The mechanism of denial
Editorial

Yerkir/arm
25 March 05

As it has become a tradition, a great deal of stories on the Armenian
Genocide appeared in the Turkish press during the past week.

The Radikal and the Turkish Daily News ran an article by Gunduz Aktan,
probably the most anti-Armenian member of the Turkish-Armenian
Reconciliation Commission (TARC). In the article titled “Some Aspects
of the Armenian Cause,” Aktan cast his support for the joint action of
the Turkish government and opposition aimed at the Armenian Genocide
denial, and especially their campaign against the British diplomatic
collection known as the Blue Book.

He insisted that the Armenian Genocide issue should be left for the
historians and called on Yerevan not to damage Turkey’s international
image because the Armenians “should not think they could make the
United States or the European Union pressure us to admit to the
genocide.”

In general, according to Aktan, the international organizations are
not the place where the Armenian-Turkish relations must be discussed.
In addition Aktan said that “Jews were killed with no reason — only
because they were Jewish. Armenians were deported because of their
upheaval and their collaboration with the invading Russian troops.”

Another Turkish newspaper, Zaman, quoted a deputy from the People’s
Republic Party as saying that no breakthrough in the Turkish-Armenian
relations is possible because Yerevan is not ready for a dialogue
between historians and the Armenian historians “won’t clean up their
history.”

Sukru Elekdag, who had served as Turkey’s ambassador to the U.S. in
the past, also said that Armenians had killed (exactly) 517,995 Turks
according to the Turkish archives and perpetrated other atrocities
against Turks. He urged the government to conduct a more active policy
against the Armenian Genocide claims. He also denounced Turkish
professor Halil Berktay for the latter’s position that the events
occurred during the WWI could be qualified as genocide.

According to another article in Zaman, 16 deputies representing the
ruling Justice and Progress party have condemned the pro-Armenian
statements of two Turkish authors, Berktay and Pamuk, calling on them
not to endorse “Armenian claims.”