Armenian Apology Causes Brawl in Turkish Parliament

Osman Euzcelik, a Turkish MP from the Democratic Society Party (DTP) did the unthinkable during a regular Parliament session in Turkey. During a discussion on the Education Ministry budget, Euzcelik brought up the topic and called upon the Turkish Parliament to apologize to the Armenians for the "events of 1915." He later went on to use the word "genocide" to describe what happened in 1915. Euzcelik noted that he had heard stories about the Armenian killings as a child growing up in Turkey and added that the killings were planned by the sultan of the Ottoman Empire and were carried out by groups called Hamiddiye.

"These groups killed a large number of Armenians. A lot of times they would line up the Armenians and shoot them in the chest. All Armenians of Martin were killed and some fled to Syria"

Euzcelik remembers his grandfather's family providing refuge for Genocide survivors which became a common thing around this time and near the 20s. Most Armenian families fled Armenia during the genocide and went down south to countries such as Syria, Lebanon, and Iran. These countries currently have a high population of Armenians and are evident in the villages that they still reside in.

Nevzad Pakdil, who was presiding over the parliament session during the time, interrupted Euzcelik, blasting him for “insulting the society in which you live.” Euzcelik said that he was apologizing to Armenians on his own behalf. Pakdil intervened again attempting to stifle the parliament member. Members of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) applauded Pakdil while another DTP member, Surru Saken directed his anger to Paktdil by saying,

"Mr. Chairman, you represent the Marash district and you know full well the extent of the tragedy that unfolded there."

The war of words continued until a brawl broke out between parties of Parliament. Turkey has had a long hisory of accusing anyone who "insults" the country in anyway. Turkey is very nationalist and will not tolerate any discussion about the Armenian Genocide, nor in the streets, nor in any of the history textbooks taught in classrooms. Turkish novelist and Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk has made statements about the Armenian Genocide before, and had been charged for "insulting Turkishness," which potentially could have placed Pamuk in prison for up to 3 years. The case was dropped. More noteably, Hrant Dink an Armenian-Turkish editor, was shot and killed in the back right outside his office. Hrant was the editor of the Armenian newspaper "Agos' where he would make statements about the Armenian Genocide. A week before he was killed, Hrant wrote that he was "nervous and afraid" because of all the hate mail he received. The killer was found to be part of the Turkish Nationalist Party.

In a more positive note, the Foreign Ministers of Turkey and Armenia have held scheduled talks during the last few months to normalize relations. They are also optimistic that by the end of the 2009 year, the border between Turkey and Armenia will be opened.