PANEL DISCUSSION ON TURKISH-ARMENIAN RELATIONS HELD AT NY CITY HALL

Asbarez
/2009_1
Thursday, April 23, 2009

NEW YORK, N.Y. (A.W.)–On April 17, a panel discussion on
Turkish-Armenian relations was held at New York City Hall. Hosted by
the Armenian National Committee (ANC) of New York, the panel discussion
featured Armenian Weekly editor Khatchig Mouradian, California Courier
publisher Harut Sassounian, scholars Bilgin Ayata and Dr. Taner Akcam,
and ANCA executive director Aram Hamparian. Over 250 member of the
New York and New Jersey Armenian community attended the event, which
was co-sponsored by Councilwoman Melinda Katz (D-29th District),
who has been a staunch advocate for the Armenians in her district.

Opera singer Haig Mardirossian opened the event, with the "Star
Spangled Banner" and "Mer Hairenik." ANC-NY chairperson Raffi
Mahserjian then invited Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, the Prelate
of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America (Eastern Prelacy) to
offer prayers.

In his remarks, Mouradian talked about the recent attempts at dialogue
between Turkey and Armenia. "The exchange of ping-pong players in
the early 1970’s between China and the U.S. that paved the way for
President Richard Nixon’s visit to Beijing in 1972 became known as
%218Ping Pong Diplomacy.’ When the Armenian president in 2008 extended
an invitation to his counterpart to visit Yerevan and attend the soccer
match, the media started referring to the Turkey-Armenia dialogue as
%218Soccer Diplomacy,’" he explained.

"While such a term could be fitting to the rapprochement between two
powerful countries like the U.S. and China, a similar description
for Turkey and Armenia is misleading because it assumes that Turkey
and Armenia are %218competing’ on a level playing field. In the
latter case, not only is there a glaring power asymmetry, but that
power asymmetry is largely a result of a genocide perpetrated by
one of the sides against the other." Mouradian also said that the
"Turkish-Armenian dialogue" is a misnomer, because what is going on
between the two states is simply Turkey-Armenia dialogue and, as such,
does not encompass all the elements that are crucial for a just and
lasting solution.

Mouradian then introduced Sassounian, who said, "Turkey has so far
brilliantly executed all of its sinister objectives." After providing a
background to the negotiations between Turkey and Armenia, he added,
"As it became clear in late 2008 that Barack Obama would win the
presidency and possibly keep his promise to recognize the Armenian
Genocide, the Turkish government launched a major campaign to convince
the international community that Armenia and Turkey were engaged in
delicate negotiations which would be undermined if third countries
acknowledged the genocide."

Clearly, Sassounian noted, the Turks were not sincere in their declared
intentions. "Had they been serious, they could have opened the border
in a matter of days, not months or years!"

To counter the Turkish and Azeri ploys, Sassounian said that Armenia’s
leaders should: start playing hardball with Turkey and Azerbaijan;
stick to Armenia’s long-avowed position of no preconditions for
opening the border and establishing diplomatic relations with Turkey;
resist pressures from Russia, the U.S., and Europe; and consider
setting Oct. 7 as a deadline for opening the border. He also said
that the Armenian Parliament should safeguard Armenia ‘s national
security–long in advance of any border accord–by prohibiting all
foreigners from purchasing land in sensitive border areas and making
investments in strategic resources and industries.

Ayata spoke next. "It is very instructive to look closely at the
developments in the Kurdish conflict when one is concerned with
the Armenian Genocide, and vice versa," she said. "This delivers
important insights on how at present the Turkish state manages to
slowly move away from the politics of denial without arriving at a
politics of acknowledgment."

Talking about the recent apology campaign launched by some Turkish
intellectuals, Ayata said, "While on the one hand, the intent
for apology is very honorable and certainly a step into the right
direction, the ambivalent wording of the statement, its limited
scope as well as the use of the term %218Great Catastrophe’ instead
of %218genocide’ casts doubts on the very intent of apology. The
choice of the term %u218Great Catastrophe’ reveals a great ignorance
towards those to whom the apology is extended to. To me, the campaign
looks like an act of appeasement instead of an apology that has taken
the sensitivities of the Turkish state more into account than the
sensitivities of genocide survivors."

She gave the example of a Kurdish intellectual who stands in stark
contrast to the apology campaign. "Berzan Boti is a Kurdish political
activist and author from Siirt who contributes regularly to Kurdish
debates that take place on the web. He spent 11 years in the infamous
Diyarbekir prison. A few years ago, he found out that the land owned
by his family had actually belonged to Assyrians that used to live
in his village. During the 1915 genocide, the Assyrian families were
killed and deported, and his forefathers confiscated the land of an
Assyrian family that was killed. In 2007, Berzan Boti approached
the Seyfo Center in Sweden that struggles for the recognition of
the genocide and told them that he wanted to return the land to its
rightful owners. Since they were no longer alive, he gave it to the
Seyfo Center."

Dr. Taner Akcam spoke about issues of national security and the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide. He said, "Pitting national
interests against morality as mutually exclusive is wrong. Any security
policy in the Middle East that excludes morality cannot ultimately
work. Eventually it comes to undermine national security.

Indeed, if one knows Turkey and the Middle East, one would easily
recognize that history and historical injustices are not just dead
issues from the past; the past is the present in the Middle East. There
is a strong interconnection between security, democracy, and facing
history in the Middle East."

Akcam noted that if the United States declares what it believes
to be the truth and stands behind it, "not only will it gain some
self-respect on the subject, but it will liberate both Turks and
Armenians and itself in the process."

He concluded, "I believe that we will enter a new era where morality
and realpolitik will not be considered mutually exclusive–if President
Barack Obama should put an end to this lingering problem and liberate
everybody in the process by an official acknowledgment of genocide."

Aram Hamparian said it was a privilege to be part of the panel
discussion with "Taner Akcam, a truly historic figure, with Bilgin
Ayata, who represents a bridge of understanding between Kurds and
Armenians, and, of course, Harut Sassounian, who, for decades has
been a moral compass and a teacher to a generation of Armenian
American activists."

"America’s stand against genocide should not be treated as a political
commodity to be bartered or retreated from under pressure," he said,
"but rather as a core American moral value, one to be advanced
regardless of the political cost. This is the type of nation we should
be, one that understands that our willingness to confront genocide
cannot be traded for basing rights, overflights, and energy pipelines."

"No, we are better than that," he added. "Stronger, more principled,
and committed–as a matter of true national security–to standing tall
among the nations of our world, earning the respect of all countries
through the defense of our values."

He concluded by saying, "Our movement is not simply an Armenian one,
but rather an American one destined to change America, to lift–through
great sacrifice and literally decades of effort–the United States’
response to genocide to the level of our values. This represents
a great service by our community to America and the world, one
that will help reassert American moral leadership and help prevent
future genocide." The event concluded with a lengthy and lively
question-and-answer session.