It is Turkey’s turn to recognize
Yerkir/arm
May 06, 2005
Recently, Poland’s parliament — the Sejm — recognized the 1915
Armenian Genocide, adding to the list of the European Union countries
to recognize the Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire: Poland
followed those Cyprus, Greece, France, Belgium, the Netherlands,
Sweden, Italy and Slovakia.
Presently, the Hungarian and German parliaments are discussing the
issue of the Armenian Genocide, and in case, the White House calls the
Armenian killings genocide, the Turkish policy of denial would
register its final failure.
However, instead of getting on the path of reviewing its history,
Ankara organizes parliamentary hearings, and the state-controlled
television station TRT1 devotes its prime time to the distortion and
denial of the Armenian Genocide.
The crime of genocide has been accompanying the humankind throughout
its entire history: ancient and medieval conquerors would boast
massive massacres and victims in the territories they conquered.
The Ottoman Empire was not an exception, which, according to Turkish
scholar Ismail Metin, for centuries maintained its authority “by
threatening nations and carrying out extensive killings.” In the late
19th century and the early 20th century, along with the development of
the international humanitarian law, states began to attempt to hide
the crimes against humanity they were committing.
The development of the international humanitarian law, establishment
of the principles of the human rights and freedoms put the states in
the position of losing sovereignty before their own citizens,
according to the late medieval founder of the international
humanitarian law Hugo Grocius. In this context, the international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide, including the recognition by
Turkey itself, is just a matter of time. Today, Turkey has found
itself in a difficult situation in terms of foreign policy.
The claims of the analytical centers serving that country’s foreign
ministry that the Turkish government has succeeded in establishing a
“peaceful co-existence” zone with the neighboring countries except for
Armenia have actually evaporated. The policy of buying time through
establishment of various commissions is merely symptoms of
nervousness.
