Tweet
Comment: A controversial genocide
Saturday, 22 December, 2012
BY ROBERT ELLIS
The Danish Royal Library has, together with the Armenian embassy, held
an exhibition on "The Armenian genocide and the Scandinavian reaction"
though due to protests from the Turkish embassy, the library's
director, Erland Kolding Nielsen, has agreed to hold an alternative
exhibition titled, "The so-called Armenian genocide."
This decision has caused widespread debate and 37 Turkish
intellectuals, including Taner Akçam, Cengiz Aktar, Murat Belge,
Baskın Oran and İpek and Oral Çalışlar, have in an open letter in
Denmark's leading daily Berlingske called on the library's director to
reconsider his decision.
In their view, the Turkish government has followed a policy of denial
for more than 90 years, culminating in the murder of Hrant Dink in
2007.
To allow the Turkish government to arrange an alternative exhibition
will only support this policy.
As Turkish intellectuals fighting for a democratic Turkey, the
signatories conclude that Turkey, through its position of denying
historical truths, represents an obstacle to the development of peace,
democracy and stability in the Middle East.
The reason the Armenian genocide is so controversial is because it is
closely connected with Turkey's self-image and the foundation of the
Turkish Republic.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has claimed that "Turkey
has not committed genocide throughout its history" and that "The
character of this nation does not let it commit such crimes."
Even in defense of the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, he has said,
"a Muslim can never commit genocide."
Nevertheless, there is overwhelming evidence that Turkey, under the
leadership of the CUP (Committee of Union and Progress) in 1915, was
guilty of a premeditated attempt to annihilate the Armenian population
through massacres and deportation.
The events must be seen in a historical context, as the Ottoman Empire
had collapsed and Armenian nationalists - like the Kurds today - were
demanding independence.
Turkey had allied itself with Germany during World War I and the
Russian advance on the eastern front with the support of Armenian
auxiliaries and the Allied invasion in the west at Gallipoli sealed
the Armenians' fate.
A joint declaration by France, Great Britain and Russia on May 24,
1915 for the first time dealt with the concept of "crimes against
humanity" and formed the legal basis for the Nuremberg trials and the
U.N. convention on genocide.
Turkish nationalists led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk originally supported
the punishment of the perpetrators but their attitude changed with the
Treaty of Sevres and Turkey's partition.
After the war of independence and the foundation of the Turkish
Republic in 1923, many of those suspected of war crimes were given
leading posts in the government.
In all fairness, it must be stated that Armenian auxiliaries and
guerillas were responsible for massacres of the Turkish civilian
population, but these acts of revenge can in no way justify a
premeditated campaign of racial extermination in the same way that
German atrocities in Russia after the invasion in 1941 can be excused
by the behavior of Russian troops in Germany in 1945.
What makes this topic so sensitive is Turkey's fear that an open
debate, not to speak of any admission, can lead to territorial claims
from Armenia.
This was why Justice Minister Cemil Çiçek in May 2005 called a planned
conference on Ottoman Armenians at Boğaziçi University "a stab in the
back of the Turkish nation."
In 2005, Erdoğan extended an invitation to Armenian president Robert
Kocharian to establish a joint commission of historians and other
experts to study the events of 1915, but this was rejected. One way
forward could be to hold an international conference on the subject,
where Denmark could act as an "honest broker."
But the question is, who will take the initiative?
Robert Ellis is a regular commentator on Turkish affairs in the Danish
and international press.
http://famagusta-gazette.com/comment-a-controversial-genocide-p17605-69.htm
Saturday, 22 December, 2012
BY ROBERT ELLIS
The Danish Royal Library has, together with the Armenian embassy, held
an exhibition on "The Armenian genocide and the Scandinavian reaction"
though due to protests from the Turkish embassy, the library's
director, Erland Kolding Nielsen, has agreed to hold an alternative
exhibition titled, "The so-called Armenian genocide."
This decision has caused widespread debate and 37 Turkish
intellectuals, including Taner Akçam, Cengiz Aktar, Murat Belge,
Baskın Oran and İpek and Oral Çalışlar, have in an open letter in
Denmark's leading daily Berlingske called on the library's director to
reconsider his decision.
In their view, the Turkish government has followed a policy of denial
for more than 90 years, culminating in the murder of Hrant Dink in
2007.
To allow the Turkish government to arrange an alternative exhibition
will only support this policy.
As Turkish intellectuals fighting for a democratic Turkey, the
signatories conclude that Turkey, through its position of denying
historical truths, represents an obstacle to the development of peace,
democracy and stability in the Middle East.
The reason the Armenian genocide is so controversial is because it is
closely connected with Turkey's self-image and the foundation of the
Turkish Republic.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has claimed that "Turkey
has not committed genocide throughout its history" and that "The
character of this nation does not let it commit such crimes."
Even in defense of the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, he has said,
"a Muslim can never commit genocide."
Nevertheless, there is overwhelming evidence that Turkey, under the
leadership of the CUP (Committee of Union and Progress) in 1915, was
guilty of a premeditated attempt to annihilate the Armenian population
through massacres and deportation.
The events must be seen in a historical context, as the Ottoman Empire
had collapsed and Armenian nationalists - like the Kurds today - were
demanding independence.
Turkey had allied itself with Germany during World War I and the
Russian advance on the eastern front with the support of Armenian
auxiliaries and the Allied invasion in the west at Gallipoli sealed
the Armenians' fate.
A joint declaration by France, Great Britain and Russia on May 24,
1915 for the first time dealt with the concept of "crimes against
humanity" and formed the legal basis for the Nuremberg trials and the
U.N. convention on genocide.
Turkish nationalists led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk originally supported
the punishment of the perpetrators but their attitude changed with the
Treaty of Sevres and Turkey's partition.
After the war of independence and the foundation of the Turkish
Republic in 1923, many of those suspected of war crimes were given
leading posts in the government.
In all fairness, it must be stated that Armenian auxiliaries and
guerillas were responsible for massacres of the Turkish civilian
population, but these acts of revenge can in no way justify a
premeditated campaign of racial extermination in the same way that
German atrocities in Russia after the invasion in 1941 can be excused
by the behavior of Russian troops in Germany in 1945.
What makes this topic so sensitive is Turkey's fear that an open
debate, not to speak of any admission, can lead to territorial claims
from Armenia.
This was why Justice Minister Cemil Çiçek in May 2005 called a planned
conference on Ottoman Armenians at Boğaziçi University "a stab in the
back of the Turkish nation."
In 2005, Erdoğan extended an invitation to Armenian president Robert
Kocharian to establish a joint commission of historians and other
experts to study the events of 1915, but this was rejected. One way
forward could be to hold an international conference on the subject,
where Denmark could act as an "honest broker."
But the question is, who will take the initiative?
Robert Ellis is a regular commentator on Turkish affairs in the Danish
and international press.
http://famagusta-gazette.com/comment-a-controversial-genocide-p17605-69.htm