THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN KEMALISTS AND ISLAMISTS IN TURKEY MAY COLLAPSE THE STATE
Karine Ter-Sahakyan

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.07.2009 GMT+04:00

The hearing on Ergenekon, to which the government of Recep Tayyip
Erdogan attempts to pin the army, may develop into a process in which
there’ll be no winners.

Any idea of a united nation state, even if it is based on European
values, sooner or later results in disintegration and crash. Ideology
can serve as faith and truth only until a specific time, after
which it changes into a dogma, which prevents the development of the
country. Moreover, it is utterly unimportant what way the development
takes – whether it advances or returns to "primeval state". Roughly
this is the case with present-day Turkey, which after 75 years of
Kemalism is gradually returning to Islam.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ It should be noted that this Islam, however, has
nothing in common with the radical Shias, but, who can be sure that
this very fact won’t make it more dangerous. The slow, but accurate
settlement of Europe with the Turks indicates that sooner or later the
Christian world will have to admit the fact that not Turkey became
part of Europe, but quite the contrary. Let us add to this also the
demographic factor, and everything will fall into place. However, the
situation is not so terrible after all: the internal political events
of the past two years indicate that the struggle between Kemalists
and Islamists has not yet ended, and no one can predict the exact
conclusion of it. The trial on Ergenekon, to which the government
of Recep Tayyip Erdogan attempts to pin the army, may develop into a
process in which there’ll be no winners. On the one hand, the ruling
Justice and Development Party (AKP) strives into Europe, on the other
hand, it is eager to secure itsel!

f with the absolute support of the 70-million population for final
regulation of the Kurdish question like the Armenian one, about which
we have been repeatedly writing. But, the country cannot do without
the army, and it means Erdogan will not be able to finally dismiss
the Joint Staff, i.e. to change the constitution. It is even possible
that he’ll suffer the same fate as Menderes did; servicemen in Turkey
do not like jokes…

Against this background the normalization of Armenian-Turkish
relations seems difficult or even unattainable a concern, in spite of
the statements of ministers and experts, to say nothing of NGOs and
media outlets. The Armenian question once was the indirect reason
for the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, but history has a habit
of repeating itself and not always in the form of farce. Ankara
perfectly understands that after the Armenian issue she will have
to solve the Cyprus and Kurdish questions as well, to say nothing
of fulfillment of obligations before Europe in some part of reforms,
which simply do not reach eastern provinces because of needlessness of
the afore-mentioned. But these issues seemed to be little, and Turkey,
on Azerbaijan’s advice, decided to undertake also the settlement of
the Karabakh conflict, which in a wider sense is in no way necessary
to her. The slogan "one nation, two states" proved to be a time bomb,
placed by Heydar Aliyev for the sole purpose !

of ensuring his son at least one ally in the region. But even this
may work against Baku. Real diplomacy has very little in common with
the factual statements of foreign ministers of any of the countries
in the region. Especially because the pressure of EU and the USA
on Turkey for opening the border with Armenia has recently been
increased both by the European Union and the USA. Russia thus far
remains neutral, but if the closed boundary begins to interfere with
the imperial ambitions of Moscow, it may behave like the USA and
Europe. Azerbaijan will instantly turn her back on Ankara and will
be carrying out Gazprom’s immediate orders. Paraphrasing the popular
saying, we can say: "What is good for Gazprom is good for Russia".

As far as the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations is concerned,
advancement can be outlined in this issue judging by the publications
in the Turkish media outlets. According to Egemen Bagis, Minister of
State of Turkey and Chief negotiator on the integration of Turkey
into the EU, the reconstruction of the Armenian Church on Akhtamar
Island will be accomplished before Serzh Sargsyan’s arrival in
Turkey and a cross will be inaugurated on the church. "Why not? In
fact Islam respects all religions. If Europe does not put any bans
on opening mosques, why should we do so? Besides, this church will
attract pilgrim Armenians here, what will help to develop tourism in
this region. Closed borders are the vestige of communism and we must
struggle them. It was Stalin who loved keeping boundaries under lock
and key; why should we follow him? We say Greeks are bad, Kurds are
bad too. How long will we be at loggerheads? We should put an end to
animosity." Bagis declared. Whether t!

his statement will be put into effect is difficult to say. The fact
is that very little time is left until October 14 and if the border
is not opened, the President of Armenia simply will not attend the
return football match between the Armenian and Turkish national
football teams. "I will attend the return match only in case the
Armenian-Turkish border is opened or the sides are on the threshold
of unblocking Armenia," declared President Sargsyan in Yerevan,
during a joint press conference with his Serbian counterpart Boris
Tadic. "There is little time left till the match. We expect Turkey
to take constructive steps towards normalization of relations,"
stated Sargsyan.

In his turn, director of the RA NAS Institute of Oriental Studies,
Professor Ruben Safrastyan considers that Turkey’s decision to
inaugurate a cross on Surb Khach (St. Cross) Armenian Church on
Akhtamar Island doesn’t imply any change of Ankara’s position. "The
church will be reconstructed but inauguration of a cross on it sounds
unrealistic. It may arouse Muslims’ displeasure. Intolerance towards
other religious is growing in Turkey. This country’s religious policy
is still anti-Christian," notes Safrastyan.

At the same time, Professor at Istanbul University Bilgi Turgut Tuncel
noted that Turkey and Armenia are engaged in a belated process of
mutual acquaintance and communication. "To reach accomplishment,
both sides have to pay great attention to the sensitivities of the
other side. One of the psychological barriers for Armenians is the
feeling of being ignored and disregarded by the Turks or the Turkish
State. Turks and the Turkish State must realize this situation and
take the necessary measures to show that Armenians are not ignored
by them," Tuncel noted. In his view, it must be recognized that
Armenians lived and still live in Anatolia. The hostile and insulting
rhetoric prevalent in school textbooks and popular media must be
stopped, and the Armenian cultural heritage in Anatolia should be
respected. "Accordingly, recognition of the Armenian remnants in
Anatolia as Armenian vestiges and renovating them as cultural heritage
of Anatolia is of major importance. In this way, !

Turkey not only can show Armenians that she respects the Armenian
nation, but will also provide the younger Turkish generation with a
truthful historical consciousness," he said.