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ANKARA: The Turkey Of 'Non-Visionary' People

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  • ANKARA: The Turkey Of 'Non-Visionary' People

    THE TURKEY OF 'NON-VISIONARY' PEOPLE
    MARKAR ESAYAN

    Today's Zaman
    May 31 2012
    Turkey

    Turkey is changing rapidly, despite all dilemmas and inconsistencies.

    The main source of hope that I hold for this country is the desire
    of its people for change.

    In the past, this energy and drive was repressed. I clearly remember
    those days. The totalitarian state was so brutal and repressive that
    the people were talking in whispers inside their own homes. Society
    was strictly controlled and even trapped. Any attempt to gain rights
    was labeled separatism or terrorism. Civil society organizations
    were weak, and the most active of them were under state control
    and manipulation. If you decided to participate in one of these
    organizations, the state would create a special file for you in order
    to track your activities.

    In short, the state controlled society with an invisible hand, like
    a specter.

    My father was a leading figure of the Armenian community. If you are
    rich in a small community, you have two options: You can disconnect
    with the community and become alienated from its issues, further
    minding your own business, or you can come closer to the community,
    engage in its problems and seek solutions.

    In the single-party era, the Republican People's Party (CHP) --
    which is still in Parliament and has not offered an apology for
    its past actions -- introduced a declaration in 1936 under which a
    directive was forwarded to all foundations asking them to declare their
    assets and properties. Administrators of the minority foundations in
    particular panicked. Mustafa Kemal and his successor, İsmet İnönu,
    had resorted to methods of ethnic cleansing against minorities, and
    they were economically disrupted. World War II was approaching, and
    the rise of fascism in Europe was driving the CHP, already a fascist
    party, to a more hard-line stance.

    Minority communities were afraid; they thought their properties
    would be taken away. Such an action would have been contrary to the
    Treaty of Lausanne, but the CHP was known for its ability to exploit
    the treaty to advance its goals. The communities were aware that the
    treaty's clauses were not assurances and that they were regarded as
    enemies and hostages by the state. They drafted two different lists
    of assets and properties. They hid their valuable property. And they
    handed one of the lists to the state.

    What happened next? For a long time the state did not act on the
    1936 Declaration. Then in the 1960s, when the Cyprus issue escalated,
    the declaration was revived. One goal was to accelerate the migration
    process of the minorities by causing misery via economic means. The
    other purpose was to create a new "national" group of wealthy people
    and to send a message on the Cyprus issue to Greece through Greek
    citizens.

    The communiqué from the Directorate General of Foundations to our
    foundations (Armenian, Greek and Jewish) essentially said: "Even though
    your foundations were created in the time of the Ottoman state, we are
    a new state. The official process by which your foundations acquired
    legal status is invalid. The declaration we received from you in
    1936 will be the basis for your foundation. With the exception of the
    properties and assets that you declared in this declaration, you will
    not be entitled to acquire additional properties, to receive donations
    or to make any amendments to your buildings, such as churches, schools
    or hospitals. The state will expropriate all assets and properties
    that you did not declare in the 1936 Declaration or that you have
    purchased since then."

    This was a setup framed back in 1936. It was contrary to the Treaty
    of Lausanne and to the legal principle stating laws cannot be enforced
    retroactively. It was a redefined version of fascism. It was a practice
    aiming to eliminate the minorities because it was obvious that the
    minorities were able to survive and keep their churches, hospitals
    and associations open, to preserve their culture and language, thanks
    to the foundations. It was not a coincidence that the foundations
    had become scapegoats. The CHP was aware that the declaration would
    render the minorities extinct; besides, the economic side of the coin
    was also fairly attractive to them.

    My father was one of a handful of philanthropists dedicated to the
    survival and betterment of the Armenian community in an environment
    where the foundations were in dire trouble due to the practice I
    have described. I was familiar with these conditions because these
    issues were discussed in our home. My father had spent his wealth in
    the service of the community because the foundations were no longer
    influential; they were virtually gone. We, his children, grew up
    without really getting to know him because he was constantly working.

    The then-Armenian Patriarch Å~^ınork Kalsutyan used to call my dad
    whenever a problem came up, telling him, "Aram, only you can solve
    this problem." My dad was fearless because he built his life from
    scratch. He was never intimidated by difficulties or threats.

    I have no further space today. I will continue telling the story of
    change in Turkey with reference to my father's story.



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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