Turkey-A campaign initiated by several intellectuals to apologize for the events of 1915 — which Armenians claim constituted genocide — continued to be discussed very vividly yesterday, with opposing groups issuing strong statements against one another.
In Parliament, on the street and on TV programs, the subject took center stage, with some critics attacking personalities such as President Abdullah Gül and the intellectuals who initiated the campaign.
“My conscience does not accept the insensitivity showed to and the denial of the Great Catastrophe that Ottoman Armenians were subjected to in 1915. I reject this injustice and for my part, I empathize with the feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers. I apologize to them,” the campaign statement says.
Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Canan Arıtman called the organizers of the campaign traitors. “The false scientists signing it should apologize to Turkey,” she said, claiming that President Gül — because of his “ethnic origins” — was not reacting to the campaign. “We see that the president supports this campaign. Abdullah Gül should be the president of the entire Turkish nation, not just of those sharing his ethnicity. Investigate the ethnic origin of the president’s mother and you will see,” she said. There have been rumors that Gül’s family has Armenian roots.
When Gül was asked for his opinion on the campaign, he said the state’s attitude is to improve relations with its neighbors. “We believe dialogue to be the solution for problems we have with our neighbors. Perpetuating problems is not useful to anyone,” he said.
Arıtman also suggested that that Gül was encouraged by his visit to Armenia. Gül visited Yerevan in September upon the invitation of his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarksyan, to watch the World Cup qualifying game between the two countries’ national soccer teams.
Another attack came from Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). “I want to say that I am ashamed of the persons who initiated the campaign. We as the Turkish nation should be ashamed of them,” he said, adding that the campaign should be stopped.
At Tuesday’s meeting of the parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee, deputies from opposition parties, including the MHP, offered to make a statement condemning supporters of the campaign. The pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), however, objected to this. Following discussion, a decision was made for deputies to condemn the apology campaign on an individual basis.
The MHP initiated this campaign yesterday and Bahçeli is expected to be the first to sign the statement condemning the intellectuals whose campaign, the MHP claims, aims to defame Turkish history. “There is no single crime or anything to be ashamed of in the honorable history of the Turkish nation. It is no one’s right and no one is entitled to demand an apology by distorting history and defaming our ancestors.”
Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Şahin said civil society organizations can approach the situation differently and that it is up to them, but that he shares the view of the state. “I am in favor of the continuation of the policy, view and the stance of the Turkish Republic regarding Armenian claims of genocide,” Şahin underlined.
Professor Erol Kürkçüoğlu, manager of the Turkish-Armenian Relations Research Center, part of Erzurum’s Atatürk University, and known for his research into 185 mass graves of Turks allegedly killed by Armenians, also commented on the campaign. He claimed that “Turkish, Russian and French archives show the real victims of those years were Turks.”
He repeated the official view of the state in his interview with the Anatolia news agency and claimed that the law of forced migration was issued after the uprising of Armenians in Van. “The forced migration law definitely does not amount to genocide or massacre. With this law the state tried to protect the life, property and honor of its citizens,” he suggested.
He added that during his research into mass graves, he even found the elderly and women holding their babies. “In those days our people were exposed to massacres and we lost thousands. These things happened yesterday while some journalists and academics today organize an apology campaign,” he said.
He added that the aim of the campaign is to confuse people. “Everyone should take into account what we, historians, are saying. We know best. If anyone defends the opposite, he should come and see the mass graves,” he added.
Süleyman Çiğdem, a professor at Atatürk University and chairman of the Erzurum branch of the Association Fighting Groundless Claims of Genocide (ASİMED), said the campaign was organized without taking into consideration the facts. “We apologize to our martyrs for not remembering them,” he said.
Meanwhile, Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) Executive Director Bryan Ardouny defined the campaign as the start of an irreversible trend. “Over 12,000 people in Turkey want history to be recorded truthfully, having already signed the Internet-based petition apologizing for what they call the ‘Great Catastrophe’ that befell the Armenians of Ottoman Turkey in 1915. This public apology is a first step in that direction and will inevitably lead to Turkey coming to grips with its genocidal past.”