PM USES OFFENSIVE, RACIST LANGUAGE TARGETING ARMENIANS
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Aug 6 2014
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan (Photo: DHA)
August 06, 2014, Wednesday/ 00:53:26/ E. BARIÞ ALTINTAÞ / ISTANBUL
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan, the presidential candidate of
the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), who has been criticized
recently for emphasizing the religious and ethnic backgrounds of his
political rivals, has made potentially offensive remarks concerning
people of Georgian and Armenian descent.
In televised remarks on Tuesday, Erdoðan repeated previous statements
he had made about the backgrounds of Republican People’s Party (CHP)
leader Kemal Kýlýcdaroðlu and Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) leader
and presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtaþ. Erdoðan had earlier
said, “Kýlýcdaroðlu, you are an Alevi and I am Sunni. You should
state this openly. Demirtaþ, you are Zaza. Don’t be worried about
speaking out about this.” In response to a question posed during a
joint broadcast of Star TV and NTV regarding the negative reaction
these words have drawn, Erdoðan said: “Let all Turks in Turkey say
they are Turks and all Kurds say they are Kurds. What is wrong with
that? You wouldn’t believe the things they have said about me. They
have said I am Georgian. …they have said even uglier things —
they have called me Armenian, but I am Turkish.”
Reactions to Erdoðan’s words describing being Armenian as “uglier”
than being Georgian has found rapid and angry backlash.
CHP deputy Hurþit Guneþ filed a criminal complaint against Erdoðan
on Wednesday. Guneþ announced his plan to take legal action on
his Twitter account, saying Erdoðan had violated Article 10 of the
Constitution and Articles 122 and 216 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK)
against discrimination.
In remarks to show his reaction, Guneþ said: “Look at this disgrace.
Erdoðan said being Armenian is ugly on NTV. What a shame! Calling a
person Armenian, even if it is untrue, is not ‘ugly.’ Seeing this as
such is a low form of racism! Erdoðan doesn’t hear what he says. If
he becomes president, Turkey will not have only chosen a tyrant, but
at the same time a racist.” He also appealed to Turkey’s citizens
of Armenian descent not to be offended. “His mind isn’t in the
right place,” he said, adding: “The world should know this [is a]
racist person. He has defined the claim that he is Armenian as ‘ugly’
slander. His name is Tayyip Erdoðan.”
He also said Erdoðan’s mentality was what caused the death of
journalist Hrant Dink, who was assassinated by an ultra-nationalist
teenager in 2007.
Shortly after announcing his intention on Twitter to file a criminal
complaint, Hurþit Guneþ went to the Ankara Courthouse and did so.
A group of Armenian public figures protested Erdoðan’s remarks in
a statement they issued on Wednesday, urging Erdoðan to leave them
alone. Journalists Hayko Baðdat and Rober Koptaþ are among the group
of Armenians who claimed they always tried to silence racists among
themselves despite repressive policies of assimiliation. They said they
have never thought Turkishness was “bad”, but the way the authorities
imposed it on Armenians.
Meanwhile, the media was quick to point out that Erdoðan had identified
himself as Gurcu (Georgian) during a visit to Georgia on Aug. 11,
2004. Erdoðan was quoted in the press as having said: “I am also
Georgian. My family is [of Georgian origin].”
In comments about Erdoðan’s remarks, CHP Deputy Chairman Aytun Cýray
said the prime minister was exhibiting many dangerous, separatist,
discriminatory, provocative and polarizing attitudes. “Looking at
these as symptoms as a doctor, Erdoðan’s symptoms match the ‘Mad
Leader Disease’ described by Prof. James Toole.”
Hayko Baðdat, a Taraf columnist who is also of Armenian descent,
said Erdoðan’s words are racist and unacceptable and called on him
to apologize. Baðdat told Today’s Zaman: “As part of his election
strategy, the prime minister has been mentioning the ethnicity and
religious beliefs — or disbeliefs — of his rivals. He has said
Kýlýcdaroðlu is Alevi and that he should declare this so many times.
The people attending boo [at the word Alevi]. It is clearly stated
in the [United Nations’] Universal Declaration of Human Rights [UDHR]
that nobody can be forced to declare his or her identity. What are we
talking about then? What is wrong with Demirtaþ being Zaza but still
participating in Kurdish politics? What [Erdoðan does] is defined in
the civilized world as racism. He is speaking out against claims that
he is not a Turkish, that they are calling him Georgian, and saying
‘excuse my saying [the word] Armenian]. … The language he uses while
he complains is racist. Secondly, why are you [Erdoðan] dealing with
people’s backgrounds if you are complaining about it? Thirdly, life
has been become more difficult for all disadvantaged groups after
these declarations of the prime minister. The lives of Armenians on
the streets, in the neighborhoods, in the military and in universities
are becoming more difficult. Whatever the purpose is, it is not worth
it. I strongly condemn even thinking about [doing] this to gain one or
two more points in the election. He should immediately apologize. He
is opening up these segments to hatred. He doesn’t have the right
to grimace when mentioning the names of these social segments. The
prime minister is playing a very dangerous game at a time when both
our country and our region are like a tense fault line; [it is]
a game too dangerous to play just for an election. The consequences
will be very heavy for all of us.”
Laki Vingas, the elected representative of non-Muslim foundations at
the Council of the General Assembly of the Directorate General for
Foundations (VGM), tweeted: “The prime minister always says ‘excuse
me saying’ when he speaks of Greeks and Armenians. What is there
to excuse, weren’t we also made by the Creator?” His reference to
‘the Creator’ has been made by many others with regards to the Sufi
phrase “I love the creation because of the Creator,” which is used
often by Erdoðan.
In a column for the T24 website, journalist Hasan Cemal referred to
the prime minister’s statement as “racism at its purest.”
TV reporter Rustem Batum wondered if any pro-AK Party writers of
Armenian descent, such as Etyen Mahcupyan, would have anything to say
about Erdoðan’s remarks. He also tweeted: “I woke up an Armenian. I
was Laz at lunch. I was Greek in the afternoon and Kurdish at dinner.
I was still human when I went to bed,” in criticism of Erdoðan’s
perspective.
Erdoðan had made a similar statement on TV in 2011. Speaking to
NTV on June 11, 2011, Erdoðan said: “They have said we are Jewish,
Armenian and, excuse me saying this, but Rum [Greek].”
Alevi foundations condemn Erdoðan
In a related development, Alevi leaders on Wednesday said Alevi voters
will not support Erdoðan. The Anadolu Alevi Bektaþi Federation harshly
criticized Erdoðan -for discriminatory remarks he made about Alevi
citizens in a rally held in Ãstanbul’s Maltepe district on Aug. 3 as
part of his election campaign, stating that Erdoðan will not enjoy
support from Alevis due to his insulting and pejorative stance against
the Alevi community in Turkey.
Releasing a statement on Tuesday, the group’s executive branch
said that Erdoðan has proven himself a master when it comes to
discriminating against people.