‘IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO IDEALIZE ANY STAGE OF OTTOMAN-ARMENIAN RELATIONS’
By Hakob Chakrian

AZG Armenian Daily
06/05/2006

Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople States at a Workshop in Kayseri.

A series of alternative workshops followed the controversial conference
“The Ottoman Armenians at the Decline of the Empire” that was held
last September.

The last one in the series titled “The Art of Coexistence in the
Ottoman Society on The Example of Turkish-Armenian Relations” was
organized by the Kayseri University on April 20-22.

Besides its scientific council the workshop had a council of honored
members that included former Turkish state minister, Kyamran Inan,
retired ambassadors Bilal Simsir, Syukry Elekdag, Nyuzhet Kandemir,
Omer Lutem, president of Turkish History Foundation Yusuf Halacoglu,
rector of Erjies University Jengiz Utas and others.

Members of both councils were all exclusively adherents of Turkish
official denailist stance on the Armenian genocide.

Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, Mesrop II Mutafian, held a
speech in the workshop in the status of an honored guest. Meanwhile,
the Patriarch had declined invitation of Prof. Metin Hulagul of Erjies
University and posted the refusal in the official website of the on
October 26.

Here is the Patriarch’s answer to the invitation: “The Armenian
Patriarchate of Constantinople is the spiritual center of
Turkish-Armenians. I don’t think it is right that this center shows
initiative in such issues that can be politicized and have potential
for tensions or take part in workshops that discuss sad events of
the past.”

The patriarch’s speech at the conference shows that the organizers
downplayed validity of his refusal. In other words, Mesrop II Mutafian
opted in the workshop against his will.

In his speech that Haytert published on April 26, Patriarch Mutafian
emphasizes the need of overcoming the impasse in Armenian-Turkish
relations, fostering good-neighborly relations between the two
peoples and settling urgent issues facing the both countries as well
as underscores the hollowness of sowing intolerance in Turkish society.

Patriarch Mutafian conditions improvement of Turkish-Armenian relations
by self-sacrificing and emphasizes the importance of guidance by
values common to all mankind meanwhile condemning manifestation of
xenophobia both in Turkish and Armenian societies.

Topicality of issues that the Patriarch raised adds to their
importance. Yet, the comments of these issues are arguable. More so
when taking up the issue of “moral criteria of the historiography”. The
Patriarch says about this issue: “It’s impossible to idealize any
stage of Ottoman-Armenian relations saying that the Armenians had
no problems. Yet we know that first contact between Armenians and
Turks goes back 1300 years. If Yeghishe indeed wrote the story of
Armenian-Persian war in the 5th century then these relations are
1500 years old. Between nations with such an old history of trade
and political relations cases of violence are rare.”

“The influence of national upsurge that the Great French Revolution
begot gradually spread in other countries including Turkey. Those
responsible for the tension in Turkish-Armenian relations in 19 century
are Germany, America, France, England and above all Russia as well as
Armenian political parties and the Armenian Patriarchate functioning
under the Ottoman Parliament. It is morally unacceptable that one of
the sides – no matter who is more responsible for the sore results –
admits all responsibility or shirk it blaming it on the other side.”

Our aim is not to comment on Patriarch Mutafian’s report. We simply
want to note that the first mentioning of the Turkic tribes dates
back to 7th century AD in Chinese sources in a pillage context. As to
the Turks, their ancestors, nomadic Oguz-Turks, penetrated the South
Caucasus only in 40s of 11th century. They penetrated the Asia Minor
from the Armenian Plateau after the battle of Manazkert in 1071. They
settled in the Asia Minor only in 13th century (according to Turkish
historian Osman Turan) and the settled lifestyle is a necessary
condition for a nomadic tribe to turn into a people. Thus, Patriarch
Mutafian’s figures are erroneous at best. Not only the Turkish people
does not have a history of 1500 years but also Oguzes and Turkmens
as the first mentioning of the Oguzes can be found in the sources of
9th century and in the 10th for Turkmens.