TURKEY REACHES OUT TO ARMENIAN DIASPORA
Farah Stockman
Boston Globe
April 14 2010
MA
Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, told reporters
Wednesday that 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.
"We made some outreach to the American diaspora," he said in remarks
that appeared to reference the Boston area as home to a large Armenian
community. "We told them ‘Our archives are open. We are ready to
discuss everything.’"
Deep bitterness over the events in 1915 which led to the deaths of
up to 1.5 million Armenians remains an obstacle to normal relations
between Turkey and Armenia today. It has also created diplomatic
strains with the United States. US presidents usually issue a statement
on April 24, marking Armenian Remembrance Day, but some in Congress
are attempting to pass a bill acknowledging the deaths as genocide,
which Turkey warns will have a negative impact on relations.
Davutoglu said that members of the Turkish parliament have discussed
passing a resolution condemning the US genocide against Native
Americans in retaliation for the bill in Congress, but that he has
not encouraged such a measure.
"You can create a success story out of history," he said. "You can
create hatreds as well."
He said that Turkey had reached out to neighboring Armenia with signs
of friendship and he remains hopeful that the Turkish parliament will
eventually pass a law that will help normalize relations, although
he said he is not sure if there are enough votes yet.
"As Turkey, we are ready to share the pain of our Armenian neighbors,"
he said.
But his comments fell far short of the acknowledgment of suffering
that millions of Armenians want to hear.
"1915 is the year of so-called genocide for them," he said. "For us, we
say ‘pain.’ We are ready to discuss. The same year, we had Gallipoli."
Gallipoli was a joint British and French campaign to capture the
capital of what is now Turkey to secure a sea route to Russia in
which more than 200,000 Turks are believed to have died. Turks won
that battle, but lost the war. World War I sparked the break-up of
the Ottoman Empire.
He said one of his grandfathers died in Gallipoli, underscoring the
emotion that many Turks feel about that campaign. But many Armenians
consider it insulting to equate a military campaign that killed just
over 200,000 with what they believe to be systematic expulsions and
killings resulting in the deaths of up to 1.5 million.