Turkish tolerance actually a disguise for ottomanism expansion

PanARMENIAN.Net - Most likely, this is one of the reasons why Turkey is not wanted into the European family. Nobody can guarantee that the Turkish mentality can be changed to such an extent that it can be considered at least a semi-European country. Turkish expansion into Europe makes the Christian world with more awareness treat the Muslims and Islam in general. And all this despite the fact that if we believe the world media, the main Islamic fundamentalist groups are concentrated in Iran and in Arab countries. In fact, all this is far from the truth. Islamic fundamentalism has deeper roots, and it is too naive to explain it only through "Jihad".

Turkish Islamism is much more dangerous, because on the surface there is almost nothing but slogans about the unity of the Turkic world, and the like. But the constant visits of the President and the Prime Minister of Turkey to the Islamic world suggest that Turkey uses all the available and unavailable methods to consolidate its position in the East. Some countries succeed in it, some do not, but the overall tendency is such, or, at least it is perceived as such by Armenia.

Kurds and Armenians hamper ottomanism, like 100 years ago. However, you cannot destroy the Kurds by the hands of Armenians. Moreover, years ago it even looked the opposite. And so now Ankara has become more tolerant towards the Armenians, but it is not because of a great love. It is simply a political necessity. Turkey knows that without at least some changes to the format of the Armenian-Turkish relations, it would be difficult to dictate any terms, for example, to the United States.

Against this background, quite predictable looks also yesterday's police operation against the Kurdish leaders and today's statement by one of the militants, Duran Kalkan. Let us recall that in a large-scale operation on Dec. 24 the Turkish police arrested several dozens of people, including members of the recently disbanded pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DNP) and several mayors of Kurdish cities. Raids were conducted in 11 cities, including the main Kurdish city of Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey. The aim of the operation was to break the urban ties outlawed by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which leads an armed struggle for autonomy against the central authorities.

Meanwhile, according to one of the PKK militants Duran Kalkan, the unsolved "Kurdish question" in Turkey may eventually lead to a large-scale armed conflict within the country. As reported by the Turkish newspaper Milliyet, these words resonate with the statement of the leader of the Turkish far-right Nationalist Movement Party Devlet Bahceli, who called ethnic riots "a dress rehearsal for a rebellion."

In an interview to German reporters the executive member of PKK said that recent riots were halted at the request of former party leader Abdullah Ocalan, imprisoned in one of Turkish prisons. "He is opposed to a military solution to the problems of the Kurds of Turkey and calls for a peaceful and democratic ways to resolve the existing contradictions. Any tension may cause an explosion," considers Kalkan.