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Ekklesia, UK
April 25 2014
One year to the centenary of the Armenian Genocide
By Harry Hagopian
24 Apr 2014
Just utter the words 'Armenian genocide' or mention the date '24 April
1915' to any Armenian in any corner of the world, and he or she would
instantly launch into stories about the near-extermination of their
Armenian forebears by Ottoman Turkey under the cover of the First
World War.
Mention those same words or dates to most Turkish men or women and
they would in all likelihood profess ignorance of the event, or deny
that it ever happened, or go into fits of indignation about such
Armenian mendacities. Welcome to the world of Armenian-Turkish
relations 99 years after this horrible chapter in their shared
history.
While most Diasporan Armenians define much of their identity through
those events, Turkey seemingly feels no such moral compunction or
guilt despite the holocaust (as Robert Fisk calls it) that its Ottoman
predecessors committed against Armenians. Instead, and unlike Germany
that has bent backwards in its admission of responsibility for
ha-Shoah (the Jewish Holocaust) let alone made reparations, Turkey
still challenges any statement that dares question its actions during
the First World War.
So here are my latest thoughts about the issue of the Armenian
genocide at a time when Armenians in all five continents commemorate
this event despite what have been frenetic, persistent denials by
Turkish officials -- with some more hopeful comments recently
forthcoming from Prime Minister Erdogan.
* I have probably repeated this statement ad nauseum, but I would like
to re-affirm that there is no doubt in my mind about the historical
veracity of this genocide - a macabre event that one priest recently
described as 'the granddaddy of all genocides'. And I utter this
statement not as an ethnic Armenian with presumed genetic biases, but
as someone quite familiar with the solid literature coming out from
international historians, organisations, scholars and lawyers - not
least the International Association of Genocide Scholars - confirming
time and again that forced deportations and massacres took place
against Armenians of Turkish nationality [alongside Greeks, Assyrians
and Nestorians] living in their homelands in Eastern Turkey / Western
Armenia during those ominous years of WWI.
* Mind you, any search engine would come up with a wealth of serious
and incontrovertible documentation about this genocide. As Professor
Colin Tatz, a former director of the Centre for Comparative Genocide
Studies, stated, "The Turkish denial [of the Armenian genocide] is
probably the foremost example of historical perversion. With a mix of
academic sophistication and diplomatic thuggery - of which we at
Macquarie University [in Sydney, Australia] have been targets - the
Turks have put both memory and history into reverse gear". In fact,
was it not Tala'at Pasha, in a conversation with Dr Mordtmann of the
German embassy in June 1915, who said that Turkey was taking advantage
of the war in order to thoroughly liquidate {gründlich aufräumen} its
internal foes?
* Yet, many Turks remain largely unaware of this Ottoman chapter in
their history. How could they, really? A blend of Turkish stubborn
nationalism, coupled with a near blackout of any literary or academic
sources (until quite recently), has meant that a gap has existed in
the education of Turks. One rule of thumb has always been that
ignorance often fosters strident tones of chauvinism - which is what
also happens at times in modern-day Turkey. Nonetheless, there is a
creeping awareness by Turks of this genocide: after all, some
universities, academics, authors and researchers are openly - at times
bravely - defying this manner of self-imposed and deliberate denial.
* In this sense, one very powerful Turkish manifestation of this
evolving and encouraging trend has been the public Call for
Commemoration: The 24th of April statements issued yearly by the Human
Rights Association, Istanbul Branch Committee against Racism and
Discrimination. In letters they sent to the two catholicoi (highest
authorities of the Armenian Church at Etchmiadzin and Antelias) a
couple of years ago, for instance, they decried "the deracination of
the Armenian population throughout Anatolia where they had lived for
thousands of years, and their annihilation as a result of starvation,
destitution and massacres". In fact, the significance of this decision
by the Human Rights Association far outreaches its small numbers. It
is a bold decision that is driven by respect for human rights per se
and as such is a crucial transit point for the future since what
matters most is not the recognition of this genocide by third parties
- even important ones such as the USA, the UK or Israel - but rather
by Turkey itself. Simply put, the buck started with Turkey, and the
buck can really only stop with Turkey.
* Moreover, and as Marc Nichanian writes somewhat controversially in
his Historiographic Perversion (CUP, 2009) when discussing history and
law, the Armenian genocide deals with amputation as well as
imputation. Indeed, the certainty alone that the genocide occurred -
no matter how deliberately cruel - is in itself an inadequate
response. The same could be argued for the self-sufficiency of
worldwide campaigns for recognition embracing our political, religious
or community leaders. Even though their words are fiery and rousing,
their follow-up actions remain politic and therefore casuistic. Nor,
for that matter, is recognition achieved merely through an
overinflated reliance on draft laws submitted to parliaments as
political footballs or the prevarications of US Administrations and
Israeli governments who spin their decisions politically and label the
genocide as meds yeghern (great catastrophe) or else market the
recognition of the genocide episodically for the sake of rankling if
not pressuring Turkey. What troubles me is that this Armenian
dependency on recognition by world leaders or parliaments is not the
real solution. What is required is a much deeper reflection on
longer-term strategies rather than shorter-term tactics alone.
* In my opinion, as a Christian believer but equally as an
international lawyer who has worked with such cases, those expressions
of frustration and indignation - understandable though they might be
on an emotional level - must also be measured and well thought out. We
must certainly lift up our indefatigable values, sacrifices and
traditions as Armenians but we should also ensure that we do not go
down the slippery road of revenge. Recognition is not tantamount to
vindictiveness or a settling of scores. So I do wonder about the
wisdom of constant Turkey-bashing with words (and at times with eggs
hurled at Turkish demonstrators!), or when our recognition campaigns
turn exceedingly jingoistic and attempt to legislate our freedoms of
thought and expression - those very freedoms our forefathers were
deprived of during the genocide?
* This year, in 2014, the Diasporan communities are preparing - some
less slowly than others - for the centenary of the Armenian genocide.
So what should be the task of those committees that are meant to
represent Armenians worldwide? Should it be one of looking inward
(perish the thought, even navel-gazing), with each committee behaving
parochially or else slavering to the expectations of vested interests
- Armenian or otherwise - as they consider the programmes that could
feature in our commemorative events for 2015? Or should they come
together as avant-garde thinkers who surprise us by stepping outside
the box, even pushing the proverbial envelope, and confidently seeking
to define a robust and united roadmap that is grounded in an inclusive
vision? As appointed leaders, are they ready to lead by challenging
some of our long-held taboos? Where do we Armenians wish to go in
terms of a genocide that cleansed two-thirds of the Armenian
populations in Ottoman Turkey during 1915-1923? Should we not look at
the arsenal of tools that constitute the potential wealth of the whole
Armenian nation today?
* Such tools could be political, legal, literary, religious,
dialogical and media-friendly - to name just five. Are we not aware of
the number of journalists or activists who are detained in Turkish
gaols today or are we not familiar of the vagaries of the Turkish
Penal Code and its proscriptive articles that muzzle Turks and
handcuff their words let alone deeds? Should we not challenge the
vociferous denial of modern-day Turkey in legal fora, academic and
media outlets as well as on political levels that require less
grandstanding perhaps than the White House or Elysée Palace but are
more effective in mobilising grassroots support for an Armenian case
that helped Lemkin craft the UN Genocide Convention of 1948? Here in
the UK, a small number of committed activists in Wales have over the
years achieved much more than in many other parts of the UK. The same
could be said of Edinburgh where another handful of Armenians managed
to pass two Resolutions by the Edinburgh City Council that recognise
the Armenian genocide despite massive Turkish opposition and a
reluctance by Scottish Conservatives to support the Motion.
* Finally, and whilst keeping recognition by Turkey as the bull's eye
of all collective efforts, the Armenian genocide must also tap into
its available resources in association with survivors of other
genocides - from the Holocaust and Cambodia to Rwanda and Darfur.
Should we not talk perhaps to Rwandans or Kurds about their
experiences at Kigali, at Halabja and elsewhere too? After all, and as
George Shirinian of the Canada-based Zoryan Institute stated a while
back, education is a mnemonic, the one indispensable skeleton key
toward the achievement of the Armenian objective. Education is harder
than loose words, but it could also re-incarnate the memories of all
those Armenians killed, wounded, raped, deported, converted or
forgotten during this cheerless period in the history of humankind.
Like most Diasporan Armenians today, I too trace my roots to the
horrors committed against my family by the triumvirate rulers of
Turkey ninety-nine years ago. I have lost members of my family and
have heard the stories recounted to me by my maternal grandfather some
decades ago. But I do not seek revenge, nor do I want to spill more
blood in order to cleanse the stain that blots Ottoman Turkish
history. Rather, I seek painfully a way forward that honours the
memories of all those who perished during the genocide so that I too
can move forward - alongside other Armenians and Turks.
And let me say it plainly but also confidently, while all Turks are
certainly not righteous Hrant Dinks, some of them certainly are, as
they went out of their way to help protect Armenians - and therefore
they too become part of my own future.
* More on the Armenian Genocide from Ekklesia:
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/armeniangenocide
---------
(c) Harry Hagopian is an international lawyer, ecumenist and EU
political consultant.
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/20454
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
April 25 2014
One year to the centenary of the Armenian Genocide
By Harry Hagopian
24 Apr 2014
Just utter the words 'Armenian genocide' or mention the date '24 April
1915' to any Armenian in any corner of the world, and he or she would
instantly launch into stories about the near-extermination of their
Armenian forebears by Ottoman Turkey under the cover of the First
World War.
Mention those same words or dates to most Turkish men or women and
they would in all likelihood profess ignorance of the event, or deny
that it ever happened, or go into fits of indignation about such
Armenian mendacities. Welcome to the world of Armenian-Turkish
relations 99 years after this horrible chapter in their shared
history.
While most Diasporan Armenians define much of their identity through
those events, Turkey seemingly feels no such moral compunction or
guilt despite the holocaust (as Robert Fisk calls it) that its Ottoman
predecessors committed against Armenians. Instead, and unlike Germany
that has bent backwards in its admission of responsibility for
ha-Shoah (the Jewish Holocaust) let alone made reparations, Turkey
still challenges any statement that dares question its actions during
the First World War.
So here are my latest thoughts about the issue of the Armenian
genocide at a time when Armenians in all five continents commemorate
this event despite what have been frenetic, persistent denials by
Turkish officials -- with some more hopeful comments recently
forthcoming from Prime Minister Erdogan.
* I have probably repeated this statement ad nauseum, but I would like
to re-affirm that there is no doubt in my mind about the historical
veracity of this genocide - a macabre event that one priest recently
described as 'the granddaddy of all genocides'. And I utter this
statement not as an ethnic Armenian with presumed genetic biases, but
as someone quite familiar with the solid literature coming out from
international historians, organisations, scholars and lawyers - not
least the International Association of Genocide Scholars - confirming
time and again that forced deportations and massacres took place
against Armenians of Turkish nationality [alongside Greeks, Assyrians
and Nestorians] living in their homelands in Eastern Turkey / Western
Armenia during those ominous years of WWI.
* Mind you, any search engine would come up with a wealth of serious
and incontrovertible documentation about this genocide. As Professor
Colin Tatz, a former director of the Centre for Comparative Genocide
Studies, stated, "The Turkish denial [of the Armenian genocide] is
probably the foremost example of historical perversion. With a mix of
academic sophistication and diplomatic thuggery - of which we at
Macquarie University [in Sydney, Australia] have been targets - the
Turks have put both memory and history into reverse gear". In fact,
was it not Tala'at Pasha, in a conversation with Dr Mordtmann of the
German embassy in June 1915, who said that Turkey was taking advantage
of the war in order to thoroughly liquidate {gründlich aufräumen} its
internal foes?
* Yet, many Turks remain largely unaware of this Ottoman chapter in
their history. How could they, really? A blend of Turkish stubborn
nationalism, coupled with a near blackout of any literary or academic
sources (until quite recently), has meant that a gap has existed in
the education of Turks. One rule of thumb has always been that
ignorance often fosters strident tones of chauvinism - which is what
also happens at times in modern-day Turkey. Nonetheless, there is a
creeping awareness by Turks of this genocide: after all, some
universities, academics, authors and researchers are openly - at times
bravely - defying this manner of self-imposed and deliberate denial.
* In this sense, one very powerful Turkish manifestation of this
evolving and encouraging trend has been the public Call for
Commemoration: The 24th of April statements issued yearly by the Human
Rights Association, Istanbul Branch Committee against Racism and
Discrimination. In letters they sent to the two catholicoi (highest
authorities of the Armenian Church at Etchmiadzin and Antelias) a
couple of years ago, for instance, they decried "the deracination of
the Armenian population throughout Anatolia where they had lived for
thousands of years, and their annihilation as a result of starvation,
destitution and massacres". In fact, the significance of this decision
by the Human Rights Association far outreaches its small numbers. It
is a bold decision that is driven by respect for human rights per se
and as such is a crucial transit point for the future since what
matters most is not the recognition of this genocide by third parties
- even important ones such as the USA, the UK or Israel - but rather
by Turkey itself. Simply put, the buck started with Turkey, and the
buck can really only stop with Turkey.
* Moreover, and as Marc Nichanian writes somewhat controversially in
his Historiographic Perversion (CUP, 2009) when discussing history and
law, the Armenian genocide deals with amputation as well as
imputation. Indeed, the certainty alone that the genocide occurred -
no matter how deliberately cruel - is in itself an inadequate
response. The same could be argued for the self-sufficiency of
worldwide campaigns for recognition embracing our political, religious
or community leaders. Even though their words are fiery and rousing,
their follow-up actions remain politic and therefore casuistic. Nor,
for that matter, is recognition achieved merely through an
overinflated reliance on draft laws submitted to parliaments as
political footballs or the prevarications of US Administrations and
Israeli governments who spin their decisions politically and label the
genocide as meds yeghern (great catastrophe) or else market the
recognition of the genocide episodically for the sake of rankling if
not pressuring Turkey. What troubles me is that this Armenian
dependency on recognition by world leaders or parliaments is not the
real solution. What is required is a much deeper reflection on
longer-term strategies rather than shorter-term tactics alone.
* In my opinion, as a Christian believer but equally as an
international lawyer who has worked with such cases, those expressions
of frustration and indignation - understandable though they might be
on an emotional level - must also be measured and well thought out. We
must certainly lift up our indefatigable values, sacrifices and
traditions as Armenians but we should also ensure that we do not go
down the slippery road of revenge. Recognition is not tantamount to
vindictiveness or a settling of scores. So I do wonder about the
wisdom of constant Turkey-bashing with words (and at times with eggs
hurled at Turkish demonstrators!), or when our recognition campaigns
turn exceedingly jingoistic and attempt to legislate our freedoms of
thought and expression - those very freedoms our forefathers were
deprived of during the genocide?
* This year, in 2014, the Diasporan communities are preparing - some
less slowly than others - for the centenary of the Armenian genocide.
So what should be the task of those committees that are meant to
represent Armenians worldwide? Should it be one of looking inward
(perish the thought, even navel-gazing), with each committee behaving
parochially or else slavering to the expectations of vested interests
- Armenian or otherwise - as they consider the programmes that could
feature in our commemorative events for 2015? Or should they come
together as avant-garde thinkers who surprise us by stepping outside
the box, even pushing the proverbial envelope, and confidently seeking
to define a robust and united roadmap that is grounded in an inclusive
vision? As appointed leaders, are they ready to lead by challenging
some of our long-held taboos? Where do we Armenians wish to go in
terms of a genocide that cleansed two-thirds of the Armenian
populations in Ottoman Turkey during 1915-1923? Should we not look at
the arsenal of tools that constitute the potential wealth of the whole
Armenian nation today?
* Such tools could be political, legal, literary, religious,
dialogical and media-friendly - to name just five. Are we not aware of
the number of journalists or activists who are detained in Turkish
gaols today or are we not familiar of the vagaries of the Turkish
Penal Code and its proscriptive articles that muzzle Turks and
handcuff their words let alone deeds? Should we not challenge the
vociferous denial of modern-day Turkey in legal fora, academic and
media outlets as well as on political levels that require less
grandstanding perhaps than the White House or Elysée Palace but are
more effective in mobilising grassroots support for an Armenian case
that helped Lemkin craft the UN Genocide Convention of 1948? Here in
the UK, a small number of committed activists in Wales have over the
years achieved much more than in many other parts of the UK. The same
could be said of Edinburgh where another handful of Armenians managed
to pass two Resolutions by the Edinburgh City Council that recognise
the Armenian genocide despite massive Turkish opposition and a
reluctance by Scottish Conservatives to support the Motion.
* Finally, and whilst keeping recognition by Turkey as the bull's eye
of all collective efforts, the Armenian genocide must also tap into
its available resources in association with survivors of other
genocides - from the Holocaust and Cambodia to Rwanda and Darfur.
Should we not talk perhaps to Rwandans or Kurds about their
experiences at Kigali, at Halabja and elsewhere too? After all, and as
George Shirinian of the Canada-based Zoryan Institute stated a while
back, education is a mnemonic, the one indispensable skeleton key
toward the achievement of the Armenian objective. Education is harder
than loose words, but it could also re-incarnate the memories of all
those Armenians killed, wounded, raped, deported, converted or
forgotten during this cheerless period in the history of humankind.
Like most Diasporan Armenians today, I too trace my roots to the
horrors committed against my family by the triumvirate rulers of
Turkey ninety-nine years ago. I have lost members of my family and
have heard the stories recounted to me by my maternal grandfather some
decades ago. But I do not seek revenge, nor do I want to spill more
blood in order to cleanse the stain that blots Ottoman Turkish
history. Rather, I seek painfully a way forward that honours the
memories of all those who perished during the genocide so that I too
can move forward - alongside other Armenians and Turks.
And let me say it plainly but also confidently, while all Turks are
certainly not righteous Hrant Dinks, some of them certainly are, as
they went out of their way to help protect Armenians - and therefore
they too become part of my own future.
* More on the Armenian Genocide from Ekklesia:
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/armeniangenocide
---------
(c) Harry Hagopian is an international lawyer, ecumenist and EU
political consultant.
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/20454
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress