APOLOGY FOR GENOCIDE CONDEMNED BY NATIONALISTS

WELT ONLINE
257/Apology-for-genocide-condemned-by-nationalists .html
Dec 19 2008
Germany

An online initiative spearheaded by leftist intellectuals to apologize
for the mass slaying of ethnic Armenians by the Turkish state in
World War One was the subject of a terse debate in Turkey Friday,
drawing heavy criticism from Turkey’s foreign minister Ali Babacan
as well as prime minister Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish generals.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said on Friday a controversy
over an apology by Turkish intellectuals for the mass killings of
Armenians in World War One could hurt efforts to improve diplomatic
ties with Armenia.

His comments came on the same day Turkey’s powerful generals said
they opposed the Internet initiative, which has also drawn criticism
from Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and nationalists.

"This is a sensitive issue for Turkey. There is a negotiation process
going on (with Armenia)… This kind of debate is of no use to anyone
especially at a time talks continue and it may harm the negotiation
process," Babacan was quoted by Anatolian news agency as saying.

On Wednesday, Erdogan said the campaign, which has tested one of
Turkey’s most sensitive taboos, had no other benefit than "stirring
up trouble, disturbing our peace and undoing the steps which have
been taken".

President Abdullah Gul has hailed the initiative as proof of Turkey’s
democratic health. He became the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia
in September as Turkey sought to end almost 100 year of animosity.

Turkish and Armenian officials have expressed hopes of restoring full
diplomatic relations soon.

Turks, including Nobel prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk, have been
prosecuted in the European Union candidate country for affirming that
the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 amounted to genocide.

Turkey accepts that many Armenians were killed during the waning
years of the Ottoman Empire, but rejects Armenian assertions, backed
by Western historians, it was genocide, saying that Muslim Turks also
died in inter-ethnic conflicts.

The apology, which avoids the word genocide and uses instead the
term great catastrophe, has reignited a debate that challenges one
of the ideological foundations of modern Turkey. It comes at a time
of heightened nationalism in Turkey.

Organisers have said the initiative, posted on the Internet
() along with a non-binding petition to gather
signatures, was meant to allow Turks to offer a personal apology and
to end an official silence. It has been signed by 200 intellectuals.