BY GAREN YEGPARIAN
As often occurs, I fall far behind in my reading, so imagine my amazement when I saw what the title suggests in a short, Armenian language item in Asbarez a couple of months ago.
It seems his imperiousness, President Erdoğan of Turkey, is instructing the Republic of Armenia (RoA), or perhaps it’s more accurate to say his puppet in Yerevan, Pashinoghloo, that the right path for the RoA is to relieve itself of the influence of “third countries and its Diaspora”. Who can disagree? That’s the whole idea of sovereignty. Once in a while, when one’s antagonist gets something right, it is best to acknowledge it.
Nevertheless, let’s confront the paradox entailed in obeying Erdoğan’s instruction. If the RoA were to do that, it would be contradictory to the “guidance” given!
The irony of the statement is even juicier.
Turkey has been meddling in RoA-Azerbaijan (historically Armeno-Tatar, as the Azeris were known before the Bolsheviks invented “Azerbaijan”) interactions… forever. Since the collapse of the USSR, it has armed and otherwise abetted Azerbaijan with the explicit intent of weakening and eradicating the RoA. Among recent examples is Turkey’s demand that the RoA amend its constitution so it is more to Turkey’s liking. The audacity and temerity of that proposition are staggering!
But Turkey/Erdoğan’s “third country” actions and pronouncements are not limited to the RoA. The invasion and occupation of the northern part of Cyprus are the most glaring. Turkey’s incursions into Syria and support of anti-regime Islamists there is a similar example. Then there’s the ongoing, episodic bombing of Kurds in northern Iraq. Let’s not forget the meddling in Libya. And why-oh-why does Turkey need a military base in Somalia? Perhaps the most laughable, even pathetic, threat is the warning issued by Ankara that it might “act” if the Kurds in northeastern Syria were to hold local elections. This one was farcical. The country with the 19th largest economy in the world is sticking its nose into the shit…cleaning, street maintaining, building permit issuing, etc. functions of a bunch of small towns and villages.
With all this, my parting request of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is simple, please follow your own advice. But, before you do, please allow me to request two, final, exceptions. Please tell your megalomaniac buddy, Aliyev, in Baku to start acting like a human being and your Yerevan puppet, Pashinoghloo, to retire to some plush corner of your $615 million (in 2014 dollars) Ankara presidential palace.
