SARAFIAN: FOCUS ON THE DIASPORA

Hurriyet
Nov 24 2008
Turkey

ISTANBUL – Multilateral efforts to improve relations between Armenia
and Turkey is the wrong way to resolve the Armenian issue, says
respected historian Ara Sarafian, arguing that the solution lies in
the huge and influential diaspora.

Sarafian, the head of the London-based Gomidas Institute, said Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s offer to Armenia to establish a
commission of historians to resolve the Armenian issue was positive,
but Armenia was the wrong address.

Armenians argue that the death of hundreds of thousands of Armenians
in 1915 constituted genocide while Turkey says many Turks also died
in the wartime circumstances and denies there was a state-enforced
policy to kill Armenians.

Sarafian was invited to Turkey by the Bogazici, Bilkent and Sabancı
Universities and the Hrant Dink Foundation to attend a history
conference in the Mediterranean province of Adana.

Sarafian said there were two problems that would arise out of any
effort to improve relations with Armenians through closer ties with
Armenia. "Freedom of expression for historians in Armenia is limited
and the genocide issue has become a political tool," he said.

He said Turkey should continue with its plan to form a commission
of historians who would discuss the matter, but suggested Turkish
historians to meet with moderate Armenian historians in the diaspora
rather than Armenia. "The solution should start from the diaspora,"
he said.

"The members of the diaspora who still have Anatolia in their hearts
should not be ignored," he said, adding that the diaspora was not
part of Armenia but part of Anatolia. He also said Turkey needed to
fund the commission of independent historians. "I believe Turkey is
not how it used to be. It has a modern perception and wants solutions
to the problems," said Sarafian.

Armenian archives Prime Minister Erdogan’s suggestion to form a
commission also involves the opening of the state archives of both
Armenia and Turkey. Sarafian said the archives in Armenia were
inadequate. "The real documents on the genocide are in the Zoryan
archives in Boston and the Armenian Patriarchy archives in Jerusalem,"
he said.

He said the most important question was whether Armenians wanted
to overcome this chronic problem. He asked, "Will we be able to free
ourselves from this instinct of revenge and share our grief?" Armenians
should stop seeing themselves as the victims, said the historian.

"We cannot compare the Armenian genocide with the Holocaust. Those who
were banished from their land suffered a lot but survived," he said.

He also said Turkish society could not be blamed for what happened in
the past. "No one can deny the genocide but the entire Turkish nation
cannot be held responsible. Moreover, many Turks rescued Armenians
from death," he said.

The lobbies had turned the issue into a political tool, said
Sarafian. "They want to control everything and fear historians opening
a brand new page," he said. He said a language of peace should be
created between Turks and Armenians.

He still had to be careful when he undertook research in Turkey and
added, "I, as a historian, try not to display a wrong stance and
create tension. I know I need to be objective. Additionally, Turkey
is being constructive and it would be wrong to miss this chance."

He said the restoration of the Armenian Akdamar Church in the recent
past could have created an environment of dialogue but had become a
missed chance. "Armenians did not want to take that chance because
it did not suit their interests," he said.

The Armenian response, both from the diaspora and Armenia, to Turkish
calls to work together was complete silence, he said. "The diaspora
boycotted any cooperation with Turkey because it only wants to blame
and lay accusations against Turkey. Unfortunately, radical groups
within the diaspora have turned a sensitive issue, like genocide,
into a political tool.

He said it was important for future generations to free themselves
from the victim psychology, concluding his remarks by saying, "We
need to ensure our children live in peace. The revenge instinct will
do no one any good."

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