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Armenia, Israel and Wild Turkey
Armenia, Israel and Wild Turkey
A fact which is now seriously questioned by Turkish scholars. See for instance Ayse Hr in Taraf, December 2007, Trk Schindleri Efsaneleri (in Turkish, in The Turkish Schindlers Myth). Another strong opposite signal never . mentioned by Turkeys communication policy is the strong anti Semitic mood of its population. Thus, Mein Kampf is anti-Semitic known to have been a bestseller for years. It is sold in cheap paperback editions.
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It is a remarkable evidence of continuity that the deportees were sent to Akale (Armenian plateau), i.e. exactly where the Armenian intellectuals had been sent and killed at the beginning of the Armenian Genocide 27 years earlier.
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In December 2010, Armenian Americans filed a suit against two Turkish banks and the Republic of Turkey for the alleged seizure of their ancestors properties, located on the present US military base of Incirlik. After having been noticed twice, including through the US Department of State Turkey and the banks refused the service of the lawsuit State, (06/20/2011). They were thus given granted two months by the Court to answer the complaint, but they did not, .
Turkish government spread around that it will return a minor fraction of these assets5 to its religious minorities, a decision that was critically assessed by the supposed heirs of this restitution6. Regarding Israel, the visible beginning of the end of the strategic partnership may be dated back to the famous Davos summit, in January 2009, when Recep Erdogan publicly insulted Shimon Peres, calling him a child-murderer in reference to the Palestinian conflict. The situation clearly aggravated in May 2010 when Israel blocked the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship, allegedly sent to deliver some humanitarian aid to the Gaza strip but actually operated by Turkish Islamists and maybe by their secret services too. In this operation, Israeli forces injudiciously killed nine Turkish citizens, triggering Turkeys hysteria. Since then, the Turkish triumvirate Gl, Erdogan, Davutoglu endlessly demands apologies from Israel, something that Tel-Aviv cannot and will not accept. These last days, the UN report on the Mavi Marmara incident just strengthened Turkeys intransigence and Ankara eventually expelled the Israeli ambassador and cut any political, military or commercial relations with the Jewish State. Some Israeli passengers transiting by Istanbul were even briefly retained and Turkey even alluded to a possible military intervention when it mentioned that its future humanitarian ships toward Gaza would be escorted by some military vessels.
risking to be ruled against it in absentia. The Court granted them an extension to September 19 to prepare for court proceedings and they finally replied these last days.
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Only those stolen after 1936, i.e. during the Varlk Vergisi period, are encompassed by this measure. The gigantic spoliation during the Genocide and before is of course not addressed by this decision.
Aram I, the Armenian Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia issued a critical open letter to Erdogan. Check Armenian Weekly. For a more detailed analysis, check Constitutional Court Limits Protocols Damage to Armenian National Interests, Harut Sassounian, Asbarez, January 2010.
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http://eurotopie.leylekian.eu
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The Scientific Wealth of Nations Armenia confirms possession of S-300 missiles, Trdefence.com, December 2010.
An opinion which is altered neither by the notable shot down of an Azeri drone by the Armenian forces in Artsakh, th neither by the marginal display of first-ever Armenia-made drones during the military parade that came with the 20 anniversary of independence. A privilege which is variously felt by its recipients. According to cable ANKARA 00000087 005 OF 006 disclosed by Wikileaks, Ambassador Jeffrey noted that Finally, not all of the ex-Ottomans look with fondness on their past under the Pashas, or yearn for Turkey's return. For a quite comprehensive analysis of the first cables series disclosed by Wikileaks on Turkey, read (in French) les fuites amricaines mouillent la Turquie, Eurotopie, January 2011.
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successfully imagined mediating Israel and the Palestinian authority, Israel and Syria, Armenia and Azerbaijan or even Lybia and the West. However, Islamism is another deep trend of the new Turkish regime when compared to the old Kemalist elite. In this regard, since 2002, the AKP government has progressively radicalized its positions. If it tried to put forward the misleading wording of moderate Islamism at the beginning, it increasingly proved to be more and more radical, a tendency that was fostered both by its failure to access to the EU and by the intrinsic social evolution of Turkeys population, two processes that fed each other. Thus the Davos episode, the Mavi Marmara operation, the strengthening of its relation with the Hamas or, more globally, Israeli-bashing are policies implemented by Erdogan both to change Turkeys image in the predominantlyMuslim Arabic world and to please its home constituency. In this respect, the recent advocacy by Mahmud Abbas for the recognition of the Palestinian State by the UN is one of the landmarks targeted by this policy and actually, Erdogan is seen as a heroic and charismatic leader by a large fraction of the Arabic peoples. Clearly, both visions stem from the usual strong Turkish nationalism, as was the case for Kemalism, and they are both supported by Turkeys impressive economic record however fragile the ground of this economic growth may be12. Nevertheless, Erdogans and Davutoglus Ottoman daydreams for Turkey are probably quite different: the former sometime nicknamed the Caliph of Istanbul or the Padishah probably imagines a kind of Islamic empire centered on and ruled by Turkey whereas the latter rather thinks of Turkey as a mini-superpower with its feudal influence zone13.
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The fundamentals of Turkeys economy are variously appraised. See for instance Instant obsolescence of the Turkish model, Asia Times, August 2011. Not to speak about the difference of personality. Read les fuites amricaines mouillent la Turquie, Eurotopie, January 2011.
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A position than has just been restated by Turkey despite the recent cold with Iran. Read Erdogan Reiterates TurkeyIran Cooperation in War on Terrorism, Fars News Agency, 09/27/2011.
http://eurotopie.leylekian.eu
Erdogans recent speech in Cairo was quite ambiguous as, on the one hand, he implicitly reiterated his threats against Israel and his Islamist orientation, mentioning when we look at the region, we will find that Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt and Turkey are the most important countries. For this reason, there has to be some sort of cooperation among these nations; but on the other hand, he recommended a secular constitution for Egypt, saying do not fear secularism because it does not mean being an enemy of religion. I hope the new regime in Egypt will be secular. I hope that after these remarks of mine the way the Egyptian people look at secularism will change. Those who admire Erdogan will probably term this borderline posture as clever whereas the others will find it confusing. Whatever its intent, the actual outcome of this diplomacy is the increased mistrust with which various players from the US to the Hamas, from Iran to the EU and Russia are now considering Turkey. The mere fact that Davutoglu had recently to hammer home that the no problem with neighbors policy is successful demonstrates how dubious this affirmation is15.
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Turkey's Davutolu says zero problems foreign policy successful, Todays Zaman, 09/18/2011. Armed Forces Journal. The maps published in this article are now available on Wikipedia.