{"id":10295,"date":"2009-03-20T23:46:46","date_gmt":"2009-03-20T20:46:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishforum.com.tr\/en\/content\/?p=10295"},"modified":"2023-07-26T11:49:10","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T08:49:10","slug":"talking-turkey-about-genocide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2009\/03\/20\/talking-turkey-about-genocide\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking ‘Turkey’ about genocide"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Michael Tomlin<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Posted: Thursday, March 19, 2009<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Government, like business, needs leaders with standards, beliefs and values. We expect retailers to “just say no” to lead paint on toys. And we should expect our elected leaders to call genocide what it was and is.<\/p>\n

At issue is President Obama, caught in the pragmatic twist of pragmatists – people who believe only in current convenience – having declared during his campaign the historic annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians as “genocide” now may be backing off the term so not to insult Turkey, which he will visit in April.<\/p>\n

Turkey of course is that same country with laws protecting and prohibiting itself from being insulted. Write an unflattering book or article about Turkey and you can be arrested and jailed. That is insult enough, done to themselves, separating them from the enlightened world.<\/p>\n

In Michael Doyle’s story for McClatchy Newspapers (Idaho Statesman<\/em>, Mar. 18, 2009) diplomats warn of potential fallout should the U.S. president stand and call the genocide of the Ottoman Empire what it was. It would be “poorly received,” stated one former ambassador. What should be poorly received is Turkey, in any collection of civilized nations until they learn to accept criticism.<\/p>\n

What if our congressional leaders failed to question the AIG banker bonuses because criticism might be “poorly received” in the banking industry? OK, the questioning is a sham … but at least it’s an open and contentious sham. Let’s cover up the peanut paste scandal, too, and not risk being poorly received by the company allegedly responsible for numerous food-borne illnesses and deaths.<\/p>\n

Just as a good parent chooses carefully whom they allow their children to play with, so should business leaders and elected leaders make similar choices – based upon values and beliefs, behavior, actions, and deserved reputations. This is not a call for isolationism; there are businesses and countries aplenty for us to “play” with.<\/p>\n

I recently cancelled an account with Bank of America, and will soon do so with AIG. There are plenty of others I cherish – my relationship with my State Farm Insurance agent, ditto for Mountain West Bank, a new relationship with Les Bois Credit Union, restaurants and shoe makers, airlines and my doctor. They re-earn my patronage with their behavior over the years, not just with each meeting or transaction.<\/p>\n

I expect no less from business leaders selecting their suppliers and distributers. And I have even a higher standard for my president. Stand for the United States and our interests, and don’t stand at all with those not ready for prime time on the world stage. It’s not the pragmatic view, but then values seldom are.<\/p>\n

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Talking Turkey: Denying the Iraqi Genocide <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Written by Paul Craig Roberts<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sunday, 21 October 2007 16:20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
The Iraqi Genocide
\nby Paul Craig Roberts<\/strong>
\nW<\/span>hy has not the Turkish parliament given tit for tat and passed a resolution condemning the Iraqi Genocide?<\/p>\n

As a result of Bush’s invasion of Iraq, more than one million Iraqis have died, and several millions are displaced persons. The Iraqi death toll and the millions of uprooted Iraqis match the Armenian deaths and deportations.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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If one is a genocide, so is the other.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n