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Category: Armenian Question

“The great Turk is governing in peace twenty nations from different religions. Turks have taught to Christians how to be moderate in peace and gentle in victory.”Voltaire’s Philosophical Dictionary

  • Erdogan Responds to Sarksyan’s Remarks By Backing Azerbaijan

    Erdogan Responds to Sarksyan’s Remarks By Backing Azerbaijan

    Erdogan Responds to Sarksyan’s Remarks By Backing Azerbaijan

    Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 8 Issue: 146

    July 29, 2011

    By: Saban Kardas

    Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid a one-day working visit to Baku, where he met the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to discuss various bilateral and regional issues. Erdogan deliberately chose Baku as the destination for his second official trip abroad, since he formed his new government after emerging victorious in the June 12 parliamentary elections. Erdogan’s first trip was paid to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) last week. The choice of these two destinations and the messages delivered during Erdogan’s contacts reflect Erdogan’s determination to stand firm on Turkey’s traditional position on the two important foreign policy issues. In TRNC, Erdogan drew red lines by saying that Turkey would not accept the EU’s terms, and a solution to the Cyprus issue will be based on Ankara’s own priorities. In Azerbaijan, Erdogan reiterated his determination to continue with Ankara’s Baku-centered policy in the South Caucasus.

    The improvement of economic ties between the two countries was a key item on the two leaders’ agenda. For his part, Aliyev highlighted the investments by Azerbaijani companies in Turkey, which has exceeded $4 billion, and added that Azerbaijan plans to invest another $6 billion in Turkey, especially in the petrochemicals industry. However, in the long-standing issue of the transit of Azerbaijani gas through Turkey to European markets, the two leaders failed to announce a breakthrough. Erdogan noted that the bureaucrats will continue to work on the remaining articles to finalize a deal, which was reached one year ago.

    A concrete outcome of the visit was the announcement of the parties’ determination to hold the first meeting of the High Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSC) in Turkey. This form of partnership has been a new instrument, which Turkey has developed to foster its bilateral relations with neighbors and countries deemed to be strategically important. Despite the initiation of such platforms with Iraq, Syria, Greece and Russia, the delay in the conclusion of the Turkey-Azerbaijan HLSC was an issue of concern for some time. To a certain extent, it reflected the ongoing disagreements, caused by Turkey’s thwarted rapprochement efforts with Armenia. Erdogan, thus, emphasized the importance he places on holding the first HLSC, which might be interpreted as yet another sign of a thaw between Ankara and Baku.

    An additional issue on which Turkey has sought a breakthrough for some time relates to Azerbaijan’s removal of visa requirements for Turkish citizens. Although Turkey unilaterally lifted visa requirements for Azerbaijani citizens and managed to sign mutual visa liberalization agreements with other countries, including Russia, a similar agreement with Azerbaijan has been on hold. During Erdogan’s Baku trip, Aliyev said that the Azerbaijani side was not ready to move to a visa-free travel regime and would need more time to complete necessary preparations (Anadolu Ajansi, July 27).

    Azerbaijani-Armenian problems and the recent developments in Turkish-Armenian relations also occupied a large part of Erdogan’s agenda in Baku. On the eve of Erdogan’s departure to Baku, Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan’s remarks about Mount Ararat (located within Turkey’s borders) shocked observers. Attending the Armenian Language Olympics, Sarksyan responded to a question from an Armenian youth as saying “I think my generation has managed to fulfill its debt when it was necessary to protect the part of our Motherland, [Karabakh], from the enemies. We managed to do it. … “[Any return of historic territories in Western Armenia] all depends on you and your generation” (Hurriyet, July 26).

    A statement issued by Turkish foreign ministry strongly condemned Sarksyan’s comments as “extremely irresponsible behavior,” and took them as an indication “that he does not intend to work for peace” (www.mfa.gov.tr, July 26). During his contacts in Azerbaijan, Erdogan also echoed similar messages, going as far as claiming that Sarksyan should issue an apology for his mistake (www.cnnturk.com, July 27).

    More importantly, Erdogan capitalized on this development to reiterate his earlier position on the complicated relations between Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia. On the one hand, he defined the situation in Karabakh as one of clear occupation by Armenia, which in his view has not demonstrated a constructive attitude toward the resolution of the dispute. Erdogan found Azerbaijan’s approach to the problem constructive, and called on the international community to take the necessary steps for the resolution of the dispute.

    On the other hand, Erdogan interpreted Sarksyan’s comments as indication of Armenian’s official position and criticized those who ask Turkey to take steps toward the resolution of its problems with Armenia. Turkish-Armenian normalization, which gained momentum in 2009, had to be stalled partly after Erdogan declared that Turkey would not proceed with its rapprochement unless progress was achieved in the Karabakh dispute (EDM, June 1, 2010). Some have asked Turkey to take limited steps to maintain the momentum in Turkish-Armenian normalization such as the partial opening of the border, even before a solution is reached in the Azerbaijan-Armenian disputes. Referring to these arguments, Erdogan reiterated clearly that Turkey will not proceed with the re-opening of border, before Armenia solves its problems with Azerbaijan (Cihan, July 27).

    Erdogan’s reiteration of Ankara’s position was important, especially considering that it was preceded by some positive remarks from Armenian NGO leaders – in Ankara to attend a civil society dialogue – following their meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Foreign Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu. Reportedly, Davutoglu painted an optimistic picture, expressing his hope that the border will be eventually re-opened and Armenians might even be able to buy homes in Turkey , July 20). Indeed, this was not the first time Davutoglu expressed his determination to pursue the Turkish-Armenian normalization efforts, despite many obstacles presented by the domestic politics in both countries and the tight coupling between this process and the Karabakh issue (Today’s Zaman, September 30, 2010).

    However, against the background of the failure of the Kazan summit to produce any progress on the Azerbaijan-Armenia dispute, Davutoglu has yet to formulate a genuine strategy to break the Turkey-Armenia-Azerbaijan stalemate so that he can proceed with Turkish-Armenian normalization, which would be a major victory for his “zero-problems-with-neighbors” policy. The statements by Sarksyan and Erdogan’s harsh response only add to the complexity of this already daunting task.

    https://jamestown.org/program/erdogan-responds-to-sarksyans-remarks-by-backing-azerbaijan/

     

  • Armenia Ready, Target 2015

    Armenia Ready, Target 2015

    Turkish foreign policy recently intensified its attention on the Arab Spring, carrying out extensive diplomatic efforts to secure an immediate resolution for the turmoil in the region. (more…)

  • Vatican to publish documents on Armenian Genocide

    Vatican to publish documents on Armenian Genocide

    The Vatican will open its archives in 2012, said Bishop Sergio Pagano, prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives.

    armgenThe exhibition entitled “Lux in Arcane: The Vatican Secret Archives unveiled” will be inaugurated in the Capitoline Museums in Rome in February 2012 and will display valuable documents held in the Vatican, from the eighth century to the twentieth century, Turkish Hurriyet Daily reports.

    Sergio Pagano noted that the archives include documents on the Armenian Genocide carried out by the Ottoman Empire in 1895-1921.

    “When I read documents about the torture practices used by the Turks against the Armenians, I feel an irrepressible sense of pain and horror. Some of the papers describe how Turkish soldiers bet and played dice to guess the sex of a child before stabbing him or her with a bayonet after extracting them out of the womb. This is merely inhumane,” Pagano said.

    Gianfranco Ravasi, President of Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture of Vatican recently said in Armenia that they intend to vivify cultural relations between Armenia and Vatican. To this aims exhibitions are planned to be opened in both countries.

    via Vatican to publish documents on Armenian Genocide .::. The Armenian News by A1+.

    Türkçe : https://www.turkishnews.com/tr/content/2011/07/08/bela-geliyor-vatikan-basimiza-dert-acacak/

  • Reply to Baroness Shreela Flather

    Reply to Baroness Shreela Flather

    Chamcha Girl in sariRe: your question and proposal to the House of Lords -16.06.2011
    House of Lords
    London SW1 OPW

    01/07/2011

    Dear Baroness Shreela Flather,

    The Ataturk Society of the UK has been astonished and dismayed to learn about
    your question and proposal regarding a possible timetable for the British
    Government to recognize the so called Armenian Genocide at the House of Lords on
    the 16th of June 2011. Whilst we appreciate your “right” to ask questions as a
    member of the House of Lords (not as an elected representative), we would like
    to bring the following facts to your attention regarding this matter.

    First of all can we remind you that there is no legal justification for such a
    recognition unlike the Holocaust or Bosnian massacres.

    As a historical event, it is a fact that Suzanne and Gregoire Krikorian took
    their case to the European Court of Justice in 2003 in reference to the so called
    Armenian genocide, and demanded moral and material compensation. However, they
    lost this court case on the 17th December 2003 and were ordered to pay the court
    expenses of 30,000 Euro for unfounded charges.

    This issue began with the passing of an ill conceived resolution C-190 of the
    European Parliament on 20th July 1987 that Turkey cannot become a member of EEC unless she recognizes the so called Armenian Genocide!

    Twelve years later, in 1999, Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit was
    negotiating with the EEC regarding Turkish candidacy and when the discussions
    were strained, the Turkish P.M. was invited to Helsinki talks. The Helsinki
    European Council decision was to officially invite Turkey into the E.U. Since
    than Turkey has been a candidate member and has many agreements with the EU,
    going back to 1963 Ankara Association Agreement).

    This invitation obviously did not go the way the Armenian Diaspora wanted and
    they opened a court case against:

    *         the European Parliament
    *         the European Union Association Council
    *         the European Commission

    at the European Court of Justice, with reference to the European Parliament’s
    resolution no. C-190, demanding that Turkey acknowledges so called Armenian
    Genocide before being offered membership status, otherwise EU’s contractual
    status would be impaired and therefore insisting on “Responsibility from the
    European Union outside of it’s commitments and without any judicial
    justification”.

    We would like to remind you that this court case was rejected by the First
    Division of the European Court of Justice on December 17, 2003 under decision
    number T-346/03, confirming that there is no legally accepted justification for
    so called ‘Armenian genocide’.

    Still unsatisfied the Armenian Diaspora applied to the “Court of Appeals” for
    the repeal of the referred decision. This application was heard by the Fourth
    Division of the European Court of Justice at the session dated 17.04.2004. It
    was rejected again under the clause No. C-18/04 and the Armenians were charged
    to pay the court expenses of 30,000 Euros.

    Dear Baroness Flather, we would like to ask you to reconsider your question to
    the House of Lords in the light of the evidence presented above and before
    taking a stance against the decisions of the European Court of Justice which is
    an authorised Court set up to deal with these kind of cases and is officially
    recognized by the UK Parliament.

    Turkish people have a right to request that you re-address the House of Lords
    regarding your question and put right the inaccuracies or injustices done to the
    Turkish Nation. We consider your action as biased and prejudiced, and also
    lacking in informed knowledge and the right facts of the matter.

    Yours sincerely,
    Betula Nelson
    Foreign Media Coordinator
    Ataturk Society UK
    London

    Extracts from the European Court of Justice decision number T-346/03;
    Clause 25.
    Secondly, as regards the requirement that the applicants must have suffered
    actual and certain damage, the applicants clearly confined themselves in their
    application to relying in general terms on non-material damage caused to the
    Armenian community, without giving the least indication as to the nature or
    extent of the damage which they consider they had suffered individually.
    Therefore the applicants have supplied no information that would enable the
    Court to find that the applicants in fact suffered actual and certain damage
    themselves (see, to that effect, Case T-99/98 Hameico Stuttgart and Others v
    Council and Commission [2003] ECR II-2195, paragraphs 68 and 69).

    Clause 21.
    As regards the alleged breach of fundamental rights (see paragraph 10 above), it
    is sufficient to note that the applicants merely claim that such a breach took
    place, without explaining how that follows from the conduct of the defendant
    institutions complained of in this case.

    —

    Original  reply in Turkish here by Refik Mor

  • Armenians peel back the layers of a painful past

    Armenians peel back the layers of a painful past

    Memoir helps Turks and Armenians explore their identities and the legacy of the 1915 genocide

    * Guillaume Perrier

    * Guardian Weekly, Tuesday 28 June 2011 13.59 BST

    People attend a ceremony marking the 96t

    Painful past... a memorial to the genocide. Photograph: Vahan Stepanyan/Getty
    Painful past… a memorial to the genocide. Photograph: Vahan Stepanyan/Getty

    In 2004, when the lawyer Fethiyé Cetin published My Grandmother: A Memoir, she breached the wall of silence in Turkey. The book tells the story of her Armenian ancestor Heranouch, who was renamed Seher. She was kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam at the time of the 1915 genocide carried out by the Turkish nationalist party (CUP). Her granddaughter, a human rights campaigner and counsel for the family of Hrant Dink, an Armenian journalist murdered in 2007, was one of the first to publicise her Armenian origins, in defiance of the taboo that still paralyses much of Turkey.

    Hundreds of similar stories have since surfaced, revealing facts that had conveniently been forgotten. Scattered all over the country were Armenian descendants, who had survived the slaughter but at the price of being converted to Islam and losing their identity. They are still commonly known as the “remains of the sword”.

    From grandmothers Cetin has turned her attention, in partnership with sociologist Ayse Gül Altinay, to their descendants, all those who two generations later are gradually uncovering their past and questioning official accounts and the silence imposed on their lives. “Where are the converted Armenians?” Altinay writes in the afterword to Les Petits-Enfants. “You may pass them in schools, in the corridors of the National Assembly, in hospitals and factories, in the fields, in the office of a police chiefs or in a mosque. They could be driving your bus, or the nurse who took your blood sample, a journalist whose column you like, the engineer who installed your computer […] or the imam at your neighbourhood mosque,” she adds. The authors discovered dozens of such people, but only a few were prepared to tell their story, and even fewer agreed to reveal their identity. The book contains 24 personal accounts, portraits of families that all have a hidden Armenian side.

    Yildiz Önen, another human rights campaigner, agreed to come out and tell her story in her own name. She was born in Derik, a small town in the Kurdish region of eastern Turkey and “brought up as a Kurd”. The story of her grandmother, the daughter of a rich Armenian trader who survived the genocide with one of his sons, “resembles that of thousands of other women”. She was kidnapped by a Kurd, married and forcibly converted. “My father was born of this union,” Önen says. “My grandmother raised two sons, one in keeping with Armenian tradition, the other as a Kurd. So my father, a conservative Muslim, had an Armenian brother.”

    As in other cases Dink’s murder prompted a reappraisal of her hidden identity. “At that point I started thinking I too should feel Armenian,” she says. Feeling Armenian also means being seen differently, even by her own family. “Some cousins are open-minded, others less so,” she adds.

    After the genocide the second generation of survivors, regardless of whether they stayed in Turkey or emigrated, was brought up in a state of denial, the better to fit in and to stifle painful memories. “As if our difference was a stain, a taboo, a source of shame,” says Gülsad, who found out by chance when he was about 15 that his grandmother Satinik was Armenian.

    Now some grandchildren are demanding an explanation. Cetin estimates that there are hundreds of thousands of Turks with at least one Armenian ancestor. Their identity is often “hybrid”, a mixture of Turkish, Kurdish, Alevi, Armenian and other origins. Some stayed Armenian, despite converting to Islam. Others say they are Kurds but are converting back to Christianity.

    “There is an incredible diversity in the way people define themselves,” the lawyer says. For almost a century the existence of these hidden survivors was not only hushed up by the Turkish government, but forgotten by the Armenian community. The grandchildren’s memories are resurrecting forgotten victims of the 20th century’s first genocide. This account lifts a taboo as part of a historic process of reconciliation. By investigating family and village history, Turkish intellectuals may have found the means to counter the official revisionism that whitewashes the Armenian question.

    This article originally appeared in Le Monde

    via Armenians peel back the layers of a painful past | World news | Guardian Weekly.

  • Western Armenians demand Turkey’s recognition of Genocide

    Western Armenians demand Turkey’s recognition of Genocide

    73280PanARMENIAN.Net – On June 25, Moscow hosted Western Armenians’ convention, with 100 delegates from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov, Sochi, Adler, Krasnodar, Omsk, Petrozavodsk, Vladivostok, Crimea and Abkhazia attending.

    39 Russian delegates to participate in The Third Congress of Western Armenians due December 2011 in Paris were selected during the convention, Hyusisapayl Moscow-based newspaper reported.

    “National Council of Western Armenians will defend the legal rights of the descendants of Western Armenians in international organizations, negotiate with Turkish authorities and other interested parties to achieve Turkey’s recognition of Armenian Genocide as well as condemnation of 1915 massacres and compensation of moral, material and territorial damages,” the statement issued during the convention stressed.

    via Western Armenians demand Turkey’s recognition of Genocide – PanARMENIAN.Net.