The Exodus - Part II?

“The killings of Uighur Turks by the Chinese police during demonstrations constitute genocide. I use this term intentionally.” (Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, July 2009)

“I went to Darfur myself and saw no genocide there. Muslims don’t commit genocide.” (Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, November 2009)

“Politicians cannot decide on genocides. This is the duty of historians.” (Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, March 2010)

This concise compilation of three statements on three different dates within a span of eight months has been brought to the public’s attention by Cem Toker, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, or LDP. Put in chronological sequence, the three remarks unmistakably summarize Mr. Erdoğan’s mindset on genocide.

When combined, the three statements allow us to safely conclude, on the prime minister’s behalf, that: 1) Politicians other than Mr. Erdoğan himself should not make judgments about genocide, a crime Muslims don’t commit but others – non-Muslim Chinese, for instance – do; 2) The deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians cannot amount to genocide, but the deaths of less than a hundred Uighur Turks can; and 3) Genocide is something visiting dignitaries can “see,” and if they don’t see it, a genocide did not take place.

How convincing this mental calculus can be is a question we had better leave to the reader’s judgment.

More alarmingly, what Mr. Erdoğan and his foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, are trying to “market” in a nice gift wrapping that reads “Turkey: A regional power” is becoming what it is privately: a regional bully.

Almost a century after the mass deportation of Armenians from Ottoman Turkey, a Turkish leader is talking about a second mass deportation of Armenians, this time from Turkish Turkey. The Western press agrees that Mr. Erdoğan’s threat to expel thousands of illegal Armenian immigrants in retaliation to American and Swedish lawmakers’ recognition of the Armenian “genocide” amounts to racism.

Your taxi driver, or the owner of the shop on the corner, could have made such insane proposals and you would smile back and tell him it would not be nice if we made “Exodus II” in the 21st century. In 10 minutes time, you might forget what your taxi driver or the shop owner had suggested, but it makes a difference if it is your prime minister threatening Armenian immigrants with mass deportation – not because of something they did wrong, but because foreign lawmakers had passed resolutions.

In reality, how could Turkey deport 100,000 illegal Armenian immigrants? Would the police launch a collective Armenian-hunt throughout the country? Stop every illegal immigrant, raid their homes? You are illegal here. Yes, sir. What’s your nationality? Georgian, sir. Good, you can go. How about you? I am Armenian, sir. Ha ha, got you! You are under arrest!

Of course, some cabinet minister, some advisor, some party bigwig must be sitting on his desk by now, trying to find the diplomatic language to “correct the prime minister” and to tell us that “Mr. Prime Minister’s remarks were misunderstood.” Similarly, the army of pro-Erdoğan columnists must be pondering how to pen articles in defense of our liberal prime minister who would never think of such a racist act. Here are a few proposals to help our colleagues:

They can claim that Mr. Erdoğan threatened to expel the Armenian immigrants because he was under pressure from the fascist generals to do so. They can also claim that what the prime minister said was really meant not as a threat to expel the Armenians but as a way to illustrate to the world how hospitable we Turks are, especially Islamist Turks. Would the secular Turks tolerate 100,000 illegal immigrants? God forbid, they would have executed the Armenians had they been in power!

A note to the prime minister’s advisors: Quickly organize an “Armenian immigrant initiative.” Organize a fancy gathering. Let the prime minister speak to them, embrace them and shower them with precious gifts. Tell them they are our dearest guests. The Armenians smile, cheer for the prime minister, thundering applause, curtains down. Make sure there is plenty of local and foreign press coverage. And, presto, our liberal, warm-hearted, tolerant prime minister is back!

But, just in case, poor Armenian immigrants should better start praying that some new distant foreign parliament does not join the 20 or so others already in genocide recognition these days. Or they should start practicing to pose as Georgians if they come under police interrogation.