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Turkish Republic Rather Than Turkish Intelligentsia Ought To Apologi

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  • Turkish Republic Rather Than Turkish Intelligentsia Ought To Apologi

    TURKISH REPUBLIC RATHER THAN TURKISH INTELLIGENTSIA OUGHT TO APOLOGIZE TO ARMENIANS
    Karine Ter-Sahakyan

    PanARMENIAN.Net
    16.12.2008 GMT+04:00

    Besides the quests of national identity there is also an internal
    struggle going on in Turkey for future of the country that has fallen
    into the clutches of Kemalism and can in no way get out of them.

    The quests of national identity led Turkish intellectuals to an,
    at first glance, highly unexpected action. For the last few days
    the entire world press has been exclusively writing about confessing
    "butchers", remorse, duty before your offspring - in a word, about
    anything with reference to Turkey. Such burst of interest towards the
    Turkish nation could also be observed 2 years ago, when Hrant Dink
    was assassinated in Istanbul. People then carried placards saying
    "We are all Hrant Dink", "We are all Armenians". And now Turkish
    intellectuals call for apology to Armenians for the killings in the
    Ottoman Empire in the years of the World War I.

    /PanARMENIAN.Net/ However, as always, the word "genocide" is not
    uttered. On the one hand, the movement "Armenians, forgive us"
    is, logically, aimed at touching the most sensitive cords of the
    Armenian nation, who might unexpectedly accept the apology as if
    nothing had happened. On the other hand, the appeal to apologize to
    Armenians is highly criticized by not only nationalists, which was
    quite predictable, but also by a part of the society who consider
    such kind of statements to be halved. "It is a good starting
    point, but not enough. Firstly, what do they mean by saying 'Great
    Catastrophe'? Let's name it. It is genocide. Secondly, the state has
    to apologize," said Aytekin Yildiz, Coordinator of the Confrontation
    Association. However, in its confession the Turkish nation cannot
    be considered to have reached the point of calling a spade a spade
    until Article 301 of the Criminal Code of Turkey is revoked. Under
    the present circumstances any of those more than 5000 signatories
    can be taken to court ant moment. By the way, it is exactly what the
    retired diplomats suggest now.

    Ex-ambassadors severely criticized the internet campaign of public
    apology to Armenians for the events of 1915 and consider that Turkish
    intelligentsia should not apologize to the Armenian nation for the
    Genocide. The diplomats issued Monday a statement in which they
    characterized the campaign as "unfair, wrong and unfavorable for
    national interests." According to the Hurriyet Daily News about 60
    retired ambassadors and diplomats signed under the statement. "Such an
    incorrect and one-sided attempt would mean disrespecting our history
    and betraying our people who lost their lives in the violent attacks
    of the terror organizations in the final days of the Ottoman Empire,
    as well as during the formation of the Republic," says the statement
    signed by Sukru Elekdag and Onur Oymen. Authors of the statement also
    remind that Armenia has rejected Turkey's suggestion on forming a
    commission of historians to investigate the events of 1915.

    The diplomats' letter, as well as the nationalists' threats to punish
    the intelligentsia representatives, in our opinion, suggest that the
    Government does not intend apologize. Besides the quests of national
    identity there is also an internal struggle going on in Turkey for
    future of the country that has fallen into the clutches of Kemalism
    and can in no way get out of them. Even the Islamist party of Gul and
    Erdogan is still unable to outweigh the influence of the Joint Staff
    on the country's policy. Prime-Minister Erdogan is a pragmatic and he
    perfectly realizes where the military will finally lead Turkey to,
    but he is still unable to stand against them. Thereupon, the online
    petition of the intellectuals may play a great role. According to
    Antonio Ferrari, Journalist of the Corriere della Sera and author of
    an article about the online petition of the Turkish intellectuals,
    Prime-Minister Erdogan and President Gul's silence on the apology
    campaign can be regarded as their interest in the initiative, directed
    to intimacy between Turkey and Armenia.

    The only "oddity" in all this story is that the petition has not
    been signed by Orhan Pamuk, Taner Akcam, Elif Safak, Ragip Zarakolu -
    those who for publicly mentioning the Armenian Genocide were brought
    to trial under Article 301 and were forced to leave Turkey.
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