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Turk Scholars Seek to Engage Armenian Counterp. in Historical Debate

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  • Turk Scholars Seek to Engage Armenian Counterp. in Historical Debate

    TURKISH SCHOLARS SEEK TO ENGAGE ARMENIAN COUNTERPARTS IN HISTORICAL DEBATE

    Civil Society

    EurasiaNet.org
    2/01/05

    By Igor Torbakov

    As Turkey prepares for what promises to be a lengthy European Union
    accession process, officials in Ankara are striving to remove obstacles
    that stand in the way of their integration ambitions. Accordingly,
    authorities appear to be welcoming a research project by Turkish
    historians designed to shed additional light on the circumstances
    surrounding the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians from 1915-1923.

    Armenian leaders have campaigned for international recognition of what
    they insist was genocide committed by Turkish forces amid the chaos of
    the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Yerevan's calls have received
    support in the capitals of some influential EU capitals, in particular
    France, which has a sizeable Armenian émigré population.

    In early January, the Turkish Historical Society - a semi-official
    institution founded in the beginning of the 1930s - announced that it
    had finished a large research project commenced in 2001. The result of
    the historical exploration is four volumes of documents in which `the
    allegations made by Armenians are answered one by one,' according to a
    Turkish journalist familiar with the research. The project marks the
    first comprehensive attempt by Turkish scholars to challenge the
    Armenian version of the tragic events of the past.

    Armenian officials and historians assert that the Young Turk government
    in power in Istanbul in 1915 ordered the systematic slaughter of
    Armenians. Turkish leaders have insisted the mass deaths of Armenians
    did not constitute genocide, alleging that Armenians were largely
    victims of a vicious partisan struggle during and after World War I.

    The authors of the recent four-volume study appear to endorse the
    mainstream Turkish view of events. They also advocate the continuation
    of research, calling for a multi-national inquiry into the events.
    Professor Yusuf Halacoglu, head of the Turkish Historical Society, said
    in a January 12 interview with the Reuters news agency that the
    commission should comprise scholars from Turkey, Armenia, the United
    States, France and Britain.

    Turkey is due to start EU accession negotiations on October 3, while on
    April 24 Armenians throughout the world will mark the 90th anniversary
    of what they call the `first genocide of the 20th century.' Many Turkish
    officials and experts believe Yerevan may attempt to engage Ankara in a
    `battle over history.' According to Turkish media reports, commemoration
    activities will include conferences, meetings, exhibitions and new
    publication projects. A few Turkish commentators are urging the Turkish
    government to adopt a more pro-active stance in the ongoing debate.
    `Saying `we never committed genocide' is no longer enough. We will be
    forced to pay the price for inactivity. We need to do something,' wrote
    Mehmet Ali Birand in a commentary published by the Turkish Daily News on
    January 4.

    Right after EU leaders agreed last December to open accession talks with
    Turkey, both the European Parliament and France, urged Turkey to
    recognize the 1915-1923 killings of Armenians as genocide. `We will
    raise all the matters, including the Armenian genocide, to hear Turkey's
    response in the course of accession negotiations, which will be very
    long and very difficult,' French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier was
    quoted as saying.

    Halacoglu, the Turkish historian, believes that France's stance can be
    viewed as an `opportunity.' `Armenian and Turkish historians should sit
    down and debate the matter,' he said in a December 15 interview
    published in the daily Milliyet. `This has nothing to do with the EU.
    Let the historians resolve the matter.'

    Such a direct dialog on the `genocide' issue between Turkish and
    Armenian historians actually began last year when researchers from the
    Turkish Historical Society and their colleagues from Armenian Academy of
    Sciences and Yerevan's Genocide Museum formed the so-called Vienna
    Armenian-Turkish Historians' Platform (VAT). At VAT's first meeting held
    in Austrian capital in July 2004, the two sides started exchanging
    archival documents pertaining to the events of 1915-1923. But VAT's next
    meeting, reportedly scheduled for last December, was cancelled. And in
    mid-January, the Anatolia news agency reported that a VAT meeting due to
    take place in May 2005 had also been cancelled.

    Whatever the reason for VAT's difficulties, it appears that the work of
    this bilateral forum has virtually come to a standstill. This may
    explain why Turkish researchers and pundits urge the formation of an
    international commission of inquiry. This commission, in Halacoglu's
    opinion, would ideally work under the auspices of the United Nations, or
    another international body, to help ensure impartiality and to encourage
    all states to open up their archives to the panel. `The Armenian
    archives, which are closed, should also be opened to the public,'
    Halacoglu said.

    The idea of forming an international commission appears to be part of
    Ankara's broader strategy of seeking rapprochement with Armenia. As
    Birand points out, `If these [`genocide'] studies are initiated, we will
    gain time. In addition, while this process continues, Turkey can broaden
    its economic relations with Armenia and open the border gate.'

    In the meantime, however, Turkish historians are getting ready to debate
    their Armenian colleagues on the basis of their latest research.
    Speaking January 5 on the CNN-Turk television program, Hikmet Ozdemir,
    head of the Turkish Historical Society's Armenian Desk, said a publicity
    campaign would be launched in February.

    Editor's Note: Igor Torbakov is a freelance journalist and researcher
    who specializes in CIS political affairs. He holds an MA in History from
    Moscow State University and a PhD from the Ukrainian Academy of
    Sciences. He was Research Scholar at the Institute of Russian History,
    Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow; a Visiting Scholar at the Kennan
    Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington
    DC; a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University, New York; and a Visiting
    Fellow at Harvard University. He is now based in Istanbul, Turkey.


    http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/civilsociety/articles/eav020105.shtml
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