Turkey Has Decision on Border Crossing Point with Armenia

The president of Turkey's nationalist 'İYİ' party, MP Musavat Dervishoglu, has submitted a bill to the country’s parliament. According to the proposed legislation, it is suggested to rename the Alijan border crossing point located at the border with Armenia to the name of Talaat Pasha. The bill has been signed by 28 MPs.

"This renaming is not just a change of a sign; it is a manifestation of the will of the Turkish people to stand firm on their history, heroes, and memory, as peoples that forget their national heroes gradually head towards oblivion. Renaming the Alijan border crossing point in honor of Talaat Pasha simultaneously affirms that a people standing firm against the enemy marks its historical identity on its borders," the proposal states.

It has been emphasized that this step is significant for instilling historical awareness in the young generation of the Turkish people, as well as reminding about the state’s historical continuity and 'honorable past'.

It is noteworthy that Mehmed Talaat Pasha is one of the main figures behind the Armenian Genocide. Years later, on March 15, 1921, he was shot dead on Heidelberg Street in Berlin by Armenian avenger Soghomon Tehlirian. “I killed a man, but I am not a murderer,” Tehlirian stated in the German court.