Will Erdogan visit genocide memorial in 2015?
Turkey’s official position is not likely to change on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.
"It is very likely for the prime minister to go to Armenia, lay a wreath at the so-called Armenian genocide memorial and apologize to Armenians." This earth-shattering prediction is not based on information or reports. It's the accusation of a Turkish nationalist against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan has done so many things to upset us, this nationalist is saying, don’t be surprised if he apologizes to the Armenians.
True. Erdogan’s trip to Diyarbakir, his use of the word "Kurdistan" and admitting openly that his government is negotiating with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, are all breaking important taboos for Turkey. Can Erdogan break a similar taboo on the issue of the Armenian genocide?
What the non-Muslims have suffered in Turkey has rarely been on the prime minister's agenda. He hasn’t repeated his 2009 remarks that surprised everyone: "Those with different ethnic identities were expelled from our country. This, in fact, was the consequence of a fascist approach." No doubt that remark was alluding to the 1915 tragedy and other unfortunate events in Turkey’s history.
Erdogan now frequently describes Turkey as a mosaic made up of diverse ethnic identities. We often hear him mention Arabs, Kurds, Turks, Circassians and the Laz, but when describing this mosaic Erdogan never mentions Turkey’s long-standing non-Muslims such as Armenians, Greeks, Jews and Syriacs.
