Tweet
YAZIDIS ACCUSE ERDOGAN OF ENGAGING IN HATE SPEECH, DEMAND APOLOGY
Today's Zaman
Oct 22 2012
Turkey
Turkey's Yazidi community has accused Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan of committing a hate crime and is demanding an apology.
In a speech in the eastern province of Elazıg, the prime minister
said, "We value everyone simply because they are human beings, even if
they are Yazidis," prompting criticism from among the Yazidi community.
Yazidis are members of a pre-Islamic Kurdish religious group who
live in northern Iraq and Syria. Additional communities in Armenia,
Turkey and Syria have been in decline since the 1990s, with their
members having emigrated to Europe, and especially to Germany.
Speaking to the Taraf daily, Veysi Bulut, head of the Culture and
Solidarity Association of Batman Yazidis, said Erdogan committed a
hate crime with his recent remarks.
"It is unbecoming of the prime minister to degrade his own citizens,
labeling them Alevis and Yazidis," Bulut said, accusing Erdogan of
discriminating against the Yazidi community living in the country's
East and Southeast.
Under the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, no
one should be subjected to denigration based on religious beliefs or
ethnicity, Bulut further stated.
Ali Atalan, also a Yazidi and a former deputy from Die Linke (The
Left), a German political party, told Taraf that the prime minister
should apologize for his "offensive" remarks.
Three days ago, members of the Yazidi community held an international
conference in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır which
many Yazidi scholars and opinion leaders attended. Speaking at
the conference, Ahmet Turk, the former chairman of the now-defunct
Democratic Society Party (DTP), apologized on behalf of his ancestors
for past mistakes committed against Yazidis.
Speaking on behalf of Yazidis living in Germany, Emin AkbaÅ~_,
a member of the Federation of Yazidi Associations in Germany, also
criticized Erdogan, calling his remarks "unfortunate."
"We, as Yazidis, do not expect much from the new constitution
concerning the rights of minorities," AkbaÅ~_ told Taraf.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-296027-yazidis-accuse-erdogan-of-engaging-in-hate-speech-demand-apology.html
Today's Zaman
Oct 22 2012
Turkey
Turkey's Yazidi community has accused Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan of committing a hate crime and is demanding an apology.
In a speech in the eastern province of Elazıg, the prime minister
said, "We value everyone simply because they are human beings, even if
they are Yazidis," prompting criticism from among the Yazidi community.
Yazidis are members of a pre-Islamic Kurdish religious group who
live in northern Iraq and Syria. Additional communities in Armenia,
Turkey and Syria have been in decline since the 1990s, with their
members having emigrated to Europe, and especially to Germany.
Speaking to the Taraf daily, Veysi Bulut, head of the Culture and
Solidarity Association of Batman Yazidis, said Erdogan committed a
hate crime with his recent remarks.
"It is unbecoming of the prime minister to degrade his own citizens,
labeling them Alevis and Yazidis," Bulut said, accusing Erdogan of
discriminating against the Yazidi community living in the country's
East and Southeast.
Under the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, no
one should be subjected to denigration based on religious beliefs or
ethnicity, Bulut further stated.
Ali Atalan, also a Yazidi and a former deputy from Die Linke (The
Left), a German political party, told Taraf that the prime minister
should apologize for his "offensive" remarks.
Three days ago, members of the Yazidi community held an international
conference in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır which
many Yazidi scholars and opinion leaders attended. Speaking at
the conference, Ahmet Turk, the former chairman of the now-defunct
Democratic Society Party (DTP), apologized on behalf of his ancestors
for past mistakes committed against Yazidis.
Speaking on behalf of Yazidis living in Germany, Emin AkbaÅ~_,
a member of the Federation of Yazidi Associations in Germany, also
criticized Erdogan, calling his remarks "unfortunate."
"We, as Yazidis, do not expect much from the new constitution
concerning the rights of minorities," AkbaÅ~_ told Taraf.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-296027-yazidis-accuse-erdogan-of-engaging-in-hate-speech-demand-apology.html