By Armen Gevorgyan

One could hardly remain untouched by the “kind and honest” faces of the two Turkish humanists – President Abdullah Gul and Premier Recept Erdogan — who initiated democratic movement and rapprochement with Armenians, Kurds and Greeks. How great is their indignation at the Swiss citizens, who, in a recent referendum, voted against the construction of minarets in their country. “Disgrace!” Gul exclaims, echoed by Erdogan’s “Fascism!” Indeed, the bloodthirsty Swiss fascists are violating poor Muslims’ rights – Muslims want nothing but construct a couple of minarets. A real reason for indignation, is it not?

On the other hand, it is “by a sheer accident” that Messrs Gul and Erdogan, who have been at the helm of the Turkish state for a decade, have overlooked the fact that the crosses are removed from ancient Armenian churches in their home country, Turkey — the churches of a people that has been living in that land for centuries without “flooding” it like Muslims have flooded into Switzerland over the last decade. At present, we are offered to view the Turkish authorities’ consent to reinstall the cross on the Akhtamar Church on Lake Van as the best of the deeds. They are even thinking about allowing religious services there. Gul and Erdogan must be unaware of the fact it was not as a result of referendum that the cross was removed from the Akhtamar Church. Rather, it was after the annihilation and deportation of all the church people. It was only ten years later that they “guessed right”: the cross could be reinstalled. Armenians do not live in the region any longer, but it would not be a bad thing to develop the local tourist industry. President Gul and Premier Erdogan have not probably seen the ruins of Ani, hundreds of destroyed churches and monasteries. They failed to notice that their predecessors, champions of democracy, drowned the faith in God or, as Muslims call him, Allah in blood. They committed a crime against humanity even their grandchildren cannot exonerate themselves from.

And the persons in question pose as judges of European democracy, while it is under Europe’s actual pressure that they have to face the products of their civilization, wriggling and resorting to various diplomatic tricks to conceal their history of barbarity, reinstalling crosses and rewriting their laws. “Disgrace!” we will exclaim, and we are one hundred percent right.