Turkey to Seek `Dialogue’ With Select Armenian Diaspora Groups
By Asbarez
Apr 16th, 2010

ANKARA (Combined Sources) – Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met
with Turkey’s diplomats in North America on Wednesday to relay orders
for the envoys to start `opening dialogue’ with certain Armenian
Diaspora groups in the United States and Canada, the Turkish Today’s
Zaman newspaper reported.

The Turkish Foreign Minister met with Ankara’s ambassadors to
Washington and Ottawa, as well as the Consul Generals of Chicago,
Houston, Los Angeles and Toronto. He told the diplomats to `engage in
dialogue with the Armenian Diaspora and to strengthen this dialogue.’

According to anonymous diplomatic sources quoted by the Anatolian News
Agency, Turkey would prioritize contact with Armenian groups who are
open to dialogue. The same sources indicated that dialogue with
`hard-line groups’ was not a priority for Turkey, at least at the
moment.

`It is impossible to finalize the normalization of bilateral relations
with Armenia without having the Diaspora involved in the process,’
Davutolgu said, according to diplomatic sources, speaking on condition
of anonymity, the Anatolia News Agency reported.

Davutoglu, meanwhile, told reporters Wednesday that Turks and
Armenians `in Paris and Boston’ should sit together and attempt to
reconcile their memories of what the Turks call the tragic events that
took place in 1915.

In 1915 the Ottoman Turkish government set out to annihilate the
indigenous Armenian population inhabiting the lands under its
dominion. Between 1915-1923, the government executed a systematic
campaign to exterminate the Armenian people and remove them from their
historic homeland.

The Armenian Genocide, recognized as the first genocide of the 20th
century by historians the world over, resulted in the death of an
estimated 1.5 million Armenians and the loss of millions of dollars in
property and land now under occupation by the Republic of Turkey.

Turkey, however, insists there was no crime and the murders 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.”

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.