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Today's Zaman, Turkey
June 10 2012
The Other World
by Dogu Ergil
We Turks have two worlds; the world of our trivial follies where we
pass time talking about issues like abortion, cesarean sections, etc.
and a world that is not of our making.
We take the first very seriously and consider the other to be
conspiratorial and against us no matter what. But the realities of our
past and present follow us and press us hard to reconcile with them.
One such issue is the "Armenian problem," which lacks a proper
definition and acknowledgement, just like the "Kurdish issue." Last
week I had to present a paper at a meeting to review the Armenian
problem that Turkey must eventually reconcile with. Here are some
thoughts to ponder:
The Turkish political class has come to grips with the reality that
the republican era historiography is a fabrication of the founders,
who wanted to legitimize the new regime and their privileged place in
it. It severed the cultural ties of the nation from the Ottoman past
as well as obfuscated its cultural diversity with the hope of creating
a homogenous society. Both efforts denied the country's history and
went against the plural cultural reality of the country. The process
had already started with the elimination of individuality (the
"Turkification" of the people and the elimination of those who are
not) of the Committee of Union and Progress (the Young Turks) that
ruled during the last decade of the empire.
Thus a society ignorant of its past and inimical to pluralism emerged.
As was stated in the constitution, the "union of the state with its
nation and motherland was more important" than the rights and freedoms
of citizens. Any discussion to the contrary was subject to severe
punishment and exclusion.
Turkish society learned about a past with Armenians with the Armenian
Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) violence just as it
learned about the Kurdish problem from the Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK) violence. However, because of the intransigence of the regime
and the political class to understand the root causes of both
problems, neither has been solved. Turkey is living under the spell of
an officially generated schizophrenia.
Coming to grips with both problems will help Turkey rehabilitate. This
can be done in two ways: by reaching out to Armenians and trying to
empathize with their pain and grief as well as reparation of material
loss.
Armenians call the debacle they have gone through the "Med Yeghern"
(Great Catastrophe). Turks could find a suitable term to match this
that would help them to understand and to empathize with the human and
material loss of the Armenians at the hands of their forefathers.
These losses are not only personal but collective: the loss of a
country, of a past, a cultural heritage, families, and women and
children converted to a different ethnicity and religion. The Armenian
collective identity since then has been shaped by this grief. Their
mourning can only end with the recognition of what they have gone
through and their present suffering if and when Turks today
acknowledge the wrongdoings of the past that has been silenced by
their forefathers. Hence, keeping the "oath of silence" deliberately
if not by official design will only poison the Turks' mind and soul as
well as keep the wrath of the Armenians alive that poison them with
hatred of the Turks, as the late Hrant Dink said (and was convicted
for insulting "Turkishness"!).
Turks can argue that "genocide" is a legal term, but what happened is
a human tragedy and one in which they cannot be implicated today.
However, admitting that they identify with what Armenians feel and
sharing in their grief will have a cathartic effect on both nations.
With the acknowledgement of the past history shared by the two sides
until they were torn asunder by the Committee of Union and Progress
government, Turks can declare that they do not share the criminal
choice of the ethnic cleansing of Anatolia, which victimized all
Christians, but Armenians the most.
This can be both in the form of an apology and an invitation for the
restoration of their cultural heritage in Anatolia, finding the trace
of their adopted children and converted women and restitution or
compensation for their confiscated property.
Greatness is not a hope, it is in the deed. It starts with
understanding the "other" and being righteous.
From: A. Papazian
June 10 2012
The Other World
by Dogu Ergil
We Turks have two worlds; the world of our trivial follies where we
pass time talking about issues like abortion, cesarean sections, etc.
and a world that is not of our making.
We take the first very seriously and consider the other to be
conspiratorial and against us no matter what. But the realities of our
past and present follow us and press us hard to reconcile with them.
One such issue is the "Armenian problem," which lacks a proper
definition and acknowledgement, just like the "Kurdish issue." Last
week I had to present a paper at a meeting to review the Armenian
problem that Turkey must eventually reconcile with. Here are some
thoughts to ponder:
The Turkish political class has come to grips with the reality that
the republican era historiography is a fabrication of the founders,
who wanted to legitimize the new regime and their privileged place in
it. It severed the cultural ties of the nation from the Ottoman past
as well as obfuscated its cultural diversity with the hope of creating
a homogenous society. Both efforts denied the country's history and
went against the plural cultural reality of the country. The process
had already started with the elimination of individuality (the
"Turkification" of the people and the elimination of those who are
not) of the Committee of Union and Progress (the Young Turks) that
ruled during the last decade of the empire.
Thus a society ignorant of its past and inimical to pluralism emerged.
As was stated in the constitution, the "union of the state with its
nation and motherland was more important" than the rights and freedoms
of citizens. Any discussion to the contrary was subject to severe
punishment and exclusion.
Turkish society learned about a past with Armenians with the Armenian
Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) violence just as it
learned about the Kurdish problem from the Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK) violence. However, because of the intransigence of the regime
and the political class to understand the root causes of both
problems, neither has been solved. Turkey is living under the spell of
an officially generated schizophrenia.
Coming to grips with both problems will help Turkey rehabilitate. This
can be done in two ways: by reaching out to Armenians and trying to
empathize with their pain and grief as well as reparation of material
loss.
Armenians call the debacle they have gone through the "Med Yeghern"
(Great Catastrophe). Turks could find a suitable term to match this
that would help them to understand and to empathize with the human and
material loss of the Armenians at the hands of their forefathers.
These losses are not only personal but collective: the loss of a
country, of a past, a cultural heritage, families, and women and
children converted to a different ethnicity and religion. The Armenian
collective identity since then has been shaped by this grief. Their
mourning can only end with the recognition of what they have gone
through and their present suffering if and when Turks today
acknowledge the wrongdoings of the past that has been silenced by
their forefathers. Hence, keeping the "oath of silence" deliberately
if not by official design will only poison the Turks' mind and soul as
well as keep the wrath of the Armenians alive that poison them with
hatred of the Turks, as the late Hrant Dink said (and was convicted
for insulting "Turkishness"!).
Turks can argue that "genocide" is a legal term, but what happened is
a human tragedy and one in which they cannot be implicated today.
However, admitting that they identify with what Armenians feel and
sharing in their grief will have a cathartic effect on both nations.
With the acknowledgement of the past history shared by the two sides
until they were torn asunder by the Committee of Union and Progress
government, Turks can declare that they do not share the criminal
choice of the ethnic cleansing of Anatolia, which victimized all
Christians, but Armenians the most.
This can be both in the form of an apology and an invitation for the
restoration of their cultural heritage in Anatolia, finding the trace
of their adopted children and converted women and restitution or
compensation for their confiscated property.
Greatness is not a hope, it is in the deed. It starts with
understanding the "other" and being righteous.
From: A. Papazian