Zaman, Turkey
April 13 2005
Greens Conference Discusses Armenian Issue
A conference titled “The Future of the Past: Armenians in Turkey” and
organized by the Greens Group in the European Parliament (EP) has
called for the Armenian-Turkish conflict not to be handled like a
football match.
While the conference passed in a mature atmosphere though without
much attention from EP members much, there was a short moment of
tension when Greek Cypriot deputy Marios Matsakis’s alleged that
Turks had committed genocide in Cyprus. It was striking that no
academics had been invited to defend the Turkish thesis though Taner
Akcam of the University of Minnesota claimed that so-called genocide
had occurred. EP deputy Cem Ozdemir, of Turkish origin, said it was
impossible tocall representatives of all positions and that the
Armenian Diaspora had also protested that there was no one to arguing
the Armenian thesis. One of the three attendants, Zaman writer Etyen
Mahcupyan criticized both Turkey’s and Armenia’s approach to the
controversy and said that the two parties are similar in their
manners. Mahcupyan commented: “It would be easier for the Diaspora if
there were no Armenians left in Turkey, but Armenians in Turkey live
intermingled with Turks and perceive the issue at a more humanitarian
level.”
Mahcupyan emphasized on an expected gesture from Turkey regarding the
Armenian issue depends on gestures that the European Union could
make. Armenians should give up their insistence on the so-called
genocide and Turkey should accept it, he added. General Coordinator
of the Agos newspaper Hirant Dink, meanwhile, said that Europe should
play its part. Noting that relations between Armenian and Turkish
people were consumed by Europe, Dink argued that the EU should offer
an incentive by ascribing Armenia an EU perspective.
‘Don’t listen to Mahcupyan and Dink’
The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy urged in a
letter sent to all EP deputies before the conference that Mahcupyan’s
and Dink’s statements should be approached cautiously because
Armenians were under pressure in Turkey. The Federation claimed that
one million Armenians currently live in Turkey, but that a majority
of them were converted to Islam by force.
Meanwhile Mahcupyan criticized remarks on the Armenian issue from
Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk saying that such “provocations” are not
beneficial. “I used to discuss these issues with 80 or 100 people
each week before Pamuk’s statement, many of whom were from the
Justice and Development Party (AKP). After his statement, these
people began to listen to me less. We should be careful of scoring
such own-goals.”