Erdogan justifies racism
"Whereas some people in Turkey view Armenians as their brothers, our brothers are the people of Khojalu," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan declared during a meeting held by his "Justice and Development" Party.
Touching upon the February 26 thousand-man demonstration dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the 1992 events of Khojalu held at Taksim Square in Istanbul, which struck the eye with the anti-Armenian calls and slogans, Erdogan mentioned: "Even if racist slogans were heard during that rally, that is possible during any thousand-man action. Nobody has the right to take advantage of that to hurt Turkey's image.
The Turkish Prime Minister also expressed indignation with those defending the Armenians.
"Why are those human rights supporters keeping silent about the victims of Khojalu? Those poor people were killed by the Armenians. Whereas some people consider Armenians their brothers, our Armenians were the residents of Khojalu," said Erdogan.
We remind that on 26 February 1992, on the night of the liberation of Artsakh's Ivanyan and former Khojalu settlement, Azerbaijani soldiers killed the peaceful people of the city as they were escaping toward Aghdam through the corridor provided by the Armenian forces with the accompaniment of armed detachments.
Azerbaijan claims that the refugees were killed by the Armenian armed forces. However, in an interview, then President of Azerbaijan Ayaz Mutalibov confessed that the Khojalu massacres were organized by the oppositionist "National Front of Azerbaijan" to create an opportunity for his resignation. In 2007, editor-in-chief of the "Real Azerbaijan" periodical Eynulla Fatullayev was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for expressing his position on the Khojalu events that differed from the official position.
