TURKISH MP ACCUSES AUTHORITIES OF DISTORTING HISTORY

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Oct 22 2009
Armenia

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s speech at the General
Council of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on October 21 was
followed by a speech delivered by Selahattin DemirtaÅ~_, member of
the opposition Democratic Society Party (Turkish: Demokratik Toplum
Partisi — DTP). He accused the Turkish authorities of distorting
history and of not writing about the Armenian massacres in history
textbooks, Turkish mass media reported.

Selahattin DemirtaÅ~_, who is head of the DTP faction in the
Turkish Parliament, voiced his support for the Armenian-Turkish
protocols. He pointed out, however, that the "100-year-old problem"
in the Turkish-Armenian relations still remains unsolved and needs
opener discussions.

To prove their sincerity, the Turkish authorities have to write
about the Armenian massacres in their history textbooks. The
textbooks exaggerate the attacks by Armenians, but do not contain
any information on the massacres of Armenians committed by Turks. The
Turkish authorities are not taking any steps to put an end to the hate
for Armenians in the country. A glaring example is the passivity in
investigating the Hrant Dink murder case. The expression "a son of
Armenian" is perceived as an insult in Turkey even now. First of all,
history textbooks must "speak in a language of peace" not of hatred,
DemirtaÅ~_ said. He reminded the attendees that, about a year ago,
Canan Arıtman, member of the Republican People’s Party (RPP),
while criticizing Turkish President Abdulah Gul, said his mother had
Armenian roots.

"In his turn, President Gul was troubled by the talks about his
mother’s Armenian descent. The government must prevent any racist
claims concerning Armenian identity – and not only concerning
Armenians, but all the ethnic groups," DemirtaÅ~_ said. He pointed
out that the authorities prohibited the burial of the well-known
singer Aram Tigran in Diyarbakir only because he was an Armenian.

An interesting situation developed while parliamentarians were
speaking. When a member of the Nationalist Movement Party (Turkish:
Milliyetci Hareket Partisi, MHP) approached the platform, the Justice
and Development Party faction left the hall and vice versa. MHP
Chairman Devlet Bahceli, however, stayed during the whole course of
the sitting.