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ARMENIA, TURKEY AND THE MOUNTAIN OF DISCORD
Giorgi Lomsadze
EurasiaNet.org
July 29, 2011
NY
A pile of rocks is once again straining the already rocky relations
between Armenia and Turkey.
The pile in question, Turkey's Mt. Ararat, is a stumbling block hard
to miss, no matter which side of the border you are on. Height:
up to 5,137 meters tall; massif: some 40 kilometers in diameter;
symbolic value: immeasurable.
For Armenians, Ararat is what Mount Olympus is for the Greeks and
more. Here, per legend, Noah anchored his cruising zoo after the
biblical deluge. Armenians claim they adopted Christianity in the
mountain's foothills, and Ararat holds pride of place in Armenia's
coat of arms.
With that glorious history in mind, an Armenian youngster the other
day asked Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan about the chances that
Armenia one day would get the mountain back. Armenia lost control
over Mt. Ararat under the 1922 Treaty of Kars with Turkey.
Sargsyan said he'd leave that question for a future generation of
Armenians to handle.
Before long, Turkey was foaming with anger. For Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan's take on the matter, check out The Turko-file.
Erdogan and his ministers were quick to demand an apology from
Sargsyan, but odds are they will never get it.
Irredentist claims -- even to a mountain -- can go a long way in the
Caucasus. The danger , though, lies in always interpreting literally
the national symbolism with which politicians throughout the region
love to lace their remarks.
Particularly in the run-up to an election. Armenia's ruling Republican
Party, headed by Sargsyan, faces a parliamentary vote early next year
for which maneuvering has already begun.
In an implied reference to his own past as the head of breakaway
Nagorno Karabakh's military forces, Sargsyan reminded the assembled
that his generation did its share of restoring Armenia's former glory
by driving the Azerbaijanis out of Karabakh.
"If you and your peers spare no efforts and energy... we will have one
of the best countries of the world," Sargsyan told the aforementioned
boy. He might as well have kissed a baby.
Sargsyan's press office maintains, though, that the president added
something else that critics in Turkey should have noticed as well: "In
many ways, the weight of a country is not measured by its size. It must
be modern, safe and prosperous . . . .which will allow any nation to
sit next to the famous, strong and established countries of the world."
But amidst the mood of the moment, don't expect Ankara to notice.
Giorgi Lomsadze
EurasiaNet.org
July 29, 2011
NY
A pile of rocks is once again straining the already rocky relations
between Armenia and Turkey.
The pile in question, Turkey's Mt. Ararat, is a stumbling block hard
to miss, no matter which side of the border you are on. Height:
up to 5,137 meters tall; massif: some 40 kilometers in diameter;
symbolic value: immeasurable.
For Armenians, Ararat is what Mount Olympus is for the Greeks and
more. Here, per legend, Noah anchored his cruising zoo after the
biblical deluge. Armenians claim they adopted Christianity in the
mountain's foothills, and Ararat holds pride of place in Armenia's
coat of arms.
With that glorious history in mind, an Armenian youngster the other
day asked Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan about the chances that
Armenia one day would get the mountain back. Armenia lost control
over Mt. Ararat under the 1922 Treaty of Kars with Turkey.
Sargsyan said he'd leave that question for a future generation of
Armenians to handle.
Before long, Turkey was foaming with anger. For Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan's take on the matter, check out The Turko-file.
Erdogan and his ministers were quick to demand an apology from
Sargsyan, but odds are they will never get it.
Irredentist claims -- even to a mountain -- can go a long way in the
Caucasus. The danger , though, lies in always interpreting literally
the national symbolism with which politicians throughout the region
love to lace their remarks.
Particularly in the run-up to an election. Armenia's ruling Republican
Party, headed by Sargsyan, faces a parliamentary vote early next year
for which maneuvering has already begun.
In an implied reference to his own past as the head of breakaway
Nagorno Karabakh's military forces, Sargsyan reminded the assembled
that his generation did its share of restoring Armenia's former glory
by driving the Azerbaijanis out of Karabakh.
"If you and your peers spare no efforts and energy... we will have one
of the best countries of the world," Sargsyan told the aforementioned
boy. He might as well have kissed a baby.
Sargsyan's press office maintains, though, that the president added
something else that critics in Turkey should have noticed as well: "In
many ways, the weight of a country is not measured by its size. It must
be modern, safe and prosperous . . . .which will allow any nation to
sit next to the famous, strong and established countries of the world."
But amidst the mood of the moment, don't expect Ankara to notice.