Is mental retention contagious?

But, mental retention is apparently a contagious condition. Not only is Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan suffering from it Ğ as the symptoms of the condition were demonstrated in the premier’s "love or leave" statement in Van or his attempt to legitimize the lynching culture when he said in Istanbul that though he would not approve of it, people may take defensive measures Ğ but Defense Minister Gönül has as well started to show some symptoms of this serious condition.

Minister Gönül was in Brussels on Nov. 10 and attended a commemoration of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk at the Turkish Embassy there. While one would expect a former governor, veteran politician and a six-year defense minister to stay away from making controversial remarks that could be exploited by enemies of Turkey, Gönül delivered a statement at the commemoration that was so unfortunate for him.

He, with that statement, provided ammunition to those at home and abroad who hate Atatürk and the Turkish Republic. The result: The words of the minister were considered by the Greek media as a confession by Turkey that atrocities were committed against Greeks, Armenians and other minorities in the early years of the Turkish RepublicÉ

What did the minister say? "If today in the Aegean Greeks continued to live, if in many parts of Turkey Armenians continued to live, could Turkey be the same state? Even today, in the struggle continuing in the southeast, in this nation building, we cannot reject the contributions of those who consider themselves aggrievedÉ particularly those who consider themselves aggrieved because of their relocation!"

Can these words reflect the policy of the Turkish state, or the view of the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP? They cannot, because what the minister has said is a total denial of the official thesis of the country regarding the Armenian forced relocation, as well as the understanding behind the population exchange clauses in the Lausanne Treaty and the way the young republic and Greece implemented that treatyÉ As regards the shameful 1955 Sept. 6-7 events in Istanbul, however, no one can deny the role of some government agents and thus the responsibility of the Turkish state in the tragedy.

Yet another manifestation of the ’love it or leave it’ mentality

What the minister has said will be used by Turkey’s adversaries as a confession by a Turkish defense minister that this country has had a policy of systematic ethnic cleansing with the aim and intention of building an ethnically cohesive nationÉ Indeed, what the minister said could be summarized as a confession that the "love or leave it" mentality was exercised "systematically" during the early years of the republic for the sake of "nation building," and as a consequence of the aim of building a new nation, the Greek, Armenian and Jewish citizens were being routedÉ

Furthermore, he has said that the Armenian forced relocation "was being usefulÉ" However, the population exchange deal under Lausanne and the forced Armenian relocation are mostly being considered by the Turkish people as some "racist" manifestations in Turkey becoming a nation state and as a consequence of losing those colors from the Turkish society, the end result was not a success at all when the riches we have lost are taken into consideration. Just think what great contributions the Armenians, Greeks and other minorities might have made to today’s Turkey if they were given the chance of staying on as an integrated part of this society.

1915 events Ğ irrespective of whether they are described as a genocide Ğ as Armenians do Ğ or as immense suffering of the Anatolian population of the time, they were the product of a calamitous mistake of the Union and Progress government which indeed brought the end of the Ottoman Empire with its totally wrong policies. No one in today’s Turkey can be held responsible for that shame!