YEREVAN PICKS HISTORIANS FOR COMMISSION

Hurriyet Daily News
van-picks-historians-for-commision-2009-10-19
Oct 19 2009
Turkey

Yerevan has already picked the Armenian historians expected to
participate in the controversial history commission, although the
historic agreement aimed at normalizing relations between Turkey and
Armenia has yet to be ratified by either parliament.

Also, an Armenian historian who was born in Istanbul has been
unofficially put in charge of the committee by the Turkish government.

The history commission, which is expected to be part of an
intergovernmental commission between the two countries, is one of
the most delicate matters in the recently signed diplomatic protocols.

Although not mentioned in the protocols, Turkey has been naming a
settlement on the long-standing territorial dispute of Nagorno-Karabakh
and the history commission as preconditions for reconciliation with its
ex-Soviet neighbor. Ankara says the joint history commission should
study and discuss the 1915 deaths of Armenians during the last days
of the Ottoman Empire.

Armenian President Serge Sarkisian and his government rejected
Turkey’s offer of a history commission, labeling it as "politically
motivated." However, while saying Armenia would never step down
from its stance on the 1915 killings, Yerevan has already chosen the
historians for the commission.

The names for the commission were selected by the administration of
Sarkisian, a senior Armenian government official told the Hurriyet
Daily News & Economic Review. The official was speaking on the
condition of anonymity due the sensitivity of the issue. Another
diplomatic source from the Turkish side also verified the appointments,
further saying that the commission would begin working immediately
if the diplomatic protocols are ratified by both the Turkish and
Armenian parliaments.

Meanwhile, an Armenian historian who was born in Istanbul is
unofficially holding meetings for Turkey about the establishment of
the commission. The Armenian historian, who went to Yerevan last year
to conduct research using the archives of the Genocide Museum, is
also the first historian of Armenian origin who was granted special
permission by former President Fahri Koruturk to conduct research
using the Ottoman archives in 1974.

The Armenian side would offer only Armenian historians to the
commission, he said, adding that historians from the diaspora, who
have been carrying out research in the archives of many countries,
would not be included.

Ara Sarafian, a leading diaspora historian and the director
of London-based Gomidas Institute, said the commission matter is
political and he does not want to comment on the issue. In a previous
interview with the Daily News, Sarafian said Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s call for a history commission was a positive
move, but added that Armenia is not the right address for the issue.

"The archived documents in Armenia are insufficient. The freedom of
historians is limited. So, a delicate matter such as genocide will
be pulled into the political arena," he said.