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Turkey To Seek 'Dialogue' With Select Armenian Diaspora Groups

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  • Turkey To Seek 'Dialogue' With Select Armenian Diaspora Groups

    TURKEY TO SEEK 'DIALOGUE' WITH SELECT ARMENIAN DIASPORA GROUPS

    Asbarez
    Apr 16th, 2010

    ANKARA (Combined Sources)-Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
    met with Turkey's diplomats in North America on Wednesday to relay
    orders for the envoys to start "opening dialogue" with certain Armenian
    Diaspora groups in the United States and Canada, the Turkish Today's
    Zaman newspaper reported.

    The Turkish Foreign Minister met with Ankara's ambassadors to
    Washington and Ottawa, as well as the Consul Generals of Chicago,
    Houston, Los Angeles and Toronto. He told the diplomats to "engage in
    dialogue with the Armenian Diaspora and to strengthen this dialogue."

    According to anonymous diplomatic sources quoted by the Anatolian
    News Agency, Turkey would prioritize contact with Armenian groups
    who are open to dialogue. The same sources indicated that dialogue
    with "hard-line groups" was not a priority for Turkey, at least at
    the moment.

    "It is impossible to finalize the normalization of bilateral relations
    with Armenia without having the Diaspora involved in the process,"
    Davutolgu said, according to diplomatic sources, speaking on condition
    of anonymity, the Anatolia News Agency reported.

    Davutoglu, meanwhile, told reporters Wednesday that Turks and Armenians
    "in Paris and Boston" should sit together and attempt to reconcile
    their memories of what the Turks call the tragic events that took
    place in 1915.

    In 1915 the Ottoman Turkish government set out to annihilate the
    indigenous Armenian population inhabiting the lands under its
    dominion. Between 1915-1923, the government executed a systematic
    campaign to exterminate the Armenian people and remove them from
    their historic homeland.

    The Armenian Genocide, recognized as the first genocide of the 20th
    century by historians the world over, resulted in the death of an
    estimated 1.5 million Armenians and the loss of millions of dollars
    in property and land now under occupation by the Republic of Turkey.

    Turkey, however, insists there was no crime and the murders were
    merely terrible deaths resulting from the collapse of an empire.

    "We made some outreach to the American Diaspora," he said in remarks
    that appeared to reference the Boston area as home to a large Armenian
    community. "We told them 'Our archives are open. We are ready to
    discuss everything.'"

    Davutoglu said that members of the Turkish parliament have discussed
    passing a resolution condemning the US genocide against Native
    Americans in retaliation for the bill in Congress, but that he has
    not encouraged such a measure.

    "You can create a success story out of history," he said. "You can
    create hatreds as well."

    He said that Turkey had reached out to neighboring Armenia with signs
    of friendship and he remains hopeful that the Turkish parliament will
    eventually pass a law that will help normalize relations, although
    he said he is not sure if there are enough votes yet.

    "As Turkey, we are ready to share the pain of our Armenian neighbors,"
    he said.

    But his comments fell far short of the acknowledgment of suffering
    that millions of Armenians want to hear.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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