Tweet
REDEFINED "DIASPORA" OR "JUST MEMORY" STRATEGY: TURKEY'S NEW PERSPECTIVE ON THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow
19.07.12 | 14:42
Photo: ww.mfa.gov.tr
Since early this year the Turkish foreign ministry has been trying to
adopt a new political course Turkish foreign minister Ahmed Davutoglu
has called "strategy of 'just memory'".
Turkish Today's Zaman writes that Davutoglu "wants to contextualize
what happened in 1915 in the broader framework of a humanitarian
disaster caused by a crumbling Ottoman Empire".
"In addition to Armenian sufferings, he wants to refer to the
Turkish losses in the Balkans and Caucuses, millions of Muslims
killed or uprooted from their lands before and during World War I,
the losses at Gallipoli and SarıkamıÅ~_ as "our shared tragedy,"
writes journalist Omer Taspinar.
Davutoglu indicated to a group of Turkish journalists last week to
show empathy for 1915 as long as the context is defined as a "broader
framework of a 'shared tragedy', where there is also Armenian empathy
for Turkish losses".
"Although problematic, this is a step in the right direction. Talking
about a shared tragedy is better than denying what happened to
Armenians in 1915," writes Taspinar. 'However, one thing should be
clear: Unless there is an official Turkish apology for the tragedy of
1915 (no need to call it genocide), similar to the one Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan articulated for Dersim a few months ago, such
a narrative about 'fair memory' will fall on deaf ears."
Experts in this field admit that the main reason behind this "fair
memory" strategy is the looming 100th anniversary of the genocide of
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
"The Turkish Foreign Minister openly acknowledged that his urgent
efforts are prompted by the looming 100th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide that hangs like a Damoclean Sword over his country," writes
Harut Sassounian, publisher of the California Courier.
It should be noted that after the signing of the Armenian-Turkish
protocols in 2009, Davutoglu started the development of a new strategy
for relations with the Armenian Diaspora.
This was conditioned by the fact that the traditional Armenian
Diaspora, unlike official Yerevan, took a tougher position on possible
reconciliation, especially if it meant bypassing official Ankara
admitting the Armenian Genocide.
To pursue this stratagem, in April 2010 Davutoglu met in Washington
with Turkey's ambassadors to the United States and Canada, and consul
generals in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and Toronto. He instructed
them to contact Armenians who are open to dialogue, and to avoid
"hard-line groups," according to the Turkish Today's Zaman newspaper.
"Initially, Turkey registered some success when the Armenia-Turkey
Protocols were signed by both countries, under the guise of opening
their mutual border. However, this latest attempt to drive a
wedge between 'soft' Armenian officials and 'hard-line' Diasporans
also failed, when the much-touted Protocols were not ratified,"
further writes Sassounian. "Realizing that Turkey had to deal with
the Diaspora, not just Armenia to resolve genocide related issues,
Davutoglu once again turned his attention to Armenian communities
worldwide."
In December 2011, Turkey announced a revised concept of 'Diaspora'
to include all descendants of 'Anatolia,' regardless of their religion
or sect.
In an interview published in the Turkish Milliyet on July 7, Turkish
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced that he has sent a directive
to all Turkish embassies in which he redefined the Turkish diaspora.
"We consider all those who emigrated from those lands, and not
only the Turks, to be the diaspora--the Armenians, Jews, Greeks,
the people called El Turco in Latin America, and the Arabs in
Argentina... Those are our people... Those are people whose culture
and language resemble ours."
Based on these "redefined criteria," Turkish representations around
the world "will now open their doors to those people who were once
Ottoman subjects, they will contact them, and they will even invite
them to national days. The contacts with the Armenian Diaspora are
said to have already started," reports Milliyet.
Earlier, in spring, Davurtoglu spent several hours in Washington
meeting privately with several Armenians and non-Armenians from the
Los Angeles area to discuss 'Armenian-Turkish reconciliation.'
During the May meeting Armenian participants told the minister that
Ankara has to be persistent in terms of meeting the Armenian demand
to admit the genocide and give compensation, only after which they
can talk about "reconciliation".
"Despite Davutoglu's seeming sincerity, Armenians have reasons not
to trust such initiatives, factoring in that over dozens of years
Turkey has been denying the Armenian Genocide and is leading a hostile
policy towards the Diaspora, the Republic of Armenian and Artsakh,"
writes Sassounian.
He believes that no Armenian organization or individual should get
involved with separate negotiations with Turkey.
"Only Armenian officials and credible leaders with diplomatic expertise
should be negotiating with shrewd and skilled Turkish diplomats,"
Sassounian concludes.
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow
19.07.12 | 14:42
Photo: ww.mfa.gov.tr
Since early this year the Turkish foreign ministry has been trying to
adopt a new political course Turkish foreign minister Ahmed Davutoglu
has called "strategy of 'just memory'".
Turkish Today's Zaman writes that Davutoglu "wants to contextualize
what happened in 1915 in the broader framework of a humanitarian
disaster caused by a crumbling Ottoman Empire".
"In addition to Armenian sufferings, he wants to refer to the
Turkish losses in the Balkans and Caucuses, millions of Muslims
killed or uprooted from their lands before and during World War I,
the losses at Gallipoli and SarıkamıÅ~_ as "our shared tragedy,"
writes journalist Omer Taspinar.
Davutoglu indicated to a group of Turkish journalists last week to
show empathy for 1915 as long as the context is defined as a "broader
framework of a 'shared tragedy', where there is also Armenian empathy
for Turkish losses".
"Although problematic, this is a step in the right direction. Talking
about a shared tragedy is better than denying what happened to
Armenians in 1915," writes Taspinar. 'However, one thing should be
clear: Unless there is an official Turkish apology for the tragedy of
1915 (no need to call it genocide), similar to the one Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan articulated for Dersim a few months ago, such
a narrative about 'fair memory' will fall on deaf ears."
Experts in this field admit that the main reason behind this "fair
memory" strategy is the looming 100th anniversary of the genocide of
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
"The Turkish Foreign Minister openly acknowledged that his urgent
efforts are prompted by the looming 100th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide that hangs like a Damoclean Sword over his country," writes
Harut Sassounian, publisher of the California Courier.
It should be noted that after the signing of the Armenian-Turkish
protocols in 2009, Davutoglu started the development of a new strategy
for relations with the Armenian Diaspora.
This was conditioned by the fact that the traditional Armenian
Diaspora, unlike official Yerevan, took a tougher position on possible
reconciliation, especially if it meant bypassing official Ankara
admitting the Armenian Genocide.
To pursue this stratagem, in April 2010 Davutoglu met in Washington
with Turkey's ambassadors to the United States and Canada, and consul
generals in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and Toronto. He instructed
them to contact Armenians who are open to dialogue, and to avoid
"hard-line groups," according to the Turkish Today's Zaman newspaper.
"Initially, Turkey registered some success when the Armenia-Turkey
Protocols were signed by both countries, under the guise of opening
their mutual border. However, this latest attempt to drive a
wedge between 'soft' Armenian officials and 'hard-line' Diasporans
also failed, when the much-touted Protocols were not ratified,"
further writes Sassounian. "Realizing that Turkey had to deal with
the Diaspora, not just Armenia to resolve genocide related issues,
Davutoglu once again turned his attention to Armenian communities
worldwide."
In December 2011, Turkey announced a revised concept of 'Diaspora'
to include all descendants of 'Anatolia,' regardless of their religion
or sect.
In an interview published in the Turkish Milliyet on July 7, Turkish
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced that he has sent a directive
to all Turkish embassies in which he redefined the Turkish diaspora.
"We consider all those who emigrated from those lands, and not
only the Turks, to be the diaspora--the Armenians, Jews, Greeks,
the people called El Turco in Latin America, and the Arabs in
Argentina... Those are our people... Those are people whose culture
and language resemble ours."
Based on these "redefined criteria," Turkish representations around
the world "will now open their doors to those people who were once
Ottoman subjects, they will contact them, and they will even invite
them to national days. The contacts with the Armenian Diaspora are
said to have already started," reports Milliyet.
Earlier, in spring, Davurtoglu spent several hours in Washington
meeting privately with several Armenians and non-Armenians from the
Los Angeles area to discuss 'Armenian-Turkish reconciliation.'
During the May meeting Armenian participants told the minister that
Ankara has to be persistent in terms of meeting the Armenian demand
to admit the genocide and give compensation, only after which they
can talk about "reconciliation".
"Despite Davutoglu's seeming sincerity, Armenians have reasons not
to trust such initiatives, factoring in that over dozens of years
Turkey has been denying the Armenian Genocide and is leading a hostile
policy towards the Diaspora, the Republic of Armenian and Artsakh,"
writes Sassounian.
He believes that no Armenian organization or individual should get
involved with separate negotiations with Turkey.
"Only Armenian officials and credible leaders with diplomatic expertise
should be negotiating with shrewd and skilled Turkish diplomats,"
Sassounian concludes.