ARMENIA’S PSYCHOLOGICAL SCARS
By Cesar Chelala
Middle East Times
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Egypt
During a recent trip to Armenia, I was once again reminded of man’s
inhumanity to man. I also found myself face-to-face once again with
the power of memory and of hate, and asked myself if there is any
way to overcome the lingering and pernicious effects of conflicts
among peoples.
In 1915, as the Ottoman Empire was in its death throes, almost 1
million Armenians were massacred, and many others were forced into
exile from their land. The circumstances that led to this ordeal are
still under spirited discussions.
Can the Armenian hatred for the Turks, almost a century after
the devastating events of 1915 be overcome so that a productive
relationship between the two countries can be brought about? It is
obviously too late to bring those responsible to justice. However, it
should be possible to reach a level of understanding and cooperation
between the two societies.
I spoke with Professor Mira Antonyan, director of the Fund for Armenian
Relief, about the effects of those events on Armenians today. "The
only thing that unites us now is our resentment against the Turks
for the events of the past" she told me. That feeling was shared by
her husband and a friend of both, who regularly trade with Turkish
businessmen. "Being Armenian means having sad memories," she added.
I told them that I felt Armenians were in a quagmire, unable to move
forward because of the tremendous weight of past events. "Perhaps you
are right," Mira’s husband answered, "but genocide is a very heavy
burden on our shoulders. We cannot just forget what happened. We
cannot erase our memory."
I believe that there is a generational divide on the question. The
older generation — those over 50 — insist on the need for an apology
from the Turkish government for the assassination of Armenians. The
younger generations, without rejecting the facts of history, feel
the need to overcome the negative effects of those memories. They
believe that such visceral attachment to the past is self-defeating.
Kamilla Petrosyan, an Armenian psychiatrist in her late 30s, told
me how her 4-year-old son arrived home one day from kindergarten
frightened to death on learning that day about the 1915 massacres. "We
have to stop this culture of victimization," she said, "otherwise we
will never be able to move forward."
Something similar happens in Turkey. Arman Artuc, editor of the HyeTert
news portal in Istanbul, told me recently, "Almost everybody living in
Turkey grew up with stories (beginning with primary school textbooks,
newspapers and other media) of how cruel Armenians have been to Turks
during and after WWI using a language of hatred and insults. Only
recently commissions were established to change the textbooks and
remove such language."
These and other events demonstrate that the Turks too are beginning
to show signs of the need to move forward. A number of Turkish
intellectuals, including last year’s winner of the Noble Prize for
literature, Orhan Pamuk, have made public statements to that effect.
Armenian President Serge Sarkisian’s recent invitation to Turkish
President Abdullah Gul to watch a soccer match in Armenia between their
countries’ national teams can contribute to create a psychological
climate that could lead to productive relations between both
countries. President Gul has been quite forceful on the need and
mutual convenience to have better relations between both countries
and has called for the formation of a joint commission of Turkish
and American scholars to assess past events.
The creation of a commission of both Turkish and Armenian historians
under the auspices of the United Nations and with representatives
from the International Court of Justice at The Hague is an important
and necessary step. The task of such commission would be to analyze
historical documents that will shed definitive light on the events
of the past.
A change of paradigm that will allow us to move away from a culture
of violence is desperately needed. We should take advantage of the
present situation to create an irreversible motion towards mutual
understanding through the implementation of a wide range of peace
building measures that will create a strong foundation for cooperation.
The importance of an agreement for peace and cooperation between Turkey
and Armenia goes beyond their borders. In a world wired for war, it can
show that peace and understanding between peoples burdened by the past
is still possible, and create a psychological momentum for peace that
would allow reaching similar agreements in other parts of the world.
It is only by constructing bridges of understanding–particularly
working with young people, still
untainted by the weight of the past — that we will be able to change
the present paradigm of violence and war for one of collaboration
and peace.
—
Dr. Cesar Chelala is the co-author of "Missing or Dead in Argentina:
The Desperate Search for Thousands of Abducted Victims," a New York
Times Magazine cover story, for which he shared an Overseas Press
Club of America award.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
