EurasiaNet, NY
Feb 1 2007
YEREVAN’S PERSPECTIVE: NO SIGNS OF IMPROVED TURKISH-ARMENIAN
RELATIONS
Emil Danielyan 2/01/07
Ankara appears to be sticking to long-standing preconditions for
normalizing Turkey’s historically strained relationship with Armenia,
despite domestic appeals that followed the assassination of a
renowned Turkish-Armenian journalist.
Senior Turkish and Armenian diplomats held rare talks in Istanbul in
late January amid hopes for a rapprochement between the two
neighboring states. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakossian’s talks with
Turkish officials reportedly failed to make any progress, though.
"Differences in the parties’ positions on the discussed issues
remain," Vladimir Karapetian, a spokesman for the Armenian Foreign
Ministry, said in a January 26 statement about the meeting. He
indicated that Turkey continues to oppose an unconditional
establishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of its border
with Armenia.
Prior to the bilateral meeting, Kirakossian attended the high-profile
funeral of Hrant Dink, the ethnic Armenian editor of the bilingual
Agos weekly whose January 19 killing sparked outrage both inside
Turkey and far beyond its borders. [For background see the Eurasia
Insight archive].
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 as a gesture of support
for Azerbaijan, its closest Turkic ally, which remains locked in a
bitter dispute with Armenia over the breakaway region of
Nagorno-Karabakh. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Successive Turkish governments have conditioned the lifting of the
economic blockade on the withdrawal of Armenian forces from
Azerbaijani districts bordering Karabakh, and an end to the Armenian
campaign for international recognition of the events of 1915 as
genocide. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Turkish leaders haven’t changed their position despite pressure from
the United States and the European Union. Many officials in
Washington and Brussels believe that a Turkish-Armenian rapprochement
would significantly boost stability in the volatile South Caucasus.
In late January, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul effectively
ruled out any policy shift, saying that Armenia should first "review
its negative feelings against us, and should not make unjust
demands."
The Armenian drive for genocide recognition, meanwhile, appears to be
gaining momentum. Influential Armenian lobby groups in the United
States are pressing for the US House of Representatives to adopt a
genocide recognition resolution. One of them, the Armenian National
Committee of America, characterized Dink’s January 19 shooting as a
"wake-up call to the United States and the entire international
community to unite together in ending forever the Turkish
government’s denial of the Armenian Genocide." A group of US
lawmakers introduced a new recognition bill on January 30.
On the grassroots level, Turkish-Armenian dialogue may be easier to
foster in the aftermath of Dink’s fatal shooting. The universal
condemnation of the crime provided a rare moment of emotional unity
between many Turks and Armenians. The latter were astounded by
television pictures of thousands of ordinary Turks marching in the
funeral procession for the slain editor and carrying banners that
read, "We are all Armenians!" The images defied the negative Armenian
stereotypes about Turks, prompting hopes to rise among many
Armenians, in Armenia proper and living abroad, that the images
reflected Turkey’s greater willingness to confront contentious
questions of the past.
Yektan Turkyilmaz, a US-based Turkish scholar, said Turkish society
will now be "at least slightly more sympathetic" to the Armenians,
but cautioned against excessive expectations. Some Turkey-watchers in
Armenia, meanwhile, remain skeptical, saying that the vast majority
of Turks continue to trust their leaders’ assertion that Ottoman
Armenians died in much smaller numbers and as a result of internal
strife, rather than from a premeditated government effort. "I don’t
think Turkish public opinion has changed since that murder," said
Ruben Safrastian, director of the Yerevan-based Institute of Oriental
Studies.
The final years of the Ottoman Empire, until recently a taboo
subject, are being increasingly discussed in Turkey, with a growing
number of local scholars and intellectuals openly questioning the
official version of events. Some of them, including Dink and Nobel
laureate Orhan Pamuk, have been prosecuted under a controversial
article of the Turkish criminal code that makes it a crime to "insult
Turkishness." [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
According to Turkyilmaz, other dissenters are increasingly worried
about becoming the next target of ultranationalist militants. "The
anxiety and horror that the killing of Mr. Dink has caused among
Turkish intellectuals is very deep," he said. "But the struggle will
continue as we want to see our country become freer, more democratic
and more peaceful. Turkey has a very deeply-rooted tradition of
opposition, and I believe that it will eventually prevail."
Editor’s Note: Emil Danielyan is a Yerevan-based journalist and
political analyst.