Armenians Have Unique Chance To Buy Eleven Turkish Villages The New York Times reported on April 22nd that "desperate farmers in Turkey [are] offering their villages for sale." Due to the country's worsening economy, "residents of 11 villages in central Turkey have put their hamlets for sale," according to reporter Douglas Frantz. "This is not a game we are playing," Mahmut Cakir, one of the leaders of the villagers in the Sivas region, told The N.Y. Times. "If anyone comes to buy these villages, we will sell." Frantz wrote that the villagers have put up the "for sale" sign out of desperation. "Much of this country of 65 million is being transformed into empty storefronts, idle workers and small business owners and farmers burdened by crushing debt." Cakir and his neighbors "voted to sell their villages and promised to leave with only the clothes on their backs. The price tag is about $1.3 million per village," Frantz wrote. Cakir's village, Calli, is located about 20 miles east of the regional capital of Sivas. It has paved roads, green areas and homes for 120 families. Cakir said that if no buyers were found, he and his fellow villagers would leave Turkey en masse and go to any other country to find a job. "We would even immigrate to Greece or Syria and clean the streets," Cakir told the N.Y. Times. This is the opportunity Armenians have been waiting for since their deportation from their historic homeland in 1915. Hundreds of such villages and towns in what is now Eastern Turkey belong to Armenians. They are legally entitled to reclaim them without paying a penny. However, due to the presence of the powerful Turkish military on these occupied Armenian territories, the true owners of these lands have no choice but to acquire them by paying money as the first step in the eventual liberation of their "yergir" or the historic homeland. At a price tag of $1.3 million per village, all eleven of these villages could be bought for around $14 million. I know that the Turkish government will not allow Diaspora Armenians to purchase these villages directly. Therefore, other arrangements need to be made! N.Y. Times Rejects Turkish Ad Denying Genocide
Long years of Turkish efforts to buy off American University chairs,
scholars, politicians, publishers and reporters suffered a setback last
week when the New York Times rejected to print a paid ad that denied
the Armenian Genocide. Turkish Press Puts Words in Patriarch's Mouth
Even though there is no need to prove that Turkish newspapers invent
stories, I would like to present the most recent example of Turkish
yellowjournalism. |