Turkey’s president sues politician who implied his mother is Armenian
The public apology several Turkish scholars recently issued to Armenia has sparked a campaign to impel the government to issue a similar apology, in turn setting off a very heated national debate.
Nationalist political parties have strongly condemned the apology campaign. Janan Aritman, an MP from the opposition Republican People’s Party, accused President Abdullah Gul of supporting the apology because of his mother’s alleged ethnic origin.
Aritman also criticized President Abdullah Gul’s attitude towards the campaign. Saying that Abdullah Gul was encouraged by his visit to Armenia, Aritman dropped a hint that the president’s mother was Armenian.
“We see that the president supports this campaign. Abdullah Gul should be the president of the whole Turkish nation, not of his ethnic origin. Investigate the ethnic origin of the president’s mother, and you will see,” he said.
Following that scurrilous allegation, President Gul paid a visit to his lawyer.
Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul has filed a lawsuit against Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Canan Aritman, who claimed that Gul’s mother is of Armenian origin. “Aritman, who has political motivations, caused doubts about the performance of the president, who has non-political responsibilities,” the petition states.
“The defendant’s claim, which is based on racism and discrimination, is a heavy assault on the client’s personal and family values, honor and reputation.”
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President Gul announced that his mother’s side, the Satoglu family from Kayseri, and his father’s side, the Gul family also from Kayseri, are Muslim and Turkish, according to centuries of written genealogy records.
Several of Mr Gul’s family members are also suing the MP.
[...] POST-GENOCIDE WATCH: Turkey’s president sues politician who implied his mother is Armenian …. [...]
[...] POST-GENOCIDE WATCH: Turkey’s president sues politician who implied his mother is Armenian …. [...]