Who is Garo Paylan? If you sufficiently keep up with international politics that name may ring a bell. You may be reminded of the undemocratic, hostile events that occurred in Ankara, Turkey earlier this year in May. Still puzzled? Christopher Atamian’s blog post accurately outlines the following unruly events.
Garo Paylan is one of the three Armenians in the Turkish parliament. Atamian states Paylan has expressed a great urge towards the Turkish government’s recognition and reparations in regard to the atrocities of 1915. The deportations and the deaths of over one and a half million Armenian people, an unspeakable tragedy, is known as the Armenian Genocide. To present date, unlike the atonement of the perpetrators of the Holocaust (against the Jews), there has been no proper acknowledgement or reparations on behalf the Turkish government.
On May third 2016 during a session of parliament, Garo was personally victimized, physically attacked and verbally oppressed by the governing Justice and Development (AKP) party members. The sight was absolutely appalling to the world. GOPAC exclaims, to develop vital trust of the public, parliamentarians should execute ethical behavior when “actively and visibly carry[ing] out their democratic roles (representation, legislation and oversight) in the public interest”.
Turkey is known for its corrupt and unlawful acts of anti-democracy. The nation is consistently one among the top countries with the highest number of jailed journalists. An example, the Hrant Dink murder of 2007 (journalist for the Agos bilingual newspaper) who was assassinated in broad daylight for writing about the Armenian genocide.
This video shows AKP member Mehmet Metiner attacking Paylan, followed by full-fledged acts of verbal and physical violence that viciously broke out amongst the members. In a press statement Paylan exclaims “during the attack, AKP members pointed at me and yelled ‘Come, Garo is there,’ and stressed my Armenian heritage, yelling hateful slurs directed at me…”.
As someone who lives in Canada, I am accustomed to expecting a certain level of integrity, accountability and ethical behavior of sorts in a professional environment. It truly angers me to witness these tragedies happening in this current day in age. It goes to prove that unless condemned, history does repeat itself. (Paraphrased from George Santayana: “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.)
I am proud that I live in a country that explicitly recognizes the massacres of 1915 as the “Armenian Genocide” (2004). I am aware as to how vital it is to practice ethical behavior since [my family and] I have witnessed inequitable, unjust behavior simply from our ethnic background and historical past. I will stand for justice against unethical behavior, and I will stand for the justice of Garo Paylan.
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