Another historian in Turkey threatened with prosecution
Turkey History Institution chairman Halaço?lu claims Kurds are converted Turkmen and Kurdish Alevis are converted Armenians. Alevi institutions, politicians demand his resignation and accuse him of racism.
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There is no such thing as a Kurdish Alevi claimed Turkish History Institution chairman, Yusuf Halaço?lu, whose comment prompted a demand for his resignation by the Alevi-Bekta?i institutions and the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP).
At a symposium titled “Av?ars in Turkish History and Culture” Halaço?lu argued that Kurds are Sunni and Alevis are Turkmen: “Kurds who live in Turkey are originally descendents of Turkmens, and Kurdish Alevis are originally Armenian,” he said. “Some of the ones in the eastern Anatolian cities of Tunceli and Sivas, who define themselves as Kurdish Alevis, are originally Armenian. Halaço?lu also claimed that many members of the outlawed Turkish Workers and Peasants Liberation Army (T?KKO) and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) are converted Armenian Kurds....
The DTP's president Ahmet Türk criticized Halaço?lu at a press conference yesterday demanding that the government act against his racist and separatist declarations and remove him from office. “Halaço?lu is unaware of history. Armenians had not been subjected to any suppression until 1914. After that they needed to hide their identities. Yet the roots of Kurdish or Turkish Alevism date back to the 1570s,” Türk said.
Read entire article at Turkish Daily News
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There is no such thing as a Kurdish Alevi claimed Turkish History Institution chairman, Yusuf Halaço?lu, whose comment prompted a demand for his resignation by the Alevi-Bekta?i institutions and the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP).
At a symposium titled “Av?ars in Turkish History and Culture” Halaço?lu argued that Kurds are Sunni and Alevis are Turkmen: “Kurds who live in Turkey are originally descendents of Turkmens, and Kurdish Alevis are originally Armenian,” he said. “Some of the ones in the eastern Anatolian cities of Tunceli and Sivas, who define themselves as Kurdish Alevis, are originally Armenian. Halaço?lu also claimed that many members of the outlawed Turkish Workers and Peasants Liberation Army (T?KKO) and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) are converted Armenian Kurds....
The DTP's president Ahmet Türk criticized Halaço?lu at a press conference yesterday demanding that the government act against his racist and separatist declarations and remove him from office. “Halaço?lu is unaware of history. Armenians had not been subjected to any suppression until 1914. After that they needed to hide their identities. Yet the roots of Kurdish or Turkish Alevism date back to the 1570s,” Türk said.