Pre-election campaign in Turkey checks “blood purity” of politicians

Nothing good will come out of this pre-election campaign, as the Turkish population consider themselves pure Turks, Ottomans by origin. Any other origin is considered “unclean”.

This week the Turkish press publicized two news items worthy of close attention. The first was about the decision on Leo Suren Halepli, Turkish citizen of Armenian descent,to be employed by the Turkish government. Tthe second item referred to publication of the names of Armenian journalists killed in the years of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. It is unlikely that we would be interested in these posts, but for the gaining momentum campaign for parliamentary elections.

PanARMENIAN.Net - Any statement given by the main contenders for the majority should be treated in this context. As for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he, as always, does his usual, playing to the gallery on the brink of a scandal, accusing every possible and impossible one. Once more he swears fidelity to the Turkic Union, EU, Arabs and anyone, except the recent strategic partner and ally - Israel. But there is an explanation to everything: it is impossible to enlist the support of the Arab world, meanwhile maintaining good relations with Israel. Only Hosni Mubarak and to some extent, the League of Arab States (LAS) headed by Egyptian diplomat Amr Moussa have so far managed to do so. But alas, all is gone, and now Turkey is trying to play a major role in the Arab East, completely forgetting both about Saudi Arabia and yet quite competent Gaddafi. However, Turkey is well aware that the path to Arab states that have experienced a “revolution” lies through Egypt. Especially to that end did President Gul leave for Cairo. “We’ll share our mutual experiences and will describe how we implemented reforms in our country. The transition period must be open, transparent and satisfying; it must meet people’s expectations, and must involve people in this process,” Gul said. He also stressed in this issue the sincerity of Turkey, which forms part of the region. “We have gained a high reputation and our opinion counts. What happened is a people’s revolution. What needs to be done today is to act rationally and decisively. It is necessary to ensure democracy and supremacy of law,” the Turkish president said.

As always, words and actions of Turkish officials are diametrically opposite. Democracy is good, of course, but how to deal with dissatisfaction of the OSCE, regarding the harassment of journalists. The ability of Turkey to fog the truth is known for long, since the times of the Ottoman Empire. One may even say that nothing has changed for over 600 years, except the look of Turkey - from a gown with a hookah to a business suit from the best designers.

Within the same pre-election campaign there also began the process of “defaming” the leaders of major political parties. At least so Turkish politicians interpret the mention of their non-Turkic roots. It all started a couple of years ago, when MP Canan Aritman “accused” President Gul of the Armenian descent of his mother. Now Armenian roots are attributed to Kemal Kılıcdaroglu, leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), and the other day they started to talk about the Jewish origin of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Nothing good will come out of this campaign, as the Turkish population consider themselves pure Turks, who were Ottomans by origin. Any other origin is considered “unclean”. We will not mention that the Young Turks and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk were Donmeh (Jews who converted to Islam). Neither shall we mention about their Armenian grandmothers. But the most interesting point is that among the ancestors of Turkish politicians no Azerbaijanis are found. This fact alone means nothing, unless you take into account that they did not exist at the time of the Ottoman Empire, when Circassians, Albanians, Slavs, and anyone but the Caucasian Tatars were captured or taken into harem ... And the fact that the Turkish Premier is a Laz by nationality is not news.

However, it’s strange enough that a country avid for getting into Europe, should care about “purity of blood”. Europe once experienced this in 1930s. The good news is that everything that’s happening now in Turkey is merely a campaign.

Karine Ter-Sahakyan / PanARMENIAN News
 Most popular in the section
How collection of horned creatures turned into museum
New York’s first female crime boss
World’s largest boneyard
An Italian photojournalist’s journey through the pandemic
 At focus
Azerbaijan admits death of 192 soldiers in Karabakh offensive

Azerbaijan admits death of 192 soldiers in Karabakh offensive Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive.

 More articles in this section
Quarantine in metropoles Drone footage reveals deserted streets
Town without newborns and dead Four months without sun
Nine months in the Pacific Supporting women to overcome life changing events
---