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A COLUMN FROM PHONY PARADISES
By Markar Esayan
Today's Zaman
Aug 28 2011
Turkey
I have been on leave for a while. I am spending part of my vacation
in Greece, where two of my sisters live. My two elder sisters left my
country many years ago. Those were terrible times. Not only us, the
Armenians, who were subjected to extra humiliation and repression, but
all citizens were considering finding safe havens in pseudo paradises,
as recommended by Hrant Dink.
Like many others, our family sent some members to these pseudo
paradises. Think about it; we were a family of six children and,
apart from one of my brothers and me, everyone else, including my
nephews, cousins and siblings, has been dispersed all around the world
to places such as Greece, France, Australia, America, Switzerland,
Germany and even Argentina. This is a terrible feeling.
Of course, because social groups and communities were introverted
back then, we had to live in our own social sphere, believing that
the harm inflicted upon us was caused by the neighbor next door. Due
to some sort of internal colonialism, attributing all social disasters
to a certain segment of society became a policy of the deep state. The
description of an acceptable citizen was clear and those who remained
outside of the scope of this definition were depicted as "others,"
and these others also defined their own "others." Those at the bottom
of the pyramid of "others" were most repressed and those who could
not bear the repression agreed to convert.
I was a member of the community at the bottom of that pyramid. Even
though I barely experienced the worst part of those terrible days,
even the final period was a nightmare to me. Due to that nightmare, the
minorities are the social groups that lost their economic and cultural
assets. If I argue that this did not make me angry, I would be arguing
that I had the patience of a saint or prophet. No, that was not the
case. I was furious and those who had to leave were also outraged.
It would be wrong and unfair to blame the state or the status quo
alone for what we went through during the republican era. True, the
republic's policy of Turkification relied on the state power creating
a class of wealthy Turkish families with plenty of capital by seizing
the properties of minorities, but the peripheral actors who moved
from Anatolian cities to the urban areas during the Adnan Menderes
period did the same. In other words, they were no better than the
secular elites about looting the property of the minorities. True,
the anti-minority policies and institutions were invented by the
single-party regime, but neither Menderes nor Suleyman Demirel (or
others) did anything to remove these discriminatory and anti-democratic
practices altogether.
The first move to address this corruption in the state's mindset
was made during Turgut Ozal's term in office. I recall it clearly;
Ozal lifted restrictions on the properties of nearly 30,000 Greeks,
whose assets had been seized after they were deported. The reason for
these practices was the Cyprus issue in 1964 and they were allowed to
have only $30 in their pockets. Many Greeks have returned to Turkey
and sold their properties.
And since 2002, the government has been struggling to abandon this
poisoned mindset and approach.
A shameful practice, minority commissions, which were set up to collect
information on the citizens of this country, were abolished during this
term. The bill, known as the "1936 Declaration," which allows the state
to seize the properties and assets of minorities, was repealed. Even
though what has been done so far is not enough, it is now legally
possible to return some of the previously seized properties.
All these are fairly relieving, significant and even difficult to
adjust to sorts of changes for the disadvantaged groups who have
become used to seeing themselves as "others" and fearing the state.
However, this change bears some meaning and salience for me that
go beyond improving the quality of life for the social group that I
belong to. This change is a future assurance of well-being for our
children and the people of this country because no one will remain
safe so long as discriminatory actions and practices are in effect.
What I consider most important is my country's transition to full
democracy as an assurance of well-being for all. Seeing the prestige
of my country growing and becoming more visible makes me extremely
happy while I write this piece in one of the pseudo paradises that
we admired in the past.
By Markar Esayan
Today's Zaman
Aug 28 2011
Turkey
I have been on leave for a while. I am spending part of my vacation
in Greece, where two of my sisters live. My two elder sisters left my
country many years ago. Those were terrible times. Not only us, the
Armenians, who were subjected to extra humiliation and repression, but
all citizens were considering finding safe havens in pseudo paradises,
as recommended by Hrant Dink.
Like many others, our family sent some members to these pseudo
paradises. Think about it; we were a family of six children and,
apart from one of my brothers and me, everyone else, including my
nephews, cousins and siblings, has been dispersed all around the world
to places such as Greece, France, Australia, America, Switzerland,
Germany and even Argentina. This is a terrible feeling.
Of course, because social groups and communities were introverted
back then, we had to live in our own social sphere, believing that
the harm inflicted upon us was caused by the neighbor next door. Due
to some sort of internal colonialism, attributing all social disasters
to a certain segment of society became a policy of the deep state. The
description of an acceptable citizen was clear and those who remained
outside of the scope of this definition were depicted as "others,"
and these others also defined their own "others." Those at the bottom
of the pyramid of "others" were most repressed and those who could
not bear the repression agreed to convert.
I was a member of the community at the bottom of that pyramid. Even
though I barely experienced the worst part of those terrible days,
even the final period was a nightmare to me. Due to that nightmare, the
minorities are the social groups that lost their economic and cultural
assets. If I argue that this did not make me angry, I would be arguing
that I had the patience of a saint or prophet. No, that was not the
case. I was furious and those who had to leave were also outraged.
It would be wrong and unfair to blame the state or the status quo
alone for what we went through during the republican era. True, the
republic's policy of Turkification relied on the state power creating
a class of wealthy Turkish families with plenty of capital by seizing
the properties of minorities, but the peripheral actors who moved
from Anatolian cities to the urban areas during the Adnan Menderes
period did the same. In other words, they were no better than the
secular elites about looting the property of the minorities. True,
the anti-minority policies and institutions were invented by the
single-party regime, but neither Menderes nor Suleyman Demirel (or
others) did anything to remove these discriminatory and anti-democratic
practices altogether.
The first move to address this corruption in the state's mindset
was made during Turgut Ozal's term in office. I recall it clearly;
Ozal lifted restrictions on the properties of nearly 30,000 Greeks,
whose assets had been seized after they were deported. The reason for
these practices was the Cyprus issue in 1964 and they were allowed to
have only $30 in their pockets. Many Greeks have returned to Turkey
and sold their properties.
And since 2002, the government has been struggling to abandon this
poisoned mindset and approach.
A shameful practice, minority commissions, which were set up to collect
information on the citizens of this country, were abolished during this
term. The bill, known as the "1936 Declaration," which allows the state
to seize the properties and assets of minorities, was repealed. Even
though what has been done so far is not enough, it is now legally
possible to return some of the previously seized properties.
All these are fairly relieving, significant and even difficult to
adjust to sorts of changes for the disadvantaged groups who have
become used to seeing themselves as "others" and fearing the state.
However, this change bears some meaning and salience for me that
go beyond improving the quality of life for the social group that I
belong to. This change is a future assurance of well-being for our
children and the people of this country because no one will remain
safe so long as discriminatory actions and practices are in effect.
What I consider most important is my country's transition to full
democracy as an assurance of well-being for all. Seeing the prestige
of my country growing and becoming more visible makes me extremely
happy while I write this piece in one of the pseudo paradises that
we admired in the past.