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ARMENIANS IN A HURRY TOWARD THE 19TH CENTURY?
http://asbarez.com/113403/armenians-in-a-hurry-towards-the-19th-century/
Thursday, August 29th, 2013
BY LAURENT LEYLEKIAN
The recent protests and turmoil in Turkey fostered an already existing
- though curious - trend among Armenians worldwide. Some members
of the Armenian diaspora expressed strong support for the Turkish
protesters in their struggle against the more and more authoritarian
regime driven by the AKP. This trend has certainly been facilitated by
the fact that the Gezi Park events arose just after the commemoration
of the Armenian Genocide by some Turkish activists in Istanbul and in
other places in Turkey. Therefore, members of the Armenian diaspora who
were there on this occasion may have taken part in - or may have at
least been witness to - the confrontation between the Turkish regime
and its opponents. The unarticulated - and sometimes thoughtless -
mentality that drives these Armenians to such an attitude probably
comes from the vague belief that the Turkish state is an arch villain,
that any opponents of it partake in the longstanding struggle of
the Armenian people and could eventually share their fate. Thus,
in the minds of these people, an odd connection may have developed,
bolstered by some nascent, romantic fraternalism in the teargas: that
the non-democratic nature of the Turkish state and its stubbornness in
denying the Armenian Genocide are somehow linked and that, conversely,
a democratic Turkey would necessarily pave the way to the recognition
of the Armenian Genocide.
In my humble opinion, this representation is deficient, potentially
dangerous, and surely confused. In particular, it neglects or bypasses
the key issue of what do we want for the Armenian Nation?
Let's put aside the straightforward contradiction that exists in
Armenians supporting the main force opposing the AKP, i.e. the
Kemalists who directly bear the legacy of the notorious Young Turks.
Let's even assume that this support stands for Turkish democrats,
however dubious some of them may be, and that it could potentially
lead to a genuine Turkish democracy. Would it be better? For the Turks,
certainly yes, as it is commonplace to consider democracy as the most
suitable form of government for an advanced nation. For the Armenians,
on the contrary, it could be a worse nightmare.
We should remember that democracy is nothing but the tyranny of
the majority. In this regard, it is quite audacious to think that a
democratic Turkey would be less reluctant to recognize the Armenian
Genocide, not to mention to accept the idea of compensations. It
is a sad and maybe a cynical position, but the past and current
authoritarian nature of successive Turkish regimes has been a
strong incentive that has driven some third parties to support the
Armenian Cause and has been an advantage for the Armenian Cause. On
the contrary, a democratic Turkey would be considered by many as
an appropriate framework to get rid of this old issue and to leave
Armenians and Turks alone to "solve" it face-to-face. Armenians
were a substantial minority in 1915 and we know how the Turkish
government "solved" the issue. Now that the scattered, diminished,
and impoverished Armenian Nation is only a negligible fraction of the
Turkish one, there is no reason to think that the outcome would be
more fair and we could just be glad if this hypothetical democratic
Turkey would formally adopt a more acceptable way to proceed.
Turks are not to be blamed for that: they just know what their national
interests are and how to defend it. Unfortunately, the same could not
be said for the Armenians involved in such rapprochement. It seems
that - consciously or unconsciously - they are trying to reload the
Ottoman Empire and the place that was devoted to Armenians within
it: The Sadik-i Millet as the midwife and the ferment of the Turkish
Hakim Millet. A kind of technical role that gives up any political
claim not to speak about any political role for the greatest benefit
of their overlord. With regard to the increasing takeover by Russia
of the Republic of Armenia, it seems that we could rapidly go back to
the 19th century where Armenians were a useful and educated minority
both in the Turkish and Russian empires.
In this respect, whatever the true reasons behind the Armenian
government's current attempt to escape from the Russia-led Eurasian
Union, whether it's a reasonable decision or not and whether it will
finally succeed or not, it should be seen as a remarkably courageous
act of sovereignty in light of the current geostrategic position of
Armenia. We are thus able to consider that if Armenia is able to resist
strong Russian "incentives", Armenians worldwide could far more easily
resist Turkey's teasing belly-dance made of Aghtamar shows, fairy
tales of a "common past," and elusive pledges for border opening. The
past criminal record of Turkey against the Armenian Nation and its
current criminal denial should forever dismiss any whim of a common
future in the minds of cognizant Armenians. It should encourage
the government of Armenia to step further along the way recently
pioneered by prosecutor general Aghvan Hovsepian. Armenia could, for
instance, declare that it is closing the border with Turkey, which
would change nothing in practical terms, but would confer another
political meaning to the current situation. After all, Armenia has
achieved some significant developments without Turkey these last twenty
years and if any Turkish extremist group would have blasted Aghtamar,
it would just have deprived Turkey from a communication tool, whereas
Armenians would not have been more deprived from their already looted
assets and territories.
After nearly a hundred years of statehood - including the Soviet period
- and centuries under the Ottoman yoke, it is more than time for
Armenians to think and act again as a Nation. And, as a politically
aware community, a Nation does not necessarily consider that the foe
of its foe is a friend. A very old Indo-European legend claims than
thousands of years ago, the horse was afraid of wolves and asked the
man to climb on his back to hunt and kill wolves. The man proceeded and
when he finished, the horse said to him, "It's fine, now you can get
down." But the man replied that his new position was quite comfortable
and useful... And up to now he is still on the horse's back.
Let's avoid being again the horse of the various foreign factions.
From: Baghdasarian
http://asbarez.com/113403/armenians-in-a-hurry-towards-the-19th-century/
Thursday, August 29th, 2013
BY LAURENT LEYLEKIAN
The recent protests and turmoil in Turkey fostered an already existing
- though curious - trend among Armenians worldwide. Some members
of the Armenian diaspora expressed strong support for the Turkish
protesters in their struggle against the more and more authoritarian
regime driven by the AKP. This trend has certainly been facilitated by
the fact that the Gezi Park events arose just after the commemoration
of the Armenian Genocide by some Turkish activists in Istanbul and in
other places in Turkey. Therefore, members of the Armenian diaspora who
were there on this occasion may have taken part in - or may have at
least been witness to - the confrontation between the Turkish regime
and its opponents. The unarticulated - and sometimes thoughtless -
mentality that drives these Armenians to such an attitude probably
comes from the vague belief that the Turkish state is an arch villain,
that any opponents of it partake in the longstanding struggle of
the Armenian people and could eventually share their fate. Thus,
in the minds of these people, an odd connection may have developed,
bolstered by some nascent, romantic fraternalism in the teargas: that
the non-democratic nature of the Turkish state and its stubbornness in
denying the Armenian Genocide are somehow linked and that, conversely,
a democratic Turkey would necessarily pave the way to the recognition
of the Armenian Genocide.
In my humble opinion, this representation is deficient, potentially
dangerous, and surely confused. In particular, it neglects or bypasses
the key issue of what do we want for the Armenian Nation?
Let's put aside the straightforward contradiction that exists in
Armenians supporting the main force opposing the AKP, i.e. the
Kemalists who directly bear the legacy of the notorious Young Turks.
Let's even assume that this support stands for Turkish democrats,
however dubious some of them may be, and that it could potentially
lead to a genuine Turkish democracy. Would it be better? For the Turks,
certainly yes, as it is commonplace to consider democracy as the most
suitable form of government for an advanced nation. For the Armenians,
on the contrary, it could be a worse nightmare.
We should remember that democracy is nothing but the tyranny of
the majority. In this regard, it is quite audacious to think that a
democratic Turkey would be less reluctant to recognize the Armenian
Genocide, not to mention to accept the idea of compensations. It
is a sad and maybe a cynical position, but the past and current
authoritarian nature of successive Turkish regimes has been a
strong incentive that has driven some third parties to support the
Armenian Cause and has been an advantage for the Armenian Cause. On
the contrary, a democratic Turkey would be considered by many as
an appropriate framework to get rid of this old issue and to leave
Armenians and Turks alone to "solve" it face-to-face. Armenians
were a substantial minority in 1915 and we know how the Turkish
government "solved" the issue. Now that the scattered, diminished,
and impoverished Armenian Nation is only a negligible fraction of the
Turkish one, there is no reason to think that the outcome would be
more fair and we could just be glad if this hypothetical democratic
Turkey would formally adopt a more acceptable way to proceed.
Turks are not to be blamed for that: they just know what their national
interests are and how to defend it. Unfortunately, the same could not
be said for the Armenians involved in such rapprochement. It seems
that - consciously or unconsciously - they are trying to reload the
Ottoman Empire and the place that was devoted to Armenians within
it: The Sadik-i Millet as the midwife and the ferment of the Turkish
Hakim Millet. A kind of technical role that gives up any political
claim not to speak about any political role for the greatest benefit
of their overlord. With regard to the increasing takeover by Russia
of the Republic of Armenia, it seems that we could rapidly go back to
the 19th century where Armenians were a useful and educated minority
both in the Turkish and Russian empires.
In this respect, whatever the true reasons behind the Armenian
government's current attempt to escape from the Russia-led Eurasian
Union, whether it's a reasonable decision or not and whether it will
finally succeed or not, it should be seen as a remarkably courageous
act of sovereignty in light of the current geostrategic position of
Armenia. We are thus able to consider that if Armenia is able to resist
strong Russian "incentives", Armenians worldwide could far more easily
resist Turkey's teasing belly-dance made of Aghtamar shows, fairy
tales of a "common past," and elusive pledges for border opening. The
past criminal record of Turkey against the Armenian Nation and its
current criminal denial should forever dismiss any whim of a common
future in the minds of cognizant Armenians. It should encourage
the government of Armenia to step further along the way recently
pioneered by prosecutor general Aghvan Hovsepian. Armenia could, for
instance, declare that it is closing the border with Turkey, which
would change nothing in practical terms, but would confer another
political meaning to the current situation. After all, Armenia has
achieved some significant developments without Turkey these last twenty
years and if any Turkish extremist group would have blasted Aghtamar,
it would just have deprived Turkey from a communication tool, whereas
Armenians would not have been more deprived from their already looted
assets and territories.
After nearly a hundred years of statehood - including the Soviet period
- and centuries under the Ottoman yoke, it is more than time for
Armenians to think and act again as a Nation. And, as a politically
aware community, a Nation does not necessarily consider that the foe
of its foe is a friend. A very old Indo-European legend claims than
thousands of years ago, the horse was afraid of wolves and asked the
man to climb on his back to hunt and kill wolves. The man proceeded and
when he finished, the horse said to him, "It's fine, now you can get
down." But the man replied that his new position was quite comfortable
and useful... And up to now he is still on the horse's back.
Let's avoid being again the horse of the various foreign factions.
From: Baghdasarian