WHILE EVERYONE WAS BUSY WATCHING ELECTIONS IN AMERICA AND ARMENIA …
By Harut Sassounian
AZG Armenian Daily
22/02/2008
International
In recent weeks, while Armenian-Americans were preoccupied with
Presidential elections in America and Armenia, there were other
interesting developments that may not have attracted public
attention. Here are my brief observations on some of them:
– Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Robert
Gates will be visiting Turkey next month, accompanied by several
high-ranking military and civilian officials. They were preceded by
General James E. Cartwright, Vice Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff;
Frank C. Urbancic, Jr., Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and
Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism; and Attorney General Michael
Mukasey who rushed to Ankara last week. It looks like Cheney and
the others may be taking advantage of their last year in office to
travel overseas at taxpayers’ expense; or are they plotting another
dangerous Middle East adventure?
– Prof. Israel W. Charny, Executive Director of the Institute on the
Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem, has written a thought-provoking
analysis titled: "The Question of a Possible Relationship Between
Mental Disturbance and Denials of Known Genocides such as the Holocaust
and Armenian Genocide." Dr. Charny, a practicing clinical psychologist,
wonders whether "some deniers of the Holocaust or other genocides
are, in fact, quite crazy, or in more polite scientific parlance,
mentally ill. For on the surface of it, the basic claim that a major
historical event of genocide — which the whole world knows took
place — never took place, is madness." Prof. Charny also writes:
"There may very well be in a given denier a bona fide psychiatric
paranoid personality disorder or even a worse psychotic paranoid
condition." Although Charny’s diagnosis does not come as a surprise
to Armenians, it is good to get the views of a mental health expert
on this sordid subject.
– The Turkish government, under great pressure from European Union
officials, shortly will submit to Parliament an amended version of
the infamous Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code on "Insulting
Turkishness." This law has been used to prosecute all those who
dare to utter the words "Armenian Genocide," including Hrant Dink,
Orhan Pamuk and Elif Shafak. The revised version of this preposterous
law will still prosecute all those who insult the Turkish people,
the Turkish Republic, the State, the Parliament, the courts, the
military and the police. Those who violate the "amended" law could
receive a prison sentence of up to 24 months. It is hard to imagine
that this draconian law would make Turkey worthy of joining the ranks
of civilized European countries.
– Not satisfied with the ridiculous claim that "dark-skinned" Americans
are descendants of Turkish sailors who were shipwrecked on the US East
Coast centuries ago, some Turks are now alleging that they are blood
relatives of Native Americans (American Indians), according to a report
by Elif Ozmenek in the Turkish Daily News. The article also claims
that there are similarities between the Turkish and Native American
languages. Some Turks attending a recent conference in New York
organized by "the Istanbul University Alumni Association of the USA"
were asking if Turks could now get visas to come to the United States,
at the invitation of their newly-found American Indian relatives! The
true agenda of this bizarre conference was revealed by Ali Cinar,
President of the Alumni Association, when he solemnly declared: "In the
U.S. Senate there are 15 (sic) Native American Senators. Therefore,
I see this conference also as an important element in strengthening
the Turkish lobby and increasing its supporters in the U.S. Senate."
– Ali H. Aslan, the well-known Turkish commentator for "Today’s Zaman"
newspaper, echoed my earlier column titled: "Erdogan’s Insulting
Words about Obama May Haunt Turkey after the Elections." In his Feb. 8
article, Mr. Aslan wrote: "Bad news for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan. Given the results of the ‘Super Tuesday’ primaries in the
US, Barack Obama, whom Erdogan lashed out at after he promised to
acknowledge the so-called ‘Armenian genocide,’ has never been so close
to winning the Democratic Party’s nomination for the 2008 presidential
elections." Should Sen. Obama win in November, Armenian-Americans may
wish to remind him of the Turkish Prime Minister’s insulting words,
so that he could deal with Turkey appropriately.
– Finally, the newly-formed "U.S. Azeris Network" announced that its
"400,000 members" would be supporting Republican Presidential candidate
John McCain. Azerbaijani-Americans, like all Americans, have the right
to support the candidate of their choice. The only problem is that
there may not be more than a couple thousand Azerbaijanis who are
U.S. citizens and registered to vote. Sen. McCain better not count
on a handful of Azerbaijanis to secure his political future.