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Cihan News Agency (CNA)
November 27, 2014 Thursday
Talking closed borders
by CENGÄ°Z AKTAR
Ä°STANBUL (CÄ°HAN)- Over the weekend, at Ankara University's Faculty of
Political Science, the famous Mülkiye, the Hrant Dink Foundation
hosted an international academic conference titled `Sealed Gate: The
Prospects of the Turkey-Armenia Border.'
A total of 27 papers and many participants who were present at the
venue or via the Internet, from both Turkey and abroad, focused on
`how could a border still be closed nowadays and how it might be
opened up again.'
Ever since states started to draw borders, people have, in a way, been
taken hostage inside or outside of these lines. Simultaneously with
the drawing-up of borders, people (and all moving beings) have always
been rebelling against this fait accompli and penetrating them. The
history of activities termed as illegal and smuggling are synchronous
with the history of borders.
In a globalized world, borders have become rather irrelevant. For
decades we have already had the European Union, where most internal
borders between nation-states have been lifted -- a first of its kind
in the history of humanity. The borders created on the European
continent by the bipolar world that emerged after World War II
disappeared overnight. In spite of such a trend, the land we live on
is still noted for its borders, not to mention its closed borders. One
of them is the border with Armenia. A border that is closed describes
well the limits of those politicians ruling the country in solving the
problems.
`Closed consciousness' is used to refer to those who are in a coma.
Turkey, which has closed its border with its neighbor, is also in a
consciousness coma about the Armenians on the other side of that
border. There is no awareness about how the neighbors live, what they
feel and think. As for those Armenians living on our side of the
closed border, the information is no more abundant.
The things that people can do to open a closed border that cannot be
opened are both few and many in number. The de facto and de jure
opening of the border with Armenia is incumbent on the state that
sealed the gate in 1993. As a matter of fact, the Zurich Protocols --
which were signed in 2009, though not ratified and hence not
implemented -- were the first indicators of a constructive state
attitude about such a serious matter. Alas, they yielded no concrete
result. As for society, it cannot really do much for the opening of
the border other than opposing the current situation. Currently, there
exists a network of connections that is as inconvenient as it is
absurd. The circulation of goods and people flows via Georgia.
However, this makes sense neither in political nor economic terms and
even less in human relations. As a matter of fact, we know today that
the region roughly encompassing Kars-Ardahan-IÄ?dır is isolated from
its hinterland because it cannot be crossed freely. That means
significant economic, social and human decay for both sides of the
border. Let us not forget that Kars and IÄ?dır are among Turkey's
least-developed regions. Hence, since 1993, many grassroots
initiatives emanating from Kars demanded that the border be opened by
departing from this assessment.
The papers presented at the Ankara conference focused deeply on the
vast damage caused by the sealing off of the Armenian-Turkish border.
We have seen time and time again that borders are often not only
physical facts concretized by a military presence and wire fences but
that they are also red lines drawn in minds. Despite this, we witness
the natural transitional nature of border regions and the efforts made
by people to transcend the artificial lines drawn around and between
them. During the Cold War era, news from villages along the
Turkish-Armenian border line would be sung to the other side in the
form of folk songs while locals were working on their lands!
The lack of vision and political preferences shown by governments of
bordering countries leave those pushing for the opening of borders
with a unique alternative: to relentlessly continue to deepen modes of
communication between people through cross-border activities,
including economic interaction, despite all the odds in order to
transcend the borders, be it physically or mentally.
From: A. Papazian
November 27, 2014 Thursday
Talking closed borders
by CENGÄ°Z AKTAR
Ä°STANBUL (CÄ°HAN)- Over the weekend, at Ankara University's Faculty of
Political Science, the famous Mülkiye, the Hrant Dink Foundation
hosted an international academic conference titled `Sealed Gate: The
Prospects of the Turkey-Armenia Border.'
A total of 27 papers and many participants who were present at the
venue or via the Internet, from both Turkey and abroad, focused on
`how could a border still be closed nowadays and how it might be
opened up again.'
Ever since states started to draw borders, people have, in a way, been
taken hostage inside or outside of these lines. Simultaneously with
the drawing-up of borders, people (and all moving beings) have always
been rebelling against this fait accompli and penetrating them. The
history of activities termed as illegal and smuggling are synchronous
with the history of borders.
In a globalized world, borders have become rather irrelevant. For
decades we have already had the European Union, where most internal
borders between nation-states have been lifted -- a first of its kind
in the history of humanity. The borders created on the European
continent by the bipolar world that emerged after World War II
disappeared overnight. In spite of such a trend, the land we live on
is still noted for its borders, not to mention its closed borders. One
of them is the border with Armenia. A border that is closed describes
well the limits of those politicians ruling the country in solving the
problems.
`Closed consciousness' is used to refer to those who are in a coma.
Turkey, which has closed its border with its neighbor, is also in a
consciousness coma about the Armenians on the other side of that
border. There is no awareness about how the neighbors live, what they
feel and think. As for those Armenians living on our side of the
closed border, the information is no more abundant.
The things that people can do to open a closed border that cannot be
opened are both few and many in number. The de facto and de jure
opening of the border with Armenia is incumbent on the state that
sealed the gate in 1993. As a matter of fact, the Zurich Protocols --
which were signed in 2009, though not ratified and hence not
implemented -- were the first indicators of a constructive state
attitude about such a serious matter. Alas, they yielded no concrete
result. As for society, it cannot really do much for the opening of
the border other than opposing the current situation. Currently, there
exists a network of connections that is as inconvenient as it is
absurd. The circulation of goods and people flows via Georgia.
However, this makes sense neither in political nor economic terms and
even less in human relations. As a matter of fact, we know today that
the region roughly encompassing Kars-Ardahan-IÄ?dır is isolated from
its hinterland because it cannot be crossed freely. That means
significant economic, social and human decay for both sides of the
border. Let us not forget that Kars and IÄ?dır are among Turkey's
least-developed regions. Hence, since 1993, many grassroots
initiatives emanating from Kars demanded that the border be opened by
departing from this assessment.
The papers presented at the Ankara conference focused deeply on the
vast damage caused by the sealing off of the Armenian-Turkish border.
We have seen time and time again that borders are often not only
physical facts concretized by a military presence and wire fences but
that they are also red lines drawn in minds. Despite this, we witness
the natural transitional nature of border regions and the efforts made
by people to transcend the artificial lines drawn around and between
them. During the Cold War era, news from villages along the
Turkish-Armenian border line would be sung to the other side in the
form of folk songs while locals were working on their lands!
The lack of vision and political preferences shown by governments of
bordering countries leave those pushing for the opening of borders
with a unique alternative: to relentlessly continue to deepen modes of
communication between people through cross-border activities,
including economic interaction, despite all the odds in order to
transcend the borders, be it physically or mentally.
From: A. Papazian