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Hurriyet, Turkey
Jan 21 2011
Armenia diaspora wing flies in new direction
Friday, January 21, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
MARSEILLE, France - Hürriyet Daily News
Didier Parakian, a politician and businessman who owns the global
Parakian brand, is also the deputy mayor of Marseille. Daily News
photo
Liberal members of one of the most conservative Armenian diaspora
groups have called for the renewal of rapprochement efforts with
Turkey, saying the border between the two countries should be opened
to trade and travel.
"[Diplomatic] protocols were signed and a new process was beginning.
For once we believed things were going to change, but it ended up
quite contrary," politician and businessman Didier Parakian, a member
of the French Armenian diaspora in Marseille, told the Hürriyet Daily
News & Economic Review. "We were planning to start trade [between
Turkey and Armenia], and I was planning to lead this process, but
everything got turned upside down."
Parakian said he is unhappy with the way the Armenian diaspora is
understood by the Turkish public. "We cannot take the diaspora as a
homogenous whole. There of course is a very strict conservative
segment, but there are also liberals like us," he said, adding that
the liberal wing would gain more power if the border between Turkey
and Armenia were to be opened, while leaving it closed fuels negative
radicalism.
The apology campaign started by Turkish intellectuals in late 2008 to
atone for the events of 1915, when Armenians claim up to 1.5 million
of their kin were systematically killed in the waning days of the
Ottoman Empire, received positive reactions within the diaspora,
according to Parakian, who is also the deputy mayor of Marseille.
The businessman said they never blamed the Turkish people for the
events of 1915, which Armenia has characterized as genocide. "They
[Turks] only know what the official history tells them, but there is a
bitter truth," he said. "As liberals we could have started trade
activities as a first step if the borders were opened. But it is
impossible for us to take a step back in terms of our efforts to get
the genocide recognized in other countries."
Colette Babouchian, another Armenian politician from Marseille, was
among the first supporters in the diaspora of the Armenian apology
petition campaign launched in Turkey. He said he is not against the
formation of a historians committee to further investigate the events
of 1915.
"I believe in communication. There must be a historians committee, but
one composed of objective, impartial scholars," Babouchian told the
Daily News. "If the truth will really be uncovered with no vested
interest involved, there is nothing to be afraid of on our part. The
evidence is already in the open."
Launched in December 2008, the "I apologize" campaign has drawn harsh
criticism within Turkey, even as approximately 30,000 people,
including many intellectuals and journalists, have signed the
petition, which reads in part: "My conscience does not accept the
insensitivity showed to and the denial of the Great Catastrophe that
the Armenians were subjected to in 1915." Turkey denies claims of
genocide, saying that any deaths were the result of civil strife that
erupted when Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern
Anatolia.
Efforts to bridge the diplomatic gap between the two countries started
in 2008, when Turkish President Abdullah Gül made a historic visit to
Armenia to watch a World Cup qualifier football match between the
Turkish and Armenian national football teams. Armenian President Serge
Sarkisian visited Turkey to watch the return match in 2009.
Following this "football diplomacy," Turkey and Armenia signed two
protocols for the development of relations and the mutual opening of
their sealed border in 2009, but the two countries have been unable to
complete the process of ratifying the protocols.
Asked why much of the diaspora is against renewing relationships with
Turkey, Babouchian said: "If I am to exemplify those from Marseille,
almost all the Armenians here are the sons and daughters of those who
luckily survived the events of 1915 and moved here. How do you expect
them to feel?"
He immediately agreed with Parakian that the Armenian diaspora does
not blame the Turkish people for the historical events and only seeks
acknowledgment of the truth and an apology for it. "We will never come
back to Turkey; my country is now France," he said.
Remembering the slain Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, whose
murder four years ago was commemorated in Istanbul this week, Parakian
said: "When Hrant was shot we thought history was repeating itself. He
was trying to open doors and establish a dialogue between these
cultures. Besides, he genuinely loved Turkey and Turkish people."
From: A. Papazian
Jan 21 2011
Armenia diaspora wing flies in new direction
Friday, January 21, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
MARSEILLE, France - Hürriyet Daily News
Didier Parakian, a politician and businessman who owns the global
Parakian brand, is also the deputy mayor of Marseille. Daily News
photo
Liberal members of one of the most conservative Armenian diaspora
groups have called for the renewal of rapprochement efforts with
Turkey, saying the border between the two countries should be opened
to trade and travel.
"[Diplomatic] protocols were signed and a new process was beginning.
For once we believed things were going to change, but it ended up
quite contrary," politician and businessman Didier Parakian, a member
of the French Armenian diaspora in Marseille, told the Hürriyet Daily
News & Economic Review. "We were planning to start trade [between
Turkey and Armenia], and I was planning to lead this process, but
everything got turned upside down."
Parakian said he is unhappy with the way the Armenian diaspora is
understood by the Turkish public. "We cannot take the diaspora as a
homogenous whole. There of course is a very strict conservative
segment, but there are also liberals like us," he said, adding that
the liberal wing would gain more power if the border between Turkey
and Armenia were to be opened, while leaving it closed fuels negative
radicalism.
The apology campaign started by Turkish intellectuals in late 2008 to
atone for the events of 1915, when Armenians claim up to 1.5 million
of their kin were systematically killed in the waning days of the
Ottoman Empire, received positive reactions within the diaspora,
according to Parakian, who is also the deputy mayor of Marseille.
The businessman said they never blamed the Turkish people for the
events of 1915, which Armenia has characterized as genocide. "They
[Turks] only know what the official history tells them, but there is a
bitter truth," he said. "As liberals we could have started trade
activities as a first step if the borders were opened. But it is
impossible for us to take a step back in terms of our efforts to get
the genocide recognized in other countries."
Colette Babouchian, another Armenian politician from Marseille, was
among the first supporters in the diaspora of the Armenian apology
petition campaign launched in Turkey. He said he is not against the
formation of a historians committee to further investigate the events
of 1915.
"I believe in communication. There must be a historians committee, but
one composed of objective, impartial scholars," Babouchian told the
Daily News. "If the truth will really be uncovered with no vested
interest involved, there is nothing to be afraid of on our part. The
evidence is already in the open."
Launched in December 2008, the "I apologize" campaign has drawn harsh
criticism within Turkey, even as approximately 30,000 people,
including many intellectuals and journalists, have signed the
petition, which reads in part: "My conscience does not accept the
insensitivity showed to and the denial of the Great Catastrophe that
the Armenians were subjected to in 1915." Turkey denies claims of
genocide, saying that any deaths were the result of civil strife that
erupted when Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern
Anatolia.
Efforts to bridge the diplomatic gap between the two countries started
in 2008, when Turkish President Abdullah Gül made a historic visit to
Armenia to watch a World Cup qualifier football match between the
Turkish and Armenian national football teams. Armenian President Serge
Sarkisian visited Turkey to watch the return match in 2009.
Following this "football diplomacy," Turkey and Armenia signed two
protocols for the development of relations and the mutual opening of
their sealed border in 2009, but the two countries have been unable to
complete the process of ratifying the protocols.
Asked why much of the diaspora is against renewing relationships with
Turkey, Babouchian said: "If I am to exemplify those from Marseille,
almost all the Armenians here are the sons and daughters of those who
luckily survived the events of 1915 and moved here. How do you expect
them to feel?"
He immediately agreed with Parakian that the Armenian diaspora does
not blame the Turkish people for the historical events and only seeks
acknowledgment of the truth and an apology for it. "We will never come
back to Turkey; my country is now France," he said.
Remembering the slain Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, whose
murder four years ago was commemorated in Istanbul this week, Parakian
said: "When Hrant was shot we thought history was repeating itself. He
was trying to open doors and establish a dialogue between these
cultures. Besides, he genuinely loved Turkey and Turkish people."
From: A. Papazian