Turkey crosses new thresholds in descent to autocracy

Ali Bayramoglu

Translated by Sibel Utku Bila

 

Watching the state of affairs in Turkey, one cannot help but wonder whether the country weathered a coup attempt in July or fell victim to a successful one. This alarming question is fueled by three patterns of action the government has followed after the botched coup, using extraordinary powers made possible by its declared state of emergency.

The first is a purge of the opposition. The judicial and administrative clampdown after the July 15 coup attempt has had as a target not only the putschists, but increasingly the media, opposition groups and the Kurdish movement as well. It's now as clear as day. Writers and intellectuals of various stripes have landed behind bars on arbitrary and trivial grounds. Twenty-four Kurdish mayors have been removed from office and replaced with government-appointed public servants.

In Eastern Turkey, Walking in the Shadow of Genocide

John Lubbock (*)

 

In the week leading up to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, British-Armenian historian Ara Sarafian led a group of students, academics and journalists on a mission to engage with local Kurds and the descendants of Armenians in the Kurdish region of Turkey.

It was in these towns and villages, 100 years ago, that the Armenian population, as well as many Assyrians, were forced from their homes and killed or deported by the state and its deputies. The Ottoman bureaucracy, supposedly fearing non-Turkish populations would revolt and carve off Ottoman lands to create new nation-states, exploited tribal, class and ethnic tensions to encourage local Kurdish leaders to murder their neighbours and steal their lands.

Sarafian has been travelling to this region, and especially the main Eastern city of Diyarbakir, for years, engaging with locals and trying to build bridges with the local community.

99 retratos del exilio en Diarbekir: 99 fotos de sobrevivientes del genocidio de armenios

Bajo este título se abrió una exposición en Diarbekir, con el objeto de enmarcar los actos relativos a la conmemoración del centésimo aniversario del genocidio armenio que tendrán lugar en todo el mundo.

La exhibición constituye un gran avance considerando que tuvo lugar en el antiguo territorio armenio, hoy Turquía, donde vivían cientos de miles de armenios a comienzos del siglo XX.

Con su realización se pretendía "repatriar" simbólicamente a 99 sobrevivientes del genocidio de armenios, justamente en la conmemoración del 99º aniversario.