BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN
Armenians and non-Armenians alike were saddened and outraged seeing videos of the attack on 11 protesters who were injured after being hit, kicked and choked by President Erdogan’s security guards in front of the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C., on May 16. Regrettably, several thousand Turks shamelessly sent tweets expressing their joy that Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds, Greeks and Yezidis were bloodied by Turkish thugs!
This vicious brawl has done more damage to the image of Turkey in the United States and around the world than any other brutality recently committed by Turkish soldiers, police or security guards inside Turkey. Turkish denialists constantly complain that Armenian ”˜propaganda’ on the Armenian Genocide has stained the reputation of Turks worldwide, ignoring the fact that Turks have tarnished their own image by committing a mass heinous mass crime.
In fact, the May 16 nasty attack by Turkish goons on peaceful protesters has done more to reinforce the ”˜Terrible Turk’ image than anything Armenians or others could have done. The Turkish government spends millions of dollars each year to pay public relations firms to present Turkey in the best possible light. However, the latest incident, which was condemned by many Members of Congress and covered widely by the mass media, has blackened the reputation of Turkey and its autocratic President Erdogan to such an extent that even $100 million spent on public relations cannot undo the damage inflicted on their image.
Here are some of the critical comments made by Members of Congress:
Sen. John McCain (Rep.-AZ), Chairman of Senate Armed Services Committee, told ABC Nightly News and MSNBC: “We should throw [Turkey’s] Ambassador the hell out of the United States of America!”
