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ARMENIAN CAUSE: DESPAIR AND HOPE
tert.am
27.04.12
Turkish journalist Ahmet Hakan, who runs the Neutral Zone TV show on
CNNTurk, has devoted his recent broadcast to the Armenian Cause.
1915: Common Pain was the title of the show that saw a debate among
Turkish Armenian intellectual Karo Palian, a journalist of the Radikal
newspaper, Orhan Kemal Cengiz, the head of the Armenian Studies Chair
at the Turkish Institute of History, Kemal Cicek, a former parliament
member, Uluc Gurkan, and the rector of the Giresun University,
Aygyun Attar.
Cengiz, who had earlier published an article calling for Turkey's
measures to apologize to Armenia for the Genocide, has already shared
his impressions in a column.
"A someone living in Turkey, I become hopeful from time to time;
sometimes, however, I turn pessimistic. These two moods alternate
each other every day," he said.
The Turkish journalist said that he and Palian were confronted with
the nationalistic wing (a member of the Democratic-Republican Party,
and two Turkish historians) on the other side of the debate.
"We came up with a rainfall of official viewpoints. It was really
infuriating that those people did not want to change their views. They
wouldn't even try to look more sensible. The debate was really very
heated, with our 'official historians' sometimes saying words that
shocked us," he said.
Palian said at the debate that the people in Turkey have failed so far
to give a name to the Armenian nation's disappearance from the country.
Cengiz, in turn, recommended realizing what actually happened to the
Turkish Armenians, instead of trying to find characterizations.
"We stick to words in an attempt to prove whether or not it was a
genocide. But that is not important. What matters is that there used
to be Armenians here but now, they no longer exist. It is necessary to
realize what happened to them or where they disappeared. Clinging to
the word genocide prevents us from feeling. Armenian families were
displaced and exiled. So does the name really matter? It is more
important to realize what 'political earthquake' those events caused
in Turkey and what identity they shaped. [It is necessary to realize]
what Turkey we built in the past 100 years; all the rest has to be
considered at courts," Cengiz added.
Addressing Turkey's official statements that the Armenian armed groups
also stirred up a rebellion in the country and killed Turks, Palian
said: "That did not necessitate the extermination of an entire nation.
They could just try and punish several people."
Palian was also angered that the Turkish historians attending the
debate all the time pointed out to his being an Armenian.
"Do not make discrimination against me by repeating that I am an
Armenian. I am a citizen of the Republic of Turkey, likewise by
grandfathers were citizens of the Ottoman Empire. We too, have the
right to live on these lands," he said.
tert.am
27.04.12
Turkish journalist Ahmet Hakan, who runs the Neutral Zone TV show on
CNNTurk, has devoted his recent broadcast to the Armenian Cause.
1915: Common Pain was the title of the show that saw a debate among
Turkish Armenian intellectual Karo Palian, a journalist of the Radikal
newspaper, Orhan Kemal Cengiz, the head of the Armenian Studies Chair
at the Turkish Institute of History, Kemal Cicek, a former parliament
member, Uluc Gurkan, and the rector of the Giresun University,
Aygyun Attar.
Cengiz, who had earlier published an article calling for Turkey's
measures to apologize to Armenia for the Genocide, has already shared
his impressions in a column.
"A someone living in Turkey, I become hopeful from time to time;
sometimes, however, I turn pessimistic. These two moods alternate
each other every day," he said.
The Turkish journalist said that he and Palian were confronted with
the nationalistic wing (a member of the Democratic-Republican Party,
and two Turkish historians) on the other side of the debate.
"We came up with a rainfall of official viewpoints. It was really
infuriating that those people did not want to change their views. They
wouldn't even try to look more sensible. The debate was really very
heated, with our 'official historians' sometimes saying words that
shocked us," he said.
Palian said at the debate that the people in Turkey have failed so far
to give a name to the Armenian nation's disappearance from the country.
Cengiz, in turn, recommended realizing what actually happened to the
Turkish Armenians, instead of trying to find characterizations.
"We stick to words in an attempt to prove whether or not it was a
genocide. But that is not important. What matters is that there used
to be Armenians here but now, they no longer exist. It is necessary to
realize what happened to them or where they disappeared. Clinging to
the word genocide prevents us from feeling. Armenian families were
displaced and exiled. So does the name really matter? It is more
important to realize what 'political earthquake' those events caused
in Turkey and what identity they shaped. [It is necessary to realize]
what Turkey we built in the past 100 years; all the rest has to be
considered at courts," Cengiz added.
Addressing Turkey's official statements that the Armenian armed groups
also stirred up a rebellion in the country and killed Turks, Palian
said: "That did not necessitate the extermination of an entire nation.
They could just try and punish several people."
Palian was also angered that the Turkish historians attending the
debate all the time pointed out to his being an Armenian.
"Do not make discrimination against me by repeating that I am an
Armenian. I am a citizen of the Republic of Turkey, likewise by
grandfathers were citizens of the Ottoman Empire. We too, have the
right to live on these lands," he said.