‘TURKEY READY FOR DIALOGUE WITH DIASPORA’

Today’s Zaman
April 16 2010
Turkey

Ankara’s ongoing efforts to normalize its relations with Yerevan are
not limited to a state-to-state framework, Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu has said, adding that Turkey wants a reconciliation process
that also involves the Armenian diaspora living in Europe and the
United States.

Davutoglu said Turks and Armenians "in Paris and Boston" should
sit together and attempt to reconcile their memories of the tragic
events that took place in 1915, which Armenians consider a systematic
extermination campaign but which Turks insist were merely terrible
deaths resulting from the collapse of an empire, The Boston Globe
reported on Wednesday.

The minister’s remarks came as he was delivering a speech and
responding to questions from reporters at the Washington office of
the Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday.

"We are ready to listen to our Armenian friends concerning our
history," Davutoglu was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency.

He said no one should unilaterally impose his/her own memory on the
other side, recalling that 2 million Turks were forced to migrate
from the Balkans and the Caucasus to Anatolia as those territories
became independent from the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the
last century.

Turkey rejects Armenian claims of genocide at the hands of the
Ottoman Empire and says Turks and Armenians were both killed as
Armenians revolted against the Ottoman Empire in collaboration with
the Russian army with the aim of establishing an Armenian state in
eastern Anatolia.

Davutoglu’s remarks in Washington echoed his concept of "just memory."

In the past, he has said that procedures envisioned by protocols signed
in October between Armenia and Turkey for establishing diplomatic
ties and reopening their border will eventually help achieve "a just
memory" concerning the tragedy in Anatolia during World War I.

One of the two protocols signed by Ankara and Yerevan in October
says the two countries have agreed to "implement a dialogue on the
historical dimension with the aim of restoring mutual confidence
between the two nations, including an impartial scientific examination
of historical records and archives to define existing problems and
formulate recommendations."

"1915 is the year of the so-called genocide for them," Davutoglu was
quoted as saying by The Boston Globe. "For us, we say ‘pain.’ We are
ready to discuss. The same year, we had Gallipoli," he said.

The 1915 Battle of Gallipoli was won by the defending Ottoman army
against a joint British and French campaign and laid the groundwork
for the Turkish War of Independence and the foundation of the Turkish
Republic eight years later under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Davutoglu said one of his grandfathers died at Gallipoli, underscoring
the emotion that many Turks feel about that campaign, The Boston
Globe reported.

Also Wednesday, Davutoglu held a meeting in Washington with Turkey’s
ambassadors to Washington and Ottawa and consul-generals in Chicago,
Houston, Los Angeles and Toronto. Davutoglu ordered the diplomats
to engage in dialogue with the Armenian diaspora and strengthen
this dialogue, the agency said. It is not possible to finalize the
normalization of bilateral relations with Armenia without having
the Armenian diaspora involved in this process, diplomatic sources,
speaking on condition of anonymity, told Anatolia. The same sources
highlighted that Turkey would prioritize contact with Armenian groups
who are open to dialogue, indicating that dialogue with hard-line
groups was not a priority for Turkey, at least at the moment.