Author: Jirair Kafian

Turkish Press: Turkey remembers Ottoman Armenians who died in WWI

Jirair Kafian
Anadolu Agency, Turkey
Turkey remembers Ottoman Armenians who died in WWI

Enes Kaplan   | 24.04.2019

ANKARA

Turkey on Wednesday commemorated the Ottoman Armenians who died during the course of World War I. 

“With respect I commemorate the Ottoman Armenians who died in hard conditions during World War I,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a letter on Wednesday to Archbishop Aram Atesyan, general vicar of the Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey.

Erdogan said that peace, security, and happiness of Turkey’s Armenian community are greatly important for Turkey.

Offering his condolences to the descendants of Ottoman Armenians who died in the war, Erdogan stated that the Armenian community has raised many valuable young people to contribute to Turkey’s well-being.

He said that as free and equal citizens in Turkey, Armenian people have important roles in the country’s social, political, and business life.

Erdogan said that Turkey aims to cement ties between ethnic Turks and Armenians, who have shared mutual pains and joy in history.

He stated that Turkey will continue to stand by Armenians to relieve their pains and solve their problems.

“I believe the way to build a joint future can only be done by standing united and together,” Erdogan said.

He warned Armenians against circles who want to poison this shared past by sowing hatred and hostility.

Turkey’s position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Turkey objects to the presentation of these incidents as a “genocide,” describing them as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.

Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia as well as international experts to tackle the issue.


President Bako Sahakyan visits editorial office of

Jirair Kafian

President Bako Sahakyan visits editorial office of “Azat Artsakh” newspaper

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16:51,

YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan visited on April 23 the editorial office of “Azat Artsakh” [Free Artsakh] republican newspaper to meet with the staff, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

Issues related to the activity and future plans of the newspaper were on the discussion agenda.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan




Erdogan Doubles Down At Sheridan Circle

Jirair Kafian
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Turkish American Steering Committee supporters taunting peaceful Armenian protesters at the annual April 24th rally for justice in 2016. This year, they have been permitted to occupy a portion of Sheridan Circle, site of the May, 2017, Erdogan-ordered attack on peaceful protesters.

WASHINGTON—Washington, DC-based allies of Turkish President Erdogan are doubling down on his May, 2017, attack at Sheridan Circle, attempting, once again, to prevent Americans from exercising their Constitutional right to freedom of _expression_.

The Turkish American Steering Committee (TASC) – taking a page from the playbook of the Westboro Baptist Church and neo-Nazi marchers in Charlottesville – is gaming America’s First Amendment, not to express its own views, but rather to obstruct the free _expression_ of U.S. citizens set to gather this April 24th at 4:30 pm in Washington, DC’s Sheridan Circle to protest Ankara’s denial of the Armenian Genocide.

TASC has a track record of using loud dance music, songs, shouting, and even air-horns to drown out speakers at annual April 24th demonstrations. This year they have, for the first time, secured the approval of the U.S. National Park Service to engage in their disruptive activities from an area adjacent to the Armenian Genocide protest, within the actual confines of Sheridan Circle. This traffic circle, across the street from the Turkish Ambassador’s residence, is infamous internationally as the site where, less than two years ago, Turkish President Erdogan’s bodyguards brutally beat peaceful American protesters. TASC Co-Chairman Gunay Evinch is among the lawyers hired by the Turkish Government to defend it in a lawsuit brought by victims of this attack.

The organizer of the Armenian Genocide protest – the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) Ani Chapter – was joined by the Armenian National Committee of America in arguing vigorously against the Park Service granting a permit for a counter-protest at Sheridan Circle, on Constitutional and public safety grounds. Over these strenuous objections, the Park Service has permitted TASC to occupy roughly a third of Sheridan Circle.

The AYF is expecting a strong turn-out from the local Armenian, Greek and Assyrian/Aramean/Syriac communities – all of whom remain undeterred in raising their voices for justice on April 24th in the nation’s capital. To support the peaceful protest, join them from 4:30pm to 6:30pm at Sheridan Circle, located at Massachusetts Ave. NW and 23rd St NW. Buses are available from Soorp Khatch Armenian Apostolic Church (4906 Flint Drive, Bethesda MD) at 3:15pm. For more information, email [email protected] or [email protected]

The ANCA will be live-streaming portions of the protest on its Facebook page.

Protest action in support of Konstantin Orbelian is held outside the government building in Yerevan: Pashinyan listened to culture persons

Jirair Kafian
Arminfo, Armenia
April 1 2019
Naira Badalian

ArmInfo.Employees of the Academic Opera and Ballet Theater of Armenia. In the morning, Spendiaryan began a protest action outside the government building of the  republic. They demand that the order be canceled. Minister of Culture  of Armenia Nazeni Garibyan on the dismissal of the director of the  theater Konstantin Orbelian. Culture workers were received by Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

At the beginning of the protest, the protesters announced that they wanted to send a letter of appeal to the Prime Minister stating that the order to the Acting President.  Minister of Defense to relieve Konstantin Orbelian from the post of  Director of the Opera and Ballet Theater and the plan to “optimize”  the theaters filled the cup of patience of the theater world.

 The letter noted that the Ministry of Culture only hindered the  activities of theaters, as well as the law on GNCO. According to  theatrical figures, a person who believes that “opera is not a  theater,” and artistic director’s position is not creative, and so  on, cannot be headed by the Ministry of Culture. As a result, they  demand the resignation of Nazeni Gharibyan and adequate cultural  policies. The protesters point to the disrespectful attitude of  Garibyan towards culture and its leaders, which contradict the laws,  orders and orders signed by it. As one of the employees of the  theater said, they are not protesting against a particular person,  but only care about the prosperity of the theater, which in the past  year and a half has developed rapidly. “As for the explanations of  the Ministry of Culture that Orbelyan does not speak Armenian (which  is a violation of the law), I must say that it is even a shame to  talk about this, the music does not know the language,” he said.After  the meeting with the prime minister, the theater staff said that a  temporary decision was made. Namely, the obligations of the director  of the theater will be temporarily assigned to the deputy director,  and Konstantin Orbelian will perform the functions of artistic  director. During this period, artists will have to submit their  counter-arguments to the cabinet. 

According to opera singer Liparit Avetisyan, they are fighting  against the system, and not just a person.  “The question is that we  are fighting not against the face, but against the system according  to which all the controls are in the hands of the director. In the  theater, this interferes with creative life”,- he said.A spokesman  for the Prime Minister, Vladimir Karapetyan, in turn, said that the  demands of the staff of the Opera and Ballet Theater would be heard  and relevant decisions made on the spot. Recall that the Acting  Minister of Culture of Armenia, Nazeni Gharibyan, by decree of March  28 of this year. relieved Konstantin Orbelian of the post of Director  of the National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after A.   Spendiaryan. As the basis of K. Orbelyan’s release from office, the  Ministry of Culture cites article 15 of the Law of the Republic of  Armenia , which states:

“She offered me to quit myself, but I refused. My contract as  director of the Theater expires after 1.5 years, that is, very  weighty justifications are needed for my dismissal. I consider the  decision of Garibyan illegal and it will be appealed in court,”  Orbelian. On the same day, March 29, Garibyan announced that the name  of the new director of the Opera Theater will be known on April 1.  Orbelian himself stated that in this case he would leave the theater  altogether.Orbelyan, along with a brilliant pianist career, has also  developed a wide range of activities in the opera field as a  conductor and artistic director. In particular, in 1991-2009 he was  artistic director and chief conductor of the State Academic Chamber  Orchestra of Russia. In 2003, Orbelyan, the first foreigner who does  not have Russian citizenship, was awarded the honorary title of  Honored Artist of Russia. In 2012, he was awarded the Order of  Friendship for his great contribution to the popularization of  Russian culture outside Russia. 

Sports: BiH wins Armenia 2-1 in UEFA European Championship 2020 Qualifiers

Jirair Kafian
Sarajevo Times


9:00 AM

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH’s) national football team won Armenia 2-1 here on Saturday evening for UEFA European Championship 2020 Qualifiers.

At full Grbavica Stadium in BiH capital Sarajevo, both teams played evenly in the first thirty minutes of the match, after which Rade Krunic from the host team scores in 33rdminute.

Five minutes to the end of the half, host team continued to control the match, after which Eldar Civic from the host team gets yellow card for fouling Henrikh Mkhitaryan from visiting team.

The second half saw visiting team attempting three times to score a goal, but all three times goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic from the host team blocks. In 65thminute, Goran Zakaric from the host team exits and Deni Milosevic enters. In 78thminute, the host team attempts three times to score a goal in only ten seconds, but misses all three times.

Two minutes later, Deni Milosevic scores for the host team.

In the 93rdminute, after ball hit Deni Milosevic’s hand from the host team, Henrikh Mkhitaryan from the visiting team scores after getting penalty.

BiH national football team is on the third place with three points, while Italy and Greece are on the first and second place, respectively.

168: South Caucasus Confronts Challenges of War and Corruption

Jirair Kafian
| 20:21 | March 18 2019
Category
Politics

For many years Europe has lived with the hope that Armenia and Azerbaijan would one day resolve their differences. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, which consists of the U.S., Russia, and France, has spent thousands of hours mediating between the parties since its inception in 1994.

In an upcoming summit the OSCE and its Minsk Group co-chairmen aspire that the two post-Soviet countries will come to a final status agreement and settle the territorial and ethnic conflict over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven surrounding districts. These are de-facto controlled by the self-declared “Republic of Artsakh” (known as Karabakh), but are internally recognised as a de jure part of Azerbaijan.

With great power support and a new government in Yerevan, some are approaching the summit with cautious optimism. Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev are set to meet later this spring, though a date has not yet been announced.

However, both parties took steps that threaten to derail the summit before it even begins.  Armenia may have contributed to tensions by announcing its Security Council meeting in the Nagorno-Karabakh together with that Republic’s own National Security Council, having Prime Minister Pashinyan visiting the self-proclaimed republic. Armenians decided to conduct the joint meeting in Karabakh, although the body routinely meets in the capital Yerevan.

Not to be outdone, Azerbaijan has commenced large-scale military maneuvers ahead of a meeting between President Aliyev and Prime Minister Pashinyan. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said on March 11 that up to 10,000 troops, 500 tanks, 300 missile systems, aircraft, and other military equipment will participate five-day exercises, Radio Liberty reported.

However, the problems in the South Caucasus go well beyond security. For decades, endemic corruption undermined economic development and the rule of law in the three republics: Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. Information about the Azeri abuses abounded: the Aliyev clan, ruling the oil-rich Caspian state, has amassed billions of euros in assets, including vast property holdings in Dubai by the Aliyev children.

Earlier this decade, while the Azerbaijani government arrested scores of activists and journalists, the country’s ruling circles used a secret slush fund – nicknamed The Influence Machine — to pay off European politicians and other dignitaries who promoted the country and its regime.

Many of these efforts took place within the Council of Europe, which is supposed to uphold human rights, democracy, and rule of law, according to Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.

VIPs who received the “Azerbaijani Laundromat” funds included three former members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE): a German MP and a Slovenian politician who both went against international organizations to declare Azerbaijan’s elections fair, and an Italian politician already charged with bribery. The Bulgarian husband of the head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), a high-profile supporter of Azerbaijan, also received Laundromat payments.

Information about Armenia was less readily available, but not less concerning. A recent Amnesty International Report revealed that:

A particular feature of corruption in Armenia is the presence of so-called “oligarchs” who enjoy the fruits of a shadow economy estimated to account for around 35 per cent of Armenia’s GDP. Patronage networks and a lack of clear separation between private enterprise and public office act as an important barrier to effective anti-corruption efforts. 14 It is not surprising, therefore, that 82 per cent of people in Armenia believe that corruption in the public sector is a problem or a serious problem, with the judiciary and the civil service perceived to be the sectors most affected by corruption.

A classified report on corruption in Armenia was circulated in March this year in Brussels, the Russian Telegram channel Kompromat SNG revealed. The alleged corrupt officials are identified as Prime Minister Pashinyan and his wife Anna Hakobyan. The amount of the suspected bribery? €1.5 billion.

Armenia’s new government, which came to power under the slogans of the fight against corruption, has allegedly built its own corruption scheme.

The classified report focuses on funds and personal accounts allegedly managed by Anna Hakobyan, the wife of the current Prime Minister, the report claims. The Pashinyan government has jailed political opponents, sending a chilling message to current and potential foes.

Under threats of criminal prosecution and business ruin through threats of judicial prosecution, former officials and oligarchs transfer huge sums of money to contribute to various funds.

It appears that in the days of the recent Davos Forum, Anna Akopyan was in Zurich where she was actively involved in the setup and management of these funds. A Swiss businessman, affiliated with one very influential Armenian official, is a facilitator for these activities.

As of March 1, the accounts directly or indirectly controlled by Ms. Hakobyan mushroomed to about €1.5 billion.

The former officials transferred funds from their offshore and personal accounts:

– Mihran Poghosyan (Former Chief Compulsory Enforcement Officer of Armenia and Deputy of the National Assembly);

– Gagik Khachatryan (Former Chairman of the State Revenue Committee and former Minister of Finance of Armenia);

– Samvel Alexanyan (Major entrepreneur and former deputy of the National Assembly of Armenia);

– Gagik Beglaryan (Former Minister of Transport and Communications of Armenia);

– Vardan Harutyunyan (Former Chairman of the State Revenue Committee of Armenia);

– Gagik Tsarukyan (Entrepreneur and founder of the Prosperous Armenia Party, member of the National Assembly of Armenia).

The European political elite, the financial regulators and large businesses that hoped for a more transparent Armenia under Pashinyan are concerned that while personalities may change, systemic corruption will remain an obstacle.

Even in Georgia, a regional leader in the anti-corruption efforts, there are still major problems in the areas of the transparency and accountability of companies, including the lack of effective mechanisms for identifying their beneficial owners, Transparency International revealed in its report. Effective integrity programs remain the exception in Georgian companies. Anti-corruption mechanisms in state-owned enterprises remain particularly weak.

True, the South Caucasus desperately needs peace, but without a crackdown on high level corruption first – in all three countries —  its economic and political future will remain bleak.

eutoday.net

PM Pashinyan discusses steps to improve business environment with businessmen

Jirair Kafian

PM Pashinyan discusses steps to improve business environment with businessmen

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21:13,

YEREVAN, MARCH 15, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan had a working luncheon with the members of the Union of Businessmen and Industrialists of Armenia.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, different issues referring to the improvement of investment environment in the country, legislative regulations, and tax reforms were discussed.

The businessmen noted that competitive business conditions, free market relations have been established in the country and that former economic monopolies have been eliminated and these measures have launched the beginning of the economic revolution. They expressed confidence that the created conditions will contribute to the economic activity and progress of the country.

In terms of effective implementation of investment programs and economic development, the parties highlighted the importance of effective dialogue and feedback between government and business.

During the working luncheon exchange of views took place over the strategy and philosophy of economic development.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan




Older than Rome – Yerevan feels young as it embarks on its 2,800th year

Jirair Kafian

DR. GARRY ASLANYAN, DEPUTY EDITOR, WHO

The fountain on a central square of the city of Yerevan in Armenia.

 

In the summer of 2018, I went on duty travel to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, as part of my Programme’s work with a group of local researchers to finalize the papers which they had written following a year of research into critical aspects of tuberculosis (TB) control in the country. On day one, I caught sight of a billboard that said – 2,800 years of Yerevan, come celebrate with us. A quick Google search confirmed – forget Athens or Rome, Yerevan is even older!

The history of Yerevan dates back to the 8th century BC, with the founding of Erebuni in 782 BC by the Armenian King Argishti I as a fully royal capital. Most of us who have lived or live in what is called the New World are usually fascinated by the sheer age of many European cities from the Old World. I panicked! What can I offer to colleagues who live in a city so old that there is a story soaked in every stone? Though a small country of just three million people, Armenia made global waves last spring with its Velvet Revolution– a months-long peaceful protest movement that eventually resulted in the resignation of the old government. This led to a snap election last December which was heralded as the first truly democratic election in the country since its independence from the Soviet Union.

We spent a week of long days reviewing papers, finalizing data analysis, discussing what the findings may mean statistically and practically, helping to peer review each other’s writing and trying to understand what the findings may mean for decision-makers. The rates of TB in the country are alarmingly high, with high prevalence of drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) forms, complicated by socio-economic and health system challenges.

Armenia is among the 18 high-priority countries fighting TB in the WHO European Region. Latest data show the main TB indices have declined, but the numbers are still above desired targets. Treatment outcomes are explained in part by the high prevalence of DR-TB forms. Despite successes in managing drug-susceptible TB and the fact that Armenia is no longer a high-burden multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB country, DR-TB still poses a major challenge to the effectiveness of the National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP). The Armenian researchers and practitioners who were part of this Structured Operational Research and traIning IniTiative (SORT IT) have set out to improve health systems through research and help bend the curve of TB incidence in the country. While the local TB problem was clearly identified by participants during the workshop, the solutions, they said, had to be global.

May 2018: “I love Yerevan” monument on the Republic square in Yerevan downtown, Armenia.

And global it felt all along – the 2,800-yearold city had a real palpable global energy. One of the local mentors, an Indian doctor from Chennai who decided to stay after finishing medical school in Yerevan, finding a job teaching internal medicine at the state medical university, didn’t seem to feel out of place or awkward, even with his accented Armenian. A Chinese business executive in the international health research centre that hosted us for the week was pleased there were Chinese restaurants in Yerevan, although she felt they lacked authenticity, saying that the Schezuan Beef she ordered time and again had a distinct Khorovats flavour (an Armenian barbeque). The war in Syria led to an influx of 22,000 Syrian refugees of Armenian origin which resulted in Yerevan adopting a new mentality as well as new cuisine.

Many consider the culture in Armenia as being inclusive – another person joining a group or community is perceived as a positive. Armenians, like their South Caucasus neighbours, have long been renowned for their generosity to outsiders – a result of the country’s historical location on the Silk Road. The rich culture of the country is treasured and well preserved due in large part to its ancient history of being influenced by multiple empires, including Assyria, Greece, Persia and Ottoman-era Turkey.

On my last day of seminars with the group, having finalized a set of over ten papers ready to be submitted for scientific journals, I learned that the German Chancellor Angela Markel was in town on an official visit. The taxi driver taking me to the airport told me she made a surprise walk on downtown streets of Yerevan to breath in the city’s 2,800-year-old charm. I wondered how much of this was typical taxi driver urban myth and so I looked for it online. Sure enough, there she was on video, walking down the street with the country’s leaders. Chancellor Markel made a comment that when she was doing her research studies as a student in East Germany she visited Yerevan as part of an exchange programme. But the days of East and West in Europe are now long gone.

I debated what the title of this article should be; my dilemma being that most of us were raised hearing reference to the oldest cities of Athens, Damascus, Jerusalem and Rome, along with some other names of mysterious ancient cities which have long vanished, but Yerevan is never among them. My initial panic had now been resolved: if Chancellor Markel could feel at ease here and hold this beautiful old city in such high regard, celebrating its 2,800 year history, then so could I.

How repressive does a country have to be before it becomes a guilt trip for tourists?

Jirair Kafian
The Guardian, UK
March 9 2019

Catherine Bennett

Turkey’s latest attack on free speech is unlikely to affect its appeal to British sunseekers

Go on, visit Turkey. For “fun, joy, happiness and neverending journey”. Women are allowed – to judge by the country’s tourism website – to laugh there now. Will it be safe? One hears these stories. Be reassured, says the useful tips section, this is one of the safest countries in the world: “You’ll find the police helpful and friendly.” Well, the ones who are left since the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, dismissed a further 6,000 officers in last year’s purge.

There’s no section, as yet, dealing with the latest from the land of fun, joy and happiness: last week’s warning, by the minister of interior, Suleyman Soylu, to the effect that certain tourists could find themselves staying indefinitely. “Let them come and go to prison directly from the airport.”

But, to potential visitors whose question is now, “Does Mr Suleyman want to imprison me?”, the answer is probably no, not unless you’re a German Turk who opposes Erdoğan’s government. Or someone who has publicly approved or associated with those critics. Last year, Germany’s foreign office spokesperson, Maria Adebahr, warned the public: “Statements that are covered in Germany by freedom of _expression_ can lead to prosecution in Turkey.” She calls Suleyman’s current threat “not helpful”. German reports of Suleyman’s statement have since been rubbished by a Turkish spokesman, as “deliberately taken out of context and distorted”.

For safety’s sake, it might still be advisable for aspiring tourists not to go on social media and call Erdoğan a brutal enemy of free speech, even in a country that had pretty much succeeded, before he came along, in keeping its genocidal history – the murder of a third of the population of Armenia – out of the public eye. “Who, after all,” Hitler asked in 1939, “speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” Not the British government, which still, unforgivably, prefers the daintier “massacre”.

For most tourists, then, there is no compelling reason not to holiday in Turkey, whether out of caution or principle, since German-level freedom of speech is also threatened in a variety of popular, reliably hot resorts around the world. Supposing tourism confers respectability, Turkey’s buoyant figures suggest exceptional decency. If the country is also, following Erdoğan’s sustained assault on freedom of _expression_, bidding to become a world leader in the persecution of journalists – and, it follows, in undermining the judiciary – it is still, at 157 out of 180 in last year’s Press Freedom Index, ranked above Vietnam and China, both as popular with tourists as they are hostile to the free exchange of information.

For further travel whataboutery, recall the Trump-scarred US press (no 45). It is a principle dear to many adventurous travellers that, since no government is perfect, no government, even those famed for exceptional tyranny, should be subject to a tourism boycott. Or hardly ever. After Aung San Suu Kyi’s intervention, in 1996, asking tourists to shun “Visit Myanmar Year”, with which the military junta hoped to sanitise its reputation, visitors, with encouragement from NGOs, complied. Instead of 500,000 visitors, only 251,000 arrived.

Since then, with her silence on the purging and murders of the Rohingyapeople, Aung San Suu Kyi’s example may have become more useful to the visitors and tourism organisers who argue that – given an ethical approach – tourism can always be justified.

While dictators and juntas come and go, the case for visiting their lands has barely changed since Aung San Suu Kyi did, in fact, thwart the junta, despite additional resistance from, among others, Lonely Planet. The liberating benefits of international tourism to the oppressed include, it is argued, conversations, as well as, sometimes, cash. An ethical contributor to Condé Nast Traveller has made a persuasive case for “travelling with a conscience”. In Rodrigo Duterte’s Philippines, she writes: “I attended the public funeral of a man who’d been killed by police, and talked with mourners as they walked behind the hearse through the congested, sweltering streets of Manila.” Not an obvious bucket-list item, perhaps, but they used to say the same about bungee-jumping.

Assuming that compassionate funeral-crashing does transform routine into ethical tourism, you can still foresee problems of scale. Not merely because the supply of street funerals of innocent victims of authoritarian murderers is probably limited – although you could try Venezuela – but in pure organisational terms. How many coachloads of foreigners can reasonably attend one funeral? Plus, pressure of time. Is this, or indeed, any other extended form of anthropological exposure, how city-worn escapees to the sun would prefer to use the time designated “at leisure”? But either way, you can see how the justifications of individual guilt-tripped travellers to various autocracies can also be deployed by the organisers of industrial-scale all-inclusive tourism to morally indefensible dictatorships – that is, exactly the sort worth boycotting.

That Turkey combines the current terrors and imprisonings and arrests, its secular reversals and authoritarianism with a role as the UK’s third-favourite holiday destination, arguably owes much to the mind-broadening thinking that features ethical funeral-going. “Holidays to Turkey won’t break the bank,” chirped Thomas Cook last April, “and you’ll get incredible value for money with top quality All Inclusive hotels.” It is surely a further tribute to the destination that Erdoğan had enough confidence in these attractions, or their insulation from his state of emergency, to purge a further 18,632 state employees at the start of the season, including police officers, the military, teachers, academics.

As much as he is turning away from the west, it’s hard to believe that Erdoğan, presiding over a sagging economy, would be entirely content with the loss of legitimacy, as well as cash, if the hotels emptied, pending some restoration of democratic norms. What if these tourists chose, since boycotts can bring results, to go elsewhere?

All the more so if they went instead – as I warmly recommend – to Armenia.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/10/turkey-how-repressive-does-a-country-have-to-be-before-it-becomes-a-guilt-trip-for-tourists