Another excellent program was presented by TV Channel D, from Kadir Has
University, which started at 1:30 AM and lasted until 4:15 AM . The
speakers were Turkish forum Advisory Board Member and the former President of the Turkish Historical Society Prof. Dr. Yusuf Halacogu and the Rector of Kadir Has University, Prof. Dr. Mustafa Aydin. The Moderater was Abbas Guclu, a columnist at Milliyet newspaper and a presenter of programs on a variety of subjects.
First, a clip was shown on the events around 1915, a journey into history,
as characterized by Abbas Guclu who emphasized that this is a very
important issue and stated that there will be messages on this subject. He
also made referrences to the US House Foreign Affairs Committee vote on
March 4 and the Swedish Parliament decision on March 11 on the Armenian
resolutions.
Yusuf Halacoglu started his talk with references to the Armenian
rebellions and revolts supported by the Russians and the French, and the
backstabbing of the Ottomans by countries who are now passing resolutions
in their Parliaments. Halacoglu questioned whether the Armenians were
getting ready for the 100th anniversary commemorations and asked when and
how these would come to an end.
Yusuf Halacoglu, in a lengthy presentation, stated that the origins of the
Armenian issue goes back to 1816 when Russia started to interfere with
internal affairs and the Missionaries began opening schools only for
minorities all over the Pttoman Empire which reached 1,244 by 1878. The
British, the French, the German and the American missionary schools
enrolled 85,000 students in 1878 who were raised with nationalistic views.
These were followed by revolts by the Greeks in 1830, the Serbians, the
Bulgarians, who were used by the imperialist powers to weaken the Ottoman
Empire .
Abbas Guclu introduced the Rector of Kadir Has University Prof. Mustafa
Aydin and asked him to comment on the international aspects of the issue.
Prof. Aydin stated that the Bulgarian uprisings were given special
attention in the British press. First the British and the French and later
the Russians tried to take the control of the Middle East followed by the
Americans. It was indicated that the first country to recognize the
Armenian genocide was Uruguay through the efforts of a small group of
Armenians in that country. There was no significant activity between 1965
and 1980. The Greek Cypriots followed recognizing the Armenian genocide in
1982, followed by other countries.
Abbas Guclu opened the floor for questions. Close to 20 students asked
varied questions, the first on the Prime Ministers threat to expel
100,000 Armenians working illegally in Turkey . The second question was on
the validity of the Toynbees Blue Book and Franz Werfels Forty Days
at Musa Dagh and why Turkey did not fight these allegations. One of the
answer was the issue was not taken seriously.
A young student asked why the Turks were not speaking directly with the
Armenians and wondered if Turks had something to hide. One of the answers
was that the history was not being taught properly in turkey. At the same
time, the West did not know much about the issue, some not knowing where
Van lake is.
Prof. Aydin emphasized that the issue was politicized and it could only be
solved by politicians. Referring to the recalling of the Turkish
Ambassador from Sweden , Prof Aydin suggested that instead of one, perhaps
five visits should be made since the Sweedish government is not supporting
the parliament decision that was passed by one vote. Prof Aydin also
stated that the Armenian resolution would not pass the US Congress since
US needs Turkey for its strategic plans and predicted that the Protocols
would not be approved.
Around 2:35 , clips of interviews with Turkish Armenians were shown and
more students asked questions. A wide summary of the program and a video
of the presentations is available on www.abbasguclu.com.tr web site.
Yuksel Oktay
====================================================
Can Atakli and Turkkaya Ataov Articles on the Armenian Issue, Tuesday, 16
March 2010.
In his daily column in Vatan newspaper, Can Atakli writes about a
discussion that he participated at the Bahcesehir University , in Istanbul
. The article begins with an advise: We should be very calm on the
Armenian Issue.
The other participants at the discussion at Bahceshir University were
prof. Dr. Ilter Turan, Prof. Ersin Kalayci, Ambassador Ozdem Sanberk
(Ret.) , Fehmi Koru, Zeynel Abidin Erdem and Burak Kuntay. In summary,
most have stated that the Turks had lost the World opinion on the Armenian
issue, which is sometimes more important then governments, which Turkey
needs to realize. Another fact agreed was that the Armenian genocide is
not a historical but a political issue and a long term plan has to be
developed to let the world know of this fact. Prof. Turan made reference
to Hrant Dinks murder which was not explained fully either. They also
talked about the Prime Ministers approach to the developments, from
recalling the Turkish Ambassador to US and cancelling his trip to the US ,
which are counterproductive.
Can Atakli also reminds the readers that the US Congress recognized
Armenian genocide on 8 April 1975 (prior to the 60th anniversary of the
alleged genocide) and on 10 September 1984 , the US Congress made
reference to 1.5 million Armenians being subject to genocide. The House
Foreign Affairs committee approved the resolution in 2005, 2006 and 2007
with a much larger margin of votes. Atakli concludes his article with a
question: What happens if the US Congress passes the Resolution? He
states that it would not be the end of the world but the image of Turkey
will be tarnished and the counter arguments of Turkey will be shelved.
The title of Prof. Turkkaya Ataovs , a member of Turkish forum advisory board, article in Cumhuriyet newspaper is: The Decay of US Congress.
exhibited a tragi-comic attitude not only on the Armenian issue but on
many other issues as well. Ataov writes that the Congress has a biased and
racist view of Turkey based on lack of knowledge. It is an interesting
article which closes with an assumption by Ataove that both House speaker
Nancy Pelosi and Committee Chairman Berman have committed themselves to be
on the side of Armenians. And on Obama, Ataov states that he no longer
uses the word change and the Turkish National Assembly in Ankara may be
the last place receiving applaud.
Yuksel Oktay
Istanbul
18 March 2010
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