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ARMENIA, TURKEY CLASHING OVER APRIL 24
Carnegie Moscow Center
March 11 2015
Posted by: Thomas de Waal Wednesday, March 11, 2015
In six weeks' time, on April 24, Armenia and Turkey will hold competing
centennial commemorations, each studying the international guest list
to see who did and did not come.
It is a political row that could easily have been avoided if the
Turkish government had moved its ceremony honoring the Battle of
Gallipoli only one day later, to April 25. It has been obvious for many
years that on April 24 Armenians will commemorate the centenary of the
tragedy of 1915 they now know as the Armenian Genocide. They first
marked that day in 1919 in British-administered Istanbul. In 1915,
April 24 was the day that 200 Armenian leaders and intellectuals
were arrested by the Ottoman authorities as a prelude to the mass
deportation and partial destruction of the entire Armenian population
of the empire.
The following day, April 25, 1915, British imperial forces, along
with men from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps or ANZAC in
the forefront, landed at Gallipoli to try and capture Istanbul and
defeat the Ottoman empire. Thousands of soldiers died. Very soon
April 25 was known as ANZAC day.
April 25 was therefore the obvious day to hold international
commemorations for the Gallipoli battles. Another possible date
would have been March 18, the day in 1915 when the Allied force first
sailed up the Straits and began the campaign. On that day in 1934,
a moving and famous speech written by Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal
(soon to be renamed Ataturk) was delivered. In it the mothers of his
former adversaries were told to "wipe away their tears," and that
"there is no difference between the Johnnies and Mehmets to us,
where they lie side by side here in this country of ours."
However, current Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan chose to hold the
Gallipoli centennial ceremonies on April 24, precipitating a direct
clash with the commemorations in Yerevan. The obvious conclusion is
that this was a direct attempt to divert attention and guests from
the Armenian commemorations.
By doing this, Erdogan undid some of the good work he had done
last year by issuing the first ever statement of condolences to the
Armenians by a Turkish leader.
And it was also a political miscalculation. The Today Zaman newspaper
reported on February 21 that preparations for the Gallipoli ceremonies
had been suspended because "only five countries have accepted the
invitation and they will not be represented by high-level officials."
Official sources then dismissed the report, noting that Today Zaman
is affiliated with Turkey's new opposition, the Gulenist movement.
Even if it does go ahead, the Gallipoli ceremony lacks international
resonance. It is fundamentally a story for six nations: Turkey,
Australia, France, Great Britain, India, and New Zealand. Prince
Charles will be coming from Britain, but there will be no high-level
American guest for example.
Gallipoli and the Armenian deportations already had unfortunate
connections that were best kept separate. The paranoid Young Turks
may well have arrested the Armenian leaders as a kind of pre-emptive
strike against presumed "fifth columnists" ahead of the anticipated
Allied landings. The moving 1934 speech at Gallipoli was delivered
on behalf of Ataturk by Interior Minister Å~^ukru Kaya, one of the
Ottoman officials directly in charge of the Armenian deportations.
More recently, the Turkish government suggested it might not invite
officials from New South Wales to the ceremony, after that Australian
state parliament passed an Armenian genocide resolution.
For the government of Armenia, having a big turnout in Yerevan on
April 24 is probably the main priority for 2015. (Although they would
not say it out loud, it is probably a bigger priority than getting
a genocide recognition resolution in the U.S. Congress.)
The Armenians have already secured the presence of French President
Francois Hollande in Yerevan. And it is likely that a senior U.S.
official, perhaps Secretary of State John Kerry, will attend as well.
Turkey has changed so much in the last few years that there will also
be an Armenian remembrance ceremony on Taksim Square in the heart of
Istanbul that same evening.
Fortunately, those who want to attend the ceremonies in both in
Yerevan and in Istanbul--where the fateful events of April 24,
1915 actually occurred--may be able to do both. The travel company
that runs the air link between Istanbul and Yerevan is planning to
organize a special charter flight so that people can be part of the
commemorations in both cities on the same day.
http://carnegie.ru/eurasiaoutlook/?fa=59311
From: Baghdasarian
Carnegie Moscow Center
March 11 2015
Posted by: Thomas de Waal Wednesday, March 11, 2015
In six weeks' time, on April 24, Armenia and Turkey will hold competing
centennial commemorations, each studying the international guest list
to see who did and did not come.
It is a political row that could easily have been avoided if the
Turkish government had moved its ceremony honoring the Battle of
Gallipoli only one day later, to April 25. It has been obvious for many
years that on April 24 Armenians will commemorate the centenary of the
tragedy of 1915 they now know as the Armenian Genocide. They first
marked that day in 1919 in British-administered Istanbul. In 1915,
April 24 was the day that 200 Armenian leaders and intellectuals
were arrested by the Ottoman authorities as a prelude to the mass
deportation and partial destruction of the entire Armenian population
of the empire.
The following day, April 25, 1915, British imperial forces, along
with men from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps or ANZAC in
the forefront, landed at Gallipoli to try and capture Istanbul and
defeat the Ottoman empire. Thousands of soldiers died. Very soon
April 25 was known as ANZAC day.
April 25 was therefore the obvious day to hold international
commemorations for the Gallipoli battles. Another possible date
would have been March 18, the day in 1915 when the Allied force first
sailed up the Straits and began the campaign. On that day in 1934,
a moving and famous speech written by Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal
(soon to be renamed Ataturk) was delivered. In it the mothers of his
former adversaries were told to "wipe away their tears," and that
"there is no difference between the Johnnies and Mehmets to us,
where they lie side by side here in this country of ours."
However, current Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan chose to hold the
Gallipoli centennial ceremonies on April 24, precipitating a direct
clash with the commemorations in Yerevan. The obvious conclusion is
that this was a direct attempt to divert attention and guests from
the Armenian commemorations.
By doing this, Erdogan undid some of the good work he had done
last year by issuing the first ever statement of condolences to the
Armenians by a Turkish leader.
And it was also a political miscalculation. The Today Zaman newspaper
reported on February 21 that preparations for the Gallipoli ceremonies
had been suspended because "only five countries have accepted the
invitation and they will not be represented by high-level officials."
Official sources then dismissed the report, noting that Today Zaman
is affiliated with Turkey's new opposition, the Gulenist movement.
Even if it does go ahead, the Gallipoli ceremony lacks international
resonance. It is fundamentally a story for six nations: Turkey,
Australia, France, Great Britain, India, and New Zealand. Prince
Charles will be coming from Britain, but there will be no high-level
American guest for example.
Gallipoli and the Armenian deportations already had unfortunate
connections that were best kept separate. The paranoid Young Turks
may well have arrested the Armenian leaders as a kind of pre-emptive
strike against presumed "fifth columnists" ahead of the anticipated
Allied landings. The moving 1934 speech at Gallipoli was delivered
on behalf of Ataturk by Interior Minister Å~^ukru Kaya, one of the
Ottoman officials directly in charge of the Armenian deportations.
More recently, the Turkish government suggested it might not invite
officials from New South Wales to the ceremony, after that Australian
state parliament passed an Armenian genocide resolution.
For the government of Armenia, having a big turnout in Yerevan on
April 24 is probably the main priority for 2015. (Although they would
not say it out loud, it is probably a bigger priority than getting
a genocide recognition resolution in the U.S. Congress.)
The Armenians have already secured the presence of French President
Francois Hollande in Yerevan. And it is likely that a senior U.S.
official, perhaps Secretary of State John Kerry, will attend as well.
Turkey has changed so much in the last few years that there will also
be an Armenian remembrance ceremony on Taksim Square in the heart of
Istanbul that same evening.
Fortunately, those who want to attend the ceremonies in both in
Yerevan and in Istanbul--where the fateful events of April 24,
1915 actually occurred--may be able to do both. The travel company
that runs the air link between Istanbul and Yerevan is planning to
organize a special charter flight so that people can be part of the
commemorations in both cities on the same day.
http://carnegie.ru/eurasiaoutlook/?fa=59311
From: Baghdasarian