AZG Armenian Daily #175, 30/09/2005

Turkish FM’s letter

TURKISH FM ABDULLAH GUL’S MESSAGE TO CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS

Turkey’s foreign minister Abdullah Gul sent a letter to the organizers of
the September 24-25 closed-door conference on Armenian issue. Bellow we
present the minister’s letter extracted from Turkish Daily News September 26
issue:

The last years of the Ottoman Empire are subject to discussion and research
in academic circles, with increased interest. Nearly every day new documents
from that era emerge and new books, articles and research papers are
published. Yet it is not possible to say that all data and documents related
to those times have been properly analyzed. With the aim of helping redress
this shortcoming, our government is in the process of taking important steps
to enable the Ottoman archives to serve researchers under modern conditions.
Our archives have begun to serve scientists through documents converted to a
digital medium since 2003. Within this context many researchers, coming from
75 different countries, have completed their research in the Ottoman
archives. These activities are ongoing. We want not only our own archives
but at the same time all other archives that will shed light on the history
of the day to be opened in an organized fashion that will serve all
researchers. We believe that deeper research into that era will bring new
historical facts to light and will facilitate an improvement in relations
between countries and peoples. Thus, we have proposed to the government of
Armenia the establishment of a historical commission between our two
countries that will research joint Turkish-Armenian history and which will
make its findings public. We hope to reach a conclusion on this subject.

The history of Turkish-Armenian relations is one of a coexistence and common
life of almost 1,000 years. During the course of this period, the Turkish
and Armenian peoples have contributed to each other’s culture, prosperity
and security. We should not ignore this reality when we examine the tragic
period when the Ottoman Empire was crumbling and the Turks and Armenians
were suffering deeply, like all other peoples of the empire.

It is a fact that in some chapters of history, or even today, some societies
cannot tolerate one other’s language, religion, identity or even very
existence. It is an unfortunate reality that such intolerance can turn into
deep-rooted and destructive ideologies or prejudices that become ingrained
in the social subconscious. Some serious and very dangerous trends, from
xenophobia to racism and from anti-Semitism to attitudes against Muslims,
are present and are on the rise today, even in societies that represent the
highest level of contemporary civilization.

It is a source of pleasure that such a psychology does not exist between the
Turks and Armenians. This also constitutes a major advantage for the future
of relations between the two peoples.

Another issue I want to draw your attention to is that many studies carried
out so far on the theme of “Ottoman-Armenians during the Breakup of the
Empire,” particularly outside Turkey, have been conducted with political
motivations in a manner inconsistent with scientific ethics and objectivity.
Regretfully, humanitarian issues have been sacrificed to political designs,
and double standards have been applied in determining and presenting human
suffering. There have been attempts to impose subjective, non-legal and
artificial claims upon Turkey and the Turkish people, with political
motivations. Furthermore, there have been situations in which some foreign
circles could not even tolerate scientific skepticism. Young generations
from all nations must know and draw lessons from the facts that during the
last years of the Ottoman Empire the imperialist-colonial powers ruthlessly
exploited peoples’ ethno-religious sensitivities for their own interests and
that some elements, knowingly or unknowingly, became instruments to these
provocations. I hope your conference will be a contribution to raising
awareness on this issue as well.

The Turkish people are at peace with themselves and with their history. The
approaches of our government and our people towards our past, including
Turkish-Armenian relations, constitute an indication of our confidence in
ourselves and our future.