88 Years After the Genocide,Turks Still Persecuting Armenians By Harut SassounianPublisher, The California Courier The Turkish government and its apologists often try to cover up thepersecution of minorities in Turkey by pointing to flattering statementsmade under duress by the cowering leaders of non-Turkish communities.The fact is that minorities in Turkey, including Armenians, Assyrians,Greeks, Jews and Kurds, are not only deprived of their basic civil rights,but live in such fear that they dare not speak out about their oppressedconditions, lest they be arrested or worse!This is the reason why when Western officials meet with the leaders of thesecommunities in Turkey, they hear nothing but praise despite the government'srepressive policies toward the minorities.While members of minority groups keep their mouths shut fearing for theirvery lives, a handful of Turkish human rights activists put their own liveson the line by daring to expose the deprivations suffered not just by ethniccommunities, but by almost all Turks. Despite the self-proclaimed reformsundertaken by the Turkish government in recent months to meet therequirements for membership in the European Union, many of these Turkishactivists are still languishing in jail!Once in a blue moon, however, a foolhardy minority member takes theimprudent step of coming forward to denounce the harassment he or she issuffering at the hands of the Turkish authorities. One such courageous soulis Caroline Jamgeuz, an Armenian pharmacist in Bahchesaray, in the region ofVan, who despite her Turkified name, is still persecuted because of herArmenian origin.Jamgeuz recently told the Turkish press that due to her Armenian ancestry,she had been harassed for years by various government officials. Beforesettling in Bahchesaray, where she opened a pharmacy, she had been goingfrom town to town to escape accusations that she was a member of illegalorganizations. She was even thrown in jail. "In Turkey, anyone who is not aTurk is constantly harassed," she said. "And if you happen to be anArmenian, you almost don't have the right to live."Jamgeuz said, "I have been moving around the country for several years. Butthe government always harassed me because of my Armenian heritage. I finallysettled in Bahchesaray and opened a pharmacy because there are a number ofelderly Armenians living in this town. However, the pressures against me didnot stop. The boycott against my business continued here too. Most of themilitary officers serving in this area are affiliated with Milli HareketParty. The Commanders tell the village guards and other officials, 'if youbuy medicine from Caroline's pharmacy, we will take away your weapons andfire you.' Despite the fact that I have a license from the government tosell medicine, no one dares to buy any medicine from me. My customers areconstantly threatened. Wherever I open a pharmacy, a group of thugsimmediately show up to harass me."She said that the authorities are now trying to force her out of business bypreventing new shipments of medicines from reaching her pharmacy, so shewould not have anything to sell.Jamgeuz said that when she had a pharmacy in Kars, she was falsely accusedof being a member of the PKK (outlawed Kurdish group) and thrown in jail for3.5 months. She had moved to Kars to escape from harassment in Istanbul.After being released from jail, she lived in Erzeroum and Erzingan where shewas again jailed for 3.5 months.She said that at the pharmacy she owned in Istanbul, two police cars werealways in front of her store, 24 hours a day. She was accused of harboringanti-Turkish feelings. They said that she was a member of an Armenianterrorist organization. Eventually, they succeeded in driving her intobankruptcy. She ended her tragic story by asking, "Is being an Armenian ac rime in Turkey?"Given the brutal nature of the Turkish regime, Caroline Jamgeuz's realtroubles may just be beginning, now that she has gone public with her storyof harassment and intimidation! European and American human rightsorganizations and western government officials should closely monitor hersituation to guarantee her personal safety.Eighty-eight years after the Genocide, the Turkish government is not justdenying the past, but continuing to carry out the persecution of theremnants of the Armenian population until not a single Armenian remains inTurkey, as Talaat, the mastermind of the Genocide, had ruthlessly avowed! back ... © 2004 ARMENIAN DEMOCRATIC LIBERAL Party - Ramgavar Azadagan - All rights reserved