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IMPARTIALITY OF THE STATE, TRAGIC EVENTS OF 1915
Today's Zaman, Turkey
April 24 2013
Turkey commemorated the 98th anniversary of the tragic events of
1915 -- the killings of Anatolian Armenians during World War I --
on Wednesday.
April 24 is the date chosen to recognize the events of 1915 when close
to 200 Armenian religious and intellectual leaders were rounded up
in İstanbul and later imprisoned and summarily executed. As Turkey
refuses to term the killings of Armenians as genocide, columnists
ponder whether Turkey should apologize for the unfair treatment of
Armenians in 1915 in order to restore ties with Armenia.
We are commemorating the victims of the tragic events of 1915 and
discussing how we can mend the ties between the two countries on
another anniversary of the events, Bugun's Gulay Gökturk writes. The
columnist says we have long relied on historians to clarify what took
place and whether or not there was a genocide. But that was the wrong
approach. Just like historians can never give one definite answer to
any question about history, there can never be one definite answer to
"What really happened in 1915?" Then we thought that coming up with
a name for what happened in 1915 could perhaps be the job of law
professors if not of historians or politicians. But then we changed
our mind as the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights could not
determine what took place in 1915. Therefore, we cannot rely on the
law, either, to name the 1915 events. So how are we going to settle
this issue now, Gökturk asks.
Today the majority of the Turkish public believes the problem with
relations between the two countries could be solved with an apology
from the Turkish state. "I personally was thinking the same too for a
long time," Gökturk says. "But lately I have been questioning whether
it would be right for a state to apologize on such a controversial
issue. Just like some citizens are disturbed by the fact that
the Turkish state does not recognize the 'Armenian genocide,' some
citizens will also be disturbed if the state apologizes for the 1915
events. Either move from the state will end up representing one group
of citizens and disturbing another group. Thus, I have started to think
that the state should remain objective, impartial and non-ideological
on this issue as well as on any other issue," the columnist notes.
Nongovernmental organizations, political parties, the ruling party and
individuals can have their own views, but the state, which is basically
tasked with serving all the people of the country, cannot have an
official view on historical incidents. As for what should be done now,
Gökturk suggests that the state should no longer involve itself in the
discussion of what happened in 1915 and that the discussions should be
carried out only by historians, sociologists and law professors from
the two countries. A clear conclusion will likely never be reached
in these discussions and everyone will decide for themselves, but
this is the way it is supposed to be, the Bugun columnist says.
Star's Hakan Albayrak, on the other hand, says Turkey should apologize
for the unfair treatment of Armenians, but not for genocide, in
order to clear our conscience and prevent this issue from damaging
the image of Turkey as a just country.
Taraf's Roni Margulies is of the same view as Albayrak. Showing a
photo on which is written "Happy is he who says I am a Turk" above
an Armenian school's signboard, Margulies says: "It is not only about
genocide. There are many things to apologize for."
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnistDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=313556
Today's Zaman, Turkey
April 24 2013
Turkey commemorated the 98th anniversary of the tragic events of
1915 -- the killings of Anatolian Armenians during World War I --
on Wednesday.
April 24 is the date chosen to recognize the events of 1915 when close
to 200 Armenian religious and intellectual leaders were rounded up
in İstanbul and later imprisoned and summarily executed. As Turkey
refuses to term the killings of Armenians as genocide, columnists
ponder whether Turkey should apologize for the unfair treatment of
Armenians in 1915 in order to restore ties with Armenia.
We are commemorating the victims of the tragic events of 1915 and
discussing how we can mend the ties between the two countries on
another anniversary of the events, Bugun's Gulay Gökturk writes. The
columnist says we have long relied on historians to clarify what took
place and whether or not there was a genocide. But that was the wrong
approach. Just like historians can never give one definite answer to
any question about history, there can never be one definite answer to
"What really happened in 1915?" Then we thought that coming up with
a name for what happened in 1915 could perhaps be the job of law
professors if not of historians or politicians. But then we changed
our mind as the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights could not
determine what took place in 1915. Therefore, we cannot rely on the
law, either, to name the 1915 events. So how are we going to settle
this issue now, Gökturk asks.
Today the majority of the Turkish public believes the problem with
relations between the two countries could be solved with an apology
from the Turkish state. "I personally was thinking the same too for a
long time," Gökturk says. "But lately I have been questioning whether
it would be right for a state to apologize on such a controversial
issue. Just like some citizens are disturbed by the fact that
the Turkish state does not recognize the 'Armenian genocide,' some
citizens will also be disturbed if the state apologizes for the 1915
events. Either move from the state will end up representing one group
of citizens and disturbing another group. Thus, I have started to think
that the state should remain objective, impartial and non-ideological
on this issue as well as on any other issue," the columnist notes.
Nongovernmental organizations, political parties, the ruling party and
individuals can have their own views, but the state, which is basically
tasked with serving all the people of the country, cannot have an
official view on historical incidents. As for what should be done now,
Gökturk suggests that the state should no longer involve itself in the
discussion of what happened in 1915 and that the discussions should be
carried out only by historians, sociologists and law professors from
the two countries. A clear conclusion will likely never be reached
in these discussions and everyone will decide for themselves, but
this is the way it is supposed to be, the Bugun columnist says.
Star's Hakan Albayrak, on the other hand, says Turkey should apologize
for the unfair treatment of Armenians, but not for genocide, in
order to clear our conscience and prevent this issue from damaging
the image of Turkey as a just country.
Taraf's Roni Margulies is of the same view as Albayrak. Showing a
photo on which is written "Happy is he who says I am a Turk" above
an Armenian school's signboard, Margulies says: "It is not only about
genocide. There are many things to apologize for."
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnistDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=313556