Anwar says Ataturk wreath-laying is mandatory protocol for all heads of state visiting Turkiye
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the ceremony is not a matter of personal choice nor does it reflect the ideological stance of any leader, but is a long-established diplomatic requirement practised by the Turkish government. — Bernama pic
Friday, 09 Jan 2026 8:59 AM MYT
ISTANBUL, Jan 8 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the laying of a wreath at the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkiye, is a mandatory official protocol that must be observed by all heads of state during official visits to the country.
Anwar said the ceremony is not a matter of personal choice nor does it reflect the ideological stance of any leader, but is a long-established diplomatic requirement practised by the Turkish government.
“All heads of state undertaking official visits are required to perform the ceremony. Whether one agrees or not, it is part of the official programme that has been set,” he said.
He was speaking at a press conference yesterday before he departed for home after concluding his three-day official visit to Turkiye.
Anwar said the practice applies regardless of the political party or leadership governing Turkiye and has been observed by all Malaysian prime ministers who have previously undertaken official visits to the country.
“Regardless of which government is in power in Turkiye, that is the requirement. All Malaysian prime ministers who previously made official visits, whether Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad or Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, also went through the same ceremony,” he said.
Anwar said the act of paying respects should be viewed within Turkiye’s historical context, particularly the role played by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in leading the resistance against attempts by the Allied powers after the First World War to fragment the territory of the Ottoman Empire, which ultimately led to the country’s liberation and the formation of the modern republic.
“Therefore, the Turkish people view Mustafa Kemal within that context. Of course, I have my own strong personal views, because during the period when he led and governed, there were certain decisions that I feel were not in line with my views, particularly on matters relating to Islam, language reform and script changes.
“… however, that does not erase his contributions, his role, or the way the Turkish people regard a great figure who succeeded in liberating their country from attempts to dismantle it and turn it into part of European colonial territories,” he said.
In this regard, Anwar advised the public not to make hasty judgments or pass condemnation without understanding the historical context and established international diplomatic practices that are customary in relations between nations. — Bernama
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I truly despise those Malaysian politicians who exploited Anwar's wreath laying at the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk to criticise his (PMX) Islamic credentials - low down guttersnipe disgusting slander
A guest has to pay respect to the host country's customs.
ReplyDeleteThat's fundamental courtesy , but most of these 3R types no longer respect basic courtesy
Context, Part 2:
ReplyDeleteThe Armenian and Greek Genocides were systematic campaigns of mass killing, forced deportations, and ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Christian populations in the Ottoman Empire and by subsequent Turkish nationalist forces from approximately 1914 to 1923. These events are considered part of a broader period of mass atrocities that also targeted Assyrians.
Armenian Genocide (1915–1923)
The Armenian Genocide, often referred to as the first modern genocide, was orchestrated by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), also known as the Young Turks.
Timeline: The systematic persecution began with the arrest and execution of some 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople on April 24, 1915, which is widely considered the start date of the genocide. The atrocities continued through the Turkish War of Independence until 1923.
Methods: The primary methods included massacres, forced death marches through the Syrian Desert, starvation, dehydration, and exposure. Armenian soldiers in the Ottoman army were disarmed and executed in labor battalions. Tens of thousands of women and children were forcibly converted to Islam and absorbed into Muslim families.
Death Toll: An estimated 1.2 to 1.5 million Armenians were killed.
International Recognition: The genocide is recognized by the vast majority of international scholars and over 30 countries, including the United States, France, and Germany. The Turkish government actively denies that the events constituted genocide, referring to them as a wartime tragedy with casualties on both sides.
Greek Genocide (1914–1923)
The Greek Genocide involved the systematic extermination of the Greek Orthodox Christian population of Anatolia (Asia Minor and Pontus) by the Ottoman government and later by the Turkish Nationalist movement.
Timeline: Persecution of Greeks began as early as 1913-1914 with deportations and massacres in Eastern Thrace and Western Asia Minor. Mass killings and forced deportations escalated during World War I and continued through the Greco-Turkish War, culminating in the Burning of Smyrna in September 1922.
Methods: Methods included massacres, forced deportations to the interior of Anatolia (often resulting in death from hunger, disease, or exposure), the destruction of cultural and religious monuments, and summary executions. Able-bodied men were often sent to forced labor camps where most perished.
Death Toll: Various sources estimate the death toll for Anatolian Greeks between 300,000 and one million people.
International Recognition: The Greek Parliament officially recognized the events as genocide in 1994 (for Pontus Greeks) and 1998 (for all Asia Minor Greeks). The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) passed a resolution in 2007 affirming the campaign against the Greeks constituted genocide, "qualitatively similar" to the Armenian genocide. Several other countries have also recognized it, though broader international recognition has been less coordinated than that of the Armenian genocide.
Both genocides resulted in the almost complete disappearance of the centuries-old Greek and Armenian populations from their ancestral homelands in Anatolia and the creation of a vast diaspora.
No Bolehland PM would ever visit the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.
ReplyDeleteThe shrine lists the names, origins, birthdates and places of death of 2,466,532 people. Among those are 1,066 convicted war criminals from the Pacific War, twelve of whom were charged with Class A crimes (the planning, preparation, initiation, or waging of the war). Eleven were convicted on those charges, with the twelfth found not guilty on all such charges, though he was found guilty of Class B war crimes. The names of two more men charged with Class A war crimes are on the list, but both died before they could be sentenced (one died during trial and one before trial), so they were never convicted.
Another memorial at the honden (main hall) building commemorates anyone who died on behalf of Japan and so includes Koreans and Taiwanese who served Japan at the time. The Chinreisha ("Spirit Pacifying Shrine") building is a shrine built to inter the souls of all the people who died during World War II, regardless of their nationality. It is located directly south of the Yasukuni Honden.
The enshrinement of war criminals, as well as the shrine's historical association with State Shinto, has made the shrine highly controversial within East Asia. Emperor Hirohito, under whom Japan fought during World War II, visited the shrine eight times between the end of the war and 1975. However, he thereafter boycotted the shrine due to his displeasure over the enshrinement of top convicted Japanese war criminals. His successors, Akihito and Naruhito, have never visited the shrine. The Japanese Government's involvement with the shrine remains highly controversial, with the most recent Japanese Prime Minister to visit the shrine while in office being Shinzo Abe in 2013.