ARMENIAN INTELLECTUALS SEND ‘GENOCIDE’ LETTER TO GUL

Today’s Zaman
Dec 12 2008
Turkey

A group of Armenian intellectuals have urged President Abdullah Gul to
recognize Armenian allegations of genocide, suggesting that such a move
would remove "a burden of history" resting on the shoulders of Turks.

The letter, signed by around 300 intellectuals according to Armenian
news reports, praised Gul for breaking a Turkish foreign policy taboo
by visiting Armenia to watch a soccer game in early September between
the national soccer teams of the two countries in the World Cup. The
visit paved the way for contacts between Turkey and Armenia, which
have had no formal ties since 1993.

The visit "proved that normalization of neighbor relations demand bold
and realistic action. It specifically refers to the Armenian Genocide
issue, which has divided the two nations since 1915," the letter was
quoted as saying in a report by earlier this week.

"Mr. President, it is an outrageous crime against the humanity which
has no time limitation. Its recognition is not a demand of the Armenian
people but a just expectation of the international community. The
Armenian Genocide is a crime against the values of modern civilization,
a crime that can’t be questioned. We all should accept that the
Ottoman Empire is guilty of the massacre of the Armenian people,
and modern-day Turkey bears hereditary responsibility for what they
consider a monumental crime against humanity. Present-day Turkish
diplomacy and propaganda machine can’t cover this dark page of
history," the letter continued.

"The historic memory of our nations is deep and restless. Your
generation of Turkish leaders must accept the undeniable truth
and recognize the fact of the Armenian Genocide. Recognition of
this indisputable fact is first of all essential for the Turkish
people. Relieving this burden of history, they can turn this dark
page and launch a sincere dialogue for true reconciliation," it
said. "Your visit to Armenia inspires hope for a new and realistic
political course in Turkey. However, these efforts can fail of your
state doesn’t take action to put an end to the current policy of the
Armenian Genocide denial."

The move from the Armenian intellectuals came days after a group
of Turkish intellectuals apologized for the "great disaster that
Ottoman Armenians suffered in 1915." A petition initiated by a group
of intellectuals, including professors Baskın Oran and Ahmet İnsel
and journalists Ali Bayramoglu and Cengiz Aktar, personally apologizes
for the events.

Turkey severed its diplomatic ties with Armenia and closed its border
in 1993 in protest of the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh
in Azerbaijan. Ankara says the normalization of its relations with
Armenia depends on Armenia’s withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh and an
end to Yerevan’s support for the Armenian diaspora’s efforts to win
international recognition for claims that Armenians were subjected to
genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. But Gul’s September visit
broke the ice between the two countries. Officials have had talks on
the possible normalization of relations since that historic visit.

–Boundary_(ID_uaKMxIXHii3Xeiqjw1T7kw)–