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ACADEMICS' ARMENIA APOLOGY TO TEST TABOOS
Hurriyet
Dec 15 2008
Turkey
ANKARA - A group of Turkish intellectuals and academics are planning
to issue a public apology on the Internet in relation to the Armenian
claims of genocide, testing one of Turkey's most sensitive taboos.
The campaign, which has drawn the ire of nationalists who regard it as
an act of national betrayal, coincides with a diplomatic rapprochement
between Turkey and Armenia to end almost 100 years of hostility.
Cengiz Aktar, a professor at Istanbul's BahceÅ~_ehir University who
also writes for the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review, and one of
the campaign's organizers, said the group plans to issue the apology
Monday along with a non-binding Internet petition to gather signatures.
It will read, "My conscience does not accept the insensitivity showed
to and the denial of the Great Catastrophe that the Ottoman Armenians
were subjected to in 1915.
"I reject this injustice and for my share, I empathize with the
feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers. I apologize to them."
Turkey accepts that many Armenians were killed during the waning years
of the Ottoman Empire, but strongly denies the Armenian claims of
genocide, saying that Muslim Turks also died in inter-ethnic conflicts.
Turks, including Nobel Literature Laureate Orhan Pamuk, have been
prosecuted in the European Union candidate country for affirming that
the 1915 incidents amount to a so called genocide.
The apology, which has been leaked to the media, threatens to re-ignite
a controversy that challenges one of the ideological foundations of
modern Turkey.
Aktar said the initiative was meant to allow Turks to be able to
offer a personal apology and put an end to an official silence.
Individual apology "We are not targeting anyone. It is an apology
of an individual nature. We want to tell our Armenian brothers and
sisters we apologize for not being able to discuss this issue for
almost 100 years," he told Reuters.
He said the group included 200 writers, intellectuals and
academics. Among the signatories are Germany's Green Party co-chair
Cem Ozdemir, journalists Ece Temelkuran, Mine Kırıkkanat, Oral
CalıÅ~_lar, Ertugrul Kurkcu, director BarıÅ~_ Pirhasan, political
scientist Baskın Oran, writers Murathan Mungan, Enis Batur, economists
Ahmet Ä°nsel, AyÅ~_e Bugra, musician Aylin Aslım, actress Derya
Alabora, and historians Halil Berkay and Selim Deringil.
President Gul became the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia in
September as Turkey has sought to improve ties.
--Boundary_(ID_7vxXEAlML83Vk7J7tIeokw)--
Hurriyet
Dec 15 2008
Turkey
ANKARA - A group of Turkish intellectuals and academics are planning
to issue a public apology on the Internet in relation to the Armenian
claims of genocide, testing one of Turkey's most sensitive taboos.
The campaign, which has drawn the ire of nationalists who regard it as
an act of national betrayal, coincides with a diplomatic rapprochement
between Turkey and Armenia to end almost 100 years of hostility.
Cengiz Aktar, a professor at Istanbul's BahceÅ~_ehir University who
also writes for the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review, and one of
the campaign's organizers, said the group plans to issue the apology
Monday along with a non-binding Internet petition to gather signatures.
It will read, "My conscience does not accept the insensitivity showed
to and the denial of the Great Catastrophe that the Ottoman Armenians
were subjected to in 1915.
"I reject this injustice and for my share, I empathize with the
feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers. I apologize to them."
Turkey accepts that many Armenians were killed during the waning years
of the Ottoman Empire, but strongly denies the Armenian claims of
genocide, saying that Muslim Turks also died in inter-ethnic conflicts.
Turks, including Nobel Literature Laureate Orhan Pamuk, have been
prosecuted in the European Union candidate country for affirming that
the 1915 incidents amount to a so called genocide.
The apology, which has been leaked to the media, threatens to re-ignite
a controversy that challenges one of the ideological foundations of
modern Turkey.
Aktar said the initiative was meant to allow Turks to be able to
offer a personal apology and put an end to an official silence.
Individual apology "We are not targeting anyone. It is an apology
of an individual nature. We want to tell our Armenian brothers and
sisters we apologize for not being able to discuss this issue for
almost 100 years," he told Reuters.
He said the group included 200 writers, intellectuals and
academics. Among the signatories are Germany's Green Party co-chair
Cem Ozdemir, journalists Ece Temelkuran, Mine Kırıkkanat, Oral
CalıÅ~_lar, Ertugrul Kurkcu, director BarıÅ~_ Pirhasan, political
scientist Baskın Oran, writers Murathan Mungan, Enis Batur, economists
Ahmet Ä°nsel, AyÅ~_e Bugra, musician Aylin Aslım, actress Derya
Alabora, and historians Halil Berkay and Selim Deringil.
President Gul became the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia in
September as Turkey has sought to improve ties.
--Boundary_(ID_7vxXEAlML83Vk7J7tIeokw)--