Tweet
IS TURKEY OVERCOMING THE ARMENIAN TABOO?
Al-Monitor
April 22 2013
It was impossible to carry out a reasonable debate that went beyond
the official state narrative - that the Armenians were deported in
1915 because of the circumstances of World War I.
In 2005, when Bogazici University attempted to organize a Conference
on Armenians to debate the official narrative, the country shook. For
days, Turkish nationalists organized angry protests in front of
the university. The minister of justice of the time, Cemil Cicek,
referred to organizers of the conference when he said, "They are
stabbing us in the back." When a group protesting the conference took
the matter to the court, the conference was banned. The organizers
were forced to hold the conference in a tense atmosphere at Bilgi
University, a private institution, instead of at a state university
as originally planned.
Also that year, Orhan Pamuk, Turkey's only Nobel Prize-winning
novelist, told the Swiss periodical Das Magazin: "On this soil, 30,000
Kurds and one million Armenians were killed." He was threatened with
charges based on article 301 of the Penal Code, which bans denigrating
Turkism. A short time later, largely because of the court case and
threats he received, Pamuk left the country.
Another world-famous Turkish novelist, Elif Safak, was also prosecuted
under article 301 following a dialogue on the Armenian question
in her novel Baba ve Pic ["Father and Bastard"]. In 2006 and 2007,
many intellectuals were investigated for their views on the Armenian
question, all under the notorious penal code article. One of those
trials ended with a tragedy. Hrant Dink, the editor-in-chief of the
Armenian-Turkish weekly Agos was tried under article 301 because of
his articles on the Armenian question. That trial made him a target
of Turkish nationalists, and on Jan. 19, 2007, he was shot and killed
in front of the Agos offices in Istanbul.
Those who filed complaints against intellectuals were the same people
who congregated in front of the courts to insult the defendants when
the cases were brought to trial. Many of these people were eventually
detained and imprisoned, starting in 2008 with the Ergenekon case
that tried those accused of planning coups against the government.
Prosecutors charge that these people collaborated with military
personnel planning coups. Although the Ergenekon trials are heavily
criticized, it is generally agreed that threats and assaults have
declined against religious minorities and intellectuals who express
views challenging official narratives.
Three factors have contributed to ending the Armenian taboo and
ushering Turkey into its current environment of free debate. The first
was the serious blow inflicted on "deep state" structures with military
personnel at their cores. The second was the emotional rupture caused
by Dink's murder. Protests with hundreds of thousands of marchers
carrying placards reading "We are all Armenians" illustrated that a
sizable segment of the population didn't subscribe to official state
narratives. The third important factor was the government decision in
2008 to amend the infamous article 301 of the Penal Code, to require
permission from the Ministry of Justice for court cases under this
article. This "filter" has made it difficult to try people under
that article.
Because of these changes, the serious taboo on the Armenian issue no
longer exists, and changes that were impossible to dream of a decade
ago have become a reality. Since 2010, on each April 24, those who
lost their lives in Turkey in 1915 are remembered in public meetings
held in the streets and halls.
The change of language of the announcement used by the Dur De ["Say
Stop to Racism and Nationalism"] initiative, which organizes these
meetings, helps demonstrate the gradual erasing of the Armenian taboo
in Turkey. In 2010, the announcement of the commemorative events began
with the words, "This pain is our pain." In the text, the events of
1915 were described as "the great disaster," the Turkish equivalent
of the phrase "Meds Yegem" used by Armenians. Cengiz Algan, spokesman
for Dur De, says they received many threatening messages despite that
"soft terminology." The language became "clearer" over the years,
and the number of threats declined. On the 2011 announcement, the
title said only "April 24, 1915." The text read, "This is the date
when the extermination of the Armenians began." The title of last
year's announcement read, "This is a pain of all of us," while the
text spoke of the tragedy of the Armenian people at length. The
text of this year's announcement is even more daring. It begins,
"We are remembering the victims of genocide," and it continues,
"With the campaign of extermination that began on April 24, 1915,
the Armenian people were eradicated en masse."
Algan provides interesting statistics about these commemorative
meetings. In 2010, the only meeting was in Istanbul, and between 700
and 800 people participated. In 2011, meetings were also organized in
Ankara and Izmir, and roughly 2000 people participated in the Istanbul
meeting. Last year, Bodrum and Diyarbakir were added as locations,
and the number of participants in Istanbul rose to 3000. Algan
notes that initially Armenians living in Istanbul were reluctant
to participate, but they are increasingly coming. Every year, these
meetings are protested by right-wing and left-wing nationalists. Algan
says this year they expect an even larger attendance at the meeting,
including participation of Armenians from abroad, and they expect the
usual protests. The police will provide a human buffer between the
protestors and participants in the meeting. Algan says each year his
organization gets in touch with state officials during their planning
process, and every year they get a better reception.
Turkey is changing from a country where the very term "the Armenian
question" couldn't be uttered, to a country where groups are marching
in the streets referring to the "Armenian genocide." We'll have to wait
to see whether these changes will radically alter the state's official
policies - for example, resulting in an apology and compensation to
the Armenians for 1915. But until then, it will be interesting to
observe the commemorative meeting on April 24 in Istanbul.
Orhan Kemal Cengiz is a human-rights lawyer, columnist and former
president of the Human Rights Agenda Association, a Turkish NGO that
works on human-rights issues ranging from the prevention of torture
to the rights of the mentally disabled.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/armenian-genocide-taboo-turkey-anniversary.html
Al-Monitor
April 22 2013
It was impossible to carry out a reasonable debate that went beyond
the official state narrative - that the Armenians were deported in
1915 because of the circumstances of World War I.
In 2005, when Bogazici University attempted to organize a Conference
on Armenians to debate the official narrative, the country shook. For
days, Turkish nationalists organized angry protests in front of
the university. The minister of justice of the time, Cemil Cicek,
referred to organizers of the conference when he said, "They are
stabbing us in the back." When a group protesting the conference took
the matter to the court, the conference was banned. The organizers
were forced to hold the conference in a tense atmosphere at Bilgi
University, a private institution, instead of at a state university
as originally planned.
Also that year, Orhan Pamuk, Turkey's only Nobel Prize-winning
novelist, told the Swiss periodical Das Magazin: "On this soil, 30,000
Kurds and one million Armenians were killed." He was threatened with
charges based on article 301 of the Penal Code, which bans denigrating
Turkism. A short time later, largely because of the court case and
threats he received, Pamuk left the country.
Another world-famous Turkish novelist, Elif Safak, was also prosecuted
under article 301 following a dialogue on the Armenian question
in her novel Baba ve Pic ["Father and Bastard"]. In 2006 and 2007,
many intellectuals were investigated for their views on the Armenian
question, all under the notorious penal code article. One of those
trials ended with a tragedy. Hrant Dink, the editor-in-chief of the
Armenian-Turkish weekly Agos was tried under article 301 because of
his articles on the Armenian question. That trial made him a target
of Turkish nationalists, and on Jan. 19, 2007, he was shot and killed
in front of the Agos offices in Istanbul.
Those who filed complaints against intellectuals were the same people
who congregated in front of the courts to insult the defendants when
the cases were brought to trial. Many of these people were eventually
detained and imprisoned, starting in 2008 with the Ergenekon case
that tried those accused of planning coups against the government.
Prosecutors charge that these people collaborated with military
personnel planning coups. Although the Ergenekon trials are heavily
criticized, it is generally agreed that threats and assaults have
declined against religious minorities and intellectuals who express
views challenging official narratives.
Three factors have contributed to ending the Armenian taboo and
ushering Turkey into its current environment of free debate. The first
was the serious blow inflicted on "deep state" structures with military
personnel at their cores. The second was the emotional rupture caused
by Dink's murder. Protests with hundreds of thousands of marchers
carrying placards reading "We are all Armenians" illustrated that a
sizable segment of the population didn't subscribe to official state
narratives. The third important factor was the government decision in
2008 to amend the infamous article 301 of the Penal Code, to require
permission from the Ministry of Justice for court cases under this
article. This "filter" has made it difficult to try people under
that article.
Because of these changes, the serious taboo on the Armenian issue no
longer exists, and changes that were impossible to dream of a decade
ago have become a reality. Since 2010, on each April 24, those who
lost their lives in Turkey in 1915 are remembered in public meetings
held in the streets and halls.
The change of language of the announcement used by the Dur De ["Say
Stop to Racism and Nationalism"] initiative, which organizes these
meetings, helps demonstrate the gradual erasing of the Armenian taboo
in Turkey. In 2010, the announcement of the commemorative events began
with the words, "This pain is our pain." In the text, the events of
1915 were described as "the great disaster," the Turkish equivalent
of the phrase "Meds Yegem" used by Armenians. Cengiz Algan, spokesman
for Dur De, says they received many threatening messages despite that
"soft terminology." The language became "clearer" over the years,
and the number of threats declined. On the 2011 announcement, the
title said only "April 24, 1915." The text read, "This is the date
when the extermination of the Armenians began." The title of last
year's announcement read, "This is a pain of all of us," while the
text spoke of the tragedy of the Armenian people at length. The
text of this year's announcement is even more daring. It begins,
"We are remembering the victims of genocide," and it continues,
"With the campaign of extermination that began on April 24, 1915,
the Armenian people were eradicated en masse."
Algan provides interesting statistics about these commemorative
meetings. In 2010, the only meeting was in Istanbul, and between 700
and 800 people participated. In 2011, meetings were also organized in
Ankara and Izmir, and roughly 2000 people participated in the Istanbul
meeting. Last year, Bodrum and Diyarbakir were added as locations,
and the number of participants in Istanbul rose to 3000. Algan
notes that initially Armenians living in Istanbul were reluctant
to participate, but they are increasingly coming. Every year, these
meetings are protested by right-wing and left-wing nationalists. Algan
says this year they expect an even larger attendance at the meeting,
including participation of Armenians from abroad, and they expect the
usual protests. The police will provide a human buffer between the
protestors and participants in the meeting. Algan says each year his
organization gets in touch with state officials during their planning
process, and every year they get a better reception.
Turkey is changing from a country where the very term "the Armenian
question" couldn't be uttered, to a country where groups are marching
in the streets referring to the "Armenian genocide." We'll have to wait
to see whether these changes will radically alter the state's official
policies - for example, resulting in an apology and compensation to
the Armenians for 1915. But until then, it will be interesting to
observe the commemorative meeting on April 24 in Istanbul.
Orhan Kemal Cengiz is a human-rights lawyer, columnist and former
president of the Human Rights Agenda Association, a Turkish NGO that
works on human-rights issues ranging from the prevention of torture
to the rights of the mentally disabled.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/armenian-genocide-taboo-turkey-anniversary.html