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MHP Balıkesir deputy Duran Bulut speaks during a parliamentary session. (Photo: İHA, Yılmaz Uzun)
5 April 2013 /TODAYSZAMAN.COM, İSTANBUL
A Turkish nationalist deputy has ferociously criticized the inclusion of a Today's Zaman columnist of Armenian descent in the group of “wise men” tasked with explaining to the public the necessity to move forward with the settlement process in the hope of ending the decades-old conflict between the Turkish military and the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Balıkesir deputy of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Ahmet Duran Bulut on Friday criticized the inclusion of Armenians on the list. It was not immediately clear which people he was referring to but there is only one person on the list, Etyen Mahçupyan, who openly identifies himself as Armenian. Bulut ridiculed Mahçupyan, belittling him and mocking the description of him as “wise.”
“I don't need the brain of an Armenian. What could an Armenian think for the Turkish nation? We have Armenian citizens in Turkey. I respect and love them. But they [the government] appointed those people who want to take revenge on the Turkish state as wise men,” Bulut said.
The deputy also said he was saddened to see prominent Turkish movie actor Hülya Koçyiğit listed among people he described as “dirty.” He claimed that the people on the wise men list are “tools” to divide Turkey and that they are disturbed by the notion of “Turkishness.” He also labeled most of them as “disabled in their race.”
Members of the wise men group, made up of 62 public opinion leaders, academics and artists, were announced on Wednesday. The formation of the “wise men” list sparked debates in the media and among the public. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that the common aim of all people within the commission is the solution of the Kurdish conflict.
The commission is made up of groups organized on a regional basis and will be active in seven regions across the country, but its duties are not yet clear. There will be a chairman, a deputy chairman and a secretary for each region's group of wise people.
“I don't need the brain of an Armenian. What could an Armenian think for the Turkish nation? We have Armenian citizens in Turkey. I respect and love them. But they [the government] appointed those people who want to take revenge on the Turkish state as wise men,” Bulut said.
The deputy also said he was saddened to see prominent Turkish movie actor Hülya Koçyiğit listed among people he described as “dirty.” He claimed that the people on the wise men list are “tools” to divide Turkey and that they are disturbed by the notion of “Turkishness.” He also labeled most of them as “disabled in their race.”
Members of the wise men group, made up of 62 public opinion leaders, academics and artists, were announced on Wednesday. The formation of the “wise men” list sparked debates in the media and among the public. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that the common aim of all people within the commission is the solution of the Kurdish conflict.
The commission is made up of groups organized on a regional basis and will be active in seven regions across the country, but its duties are not yet clear. There will be a chairman, a deputy chairman and a secretary for each region's group of wise people.
