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AKCAM: THE 'FOREIGN CONNECTION' IS ME
By Taner Akcam
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2013/06/10/akcam-the-foreign-connection-is-me/
June 10, 2013
Commenting on the Gezi Park events, Prime Minister Erdogan said,
"There are internal and external connections. Our intelligence work is
ongoing." Confession time: The foreign connection is me. Anyone who's
got doubts, take a look at my entry and exit dates: I entered Turkey
on May 28 and it all started. I was in Taksim Square every day. I was
involved in all sorts of necessary planning to ensure that the events
escalated (unfortunately, I'm not at a liberty to disclose exactly
what). When it started to become clear what the whole operation was
about, I returned with the satisfaction of having performed my duties
well. Since the operation had achieved its purpose, there's no harm
in my revealing the truth here. Our intelligence officers will have
no difficulty finding my internal and external connections but there's
no point in wearing them out more than it is necessary, right?
'Surp Hagop Armenian Cemetery (1551-1939). You took our cemetery, you
cannot take our park' As you can guess, the ones who sent me simply
couldn't tolerate the fact that Turkey had become so powerful in such
a short time. In fact, these events were planned way in advance. During
the past few years, Turkey made some really bold, unexpected moves; it
strengthened its economy and by breaking the military's guardianship
over politics, it proved that it isn't some banana republic, gaining
a respected place among the nations of the world. For those outside
forces that sent me, Turkey's increasing power undermined their own
influence in the region. Their purpose was to show Turkey--which had
embarked on a path to quickly becoming a great power in the region
and had gained so much respect in the world--a lesson. It was simply
unacceptable that Turks could operate in Syria freely, go about
changing regional dynamics without asking for anyone's permission,
and then rock the boat in the region by coming to an agreement with
the Kurds.
Certainly they could have used other incidents as an excuse to teach
Turkey a lesson. Uludere, Reyhanli, the liquor sale prohibitions,
or the new Bosphorus bridge that's to be named after Yavuz Sultan
Selim...They could have used any one of these. But then Turkey
would never have been able to get past the existing, deeply-rooted
polarization. If they had used any one of these incidents the
protesters would only be from a certain segment of society and those
segments would be accused of being manipulated by outside sources. For
example, if the liquor prohibition had been used, they would have
claimed that Ergenekon sympathizers were behind the activists, and the
plan would not have worked. For that reason, Taksim and Gezi Park were
chosen. As a result, the PKK and MHP followers, secularists, Alewites,
devout religious people, Ergenekon sympathizers, and liberals all came
together. This served to belie the credibility of the argument that
the actions were being stoked from outside. You know, it's one thing
to claim that a single group is being manipulated by outside forces,
but making that claim for all groups? Now that would be a hard sell.
Even if the movement starts to lose steam, those who have sent me have
achieved their goal. They've already scored a huge success. Besides,
if the government doesn't get the message, the events will continue.
The Turkish economy will be badly hit, tourism will suffer. As a
result, it's going to become impossible for Turkey to act independently
of the wishes of these powers, challenging them in the region and
in the world. Like I said, no matter how you look at it, this is a
perfectly planned action....
Now I'm guessing that everyone reading these lines is asking this
question. So, why would I accept a job like this? Why take part in a
plan that aims at weaking Turkey and undermining its influence? The
answer to the question is directly related to the subject I study.
Because of past experiences, I hold a personal grudge against the
Turkish government. I knew that the best way to exact revenge would
be to get involved with the whole "genocide lie"; so I picked that
subject. Besides, by bringing up the genocide issue for years, I've
endeavored to weaken this state.
Unfortunately all the things that I've been saying and writing weren't
very effective. For that reason, I determined that the chance to
take part in this action was an opportunity I couldn't miss. After
all, Gezi Park used to be an Armenian cemetery. The cemetery grounds
actually covered what is now Harbiye[1] and the Divan Hotel too. If
the action is successful not only will I gradually, without scaring
anyone, be able to put the genocide on the agenda, but I'll be able
to tell everyone that these lands belonged to the Armenians and that
they need to return and claim them. As a matter of fact, a memorial
has already been planted in the park declaring that it used to be an
Armenian cemetery. One of the streets in the park has been named after
Hrant Dink. As a result I've managed to carry out my own plans. For
this reason, I accepted the job with pleasure.
Will there be anyone who believes the scenario I've presented above? I
know you're going to say that if the government wants it, many people
will believe in it. There are plenty of people who are convinced that
countless events in Turkey's past occurred as a result of conspiracies
planned by those who are against our country and our nation. I don't
know to what extent the AKP and Tayyip Erdogan will take advantage of
this deeply-rooted mentality, but what I do know is that believing in
this sort of rubbish leads to the bankruptcy of democratic culture. I
still harbor hope that Gezi Park will cause these nutty, nonsensical
conspiracy theories to be thrown into the trash bin, particularly after
an open debate about the true history of Gezi Park. Yes, how can we
memorialize the Armenian presence on these lands that used to hold
an Armenian cemetery? What is it going to be like for a Turkey that
is born anew from its ashes to re-create and remember its own history?
The Turkish version of this article appeared on T24 on June 6, 2013.
The Armenian Weekly thanks Fatima Sakarya for the English translation.
By Taner Akcam
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2013/06/10/akcam-the-foreign-connection-is-me/
June 10, 2013
Commenting on the Gezi Park events, Prime Minister Erdogan said,
"There are internal and external connections. Our intelligence work is
ongoing." Confession time: The foreign connection is me. Anyone who's
got doubts, take a look at my entry and exit dates: I entered Turkey
on May 28 and it all started. I was in Taksim Square every day. I was
involved in all sorts of necessary planning to ensure that the events
escalated (unfortunately, I'm not at a liberty to disclose exactly
what). When it started to become clear what the whole operation was
about, I returned with the satisfaction of having performed my duties
well. Since the operation had achieved its purpose, there's no harm
in my revealing the truth here. Our intelligence officers will have
no difficulty finding my internal and external connections but there's
no point in wearing them out more than it is necessary, right?
'Surp Hagop Armenian Cemetery (1551-1939). You took our cemetery, you
cannot take our park' As you can guess, the ones who sent me simply
couldn't tolerate the fact that Turkey had become so powerful in such
a short time. In fact, these events were planned way in advance. During
the past few years, Turkey made some really bold, unexpected moves; it
strengthened its economy and by breaking the military's guardianship
over politics, it proved that it isn't some banana republic, gaining
a respected place among the nations of the world. For those outside
forces that sent me, Turkey's increasing power undermined their own
influence in the region. Their purpose was to show Turkey--which had
embarked on a path to quickly becoming a great power in the region
and had gained so much respect in the world--a lesson. It was simply
unacceptable that Turks could operate in Syria freely, go about
changing regional dynamics without asking for anyone's permission,
and then rock the boat in the region by coming to an agreement with
the Kurds.
Certainly they could have used other incidents as an excuse to teach
Turkey a lesson. Uludere, Reyhanli, the liquor sale prohibitions,
or the new Bosphorus bridge that's to be named after Yavuz Sultan
Selim...They could have used any one of these. But then Turkey
would never have been able to get past the existing, deeply-rooted
polarization. If they had used any one of these incidents the
protesters would only be from a certain segment of society and those
segments would be accused of being manipulated by outside sources. For
example, if the liquor prohibition had been used, they would have
claimed that Ergenekon sympathizers were behind the activists, and the
plan would not have worked. For that reason, Taksim and Gezi Park were
chosen. As a result, the PKK and MHP followers, secularists, Alewites,
devout religious people, Ergenekon sympathizers, and liberals all came
together. This served to belie the credibility of the argument that
the actions were being stoked from outside. You know, it's one thing
to claim that a single group is being manipulated by outside forces,
but making that claim for all groups? Now that would be a hard sell.
Even if the movement starts to lose steam, those who have sent me have
achieved their goal. They've already scored a huge success. Besides,
if the government doesn't get the message, the events will continue.
The Turkish economy will be badly hit, tourism will suffer. As a
result, it's going to become impossible for Turkey to act independently
of the wishes of these powers, challenging them in the region and
in the world. Like I said, no matter how you look at it, this is a
perfectly planned action....
Now I'm guessing that everyone reading these lines is asking this
question. So, why would I accept a job like this? Why take part in a
plan that aims at weaking Turkey and undermining its influence? The
answer to the question is directly related to the subject I study.
Because of past experiences, I hold a personal grudge against the
Turkish government. I knew that the best way to exact revenge would
be to get involved with the whole "genocide lie"; so I picked that
subject. Besides, by bringing up the genocide issue for years, I've
endeavored to weaken this state.
Unfortunately all the things that I've been saying and writing weren't
very effective. For that reason, I determined that the chance to
take part in this action was an opportunity I couldn't miss. After
all, Gezi Park used to be an Armenian cemetery. The cemetery grounds
actually covered what is now Harbiye[1] and the Divan Hotel too. If
the action is successful not only will I gradually, without scaring
anyone, be able to put the genocide on the agenda, but I'll be able
to tell everyone that these lands belonged to the Armenians and that
they need to return and claim them. As a matter of fact, a memorial
has already been planted in the park declaring that it used to be an
Armenian cemetery. One of the streets in the park has been named after
Hrant Dink. As a result I've managed to carry out my own plans. For
this reason, I accepted the job with pleasure.
Will there be anyone who believes the scenario I've presented above? I
know you're going to say that if the government wants it, many people
will believe in it. There are plenty of people who are convinced that
countless events in Turkey's past occurred as a result of conspiracies
planned by those who are against our country and our nation. I don't
know to what extent the AKP and Tayyip Erdogan will take advantage of
this deeply-rooted mentality, but what I do know is that believing in
this sort of rubbish leads to the bankruptcy of democratic culture. I
still harbor hope that Gezi Park will cause these nutty, nonsensical
conspiracy theories to be thrown into the trash bin, particularly after
an open debate about the true history of Gezi Park. Yes, how can we
memorialize the Armenian presence on these lands that used to hold
an Armenian cemetery? What is it going to be like for a Turkey that
is born anew from its ashes to re-create and remember its own history?
The Turkish version of this article appeared on T24 on June 6, 2013.
The Armenian Weekly thanks Fatima Sakarya for the English translation.