Category: Asia and Pacific

Overcoming Conflict: How The Battle Of Gallipoli Sparked A New Friendship

Overcoming Conflict:
How The Battle Of Gallipoli Sparked A New Friendship

The following op-ed by Sevin Elekdag, TCA Research Fellow and Onur Isci, Lecturer at the Department of History at Georgetown University was published in the Eurasia Review on April 25.Every year on April 25, Turks join with Australian and New Zealand friends to commemorate ANZAC Day. On this day 98 years ago, with the Allies at their side, the newly formed Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACS) landed on the Gallipoli peninsula to invade the Ottoman Empire’s capitol, modern-day Istanbul, and take control of a precious WWI supply route to Russia. As support for the war waned, the British came to Australia with a propaganda machine aimed at encouraging young Australian men to sign-up to fight in this war on a foreign land half a world away. Over the next nine months, the Turks fought a bloody battle against the ANZACs, and while the Ottoman army ultimately prevailed, both sides suffered great hardships and heavy casualties.

For the ANZACS, this little known WWI event is recognized as their first ever major offensive and has become a defining moment in shaping the national identities of the Australian and New Zealand people. For Turks, it gave inspiration and a leader (Mustafa Kemal) to the Turkish National Resistance Movement that eventually freed Anatolia from foreign invaders.

In 1934, when memories of the battle were still fresh, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, commander at Gallipoli and founder of modern Turkey, stated:

“Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives…You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours…you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land. They have become our sons as well.”

These words mark the beginning of years of cultural exchange and efforts to establish official diplomatic relations between these nations. At the time, it may have seemed impossible to bridge the obvious differences in how the event was, and is, perceived in each country. But with perseverance, what ultimately emerged from the wreckage was a new friendship between Turkey, Australia and New Zealand. Out of respect and understanding, these nations now come together to reflect on the tragic realities of war.

So it is that Gallipoli has become a national symbol of reconciliation. How inspiring to see Turks, Australians and New Zealanders set aside animosity and empathize with the experiences and suffering of the other. Coming together over this shared experience has allowed nations once at war to build friendship and solidarity from its ashes.

Following last year’s anniversary, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Australian counterpart, Julia Gillard, met in Ankara, Turkey to plan a special remembrance of the centenary of the Gallipoli campaign. The two leaders announced that 2015 would be proclaimed the Year of Turkey in Australia and the Year of Australia in Turkey.

Every day, news from the Middle East is dire. As governments change and conflicts rage on, one worries about the next generation of leaders for Palestine, Syria, Israel, Iraq and Afghanistan. Are they being given examples showing that after the hostilities, there is the possibility for finding common ground? That dialogue and reconciliation are important steps towards a more prosperous and stable future for their children, and every generation thereafter? Is history passed down in a way that considers the perspectives of other cultures?

As war and threats of conflict swirl across the continents, it is never too soon to use the lessons of Gallipoli to teach our children not just to honor bravery and sacrifice, but also to recognize that it takes equal measures of great strength and empathy to set aside the tragedies of war.

April 25, 2013
AFP: Turkey’s Muslim Armenians come out of hiding

By Nicolas Cheviron (AFP) – 1 day ago

TUNCELI, Turkey — They dropped their language and religion to survive after the 1915 genocide, but close to 100 years on Turkey’s “hidden Armenians” want to take pride in their identity.

Some genocide survivors adopted Islam and blended in with the Kurds in eastern Turkey’s Dersim mountains to avoid further persecution.

Several generations down the road, the town of Tunceli hosted a landmark ceremony Wednesday for Genocide Remembrance Day, something which has only ever happened in Istanbul and the large city of Diyarbakir.

The massacre and deportation of Ottoman Armenians during World War I, which Armenians claim left around 1.5 million dead, is described by many countries as genocide although Ankara continues to reject the term.

Speaking in front of the ruins of the Ergen church — one of the few remnants of Christian Armenian heritage in the region — Miran Pirginc Gultekin, president of the Dersim Armenian Association, explained it was still rare to declare oneself openly as Armenian in Turkey.

“We decided that we had to get back to our true nature, that this way of living was not satisfactory, that it was not fair to live with another’s identity and another’s faith,” he said.

Despite converting to Alevism, a heterodox sect of Islam, and taking Turkish names, the ethnic Armenians who stayed on their ancestral land suffered from continued discrimination and the elders often struggle to summon their memories.

“My mother told me how her family was deported. She was a baby at the time and her mother considered drowning her in despair,” said Tahire Aslanpencesi, a sprightly octogenarian from the village Danaburan.

“My mother used to say all the misery that came after would have been avoided had her mother drowned her,” she recalled.

After converting to Islam, many of the so-called “crypto-Armenians” said they still faced unfair treatment: their land was often confiscated, the men were humiliated with “circumcision checks” in the army and some were tortured.

Hidir Boztas’ grandfather converted to Islam, gave his son a Turkish name and the clan intermarried with a Kurdish community in the village of Alanyazi.

“We feel Armenian nonetheless and in any case the others always remind us of where we come from. No matter how many of their daughters we marry, and how many of ours we give them, they will continue to call us Armenians,” he said.

The Armenian community shared the Kurds’ suffering when the regime cracked down on Kurdish rebellions, from the 1938 revolt to the insurrection started by the PKK group in 1984.

For a long time, only those who had left the ancestral homestead dared to make their Armenian roots known.

“Armenians in Istanbul are in a big city, they have their neighbourhoods, their churches, nobody can do anything to them. But in these villages, there’s rejection and insults,” said Hidir Boztas, 86.

Human rights campaigners gathered Wednesday in downtown Istanbul carrying portraits of genocide victims.

There were fewer than 200 people there but the protestors stressed such an event would have been unthinkable only a decade ago.

One of Hidir’s nephews, 42-year-old Mustafa, a businessman, is one of a growing number of Muslim Armenians who want to be proud of their identity.

Mustafa has decided to name his construction firm Bedros after Hidir’s grandfather, who was deported during the genocide.

“It symbolised my past. My great-grandfather was called Bedros, and I wanted his name to live on. I am against radicalism, and I don’t do this through racism or religious extremism, but I don’t deny my origins — everyone knows them.”

He said he hoped the unprecedented ceremony in Tunceli Wednesday would encourage more members of the community to come out in the open.

“The aim is to allow people to assert their identity more freely and also to generate more interest for the little Christian heritage left in the region,” said Miran Pirginc Gultekin.

His society was created three years ago and has around 80 members.

via AFP: Turkey’s Muslim Armenians come out of hiding.

April 25, 2013
Turkey: Following the Anzacs
Turkey puts $60 million into multimedia encounter, writes Russell Maclennan-Jones

Turkish World War I memorial at Canakkale near Gallipoli, Turkey. Photo / Supplied

People on this side of the world have a clear picture of Gallipoli: mateship, valour, sacrifice in a small campaign that we lost on the way to winning World War I. It’s far more complicated for Turkish people. They won the campaign at the cost of many lives and saved their country, but went on to lose the war.

They lost an empire, too, but from its ashes rose modern Turkey, a prosperous, fairly stable country linking Europe to the Middle East.

A new centre near the battlefields of a century ago makes it easier for visitors to get a Turkish perspective. Allied victory there, and greatly increased support for Russia through the Bosphorus, could have ended the war swiftly and even altered the Russian revolution.

The Turks have spent nearly $60 million on the Canakkale Epic Promotion Centre and epic is the right word. It’s history as entertainment and a vivid celebration of the men who defeated the invading Anzacs, British and other Allies, in 1915.

Conceived as a multimedia extravaganza, with actors bringing many scenes to life in film segments, the building has an ambitious flowing scheme to cope with big crowds moving from one multimedia experience to another.

No media trick is forgone, from the 3D thrill of being shelled by a battleship to hand-to-hand battles in the trenches on the peninsula. It gets pretty confusing and is very noisy. Headphones provide an English translation, which can be a bit hard to follow.

The Ottoman veteran Adil Şahin and the Australian veteran Len Hall met as friends in Gallipoli in 1990, 75 years after they fought as enemies in the same place.

Generations of Kiwis mark the battle’s start on April 25, Anzac Day, but the Turks celebrate March 18, when they routed Allied navies, a defeat that led to the invasion attempt, and this naval battle takes up a lot of the experience.

Guides lead the 30 or so people in each group from room to room. At one point you’re on the heaving deck of a battleship, at another you feel as though you are in the middle of the fighting.

Some of the acting is unconvincing (British Navy types discussing tactics, all in Turkish, of course), but the ordinary soldiers bring some of the scenes to life. Facts, figures and statistics are sparing. It’s more a matter of the feeling that the homeland was under threat and brave soldiers stood up when it mattered.

Allied soldiers are shown being shot down on the beach, and the ruse of guns left to fire themselves as the Anzacs withdrew is depicted in detail. But between those two events little is shown of the Allied effort or of how the soldiers scraped an existence on the unfriendly hills.

After the high-tech experience I hope schoolchildren are taken up the hill to where their forefathers fought ferocious battles. The graves there show how many people died in what was a fruitless campaign.

Because the centre is new, tour groups may not have incorporated visits yet. The best way to get there is to take a taxi from Eceabat. Buses are infrequent. If you can spend two or three days in Eceabat or Canakkale do visit the centre and take a guided tour of the battlefields. To avoid crowds go at dawn or sunset and ask a taxi driver to show you the landing places and cemeteries.

CHECKLIST

Getting there: Emirates flies daily from Auckland to Dubai with a connection there to its flight to Istanbul. fares are currently available from $2,497 return.

By Russell Maclennan-Jones

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April 25, 2013
Taliban captives ‘well looked after’ in Afghanistan’s Logar

A group of foreigners abducted on Monday by militants in eastern Afghanistan are being “well looked after”, officials and the Taliban say.

Up to 11 people, thought to include eight Turks, two Russians and an Afghan were taken in Logar province after their helicopter landed in bad weather.

Tribal elders who saw the captives said that they were being fed and looked after, local officials told the BBC.

The Taliban also told the BBC the captives were in good condition.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the group were very tired and that “we could not talk to them a lot”.

“If they need any doctors for check up or other health related issues, we have good doctors and medical workers,” he said.

He added that Taliban leaders had yet to make a decision about their fate and denied reports that local officials or tribal elders had made contact in an effort to negotiate their release.

But officials in Logar earlier told the BBC that elders had seen the hostages. They added that the Taliban had made no demands so far, adding that they were concerned that the insurgents’ might want to take the group across the border into Pakistan.

Forced landing

The company responsible for the missing helicopter, Khorasan, said the aircraft was forced down in bad weather on Sunday evening while flying to Kabul from Khost, which is to the south-east of the capital.

Azra, the restive district where the helicopter made the forced landing, is close to the Pakistani border and local officials say that while there are some Afghan government forces there, the Taliban and other insurgents have a strong presence.

It said there were 10 people on board: one was an Afghan, two were Russian pilots, and the other seven were Turkish construction workers.

But Turkey’s foreign ministry later said that eight Turks were on board the aircraft.

The BBC’s David Loyn in Kabul reports that on any day there are an average of 100 civilian helicopter flights across Afghanistan.

They are a vital link for remote bases, carrying workers and supplies and are mostly contracted from Russian companies, our correspondent adds.

Turkey has around 1,800 soldiers serving with Nato forces in Afghanistan, but their mission is confined to patrols and Turkey has long had a close relationship with Kabul.

Several Turkish engineers have been kidnapped in Afghanistan in recent years, with some held for up to two years.

Numerous Western, Pakistani and Afghan hostages are being held in Afghanistan including US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, 25, who has been a prisoner for nearly four years.

via BBC News – Taliban captives ‘well looked after’ in Afghanistan’s Logar.

April 24, 2013
Anzac Day terror warning for Australians travelling to Turkey

AUSTRALIANS attending Gallipoli’s Anzac Day dawn service are being warned of the possibility of a terrorist attack in the country.

Visitors making the April 25 pilgrimage are being told to “exercise a high degree of caution in Turkey because of the high threat of terrorist attack”.

The warnings, contained in the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Smartraveller bulletin for Turkeyand Anzac travellers, ask people to be aware terrorists are constantly active in the country.

The latest attack was in February when a suicide bomber targeted the US Embassy in Ankara, killing himself and a security guard and injuring others.

Australians are being warned of the possibility of terror attacks in Turkey as Anzac Day approaches. File image. Source: AFP

The Turkish Government has warned the group claiming responsibility is planning further attacks.

There have been nine notable events since 2010, and Australian Amanda Rigg, 22, was killed when a suicide bomber hit an Istanbul police station in 2001.

“Terrorist attacks can occur anywhere at any time in Turkey,” the travel advice says.

“In recent years, terrorist attacks have occurred in tourist areas and locations frequented by foreigners.

“Foreigners have been killed and injured.”

Terrorism expert Professor Clive Williams, from the Australian National University, said Australian tourists were not usually targets but the advice was sensible.

Travellers risked being caught in “the wrong place”, as Ms Rigg had been, he said.

“She was not targeted, she just happened to be where a bomb went off,” Professor Williams said.

“In Turkey, the main target is the government and then second is the United States and then third is the UK.

“You just need to be careful where you go and what you do in Turkey.”

Travellers should avoid government offices, embassies and consulates, be wary in busy areas like transport hubs and exercise particular care around significant local dates, like May Day on May 1.

Those considering travelling to areas bordering with Syria, Iraq and Iran are told to reconsider their need to travel.

April 22, 2013
Visit of E.Mammadyarov to Tel-Aviv is very important for Azerbaijan

Gulnara Inanch, director of Information and Analytical Center Etnoglobus (ethnoglobus.az), editor of Russian section of Turkishnews American-Turkish Resource website www.turkishnews.com

Since the declaration of Azerbaijan as an independent country, the visit of an influential political-diplomatic head of state body to Israel on April 21 can not be estimated as a simple event. Usually, the President of Azerbaijan and minister of foreign affairs meet with their colleagues in the international ceremonies. But as we stepped to new stage in geopolitics, the terms of game have been changed. In this regard the visit of Elmar Mammadyarov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, to Israel should be explained from different standpoints.

First of all, some months ago, during the US President Barrack Obama’s visit to Tel-Aviv it was achieved to warm the Turkey-Israel relations. Tel-Aviv had initially refused to apologize and to compensate the events that occurred during the attack of “Blue Marmara” (Mavi Marmara) ship that carried humanitarian aid to Gazza district which is under block. But, the reason of persuading Israel by B.Obama to change its views to the very issues is not just related with that Turkey is strategic country. I think that, the main purpose is to warm the relations between Turkey and Israel, another powerful country in the area, and bring to position of strategic cooperation as it was some years ago.

The main purpose in this project is improvement and propaganda of importance and authority of each country, jointly and separately, in their place of location.

It should be mentioned that until deterioration of relations between Israel and Turkey there was Turkey-Azerbaijan-Israel strategic trio. These three countries maintain their specific geopolitical code in their area. Following collapse of Soviet Union, blocking and two-pole world factor have been weakened for some period. But, all processes that have occurred within recent years lead to blocking and grouping of countries again. While B.Obama was solving the problem in regard to Ankara-Tel Aviv relations discussion of terms of Azerbaijan’s place in Turkey-Israel strategic duet are said to have been discussed.

The second issue is the first visit of Azerbaijani official to Palestine. Though official Baku established close and development-inclined relations with Israel, Azerbaijan maintains positive image in Arabian world thanks to recognition of the independency of Palestine and supporting division of Quds in two – eastern and western parts.

At the end of last year, Khaled bin Saud bin Khaled, the Prince, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia, confirmed that it is necessary that international community should increase the pressure over Yerevan in order to solve Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Israel officials have repeatedly confirmed their interest in increasing the authority of Azerbaijan in Middle East adding that they do their best for this purpose. One of the reasons is the need of availability of any other alternative country to Turkey in the area. As a result of this, imperial claims of Turkey are back, Azerbaijan is a small country and it does not have any imperial ambitions. By the way, in Northern Caucasus policy Russia bases on this factor referring to Azerbaijan. That’s why, in some regional issues official Baku can be a mediator.

Official Baku tries to draw Islamic world’s attention to Karabakh conflict in parallel with Quds problem. In this case, Ramallah meetings would be an important step in order to draw Islamic world’s attention to Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

I would like to draw your attention to another interesting issue. Nowadays, John Kerry, the Secretary of State of USA, stated that Nagorno Karabakh conflict is being discussed with Turkish officials which I can say that, is thanks to US’s Jewish lobby.

Decisions made for the benefit of Azerbaijan by the US Department of State include two key issues – good attitude to the Jewish in Azerbaijan and relations between Azerbaijan – Israel. Azerbaijan managed to prevent the recognition of “Armenian genocide” only thanks to the support of Jewish lobby representing Israel’s interests. Despite Armenian lobby’s attempts to raise the “Armenian genocide” issue in Knesset, officials of Israel declared that they would never give an opportunity for it as they highly appreciate relations with Azerbaijan.

Basing on analysis, we can say that Azerbaijan is working with diligence in respect to release the occupied regions within Nagorno Karabakh conflict according to offer of stage-by-stage solution to Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Some years ago military-political platform was created for its realization.

It seems that this issue is again in the focus of attention. Azerbaijan is not indebted to Israel for the strategic relations. Azerbaijan protected the arm industry of Israel from being collapse by purchasing arms in large parts from this country. Because military industry of Israel is deprived of its potential buyers in West as a result of economic crisis in Europe.

Oil fields of Israel in Mediterranean Sea have already been discovered and Israel involved Azerbaijan to the exploitation of abovementioned fields, and requests to build gas line from Turkey.

In general, it should be noted that, Jewish lobby played leading role in realization of projects such as “Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan”, “Baku-Tbilisi-Gars” and at present TANAP.

No doubt that another important issue that will be discussed in Tel-Aviv is Iran. Besides, Azerbaijan will officially declare that it will not let using its territory for attack against Iran. Thus, it will draw Islamic world’s attention. By the way, I have to say that, visit of E.Mammadyarov to Tel-Aviv is very important for Azerbaijan at present. Because everything that will be stated in Israel and Palestine that focused the attention of the world will be delivered to international society as well as Islamic world and Jewish lobby by world’s media. It should be noted that, this visit occurs in the period when ideological fight is intense of in Azerbaijan-Iran relations.

It should be noted that Israel does not need any territory in Azerbaijan in order to attack Iran. For the first, it is known that Baku will not agree with it as it may cause consequences for Azerbaijan. For the second, Israel considers the territory of Azerbaijan suitable for intelligence activity against Iran. It helps to pass on technical equipment installed within the scope of projects which are realized by Israel in the territory of country to neighboring countries from the nearest areas to Iran. In addition, Israel and Jewish organizations are trying to raise the issue of South Azerbaijan in the territory of Azerbaijan to have relations with the Jewish people living in Iran, to contact with representatives of organizations representing nations living in Iran and Azerbaijan and political-religious communities in Azerbaijan.

I must say that Azerbaijan’s answer to objections of Iran to the visit of Shimon Peres, the president of Israel, to Baku was that it will not let the dictation of directions of foreign politics. In addition to abovementioned, Azerbaijan may act as mediator between Iran-Israel relations. This thought has also been expressed by different officials of Israel many times. I think that, new role of Azerbaijan and new progress of Turkey-Iran relations will be determined in Tel-Aviv. I remember, some years ago, when Bashar Asad visited Baku, presence of Azerbaijan in Syria-Israel relations as a mediator was considered possible.

April 20, 2013