A Armenian Sat in Your Chair 110 Years Ago: Paylan to Çavuşoğlu

The Kurdish-backed People's Democratic Party (HDP) MP Karo Paylan spoke in the Turkish Parliament (Meclis) about the nationalism, discrimination, and animosity towards neighbors prevailing in the country. This was reported by ermenihaber.am.

Paylan noted that for centuries, peoples in Rome, Byzantium, Seljuk, and Ottoman states managed to coexist in the region, adding: “But after that, the disease of nationalism penetrated this region for 150 years. The disease of privilege has infiltrated. At that time, they said, 'we are Turkish.' Very well, welcome, but didn't people exist here (before the arrival of the Turks)? We lived together, we established civilization together. You take pride in the works of architect Sinan. Sinan was an Armenian from Caesarea. What we did, we did together. Then, the disease of nationalism and privilege came.”

Paylan recalled that Girgor Zohrap, who spoke from the Ottoman Parliament's podium about living together and equal rights, was brutally murdered during the massacres. According to the Armenian MP, the Armenian and Greek peoples have been betrayed.

Paylan emphasized that Turkish history cannot be narrated without Armenians and Kurds. Likewise, the history of Armenians cannot be told without the histories of Turks and Kurds. He then addressed Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, reminding him that he has been calling for years for the word 'fellow countrymen' to be used instead of 'countrymen' when addressing the public from the podium.

“A hundred and ten years ago, an Armenian sat in your chair, and theoretically, I could sit in your chair. Would you like it if I stood up and said, 'I am doing this or that for my fellow countrymen?' You wouldn't like it. This country has not fellow countrymen, but citizens,” said Paylan to the Turkish minister.