Although presidential canidadate Barack Obama has received the earliest protection by the Secret Service in the history of the United States, many in the States still believe the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and other hate groups will do their best to harm the Illinois senator.

While physical harm is what people are concerned about, KKK sympathisers are using the Internet to spread their position on the black candidate.

A post at the website of Klansman David Duke, for example, concludes that “Obama is taking the Black and the Hispanic vote and he has done nothing to get it except being born non-White.” The post also hints to Obama’s “connection” with Islam resonating with circulating urban legends that Obama is a “radical Muslim.”

In order to fight the xenophobic charge of being a Muslim, the Obama campaign has even sponsored a Google link that states “Barack Obama is a Christian. Get the facts at his official site.” Although there is nothing wrong about being a proud Christian, it is somewhat saddening to see that a Christian candidate has to repeat over and over again that he is not Muslim. Saddening, because it is shows nothing but the high level of prejudice against Muslim people in the United States. 

But even being a good Christian doesn’t keep haters from hating Obama. The Associated Content says that many threats against the Obama campaigned in the country go unreported.

The media is not reporting on the “N”-word and hate-laced letters, emails and phonecalls the Obama campaign has received. No one is reporting on how Obama had to add more members to his security team on two occasions. The F.B.I. reported, in 2007, that membership in the Ku Klux Klan and covert militia groups is steadily rising, and it only takes one loyalist to put a bullet in Obama’s heart and annihilate what many Americans believe is the greatest symbol of hope and change for this country.

The publication also posts a statement by a national Ku Klax Klan leader hinting that Obama’s possible victory may trigger racist whites to “ship” blacks to Africa for the “benefit” of the latter:

“I had several people call me today regarding their concern about the growing support for Obama. The fact is that there probably would not be a measurable difference between an Obama, Clinton or even a McCain or Huckabee presidency, as they are all globalists at their core and backpedal away from a firm commitment to uphold the Constitution. It is the opinion of many in the White Nationalist movement that the election of Obama as president may go a long way to awaken people from their stupor. There is a sleeping giant lying in the heart of our people. This giant has been tranquilized and appears lifeless and dead – but is only sleeping. Surprisingly, an awakened white populous would not only allow us to regain our racial integrity and survival, but it would also provide greater safety and a brighter future for Negroes as well. Those who may be confused by the above statement need only to look at the quality of life that American Negroes have been able to enjoy under white dominated rule, compared with the quality of life that their counterparts have in African nations dominated by African leadership. Still, another illustration can be seen through the calm, peace and safety blacks had in their own communities before the so-called civil rights movement and the debasement of the police, compared to the unsafe and violent black neighborhoods of today.”

Another xenophobic website posts a supporter’s suggestion to become politically more active to “repair the damage” caused by “the post-Obama day:”

It is time to be thinking ahead to having our own political-party. When the post-Obama day arrives, the American people will have to repair the damage and a political-party would be the ideal vehicle for us to wield our power. Remember, the Reds gained power over us through the Communist Party and its various “front” groups. Organization is our key to retaking power from our oppressors.

In Germany, for example, there is the National Democratic Party, which is the “nationalist movement” over there. […] We are, quite frankly, long overdue.

A reader of this blog, commenting on a previous post, has brought to my attention to a YouTube videothat claims U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has received large contributions from a nationalist Turkish filmmaker.

The controversial producer’s recent film series in Turkey, called “The Valley of the Wolves,” has been accused of anti-Semitism and is thought to have triggered nationalist young Turks to murder Christians, including Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink.

In the meantime, an Armenian-American lobbying group has endorced Mrs. Clinton for presidency.  

Balkan Travellers has a wonderful article on the ancient Armenian city of Ani, today in Turkish territory, attempting to explain in words a world that can only be experienced:

We pass by Ocakli, the last Turkish village before the border with Armenia. The mythical Armenian capital Ani, which at the end of the ninth century outshined Constantinople, Cairo, and Baghdad with its splendour, lies somewhere before us. Chronicles called it “City of 1,001 Churches” and a replica of Istanbul’s Saint Sophia used to stand in its centre.

[…]

ow only a few tumbledown churches, some sections of a castle and Marco Polo’s bridge remain from what used to be a magnificent city. In some places the double city wall rises and culminates in turrets of various shapes and heights, in others it goes down, sometimes completely disappearing in the tall grass.

We take a broad dusty road, which meanders between the ruins.

Armenian architecture is one of civilization’s greatest enigmas. It has its own unique appearance, but more importantly – it forms the basis of a popular European medieval phenomenon, known as Gothic style. According to Joseph Strzygowski, who wrote in the early twentieth century, Armenian engineers were the first to devise a way to put a round dome over a square space. They did this in two ways: either by transforming the square into a triangle or by building an octagonal structure to hold the dome. Their architectural genius resulted in stunningly beautiful buildings.

Our friend Artyom has finally updated his blog – iArarat – and posted information on Turkish attempts to claim that Native Americans are Turks.

The latter theory, although with apparent roots in early Kemalist fabrications that the entire world civilization (with the exemption of unimportant Armenians, Jews and black Africans) was created and influenced by the Turks, is hoped to convince politicians of Native American descent to lobby for Turkish interests – that is to deny the Armenian Genocide.

Turkish-American Muhtar Kent will become the CEO of the Coca-Cola Company on July 1, 2008. The announcement and his previous work with Coca-Cola are listed at the company’s official website.

Mr. Kent, as quoted in the newsletter of a Turkish group in Colorado, has said it is his “desire is to see more Turkish people at the top levels of International Organizations.”

I wish Mr. Kent used the word “qualified Turkish individuals” instead of “Turkish people.”

When I heard a few years back that Coca-Cola had lobbied the U.S. Congress in 2000 not to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide as such reportedly arguing that the affirmation would hurt American companies in Turkey, I was quite confused. I certainly hope Mr. Kent won’t use his position to advance an ultra-nationalist agenda.