Over 100 years after Ottoman Empire murdered over a million Armenians, Erdogan not only denies it happened but criticizes President Biden for acknowledging it as genocide. He is the first president to do so.
Well of course Erdogan is stomping mad. That was gonna be a given. The timing is interesting for me because I think POTUS Joe did this as a political weapon. Erdogan has been enjoying the benefits of NATO while leaning toward Putin (who wants to run a pipeline through Turkey and Hungary into Europe) so I think POTUS Joe is telling him to make a choice. We're unafraid to deal with whichever way Turkey goes.
I'm not sure Putin is a fan of Recip Erdogan. The shooting down by Turkey of a Russian plane 2016 still is in the back of Putin's mind. Erdogan also had the balls to threaten Russia recently regarding Ukraine. Erdogan is not a fan of Assad who is Putin's boy.
The Turks and the Ottoman Empire were a blood thirsty empire bent on ever expanding their dominion. But probably no more so then any of the other ancient “Empires”. Be it the Romans, Mongols, Napoleon or Hitler. Mass genocide just seems to be a part of the history of every power mad ruler.
Of course this genocide happened in early 20th century. It inspired Hitler. The timeline was right before WWI. Erdogan wants to make Republic of Turkey back into the Ottoman Empire.
@barjoe just like Putin wants to recreate the Soviet Union. If you look at the list, many of these wars and genocides occurred in the 20th century.
@Barnie2years USSR would not work for Putin. He's an Oligarch, he would not want to go back to collectivism. He would like to go full blown totalitarian dictatorship like the Soviet era. He's half way there.
Ever since the "coup" attempt, and when Erdogan placed tanks in front of the shared US-Turkey airbase, with their turrets turned toward the base, I have been saying to get our nucs out of there. Yes, we do have tactical nuclear bombs there. I don't advocate for a full pull out, but leaving them there makes them very vulnerable.
He's taken Turkey from a secular democracy to an Islamist dictatorship. A very dangerous man.
This issue is more nuanced than is generally recognized in the western media. Terrible crimes were committed on both sides, and yes, the Armenians suffered terribly. But please, learn more before you accept the popular press "Turkey is evil" narrative. Think about something that may color how these issues have been reported for nearly 100 years: Most Turks are Muslim. Armenians are Christian. Think that matters in the reporting of the "facts?"
The issue is only nuanced for a few turkish sympathizers. The mere fact that Erdogan is criticizing Biden speaks volumes. Fuck the turks who want to justify genocide with some cockamamie bullshit about violence on both sides and fuck those who are wishy washy idiots on the subject.
@Mitch07102 So you are just flat out wrong. Armenians were murdered en masse by Ottoman Empire. As far as Muslims go, they are a bloodthirsty people. Don't equate the two. Armenian Christians didn't fly planes into the Towers and The Pentagon The Muslims did.
I do not have the first fuck to care what Turkey thinks.
They killed 700,000 - 1,800,000 Armenians, 200,000 to 750,000 Assyrians, and 300,000 to 900,000 Greeks all in the same time span (1914-1922) so it should really be called the Armenian/Assyrian/Greek genocide.