April is upon us once again. This is a tense period which is used to exploit the Armenian issue as efforts are made to back Turkey into a corner. Whenever April comes along, every year, we start to wait, wondering which country will condemn the Armenian events of 1915.
T’IS THE SEASON TO EXPLOIT THE ARMENIAN ISSUE
I am not very sure whether Armenians are disturbed by the West using them to cover up their own sins.
But there are two things I am sure about: the administrators of Western imperialist countries are trying to suppress their internal problems through the Armenians. This is disgusting!
If Armenians think there is no such thing as bad publicity, they should know they lost from the start – that they lost in the name of humanity.
The second thing I am sure of is that Turkey, the single most successful civilizational experience, which reigned across three continents and carried out no mass slaughters, and on the contrary, had communities of different religions, cultures and ethnicities peacefully co-exist, being branded as a “genocider,” and the attempt to insult their children as “the children of genociders,” is shameful behavior in the name of humanity.
April is here again, and Armenian draft laws are once again on the agenda of some Western countries. This time we shockingly witnessed France and Italy make statements condemning Turkey.
We were shocked, because Italy and France are the world’s two lowly “lords of genocide.”
They are the last ones to talk.
The two countries chose to exploit the Armenian question and conceal their sins with thick veils, instead of apologizing to Turkey for marching to Turkey’s south during the division of the Ottoman Empire, and for the massacres, the barbarism they committed there.
Expecting humanity from imperialists, of course, is vain.
TURKEY BEING SEIGED IN THE EAST MEDITERRANEAN FROM LAND, SEA
The Armenian question is not the only issue Turkey is dealing with.
Look, the East Mediterranean is heating up, are you aware?
Heating up is putting it lightly, it has long since started to boil.
The U.K. is carrying out a military buildup in Cyprus.
Were we aware?
Italy is landing an F-35 in Crete.
Did we hear about it?
That is not all.
The U.S., Italy, France, Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Greece conducted an interesting military drill in the East Mediterranean that lasted for almost two weeks.
Did we hear about it?
Exploitation of the Armenian issue is not a surprise. Such incidents were expected. We are ready for this despite everything.
However, the military buildup of the British in Cyprus is not a matter we can easily gloss over. Evil countries conducting a thought-provoking military drill in the East Mediterranean at an extremely critical time can never be a matter that is overlooked. Imperialists are forming a multilayered alliance against Turkey in our south.
Forming an Arab NATO with Egypt, Israel and the Saudis at its center, and openly letting it slide as an effort to build an Arab front against Turkey can never be considered as a matter to be disregarded.
Turkey, which was sieged from Syria yesterday, is still paying heavily for this.
Thanks to the Euphrates Shield operation, we ruined their plans to strike Turkey and make it kneel.
However, we somehow took control over the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) corridor threat that was formed upon the invasion and division of Syria, but the danger still persists.
It seems like Turkey is going to have a lot of trouble in this matter.
Right at such a period, a HDP deputy, a deputy named Yahya Tezelli, co-chair of the HDP, having the audacity to say that the southeast are the promised lands of Anatolia, and as a matter of fact, saying that we dried out these lands, that these lands will be rescued as promised, cannot be accepted.
I say that having the slavery mindset is trouble, and remind that such statements need to be questioned before the law.
In short: After Syria, this time Turkey is being sieged from a vaster area, from the East Mediterranean.
Turkey seems to have introverted after the elections. At a time when it is being sieged strategically from both land and sea, horizontally and vertically, Turkey’s introversion is dangerous.
I call upon authorities to be sensitive, ready and alert against this siege from the East Mediterranean, which is approaching step by step, and is a threat to our country’s security and future.
https://www.yenisafak.com/en/columns/yusufkaplan/attention-after-syria-turkey-is-being-sieged-in-the-mediterranean-from-land-and-sea-2047015
Italy painting 1915 events as ‘genocide’ was purely political, says Turkish parliament speaker
ANTALYA, Turkey
Italy’s parliament abused history and the law to paint the events of 1915 as a “genocide,” Turkey’s parliament speaker said on Friday.
“The Italian House of Representatives has displaced international courts and tried to pass judgement on a specific crime clearly defined in international law such as genocide, and abused history and the law,” Mustafa Sentop said in the opening speech of a NATO meeting in Antalya, on the Turkish Mediterranean.
Sentop also said France’s decision to declare April 24 a day commemorating the events of 1915 was politically motivated, and added: “This initiative, which is far from state seriousness, serves no purpose other than the politicization of history with an unsubstantiated legal basis.”
“The French president’s declaration also restricts the freedom of _expression_ of its citizens by ignoring the European Court of Human Rights and the case law of the French Constitutional Court,” Sentop added.
“France should inform public about Algeria’s colonial era, the Rwanda massacre in which 800,000 people were killed in 100 days, and it should not manipulate the history of other countries for political reasons.”
During their struggle for independence from French colonial rule, some 1.5 million Algerians were martyred, while hundreds of thousands more were injured, went missing, or were forced from their homes.
Algeria has repeatedly asked France to acknowledge its colonial-era crimes.
France had supported Rwanda’s Hutu-led government, including arms and military training, which carried out a genocide against the country’s ethnic Tutsis. It also established a safe zone which allowed many possible war criminals to escape.
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 the incidents as “genocide” but describes the 1915 events 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 plus international experts to tackle the issue.
By now, it is not safe to discuss the problems of the LGBT community, Armenian Helsinki Organisation head Nina Karapetyan has said. After the velvet revolution, the taboo on discussing the LGBT topic is being gradually lifted in the country, head of the Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Artur Sakunts thinks. The protection of human rights should be ensured in accordance with the habits, culture, and traditions of society, head of the Against Violation of Law organisation Larisa Alaverdyan says.
The Kavkazsky Uzel [website] has reported that transgender Lilit Martirosyan, who is a representative of the Right Side public organisation, made a speech at the 6 April hearing on human rights in the Armenian Parliament. The fact caused mixed reaction among social network users. On 8 April, a protest rally was held against the transgender’s speech outside the Armenian Parliament. [In the ILGA-Europe ratings in 2017, Armenia came 47th, being recognised as one of the most homophobic countries in Europe).
This was the first time a transgender and representative of the LGBT community in general took floor in the Armenian Parliament, Armenian Helsinki Association Head Nina Karapetyan told Kavkazsky Uzel.
As she put it, the change of power in the country had allowed representatives of the LGBT community to openly discuss their problems.
“Had this happened at the meeting of the Human Rights Committee of the previous parliament, LGBT representatives would have run a serious risk having come to a meeting… This time, there was no room for MPs, as the hall was mainly full of civil sector representatives,” Karapetyan said.
However, she doubts that the new authorities are ready to lift the taboo from the LGBT topic.
“Society is not ready to adequately perceive the situation with LGBTs. At today’s (8 April) meeting between those opposed to LGBT and Deputy Speaker Alen Simonyan, you got the impression that the deputy speaker was trying to cut corners. And it became clear that the new authorities were not ready to discuss the topic,” she said.
However, as she put it, in different segments of society, they are ready to discuss the LGBT topic, albeit not openly.
“Very many people even sympathise with them. However, they are not ready for discussions. They fear aggression on the part of those opposed to LGBTs. By now, it is not safe to discuss this,” she emphasised.
“Prior to navigating a draft through parliament, we need to prepare society. Otherwise, there might be dire consequences for LGBT representatives proper,” Karapetyan explained.
She also emphasised that the statistics of the crimes committed against the LGBT community was not fully reflected, as the police did not always file their complaints about crime.
“The police cannot have official statistical data. What mattered most in the transgender’s speech was the data about violence [283 cases of violence against LGBTs registered before 2018). However, this went unnoticed against the background of the scandal,” Karapetyan said.
Taboo on PGBT problems gradually lifted under new authorities
The head of the Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly and right activist Artur Sakunts finds it difficult to assess the statistics voiced by the transgender.
“This is nevertheless closed society. And they do not only fear to discuss their problems, but they also fear to emerge before society. And this was the first time a transgender had spoken about LGBT problems from the rostrum of parliament,” he told Kavkazsky Uzel.
In his opinion, Armenian society is more tolerant than they try to present it.
“Under the new authorities, the LGBT problem has become a point of discussion. The issue is related to the problem of recognisability and awareness. The taboo is gradually being lifted. The quality of power has changed in term of rights protection. A normal process has begun and in it, there remain no tabooed topics,” Sakunts said.
Introduction of human rights blueprint should consolidate society
The implementation of the human rights blueprint should take place in accordance with habits, culture and historic traditions, so as not to damage the blueprint proper, head of the Against Violation of Law organisation and first Armenian Ombudsman Larisa Alaverdyan told Kavkazsky Uzel.
In her opinion, the introduction of the human rights conception should consolidate society, rather than divide it.
In parliament proper, they forgot the problem during the (9 April) meeting, switching to interpersonal relations with [MP] Naira Zohrabyan [of the Prosperous Armenia party faction, whose commission had approved the list of invitations to public organisations, but who denied sending one to the Right Side NGO]. The problem proper was shot out. An approach of the kind is inefficient, as it might damage the general concept of human rights,” Alaverdyan emphasised.
She said that Armenian society was a traditional society and that this was not a sign of being underdeveloped.
“A return to non-traditional sexual relations should not be considered as progress. This is a return to pre-Christian times… In Armenia, an overwhelming majority identifies themselves with traditional values, which are generally called national,” Alaverdyan emphasised.
However, she is sure that society should struggle against violence, irrespective of who the victim is.
“However, for some reason, emphasis is placed on sexual preferences… Struggle against violence should be more radical, without dividing according to features,” Alaverdyan concluded.
By now, Kavkazsky Uzel does not have Lilit Martirosyan’s comments. After the scandal, which was raised over her speech from the parliament rostrum, the transgender blocked her telephone, social network account, and email. The website of the Right Side organisation, which she is the head of, is also blocked.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA), joined Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), along with 13 of their colleagues, on Tuesday in introducing a Senate resolution to ensure the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning the Armenian Genocide. Carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, the Armenian Genocide resulted in the forced deportation of nearly 2 million Armenians, of whom 1.5 million were killed.
“We must always speak uncomfortable truths about the past, lest we repeat it,” said Senator Harris. “In recognizing the Armenian Genocide, one of humanity’s darkest chapters, we honor those who list their lives to hate and reaffirm our commitment to defending human rights wherever they are threatened.”
Joining Harris, Menendez and Cruz in introducing the Resolution were Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Ed Markey (D-MA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jack Reed (D-RI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Cory Gardner (R-CO), and Tom Udall (D-NM).
A copy of the resolution can be found here. https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/armenia%20genocide%20res.pdf