As Europe veers to the right it is worth remembering past atrocities carried out by authoritarian regimes in the last century or so. The Ottoman Turkish regime carried out the mass killing of Armenians, a fact that the Turkish government disputes to this day.
There were approximately 2 million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire at the start of the First World War. It is estimated that 1.5 million Armenians were killed in a campaign of deportations and massacres inflicted on Armenian women, men and children behind the mask of so called evacuation from the battlefront.
The founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, carried out major reforms such as the emancipation of women and the dissolution of the Moslem ruling institutions. This paved the way for Turkey’s increased attraction to Europeans as a tourist destination. The EU would like to admit Turkey into its membership, but has some preconditions.
Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus in 1974 split the country in two. Turkey wants to keep its military installed on the island which may be a stumbling block in any peace negotiations.
Turkey’s population is mostly Sunni Moslem. The Kurdish minority forms about 18% of the population. The Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) was formed in the late 1970’s launching an armed struggle for an independent Kurdistan within Turkey.
Current trends in Turkey’s politics indicate a reversal of Atatürk’s opposition to Muslim dominance of the Turkish state. Geo-politically Turkey is in a key position, bridging the powder keg of the Middle East and the safe haven of EU countries.
Kurdish militias are fighting against Islamic State, but their fighters have to defend themselves from Syrians, Iraqis and Turks.
The Promise is a film that casts Charlotte Le Bon, Oscar Isaac and Christian Bale in a love triangle during the 1915 genocide in Turkey. A French warship rescued 4,000 Armenians fleeing the Turkish army at that time.
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