Zaman, Turkey
Jan 14 2005

Armenia: Friend or Foe?

Published: Friday 14, 2005
zaman.com

Yerevan is a stone-gray city. Only the girls with hairs colored in a
standard way have smiles on their faces, here, in this city, and only
music forms networks and links between souls, here, in this country.
Throughout the visit, I was caught between the feelings that our
common ties were so strong or that our grudges would separate us
forever. Just as my attitude was constantly changing, I found the
attitude of the Armenians I spoke to oscillate between wondering why
Turkey wouldn’t show mercy and open its borders, or why Turkey won’t
accept and take responsibility for the genocide.

The last stop of the visit initiated by the East Conference on the US
meddling in the region was Yerevan and the theme was “let’s get
acquainted with our neighbors so that if anything happens to them, we
will know who they are.” Armenia was not under the same threat as
other countries we visited; on the contrary, Armenia believes it will
join NATO to integrate with the US and to consolidate its security.
The irony is that what America means for an Iraqi today is the same
as what Turkey meant for an Armenian. Not that we were beaten or even
insulted, and the meeting at the Tashnak Sutyun Party was incredibly
refined despite the many excessive demands and messages it included.
They managed to present even the most radical demands in a highly
aesthetic way, saying, “Our radicalism derives from our sincerity in
asking for the establishment of a permanent peace.” Members of
Tashnak Party, which demands the return of Armenia’s historical
territory and maintain the allegations of genocide as if it happened
yesterday, were convinced that Turks made pilgrimages to Talat
Pasha’s grave. They were surprised when we said that Turks don’t even
know where his grave is, and put this misunderstanding down to the
lack of knowledge about the other between Armenia and Turkey. They
went on to say that if Turkey recognized the genocide, it would be a
sign that political problems no longer needed to be solved through
the use of force.

My blood feud or my neighbor

Turkey is both Eros and Thanatos for Armenia, a country that
continues to defend its claims at the same level and in the same
severity without knowing that they make the meeting of its demands
impossible. Even on the first day, we came across with an event at
Turkology Department at Yerevan State University which we could not
understand whether it was staged or not. While Vice Rector Melikyan
was welcoming us saying: “It is nice that you came and we should
appreciate this contact as all we want is a stable dialogue so there
will be no problems for Turkey to open its borders,” one of the
students stood up and called us to “stand up for the memory of those
who died during the genocide.” Quick-thinking Aydin Cubukcu stood up
in the memory of “all Turks and Armenians who died in those years.”
Thus, our Armenian brothers, who have built almost their whole
national identity on the tragic events of 1915, stood up for Turks in
the name of deaths they themselves caused, and perhaps this was a
‘first’.

It could be said that the East Conference claimed many ‘firsts’ in
this sense as our program included a visit to the Chief Patriarch of
the Armenian Diaspora Karekin II, which is apparently the first
meeting of the Patriarch with such a delegation. The Patriarch is a
polite man with a beaming face who was extremely open and warm. While
he called the genocide an unquestionable reality, he did not dwell on
it, instead talking of a policy that favors the development of
relations between Armenia and Turkey. We understood it as a sign of
his pleasure at the visit that the Patriarch showed us the locked
case holding the golden letters of the Armenian alphabet, which hold
religious significance and a special place in the Armenian identity.
2005 will be celebrated as the 1600th year of the Armenian alphabet
and an exhibition regarding this is planned to be held at the Louvre
in Paris. This is further evidence of the strength of the Armenian
diaspora, with seven million living abroad, twice the number of those
in Armenia. The diaspora is very important for Armenia as the
country’s economy stands on the financial flow of $600 million from
abroad. The only industry in the country is a cognac factory.

Opaque future, sulky faces

Surveys about Armenia’s future have found 50 percent see the future
as ‘unclear’. Armenian Research Center surveys have found that around
the same amount have no hopes for economic improvement in the short
term and are concerned about security issues. The desire to join NATO
rises in line with tension with Azerbaijan. A very small number of
people, meanwhile, think that going further to west will detach the
country from Russia and this will give “rather negative results”.
Russia plays the role of a hysterical father who loves but also beats
his children. The Armenian National and International Research Center
finds that except for a small minority who prefer Russia due to
geographical proximity, the majority of the people find the US more
rational and acceptable than Russia, but each negative development
stimulates people in panic to get closer to Russia. Turkey’s
attitudes and approaches are also included in these developments.

In my opinion, this environment is responsible for the sulky
expression on people’s faces and a fear of Turks, but there are
lovely things, too, in Yerevan and people who defy your expectations.
For example, the guidance of two Armenians of Istanbul origin, Ara
and Sevan, who work at Jamanak newspaper (which means “zaman”), and
their both being avid “Zaman” readers. Also my confusion after the
incident in the Turkology Department in the gift shop of the hotel I
was staying in, as I was quizzed on the state of Afyon, where the
shop assistant’s mother was from. I could not tell her much about the
present state of Afyon and this made me embarrassed a bit. As I said,
being a Turk in Yerevan is like traveling with a suitcase full of
embarrassment. When you say, “We came from Turkey”, the answer you
will get might be, “No problem”. On the other side, several meetings
that started in an unfriendly way ended in friendship when they
deepened a little. You frequently feel in meetings: “If only that
history had not existed, how nice it would have been.”

Is it possible that Armenians could move on? In fact, there is some
development in this direction. Garen Bekaryan, whom we talked at the
European Union (EU) Integration Center, says: “In fact, Armenians
might have to bury this genocide issue into history, but Turkey’s
massing of troops at the border during the Karabag incident revived
past fears.” She is not wrong on this point. Russia sent Armenia
50,000 soldiers after Turgut Ozal’s remark “What happens if a bomb
falls on Armenia?” These soldiers are still in Armenia, ostensibly to
protect it, but are damaging the country’s attempts at
democratization in the meantime.

The situation resembles the riddle of the chicken and the egg. It
seems that both sides must embrace their responsibilities and it’s
unlikely that a solution will be found overnight.

NIHAL BENGISU KARACA