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Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #733
May 2 2014
Armenians Call on Turks to Say "Genocide"
Turkish prime minister speaks of "suffering", but Armenians say he
needs to condemn mass killings unequivocably.
By Vahe Harutyunyan - Caucasus
Armenians were pleased to hear Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip
ErdoÄ?an expressing sympathy over the mass killings that occurred
during the First World War, but noted his failure to use the word
`genocide', apologise or ask for forgiveness.
Armenians mark Genocide Remembrance Day on April 24, the day in 1915
when Ottoman officials arrested 800 Armenian intellectuals in the
capital Istanbul. Most of whom were later killed.
More than two million Armenian Christians lived in the Ottoman Empire,
and researchers estimate that three-quarters of them were killed in
the violence as the community was uprooted and deported.
Over 20 countries have officially recognised the killings as genocide,
including France, Russia, Sweden and Germany. Many Turkish academics
and public figures have also used the word, including Nobel Prize
winner Orhan Pamuk, but their government continues to resist doing so.
`April 24 carries a particular significance for our Armenian citizens
and for all Armenians around the world, and it provides a valuable
opportunity to share opinions freely¦. It is a duty of humanity to
acknowledge that Armenians remember the suffering experienced in that
period, just like every other citizen of the Ottoman Empire,' ErdoÄ?an
said in a statement issued on April 23. `The events of the First World
War are our shared pain. To evaluate this painful period of history
through a perspective of just memory is a humane and scholarly
responsibility.'
ErdoÄ?an said Turkey was opening its archives up to researchers, but he
was also clear that he would not allow debate to turn into criticism
of his country.
`Using the events of 1915 as an excuse for hostility against Turkey
and turning this issue into a matter of political conflict is
inadmissible,' he said.
The Turkish leader's remarks failed to satisfy the government in Yerevan.
`We have carefully studied the Turkish prime minister's statement, and
we have tried to see it as a first attempt to confront history, but
regrettably we must say that it is just another, though perhaps more
refined, attempt to deny and conceal the fact of the Armenian
genocide,' Vigen Sargsyan, President Serzh Sargsyan's chief of staff,
told the Armenpress news agency a few hours after ErdoÄ?an issued his
statement. `More is required from Turkey ` to acknowledge and
unequivocally condemn the crimes committed during this period.'
Vigen Sargsyan said Ankara claimed to be inviting Yerevan to discuss
the matter while simultaneously refusing to ratify the inter-state
protocol agreements drawn up in 2009 to improve relations and open the
border between the two states.
Armenia has not ratified the protocols, either, but in remarks on
April 24, President Sargsyan said Turkey needed to make the move
first, and could use the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide
next year to show it had changed.
`This could be an opportunity for Turkey to repent, and wipe clean the
stain of history. Words are no longer enough for it to show its
relationship with to Armenia. It requires specific steps, the opening
of its border and the establishment of normal relations,' the
president said.
The opposition Dashnaktsutyun party is heavily involved in lobbying
world states to recognise and use the word genocide. Giro Manoyan, who
heads the party's political department, said ErdoÄ?an might well be
reacting to the fact that more and more countries were doing so.
`With his statement, ErdoÄ?an is trying to weaken the international
pressure on Turkey to recognise the Armenian genocide. ErdoÄ?an is not
addressing Armenians, he has a different target ` the international
community,' Manoyan said. `I don't think this statement will have any
impact on whether Turkey recognises the genocide or normalises
relations with Armenia.'
United States president Barack Obama was one of many world leaders who
made special statements on April 24, though he avoided the word
`genocide' by using the Armenian term `Meds Yeghern' (`Great Crime').
`Peoples and nations grow stronger and build a foundation for a more
just and tolerant future by acknowledging and reckoning with painful
elements of the past,' he said in a statement. `We recognise and
commend the growing number of courageous Armenians and Turks who have
already taken this path, and encourage more to do so, with the backing
of their governments and mine.'
Vahe Harutyunyan is a freelance journalist in Armenia.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/armenians-call-turks-say-genocide
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #733
May 2 2014
Armenians Call on Turks to Say "Genocide"
Turkish prime minister speaks of "suffering", but Armenians say he
needs to condemn mass killings unequivocably.
By Vahe Harutyunyan - Caucasus
Armenians were pleased to hear Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip
ErdoÄ?an expressing sympathy over the mass killings that occurred
during the First World War, but noted his failure to use the word
`genocide', apologise or ask for forgiveness.
Armenians mark Genocide Remembrance Day on April 24, the day in 1915
when Ottoman officials arrested 800 Armenian intellectuals in the
capital Istanbul. Most of whom were later killed.
More than two million Armenian Christians lived in the Ottoman Empire,
and researchers estimate that three-quarters of them were killed in
the violence as the community was uprooted and deported.
Over 20 countries have officially recognised the killings as genocide,
including France, Russia, Sweden and Germany. Many Turkish academics
and public figures have also used the word, including Nobel Prize
winner Orhan Pamuk, but their government continues to resist doing so.
`April 24 carries a particular significance for our Armenian citizens
and for all Armenians around the world, and it provides a valuable
opportunity to share opinions freely¦. It is a duty of humanity to
acknowledge that Armenians remember the suffering experienced in that
period, just like every other citizen of the Ottoman Empire,' ErdoÄ?an
said in a statement issued on April 23. `The events of the First World
War are our shared pain. To evaluate this painful period of history
through a perspective of just memory is a humane and scholarly
responsibility.'
ErdoÄ?an said Turkey was opening its archives up to researchers, but he
was also clear that he would not allow debate to turn into criticism
of his country.
`Using the events of 1915 as an excuse for hostility against Turkey
and turning this issue into a matter of political conflict is
inadmissible,' he said.
The Turkish leader's remarks failed to satisfy the government in Yerevan.
`We have carefully studied the Turkish prime minister's statement, and
we have tried to see it as a first attempt to confront history, but
regrettably we must say that it is just another, though perhaps more
refined, attempt to deny and conceal the fact of the Armenian
genocide,' Vigen Sargsyan, President Serzh Sargsyan's chief of staff,
told the Armenpress news agency a few hours after ErdoÄ?an issued his
statement. `More is required from Turkey ` to acknowledge and
unequivocally condemn the crimes committed during this period.'
Vigen Sargsyan said Ankara claimed to be inviting Yerevan to discuss
the matter while simultaneously refusing to ratify the inter-state
protocol agreements drawn up in 2009 to improve relations and open the
border between the two states.
Armenia has not ratified the protocols, either, but in remarks on
April 24, President Sargsyan said Turkey needed to make the move
first, and could use the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide
next year to show it had changed.
`This could be an opportunity for Turkey to repent, and wipe clean the
stain of history. Words are no longer enough for it to show its
relationship with to Armenia. It requires specific steps, the opening
of its border and the establishment of normal relations,' the
president said.
The opposition Dashnaktsutyun party is heavily involved in lobbying
world states to recognise and use the word genocide. Giro Manoyan, who
heads the party's political department, said ErdoÄ?an might well be
reacting to the fact that more and more countries were doing so.
`With his statement, ErdoÄ?an is trying to weaken the international
pressure on Turkey to recognise the Armenian genocide. ErdoÄ?an is not
addressing Armenians, he has a different target ` the international
community,' Manoyan said. `I don't think this statement will have any
impact on whether Turkey recognises the genocide or normalises
relations with Armenia.'
United States president Barack Obama was one of many world leaders who
made special statements on April 24, though he avoided the word
`genocide' by using the Armenian term `Meds Yeghern' (`Great Crime').
`Peoples and nations grow stronger and build a foundation for a more
just and tolerant future by acknowledging and reckoning with painful
elements of the past,' he said in a statement. `We recognise and
commend the growing number of courageous Armenians and Turks who have
already taken this path, and encourage more to do so, with the backing
of their governments and mine.'
Vahe Harutyunyan is a freelance journalist in Armenia.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/armenians-call-turks-say-genocide