Advertise On EU-Digest

Annual Advertising Rates

10/5/06

The Raw Story: Turks in Netherlands reject politics over Armenian issue


For the complete report in The Raw Story click on this link

Turks in Netherlands reject politics over Armenian issue

The large Turkish minority in the Netherlands is considering a boycott of the Dutch elections in November as a result of pressure on Turkish candidates to acknowledge that Armenians suffered genocide in 1915, the daily Volkskrant reported Thursday. "Many of the 400,000 Turks in the Netherlands regard themselves as no longer welcome and are turning their backs on politics," Sabri Kenan Bagci, chairman of the IOT organization that speaks for Turkish interests, told the daily Volkskrant.

Bagci said he had called a national meeting of leading Turks in Utrecht on Sunday in response to a growing crisis over the issue within the community. Turkish candidates for the November 22 elections have come under pressure from their parties to publicly acknowledge the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians during World War I as an act of genocide.

Talip Demirhan, who spent eight years on the CDA's management board, expressed his anger over the pressure on Turkish candidates. "We are being asked whether our great-grandfather was a mass murderer. If he was, then as far as I'm concerned he can go to hell, but why should I have to acknowledge responsibility to the average Dutch citizen," Demirhan, 63, told the Volkskrant. Editorial EU-Digest: The action undertaken by Dutch Political parties is undemocratic and against the freedom of expression. It also has nothing to do with Dutch politics, but is a Turkish issue. The Netherlands has their own Ghosts in the closet re: Indonesia, Suriname, and their key role in the slave trade etc. Let us also not forget France which should not be too proud about some of the things they did in Algeria and Vietnam.

No comments: