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WHEN WILL OFFICIAL REACTION TO 1915 CHANGE?
Today's Zaman, Turkey
May 7 2013
ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ
[email protected]
After April 24 we heard the now quite well-known rhetoric from
Turkey's Foreign Ministry, criticizing US President Barack Obama for
his statement about the events that took place in 1915. The ministry
was quite harsh in its criticism, saying: "We find this statement
that ignores historical realities troubling in all its aspects, and
regret it." What led to this critical tone was Obama's statement that
the Armenians were mercilessly massacred and forced on a death march
in the last days of the Ottoman Empire.
Why was the ministry so harsh about Obama's statement, which does
not even mention the "G" word?
I think this is a part of Turkey's preparation for 2015. In my
opinion, with this statement, the Foreign Office was trying to create
a deterrent for the future. Let me explain what I meant.
While Armenians and the Armenian diaspora promote 2015 as a milestone
towards the global recognition of genocide (for them the centennial
year of 2015 is an advantage in promoting their cause), the Foreign
Ministry is mobilized by defensive instincts. Turkish officials think
that the Armenian diaspora has long been preparing for 2015 and they
have been preparing for their counter campaign, which is of course
quite rigid and based on a blatant denial of everything.
We had a glance at the general outline of the ministry's campaign when
Haberturk published a piece on it on Sept. 3, 2011. The title of the
piece was "Foreign Ministry sends coded message to raise 2015 alarm,"
and according to this piece, in a secret message to Turkish embassies
worldwide, the Foreign Office asked Turkish diplomats to monitor and
prevent Armenian activities related to 2015.
Actually, what happened in Denmark in December 2012 confirmed the
content of this piece by Haberturk. In response to an Armenian genocide
exhibit at Copenhagen University in December 2012, the Turkish Embassy
immediately opened an "alternative exhibit." As you can easily guess,
according to the Turkish Embassy's exhibit, the Armenian genocide
never happened.
My fellow columnist Joost Lagendijk, in his column dated April 28,
also commented on the Foreign Office's 2015 strategy. Joost said: "A
report last week by Barcın Yinanc in the Hurriyet Daily News suggested
that the current Turkish government does indeed have a plan for 2015.
The problem is that it looks like more of the same: An old-style
and unimaginative approach that did not wield any positive results
till now. As Yigal Schleifer put it in his blog on EurasiaNet, 'The
triple-track approach Yinanc lays out -- fight Armenian genocide
recognition efforts while at the same time pushing Yerevan towards
normalized relations with Turkey and resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue -- seems like one that will likely bear little but bitter
fruit'."
Keeping all this in mind and rereading Turkey's reaction to Obama's
message, it could be understood that Turkey's message was not for
today but rather for the future. By reacting quite strongly today,
the FO was trying to ensure that the US president would not mention
the "G" word in 2015.
As you may know, for the last five to six years, internal debate on
1915 has been flowing quite freely within Turkey. People use the word
"genocide" freely to label the events of 1915; people commemorate
1915 on the streets and so on. So when it compared what is happening
now with the situation just five to six years ago, it would not be
an exaggeration to say that a silent revolution is taking place with
regard to the Armenian taboo in Turkey.
However, when it comes to the "official reaction," it seems to me
that it has unfortunately been taken hostage by the fear of 2015. The
more Armenian pressure on the third countries to recognize Armenian
genocide increases, the more the Foreign Office tends to return to
old reflexes. Therefore, before 2015, I do not expect any change in
Turkey's official reaction to 1915. If anything happens, it will most
probably happen after passing this psychological barrier.
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnistDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=314768
Today's Zaman, Turkey
May 7 2013
ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ
[email protected]
After April 24 we heard the now quite well-known rhetoric from
Turkey's Foreign Ministry, criticizing US President Barack Obama for
his statement about the events that took place in 1915. The ministry
was quite harsh in its criticism, saying: "We find this statement
that ignores historical realities troubling in all its aspects, and
regret it." What led to this critical tone was Obama's statement that
the Armenians were mercilessly massacred and forced on a death march
in the last days of the Ottoman Empire.
Why was the ministry so harsh about Obama's statement, which does
not even mention the "G" word?
I think this is a part of Turkey's preparation for 2015. In my
opinion, with this statement, the Foreign Office was trying to create
a deterrent for the future. Let me explain what I meant.
While Armenians and the Armenian diaspora promote 2015 as a milestone
towards the global recognition of genocide (for them the centennial
year of 2015 is an advantage in promoting their cause), the Foreign
Ministry is mobilized by defensive instincts. Turkish officials think
that the Armenian diaspora has long been preparing for 2015 and they
have been preparing for their counter campaign, which is of course
quite rigid and based on a blatant denial of everything.
We had a glance at the general outline of the ministry's campaign when
Haberturk published a piece on it on Sept. 3, 2011. The title of the
piece was "Foreign Ministry sends coded message to raise 2015 alarm,"
and according to this piece, in a secret message to Turkish embassies
worldwide, the Foreign Office asked Turkish diplomats to monitor and
prevent Armenian activities related to 2015.
Actually, what happened in Denmark in December 2012 confirmed the
content of this piece by Haberturk. In response to an Armenian genocide
exhibit at Copenhagen University in December 2012, the Turkish Embassy
immediately opened an "alternative exhibit." As you can easily guess,
according to the Turkish Embassy's exhibit, the Armenian genocide
never happened.
My fellow columnist Joost Lagendijk, in his column dated April 28,
also commented on the Foreign Office's 2015 strategy. Joost said: "A
report last week by Barcın Yinanc in the Hurriyet Daily News suggested
that the current Turkish government does indeed have a plan for 2015.
The problem is that it looks like more of the same: An old-style
and unimaginative approach that did not wield any positive results
till now. As Yigal Schleifer put it in his blog on EurasiaNet, 'The
triple-track approach Yinanc lays out -- fight Armenian genocide
recognition efforts while at the same time pushing Yerevan towards
normalized relations with Turkey and resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue -- seems like one that will likely bear little but bitter
fruit'."
Keeping all this in mind and rereading Turkey's reaction to Obama's
message, it could be understood that Turkey's message was not for
today but rather for the future. By reacting quite strongly today,
the FO was trying to ensure that the US president would not mention
the "G" word in 2015.
As you may know, for the last five to six years, internal debate on
1915 has been flowing quite freely within Turkey. People use the word
"genocide" freely to label the events of 1915; people commemorate
1915 on the streets and so on. So when it compared what is happening
now with the situation just five to six years ago, it would not be
an exaggeration to say that a silent revolution is taking place with
regard to the Armenian taboo in Turkey.
However, when it comes to the "official reaction," it seems to me
that it has unfortunately been taken hostage by the fear of 2015. The
more Armenian pressure on the third countries to recognize Armenian
genocide increases, the more the Foreign Office tends to return to
old reflexes. Therefore, before 2015, I do not expect any change in
Turkey's official reaction to 1915. If anything happens, it will most
probably happen after passing this psychological barrier.
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnistDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=314768