ARMENIANS CRITICIZED GONUL WITH A LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER ERDOGAN

ArmInfo
2008-11-13 16:29:00

ArmInfo. A group of more than Turkish-Armenians, in an open letter
to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have voiced their grievances
about remarks from Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul that defended the
deportation of Greeks and Armenians from Anatolia at the beginning
of the last century, describing his comments as "praising ethnic
cleansing and crime." Today’s Zaman reports Gonul, in a speech at
the Turkish Embassy in Brussels on the occasion of the anniversary
of the death of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk on Nov. 10, claimed that if
Greeks and Armenians were still living in the country, Turkey would
not be the same nation-state it is today. He also hinted that Armenia
is supporting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

"If there were Greeks in the Aegean and Armenians in most places in
Turkey today, would it be the same nation-state? I don’t know with
which words I can explain the importance of the population exchange,
but if you look at the former state of affairs, its importance will
become very clear," Gonul said. The group, in their open letter
published on a Web site, stated that Gonul’s remarks contradict the
Constitution, which says that anyone bound to the Turkish Republic
by the citizenship is called a Turk.

"It is very difficult to understand, if we are talking about a
Turkish nation, why the Armenians and Greeks [non-Muslims] cannot
be a part of this nation, when Kurds, Arabs and Albanians [Muslims]
can be? To what extent does this mentality, which underlines that
religious unity is required in order to be a nation, fit in with the
contemporary state of law?" the letter asked. The letter suggested
that the changes made by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK
Party) toward democratization were considered by intellectuals to be
"positive," but that the rivals of the AK Party claimed these changes
are just a disingenuous effort to get the financial support of the
European Union. "The reaction of the AK party to Gonul’s scandalous
remarks will be a very good indicator of the sincerity of the policies
[of AK Party]," the letter claimed.