Your official statement on April 23 acknowledging how
“The 24th of April carries a particular significance for our [Turkey’s]
Armenian citizens and for all Armenians around the world” and your message of
condolence, “... we wish that the Armenians who lost their lives in the context
of the early twentieth century rest in peace, and we convey our condolences to
their grandchildren” constitute an unprecedented step from the Turkish
Government and must be recognized as such.
***
May 5, 2014
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Ankara, Turkey
receptayyip.erdogan@basbakanlik.gov.tr
Prime Minister Erdoğan:
Your official statement on April 23 acknowledging how
“The 24th of April carries a particular significance for our [Turkey’s]
Armenian citizens and for all Armenians around the world” and your message of
condolence, “... we wish that the Armenians who lost their lives in the context
of the early twentieth century rest in peace, and we convey our condolences to
their grandchildren” constitute an unprecedented step from the Turkish
Government and must be recognized as such.
But, Mr. Prime Minister, we can't stop there, for the
sincerity of your condolence is undermined by the calculated presentation in
the rest of the letter. Allow me to point out a few examples.
You begin by saying this occasion “provides a valuable
opportunity to share opinions freely on a historical matter.” There can be
legitimate differences of opinion on historical matters, but opinions must be
grounded on facts. When there is incontestable evidence of genocidal intent in
the events of 1915—including from the Turkish Archives—it undermines belief in
your sincerity when you refer euphemistically to “relocations,” instead of the
painful death marches they were. It was the killing, planned and executed by
the state apparatus, of about 1.5 million and the deportation of the rest of
the 2.5 million Armenian citizens of Ottoman Turkey, with the intent to
exterminate the entire race. This is not a matter of historical opinion; it is
the reality that we must share. Presumably, this is the reason for your letter
of condolence in the first place.
You state that “In Turkey, expressing different opinions
and thoughts freely on the events of 1915 is the requirement of a pluralistic
perspective as well as of a culture of democracy and modernity.” This lofty
sentiment creates the impression that you are open and caring about truth,
when, in fact, you are using it as a Trojan horse and a blatant political
stratagem to play with the minds of the general public. During your tenure,
many scholars, journalists and intellectuals have been persecuted, jailed, and
even murdered for holding opinions on 1915 that differ from your official state
narrative.
It is true that “It is indisputable that the last years
of the Ottoman Empire were a difficult period, full of suffering for millions
of Ottoman citizens, regardless of their religion or ethnic origin.” Indeed,
your Foreign Minister, His Excellency Ahmet Davutoglu, refers to this in his
op-ed piece in The Guardian expressing support for your letter of condolence:
"A series of ethnic cleansings in the Balkans pushed
millions eastward, transforming the demographic structure of Anatolia.....
Approximately 5 million Ottoman citizens were driven away from their ancestral
homes in the Balkans, the Caucasus and Anatolia. While much of western history
tells of the suffering of the dispossessed and dead Ottoman Christians, the
colossal suffering of Ottoman Muslims remains largely unknown outside of
Turkey."
We can understand and share with compassion the pain of
all those Muslims who were forcibly expelled from the Balkans, the Caucuses and
Crimea. We know firsthand that pain. I am the son of two Armenians orphaned in
1915 from Urfa, Anatolia, and who were deported after losing their entire
families, and others at the Zoryan Institute, as well as most other Armenians,
also have this personal experience. We know well the pain of being uprooted
from your ancestral homeland and of being a refugee growing up in several
countries, none of which replace what home once was, or allow you to maintain
continuity with your cherished history and culture.
But, Mr. Erdoğan, you talk about suffering while ignoring
how the suffering was inflicted. You
lump all of the millions of deaths together without making the critical
distinction between the causes of death, those who were targeted for
extermination, and those who died from the war.
More Germans died in WWII than did Jews, for example, but the deaths had
very different causes and different meanings, as did the deaths of the
Armenians within the Ottoman Empire. We agree that no one should try to
construct hierarchies of pain. However, the pain of those Ottoman Muslims was
not inflicted by our Armenian fathers or grandfathers, whereas the pain of the
planned destruction of the 2.5 million Armenians in 1915 was caused by yours.
Genocide denial involves four dimensions: denial of the
facts, responsibility, calling the events something else, and relativization.
Your letter engages in all four. Until you and the Turkish State demonstrate a
sincere and apologetic expression about the consequences of your ancestors’
actions, your condolences to the
Armenians will be perceived as insincere and a cleverly contrived trick for
gaining an end.
No Turk living today can be held responsible for the
crime of the genocide committed by the Ottoman regime. Yet, your country and
your government are responsible for the aggressive and ongoing denial, which
exacerbates and perpetuates the pain of the Armenians and itself is considered
the continuation of the crime. We believe that the Armenian people worldwide
would embrace the whole people of Turkey, if the Turkish Government
acknowledges the responsibility of its predecessor, the Ottoman Empire, in the
planned annihilation of its Armenian citizens, expresses a sincere apology, and
makes appropriate efforts at atonement. That would build trust between the
parties and allow the healing and forgiving process leading to a true
liberation for all concerned. In this respect, we take this opportunity to
express our deepest sympathy to the families of all those righteous
Muslims—Turks, Kurds, and Arabs—who risked their lives to save Armenians during
that period.
Your call for a joint historical commission to study the
events of 1915 is only a public relations stratagem. Please recall that in
2003, the Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission requested The
International Center for Transitional Justice to examine the Armenian Genocide
issue. The ICTJ issued its finding that “the Events, viewed collectively, can
thus be said to include all of the elements of the crime of genocide as defined
in the Convention, and legal scholars as well as historians, politicians,
journalists and other people would be justified in continuing to so describe
them.” The Turkish members of the Commission rejected this finding and TARC
broke apart. Why would you now propose another joint commission, when you have
already rejected an independent, third-party finding from an organization
headed by the renowned Elie Wiesel? You, yourself, have repeatedly stated
publicly that you would never accept that Turkey committed genocide. It is
difficult to reconcile this with your statement that “Turkey has always
supported scholarly and comprehensive studies for an accurate understanding of
history.”
Mr. Prime Minister, if you really would like to see “that
the peoples of an ancient and unique geography, who share similar customs and
manners will be able to talk to each other about the past with maturity and to
remember together their losses in a decent manner,” then perhaps you could take
a few very simple steps to show your commitment, by establishing diplomatic
relations with Armenia, with no preconditions, and opening the borders between
the two countries (closed only from the Turkish side), as a first step to
commencing dialogue. This would demonstrate in a tangible way the sincerity of
your letter of condolence and be a first step towards reconciliation.
Yours sincerely,
[signed]
K.M. Greg Sarkissian, President
Click http://www.mfa.gov.tr/turkish-prime-minister-mr_-recep-tayyip-erdogan-published-a-message-on-the-events-of-1915.en.mfa
for the Message of the Prime Minister of The Republic of
Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on the “Events of 1915,” issued on April 23,
2014.
The Zoryan Institute [zoryan@zoryaninstitute.org]
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