YEREVAN SHOULD DISCUSS ASALA TERROR:
Turkish Daily News
Sept 27 2005
Turkish press yesterday
The controversial Armenian conference on the alleged massacre of
Armenians in the last century during the rule of the Ottoman Empire
ended on Sunday at Bilgi University. Views on the issue were freely
discussed, Hurriyet reported.
The paper noted that two Hurriyet readers asked the following question:
“What about our 32 diplomats, victims of the Armenian Secret Army for
the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), and the innocent Turks massacred
by Armenians? Will Yerevan hold a conference for our martyrs?”
ASALA is an Armenian group that was established with the stated
intention of compelling the Turkish government to publicly acknowledge
its alleged responsibility for the deaths of, according to ASALA,
1.5 million Armenians in 1915, and also for the Turkish government
to pay reparations and cede territory to Armenia.
Armenian terrorists killed Turkish diplomats in the 1970s. The
first victim in the series of terrorist attacks was Mehmet Baydar,
then Turkish consul general in Los Angeles, and his deputy Bahadýr
Demir. This individual action turned into organized Armenian terror
in 1975 and peaked in 1979. A total of 32 Turkish diplomats and four
foreign nationals were assassinated in these attacks, while 15 Turks
and 66 foreign nationals were wounded.
Here is an excerpt of a letter written to Hurriyet by Professor Cengiz
Kuday and businessman Cengiz Solakoðlu. The two Hurriyet readers said
they were pleased that the Armenian conference was held.
“We looked at what was discussed at the conference, yet this question
occupied our minds. Armenians always keep the events of 90 years ago
on the agenda; however, our 32 diplomat victims of ASALA and Turks
massacred by the Armenians are forgotten,” they said in the letter.
Milliyet reported that the second day of the twice-canceled conference
was quieter than the first. Participants easily entered the conference
hall since the protestors arrived late. Sessions were usually quiet,
but Hrant Dink’s story about an elderly Armenian woman in Sivas evoked
some tears.
In the meantime, Professor Ýlhan Cuhadaroðlu quit the conference
after accusing the participants of being one-sided.
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal
claimed that the conference was held to accustom the public to
Armenian theses.
Cumhuriyet quoted Baykal as saying that the court decision to ban
the conference was incorrect.
An Istanbul court had suspended the Armenian conference but the
organizers decided to hold it at Bilgi University instead of the
state-run Boðazici University.
“The end of a taboo,” headlined Yeni Þafak, commenting that Turkey
managed to confront its past and show the world that it has broken
one more taboo.
Professor Baskýn Oran said the Armenian question was the last unbroken
taboo in Turkey and added that the conference was an indicator of
the last taboo being broken.
–Boundary_(ID_sa/vexJnGY8ZEsx073aM2A)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress