Tweet
THE CONFLICT AROUND THE 'G WORD'
Huffington Post
April 14 2015
Arzu Kaya Uranli , Independent Journalist & Lecturer
Pope Francis on last Sunday honored the 100th anniversary of the
slaughter of Armenians by calling it "the first genocide of the
20th century."
Francis, who has close ties to the Armenian community from his days
in Argentina, defended his declaration by saying it was his duty to
honor the memory of the innocent men, women, children, priests and
bishops who were "senselessly" murdered.
A politically explosive pronouncement angered Turkey. After Pope
Francis had called the 1915 mass killings in Armenia a genocide, most
of the Turkish people are so disappointed and officials considers
the pope's comments had caused a "problem of trust".
Meanwhile, the reality star Kim Kardashian along with her husband,
Kanye West, and other family members are on a journey to Armenia to
mark the 100th anniversary of the "Armenian genocide" in Yerevan.
During the trip, a film crew will accompany them to shoot several
episodes of the reality series, Keeping up with the Kardashians.
Kardashian announced that she will be visiting the Tsitsernakaberd
Memorial in the capital, Yerevan, but will not attend any official
commemoration. Since her late father, Robert Kardashian, was a
third-generation Armenian-American, she has for years -- and on
several occasions publicly -- supported the international recognition
of the Armenian genocide, and now, for the first time, is visiting
Armenia. But Kim Kardashian is not the only one paying extra attention
to the issue this year.
Given that relations between Turkey and the U.S. have not been going
well recently, many people believe this might be the year when U.S.
President Barack Obama uses the "G word." Forty-nine U.S. lawmakers
have already sent a letter urging President Obama to recognize the
"Armenian genocide." They claim this move would somehow help improve
relations between Turkey and Armenia. As you might remember, during
the 2008 presidential race President Obama promised to recognize
"the mass killing of Armenians" as "genocide" and Armenian-Americans
are more hopeful that this year he will keep his promise.
The term "genocide" was first coined and defined by Polish lawyer
Raphael Lemkin in 1943 to describe the massacre of ethnic Armenians by
the Ottoman authorities in what is now Turkey. Armenians claim that
during World War I, 1.5 million Armenians were either killed or died
during forced exile in an intentional effort to completely destroy
the Armenian minority in Eastern Turkey. Nevertheless, despite Turkey
accepting that there were mass killings and forced deportations, as a
state it has argued that "genocide" is not an appropriate term. Turkey
has instead continued lobbying against the recognition of the 1915
events as genocide, arguing that the acts were a result of war and
that the number has been inflated.
I have just finished a book by Turkey's Armenian journalist Hayko
Bagdat entitled The Snail (Salyangoz), and realized once more how
difficult it has been for the Armenian minority to be "the other"
in Turkey for centuries and that exile is only a small part of that
ongoing inequity. Recognition of this mass killing with a proper term
could be a strong starting point to heal the wounds in the hearts
of Armenians. Yet Ankara is not even close to expressing any form of
regret for what took place in history after all this time.
Ironically, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the
100th anniversary of the Gallipoli Campaign of World War I would
be held on April 24. Choosing the same date that Armenians around
the world annually observe as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day is
absurd. Even pro-government Turkish-Armenian author and columnist
Etyen Mahcupyan, who currently serves as a top adviser to Prime
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, accused President Erdogan of not being
"chic" over the decision and claimed that Erdogan acted unethically
to gain nationalist votes during the June 7 election.
So far, 22 countries have formally recognized the historical event as
"genocide." In addition, 43 American states have accepted its status
as such. Nonetheless, apparently, when it comes to the U.S., it seems
it is very important to Turkey if Obama uses the "G word." Several
high-level Turkish officials have visited Washington since January
to convince the U.S. not to. Nowadays, Foreign Minister Mevlut
CavuÅ~_oglu is expected to visit Washington just before Obama's
statement for the same reason. The freshly established Turkish
Institute for Progress, a new Turkish-American lobby group that
aims to bring about reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia, has
neglected to label the 1915 killings.
Yet, it is certain that in 1915, an 'outrageous thing' happened in
Anatolia that had not taken place in the 1000 years before. Historians
have the task to find out what exactly happened in detail and
enlighten all related documents to create a single repository, so
that politicians on both sides can assess the findings and guide the
international community to make a decision to evaluate the situation.
Instead of fighting over whether what happened in 1915 is genocide or
not, why don't we first consider it genoexile, a portmanteau meaning
"sending a race to exile"? Obviously, the techniques of destruction
used by the Americans against Native Americans or by the Germans
against Jews were different than what happened to the Armenians at
the moment.
While establishing Republic of Turkey to create a nation-state the
Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) pitted people against each
other. We all know today that Armenians were not the only victims of
this act, but Kurds, Alevits and all other minorities were as well.
What happened was not acceptable and the CUP was the responsible
party. Regardless, Turkey should apologize for those incidents of
its past because problems cannot be solved with announcements by
the Pope or the U.S. president. The problem can be solved only if
the Armenian nation and the Turkish nation work together. In the
twenty-first century, and within our communication age it's about
time these two nations found a way to discuss this taboo. This is a
mutual sorrow that needs a mutual solution.
As a Turkish American, I whole-heartedly believe that rather than
lobbying the U.S. Congress at this time of year to stop using the "G
word," we should be offering different solutions and creating a new
commemoration day. There is still profound grief over the issue and
100 years is long enough a period of denial. It is time we face it and
find a common ground to solve the conflict and heal the deep wounds.
For more Arzu Kaya-Uranli clickor follow her at @akuranli.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arzu-kaya-uranli/the-conflict-around-the-g_b_7058496.html
Huffington Post
April 14 2015
Arzu Kaya Uranli , Independent Journalist & Lecturer
Pope Francis on last Sunday honored the 100th anniversary of the
slaughter of Armenians by calling it "the first genocide of the
20th century."
Francis, who has close ties to the Armenian community from his days
in Argentina, defended his declaration by saying it was his duty to
honor the memory of the innocent men, women, children, priests and
bishops who were "senselessly" murdered.
A politically explosive pronouncement angered Turkey. After Pope
Francis had called the 1915 mass killings in Armenia a genocide, most
of the Turkish people are so disappointed and officials considers
the pope's comments had caused a "problem of trust".
Meanwhile, the reality star Kim Kardashian along with her husband,
Kanye West, and other family members are on a journey to Armenia to
mark the 100th anniversary of the "Armenian genocide" in Yerevan.
During the trip, a film crew will accompany them to shoot several
episodes of the reality series, Keeping up with the Kardashians.
Kardashian announced that she will be visiting the Tsitsernakaberd
Memorial in the capital, Yerevan, but will not attend any official
commemoration. Since her late father, Robert Kardashian, was a
third-generation Armenian-American, she has for years -- and on
several occasions publicly -- supported the international recognition
of the Armenian genocide, and now, for the first time, is visiting
Armenia. But Kim Kardashian is not the only one paying extra attention
to the issue this year.
Given that relations between Turkey and the U.S. have not been going
well recently, many people believe this might be the year when U.S.
President Barack Obama uses the "G word." Forty-nine U.S. lawmakers
have already sent a letter urging President Obama to recognize the
"Armenian genocide." They claim this move would somehow help improve
relations between Turkey and Armenia. As you might remember, during
the 2008 presidential race President Obama promised to recognize
"the mass killing of Armenians" as "genocide" and Armenian-Americans
are more hopeful that this year he will keep his promise.
The term "genocide" was first coined and defined by Polish lawyer
Raphael Lemkin in 1943 to describe the massacre of ethnic Armenians by
the Ottoman authorities in what is now Turkey. Armenians claim that
during World War I, 1.5 million Armenians were either killed or died
during forced exile in an intentional effort to completely destroy
the Armenian minority in Eastern Turkey. Nevertheless, despite Turkey
accepting that there were mass killings and forced deportations, as a
state it has argued that "genocide" is not an appropriate term. Turkey
has instead continued lobbying against the recognition of the 1915
events as genocide, arguing that the acts were a result of war and
that the number has been inflated.
I have just finished a book by Turkey's Armenian journalist Hayko
Bagdat entitled The Snail (Salyangoz), and realized once more how
difficult it has been for the Armenian minority to be "the other"
in Turkey for centuries and that exile is only a small part of that
ongoing inequity. Recognition of this mass killing with a proper term
could be a strong starting point to heal the wounds in the hearts
of Armenians. Yet Ankara is not even close to expressing any form of
regret for what took place in history after all this time.
Ironically, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the
100th anniversary of the Gallipoli Campaign of World War I would
be held on April 24. Choosing the same date that Armenians around
the world annually observe as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day is
absurd. Even pro-government Turkish-Armenian author and columnist
Etyen Mahcupyan, who currently serves as a top adviser to Prime
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, accused President Erdogan of not being
"chic" over the decision and claimed that Erdogan acted unethically
to gain nationalist votes during the June 7 election.
So far, 22 countries have formally recognized the historical event as
"genocide." In addition, 43 American states have accepted its status
as such. Nonetheless, apparently, when it comes to the U.S., it seems
it is very important to Turkey if Obama uses the "G word." Several
high-level Turkish officials have visited Washington since January
to convince the U.S. not to. Nowadays, Foreign Minister Mevlut
CavuÅ~_oglu is expected to visit Washington just before Obama's
statement for the same reason. The freshly established Turkish
Institute for Progress, a new Turkish-American lobby group that
aims to bring about reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia, has
neglected to label the 1915 killings.
Yet, it is certain that in 1915, an 'outrageous thing' happened in
Anatolia that had not taken place in the 1000 years before. Historians
have the task to find out what exactly happened in detail and
enlighten all related documents to create a single repository, so
that politicians on both sides can assess the findings and guide the
international community to make a decision to evaluate the situation.
Instead of fighting over whether what happened in 1915 is genocide or
not, why don't we first consider it genoexile, a portmanteau meaning
"sending a race to exile"? Obviously, the techniques of destruction
used by the Americans against Native Americans or by the Germans
against Jews were different than what happened to the Armenians at
the moment.
While establishing Republic of Turkey to create a nation-state the
Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) pitted people against each
other. We all know today that Armenians were not the only victims of
this act, but Kurds, Alevits and all other minorities were as well.
What happened was not acceptable and the CUP was the responsible
party. Regardless, Turkey should apologize for those incidents of
its past because problems cannot be solved with announcements by
the Pope or the U.S. president. The problem can be solved only if
the Armenian nation and the Turkish nation work together. In the
twenty-first century, and within our communication age it's about
time these two nations found a way to discuss this taboo. This is a
mutual sorrow that needs a mutual solution.
As a Turkish American, I whole-heartedly believe that rather than
lobbying the U.S. Congress at this time of year to stop using the "G
word," we should be offering different solutions and creating a new
commemoration day. There is still profound grief over the issue and
100 years is long enough a period of denial. It is time we face it and
find a common ground to solve the conflict and heal the deep wounds.
For more Arzu Kaya-Uranli clickor follow her at @akuranli.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arzu-kaya-uranli/the-conflict-around-the-g_b_7058496.html