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The Boycott Turkey Campaign

by Armenian, Assyrian and Greek activists | various sources

Posted: Friday, April 30, 2010 at 11:48 AM UT | Updated: November 16, 2020

https://boycottturkey.org

Editors' Note:



UPDATE: November 16, 2020 — A new domain for the Boycott Turkey Campaign (https://boycottturkey.org) is now available.  Please share this on #Armenia, #PeaceForArmenians, #BoycottTurkey, #StopTurkey, and #StopErdogan.

To learn more, please read:

The New Kings of Jihadist Terrorism: Azerbaijan and Turkey

ANCA: March to Justice

UPDATE: October 03, 2020 — The domain of the original Boycott Turkey Campaign (https://www.boycott-turkey.org) or related website (https://boycott-turkey.net) has either expired or the website is not resolving properly, making both unavailable.
The information presented below has been preserved from the original website.

UPDATE: May 30, 2011 — The original Boycott Turkey Campaign website (https://www.boycott-turkey.org) has been hijacked and currently features the slogan, “Boycott traditional vacations and choose Turkey for your getaway this year!”
The information presented below has been preserved from the original website.

The Boycott Turkey Campaign

The Boycott Turkey Campaign

The goal of the boycott is to bring economic pressure to the Republic of Turkey by boycotting Turkish made goods and tourism to Turkey.

Why Boycott?

The prevailing argument that Turkey’s democratization would encourage Turkey to acknowledge its human rights record by now been completely discredited.

The only remaining way for concerned people to exert some positive influence on Turkey to acknowledge its past seems to be through the power of the individual consumer. In short, a boycott of Turkish made goods and a boycott of tourism to Turkey.

Consumer Power and Moral Responsibility

Probably one of the most powerful weapons individuals have to effect political change is their consumer purchasing power. One of the most famous examples of successful boycotts is during the Civil Rights movement in the United States. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was successful in forcing unwilling white Americans to comply in giving in to basic human rights of the African Americans to sit wherever they please on buses. Other successful boycotts include Gandhi's Swadeshi campaign to rid India of British colonial rule and the boycott of South Africa which forced its government to give equal rights to blacks.

But why should the world consumer participate in a boycott to force Turkey to clean up its human rights record? Don’t we as human beings have a moral responsibility towards the Kurdish, Assyrian, Armenian, Greek, and Turkish people? Even a partial review of Turkey's crimes against humanity provides sufficient reason for any morally conscious person to boycott Turkish made products. Turkey being a democratic country has a worse human rights record than most dictatorships in the world today. The fact that there are more journalists in prison in Turkey than there are in China is no small feat, since China has a population of 1.3 billion. For example, for each purchase that you make, you are funding, promoting or endorsing:

• The denial of the Armenian Genocide
• The denial of the Assyrian Genocide
• The denial of the Greek Genocide
• The occupation of Cyprus
• The illegal blockade of Armenia
• The suppression of the Kurds
• The imprisonment of journalists
• The suppression of freedom of speech
• The destruction of Christian monuments
• The torture of prisoners

How to Identify Turkish Made Products

There are several methods in identifying where a product is manufactured.

• The "Made in" tag. Look for a Made in Turkey printed on the tag.
• The "Made in" tag in French. Look for a Fabrique en Turquie printed on the tag.
• The "Product of" label. Look for a Product of Turkey printed on the label.
• The barcode, European Article Numbering (EAN). Look for the number 869 at the beginning of the barcode.
  

NOTE: Only those Turkish made products that were issued the barcode in Turkey would have the 869 at the beginning of the barcode. Most imported clothing gets a barcode in the country it is to be sold, but canned goods are sometimes imported with the barcode of the country of origin on the label. If the barcode begins with some other number, check the "Made in" tag or "Product of" label to be sure.

About the Boycott Turkey Campaign

The BOYCOTT TURKEY Campaign is a Non-Profit Public Benefit Corporation organized and operated exclusively for educational purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code.

The specific purpose of this corporation is to educate the public on why and how to boycott Turkish made products and tourism to Turkey, and how to identify products made in Turkey.

You can join the campaign in your personal capacity, as a group, or within an existing organization. To join the BOYCOTT TURKEY Campaign just send an email to join [ a t ] boycott-turkey.org.

You can also support the campaign financially by visiting our support page.