliament, ignoring Armenian sensitivities, announced sending aid to Turkey. They naively insisted that their humanitarian action will help bring peace between Armenia and Turkey.
Naturally, when a major disaster happens anywhere in the world, most countries rush to the rescue of those afflicted. Armenia could not remain indifferent. However, Armenian leaders could have softened the public’s backlash if they had issued a more delicately-worded announcement regarding the aid to Turkey while acknowledging that they are mindful of the plight of Artsakh Armenians due to the blockade of the Lachin Corridor.
It is important that Armenians distinguish between the Turkish government and Turkish people. Armenia and Armenians have a justified demand from the Turkish government for the Armenian losses suffered during the Genocide, but they should not antagonize individual Turks who played no part in the Genocide, since they were not even born at that time. However, if a Turk denies the Genocide and insults the memory of the Armenian martyrs, he or she should be condemned just as the denialist Turkish government.
One of the consequences of the disastrous earthquake in Turkey is the collapse of Erdogan’s already low political rating. There are claims by the Turkish opposition that Erdogan has unfairly dispatched most of the Turkish rescuers to the earthquake regions inhabited by his supporters who had voted for him in the past. He has been subjected to harsh criticisms due to the Turkish government’s slow actions to rescue the large number of victims of the earthquake. Tens of thousands of Turkish citizens died due to the collapse of poorly-constructed hundreds of high-rise apartment buildings, as a result of the Erdogan government’s corrupt practices. Many buildings that were properly constructed did not collapse.
The Presidential election in Turkey is scheduled for May 14, 2023. Knowing that his chances of getting re-elected fairly is low, President Erdogan will probably delay the election, giving him time to come up with various schemes to boost his rating. Getting re-elected is a must for Erdogan because if he loses the election, he will not just lose the presidency. He risks ending up in jail for the rest of his life because of his and his family’s massive corruption.
Therefore, Erdogan will do everything possible to remain in power. Even though he has no legal right to postpone the election, he will order the judiciary to rule that given the emergency situation in the country, delaying the election is legal and justified.
Erdogan is already making lavish promises to his potential voters. He has promised to millions of homeless Turkish survivors of the earthquake that the government will give them free apartments in one year. Erdogan is forgetting that he has no right to make such a promise, because a year from now he may not be the president of Turkey.
Erdogan will also provide large amounts of money to the public to win over their votes. To rebuild the devastated areas of Turkey, foreign countries and international financial institutions will donate billions of dollars which Erdogan will distribute lavishly to the voters to get re-elected.
Harut Sassounian
Armenia lost all credibility about artsakh on international media lf we look comments and opinions cuz while armenia sends aid to turks and syrians cant provide aid help to own terriority artsakh which is shameful.
I applaud Armenia for unconditionally contributing to the relief efforts in Turkey. It is the right thing to do. Would not have been intelligent to make political statements around the relief .
Whilst the earthquake is a natural disaster driven by forces humanity has no control over and the distructive actions of the tremor is dispassionate. There is indeed an irony of the plight of Arktash at the hands of Turkey’s soul brother Azerbaijan. It remains to be seen if Ankara will lean on Azerbaijan or will Armenia have been a dupe in the way Russia is over its pandering to Azerbaijan that isn’t won over nor greatly impressed with and Armenia is more circumspect and realistic towards than it has been since independence. Its done more harm to Armenias dagger (and the petrodollars that financed the transformation of the Azeri military) the Baku – Ceyhan oil pipeline than anything Armenia has done. Did Turkey provide any support to soviet Armenia in 1988 earthquake? I know it provided grain in the early 1990’s and when the border was closed allowed it to be opened to swap stranded railway wagons that wouldn’t have been much use to either due to the gauge difference. The earthquake in 1988 did little to ease animosity between soviet Armenia and Azerbaijan indeed Alyiev senior refused to allow overland transit of aid. My hunch is much like the coronavirus pandemic did nothing to ease animosities globally despite the fact it was dispassionate and no racial group had any particular advantage, probably as it was a new to humanity virus. Indeed in early 2020 Azerbaijan and its shills were making much of Armenia having a higher declared rate of coronavirus than its neighbours as though it was negligent and focused on militancy when in fact it was Azerbaijan who was feverishly preparing for war and presumably not deterred by the circulation of a deadly virus and it was just fine for it to mobilise and recruit hired guns from Pakistan and Syrian rebels and the crowds who celebrated in November 2020 with as little concern as the BLM rioters in USA that year…
@CHARLES. YOUR POSTS ARE INTELLIGENT!
Well,as a goodwill gesture he could’ve told his poodle to lift the blockade. Even for a day or two would be good. Didn’t happen. At any rate he is unlikely to be re-elected, the logic of events dictates.
TURKS NEED TO RID THEMSELVES OF THE HATE THEY ENBODY AGAINST THE ARMENIANS…..WHAT A FINE HEARTWARMING GESTURE IT IS FOR PEOPLE YOU HAVE BEEN SLAUGHTERED BY TURKS AND TO THIS DAY HAVE NOT HAD TURKS ADMIT TO IT……THE ARMENIANS ARE DECENT PEOPLE AND HAVE LOST TOO MUCH…..FOR THE TURKS: ALLOW THE PAST TO BE LEFT AND COME TO A ACCEPTABLE AND WARM RESPECT FOR THEM AS THEY DESERVE THIS FINALLY…ADMIT TO WHAT HAPPENED AND MOVE ON INTO THE LIGHT WITH A WELCOME, CARE and a new beginning…
IT IS TIME FOR PEACE!