TURKISH ARMENIANS HOPE FOR NEW ERA
By Jonathan Gorvett
Aljazeera.net
107341540951.html
Nov 26 2009
Qatar
With news of growing rapprochement between Armenia and Turkey, one
community that has been watching this process with a mixture of both
hope and trepidation is the Armenian community of Istanbul.
Numbering between 60,000 to 70,000, these are the last descendants
of a community that once numbered millions throughout the territory
of Turkey’s predecessor, the Ottoman Empire.
Nowadays, they are the largest of Turkey’s officially-recognised
minority groups, with a history in the city that stretches back to
medieval times.
Istanbul also has its own Armenian Patriarchate, the highest body
of the local Armenian Orthodox Church. There are some 33 Armenian
churches in the city, 15 Armenian schools and two Armenian hospitals.
Memories of 1915
Relations between Istanbul’s Turkish Armenians and their Turkish
neighbours are also generally good, on a personal level.
Photo: The mood is positive at Istanbul’s Church of the Virgin Mary
[Jonathan Gorvett]
"I have many Turkish friends and our relations are very good," says
Melisa Buman, who is studying to be an English teacher. "We don’t
really have any problems between us."
But Turkey and Armenia certainly do have problems between them.
"The two big issues are 1915 and Nagorno Karabakh," says Robert
Haddeler, the editor of one of Istanbul’s three Armenian newspapers,
Marmara, and a renowned poet. "These are enough alone for us to see
the future as very unclear."
The year 1915 is scorched in the memories of most Armenians as
the year the Armenian community in the Ottoman Empire was largely
destroyed. This was done mostly by Turkish and Kurdish irregulars,
but also, many accounts suggest, with the connivance of the Ottoman
authorities.
This act has been called a ‘genocide’ by most Armenians – and by many
international historians.
Turkey, however, officially denies that a genocide took place and
instead says many Turks and Armenians were killed at the time, as
part of the tragic events of the First World War.
Welcomed and feared
This dispute has soured relations ever since. Yet a more recent
conflict, that between neighbouring Armenia and Azerbaijan over the
disputed Caucasian territory of Nagorno Karabakh, has also badly
damaged relations.
Turkey backed Azerbaijan in that 1994 conflict and instituted a land
blockade of Armenia that has been going on ever since.
Ankara also broke off diplomatic relations with Armenia at that time.
Yet earlier this month, Turkey and Armenia signed two protocols
re-establishing formal links and promising to reopen the border –
if both country’s parliaments agree.
This rapprochement has been both welcomed and feared by the Turkish
Armenian community.
"Opening the borders and beginning diplomatic relations have been
dreams for the Armenians who live Turkey for many years," says Rober
Koptas, of the Armenian newspaper Agos.
"If people from Turkey go to Armenia and make contact with Armenians,
prejudices against Armenians can come to an end here too, we hope."
But, Haddeler says: "We fear that in both countries, but especially
in Turkey, the nationalists are not prepared to accept the ‘other
side’ as friends. We are fairly sure these people are not happy with
rapprochement and we fear they might act to sabotage it. This would
have a highly negative impact on our lives here in Turkey."
Such fears come from a long history of violence. Most recently, in
January 2007, Hrant Dink, the editor of Agos, was assassinated by a
Turkish ultra-nationalist just yards from his office.
Dink had been the most prominent and outspoken member of Turkey’s
Armenian community.
"The Turkish authorities have done nothing to prevent such attacks
in the future," says Koptas.
There is also a widespread belief among Turkish Armenians and indeed
many Turks that although the assassin, Ogun Samast, was swiftly
arrested, the assassination has still not been properly investigated.
Revived community
Yet there are also some positive signs of changing times for Turkey’s
Armenians on the streets of Istanbul.
Photo: Abandoned Armenian buildings are now being restored [Jonathan
Gorvett]
In the run down district of Kumkapi, where many of the city’s poorer
Armenians live and the Armenian Patriarchate is located, last Sunday’s
service at the Church of the Virgin Mary was a busy affair.
"We are very hopeful about the rapprochement," said one parishioner,
Arevig Hablan. "It makes things more normal between us all."
One physical sign of this is the already growing number of Armenians
from Armenia visiting, living and working in Istanbul, some of whom
were also at Sunday’s service. Many of these work illegally, but the
government largely turns a blind eye to this.
Meanwhile, around the corner, the ramshackle facade of a once proud
Armenian building, abandoned many years ago, is now likely to be
refurbished by a Turkish Armenian foundation. This is thanks to a
major change in the law brought in by the current government.
"This is very important," says Haddeler. "The government passed a new
law on foundations which returned a lot of property to us which had
previously been confiscated. The law also enables our foundations to
make a profit, so we can make money for the first time to invest in
our schools, hospitals and churches."
Changing mood
Many Turkish Armenians are positive about the current Justice and
Development Party (AKP) government, despite most Armenians’ Christian
beliefs and the AKP’s Islamist roots.
"The AKP is more open to hear the demands of minority groups than
the ‘secular’ parties," says Koptas. "It is very ironic, but this
complexity has been the essence of Turkish politics in the past
few years."
"For the first time, we have felt that the mood in government has
changed," says Haddeler. "Now we are hoping that this change of mood
will take place amongst the population at large."
Without this, the fear is that Turkey’s Armenian rapprochement may
be too fragile to last – and that this ancient community in Istanbul
may be amongst the first to suffer from any breakdown.