Inquiry launched into anti-Armenian slogans in Turkey

PanARMENIAN.Net - As authorities in Istanbul rolled into action to determine the identities of the protesters who carried provocative banners at a recently rally to commemorate what Azeris call a “Khojalu massacre” of 1992, the Turkish–Armenian weekly Agos also condemned the incident, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

“Banners, words and behavior [employed] by provocative groups that cast a shadow over the goal and spirit of the rally cannot be approved,” a statement from the Interior Ministry said late Feb. 29, amid criticism over the weekend rally that featured anti-Armenian slogans and chants.

Weekly Agos featured a written statement on its March 1 front cover condemning the incident and calling for peace and life instead of revenge and blood.

“Let us champion not fatality but vitality. Vitality is life and the right of all of us. The day when we stand solemn on that square and share in [each other’s] pain is the day when we will be able to sustain each others’ livelihoods. We hereby lay claim to that day, and we can only create that day in unison. Let us find vitality in each other,” said the headline story.

“The interpretation of history cannot change as long as the Armenian identity is associated with bastardliness, and if the march of a group that spoke in praise of Hrant Dink’s murderers to the offices of the weekly Agos could only be intercepted at the last moment, as happened on Sunday,” the statement went on.

“Moreover, those who aspire to pen a different future will see their pens broken, as you cannot write any words over blood,” added the statement.

The demonstration was heavy with ultra-nationalist sentiment, with some groups vowing “revenge” on Armenians. “You are all Armenians, you are all bastards,” one banner read, referring to the popular slogan: “We are all Hrant. We are all Armenians,” that has often been used by those protesting after the murder of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.