WEST ATTACKS TURKEY

Most recently, the world celebrated the centenary of the First World War, which saw winners and losers, and bloody battles that became great victories for some and grave tragedies for others. Events dedicated to the centenary of the First World War, Gavrilo Princip's shot in Sarajevo and the shelling of Belgrade did not cause a fierce political debate and diplomatic demarches, although they understandably fuelled the scientific and popular-scientific debate about the First World War.

As 24 April 2015 was approaching, many experts expected an extensive and heated debate devoted to the events of those years in the east of the Ottoman Empire - modern Turkey. But here the debate failed.

It is well known that a few years ago, Turkey opened its archives to researchers and invited other interested parties to do the same. However, the "others", especially Armenia itself, which marks the centenary of the so-called "genocide", did not want to follow the example of Turkey. Various "genocide researchers" did not show interest in Turkish archives either. What they say is that Armenian scientists have studied whatever is necessary and why bother listening to "these Turks", who are not willing to repent of the "genocide"! In 2010, in Zurich, a provision on the creation of a commission for the joint study of controversial historical issues was included in the same Armenian-Turkish protocols that were signed by Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandyan and his then colleague and now prime minister of Turkey, Ahmet Davutoglu. But Armenia does not wish to hear of any commission. Moreover, if it is more honest to call the "Armenian genocide" mythical, the scandals that broke out on the eve of the centenary of this myth are quite real.

The first scandal was provoked by none other than the Pope. A mass was held in the Vatican dedicated to the victims of "genocide", which was attended by the leaders of Armenian Christian churches - Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I and Armenian Catholic Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX, as well as Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. And the Pope called Armenian genocide the first crime against humanity in the 20th century. The two other great tragedies are the crimes of Nazism and Stalinism, the Pope pointed out. "The concealment or denial of evil is like a bleeding wound that is not bandaged," said Francis. "Throughout the last century, our human family went through a series of huge, unprecedented tragedies ... The first one, which is often called 'the first genocide of the 20th century', hit your Armenian people - the first Christian nation - together with Catholics and Orthodox, Assyrians, Chaldeans and Greeks. Bishops, priests, and other cult leaders, women, men, children, the elderly and even helpless patients were killed."

Ankara immediately expressed its fair indignation. The Turkish Foreign Ministry invited the ambassador of the Vatican and said that "they were deeply saddened and upset" by the pontiff's statement. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called Francis' statement inappropriate. "Evaluating this tragedy unilaterally is inappropriate for the Pope. Religious leaders must create an environment for peace and unity of people and not incite hatred and confrontation," journalists quoted him as saying. According to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, "these statements by the Pope are far from the historical truth and the law. They are unacceptable. Representatives of religious teachings should not make such unfounded statements that incite hatred and enmity." Finally, the Turkish authorities recalled the country's ambassador to the Vatican - for consultations, and made it clear that the pontiff's statement may undermine the trusted relationship between Turkey and the Holy See.

This was followed by a new scandal. The European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on Turkey to recognize the "Armenian genocide" in order, according to MEPs, to promote "real reconciliation between the Turkish and Armenian peoples". In addition, according to MEPs, Armenia and Turkey should resume diplomatic relations, open the border and seek economic integration. The authors of the document welcomed statements by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other persons "who expressed their condolences and recognized the tough treatment of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire" and called on Turkey to "go further" - "to recognize the Armenian genocide and thus create conditions for real reconciliation between Turks and Armenians". "Real reconciliation" apparently means "reconciliation" by the Armenian scenario.

Here, perhaps, some clarification is needed. The authors of such documents tend to claim that they are not accusing modern Turkey of anything and are talking only about the Ottoman Empire. But, firstly, they call on modern Turkey to repent of the sins it never committed. Secondly, they do not want to take into account the simple fact that in Eastern Anatolia in 1915 there were not "executioners and victims": there were Armenian riots accompanied by a monstrous massacre of the "Muslim" population and quite a predictable attempt by the authorities to crush these riots. And finally, thirdly and most importantly, Ankara understands very well that the recognition of "genocide" is only the first step for the Armenian political elite, after which the issue of "liquidating the consequences of the genocide" will be raised, i.e. about the seizure of six of Turkey's Eastern Anatolian provinces.

Turkey's reaction followed immediately. The resolution of the European Parliament on the Armenian genocide may lead to a deterioration of relations between Ankara and Brussels, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry statement received by RIA Novosti: "The one-sided approach of the European Parliament to the assessment of the events of 1915 has the potential to worsen relations between Turkey and the EU. It does not help to solve the problem between Turkey and Armenia." It is not without reason that the Turkish Foreign Ministry accused the European Parliament of causing obstacles to the development of relations between Turkey and the EU and seeking to "rewrite the history of the events of 1915 once again". "This desire resulted in the absurd text of the 15 April 2015 resolution, which literally repeats the anti-Turkish cliches of Armenian propaganda. By adopting this resolution, the European Parliament repeated the mistake it made in the past, which is not compatible with international law and exceeds its jurisdiction," Turkish Foreign Ministry said in the statement. The document also notes that Ankara "does not take seriously those who adopted this resolution".

The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan also strongly criticized the decision of the European Parliament. The head of the Foreign Ministry press service, Hikmat Haciyev, called the decision unfounded, biased and frivolous and described it as a result of the policy of double standards. "The adoption of the resolution of the European Parliament was furthered by a number of circles under the influence of Armenia and the Armenian lobby. The use of the phrase 'Armenian genocide' is nothing more than an attempt to falsify history and use it for political purposes," said Haciyev. According to him, the circles that position themselves as champions of human rights ignore the bloody crimes of Armenians perpetrated in March 1918 in Baku and other regions of Azerbaijan. "These circles cannot find the courage to assess the facts of aggression and occupation of historical Azerbaijani lands by Armenia, its policy of ethnic cleansing in the territories of Azerbaijan and the Xocali tragedy," Haciyev said.

The resolution of the European Parliament on the so-called "Armenian genocide" is the most shameful in the history of this entity, does not reflect the reality, distorts the real history of the First World War and is an unjust and politicized decision that pursues a particular purpose, the assistant to the president of Azerbaijan for socio-political issues, Ali Hasanov, told reporters.

According to him, there is no doubt that this resolution stems from anti-Muslim and anti-Turkic sentiment. This decision showed that today Europe, most of the international entities created on the initiative of the West, and especially the European Parliament are dominated by double standards and Islamophobic sentiments. "For so many years we have been bringing to the world, including European entities, the truth about the unhealed wound - the Xocali genocide and real facts about atrocities committed by Armenians against Azerbaijanis and Turks over the last 200 years. However, European countries and such organizations as the European Parliament and the Council of Europe have not adopted a single objective decision in this connection, which would have a real weight. Historical facts and documents show that in 1915, there was no so-called 'Armenian genocide' in the territory of Turkey," he said.

This is much more serious, especially against the backdrop of the current rise in the popularity of ultra-right parties and politicians in Europe. Supporters of the recognition of the "Armenian genocide" love to present themselves as champions of liberal ideas, although in reality this is not quite true. More precisely, this is totally untrue. And here, perhaps, it is useful to recall the tragic events that shook the world on 22 July 2011, when the hitherto little-known young man named Anders Breivik first detonated an "infernal machine" in the government quarter of the Norwegian capital Oslo, killing seven people, and then staged a massacre on the island of Utoya, where he cold-bloodedly shot participants in the youth camp of the ruling Workers' Party, killing another 69 people. A few hours earlier, he posted on the Internet his 1,500-page "manifesto", where he talked about the need to "save Europe from Islamic danger" and at the same time speculated about the "Armenian genocide", saying: "Throughout history, the Turks have destroyed millions of Christians and Islamized hundreds of thousands by force. Turks are the most genocidal nation. They carried out genocide against Armenians, Greeks and Aissors." As for Turkey's membership in the EU, according to Breivik, to facilitate this is to promote jihad. "Why build relations with a country that wants to destroy us," Breivik says, noting that Turkey must also be expelled from NATO.

As it turned out, he found like-minded people in the European Parliament too.