A NECESSARY AND POSITIVE STEP
Etyen Mahcupyan

Zaman, Turkey
Nov 23 2006

Undoubtedly, one of the issues that has been giving Turkey the most
trouble in recent years is the problem called the Armenian question;
however, it has a multi-faceted character, and some of these facets
are sometimes ignored. While one aspect of the issue is that a
moment in history that is perceived and known differently by the two
parties has reached a point where it can be discussed, at the same
time, another aspect implies the normalization of Turkish-Armenian
relations and the democratization of Turkey’s non-Muslim minority
policy. However, the matter doesn’t end here… Since the world is
global now, international and domestic politics are carried to a
universal dimension by means of emigrant groups in the outside world,
and the tension in the foreign countries sheltering the emigrants is
used as a part of their own political search and tactics.

On the other hand, as is always the case in this kind of bottleneck,
there are groups who aim to continue the tension on both sides and
produce ideological profit for its own political community.

Consequently, as a result of the multi-faceted pressure, demands
and manipulations coming from both inside and outside, the Armenian
issue creates paralysis. Because nation-state politics are based on an
account of mutual compromise, instead of resolving the bottleneck, it
wants to prolong it. Because whoever takes the first step will appear
as having compromised in the eyes of it own nationalist sector, and,
particularly in countries headed towards elections, taking these kinds
of courageous steps in foreign policy becomes extremely difficult. As
a result, "politics" is reduced to states mutually adorning themselves
with a "constructive" image in an effort to show the other party as
intransigent as possible.

In this way, the tendency of the periods of non-relations, which harm
both sides, to continue forever is surrendered to…Until a change
in conjecture that will break this mechanical balance appears and at
least both parties agree that non-action is a risky position with a
big price tag. This is the point to which we have come in the Armenian
issue: In respect to the external conjuncture, the main change is, as
everyone knows, the Democrats’ gaining a majority in the U.S. Congress
after a long interval. Because there is a tradition of strong relations
between the Democrats and the Armenian Diaspora and in an environment
where the Bush administration is extremely fragile due to Iraq,
the probability that a proposal for recognition of genocide will be
passed by Congress is quite high. Of course, even if it is America,
any country’s taking a political decision regarding history in another
geographical land cannot be sanctioned. However, the U.S.’s acceptance
of such a proposal may trigger a wave of "recognizing genocide" that
will spread to other countries and drag Turkey to spiritual isolation
in the global world.

For this reason, Turkey has to be pro-active regarding every facet of
the subject called the "Armenian issue." Even though the decision to
"go to court" announced by the Foreign Affairs Ministry during the
week appears to be courage imposed by necessity, it is a step taken
in the right direction. If Armenia says yes to the workings of this
kind of "arbitration" institution, at least both societies will have
a chance to know our common history and understand events from the
other’s point of view. However, of course, a legal decision includes
a risk: No one can be one-hundred percent sure of which direction
the decision will take… Consequently, regardless of what kind of
decision is taken, it shouldn’t cause the losing party to become more
introverted and give way to the habit of nurturing its identity with
traumas. The way to do this is increasing as much as possible every
kind of trade, cultural and social relations parallel to the judicial
process. Even if the Turkish-Armenian border cannot be formally opened,
it has to open in practice. Because the psychological atmosphere that
will surround the discussions may cause not only the court to review
history, but Turkey to review its current attitude.