"The change you can believe in" and Armenian Genocide

Before he was elected, Obama has promised he would have the Armenian genocide recognized. He can't seem to dare using the term genocide on his speeches/announcements made on April 24, the anniversary of Armenian Genocide.

Was this the change he wanted the people to believe in?

Common Cause

Serouj Aprahamian wrote a comprehensive piece titled Kurds and Armenians: Finding Common Cause. I will quote a few sections from the article but you should take time to read the full article:

Motivating Factors

There are two major underlying aspects behind the principle of solidarity. One is the moral aspect which considers freedom to be a social, rather than mere individual, pursuit. It is based on the belief that one can only truly be free when freedom becomes achieved for all others around them as well; for how can one truly be content and secure in their freedom if they are surrounded by suffering and injustice? This concept is perhaps best captured in Martin Luther King Jr’s famous quote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

The other dimension for solidarity hinges on a more practical political calculation: the belief that by coming together with others around a common goal, one can help build a broader base of power and improve social conditions. Indeed, by pooling resources and manpower, movements which are able to collaborate with one another are logically much more likely to achieve victories. The smaller a group or movement is, the more central this consideration becomes in their hopes for pursuing justice.

Against the tactic of dividing a conquering which is perfected by Turkey against its minorities to facilitate cultural genocide, solidarity is the only way out:

Just as Turkish authorities once viewed Armenians’ call for equality and democracy as a “threat” to their empire, Ankara today interprets the Kurdish people’s demand for basic human rights as meaning “separatism.” Just as the Ottoman authorities refused to recognize the national identity of Armenians and called them “Christian Turks,” the Kurdish people have had to fight Turkey’s attempts to officially classify them as “Mountain Turks.” Just as they once did to Armenians, the Turkish government continues to suppress the language, history, and identity of Kurds; ransacks their schools and cultural monuments; bans their political parties and newspapers; pillages their towns and villages; terrorizes their families and children; subjects Kurds to a policy of Turkification; and attacks their human rights workers and journalists.

The solidarity of oppressed peoples of Turkey should not be limited to only Armenian and Kurdish peoples. But it's a start.

Turkish State Massacre

44 people were murdered in Zangirt (Bilge) Village of Merdîn (Mardin) province by government paramilitary forces, village guards (korucular) on 5 May 2009. The attackers used heavy weapons. 1200 rounds were fired. The weapons belonged to the state, so did the bullets.

The interesting thing is that the village which was attacked was only 5 minutes from the Gendarmerie station. A person survived the attack (later a few wounded survived too) and ran to the soldiers at the station. The soldiers simply said they couldn't go to the village. The military knew about this attack.

What did the military want, really? If there were no survivors, it would be bullseye because then the state could blame the massacre on the PKK. Especially now that there is pressure on Turkey to try and work for finding a solution to its Kurdish Question, a massacre blamed on PKK would give Turkey the upper hand in the international community. Does anyone remember Guclukonak massacre of 1996? You can read Who Committed The Guclukonak Massacre? by Bernice Ruben. Guclukonak massacre, committed by the state, was used as an excuse to end the ceasefire and was used to gain support for Turkey in the international community. Even the secretary of state then Adnan Ekmen has been saying for a while that it was the state who committed the massacre. Back in 1996, like today, there was a good chance for peace.

So you can say that the state didn't get what it wanted. Not quite true... Unfortunately, the state still won because it had 44 Kurds killed and the families of those who committed the murders are having to move out of Kurdistan. So, the state got some Kurds killed, some migrated, still a win.

So, what to call this Zangirt massacre? Hasan Bildirici, in his recent article, reasons:

Name of Massacre

Hasan Bildirici
6 May 2009

What would the headlines say in both Turkish and Kurdish media if PKK sympathizers, militia, or militants were to raid a village in Erzincan, Sivas, Yozgat, or Urfa and killed 44 people including pregnant women, children, and elderly?

"PKK massacre!"

What would be name of massacre if the Greek paramilitary, who are on government's payroll, raided an Aegean Turkish village and killed 44 people?

"Greek massacre!"

If a group of Armenian militia or soldiers were to raid an Azeri village in Karabag region and killed 44 people, what would be name of this massacre?

"Armenian massacre!"

How would Turkish media and its indecent satellites would weigh it when Turkish state's paramilitary who are on payroll (korucu) raid a village with guns belonging to the state and kill 44 people including children, pregnant women, and elderly with 1200 rounds?

Custom murder, feudal rule, culture of violence, lack of gun control... etc, etc...

If a PKK commander threw a civilian into an acid-well, this would be a PKK murder. When higher-ups of the state kill 17 thousand Kurdish civilians, they face the charge of "misuse of authority".

So, the state is clean; if those who commit murder in the name of state are exposed, they are bad... Turkish state, like God, cannot be criticized, touched, cannot be blamed for being a murderer...

Let's ask our question again:

What would be name of the the massacre in which 44 people were murdered if those who pulled the trigger were from PKK and the bullets were PKK bullets"

"PKK massacre!"

In Bilge [Zangirt] village massacre where 44 people were killed, the murderers who pulled the triggers are on pay from the Turkish state, the guns belong to the Turkish state, the bullets they used belong to the Turkish state; what is the name of this massacre?

"Turkish state massacre!"

Honest people, people who face events honestly and without cheating name the massacre right.

Bilge [Zangirt] village massacre is simply Turkish state massacre.

Those who are after destroying Kurds and everything about Kurds, those who arm the most uneducated with lowest morals and the most greed are the directors of massacre scenes.

There, in that village, ordinary Kurdish people met at a wedding.

There, in that Kurdish village, it could have been 44 Kurdish intellectuals and politicians left to the mercy of Turkish race barrels. A confident politician, trusting his friends around him, could have stood up to one of the korucular. Right then, 1200 korucular bullets would have hit 44 Kurdish intellectuals and politicians:

What would be name of this murder?

"Feudal Kurdish pride"?

The fact is this: Kurdish nation is unprotected against the Turkish race barrels. Kurdish nation is helpless enough to sit and watch pregnant women be massacred.

The truth must be told for the sake of 70 Kurdish children who were orphaned and for the sake of Kurdish fetus who died in their mothers' wombs:

This is a Turkish state massacre... Even if it's korucular shooting korucular...

Unless Kurdish people are protected from the Turkish state which arms the society's and state's bandits, such massacres will continue...

Turkish state massacre it is.