“TURKEY HAS TO RECONSIDER ITS ARMENIAN POLICY” ILTER TURKMEN CLAIMS

Armenian-Turkish Relations

Azg Daily
August 24, 2004

By Hakob Chakrian

In one of Azg Daily’s last issues we voiced an opinion that the role of the
Turkish army will weaken as a result of changes in the National Security
Council. We mentioned that the executive power of the country will not have
the backing of the army any more. The fact that the Turkish army is deprived
of the opportunity to influence the country’s policy is beneficial for
Armenia.

It is interesting that the Turkish Hurriyet [August 7, 2004] quotes Ilter
Turkmen who said that it’s better for Turkey to improve relations with
Armenia. It is not an opinion of an ordinary citizen. He was the minister
foreign affairs of Turkey after the 1980 coup d’etat, then was ambassador to
Russia and France.

It gains more importance when we consider that Hurriyet has over 1 million
circulation and is published both in Europe and the USA. In the beginning of
his article, Turkmen mentions the pro-Armenian verdict of the lawsuit filed
by the offspring of the Genocide survivors against the American insurance
company New York Life for not compensating 20 million dollars for
insurances. He thinks it possible that the American insurance company will
force Turkey to pay the compensation and points out that it is going to be a
“compensation for the victims of the Genocide”.

Ilter Turkmen doesn’t exclude the chance that the offspring of the Genocide
survivors, including American citizens, turn to the European Court of Human
Rights and distinct countries turning to the International Court.
Considering the nature of these courts he underscores that they will barely
be able to call Turkey to account or demand compensation or even lands from
Turkey.

In other words Turkey is more interested in the fact that the court decision
may have negative political outcomes for Turkey. He writes on this point:
“Definitely the law and the politics differ. Perhaps that’s the reason why
34 American states have recognized the genocide. The same thing happened in
the parliaments of Canada and of some European countries, as well as the
European Parliament. We managed to put an end to the activity of the
Armenian lobby in the House of Representatives only by the involvement of
the US presidents. We don’t think that John Kerry, known for his sympathy
for the Armenians, will be as decisive in carrying on the same formulae
regarding the genocide.”

Ilter Turkmen goes on considering the means used by Turkey against the
international recognition of the Armenian Genocide insufficient. He
expresses his worry regarding Turkey’s membership to the EU, which might fan
the fires of the Armenians in the issue of the Genocide. Turkmen adds at the
end: “The Anti-lobby steps cannot be sufficient as Armenians have great
possibilities in the West. The Russian Diaspora of 2 million is also there.
The only preferable policy for us is delaying the solution of this issue by
means of measured but positive steps. It’s a pity that none of the Turkish
governments ever followed this policy.”

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