TURKEY’S ARMENIANS IN CROSSFIRE BETWEEN ‘FANATICS’ ON BOTH SIDES

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
May 14 2007

Photo: Archbishop Mesrob Mutafyan, patriarch to Turkey’s Armenian
community, feels Turkish Armenians are caught in the crossfire as
fanatics on either side attack one another.

Speaking to Zaman daily journalist Nuriye Akman, Patriarch Mesrob
II expressed his frustration with religiously motivated attacks in
Turkey, including last year’s killing of an Italian pastor and the
more recent slaying of three Bible publishers in Malatya.

"I can say that we sometimes experience the feeling of ‘being stuck
in between’ Turkish and Armenian fanatics. This sometimes appears to
me as being stuck in a crossfire and sometimes two kinds of love. Two
fires, for the nationalists on both sides are firing at each other
unabated, which is harder on us as the Armenians of Turkey. Two
kinds of love, because we have adopted and we love the language,
traditions and culture of both sides. For this reason, as I always
say, establishing peace between these two peoples would make Turkey’s
Armenians the most happy."

The patriarch also told Akman that having lived in a Muslim country for
centuries offered the benefits of an environment of tolerance between
different religions. "Church bells ringing and the Muslim prayer call
mix with each other, particularly in Ýstanbul, and create a mystical
atmosphere. At the end of the day both the church bell and the ezan
praise God’s name and call believers to prayer. We should stand against
any formation that might threaten this environment of tolerance."

Mesrob II also said he found it hard to believe what was currently
going on in Turkey. "In the neighborhood where I grew up we all lived
together as Turks, Armenians, Greeks and Jews and played together as
kids. Everybody used to know the dates of holidays for all religions
and exchanged greetings during these times. Now that I look at these
recent painful incidents we have been through I hardly know my country
that I had known as well as my own life."

The patriarch also expressed his opinion that it was time for Turkey
to improve dialogue with Armenia and the diaspora. "Journalists, youth
organizations, academics and civil society organizations should make
frequent visits to both countries and improve humane relations between
the two countries. Difficult issues could be dealt with later. First
mutual confidence and understanding should be established."

Patriarch Mesrob II also offered his belief that if Turkey’s Armenian
community was represented in the Turkish Parliament it would contribute
greatly to improving tolerance and understanding. "If our political
parties were more supportive of Armenian students who might be
interested in politics, they would have made a concrete step to
improve the more abstract concepts of citizenship and tolerance."

Common grounds between Islam and Christianity

The patriarch said there were many common points between Islamic and
Christian mysticism. "Mysticism is actually tantamount to transcending
the dogma. Is it possible not to agree with [Turkish Sufi thinker]
Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi on most issues?" He said Mevlana’s message
was most important, referring to Mevlana’s widely known poem, "Come,
come again, whoever you are, come!" The patriarch interpreted Mevlana’s
call as an invitation to the door of God. He also said he respected
Islam’s Prophet Mohammed as the founder of a great civilization. "I
feel great respect," he explained.

Sarkozy in France

The patriarch expressed hopes that Nicolas Sarkozy, who recently
won the presidential elections in France, would change his staunchly
anti-Turkish discourse once he took office. In response to a question
asking what would happen if a bill, taken up by the French Parliament
earlier, criminalizing the denial of Armenian claims of a genocide
committed by the Ottoman Turks in 1915, the patriarch said if the
bill reappeared on the agenda it would harm French-Turkish relations.

Instead, he opined that a board of Turkish and Armenian historians
as well as French historians should be set up to investigate
the allegations and the relations of the two nations throughout
centuries. "True, painful events happened under the Union and Progress
government [which came to power in 1908], however it would be wrong
to leave an entire history behind the shadow of those incidents,
given the friendly relations the Turkish and Armenian people have
had since the fifth century."

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