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Armeno-Kurdish Relations: Love Fest or Divorce Settlement Meetings?
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2012/08/19/armeno-kurdish-relations-love-fest-or-divorce-settlement-meetings/
Posted by Dr. Henry Astarjian on August 19, 2012
Like a first date with a potential lover or a last meeting to settle
divorce property with an ex, Armenian and Kurdish individuals are in a
fest, both knowing full well that negative feelings hover over the
canopy under which they are sipping champagne. Both sides, dealing
from a position of weakness, manage to create a façade of joviality
and happiness for the created opportunity. And both sides realize that
in order to settle their differences, they have to accept difficult
compromises, and yield serious overdue concessions to the other
side. Such are Armeno-Kurdish relations today.
Acting Patriarch Ateshian arrives in Sourp Giragos church in Diyarbakir in
Oct. 2012 to preside over its reconsecration. (Photo by Khatchig Mouradian)
Individuals from both sides, meeting individually in various places and on
various occasions, are set to rediscover each other. Recently
boy-meets-girl and getting-to-know-you opportunities were created. I am
mindful of the visit of Armenian dance troops to Dersim (Tunceli), Armenian
Diasporan participations in Newruz celebrations, and in celebrations for
renovation of a church in Diyarbekir.
As part of their public relations strategy, the Kurds are desperately
trying to makeover their look by attempting to erase the image of savagery,
which they perpetrated during the Armenian Genocide. Their first official
act came from the Kurdish Parliament in Exile in Brussels through their
communiqué #1, in which they apologized to the Armenian nation for all the
ills they have committed against us.
Another such sweet event was the celebration in Diyarbekir during the
consecration of Surp Giragos Church, when the city hosted Armenian clergy
and lay people with signs and flags welcoming their guests `Home' - an
uplifting gesture indeed that goes beyond the usual mea culpa! No Armenian,
to my knowledge, packed his bag to go `Home,' and none is expected to do so
anytime soon.
Armenians, in turn, are making a half-hearted effort to forgive, but not to
forget, the Kurdish atrocities perpetrated before, during, and after the
genocide. These are very difficult tasks for both.
Kurds, some 30 million of them, have been battling for a century to gain
notoriety in their own land. Their major shortcoming has been, and to some
degree still is, tribalism. This socio-political structure was a major
obstacle in gaining statehood when the pie was being divided at Sevres.
This Treaty of Peace, which sealed a lot of deals in dividing the defeated
Ottoman Empire, provided in its article 64 a rare opportunity for Kurdish
independence:
`If within one year from the coming into force of the present Treaty
the Kurdish peoples within the areas defined in article 62 shall
address themselves to the Council of the League of Nations in such a
manner as to show that a majority of the population of these areas
desires independence from Turkey, and if the Council then considers
that these peoples are capable of such independence from Turkey and
recommends that it should be granted to them, Turkey hereby agrees to
execute such a recommendation, and to renounce all rights and title
over these areas.'
The mandated year passed, and now over 90 years later, the Kurdish society
remains disunited in purpose. This fact does not need much to verify; one
look at the societal and political make-up of Turkish Kurdistan or the
Kurdish Parliament in Exile based in Brussels would convince one of its
authenticity.
Further evidence comes from the recent Buyuk Millet Meclisi (Turkish
Parliament) elections where the Kurdish vote was split and their goals
shattered as a result.
The most recent disunity and story of betrayal comes from skeptics and
conspiracy theorists who believe that Abdullah Ocalan was betrayed by his
Kurdish adversaries, or I should say enemies, which led to his kidnapping
from Kenya by Turkish special agents.
Kurdish political thought and institutions are so dangerously diverse and
divided, that a section of them prefer their status quo within Turkey;
others inebriated by religious fervor work for the return of the Islamic
Caliphate of yesteryear; and yet others yearn for total independence and
statehood.
This being the situational climate, Kurds can offer us only love and good
will, which they are attempting to do, and we accept all that with
gratitude - but that is not enough! The price of reconciliation is far
greater than that. Granted they cannot give us what they don't have, but
sooner or later 30 million or so of them will have to have some kind of
self-rule - be it autonomy, federation, or confederation - with Turkey, taking
our legitimate rights to Western Armenia with them. This is not acceptable!
To achieve their goals, the Kurds need to forge alliances. Among their most
natural allies, aside from the mountains, are the Armenians who spread the
span of the globe and can exercise their ideological and political clout to
bolster the cause. This can happen if and when our love fest is consummated
in concrete terms.
We have the same past, the same political and armed struggle, the same
national aspirations, the same future, the same destiny, and the
reciprocity of goodwill. Furthermore, regardless of all circumstances, we
are locked in and destined to live together. At the beginning of the 19th
century, the Kurdish Prince Badrkhan forged an alliance with the Armenians,
put together some 40,000-strong armies consisting of both parties, and
waged a war against the central Turkish government. At the beginning they
gave Turks hell only to live in one when Badrkhan's brother, who was
commanding the forces on the right flank of the attack, betrayed them in
lieu of money and perks offered him by the Turks.
When all is said and done, Armenians have their own problems and
shortcomings. Physically they are scattered almost everywhere and in most
places they are comfortable. The genocide and post-genocide psychological
and physical translocations have created a reality of apathy in the nation.
In the diaspora, people, especially the political parties, are interested
in rehashing failed policies because it justifies projecting guilt on the
perpetrators of the genocide, thereby avoiding a commitment to the new,
necessary, risky, and difficult issue of Western Armenia.
Poverty of thought prevails in the nation; the intellectual class of
yesteryear was either beheaded on the eve of the genocide, assassinated
like Hrant Dink, or died a natural death. No! There are no replacements!
There is a void, a political thought and action vacuum, which the church is
trying to fill affirming the millet mentality and reality. History tells us
how disastrous that could be!
The Third Republic is corrupt to the core and sitting on its hands while
tens of thousands leave the country, creating an unprecedented brain drain.
The diaspora, neglecting the real issue of regaining our rights in Western
Armenia, is busy like the hounds chasing the plastic rabbit dangled in
front of us. A church here, a church there, or a monument renovated and
returned to us, generates psychological but deceptive comfort. It does not
address the real issue of Western Armenia.
Movers and shakers - if there are any in the nation - must have unity of
purpose. Bring this issue on the radar screen, and then sip champagne with
the Kurds under the canopy of the Sevres Treaty, in a divorce settlement
while engaging in love fest.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2012/08/19/armeno-kurdish-relations-love-fest-or-divorce-settlement-meetings/
Posted by Dr. Henry Astarjian on August 19, 2012
Like a first date with a potential lover or a last meeting to settle
divorce property with an ex, Armenian and Kurdish individuals are in a
fest, both knowing full well that negative feelings hover over the
canopy under which they are sipping champagne. Both sides, dealing
from a position of weakness, manage to create a façade of joviality
and happiness for the created opportunity. And both sides realize that
in order to settle their differences, they have to accept difficult
compromises, and yield serious overdue concessions to the other
side. Such are Armeno-Kurdish relations today.
Acting Patriarch Ateshian arrives in Sourp Giragos church in Diyarbakir in
Oct. 2012 to preside over its reconsecration. (Photo by Khatchig Mouradian)
Individuals from both sides, meeting individually in various places and on
various occasions, are set to rediscover each other. Recently
boy-meets-girl and getting-to-know-you opportunities were created. I am
mindful of the visit of Armenian dance troops to Dersim (Tunceli), Armenian
Diasporan participations in Newruz celebrations, and in celebrations for
renovation of a church in Diyarbekir.
As part of their public relations strategy, the Kurds are desperately
trying to makeover their look by attempting to erase the image of savagery,
which they perpetrated during the Armenian Genocide. Their first official
act came from the Kurdish Parliament in Exile in Brussels through their
communiqué #1, in which they apologized to the Armenian nation for all the
ills they have committed against us.
Another such sweet event was the celebration in Diyarbekir during the
consecration of Surp Giragos Church, when the city hosted Armenian clergy
and lay people with signs and flags welcoming their guests `Home' - an
uplifting gesture indeed that goes beyond the usual mea culpa! No Armenian,
to my knowledge, packed his bag to go `Home,' and none is expected to do so
anytime soon.
Armenians, in turn, are making a half-hearted effort to forgive, but not to
forget, the Kurdish atrocities perpetrated before, during, and after the
genocide. These are very difficult tasks for both.
Kurds, some 30 million of them, have been battling for a century to gain
notoriety in their own land. Their major shortcoming has been, and to some
degree still is, tribalism. This socio-political structure was a major
obstacle in gaining statehood when the pie was being divided at Sevres.
This Treaty of Peace, which sealed a lot of deals in dividing the defeated
Ottoman Empire, provided in its article 64 a rare opportunity for Kurdish
independence:
`If within one year from the coming into force of the present Treaty
the Kurdish peoples within the areas defined in article 62 shall
address themselves to the Council of the League of Nations in such a
manner as to show that a majority of the population of these areas
desires independence from Turkey, and if the Council then considers
that these peoples are capable of such independence from Turkey and
recommends that it should be granted to them, Turkey hereby agrees to
execute such a recommendation, and to renounce all rights and title
over these areas.'
The mandated year passed, and now over 90 years later, the Kurdish society
remains disunited in purpose. This fact does not need much to verify; one
look at the societal and political make-up of Turkish Kurdistan or the
Kurdish Parliament in Exile based in Brussels would convince one of its
authenticity.
Further evidence comes from the recent Buyuk Millet Meclisi (Turkish
Parliament) elections where the Kurdish vote was split and their goals
shattered as a result.
The most recent disunity and story of betrayal comes from skeptics and
conspiracy theorists who believe that Abdullah Ocalan was betrayed by his
Kurdish adversaries, or I should say enemies, which led to his kidnapping
from Kenya by Turkish special agents.
Kurdish political thought and institutions are so dangerously diverse and
divided, that a section of them prefer their status quo within Turkey;
others inebriated by religious fervor work for the return of the Islamic
Caliphate of yesteryear; and yet others yearn for total independence and
statehood.
This being the situational climate, Kurds can offer us only love and good
will, which they are attempting to do, and we accept all that with
gratitude - but that is not enough! The price of reconciliation is far
greater than that. Granted they cannot give us what they don't have, but
sooner or later 30 million or so of them will have to have some kind of
self-rule - be it autonomy, federation, or confederation - with Turkey, taking
our legitimate rights to Western Armenia with them. This is not acceptable!
To achieve their goals, the Kurds need to forge alliances. Among their most
natural allies, aside from the mountains, are the Armenians who spread the
span of the globe and can exercise their ideological and political clout to
bolster the cause. This can happen if and when our love fest is consummated
in concrete terms.
We have the same past, the same political and armed struggle, the same
national aspirations, the same future, the same destiny, and the
reciprocity of goodwill. Furthermore, regardless of all circumstances, we
are locked in and destined to live together. At the beginning of the 19th
century, the Kurdish Prince Badrkhan forged an alliance with the Armenians,
put together some 40,000-strong armies consisting of both parties, and
waged a war against the central Turkish government. At the beginning they
gave Turks hell only to live in one when Badrkhan's brother, who was
commanding the forces on the right flank of the attack, betrayed them in
lieu of money and perks offered him by the Turks.
When all is said and done, Armenians have their own problems and
shortcomings. Physically they are scattered almost everywhere and in most
places they are comfortable. The genocide and post-genocide psychological
and physical translocations have created a reality of apathy in the nation.
In the diaspora, people, especially the political parties, are interested
in rehashing failed policies because it justifies projecting guilt on the
perpetrators of the genocide, thereby avoiding a commitment to the new,
necessary, risky, and difficult issue of Western Armenia.
Poverty of thought prevails in the nation; the intellectual class of
yesteryear was either beheaded on the eve of the genocide, assassinated
like Hrant Dink, or died a natural death. No! There are no replacements!
There is a void, a political thought and action vacuum, which the church is
trying to fill affirming the millet mentality and reality. History tells us
how disastrous that could be!
The Third Republic is corrupt to the core and sitting on its hands while
tens of thousands leave the country, creating an unprecedented brain drain.
The diaspora, neglecting the real issue of regaining our rights in Western
Armenia, is busy like the hounds chasing the plastic rabbit dangled in
front of us. A church here, a church there, or a monument renovated and
returned to us, generates psychological but deceptive comfort. It does not
address the real issue of Western Armenia.
Movers and shakers - if there are any in the nation - must have unity of
purpose. Bring this issue on the radar screen, and then sip champagne with
the Kurds under the canopy of the Sevres Treaty, in a divorce settlement
while engaging in love fest.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress