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A GUIDE THROUGH TURKEY FOR THE ARMENIAN DIASPORA
Daily Sabah, Turkey
Nov 4 2014
Markar Esayan 04 November 2014, Tuesday
Etyen Mahcupyan, an esteemed intellectual who Daily Sabah readers
are acquainted with, has been appointed chief advisor to Prime
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu upon Davutoglu's proposal last week. Some
reactions to the appointment were reflected on social media and by
anti-government media outlets. The main objection was based on the
claim that appointing Mahcupyan as chief advisor was the government's
move to lean into a more functional strategy with regard to the
government's denial policies at the 100th anniversary of the 1915
Armenian genocide. The objectors argued that Mahcupyan was manipulated
as part of this strategy and he displayed an ethical weakness by
accepting it in return for the position.
Our Armenian fellows in the diaspora community might not know the
dynamics in Turkey's domestic politics and the power struggle in
the country as they are exposed to 100 years of denial and isolation
policies. We are constantly implored that Turks must sympathize with
the anger they feel and should not categorically classify the diaspora
as "hostile to Turks and Turkey." I can gladly say that as the dynamo
of the democratization process over the last 12 years in Turkey,
the religious strata of society and their political representative,
the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), are displaying a quite
good-willed effort on this matter.
With rising Islamophobia, especially following Sept. 11, it might be
possible for some Armenians in the diaspora to feel more close to the
"secular totalitarians" who ruled Turkey for 80 years in the midst
of the sovereignty struggle in Turkey. Because they still comprise
the elite stratum of Turkey and still control 70 percent of media
outlets in the country. So, the channels depicting Turkey abroad
are under the control of this stratum. Moreover, the Gulen Movement,
which somewhat balanced this power inequality to a certain extent,
completely took the opposite side as a result of the power struggle
it had with the government.
The authoritarian Kemalist regime has been sustaining a defeat for the
last 12 years in Turkey thanks to the AK Party's democratic reforms,
elections, and non-military methods excluding violence. The anomalies
experienced in the country have remarkably risen within the last two
years. The beginning of these anomalies coincided with the date when
the reconciliation process was initiated by the government to resolve
the Kurdish issue in the country since the clash between the state and
PKK was the most crucial factor that concealed the military domination
in the country and blocked the ways to civilian politics. But more
importantly, three successive elections were going to be held -
local elections on March 30, 2014; presidential election on Aug. 10,
2014 and general elections in 2015.
So, the Gezi Park crisis was manipulated for provocation. Also on Dec.
17 and Dec. 25, 2013, an illegal group in law enforcement and the
judiciary attempted a judicial coup under the guise of corruption
investigations. They attempted to overthrow the government with a
civil war or a coup that was disguised as a legal procedure since
it did not seem possible to topple the government in political and
democratic ways. And now another coup was attempted through the Kobani
crisis. The Oct. 6-7 pogrom was a provocation motivated by that. The
incidents took place at a phase when a law on the reconciliation
process passed in Parliament, the PKK's imprisoned leader Abdullah
Ocalan said the process was healthy and progressing and the bloodshed
completely stopped in the region, which led to the assumptions that
the PKK's leadership in the Qandil Mountains of Iraq was persuaded
to side with the coup attempts.
The only way to politically redesign Turkey is the PKK taking up its
weapons again and influencing the 2015 elections with the chaos it
creates. The Armenian issue is regarded as a tool in this sovereignty
struggle. In reality, no one is interested in the pain of Armenians.
Be sure that these groups will readopt their denial policies after they
realize their aims since they are the up-to-date wing of the unionists.
Currently, secularism and modernity in Turkey are actually represented
by religious factions. They also regard the Armenian issue as a moral
and conscientious duty that is needed to be faced. They are aware
of the fact that the people now know they weren't taught history
objectively. They also know that not facing the Armenian issue would
constitute an impediment to the democratization process.
It would be naive to say that the government thinks this issue could
be resolved with condolences for the 1915 events and the recent
appointments since the Armenian issue is not an immediate matter for
Turkey. It was also possible to suspend this issue for years by the
government basing its policies on denial rhetoric and geopolitical
importance. We are living in the same world with the Bashar Assad
regime, which killed 300,000 people in Syria but is still protected.
Also, to correctly evaluate the process of facing history that has
started in Turkey, it is important for the Armenian diaspora to
sympathize with the situation in Turkey and abstain from those who
want to instrumentalize their pain.
http://www.dailysabah.com/columns/markar_esayan/2014/11/04/a-guide-through-turkey-for-the-armenian-diaspora
Daily Sabah, Turkey
Nov 4 2014
Markar Esayan 04 November 2014, Tuesday
Etyen Mahcupyan, an esteemed intellectual who Daily Sabah readers
are acquainted with, has been appointed chief advisor to Prime
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu upon Davutoglu's proposal last week. Some
reactions to the appointment were reflected on social media and by
anti-government media outlets. The main objection was based on the
claim that appointing Mahcupyan as chief advisor was the government's
move to lean into a more functional strategy with regard to the
government's denial policies at the 100th anniversary of the 1915
Armenian genocide. The objectors argued that Mahcupyan was manipulated
as part of this strategy and he displayed an ethical weakness by
accepting it in return for the position.
Our Armenian fellows in the diaspora community might not know the
dynamics in Turkey's domestic politics and the power struggle in
the country as they are exposed to 100 years of denial and isolation
policies. We are constantly implored that Turks must sympathize with
the anger they feel and should not categorically classify the diaspora
as "hostile to Turks and Turkey." I can gladly say that as the dynamo
of the democratization process over the last 12 years in Turkey,
the religious strata of society and their political representative,
the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), are displaying a quite
good-willed effort on this matter.
With rising Islamophobia, especially following Sept. 11, it might be
possible for some Armenians in the diaspora to feel more close to the
"secular totalitarians" who ruled Turkey for 80 years in the midst
of the sovereignty struggle in Turkey. Because they still comprise
the elite stratum of Turkey and still control 70 percent of media
outlets in the country. So, the channels depicting Turkey abroad
are under the control of this stratum. Moreover, the Gulen Movement,
which somewhat balanced this power inequality to a certain extent,
completely took the opposite side as a result of the power struggle
it had with the government.
The authoritarian Kemalist regime has been sustaining a defeat for the
last 12 years in Turkey thanks to the AK Party's democratic reforms,
elections, and non-military methods excluding violence. The anomalies
experienced in the country have remarkably risen within the last two
years. The beginning of these anomalies coincided with the date when
the reconciliation process was initiated by the government to resolve
the Kurdish issue in the country since the clash between the state and
PKK was the most crucial factor that concealed the military domination
in the country and blocked the ways to civilian politics. But more
importantly, three successive elections were going to be held -
local elections on March 30, 2014; presidential election on Aug. 10,
2014 and general elections in 2015.
So, the Gezi Park crisis was manipulated for provocation. Also on Dec.
17 and Dec. 25, 2013, an illegal group in law enforcement and the
judiciary attempted a judicial coup under the guise of corruption
investigations. They attempted to overthrow the government with a
civil war or a coup that was disguised as a legal procedure since
it did not seem possible to topple the government in political and
democratic ways. And now another coup was attempted through the Kobani
crisis. The Oct. 6-7 pogrom was a provocation motivated by that. The
incidents took place at a phase when a law on the reconciliation
process passed in Parliament, the PKK's imprisoned leader Abdullah
Ocalan said the process was healthy and progressing and the bloodshed
completely stopped in the region, which led to the assumptions that
the PKK's leadership in the Qandil Mountains of Iraq was persuaded
to side with the coup attempts.
The only way to politically redesign Turkey is the PKK taking up its
weapons again and influencing the 2015 elections with the chaos it
creates. The Armenian issue is regarded as a tool in this sovereignty
struggle. In reality, no one is interested in the pain of Armenians.
Be sure that these groups will readopt their denial policies after they
realize their aims since they are the up-to-date wing of the unionists.
Currently, secularism and modernity in Turkey are actually represented
by religious factions. They also regard the Armenian issue as a moral
and conscientious duty that is needed to be faced. They are aware
of the fact that the people now know they weren't taught history
objectively. They also know that not facing the Armenian issue would
constitute an impediment to the democratization process.
It would be naive to say that the government thinks this issue could
be resolved with condolences for the 1915 events and the recent
appointments since the Armenian issue is not an immediate matter for
Turkey. It was also possible to suspend this issue for years by the
government basing its policies on denial rhetoric and geopolitical
importance. We are living in the same world with the Bashar Assad
regime, which killed 300,000 people in Syria but is still protected.
Also, to correctly evaluate the process of facing history that has
started in Turkey, it is important for the Armenian diaspora to
sympathize with the situation in Turkey and abstain from those who
want to instrumentalize their pain.
http://www.dailysabah.com/columns/markar_esayan/2014/11/04/a-guide-through-turkey-for-the-armenian-diaspora