Apt Reply to Turkish Propaganda Presumption

Following the flight of Syrian refugees to Turkey recently, the Turkish daily "Sabah", published an article where Arabs, Armenians, Kurds and Circassians were offered a sanctuary by the Turkish government. Below is an Arabic-language newspaper’s reply to the "Sabah" article. The translation into English was done by a Keghart.com reader.–Editor

20 June 2011

Addendum, 20 June 2011

Mr. Hrach Kalsahakian informs, "the article was posted in Arabic language Armenian (not Arabic) website called Khabararmani.com. The writer of the article is an Armenian". Thank you for this correction. Please see Mr. Kalsahakian’s comment below and the response.–Editor

Try not to laugh as you read the following news:
Turkey expresses concern for the safety and security of the Armenians in Syria.

A news report in the Turkish newspaper “Sabah” about the current situation in Syria, and the popular protests there, has created a great debate among some circles. This Turkish newspaper had earlier accused President al-Assad of not complying with the popular demand for reform. It seems here that those who run the newspaper are unaware of the realities of the situation in Syria. President al-Assad has in fact already started implementing a vast majority of those reforms. He has done so since day one of those rather small protests that the Turkish “Sabah” describes as “popular mass demonstrations.”
 

Following the flight of Syrian refugees to Turkey recently, the Turkish daily "Sabah", published an article where Arabs, Armenians, Kurds and Circassians were offered a sanctuary by the Turkish government. Below is an Arabic-language newspaper’s reply to the "Sabah" article. The translation into English was done by a Keghart.com reader.–Editor

20 June 2011

Addendum, 20 June 2011

Mr. Hrach Kalsahakian informs, "the article was posted in Arabic language Armenian (not Arabic) website called Khabararmani.com. The writer of the article is an Armenian". Thank you for this correction. Please see Mr. Kalsahakian’s comment below and the response.–Editor

Try not to laugh as you read the following news:
Turkey expresses concern for the safety and security of the Armenians in Syria.

A news report in the Turkish newspaper “Sabah” about the current situation in Syria, and the popular protests there, has created a great debate among some circles. This Turkish newspaper had earlier accused President al-Assad of not complying with the popular demand for reform. It seems here that those who run the newspaper are unaware of the realities of the situation in Syria. President al-Assad has in fact already started implementing a vast majority of those reforms. He has done so since day one of those rather small protests that the Turkish “Sabah” describes as “popular mass demonstrations.”
 

The newspaper goes beyond talk of the strained relations between Ankara and President el-Assad, by expressing its concern over the safety of “some Syrian citizens.” It is important here to ponder the phrase, “some Syrian citizens.” Ankara, according to the paper, is showing its uneasiness and concern for the safety of the Syrian citizens of Armenian, Kurdish, and some of Kavkazi descent. These groups, again according to the newspaper, constitute about 7% of the population of Syria. One would discern here that Turkey cares more about the safety of the 7% group than it cares about the remaining 93%. What makes one laugh at this news is the concern shown by the Turkish leadership for the safety of the Armenians in Syria. Has this leadership forgotten, or maybe chose to forget, that it was the Syrians who had rescued thousands of those Armenians who were able to get to Deir el- Zor desert in 1915 after they were subjected, at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, to the first ethnic cleansing operation of the 20th century?

It seems that both the newspaper and the Turkish administration are unaware that Syria had opened its doors for thousands of Armenians and granted them Syrian citizenship that most Armenians are as proud of as they are of their Armenian heritage. This noble expression of good will by Syria toward the Armenians is a far cry from the Turkish behavior towards them. It seems that the newspaper has forgotten that Mr. Erdogan, as one of the Turkish leaders who had talked to the paper expressing his uneasiness regarding the Armenian citizens of Syria, was the very same person who threatened almost a year ago, to expel 40 thousand Armenians from Turkey, not because of an action taken by the Armenians themselves but because of the continuous efforts of the republic of Armenia to seek international recognition of the Armenian Genocide that is extremely annoying to Turkey. Besides, the Armenians in Turkey did not arrive there about hundred years ago as is the case with the Syrian Armenians, but were natives of that land for thousands of years.

In Turkey Erdogan threatens to expel 40 thousand Armenians while in Syria President Bashar el-Assad accompanied by his wife pays a surprise visit to an Armenian orphanage in the city of Aleppo. This is not the first visit nor is it going to be the last. It shows the great attention that the Syrian leadership devotes to its Armenian community.

Turkey’s Erdogan says: “If we are compelled we have the right to expel the Armenians from our country.”

Syria’s Assad says:” The Armenians are an indivisible element of the fabric of our Syrian Society.”

Turkey’s Endogen closes his country’s common borders with Armenia in an effort to economically stifle that country.

Syria’s Assad pays a visit to Armenia carrying with him a project connecting the five seas intended to boost the economies of all countries of the region.

(In these last four sentences the writer sarcastically makes fun of Erdogan’s name stressing the suffix “Erd” which means monkey in Arabic. At the same time he dispenses with the definite article “el” from el-Assad’s name to emphasize the “Lion” aspect of his name)

YES….. Laugh my dear visitor at the news that because of the current situation Turkey wants to be the protector of the Armenians in Syria!!!

“Sabah” newspaper carried the news with pride. It did not however stop for a moment to ask itself. Why are there 100 thousand Armenians in Syria and where did they come from? And why did they choose Syria? Those numbers were much larger before the spread of many of them all over the civilized world. It seems that they are unaware that those Syrians of Armenian descent are themselves the grandchildren of those who survived the ethnic cleansing that the Armenian people were subjected to in Turkey early in the last century at the hands of those Ottoman Turks whose grandchildren are worried now at the safety and security of the Armenians in Syria..

Maybe “Sabah” as well as all its sister newspapers were not present during those events. Or maybe it was present but was ashamed to print the many communiqués of the day symbolized by one that it is impossible for the Armenians to forget, which is:

“The only solution to the Armenian question is to get rid of the Armenians themselves.”

We would have wished that “ Sabah” newspaper that gave credence to, and carried with pride and daring the story of Turkish concerns for the safety of the Armenians in Syria would have also had the daring to carry the news of the death of a Turkish youth of Armenian descent (named Sevak) whose blood has not dried yet. He was serving in the Turkish army just like any other Turkish citizen. He was killed last April 24th not because he was carrying weapons on the battlefield against enemies of Turkey, but because he was frank to express his opinion that the Armenians were the victims of Genocide 100 years ago.

My dear reader, this report becomes even more laughable as we read what the independent reporter Robert Fisk wrote lately in an article in “The Independent” about Turkish activities regarding the crisis in Syria:
 

“Turkish generals have prepared an operation that could send several battalions of Turkish Troops into Syria itself to carve out a “safe area” for Syrian refugees…. The Turks are prepared to advance beyond the Syrian border town of Qamishli- half way to Dair el-Zor, the old desert killing fields of the 1915 Armenian Holocaust (without mentioning the event) to provide a “safe heaven” for those fleeing as a result of the events taking place in the Syrian cities.”
 
Here one would ask himself as did Robert Fisk even if it was just indirectly implied by him. Is it possible for those who carried out the elimination of a million and a half Armenians between the year 1915-1923 and hundred of thousands of those in the Deir el-Zor desert itself show such concern and uneasiness regarding the safety of the Armenians of Syria and declare their readiness to establish settlements and refugee camps to protect them? AND WHERE??? At the very same desert roads leading towards Deir el-Zor where the grandparents of those Armenians marched about 100 years ago longing for the comfort of death and anxiously waiting for it.
Try n
 
اقرأ الخبر دون أن تضحك.. تركيا تعرب عن قلقها على آمن وسلامة
الأرمن في سوريا
 
 
 نقلت صحيفة صباح التركية مقالا أثار جدلا كبيرا في الأوساط المعنية حيث تطرق المقال إلى الأوضاع الراهنة في سوريا في ظل الاحتجاجات
 
الشعبية وإلى العلاقات السورية التركية في ظل الأوضاع الراهنة.

الصحيفة التركية كانت قد اتهمت الرئيس الأسد أنه لا يتجاوب مع جملة المطالب الشعبية المطالبة بالإصلاحات وهنا يبدو أن القائمين على تلك الصحيفة لايعلمون حقيقة الأوضاع في سوريا وحقيقة أن الرئيس الأسد قد بدأ بتنفيذ جملة كبيرة من الاصلاحات منذ اليوم الأول لتلك الأحتجاجات الصغيرة التي وصفتها "الصباح التركية" بـ "المظاهرات الشعبية الكبيرة".

الصحيفة لم تكتفي بالحديث عن العلاقات المتوترة بين أنقرة والرئيس الأسد بل تجاوزتها للحديث عن مخاوف تركيا على سلامة "بعض المواطنين السوريين".

وهنا لابد من التركيز على كلمة "بعض المواطنين السوريين"، فأنقرة – وفقا للصحيفة – تبدي قلقها وحرصها على سلامة المواطنين الأرمن والأكراد وبعض القوقازيين ممن يعيشون في سوريا، وجميع هؤلاء – وفقا للصحيفة – يشكلون 7% من مجموع السكان. أي أن تركيا يهمها سلامة هؤلاء الـ 7% أكثر من الـ 93% البقن.

ولكن ما يضحك في هذا الخبر هو حرص القيادة التركية على سلامة الأرمن في سوريا وكأنها نسيت أو تناست أن السوريون هم من أنقذوا آلاف الأرمن ممن وصلوا إلى صحراء دير الزور سنة 1915 بعد أن تعرضوا لأول عملية تطهير عرقي في القرن العشرين على أيدي الأتراك العثمانيين.

يبدو أنهم (الصحيفة والإدارة التركية) لا يعلمون أن سوريا فتحت أبوابها لآلاف الأرمن ومنحتهم الجنسية السورية التي يعتز بها جميع الأرمن في سوريا بنفس القدر الذي يفخرون فيه بانتمائهم إلى أصلهم الأرمني. هذا التصرف السوري النبيل لا يشبه أبدا التصرف التركي حيث يبد أن الصحيفة نسيت أن السيد أردوغان وهو أحد رموز القيادة التركية التي تحدثت عنها الصحيفة التركية وعن قلقها على الموطنين الأرمن في سا كان و نفسه قد هدد بطرد 40 ألف أرمني من تركيا قبل قرابة العام من الآن لا لذنب أرتكبوه سوى أن جمهورية أرمينيا لاتكف عن السعي لانتزاع المزيد من الاعترافات الدولية بالإبادة الأرمنية وهو ما يزعج أنقرة كثيرا، علما أن الأرمن في تركيا ليسوا ممن وفدوا إليها قبل 100 عام كما هو الحال مع أغلب الأرمن السوريين، بل هم من سكان البلاد منذ آلاف السنين.

في تركيا،
أردوغان يهدد بطرد 40 ألف أرمني.

بينما في سوريا،
يقوم الرئيس بشار الأسد والسيدة عقيلته بزيارة مفاجئة لميتم الأرمن في مدينة حلب في حادثة ليست الأولى ولن تكون الأخيرة التي تدل على الأهتمام الكبير التي توليه القيادة السورية بالجالية الأرمنية لديها.

أردوغان تركيا يقول: "إذا أضطر الأمر يحق لنا أن نطرد الأرمن من بلادنا".
وأسد سوريا يقول: "الأرمن جزء لا يتجزأ من نسيج المجتمع السوري".

أردوغان تركيا يغلق الحدود المشتركة مع أرمينيا لمحاصرتها إقتصاديا.
وأسد سوريا يزور أرمينيا وبين يديه مشروع لربط البحار الخمسة لتعزيز اقصاديات جميع دول المنطقة.

نعم…
إضحك عزيزي الزائر لأن تركيا تريد حماية أرمن سوريا بسبب الأوضاع الراهنة.

صحيفة "صباح" نقلت الخبر وبفخر ولكنها ربما لم تسأل يوما لما يوجد 100 ألف أرمني في سوريا ومن أين جاؤوا ولماذا اختاروا سوريا، علما أن العدد كان أكبر بكثير ولكنهم أنتشروا في كل أرجاء المعمورة. يبدو أنهم لايعلمون أن هؤلاء السوريين من أصل أرمني هم أحفاد من نجا من عمليات التطهير العرقي التي تعرض له الشعب الأرمني في تركيا مطلع القرن الماضي على أيدي العثمانيين الأتراك الذين يخشى أحفادهم اليوم على أمن وسلامة الأرمن في سوريا.

يبدو أن صحيفة "صباح" لم تكن حاضرة أثناء تلك الأحداث لاهي ولا الصحف الأخرى أخواتها. أو كانت حاضرة ولكنها استحت نقل التصريحات التركية وقتها المتمثلة بعبارة يستحيل على الأرمن نسيانها وهي:

"إن الطريقة الوحيدة للتخلص من القضية الأرمنية هي في التخلص من الأرمن أنفسهم".

إذن،
دعنا نقرأ الخبر دون أن نضحك!

صحيفة "صباح" التي قامت بكل جرأة بنقل هذا الخبر مصدقة بذلك رواية القيادة التركية عن حرصها على سلامة الأرمن السوريين نتمنى أن تكون قد نقلت بنفس الجرأة خبر وفاة الشاب التركي من أصل أرمني (و أسمه سيفاك) والذي لم تجف دمائه بعد. كان يخدم في الجيش التركي مثله مثل أي مواطن في تركيا إلا أنه قتل في يوم الـ 24 من أبريل/نيسان الماضي لا لأنه حمل السلاح في ساحة المعركة ضد أعداء تركيا، بل لأنه تحدث بصراحة عن تعرض الأرمن للإبادة قبل 100 عام.

يصبح الخبر مضحكا أكثر عزيزي الزائر عندما نذكر فيه أيضا أن المراسل المستقل روبيرت فيسك كتب مؤخرا مقالة في صحيفة الأندبندنت عن التصرفات التركية بخصوص الأزمة السورية حيث قال في جزء منها وبطريقة ساخرة:

"اعد الجنرالات الاتراك خطة تقضي بارسال عدة كتائب من القوات التركية الى سوريا ذاتها لاختيار "منطقة مأمونة" للاجئين السوريين… واصبح الاتراك جاهزون للتقدم الى ما بعد مدينة القامشلي الحدودية السورية التي تقع في منتصف الطريق الى دير الزور حيث حقول الصحراء القديمة التي قتلت فيها جموع الارمن في العام 1915 أثناء الهولوكوست الأرمني – من دون اي حديث عن ذلك – لتوفير "ملجأ آمن" للفارين من تبعات الأحداث في المدن السورية".

وهنا قد يتسائل الزائر تماما كما تسائل روبيرت فيسك ولو بطريقة غير مباشرة، هل يستطيع من قام بإبادة مليون ونصف المليون من الأرمن بين الأعوام 1915-1923 ومنهم مئات الآلاف في صحراء دير الزور أن يبدي حرصه وقلقه على سلامة الأرمن في سوريا وأن يعلن عن استعداده لإقامة مخيمات وملاجئ للمحافظة عليهم، وأين؟! … على جانبي الطرقات المؤدية إلى صحراء دير الزور والتي سار فيها أجداد الأرمن قبل 100 عام وهم يتمنون الموت وينتظرونه بفارغ الصبر.
 

 
 
10 comments
  1. Very Interesting Article

    Very interesting article. Thank you, Keghart for making us laugh. It is also interesting because this is the first time I have seen a Syrian paper write about the Armenian Genocide at such detail. Let us hope other countries fall out of love with Turkey and accept the Armenian Genocide by default.

  2. Sorry to Disappoint

    Dear John F.,

    Sorry to disappoint you, but the article was posted in Arabic language Armenian (not Arabic) website called Khabararmani.com. The writer of the article is an Armenian; this is why the details are familiar to you. After making a huge effort to translate the article into English, it would have been more effective if attention was paid to the source. Instead of saying "an Arabic-language newspaper," it would have been appropriate to have mentioned the name of the website. After all, there is Google translation and someone can check. We should not leave the readers in doubt and should not create a misleading situation.

    1. Apologies

      Dear Hrach,

      You are absolutely correct in asking the source be mentioned. Regretfully the text was received without the source. A few days elapsed in trying to identify where it was originally published with no success. Eventually it was posted assuming that it was in an Arabic outlet. The correction will be made as soon as possible and the source will be mentioned. Keghart.com’s policy is to mention the source of any article without exception, however "accidents" of the sort do happen.

      Paregamoren,

      Dikran Abrahamian

  3. My Syrian fellows are very kind hearted

    My Syrian fellows are very kind hearted people. The heart that made them accept the Armenians and protect them 96 years ago, is the same heart that believed the show that Erdogan made accusing Perez of the mass killing of the Palestinians which was followed by the ‘el-hurriet’ SOS ship that was sent to Gaza and attacked by the Israelis. 

    Therefore, they (my Syrian fellows) accepted Turkey’s outreached hand believing it to be of friendship, forgetting (or forgiving) that it was the same Turkey that threatened Syria two decades ago for keeping Ocalan and it was the same Turkey that built dams after dams on the Euphrates to decrease the quantity of water that flows into Syria.

    Thank God Turkey showed its real face early, and the Syrians are very aware of it, little hurt because of their good heart, but they will overcome that and THIS they’ll never forget.

  4. Commendable, no matter what the source is…

    Thank you Keghart for bringing this to our attention, irrespective or regadless whether this article was published in a Syrian daily or on an Armenian site albeit in Arabic. And why not? It is better that it was published in Arabic and not in Armenian.

    It did make me laugh and the fact remains – for me at least – the article that was published in Sabah newespaper — that to me is the most laughable part and not whether the article in Arabic was in a Syrian daily or on a website.

     

     

  5.  Excellent Article

    Excellent article. I have always held that Armenians have no issue with  Moslems, but rather with "Turks" whose mullahs used Islam to slaughter the "Gavour" Armenians. Indeed, in those days a central body of Islam’s leaders in the Arab countries denounced Turkey’s treatment of the Armenians. We owe much to the Arab peoples who saved many Armenian orphans and raised them, giving them the knowledge that they are Armenians.

    What a shame that the Arab peoples are shown in such a disgraceful light in current western media. What a shame also that certain mullahs take the initiative to "demonize" Islam with such hate-filled sermons that do not reflect the character of the Arab people.

     

  6. թրքաբանութիւն…

    Որքա՜ն ճշմարիտ են յօդուածագրին ընդգծումները, թրքաբանութեան՝ արդէն ծանօթ մարդասիրութիւնն ու ՀԱՅԱՍԻՐՈՒԹԻՒՆԸ անգամ մը եւս յայտնաբերելու։ Եթէ կայ հայանպաստ երկիր մը, բառին ամենաընդարձակ առումով, ան ալ Սուրիան է, որ ՏԷՐԶՕՐԻ արհաւիրքէն Հայորդւոյն նայուածքը կրկին ապագային դարձուց եւ վստահաբար ոչ սրբապիղծ թրքութիւնը։

    Երախտապարտութիւն եւ միայն Երախտապարտութիւն  Սուրիոյ։

  7. ԿՈՉ ՀԱՅՈՒԹԵԱՆ

    ԿՈՉ ՀԱՅՈՒԹԵԱՆ
    ՀԱՅ ԿՈՒՍԱԿՑՈՒԹԻՒՆՆԵՐՈՒՆ
    ԵԿԵՂԵՑԻՆԵՐՈՒՆ
    ՀԱՅԱՍՏԱՆԻ ՊԵՏՈՒԹԵԱՆ

    ԹՈՒՐՔԻԱՆ ԿԸ ՊԱՏՐԱՍՏՈՒԻ ԶԻՆՈՒՈՐԱԿԱՆ ՄԻՋԱՄՏՈՒԹԻՒՆ ԿԱՏԱՐԵԼՈՒ ՍՈՒՐԻԱ

    ՊԵՏՔ Է ՈՂՋ ՀԱՅՈՒԹԻՒՆԸ ԴԱՏԱՊԱՐՏԷ ԱՅՍ ՆԱԽԱՅԱՐՁԱԿՈՒՄԸ

    ՍՈՒՐԻԱՆ ՄԵԾ  ՆՇԱՆԱԿՈՒԹԻՒՆ ՈՒՆԻ ՀԱՅ ԺՈՂՈՎՈՒՐԴԻՆ ՀԱՄԱՐ

    ՊԷՏՔ Չէ ԹՈՂՆԵՆՔ ՈՐ ԹՈՒՐՔԸ ՊՂԾԷ ՄԵՐ ԲԻՒՐԱՒՈՐ ՆԱՀԱՏԱԿՆԵՐՈՒՆ ՇԻՐԻՄՆԵՐԸ

    ՀԳ

     
     
  8. Merci au Peuple Syrien,

    Merci au peuple syrien, grande et ancienne civilisation qui a accueilli, malgré les menaces de mort; car qui aidait un arménien était passible d’être pendu sur l’heure, par les autorités turques. Chaque arménien, chaque descendant de rescapés n’oublie pas! Mes grand parents ne sont pas passés par la SYRIE , mais dans notre memoire et notre âme nous le savons et le transmettons à nos enfants et petits enfants.

    Je souhaite et je prie pour que la Paix et la Sérénité reviennent sur votre Pays et votre Peuple !

    Une descendante de rescapés du Génocide perpetrè par les turcs

    " 3eme génération"
     

    1. I join Eve Sarkissian

      I join Eve Sarkissian.

      My father and uncle, both survivors of the Genocide, volunteered in the French Légion étrangère in Lebanon.  In doing so they foremost wanted to express their gratitude to the Syrian and Lebanese people. At the time there was one French administration in Syria and Lebanon, as both were "protectorates".

      There is no question that Syria is a dictatorship and hopefully people will be able to establish some form of democracy. Beware, however, of the foreign meddling in an internal affair. Imperialism, particularly American is so aggressive that it will exploit any pretext to reinforce its presence.

Comments are closed.

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