Tweet
TURKISH GOVERNMENT TO FORM ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AUTHORITY
Murat Bardakci
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2012/06/government-on-eve-of-crucial-dec.html
A man holds a candle during a religious service marking the anniversary
of mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 at an
Armenian church in Tbilisi April 24, 2012. (photo by REUTERS/David
Mdzinarishvili )
The office of the Turkish prime minister has made a crucial break from
all past approaches to the issue of the Armenian genocide. From now
on, one single authority will be tasked with dealing with all claims
related to genocide.
The Turkish government has decided on the formation of a single
institutional body to deal with all claims related to the Armenian
genocide issue. This is a step forward, writes Murat Bardakci - if
the body focuses on defending Turkey's actions in 1915 to a world
audience, and avoids publishing ineffective material aimed only at
the Turkish In Turkey, there are currently a variety of institutions,
centers and offices that deal with Armenian claims, including the
Armenian desk in the Turkish Historical Society, certain departments
within the General Staff, universities, foundations and many others.
These institutions have been active for years, issuing a significant
number of publications that all have something bizarre in common: they
address no country but Turkey. That is, they don't confront the claims
of the Armenian diaspora that is active in all corners of the globe.
Instead, they attempt to influence Turkish public opinion with
claims such as: "These men are lying, don't believe them. In 1915,
they slaughtered us."
Result: a huge nothing
And what have we achieved with all of this work so far? A huge
nothing. The Armenian diaspora has been effective in its activities in
European and US research centers and universities. They have produced
work of professional quality, including a number of attractive
publications and hundreds of well-designed websites.
Because most of our publications address only our own people and
do little more than promote ourselves to ourselves, nobody really
cares about them abroad. The work being done our universities and
organizations is not taken seriously, as they merely follow the
state's line of "we didn't do it, they did."
Nobody reads the leaflets and books that our embassies try to
distribute, as they are written in the boring propagandistic style of
the 1960s. Even if somebody were to read these leaflets, nobody would
understand them given that nothing is said about what actually happened
in 1915. They consist of unnecessary, long-winded and obscure defenses.
This is why the prime minister's office's decision to unite all
activities related to the Armenian issue under one authority is a
very important move - albeit a late one.
Let us not forget that over the next three years, the Armenian issue
and the claims of the diaspora against Turkey will change significantly
and take on a different perspective. The diaspora has spent years
preparing from the 100th anniversary of the deportations that took
place in April 1915. A number of widely diverse activities are being
planned, especially in the diplomatic arena. They will work hard to
push the United States and many other countries to acknowledge that the
events of 1915 amounted to genocide, and they will most likely succeed.
Finally, we noticed
The office of the prime minister's decision to create a single
authority means that we have finally noticed the Armenian preparations
for this date. The biggest impediment this new authority will have
to overcome is the "more royalist than the king" mentality it will
encounter along the way.
We don't have a single publication that is taken seriously in academic
circles abroad. The prevailing mentality whereby we brag about
ourselves and hold fast to the mindset of "we didn't do it, they did"
- and worse, our inability to understand the disgrace of reducing
the events of 1915 to counting corpses - must be abandoned. If not,
Turkey's headaches over the next three years will be much more painful
than ever before.
Murat Bardakci
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2012/06/government-on-eve-of-crucial-dec.html
A man holds a candle during a religious service marking the anniversary
of mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 at an
Armenian church in Tbilisi April 24, 2012. (photo by REUTERS/David
Mdzinarishvili )
The office of the Turkish prime minister has made a crucial break from
all past approaches to the issue of the Armenian genocide. From now
on, one single authority will be tasked with dealing with all claims
related to genocide.
The Turkish government has decided on the formation of a single
institutional body to deal with all claims related to the Armenian
genocide issue. This is a step forward, writes Murat Bardakci - if
the body focuses on defending Turkey's actions in 1915 to a world
audience, and avoids publishing ineffective material aimed only at
the Turkish In Turkey, there are currently a variety of institutions,
centers and offices that deal with Armenian claims, including the
Armenian desk in the Turkish Historical Society, certain departments
within the General Staff, universities, foundations and many others.
These institutions have been active for years, issuing a significant
number of publications that all have something bizarre in common: they
address no country but Turkey. That is, they don't confront the claims
of the Armenian diaspora that is active in all corners of the globe.
Instead, they attempt to influence Turkish public opinion with
claims such as: "These men are lying, don't believe them. In 1915,
they slaughtered us."
Result: a huge nothing
And what have we achieved with all of this work so far? A huge
nothing. The Armenian diaspora has been effective in its activities in
European and US research centers and universities. They have produced
work of professional quality, including a number of attractive
publications and hundreds of well-designed websites.
Because most of our publications address only our own people and
do little more than promote ourselves to ourselves, nobody really
cares about them abroad. The work being done our universities and
organizations is not taken seriously, as they merely follow the
state's line of "we didn't do it, they did."
Nobody reads the leaflets and books that our embassies try to
distribute, as they are written in the boring propagandistic style of
the 1960s. Even if somebody were to read these leaflets, nobody would
understand them given that nothing is said about what actually happened
in 1915. They consist of unnecessary, long-winded and obscure defenses.
This is why the prime minister's office's decision to unite all
activities related to the Armenian issue under one authority is a
very important move - albeit a late one.
Let us not forget that over the next three years, the Armenian issue
and the claims of the diaspora against Turkey will change significantly
and take on a different perspective. The diaspora has spent years
preparing from the 100th anniversary of the deportations that took
place in April 1915. A number of widely diverse activities are being
planned, especially in the diplomatic arena. They will work hard to
push the United States and many other countries to acknowledge that the
events of 1915 amounted to genocide, and they will most likely succeed.
Finally, we noticed
The office of the prime minister's decision to create a single
authority means that we have finally noticed the Armenian preparations
for this date. The biggest impediment this new authority will have
to overcome is the "more royalist than the king" mentality it will
encounter along the way.
We don't have a single publication that is taken seriously in academic
circles abroad. The prevailing mentality whereby we brag about
ourselves and hold fast to the mindset of "we didn't do it, they did"
- and worse, our inability to understand the disgrace of reducing
the events of 1915 to counting corpses - must be abandoned. If not,
Turkey's headaches over the next three years will be much more painful
than ever before.