24 Jan 07

ARTICLE: 1915-2007
by Ahmet Altan
gazetem.net
in English and Turkish original

"1915-2007" by Ahmet Altan

Nothing much has changed it seems.

They were murdered in 1915 as well…

They are being murdered in 2007 too…

What was being said about that massacre at the beginning of last
century.

"They killed us, and we killed them back."

What are we going to say about the murder of Hrant then?

That "Hrant killed us, and we killed Hrant back?"

Now that is not what we say, is it?

We say "traitors killed Hrant."

We do not see the murderers of Hrant as one of "us."

Why is it that "we" are the ones who ninety years ago killed
hundreds of thousands of people, without forsaking children, women,
elderly and babies, who decimated the Armenians, but we are not the
ones who killed Hrant?

What is the difference between the two?

The difference is that this time we saw the murder, that we have an
idea about the intentions of the murderer.

This time they did not "tell us" how the murder was
committed, we personally witnessed it ourselves.

If those who in this country "write" the history of 1915 had
also written the murder of Hrant, the children in this country
would have said fifty years later that "Hrant had killed us, and
we killed Hrant back."

The truth would have changed shape in the hands of the liars.

We did not kill Hrant.

Most probably some people who have ferreted their way into the state
had Hrant killed.

Their intention was for the world to react negatively to Turkey,
which would have escalated nationalism within the country in
response, leading to a break off from Europe.

In 1915 as well, "we" did not kill the Armenians.

Those poor people were not killed by "the ones ferreted inside the
state," but directly by the state itself.

A great massacre that was organized by the Unionists in government
was actualized.

The Armenians who were killed were Ottoman subjects.

They were a part of the Ottoman nation.

A part of the nation was utterly destroyed by the state.

"We" are the nation.

The ones who were killed were a part of "us."

Since each Turk who lives in this country see themselves not as a
"part of the nation" but rather a "part of the
state," however, they also own this massacre executed by the
state.

"They killed us, we killed them," they say.

Now that is a lie.

The Ottoman state, under the government of the Unionists killed, in
an organized manner, with the planning of the intelligence unit
entitled Special Organization (TeÅ~_kilat-ı Mahsusa), a "part
of us."

The murdered Armenians are a part of "us."

It is actually our duty to ask them to account for that murdered part
of us.

"We" ought to face this state and ask them "are you a
continuation of the Ottoman state," ask them "why do you own
up to the murder committed by a state you destroyed," ask them
"why don’t you yourself seek accountability for this
destruction by the state of a part of its nation and instead leave
this task to others."

Because "we" did not ask this, one of "us," Hrant
Dink, has now been murdered.

On top of it all, he, while still mourning for his ancestors, wanted
Turkey not to be trapped solely within the term "genocide,"
not to have the entire debate forced into a single word; he wanted
Turkey to be permiited to become democratized through uniting with
the world .

He was declared "an enemy of the Turks."

Hrant was no one’s enemy, he was not someone who could have been
a foe.

He was a friend.

And he was a friend to everyone.

Why is it that in this country those who are "for murders and
massacres" are accepted as a Turk while "those for
friendship, peace, justice and humanity" are regarded as foe.

Why is it that those who strive to equate the word "Turk"
with "death" are regarded as a "Turk"?

Are those who try to have an entire tribe declared as
"murderers" truly the friends of the Turks?

The Turkish populace owns up to the crimes of the old and new
"state" because it cannot grasp that it is the
"nation."

As it cannot grasp that it itself is the nation, it identifies
itself with the murderers instead and says "us."

My heart could never bear to have the sorrowful deaths of those
hundreds of thousands of people, the bloody tragedy that was
experienced to be lost within the vortex created by the term
"genocide."

Yet because we have not been able to move beyond that word, people
like Hrant are still being killed.

I think that now, in order to prevent new murders, iin order to stop
this country from being dragged to a dead end, it is up to us to move
beyond that word.

The Ottoman state killed hundreds of thousands of people solely
because they were "Armenians."

And today a hidden force kills Hrant for "being an
Armenian."

What are we going to call it if a person is being killed solely
because of their race or their religion?

It is up to "us," to this nation to ask for an accounting of
those who were killed.

Hrant’s death hurt you all deeply.

If you had witnessed what had happened in 1915, you would have been
likewise deeply hurt.

And you would not have said "they killed us, we kiled them."

You would have been ashamed.

Just as you wanted Hrant’s murderers to be found, you would have
wanted the murderers of those Armenians found as well.

With his death, Hrant made us remember that we are a nation, that we
should not identify ourselves with the murderers.

Then let us do what befits being a nation.

Who killed Hrant?

Who killed the Armenians in 1915?

They do not have to account for their actions to "others,"
they have to account to "us."

For we are the ones who have died.

The ones who died are a part of us.

–Boundary_(ID_IFR7XrGOICprnWTtz+sTdw)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress