POLITICIZING THE ARMENIAN TRAGEDY
By Abdullah Gul
Washington Times, DC
March 28 2007
Today, as the United States and its allies confront critical challenges
around the world, there is perhaps no nation more at the forefront
of our collective efforts than Turkey. Our strategic partnership
spans a wide range of global challenges, from helping secure Iraq
and Afghanistan to preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction, promoting energy security and fighting terrorism in our
region and beyond.
This relationship also has an important bearing on regional and
global stability. Yet, such strategic cooperation is jeopardized by
a single interest group that solely pursues its own political agenda
over national interests. Once again, Armenian lobbying organizations
are determined to politicize the past — and impose their view of
history — without any regard to the overriding and lasting interests
of the United States or Armenia.
The historical period in question centers on 1915, when immense mutual
suffering occurred amid the atrocities of World War I.
Countless individual stories have been passed from generation to
generation among Turks, Armenians and others who then made up the
Ottoman Empire. But the complex political history and dynamics of
that tumultuous period are yet to be fully grasped. Each life lost is
one too many, whether it is Armenian or Turk. It is truly regrettable
that there is no mention today of Turkish or Muslim lives lost during
the same period.
With regard to the Armenian allegation describing the tragedy that
befell them as genocide, the question, from the point of view of
international law, is whether the Ottoman government systematically
pursued a calculated act of state policy for their destruction in
whole or in part. The answer to this question can only be established
by scholars who have the ability to evaluate the period objectively,
working with the full range of available primary sources. Hence Turkey
made a proposal to Armenia in 2005 to establish a joint commission
of historians to find out once and for all what really happened,
and how it took place.
Turkey has no difficulties in facing its past. All Turkish archives,
including the military archives of the period, are open to the entire
international academic community. However, important Armenian archives
are not.
We eagerly await a positive response from Armenia, agreeing to
establish this joint commission and declaring its readiness to accept
its conclusions. We are also prepared to work together with other
parties to conduct this research. I hereby extend an invitation to
any third country, including the United States, to contribute to
this commission by appointing scholars who will earnestly work to
shed light on this tragedy and open ways for us to come together. The
establishment of such a commission will also help shape an atmosphere
conducive to the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations.
A recent resolution introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives
makes mention of the events of 1915 as "genocide."
Its passage will be tantamount to legislating a skewed version of
history, which will be totally unjust and thus deeply offensive to
the Turkish people who have expressed their readiness to seek out
the truth.
Following the repulsive murder of the Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink, Turkey invited officials of the Armenian government and
representatives from the Armenian diaspora to share the genuine grief
of the Turkish people. These guests witnessed the enormous reaction
of our citizens, who poured by thousands into the streets. Yet,
as we today consider ways to create a much-improved atmosphere with
our neighbor, the Armenian government appears to be propagating the
fallacious idea that Turks are missing a chance to recognize their
genocide claims.
As Mr. Dink himself said in a published interview shortly before
his tragic death, "What I want from the Armenian Diaspora is not to
make any demands about accepting the genocide, neither from Turkey,
from the parliament nor any other governments."
Today, there are 70,000 Armenian citizens working in Turkey.
There are direct flights between Istanbul and Yerevan. Turkish and
Armenian organizations are in direct contact with each other, from
NGOs to business-people to local authorities. We are determined
to save future generations from the hegemony of bitter rhetoric
and outright hostility. Yet we are faced with a noncompromising,
unmitigated assault not over a political, but over a politicized one.
Self-examination is an inseparable part of any process of
comprehension. In this regard, Turkey has been doing its share of
soul-searching. It is high time for Armenians to do the same.
As a politician, I fully understand the pressures imposed by narrow
interest groups. However, there is also the imperative to rise above
such pressures and see the national and international repercussions
of one’s choices. After all, the decisions we make return back to us
in this globalized world, where the interests of nations — especially
neighbors — are intertwined.
Abdullah Gul is the deputy prime minister and foreign minister
of Turkey.
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