DIASPORA SHOULD COUNTER TURKEY’S DIVIDE AND CONQUER STRATEGY
By Harut Sassounian
AZG Armenian Daily
26/09/2008
Diaspora
Armenians worldwide have been following with great concern sinister
Turkish attempts at rapprochement with Armenia.
Their apprehension is based on several factors. The first is that
Turkey has pre-conditioned its rapprochement with the demand that
Armenia participate in a historical commission on the Armenian Genocide
— a devious stratagem to cast doubt on the long established facts
of the Armenian Genocide.
Furthermore, Turkish leaders have publicly announced that their true
intent is to let the world know that Armenians and Turks are engaged
in serious negotiations on the Armenian Genocide, therefore, it is
no longer necessary for the U.S. Congress or parliaments around the
world to adopt resolutions on this issue.
Finally, Turkish leaders have stated that by making a separate deal
with Armenia, they would be rendering the Armenian Diaspora and its
demands irrelevant.
Nevertheless, in assessing the Turkish attempt at reconciliation with
Armenia, one needs to keep in mind the following issues:
In the aftermath of the recent Russian-Georgian war, all countries in
the region have re-evaluated their strategic interests. The opening
of the Turkish border would reduce Armenia’s reliance on Georgian
ports to import more than 80% of its supplies. To protect Armenia’s
national security, the Parliament should immediately adopt legislation
prohibiting foreign ownership of strategic resources, vital industries
and real estate in sensitive border regions.
Turkey, on the other hand, has several reasons for wanting to improve
its relations with Armenia: 1) Having normal diplomatic relations
and an open border with all its neighbors, including Armenia, would
help realize Turkey’s desire of becoming a dominant regional power;
2) To help bring economic prosperity to the most destitute regions of
Eastern Turkey; 3) To provide an opportunity for Turkey to project its
political and economic power across the Armenian border, all the way to
the Central Asian Republics; 4) To downplay the charges of genocide
from the Armenian Diaspora and third countries by establishing a
historical commission; and 5) To facilitate Turkey’s entry into the
European Union, since having open borders with neighboring states is
an EU requirement.
The rapprochement between Armenia and Turkey is also being encouraged
by Europe and the United States, because it would create an alternate
land corridor for the unimpeded transport of vital oil and gas supplies
from the Caspian region to the West. This new initiative also serves
Russia’s interests, as the opening of the Armenian/Turkish border
would diminish the value of Georgia’s Black Sea ports.
While it is understandable why Armenia and Turkey are seeking improved
relations, it remains to be seen whether Armenia would be better off
at the end of these deliberations, given Turkey’s extensive diplomatic
experience compared to that of Armenia. After all, getting concessions
from Turkey is not an easy task, as demonstrated by the lengthy and
unproductive negotiations over Cyprus. What counts is the end result,
rather than the process itself!
Rather than getting involved in acrimonious debates with Armenia’s
leadership, we should acknowledge that Armenia’s interests may
sometimes diverge from those of the Diaspora, and that the two would
take different positions on some issues, given the differences in
their status. Therefore, Diaspora communities should pursue their
own agenda, independently from that of Armenia.
In order to counter Turkey’s attempts to make the Diaspora irrelevant,
Armenians worldwide should continue their efforts to expose Turkish
crimes against humanity and go beyond mere genocide recognition by
expanding their activities to the following areas:
– Pass resolutions in the U.S. Congress and European parliaments,
seeking to defend the human rights of the Armenian minority in Turkey,
particularly the rights of Armenian churches and schools;
– Demand the lifting of an undeclared ban on Armenian citizens of
Turkey to enter its diplomatic service or hold high-ranking military
posts;
– File lawsuits in the European Court of Human Rights and U.S. Federal
Courts to force Turkey to return to the Armenian Patriarchate of
Constantinople (Istanbul) the hundreds of Armenian church buildings
confiscated by the Turkish government after the Genocide;
– Seek the return of personal properties expropriated by Turkey;
– Expose the muzzling of Turkish citizens under Article 301 of the
Turkish Penal Code which makes it a crime to refer to the Armenian
Genocide; and
– Strongly counter all attempts by Turkish officials and their hired
lackeys to deny and distort the facts of the Armenian Genocide.
Such actions would make it perfectly clear to Turkish officials
that unless they deal directly with the Diaspora and reach a fair
settlement on the damages emanating from the Armenian Genocide,
they would continue to be hounded around the globe, regardless of
any agreements they might have reached with the Armenian government.