CONFESSION OF A HISTORY OF ANTI-SEMITISM
Theodore G. Karakostas TKarakosta@aol.com

Greek News
me=News&file=article&sid=9891
Feb 23 2009
New York

The article by Zeyno Baran and Onur Sazak in the Weekly Standard
should be properly read as a confession as it details the outburst
of anti-Semitism in Turkey over the past several years, although it
is intended to mask the real face of Turkey. Anti-Semitism in fact
has a history in Turkey as can be seen by Rifat N. Bali in his book,
"The Varlik Vergisi Affair" which documents the hideous treatment
of the Jewish, Greek, and Armenian communities in Turkey during
the Second World War. Mr. Bali not only reproduces anti- Semetic
illustrations and posters inside the book which resemble propaganda
posters within the Third Reich, but reprdoced additional evidence
affirming the racist nature of the Kemalist State.

Among the documents reprinted by Mr. Bali is a letter sent to the
State Department by the American Jewish Committee in 1947 which
strongly protested the treatment not only of Jews, but mistreatment of
Greeks and Armenians as well. The effort by Ms. Baran and Mr. Sazak
to whitewash Turkey’s record is bound to fail considering that the
authoritarian and racist nature of the Kemalist State is being exposed.

The Republic of Turkey was founded over the corpses of Armenian,
Greek, and Assyrian Christians who were systematically slaughtered
under the direction of Mustafa Kemal Pasha and his associates upon
their "victory" in Asia Minor.

The present Turkish government is a State sponsor of terrorism, a fact
that can be affirmed for official support given to groups such as
the now defunct "Hizbullah", who were responsible for the slaughter
of sixty three Kurds who were discovered in a mass grave in 2000. In
addition, the Turkish security forces have supported the infamous Grey
Wolves who in 1996 with the active support of then Foreign Minister
Tansu Ciller slaughtered several Greek Cypriot demonstrators. Since
1993, there have been six attempts to assassinate his holiness Orthodox
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. In July 2007, Turkish Army officers
were arrested for conspiring to murder the Ecumenical Pariarch and
the Patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Constantinople.

The Turkish treatment of non-Muslim and non-Turkish populations is
appalling, and the American public is being done a disservice through
the distortions and propaganda emanating from Turkish apologists over
several decades. Anti-Semitism in Turkey is despicable and should
be condemned by all decent people. In addition, the civilized world
should also recognize the injustices that have been perpetrated against
the Greek Orthodox, Armenian, Assyrian, and Kurdish populations in
Turkey. Sanctions long ago should have been imposed on Turkey over
the ethnic cleansing perpetrated against its Christian populations,
and over the external aggression directed against the peaceful and
democratic Republic of Cyprus.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress