[Marxism] Turk parliamentarian compares U.S.A. to Nazi Germany

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

LA Times, November 27, 2004     

THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ
Turk Compares U.S. to Hitler
        
From Reuters

ANKARA, Turkey — The head of Turkey's parliamentary human rights group 
has accused Washington of genocide in Iraq and behaving worse than Adolf 
Hitler, in remarks that underscore the depth of Turkish opposition to 
U.S. policy in the region.

The U.S. Embassy rejected the comments and said they were potentially 
damaging to Turkish-U.S. relations.

"The occupation has turned into barbarism," the Friday edition of 
newspaper Yeni Safak quoted Mehmet Elkatmis, head of parliament's human 
rights commission, as saying. "The U.S. administration is committing 
genocide … in Iraq.

"Never in human history have such genocide and cruelty been witnessed. 
Such a genocide was never seen in the time of the pharaohs nor of Hitler 
nor of [Benito] Mussolini," Italy's World War II-era fascist leader, 
Elkatmis said.

"This occupation has entirely imperialist aims," he was quoted as saying.

Elkatmis does not speak for Turkey's government but is a prominent 
member of the ruling Justice and Development Party, a center-right group 
with Islamist roots.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul played down Elkatmis' comments but 
defended Turks' right to speak freely.

A diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara said, "Such unfounded, 
inaccurate, exaggerated claims are not good for relations, especially at 
a time of strain when Turkish public opinion is so critical of what the 
United States is trying to do in Iraq."

The diplomat said Elkatmis had overlooked the fact that insurgents like 
those in the Iraqi city of Fallouja had abducted and beheaded a number 
of Turkish truck drivers in recent months.

Elkatmis' comments drew barely a flicker of interest in Turkey, where 
polls point to growing anti-American sentiment.

Turkey has been especially disturbed by the recent U.S. offensive 
against insurgents in Fallouja in which civilians have died and mosques 
have been damaged.

--
Marxism list: www.marxmail.org


_______________________________________________
Marxism mailing list
Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism