PRESS RELEASE
Ref: PR/04/11/014
Assembly of Armenians of Europe
Contact: Armine Grigoryan
Rue de Trèves 10, 1050, Brussels
Tel : +32 2 647 08 01
Fax : +32 2 647 02 00
Turkish denialism of Armenians in the capital of Europe
“Mothers, Goddesses and Sultans”- but not Armenians
17/11/2004, Brussels – The Palace of Fine Arts of Brussels (Belgium)
hosts the exhibition on Turkey `Mothers, Goddesses and Sultans’ which
will last from October 06 2004 to January 16 2005. The exhibition
accounts pieces from the collection of the Topkapi Palace (Turkey),
Louvre, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the museums of Berlin and
the most important museums in Turkey. This exhibition is organized
with the mutual agreement of the prime ministers of Belgium and Turkey
in order to introduce the Belgian and European society with the
cultural values and the history of Turkey and intends to emphasize the
European vocation of Turkey.
The leaflet on the exhibition distributed to the visitors at the
entrance of the Palace of Fine Arts says `We encounter the peoples,
who have left their traces in Anatolia in the course of 9000
years. The journey takes us through such renowned cultures as the
Hitties, Greek and Roman antiquity, Byzantium and the Ottomans’. From
the first sight one may find the absence of the Armenians and Armenian
culture in Anatolia very strange, since for centuries the Eastern
Anatolia was the cradle of Armenians and it is also called the
Armenian Plateau[i]. Even during the Ottoman Empire Armenians
represented a sizeable and dynamic part of the ottoman population,
particularly in Istanbul and other urban centre, and their omission in
this exhibition is quite deliberate on the part of the Turkish
organizers. But the most interesting piece of the exhibition is the
map of the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1923, without any mention of
the Armenians or Armenian Republic (the first Armenian Republic, 1918
– 1920) and Greece (independence of Greece recognized by the Ottoman
Empire in 1832). No expert or historian would dare to make a single
map to represent such a complex region over for such a long period of
time (1299 – 1923), since the movement of borders has been radical
over the period considered, and at times extremely rapid.
The Ottomans fought against the neighboring Byzantine State, crossed
into Rumelia and then captured Constantinople in 1453 during the reign
of Sultan Mehmed II (1451-1481)[ii], putting an end to the Byzantine
Empire. The Ottomans fought with the Serbs, Bulgarians, Hungarians,
Venetians, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Britain, the Vatican, Spain
and also France and Russia. During the reign of Sultan Selim I
(1512-1520), Egypt was conquered and the “Caliphate” passed from the
Abbasids to the Ottoman dynasty. During the reign of Suleyman the
Magnificent (1520-1566) the borders of the Empire extended from the
Crimea in the North to Yemen and Sudan in the South, and from Iran and
the Caspian Sea in the East to Vienna in the Northwest and Spain in
the Southwest[iii].
However, the Ottoman Empire lost its economic and military superiority
vis-a-vis Europe, which had developed rapidly with the Renaissance and
the geographical discoveries starting with the sixteenth century and
failed to adapt to the new developments. Thus, the balance of power
shifted in favor of the European States starting in the same century.
The nationalist movements that started in the nineteenth century and
the rebellions of the Balkan nations organized and supported by the
European States and Russia, brought about the emergence of independent
states within the Ottoman territories in the Balkans.
The Russian field marshal M.I. Kutuzov’s victorious campaign of
1811-12 forced the Turks to cede Bessarabia to Russia by the Treaty of
Bucharest (May 28, 1812).
Agha Mohammad Khan (Iran, reigned 1779-97), had reasserted Iranian
sovereignty over the former Iranian territories in Georgia and the
Caucasus. Fath ‘Ali (Iran, reigned 1797-1834). attempted to maintain
Iran’s sovereignty over its new territories, but he was disastrously
defeated by Russia in two wars (1804-13, 1826-28) and thus lost
Georgia, Armenia.
Subsequent wars of Russia with Turkey were fought to gain influence in
the Ottoman Balkans, win control of the Dardanelles and Bosporus
straits, and expand into the Caucasus. The Greeks’ struggle for
independence sparked the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-29, in which
Russian forces advanced into Bulgaria, the Caucasus, and northeastern
Anatolia itself before the Turks sued for peace. The resulting Treaty
of Edirne (Sept. 14, 1829) gave Russia most of the eastern shore of
the Black Sea, and Turkey recognized Russian sovereignty over Georgia
and parts of present-day Armenia. Furthermore, in the Balkans, the
Ottomans acknowledged Greece as an autonomous but tributary state,
granting autonomy to Serbia, and recognized the autonomy of the
Danubian principalities of Moldavia and Walachia under Russian
tutelage. In 1832, the Turkish Sultan finally recognized the Greek
Independence and Prince Otto had accepted the crown
In 1918 the Republics of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan declared
their independence from Russia which lasted until 1920. From 1920 to
1923 the three countries of South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Georgia) were merged into Transcaucasian Federated Republic. The first
independent Republic of Armenia was also recognized by the Ottoman
Empire.
The above-mentioned historical facts prove the presence of the
Armenians in the region which should not be ignored. It is very
strange to see the name of `Azerbaijan’ on the map, while the names of
Armenia and Greece are absent. As reported by Radio Free Europe, the
Azerbaijani Defense Ministry spokesman called for Azerbaijan’s (the
closest ally of the Republic of Turkey) takeover of the entire
territory of Armenia and removal of the entire Armenian population
from the Caucasus. He went so far as to say, and we quote, `Within the
next 25 years there will exist no state of Armenia in the South
Caucasus’. This inevitably reminds of the intentions of the
perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide. In this context the negationism
of the Armenians is not a simple mistake or lack of professionalism by
the organizers of the exhibition, but has its roots go back into the
beginning of the 20th century – the Armenian Genocide committed by the
Ottoman Empire in 1915. The Armenian Genocide is still denied by the
Republic of Turkey, which also imposes a blockade on the Republic of
Armenia for more than 10 years. Therefore, the radical exclusion of
Armenians from ottoman history is consistent with the genocide carried
out in 1915-1916 and it has been the practice in Turkey since the
establishment of the republic in 1923.
The negationism and the denial of the Armenian Genocide are also
reflected in the premeditated annihilation of Armenian cultural
heritage in the territory of the actual Republic of
Turkey. Sourb. Arakelots[iv] (of the Holy Apostles) Church of Kars
turned into a mosque in 1998. The church of Tekor[v] which was erected
in the 5th c. and was standing until 1956 served as a target during
the artillery trainings of the Turkish army. The monastery of
St. Karapet[vi] was plundered and partly devastated in 1915. During
the artillery trainings of the Turkish troops in the 1960s the
monument turned into a heap of stones which were later used for the
foundation of a village in the same place; the carvings of the
Akhatamar Church (Lake Van, Eastern Turkey) is nowadays used for
shooting practice for the visitors, etc. So, after some decades there
will not be any evidence or trace of the Armenians in the region.
The Assembly of Armenians of Europe considers such negationist and
revisionist attitude of the Republic of Turkey, aspiring to the EU
full membership unacceptable. We believe that such behaviour
destabilizes the whole region of South Caucasus and impedes the
normalization of Armeno-Turkish relations. Moreover, the extension of
this denialist approach to an exhibition carried out in Belgium, in
partnership with Belgian institutions, is a worrying sign at a moment
when Turkey is pressing to join the European community of values. The
Assembly of Armenians of Europe is sure that this is an attempt of the
Turkish authorities to force their own denialist approach on an
unsuspecting European public.
_____
[i] Mustafa Ibn-Abdullah (1609-57), the first and foremost Turkish
goegrapher. In his most important oeuvre `Miror of the World’ (Jehan
Numa) he writes about Armenia (folio 121a) – `Armenia consists of 2
parts, Maior and Minor=85.’
[ii]
[iii] < 0index.html>
sh/sultans/10index.html
[iv] < ots_Galery.htm>
rakelots/Arakelots_Galery.htm
[v] < ry.htm>
or_Galery.htm
[vi] < t_Galery.htm>
arapet/Karapet_Galery.htm