Independent Bangladesh, Bangladesh
June 23 2005

Burden of memory

CHARLES TANNOCK

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.

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 the 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.

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.

Charles Tannock is Vice-Chairman of the European Parliament’s Human
Rights Subcommittee.