BÝA, Turkey
March 17 2006
Not Many “New Approaches” for Armenian Issue
“New Approaches in Turkish Armenian Relations” conferance will
continue for 3 days witnessed the reproduction of nationalist
reflexes and unscientific propositions: “There is not more noble a
nation in the world than the Turks.”
BIA News Center
17/03/2006 Talin SUCIYAN
BÝA (Istanbul) – On the first day of the international symposium
entitled “New Approaches in Turkish Armenian Relations” organized by
Istanbul University as the Science and Literature Faculty Cemil
Birsel Meeting Hall that started on Wednesday, the symposium stayed
far away from bringing new approaches to the issue. Old formulaic
narratives were repeated.
The symposium witnessed the reproduction of nationalist reflexes and
unscientific propositions.
Propositions and questions such as “The Armenians had sold their
masters”, “deportation is a form of crisis management”, “how could
one compare those who die from deportations with those who die from
the flu”, “there is no nobler nation on earth than the Turks” were
repeated.
A 25-page anonymous brochure printed by Ýstanbul University entitled
“The Attack of the Genociders and the Reactions One Must Give to
Them” was introduced at the last minute at an unnamed exhibit.
The symposium started with a practice inappropriate for an academic
meeting, namely with the reading of the National Anthem and the March
of the 10th Year Celebrations of the Turkish Republic. Then there was
a moment of silence observed for those who had lost their lives
during World War I.
The National Anthem was sung by Katya Hallacoglu from Ferikoy
Armenian Elementary School who was elected the best national anthem
singing student and the Tenth Year (of The Republic) March was sang
by the Surp Takavor Choir. The same choir then sang some Armenian
pieces.
The Brochure with the unknown author and publisher
Among the various bookstands in the hall way were the publications of
the Prime Minister’s Office, Ataturk Research Center and the Gomidas
Institute. During the first panel, there was added next to the books
of the Gomidas Institute a brochure stand for a 25-page brochure
entitled “The Attack of the Genociders and the Reactions One Must
Give to Them.”
The name of the author was someone named “Holdwater” and the
translator the Turkish Forum member Fatma Sarýkaya who had attended
the Bilgi University conference in September 2005. Vice Rector Þafak
Ural stated that the brochure had been printed by the Istanbul
University Press right before the symposium but it had not yet been
accepted as an Istanbul University publication because it had not
been examined adequately.
There was no information in the brochure that it had been printed by
Istanbul University. The entire content of the brochure whose writer
is unknown has been taken from the website
and translated by Fatma Sarýkaya.
On the first day of the conference that will continue for three days,
a total of 18 presentations took place under the themes “Armenians
under Ottoman Adminsitration,” “Deportation according to Archival
Documants” and “Great Powers and the Armenian Issue.”
Even though the original title of the paper of Yair Auron who
participated in the symposium from Israel was “Armenian Genocide
during World War I According to the Narrtives of the Witnesses and
Jewish Documentation,” it appeared in the program as “Armenians under
Ottoman rule according to the archival documents of the Yishuv (the
Palestinian Jewish community).” This misprint was corrected at the
end of the presentation by Yusuf Halacoglu.
Auron: “1915 is a Genocide”
As could also be understood from his paper title, Yair Auron gave a
presentation on the proofs of the Armenian genocide in the Jewish
sources. Auron stated that he had been researching genocides for 30
years and the Armenian genocide for 20 years and that he employed the
term genocide not to offend anyone but because he interprets 1915
within the scientific and legal conceptualizations as genocide.
Saray: “Armenians and Greek were used as Tools for Selfish Purposes”
Mehmet Saray who presented in an emotional tone a paper entitled
“Armenians and the Ottoman conception of the state” said the
following at the end of his paper: “The Turkish nation is the most
noble nation of the world; friends, it is not possible for such a
nation to commit genocide.” Saray also stated that the Armenians and
Greeks were used by the Britain, France and Russia as ‘tools.’
Bozkurt: “Non-Muslims prevented equality”
In her talk entitled “non-Muslims in Ottoman Law,” Gulnihal Bozkurt
said that the legal differentiation between the Muslims and
non-Muslims occurred because the Ottoman state was a religious state
and the legal system applied a religious one. She claimed that the
non-Muslims did not support the application of the reforms that gave
them more rights but also more responsibilities and that was why the
introduction of an egalitarian understanding (to Ottoman society) was
prevented directly by the non-Muslims.
Ali Arslan who defended the view that the Armenian church and the
Armenian problem were interconnected stated that the (activities of
the) churches had to be observed very carefully and that he wished
the churches were centers of peace and love.
“Armenians have sold their Masters”
Erol Kurkcuoglu who stated while giving his paper that “the Armenian
problem is an artificial (non-existent) issue created by the Russians
and Western powers” referred to the Russian historian Velichkov in
stating that Armenians always had masters. He narrated that these
“master”s’were respectively Romans, Byzantines, Iranian, British,
French and Germans. He concluded his talk by stating that “Armenians
have always changed their masters in history and have sold them (the
masters).”
Deportation as Crisis Management
Hikmet Ozdemir stated that his talk searched for the answer to the
single question: ‘what are the reasons for the deportation?’ and
pointed out that he had “the right to ask to know what his colleagues
at Bilgi and Sabanci Universities thought about this.” Ozdemir listed
various rebellions to argue that deportation emerged as a crisis
management technique during war.
Why did Gomidas go abroad?
In his paper entitled “Deportation according to Ottoman documents”,
Yusuf Sarinay gave the example of Gomidas, the first
ethnomusicologist of Anatolia, stating how helpful the state elite
had been in sending him abroad for his medical treatment.
Sarýnay did not state that Gomidas had lost his mental health because
of what he had lived through and witnessed.
Sarýnay also argued that Armenians had been sent south in order to
move them away from the warfront to settle them at a secure place.
“Comparison of deportation and flu deaths”
Yusuf Hallacoðlu argued in his talk entitled “population loss due to
deportation and migrations” that the number of casualties due to
sickness, travel, hunger was 227 500 and that this could be compared
to those in England who died from the flu.
The Activities of the Missionaries and the Armenians are Different
from One Another
Hilmar Kaiser who presented a paper entitled “Merzifon, 1915: Ottoman
Armenians and American Missionaries during times of Crisis” stated
that one should not equate those who performed missionary activities
with the Armenians because Armenians sometimes converted to Islam to
escape genocide and this (conversion) would not be acceptable to the
missionaries.
As proof for his argument that the purposes of the two groups were
entirely different, Kaiser relayed from the memoirs of the wife the
negative reaction received by the Armenian doctor who had become the
director of the Merzifon missionary hospital.
Kaiser stated that Merzifon was totally cleansed of Armenians except
for the Protestant Armenians who were disabled or working at the
American mission.
The symposium that has not been well attended will continue at the
same place Thursday and Friday. (TS/KO/FMG/YE)
–Boundary_(ID_ak3GXP3MJkOtSxHJpac riA)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
