Armenian News-NEWS.am presents excerpts of Emanuele Ottolenghi’s article published in the Israeli Haaretz:

Speaking of apologies, Turkey ranks 138 in the 2010 Reporters without borders freedom of speech index.  How about releasing those 61 journalists rotting in Turkey’s jails? How about apologizing to them? Or maybe the jail terms are the price one must pay for Turkey’s grandeur (Or Erdogan’s, at least).

But that is the least Turkey must apologize for.

Turkey continues to practice state-sanctioned genocide denial policy and prosecutes those who dare challenge it. Is it not time, 90-something years after the Ottoman Empire eliminated more than 1.5 million Armenians, that Mr. Erdogan’s “mildly Islamic” party as defined by The Economist, acknowledges Turkey’s dark past and apologizes for its country’s crimes?

The list of things Turkey must apologize for is long. Turkey continues to illegally occupy Northern Cyprus, the territory of a European Union member, after having conquered it with aggression which ended up with ethnic cleansing and illegal settlements. No apologies so far. Moreover Turkey threatened to freeze relations with the EU if Cyprus receives EU’s rotating presidency next year, as it is supposed to. Mr. Erdogan directs his gunboat diplomacy threats at Cyprus as well - as if occupation, ethnic cleansing and the creation of a fictitiously independent republic in the northern part of the island were not enough.

Turkey also denies the basic group rights to millions of its Kurdish citizens discriminating them for their ethnic and linguistic differences. It violates the sovereignty of its neighbors by conducting ruthless cross-border raids with impunity. It has not made a name for itself in the human rights sphere when it comes to fighting against the terrorists of PKK.

Moral of the story: If you behave like a bull you should not live in a china shop. And if you live in a glass house think twice before throwing stones at your neighbors. Mr. Erdogan wants apologies? How about starting with one?