Armenian community asks the Argentine Government to condemn restrictions on freedom of expression in Turkey

 – The Armenian community of Argentina issued a statementsigned by all the Armenian institutions of the country in which they expressed “their deep concern and rejection of the political persecution that is taking place in Turkey by the regime of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against opposition leaders and media” and called on the Argentine government to “adhere to international condemnations such as those of the United Nations and the European Union, and to speak firmly against the persecutions and restrictions on freedom of expression of the government of Erdogan to avoid the disastrous consequences that arose after every authoritarian turn in the country, as their most recent history demonstrates.”

“This situation has been aggravated by the failed coup attempt last July, whose details have not yet been fully clarified, and has reached an extreme point last week with the arrest of twelve deputies of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), two mayors from Diyarbakir and nine journalists from Cumhuriyet (totaling 142 journalists arrested since July),” said the statement.

“Garo Paylan, deputy of Armenian origin in the Turkish parliament representing the HDP, compared the current situation in the country with the arrest of Armenian politicians and intellectuals on April 24, 1915,” added the text.

Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS