AZG Armenian Daily #110, 16/06/2005
Turkey
‘ARMENIANS TRUST USA BECAUSE IT DID NOT SIGN THE LAUSANNE TREATY, THUS DOES
NOT RECOGNIZE TURKEY’
This is a sentence from the first volume of “The History of Genocides:
The Crime Against Humanity Committed by the West” book by Turkish
anthropologist Sefa M. Yuruqel who lives in Denmark since 1981. He got
higher education in Denmark and wrote a number of books on history
and anthropology. His latest work, as the author believes, will be
assembled in 20 volumes.
The Turkish Public Television touched upon Yuruqel’s work on June
14, citing the following sentence, “The Armenians trust more not
the Western states but the USA because the latter did not sign the
Lausanne Treaty, thus it officially does not recognize the Turkish
Republic. Perhaps that is the reason why they organize reparation
lawsuits in Los Angeles”.
On June 15, Jumhurriyet newspaper published an interview with Yuruqel
on the first page. Answering the journalist’s questions, Yuruqel
considers the UN Convention on Genocides a ploy of the United States
and the West, accuses them of genocide, describes deportation as
“genocides-aimed” and as a necessary measure and puts the Armenian
deportation in this group emphasizing, “The UN Convention does not
view the events before 1948 as genocide”.
The only new thing in these statements is Turkey’s scientific and
political circles’ condemnation of the US in “not recognizing Turkey’s
territorial wholeness”, as America did not sign the Lausanne Treaty.
Yuruqel might well accuse all other states of the world of failing
to recognize Turkey, as the Lausanne Treaty of July 24, 1923, was
signed only by England, France, Italy, Greece, Romania, Hungary and
Japan. But instead he goes on calling the US a colonizer and does
not forget about the Armenian Diaspora.
Asked about the activities of Diaspora Armenians to get Armenian
Genocide internationally recognized, Yuruqel says, “In fact, it is not
the Diaspora that heads those activities but the international powers
that has been using Armenians since 1856 and are now using PKK. They
once employed the Greeks to take Eastern Anatolia over. The instigators
are the 4 powers that top the UN. Those powers make decisions in their
countries. That is not Armenians’ decision. The Armenians simply show
willingness but those states take decisions. Those states, particularly
the USA, did not sign the Lausanne Treaty. Consequently they do not
recognize the Turkish Republic. The Lausanne is the legitimate bases of
Turkey; it has officially set the boundaries of the state. Even if the
US President does recognize, a document that was not ratified by the
Senate will still remain forceless. For that reason, America’s decision
to recognize Turkey is merely of administrative character, like the
one of Palestine Liberation Organization. The USA’s attitude towards
Turkey is one of a colonizer. The US does not recognize Turkey’s
territorial wholeness. I turned to diplomats for clarification and
they confirmed my words. The second country that does not recognize
Turkey’s territorial wholeness is Armenia. Before 1921, the US had
promised to create Armenia and a state of Pontos in Anatolia but it
failed. But there is a map called the “principles of Wilson” outlining
the promised land. Turkey has to put before the US signing of the
Lausanne Treaty as a precondition. The history provides examples of
the US and England grabbing other states with deceit. Turkey has to
demand from the US and Armenia the recognition of the Lausanne Treaty”.
As we do not have “The History of Genocides: The Crime Against
Humanity Committed by the West”, it is useless to draw conclusions. As
to the interview, besides backing Turkey’s official thesis on the
Armenian Genocide, it is thick with unbalanced thoughts that follow no
logic. The unbalanced approach and lack of logic are the symptoms of
fear. Yuruqel is apparently at a loss at the thought that the Sevres
Treaty will break Turkey up.
By Tatoul Hakobian