Now the usual suspects are alleging Gul has Armenian ancestry

[chinchilla]

Turkish MP Canan Arıtman is alleging that President Abdullah Gül's mother was of Armenian ancestry.

“We see that the president supports this campaign. Abdullah Gül should be the president of the whole Turkish nation, not of his ethnic origin. Investigate the ethnic origin of the president’s mother, and you will see,” she said.

http://panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=28065

http://www.ekolay.net/haber/YorumOku.asp?r=1&id=155551&Page=2&pid=2705&haberid=581722

Arıtman should take her own advice and investigate her family history. She looks Armenian enough.

[chinchilla]

And of course, if one _did_ have Armenian ancestry, they could not be a part of Turkish society.

[Joseph]

Ouch!

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/10600050.asp?scr=1

Discussing 1915 issue sign of self belief: Gül

ANKARA - Remarks by a main opposition party deputy over the Turkish president’s stance on free discussion of the 1915 events drew reaction from the presidential office.

Canan Arıtman of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, criticized President Abdullah Gül for supporting the initiative of a group of Turkish intellectuals who launched a campaign to make a public apology for what they call "the great catastrophe" of 1915. Gül said the initiative was proof that everything could be openly discussed in Turkey.

"It seems Gül supports the campaign. Gül should be the president of the Turkish nation, not the president of his ethnic origin. A further examination of Gül’s ethnic origin on his mother’s side will reveal the truth that he is of Armenian origin," Arıtman said on Wednesday.

"We all knew from the beginning that Gül’s mother was of Armenian origin. He has to protect the rights and dignity of the nation whatever his origin," she said.

Meanwhile, a written statement released yesterday by the presidential office said the Turkish president had voiced and defended Turkey’s opinions and proposals concerning the 1915 incidents everywhere. "Free discussion of the 1915 incidents is a clear indication of a more democratic atmosphere in Turkey than elsewhere, and of the self-confidence of the Turkish nation and its peace with its history," read the statement.

[chinchilla]

The comments on many of these articles are quite amusing. I keep seeing the word masonluk/masonlar/masonun. Anyone who is not of "Turkish descent" must be a mason!

[Joseph]

The comments on many of these articles are quite amusing. I keep seeing the word masonluk/masonlar/masonun. Anyone who is not of "Turkish descent" must be a mason!

At the same time, I am encouraged that these comments are reported via the Turkish media. I think it has become very transparent how absolutely ridiculous that they attitudes of the Turkish nationalists has become within Turkey. The facade is breaking down albeit slowly.

[Joseph]

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/opinion/10607277.asp?yazarid=305&gid=260

The Arıtman Test for CHP

An online campaign initiated by a group of people in Turkey to apologize for the events of 1915 has reached exemplary dimensions.

Reality exposed.

Forget about the remarks of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who said, "I neither accept nor support this campaign. We did not commit a crime, therefore we do not need to apologize. I do not understand those writers," or of the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, leader Devlet Bahçeli who said, "I want to say that I am ashamed of the persons who initiated the campaign." But what about the "racist" approach of the sharp-tongued Republican People’s Party, or CHP, İzmir deputy Canan Arıtman? Did she make anything after being targeted for she claimed that mother of President Abdullah Gül, who says, "we should be able to discuss all views," is an Armenian?

Did Arıtman return from her unforgivable mistake? Never...

On the contrary, Arıtman continued to say that she could have been tried for "racism" if she had lived in one of the European Union countries. Look what she said in short in her press statement I found in my mailbox the other day. "Our nation is being insulted by a bunch of heedless. One should ask to those who find the Armenian genocide allegations and their supporters, ’Are you Armenian?’ even if one of them is the president of the country."

Through her perspective, it is possible to reach the following conclusion: it is a big crime to be Armenian in this country.

Akşener years ago
This shameful remark of CHP Deputy Arıtman took me to years ago and I remembered equally shameful remarks of someone else; the remarks of Meral Akşener, interior minister in the Tansu Çiller government then. Akşener, now, is the deputy Parliament speaker, did not hesitate in those days to name the leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, Abdullah Öcalan as "Armenian offspring." Without doubt, the expression "Armenian offspring" was a cussword used by Akşener for an insult and to vilify the image of Öcalan. I am revisiting my memory to find out if there is a male politician who is clearly pushing the limits of racism, is speaking insults against for the Armenian citizens of this country, as the way Arıtman and Akşener do. I do not recall anyone and I truly feel sorry for women. What we call the "women sensitivity" which we praise to the skies at times is not valid for my fellow female friends.

Discussing taboos
Arıtman’s unbounded reaction to the online apology campaign shows how necessary it is.

The "Armenian issue" is one of the taboos in Turkey. The campaign is an opportunity to break down this taboo finally, to speak and to discuss about it, and to face the reality.

Isn’t facing the reality the requirement of democracy anyway? The Arıtman case has another dimension though.

How the CHP, recently signaling a "Kurdish opening" and claiming the agenda with the "black chador" initiative, will react to Arıtman? Will the CHP leader Deniz Baykal, who is trying to embrace all parts of the society, make a statement on account of Arıtman’s remarks? If he does not, the CHP will be seriously harmed as the party’s being social democrat is questioned both inside and in the European Union.

[Joseph]

Has this woman no shame? This type of fascist behavior hurts Turkey way more than the Armenia diaspora ever could. Does she are her ilk think that anyone will believe there was no genocide after reading about her? This situation only reinforces that Turkey needs a change. Not for the sake of minorities alone, but mostly for the sake of the country

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=161910&bolum=103

Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Canan Arıtman, who claimed that President Abdullah Gül's mother is of Armenian origin, continued to attack the president in an interview published in the Milliyet daily yesterday, saying that she would like to throw a shoe at the president when she sees him in the same way an Iraqi journalist last week hurled a shoe at visiting US President George W. Bush. Gül also released a statement yesterday denying claims that his family has Armenian roots.

Arıtman last week attacked a campaign initiated by a group of intellectuals to apologize for the Armenian massacres of 1915, which Armenians claim constituted genocide. “The false scientists signing it should apologize to Turkey,” she said, claiming that Gül -- because of his “ethnic origins” -- was rubberstamping the campaign. “We see that the president supports this campaign. Abdullah Gül should be the president of the entire Turkish nation, not just of those sharing his ethnicity. Investigate the ethnic origin of the president’s mother and you will see.”

Arıtman drew ire with her comments, with some critics accusing her of racism.

When Gül was asked for his opinion on the campaign, he said the state’s stance is to improve relations with its neighbors. “We believe dialogue to be the solution for problems we have with our neighbors. Perpetuating problems is not useful to anyone,” he said.

“I would toss a shoe and draw attention to this issue,” Arıtman told Milliyet. She also responded to Gül’s brother Mehmet Mecit Gül, who said that the Gül and Satoğlu families (the family of Gül’s mother) would be suing her. “I wouldn’t recommend suing me. They would be embarrassed. There is no legal basis for such a lawsuit,” she said. “If I do sue the president on charges of supporting incidents that might lead to an ethnic conflict, that would have a legal basis.”

Arıtman also dismissed claims that her remarks were aimed at insulting a particular ethnicity. “The nation has got me. I don’t understand why the press just wouldn’t,” she told Milliyet. She said she had known about Gül’s alleged Armenian background for a long time, adding that she should be appreciated for not revealing the information during Gül’s election campaign.

My family Turkish for centuries, says Gül

Meanwhile, yesterday, Gül released a statement announcing that his mother’s side, the Satoğlu family from Kayseri, and his father’s side, the Gül family also from Kayseri, are Muslim and Turkish, according to centuries of written genealogy records.

“I respect the ethnic background, different beliefs and family ties of all my citizens and see this as a reality and also the wealth of our country with its imperial history. I also would like to emphasize that all my citizens are equal to one another regardless of any differences. No one has any superiority whatsoever over another one. Everybody has the equal and same rights under the guarantee of our Constitution,” the statement read. “I am proud of our country, which has reached this level of understanding.”

Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan, speaking to journalists at Ankara’s Esenboğa Airport on Sunday before his departure for Macedonia for an official visit, said the apology campaign was unfair as it was an attempt to unilaterally convict Turkey. However, he said, Arıtman’s words were “extremely improper.”

“She said things that would have never been said under the oath we take in Parliament,” he said. “We can never engage in a behavior such as researching each other’s roots and then drawing certain conclusions from there. I would have expected to hear Arıtman agree that her expression went overboard. But I was saddened by her new statements today in newspapers confirming her earlier statement.”

Speaking at a CHP congress yesterday, Arıtman responded to Gül’s statement. “I never asked the president to announce his genealogical background. I just wanted him to protect his nation and state, the duty assigned to him by the Constitution.”

“Why doesn’t the president show the principled stance shown by the prime minister?” Arıtman asked during congress. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reacted harshly to the statement, saying he had nothing to apologize for.

“It is wrong for the president not to demonstrate the same stance. How can a president not protect the rights and pride of his state and nation?” she asked, telling Milliyet that the campaign had worked to create the impression in the international community that Turkey had accepted the allegations of genocide.

“Armenian intellectuals posted an online thank you letter to Gül,” Arıtman said. “An Azerbaijani deputy I know will translate and send it to me. They are telling Gül: ‘Thank you. You have [made yourself a place] in history by being the first president to recognize the genocide.’“How come the president -- who never remembers democracy and freedoms in Workers’ Day celebrations when women on the ground are being kicked by the police -- supports those who say we committed genocide and who apologizes for that?” The CHP also reacted to Arıtman’s comments on Gül’s Armenian background.





22 December 2008, Monday

[Gavur]

I think she's a crypto jew.

[ardakilic]

I think she's a crypto jew.

Yes she is. Her real surname wasnot Arıtman but Aritman. Her mother's name was Zahide and father's name Kemalettin and their family record was taken to Izmir(Smirna) (6/1462/2 - Izmir/Karşıyaka/Bostanlı) in 1941 from Selanik(Thessaloniki).

But i think these informations mean nothing.

[Steph]

I think she's a crypto jew.