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ZEYTINOGLU: RECONCILIATION NEEDED BETWEEN TURKEY, ARMENIA
Daily Northwestern
May 5 2014
Ekin Zeytinoglu, Columnist
May 5, 2014 *
To put this in the most straightforward fashion, the ruling AK Party
of Turkey has been oppressing freedom of speech, censoring all kinds
of ideas and threatening the living standards of non-conservatives
excessively for quite some time. However, the very same government
took a huge step forward last week, one that preceding governments
have failed to do. On April 23, the day before the Armenian Genocide
Remembrance Day, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed
his condolences for those who lost their lives under the rule of
Ottoman Empire during World War I.
The events of 1915-1918 are still some of the most controversial topics
of the 20th century. Unlike what Armenian or Turkish governments claim,
there are really two sides to this story and both have the right to
be told. After the Genocide Convention in 1950, it became clear that
both "actus reus" (guilty act) and "mens rea" (guilty mind) must be
present to call any historical event a genocide.
Undeniably many Ottoman citizens, mostly but not limited to Armenians,
lost their lives under extremely inhumane conditions during that
time period. So to decide whether this is a genocide or not, the
question here is whether or not those mass murders and sufferings
were premeditated. Many historians such as Gregory Stanton, Stanford
Shaw and Bernard Lewis have argued for and against this. However,
before one can answer that question, there are plenty of prior
events that should be considered. It is up to Turkish, Armenian and
international historians to find a satisfying answer as, so far, all
of the responses from both viewpoints have failed to recognize opposing
aspects. Regardless of what we call it, what happened will not change.
Many times, I have been asked where I stand and whether or not I
am willing to apologize for all those unimaginable sufferings and
atrocities. I never had a satisfactory answer because I wanted to
say "yes" and "no" for various reasons. Lately I have been asking
myself the same question, and today I can answer confidently. The
main reason others asked me this was because of my ethnicity or my
"heritage" as they saw it. Today, by no means do I feel responsible
for these reasons, as I do not see the Ottoman Empire, a dictatorial
regime whose political, religious and cultural values I never shared,
as part of my "heritage." Unlike what many think, I cannot be defined
by the actions of the "Three Pashas" of the last years of the Ottoman
Empire, who had blood of thousands in their hands. Therefore, I refuse
to apologize because of these reasons.
However as a 20-year-old college student I can see the horror
Armenian people lived through for decades. I can try to understand the
incomprehensible pain generations felt for decades, I can anticipate
the absences Armenian children experienced who grew up without their
mothers and fathers, I can sense the torments of the families back then
and afterwards, and I can imagine the immense agony Armenians lived
through to this day. I personally do not feel responsible, but I can
empathize and therefore wish to apologize to the Armenians, just as
I wish to apologize to the Congolese for the loss of millions under
the rule of Leopold II, or to the Palestinian for their immeasurable
sufferings for decades, or to Native Americans, or to the Vietnamese,
Chinese and Cham Muslims, or to Gypsies, homosexuals and Jews.
We have experienced far too many tragedies so far and we should be
able to remember and learn from every single one of them. Therefore I
believe April 24 is extremely important, not to remember a genocide but
to remember the suffering, not only those who have enough political
power to make their voices heard but also those who do not possess
such power.
Even today we don't have full freedom of speech on many platforms to
talk about the events of 1915-1918. But we need to, as, unlike many
claim, it still isn't clear whether those events should be classified
as genocide or not, because there still isn't a general consensus
among scholars. That can never be achieved unless Armenian, Turkish
and international historians start working together. Unfortunately
this never is going to happen as long as France limits the freedom
of speech by defining not recognizing the genocide as crime or as
long as Turkish courts consider not denying those sufferings as
"insulting Turkishness."
Ekin Zeytinoglu is a McCormick freshman.
http://dailynorthwestern.com/2014/05/05/opinion/zeytinoglu-reconciliation-needed-between-turkey-armenia/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Daily Northwestern
May 5 2014
Ekin Zeytinoglu, Columnist
May 5, 2014 *
To put this in the most straightforward fashion, the ruling AK Party
of Turkey has been oppressing freedom of speech, censoring all kinds
of ideas and threatening the living standards of non-conservatives
excessively for quite some time. However, the very same government
took a huge step forward last week, one that preceding governments
have failed to do. On April 23, the day before the Armenian Genocide
Remembrance Day, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed
his condolences for those who lost their lives under the rule of
Ottoman Empire during World War I.
The events of 1915-1918 are still some of the most controversial topics
of the 20th century. Unlike what Armenian or Turkish governments claim,
there are really two sides to this story and both have the right to
be told. After the Genocide Convention in 1950, it became clear that
both "actus reus" (guilty act) and "mens rea" (guilty mind) must be
present to call any historical event a genocide.
Undeniably many Ottoman citizens, mostly but not limited to Armenians,
lost their lives under extremely inhumane conditions during that
time period. So to decide whether this is a genocide or not, the
question here is whether or not those mass murders and sufferings
were premeditated. Many historians such as Gregory Stanton, Stanford
Shaw and Bernard Lewis have argued for and against this. However,
before one can answer that question, there are plenty of prior
events that should be considered. It is up to Turkish, Armenian and
international historians to find a satisfying answer as, so far, all
of the responses from both viewpoints have failed to recognize opposing
aspects. Regardless of what we call it, what happened will not change.
Many times, I have been asked where I stand and whether or not I
am willing to apologize for all those unimaginable sufferings and
atrocities. I never had a satisfactory answer because I wanted to
say "yes" and "no" for various reasons. Lately I have been asking
myself the same question, and today I can answer confidently. The
main reason others asked me this was because of my ethnicity or my
"heritage" as they saw it. Today, by no means do I feel responsible
for these reasons, as I do not see the Ottoman Empire, a dictatorial
regime whose political, religious and cultural values I never shared,
as part of my "heritage." Unlike what many think, I cannot be defined
by the actions of the "Three Pashas" of the last years of the Ottoman
Empire, who had blood of thousands in their hands. Therefore, I refuse
to apologize because of these reasons.
However as a 20-year-old college student I can see the horror
Armenian people lived through for decades. I can try to understand the
incomprehensible pain generations felt for decades, I can anticipate
the absences Armenian children experienced who grew up without their
mothers and fathers, I can sense the torments of the families back then
and afterwards, and I can imagine the immense agony Armenians lived
through to this day. I personally do not feel responsible, but I can
empathize and therefore wish to apologize to the Armenians, just as
I wish to apologize to the Congolese for the loss of millions under
the rule of Leopold II, or to the Palestinian for their immeasurable
sufferings for decades, or to Native Americans, or to the Vietnamese,
Chinese and Cham Muslims, or to Gypsies, homosexuals and Jews.
We have experienced far too many tragedies so far and we should be
able to remember and learn from every single one of them. Therefore I
believe April 24 is extremely important, not to remember a genocide but
to remember the suffering, not only those who have enough political
power to make their voices heard but also those who do not possess
such power.
Even today we don't have full freedom of speech on many platforms to
talk about the events of 1915-1918. But we need to, as, unlike many
claim, it still isn't clear whether those events should be classified
as genocide or not, because there still isn't a general consensus
among scholars. That can never be achieved unless Armenian, Turkish
and international historians start working together. Unfortunately
this never is going to happen as long as France limits the freedom
of speech by defining not recognizing the genocide as crime or as
long as Turkish courts consider not denying those sufferings as
"insulting Turkishness."
Ekin Zeytinoglu is a McCormick freshman.
http://dailynorthwestern.com/2014/05/05/opinion/zeytinoglu-reconciliation-needed-between-turkey-armenia/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress