Balkans

Turkey has been in the news lately; occasioned by Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the country, as well as its persistent attempt to join the European Union. Unfortunately, in dealing with the latter subject, not much clear information comes from the mainline news media to help us understand what the implications would be if a 70-million Muslim country became a full member of the EU.

Two events recently brought back to the news headlines the subject of the Armenian Genocide during WWI, which Turkey with its negationist stand, seeks to dismiss the role of the Ottoman Empire in perpetrating that horrific crime. First, the projected law being discussed in the French National Assembly that would make it a crime to deny the Armenian Genocide. The second event was the Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk’s receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature. He had broken with Turkish tradition, and dared to discuss the Armenian Genocide in his writings.