The hatred in Turkey for Armenians is still present,
as the following report can tell:
Police on Saturday detained a teenager suspected of slaying an ethnic Armenian journalist, acting on a tip from the boy’s father after his picture was broadcast on Turkish television, senior officials said. Ogun Samast, who is either 16 or 17, was caught on a bus in the Black Sea city of Samsun, said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He was traveling, apparently from Istanbul back to his hometown of Trabzon, said Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler.
Samast was wanted in connection with the killing of Hrant Dink, a 52-year-old editor of the Turkish Armenian newspaper Agos. Dink was gunned down Friday outside his newspaper’s office in Istanbul.
Most Turks assume Dink was targeted for his columns saying the killing of ethnic Armenians by Turks in the early 20th century was genocide. Nationalists consider such statements an insult to Turkey’s honor and a threat to its unity, and Dink had been showered with insults and threats.
Ahem. It WAS genocide, more on which is noted below.
The teen has now confessed to the crime:
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - The teenage boy suspected of fatally shooting an ethnic Armenian journalist confessed during initial questioning that he killed the man, a local prosecutor told a state-run news agency on Sunday.
Ahmet Cokcinar - a prosecutor in the city of Samsun, where the boy was caught - told the Anatolia news agency that the teenager confessed to killing Hrant Dink.
Ogun Samast, who is either 16 or 17 years old, was caught Saturday after police acted on a tip from the boy's father after his picture was broadcast on Turkish television, senior officials said.
Samast was caught on a bus as he was apparently traveling from Istanbul, where the shooting took place, back to his hometown of Trabzon, Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler said.
[...]
Turkey's relationship with its Armenian minority has long been haunted by a bloody past. Much of its once-influential Armenian population was killed or driven out beginning around 1915 in what an increasing number of nations are calling the first genocide of the 20th century.
Turkey acknowledges that large numbers of Armenians died but vehemently denies it was genocide, saying the overall figure is inflated and the deaths occurred in the civil unrest during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
It just shows how Turkey is still a bad lot, if they won't be honest about the facts.
4 comments:
On January 20, the WaPo reported this murder, with the nationalist slant. The WaPo also mentioned the genocide of Armenians, but at the time of the release of the WaPo story, the details here might not have been available.
Coincidentally, another blogger (a friend whom I respect) and I have been discussing the issue of Turkey's admission to the EU.
See, this is but one of many reasons why Turkey can't be admitted to the EU, because they're not making any serious change to their Islam-infested education system either.
WHen Turkey and the EU 1st came up, I thought, the more exposure they had to the west and it's economic beneifts, the better for all.
How naieve was that?
Turkey under the present poltico-religious majority and will of their own people simply has too little in common with liberal western democratic values. Freedom of religion, expression and speech are all secondary to other considerations, namely the quran.
Until and unless that changes, no EU. If it never changes because that is the will of the Turkish peoples, then that is their priority, and it should be respected.
One wonders how they can remain over the long term within NATO if the people's will remains as it is today.
This is off-topic.
Check out this cool high-tech body suit for infantry:
http://ronbosoldier.blogspot.com/2007/01/eye-on-world-prof-pat-pending.html
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