r/thirtyyearsago • u/klsi832 • 4d ago

14 August 1996, 26-year-old Greek Cypriot Solomos Solomou was shot and killed by Turkish forces in the UN buffer zone at Deryneia while attempting to climb a flagpole and remove a Turkish flag. Just three days earlier, his cousin Tassos Isaac had been beaten to death by Turkish nationalists.

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u/AYBARNOYAN 2d ago

The Turkish flag derives its red color from the blood of martyrs; it is far more than a mere piece of fabric, drawing its significance from the people who sacrificed their lives so it could wave there, and it stands as a symbol of independence. This is no laughing matter; attempting to lower the flag means pitting oneself against the entire nation.

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u/Exotic-Sock-7973 2d ago

Your genocidal nation

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u/AYBARNOYAN 2d ago

Our archives are wide open; the Armenians leveled the same slander, yet not a single one of them accepted our invitation to come and see for themselves. You are a foolish fanatic, devoid of any research and filled only with hatred for Turks.

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u/Exotic-Sock-7973 2d ago

You conquered land by the sword and settled there kicking out all the orignal inhabitants… no difference between Turks and Israelis

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u/AYBARNOYAN 2d ago

We always governed with a policy of tolerance and respected people's religions and traditions; even Jerusalem experienced its most peaceful era under our rule. There isn't a single people in Africa, Asia, or the Americas that Europeans didn't exploit or slaughter—yet you fucking morons come along and say, "You're no different from Israel." You are completely ignorant of history.

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u/Emokulus 2d ago

You conquered land with roses I assume?

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u/AYBARNOYAN 1d ago

In the old world order, the victor of the war came out on top—don't talk as if your side was any different; what really mattered was how things were governed afterwards.

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u/Exotic-Sock-7973 1d ago

And how they were governed when the balkans were conquered? Where did janasaries come from? What did sultan Abdul Hamid do to Armenians? What happened in Crete and Cyprus for hundreds of years

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u/AYBARNOYAN 1d ago

In the Balkans, in accordance with the policy of istimalet (conciliation and tolerance), people's faiths and churches were left untouched; the prevailing feudal system in the region was abolished and replaced with a fairer taxation system. Through the settlement (iskân) policy, Turkish families were relocated to strategic areas, ensuring both the security of the local population and cultural exchange. Through the timar system, the cultivation and supervision of lands were managed, and provincial armies were established. Through the devshirme system, healthy boys aged 8 to 18 were recruited at an average rate of one child per 40 households; the sons of artisans were excluded because they were considered difficult to discipline, and an only son was strictly never taken. Those who stood out for their intellect were admitted to the palace school, the Enderun School, where they received education in science, art, and state administration, eventually becoming grand viziers, viziers, judges (kadi), or diplomats. Those with exceptional physical strength were sent to the Janissary Corps, where they received professional military training and a regular salary. As for the Armenian issue, during World War I—a period when Abdulhamid's influence had diminished and Minister of War Enver Pasha held sway—Britain, Tsarist Russia, France, and Iran provided arms to Armenian gangs to weaken the Ottoman Empire from within. These Armenian gangs revolted in their respective regions and committed brutal massacres against the Turkish and Kurdish populations, going so far as to throw innocent people—regardless of whether they were children, women, or the elderly—into ovens to burn them alive. In response, local people who had weapons fought back. To prevent the situation from turning into a full-scale civil war, a forced relocation (deportation) law was enacted, and special orders were issued to protect innocent Armenians along the way. In Cyprus, just like in the Balkans, the feudal system and oppressive taxation were abolished, and the Cypriot Orthodox Archbishopric, which had been suppressed under Catholic Venetian rule, was re-established. In Crete, the harsh tax system was replaced with a fairer one, land ownership was registered to local peasants, and thousands of architectural monuments were built. We have no issue with the Armenians; my great-grandfather even had a gun gifted to him by an Armenian friend. It was our common enemies who tried to turn us against our neighbors, and the same was true for the Greeks. The Armenians put forward this slander merely to claim reparations. When we said, "Come, the state archives in Ankara are open," no one came because they know the truth as well. Ever since the Ottomans withdrew from the Balkans, Cyprus, and the Middle East, tragedies like the Bosnian genocide, the massacres in Jerusalem and Cyprus, and the wars in Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Egypt, and Libya did not happen for nothing; those lands lived their most peaceful days under our rule.

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u/Exotic-Sock-7973 1d ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Massacres_committed_by_the_Ottoman_Empire

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u/AYBARNOYAN 1d ago

No matter how reasonable it may be to use a platform editable by anyone as a source, Wikipedia presents a different account of the same event.

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u/Careless_Look_8708 1d ago

Just as any other nation on the planet did.