Monday, August 8, 2022
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
NEWSLETTER
ՀԱՅ
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
ՀԱՅ
No Result
View All Result

Erdogan Turns Turkey into a Vast Gulag: Some of His Actions Hark Back to 1915

by Harut Sassounian
August 2, 2016
in Columns, My Turn
3
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Harut Sassounian
Harut Sassounian

BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN
Ominous developments are taking place in Turkey beyond anyone’s imagination, under the guise of capturing coup plotters. Calling the coup attempt of July 15 “a gift from Allah,” Pres. Erdogan is exploiting this opportunity to realize his long-awaited dream of not only becoming a Sultan, but also Stalin and Hitler, all wrapped into one!
Shortly after the attempted coup, Erdogan ordered the arrest and dismissal of tens of thousands of military officers (including hundreds of generals and admirals), police, academics, civil servants, judges and journalists, as well as closing down hundreds of private schools. These actions were so swift that it was difficult to believe such a comprehensive list of suspects could have been compiled in a brief period. In reality, the Turkish dictator did not have to prepare any list, as he detained and dismissed all those who were not his followers!
On July 20, by a vote of 346 to 115, the Turkish Parliament approved a bill declaring a state of emergency for 90 days and handing Erdogan carte blanche to rule by Presidential Decree for 30 days. Both of these deadlines are likely to be extended to longer periods. The 115 parliamentarians who dared to vote against the bill may pay dearly for their disloyalty, as they could be stripped of their parliamentary immunity and charged with participating in the coup d’état. To prevent all judicial review of its illegal actions, the Turkish government informed the Council of Europe that it will no longer accept the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights!
There are some eerie parallels between the draconian measures of Erdogan’s regime and the tyrannical actions taken against Armenians and other Christians in Ottoman Turkey during their genocides of 1915-23:
1) The Turkish government placed a lien on the assets of suspects in the July 15 coup. After their probable conviction, these assets will be turned over to the state, similar to the properties confiscated from deported and massacred Armenians and others beginning in 1915;
2) All Erdogan supporters who were killed or injured during the coup attempt will be compensated by the confiscated assets of suspected plotters. A similar action was taken during the Armenian Genocide when the looted assets of Armenians were handed over to Turkish migrants from the Balkans and families of Young Turk leaders who had been assassinated by Armenian avengers.
Can Dundar, editor of the opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet, taking a big personal risk, bravely asserted that under the state of emergency rule Turkey will have “an oppressive regime where liberties will be suspended, press will be censored, and the parliament eliminated.” Dundar failed to acknowledge that these oppressive conditions existed in Turkey long before the attempted coup. Indeed, Erdogan revealed his devious dictatorial plans over 10 years ago: “democracy is like a train. You take it where you have to go, and then you get off!”
Having reached the end of his “train ride,” Erdogan has now announced that he will reinstate the death penalty against “the coup plotters,” as a way of getting rid of his political rivals! European Union officials have warned the Turkish leader that such a move would bar Turkey permanently from EU membership!
In addition, Amnesty International issued a scathing report last week, documenting scores of violations of the rights of detainees and accusing Erdogan’s security forces of torturing, starving and even raping soldiers accused of complicity in the coup! The detainees have also been denied access to their lawyers.
In his obsessive fervor to eliminate all political opponents, Erdogan has demanded that the United States extradite to Turkey his arch-rival, Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, for allegedly organizing the July coup. In a racist effort to denigrate Gulen, Erdogan’s cronies have also accused him of being of Armenian ancestry, and having written a letter to a former Armenian Patriarch of Turkey, 50 years ago, acknowledging the Armenian Genocide!
The influential International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) issued two reports on July 18 and 21, designating the harsh measures of Erdogan’s regime as “arbitrary and contrary to fundamental rule of law principles.” Furthermore, ICJ’s Secretary General Wilder Taylor warned Turkey: “There are human rights that can never be restricted even in a state of emergency, notably the right to life, the prohibition of torture or ill-treatment, and the essential elements of arbitrary deprivation of liberty, and to a fair trial.”
Pres. Erdogan has done more damage to the Turkish nation than the so-called coup plotters by arresting and dismissing 60,000 soldiers, government officials and other civilians, thereby emasculating the once powerful military and undermining the country’s security.

Harut Sassounian

Harut Sassounian

Next Post

Putin to Discuss Karabakh in Upcoming Talks

Comments 3

  1. State of Emergency says:
    6 years ago

    Sargsyan Turns Armenia into a Vast Gulag: Some of His Actions Hark Back to March 4, 1922

    Reply
  2. Andy says:
    6 years ago

    Sargsyan with Dashnak help and silence turns Armenia into Gulag. I wonder for how much did you sell your country to Sargsyan????

    Reply
  3. ilmazian says:
    6 years ago

    just wait to ararat one day become to armenian hands :-))))) maybe about 2000 years ,just only maybe 😉 we can maybe give it to kurds than you can fight v.s kurds :-)) remember we turks die 100 but we reborn 1000 , republik of turkey dies but another turkish state will take over. like the seldjuks turks die than come ottomanian turks come ,ottomans die than turkish republik come… HEYY YOU ERMENI JUST DREAM OF ARARAT :-)) 100 MILLION TURKS IN WORLD NEVER EVER LET A ARMENIAN FOOT ON ARARAT. BE SERIOS .think about how you get food instead of dreaming of “OUR ARARAT” ;-))))

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

As Ankara Warns Yerevan, Erdogan Declares Artsakh Part of Azerbaijan

As Ankara Warns Yerevan, Erdogan Declares Artsakh Part of Azerbaijan

10 hours ago
Massis Kabob to Open First Standalone Restaurant in Glendale

Massis Kabob to Open First Standalone Restaurant in Glendale

10 hours ago

Connect with us

  • About
  • Advertising
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

Accessibility

Accessibility modes

Epilepsy Safe Mode
Dampens color and removes blinks
This mode enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode
Improves website's visuals
This mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode
Helps to focus on specific content
This mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode
Reduces distractions and improve focus
This mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode
Allows using the site with your screen-reader
This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.

Online Dictionary

    Readable Experience

    Content Scaling
    Default
    Text Magnifier
    Readable Font
    Dyslexia Friendly
    Highlight Titles
    Highlight Links
    Font Sizing
    Default
    Line Height
    Default
    Letter Spacing
    Default
    Left Aligned
    Center Aligned
    Right Aligned

    Visually Pleasing Experience

    Dark Contrast
    Light Contrast
    Monochrome
    High Contrast
    High Saturation
    Low Saturation
    Adjust Text Colors
    Adjust Title Colors
    Adjust Background Colors

    Easy Orientation

    Mute Sounds
    Hide Images
    Virtual Keyboard
    Reading Guide
    Stop Animations
    Reading Mask
    Highlight Hover
    Highlight Focus
    Big Dark Cursor
    Big Light Cursor
    Navigation Keys

    Asbarez.com Accessibility Statement

    Accessibility Statement

    • www.asbarez.com
    • August 8, 2022

    Compliance status

    We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.

    To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.

    This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.

    Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.

    If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email

    Screen-reader and keyboard navigation

    Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:

    1. Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.

      These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.

    2. Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.

      Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Disability profiles supported in our website

    • Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
    • Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
    • Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
    • ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
    • Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
    • Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments

    1. Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
    2. Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over 7 different coloring options.
    3. Animations – epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
    4. Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
    5. Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
    6. Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
    7. Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.

    Browser and assistive technology compatibility

    We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users.

    Notes, comments, and feedback

    Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to