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Today's Zaman, Turkey
Dec 23 2011
`Turkish Sarkozys' versus `Sarkozyland' ex parte Armenians
Ä°HSAN YILMAZ
I find Turkey's reaction to `Sarkozyland's' genocide bill needlessly
exaggerated. Both
the Turkish media and opposition are trying to benefit from the
process. At the end of the day, the bill is not a definitive
scientific verdict on the issue, and everyone can see that France is
not working on the moral high ground but for shameless domestic and
international political gain. Who takes Sarkozyland seriously and why
should we?
The government should not elevate the tension in the country and
should not aggravate the feelings of its citizens by overreacting to
the incident. Most importantly, Turkey should not blackmail France by
claiming she will do certain actions if she will not be able to impose
them. This could indeed undermine the credibility and prestige of the
country.
Saying this does not mean that France should not be punished. What I
am saying is that the government should work on carefully drafted,
effective plans that will work and harm France in the long run.
Otherwise, only resorting to emotions and reminding Turks how great
their grandfathers were are not effective tools against France. France
and Germany have been trying to distance Turkey from the EU process
and our reactions and actions should play into their hands. In this
regard, it has been wise to base our arguments on the basis of freedom
of speech. This message should directly be communicated to the French
people and intelligentsia and in order to be effective, we should not
look like cowboys and rough hooligans. Some ministers who think they
are making very clever jokes should revisit their domestic
consumption-focused attitude. Talking about freedom of speech to gain
the moral high ground on this issue, the government must as soon as
possible annul the notorious Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code
(TCK) that criminalizes the `insults to Turkishness' that killed Hrant
Dink.
I do not find reminding France now of its own massacres in Africa
ethical. If Turkey had a problem with these very obvious crimes
against humanity, then she had to tackle them in a sophisticated
manner even when we had good relations with France. Remembering these
atrocities and bloody massacres that terminated millions only when we
have a problem with France simply reduces Turkey to Sarkozyland's
moral nadir. France should not be our teacher in this dirty political
game that tries to gain advantages from other people's sorrow and
pain. I would urge our state to make plans on the issue for the long
run and educate experts, scholars and academics who would study these
alleged crimes against humanity all over the world, including Turkey.
Nevertheless, I know very well that after a few weeks an enthusiastic,
emotional anti-French festive season, we will all return to our myopic
daily lives and wake up in April again when another bill approaches
the US Congress. We deserve our politicians.
A more robust strategy to tackle Sarkozy-type politicians so that they
will not gain an advantage from the Armenian issues includes our
normalization vis-Ã-vis 1915. Even the official Turkish version
accepts that several hundred thousand Armenians were either massacred
or died because of the terrible conditions during their forced
deportation. Whatever the cause of the decision to deport these people
was, in the final analysis, it was the state's primary duty to protect
these innocent civilians against whom there was not any court verdict.
Turkey has to apologize at least for its inability to protect them.
Then, it must invite Armenians abroad to come and get their
inheritance in Turkey. Thirdly, Turkey must erect some monuments and
build museums for these massacred, great people who had lived in these
lands for thousands of years but faced extinction because of some
secular-nationalist Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) dictators'
faulty, to say the least, decisions and actions.
These are primarily our moral duties that we must fulfill even if
there is not one Sarkozy on Earth.
Dec 23 2011
`Turkish Sarkozys' versus `Sarkozyland' ex parte Armenians
Ä°HSAN YILMAZ
I find Turkey's reaction to `Sarkozyland's' genocide bill needlessly
exaggerated. Both
the Turkish media and opposition are trying to benefit from the
process. At the end of the day, the bill is not a definitive
scientific verdict on the issue, and everyone can see that France is
not working on the moral high ground but for shameless domestic and
international political gain. Who takes Sarkozyland seriously and why
should we?
The government should not elevate the tension in the country and
should not aggravate the feelings of its citizens by overreacting to
the incident. Most importantly, Turkey should not blackmail France by
claiming she will do certain actions if she will not be able to impose
them. This could indeed undermine the credibility and prestige of the
country.
Saying this does not mean that France should not be punished. What I
am saying is that the government should work on carefully drafted,
effective plans that will work and harm France in the long run.
Otherwise, only resorting to emotions and reminding Turks how great
their grandfathers were are not effective tools against France. France
and Germany have been trying to distance Turkey from the EU process
and our reactions and actions should play into their hands. In this
regard, it has been wise to base our arguments on the basis of freedom
of speech. This message should directly be communicated to the French
people and intelligentsia and in order to be effective, we should not
look like cowboys and rough hooligans. Some ministers who think they
are making very clever jokes should revisit their domestic
consumption-focused attitude. Talking about freedom of speech to gain
the moral high ground on this issue, the government must as soon as
possible annul the notorious Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code
(TCK) that criminalizes the `insults to Turkishness' that killed Hrant
Dink.
I do not find reminding France now of its own massacres in Africa
ethical. If Turkey had a problem with these very obvious crimes
against humanity, then she had to tackle them in a sophisticated
manner even when we had good relations with France. Remembering these
atrocities and bloody massacres that terminated millions only when we
have a problem with France simply reduces Turkey to Sarkozyland's
moral nadir. France should not be our teacher in this dirty political
game that tries to gain advantages from other people's sorrow and
pain. I would urge our state to make plans on the issue for the long
run and educate experts, scholars and academics who would study these
alleged crimes against humanity all over the world, including Turkey.
Nevertheless, I know very well that after a few weeks an enthusiastic,
emotional anti-French festive season, we will all return to our myopic
daily lives and wake up in April again when another bill approaches
the US Congress. We deserve our politicians.
A more robust strategy to tackle Sarkozy-type politicians so that they
will not gain an advantage from the Armenian issues includes our
normalization vis-Ã-vis 1915. Even the official Turkish version
accepts that several hundred thousand Armenians were either massacred
or died because of the terrible conditions during their forced
deportation. Whatever the cause of the decision to deport these people
was, in the final analysis, it was the state's primary duty to protect
these innocent civilians against whom there was not any court verdict.
Turkey has to apologize at least for its inability to protect them.
Then, it must invite Armenians abroad to come and get their
inheritance in Turkey. Thirdly, Turkey must erect some monuments and
build museums for these massacred, great people who had lived in these
lands for thousands of years but faced extinction because of some
secular-nationalist Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) dictators'
faulty, to say the least, decisions and actions.
These are primarily our moral duties that we must fulfill even if
there is not one Sarkozy on Earth.