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  • Ocalan Extends Hand To Armenians

    OCALAN EXTENDS HAND TO ARMENIANS

    AL-MONITOR
    Feb 17 2014

    Author: Orhan Kemal Cengiz, February 17, 2014

    Although important figures of the Kurdish movement such as Osman
    Baydemir and Altan Tan make statements from time to time addressing
    the Armenian genocide and extending a hand to Armenians, remarks by
    Abdullah Ocalan last year create questions about how the Kurds view
    the Armenian issue.

    In one statement, Ocalan said, "There are three-pronged parallel
    state schemes in Turkey. These are sabotaging relations. They are
    not run-of-the-mill lobbies. Jewish, Armenian and Greek lobbies in
    the United States are interfering strategically and tactically. All
    three originate from Anatolia."

    Although these words irritated Armenians and non-Muslims living in
    Turkey, they did not erupt into a major debate.

    But on Jan. 9, 2013, after the assassination of three Kurdish women
    in Paris, Bese Hozat, a leader of the Union of Kurdish Communities,
    expanded on Ocalan's remarks in harsher tones and led to furious
    reactions. In an interview with Argos Jan. 13, Hozat said, "In Turkey,
    in addition to the official state, there are parallel states. For
    example, the Gulen Movement is a parallel state. The Israeli lobby,
    nationalist Armenians and Greek lobbies are parallel states. These
    parallel states have serious common interests that they share." These
    words caused anger among the non-Muslims in Turkey, particularly
    Armenians.

    The Democratic Peoples Party (HDP), a leftist and predominantly
    Kurdish coalition with Armenian members, was seriously affected by
    Hozat's remarks. The Armenians of the HDP reacted to Hozat's words and
    expressed their resentment by telling Argos, "The emerging vision is
    not a promising one for the HDP's Armenians. To achieve our aspirations
    for a free, just country and world, what we should be doing is not
    discriminating against each other, but struggling together with all
    the oppressed. The peace and peace process that we are also working
    to achieve should not mean marginalizing peoples who are not Turks
    and Kurds."

    This was followed by a joint statement by the co-chairs of the HDP,
    Ertugrul Kurkcu and Sebahat Tuncel, in a distinct effort to distance
    themselves from Hozat's remarks. They said, "We understand why
    our peoples were anxiously with linking the 'parallel state' with
    Armenian, Greek and Jewish identities, which have been legally and
    politically sidelined from organized society and state and who are the
    objects of abhorrent narratives. ... We believe that the revolutionary
    spokespersons of the Kurdish people, who have been struggling against
    official and unofficial denials and eradication, should opt for a
    discourse that will advance the equality of peoples and brotherhood
    and consolidate our joint struggle on the land where we live."

    Then, something unexpected happened Jan. 30: Ocalan sent a letter
    to the Turkish-Armenian language Agos. This seemed to represent a
    turning point for Kurdish-Armenians relations.

    There are five salient themes of Ocalan's letter to Agos:

    Ocalan saying, "The situation of the Armenian people is the full
    reality of genocide. It is a miracle that the Armenian people have been
    able to come so far despite this genocide. This miracle is undoubtedly
    the outcome of great efforts and struggles by the downtrodden Armenian
    people." Ocalan was signalling that the Armenian genocide has been
    recognized at the highest echelons of the Kurdish movement.

    By saying, "The entire world has to come to terms with the historical
    reality of the Armenian people and shares their agony. The Turkish
    republic has to approach this issue with maturity. Its coming to
    terms with bitter history is unavoidable," Ocalan invited the world
    and Turkey to recognize the Armenian genocide.

    He sent a message to the Armenian diaspora by saying, "It can only be
    my modest suggestion to hope the Armenian people will persevere in
    their struggle by avoiding racist-nationalist traps and maintaining
    awareness of the sinister goals of international capitalists and
    lobbies who would like to see our peoples clash for centuries to come."

    Ocalan said, "A republic crowned with democracy will be a republic
    that has come to terms with its past, where diverse identities can
    live freely. Looking at it from this angle, we are struggling for
    freedom for not only Kurdish people, but all peoples and beliefs of
    this region." This was his way of responding to criticism that in
    the peace process between the Turkish government and the Kurdistan
    Workers Party, Kurds were focusing only on their own interests and
    were aloof from the larger struggle for democracy in Tyrkey.

    He portrayed the Kurdish struggle as one of all peoples in Turkey
    by saying, "Our 30 years of struggle is the proof that my search for
    peace that I have been trying to sustain, despite my tough conditions,
    cannot be against any people."

    He declared, "While we are in an unyielding struggle for the benefit
    of all peoples, I have to invite everyone to be aware of the entire
    spectrum of deep, open, parallel structures, lobbies and faith
    movements that are trying to make us fail and assess all developments
    objectively." With these words he extracted the Armenians from the
    parallel state concept while confirming the Kurdish perception of
    the Gulen faith community as an adversary and a rival.

    Comments by Armenian intellectuals on Ocalan's letter indicated that
    Turkey's Armenian community was pleased by the letter. For example,
    Ohannes Kilicdag said Ocalan adopted a position "way above the norms of
    Turkey's politics when it comes to coming to terms with the Armenian
    genocide." Karin Karakasli said, "Ocalan's call on Turkish Republic
    to come to terms with history and his warning to all people against
    traps of nationalism ate vital." Hayko Bagdat noted Ocalan's letter
    was "courageous and constructive about genocide."

    Ocalan's letter seemed to have turned a new page between the Kurds and
    Armenians of Turkey. It is beyond doubt that the Kurdish movement will
    adopt a much clearer position on the Armenian genocide issue. But it
    is not realistic to expect Ocalan's words to have a bearing on the
    Turkish government's refusal to acknowledge the Armenian genocide.

    In any case, Ocalan's letter to the Armenians is a historical document
    now. But it is not easy to predict its long-term affects.

    http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/02/ocalan-armenians-genocide-kurds-acknowledgement-relationship.html#



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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