AZG Armenian Daily #096, 27/05/2005
World press
TURKEY, ARMENIA, AND THE BURDEN OF MEMORY
All wars end, eventually. But memories of atrocity never seem to fade, as
the government-fanned anti-Japanese riots now taking place in China remind
us. The 90th anniversary of the Armenian massacres of 1915, ordered by the
ruling Young Turks of the Ottoman Empire and carried out with the help of
Kurds, is another wound that will not heal, but one that must be treated if
Turkey’s progress toward European Union membership is to proceed smoothly.
It is believed that the Armenian genocide inspired the Nazis in their plans
for the extermination of Jews. However, in comparison with the Holocaust,
most people still know little about this dark episode.
Indeed, it is hard for most of us to imagine the scale of suffering and
devastation inflicted on the Armenian people and their ancestral homelands.
But many members of today’s thriving global Armenian Diaspora have direct
ancestors who perished, and carry an oral historical tradition that keeps
the memories burning.
It is particularly ironic that many Kurds from Turkey’s southeastern
provinces, having been promised Armenian property and a guaranteed place in
heaven for killing infidels, were willingly complicit in the genocide. They
later found themselves on the losing end of a long history of violence
between their own separatist forces and the Turkish army, as well as being
subjected to an ongoing policy of discrimination and forced assimilation.
Historically, the ancient Christian Armenians were amongst the most
progressive people in the East, but in the nineteenth century Armenia was
divided between the Ottoman Empire and Russia. Sultan Abdulhamit II
organized the massacres of 1895-97 but it was not until the spring of 1915,
under the cover of the First World War, that the Young Turks’ nationalistic
government found the political will to execute a true genocide.
Initially, Armenian intellectuals were arrested and executed in public
hangings in groups of 50 to 100. Ordinary Armenians were thus deprived of
their leaders, and soon after were massacred, with many burned alive.
Approximately 500,000 were killed in the last seven months of 1915, with the
majority of the survivors deported to desert areas in Syria, where they died
from either starvation or disease. It is estimated that 1.5 million people
perished.
Recently, the Armenian Diaspora has been calling on Turkey to face-up to its
past and recognize its historic crime. Turkey’s official line remains that
the allegation is based on unfounded or exaggerated claims, and that the
deaths that occurred resulted from combat against Armenians collaborating
with invading Russian forces during the First World War, or as a result of
disease and hunger during the forced deportations. Moreover, the local
Turkish population allegedly suffered similar casualties.
Turkey thus argues that the charge of genocide is designed to besmirch
Turkey’s honor and impede its progress towards EU accession. There are also
understandable fears that diverging from the official line would trigger a
flood of compensation claims, as occurred against Germany.
For many politicians, particularly in America, there is an unwillingness to
upset Turkey without strong justification, given its record as a loyal NATO
ally and putative EU candidate country. But, despite almost half a century
of membership in the Council of Europe – ostensibly a guardian of human
rights, including freedom of speech and conscience – Turkey still punishes a
crime against national honor any suggestion that the Armenian genocide is an
historic truth. Fortunately, this article of Turkey’s penal code is now due
for review and possible repeal.
Indeed, broader changes are afoot in Turkey. The press and government,
mindful of the requirements of EU membership, are finally opening the
sensitive Armenian issue to debate. Even Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, under increasing EU pressure as accession negotiations are due to
begin this October, has agreed to an impartial study by academic historians,
although he has reiterated his belief that the genocide never occurred. In
France, the historical occurrence of the Armenian genocide is enshrined in
law, and denial of its occurrence is regarded in the same way as Holocaust
denial.
The European Parliament is pressing for Turkish recognition of the Armenian
genocide. It is also calling for an end to the trade embargo by Turkey and
its close ally Azerbaijan against the Republic of Armenia, a reopening of
frontiers, and a land-for-peace deal to resolve the territorial dispute over
Nagorno Karabakh in Azerbaijan and safeguard its Armenian identity.
Armenia, an independent country since 1991, remains dependent on continued
Russian protection, as was the case in 1920 when it joined the Soviet Union
rather than suffer further Turkish invasion. This is not healthy for the
development of Armenia’s democracy and weak economy. Nor does Armenia’s
continued dependence on Russia bode well for regional co-operation, given
deep resentment of Russian meddling in neighboring Georgia and Azerbaijan.
There is only one way forward for Turkey, Armenia, and the region. The
future will begin only when Turkey – like Germany in the past and Serbia and
Croatia now – repudiates its policy of denial and faces up to its terrible
crimes of 1915. Only then can the past truly be past.
By Charles Tannock, Vice-Chairman of the European Parliament’s Human Rights
Committee
Pakistan Daily Times
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress