Wikileaks: Turkey’s Armenians Fearful of `Violent Backlash,’ Facing
`Uncertain Future’
Sat, Sep 10 2011
By: Nanore Barsoumian
(A.W.)-Turkey’s Armenians are fearful of a `violent backlash’ if the
Armenian Genocide Resolution passes, according to Armenian Patriarch
in Istanbul Mesrob II Mutafian, as revealed in a recently released
Wikileaks cable. In 2007, the Patriarch purportedly told the then
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
Matthew Bryza that Turkey’s Armenian population would be safer if it
kept a low profile, although that might prove difficult after Agos
editor Hrant Dink’s January 2006 murder at the hands of a Turkish
ultranationalist youth. `My community is not a friend of the
resolution. It won’t make life easy,’ the Patriarch was quoted as
saying.
Patriarch Mesrob II Mutafyan
According to Mesrob II, in the eve of Dink’s funeral – where thousands
of leftists joined the procession of mourners on the streets of
Istanbul, chanting, `We are all Armenians! We are all Hrant Dink!’ – the
Armenian community was left isolated and vulnerable, reminiscent of a
time in history `when Armenians in Turkey had been given arms and told
to rebel, only to be left with the aftermath.’
The Patriarch allegedly told Bryza that instead of `nationalism and
racism’ a dialogue was necessary to surmount the tensions. And if the
Turkish government would say `it was sorry’ and if it acknowledged
that `they helped cause these sufferings,’ that would suffice, he
continued.
Consul General Deborah Jones who authored the cable on Feb. 23, 2007,
observed that the Patriarch was quite cautious in `defending his
flock.’ She noted that as a leader of the small Armenian
population – who roughly numbered one in 1,000 Turks – the Patriarch had
to be careful in his public statements, adding, `For Mesrob, there is
continuity from the Ottoman into the republican government of Turkey
where, for successive generations, minorities have carried the burden
of their initially de jure and now de facto second class citizenship.’
Despite the Patriarch’s request that his comments remain private,
Jones’ cable became public when Wikileaks released it on Aug. 30,
2011, without any redactions in place. (See this cable below).
A separate cable also authored by Jones on the same date as the cable
discussed above, reflects on a meeting Bryza had with the spiritual
leader of Turkey’s Greek Orthodox community, Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew. During the meeting that took place also on February 8,
Bartholomew expressed his frustration at the Turkish government’s
`unresponsiveness to the Patriarchate on nearly every issue.’ The
conversation then turned to `the crucial issue’ of reopening Halki
Seminary, an institution that was founded in 1844 and trained
generations of Greek Orthodox patriarchs and which was closed to new
students in 1971 due to a law that placed all private colleges under
state control. Halki’s Board of Trustees refused to allow the Seminary
become part of Istanbul University. The Seminary, which is located on
the island of Halki (renamed Heybeliada) in the Sea of Marmara, closed
its doors in 1985 when its last students graduated.
Bryza presented a four-step `game plan’ to get the Seminary opened.
Both the EU and the US have been calling on the Turkish government to
reopen the Seminary. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reportedly
brought the issue up with the Turkish government during her July trip
to Turkey.
In its concluding comment Jones stated, `Although in no way linked to
this issue in the U.S., the consideration of an Armenia resolution by
the Congress later this Spring may hamper our ability to work with the
typically nationalist-leaning Interior Ministry, which controls the
Governor’s office.’
Patriarch Mesrob II’s and Patriarch Bartholomew’s meeting with Bryza
came a month after House Representative Adam Schiff (Democratic Party
representative from California) introduced the Armenian Genocide
Resolution (House Resolution 106) to the U.S. House of
Representatives, and eight months before the House Foreign Affairs
Committee passed it. The Resolution is still under consideration by
the House.
Patriarch Mesrob II was incapacitated at the end of 2007 from
dementia, and in 2008 Archbishop Aram Atesyan became acting patriarch.
In a Jan. 8, 2010, cable originating in the U.S. Consulate in
Istanbul, and titled `Armenian Patriarchate: An Uncertain Future,’
Consul General Sharon Wiener described the difficulties the Armenian
Patriarchate faced, its petition to the Turkish Ministry of Interior
to receive permission to elect a co-Patriarch, and lamented that
Atesyan who had accepted a nomination for the position `is viewed by
many in the community as being too complacent and lacking the
necessary diplomatic skills for the religious and political
representational role of patriarch.’
`During such a sensitive political period in relations between Armenia
and Turkey, the community’s leadership is a decisive variable in the
outlook for its future,’ added Wiener, and noted that according to two
members of the Turkish Armenian community, the community was `entering
a dark period.’
Weiner then remembered the words of Turkish-Armenian academic and
journalist Sevan Nisanyan in an interview with Hurriyet Daily news,
where `[He] said that Mesrob II changed the general perception among
the community that `being afraid of one’s own shadow was a commendable
trait.”
`[Nisanyan] expressed the hope that the community and new patriarch’
will not prefer the old policy of succumbing and silence in the name
of peace and accord in the country,” noted Weiner.
In her concluding remarks, Wiener said that it was a `sensitive’ time
for the Armenian Orthodox community, especially considering the
Turkey-Armenia protocols of Oct. 2009. `’The Armenian Genocide
Resolution’ may be more heatedly debated in Congress in light of
Turkey’s relationship with Israel and its impact on previous amicable
relationships with the Jewish population in the United States; and,
more open discussion about the tragic events of 1915 heightens
resentment among some Turks even if it is a healthy development in the
long run,’ added Wiener.
Below is the Feb. 2007 cable on the meeting between Patriarch Mesrob
II and Matthew Bryza.
VZCZCXRO5540
OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHIT #0137/01 0540659
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 230659Z FEB 07
FM AMCONSUL ISTANBUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6650
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 000137
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/15/2017
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PREL, TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY’S ARMENIAN PATRIARCH ON THE GENOCIDE
RESOLUTION, NATIONALISM
REF: 06 ISTANBUL 596
Classified By: Consul General Deborah K. Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).
1. (C) Summary. In a February 8 meeting with EUR DAS Matthew Bryza,
Armenian Patriarch for Istanbul and all of Turkey Mesrob II (please
protect) and who asked not to be quoted on this point, said he feared
that passage of the Armenian genocide resolution (H.R. 106) could lead
to `violent backlash’ against Armenians in Turkey. Mesrob also said
the `disaster of 1915 should be examined on separate platforms by
politicians, historians, diplomats, and sociologists. This would be
very helpful in terms of creating empathy and understanding, rather
than enmity.’ End summary.
2. (C) On the question of the pending resolution, Mesrob referred to
the 260 articles that day in the national press commenting and
reporting on the Dink murder. Turkish Armenians were intimidated by
all the attention. Armenians’ security, he said, would be improved
with a much lower profile. The response to the Dink tragedy had been
positive for a couple of days at the time of the funeral; now there
was a strong, nationalist backlash. Armenians felt they were in the
spotlight. It had been leftists in the funeral parade who shouted,
`We are all Armenians!’ Now, the community felt isolated. The
patriarch noted an historical parallel in history when Armenians in
Turkey had been given arms and told to rebel, only to be left with the
aftermath.
3. (C) Particularly in this atmosphere the U.S. Congress’ Armenian
genocide resolution would not help. Emphasizing his request not to be
quoted on this point, he stated that passage of the resolution could
lead to a `violent backlash’ against the community. Mesrob told Bryza
he instead encouraged public use of his April 2006 address at Kayseri
University where he urged review and translation of untapped primary
sources as well as mutual respect leading to dialogue. (Text faxed to
EUR/SE.) The Patriarch had also said in his speech at Kayseri
University, `Turks and Armenians must break out of the straitjacket of
exclusive nationalism and racism. Otherwise…the results are always
bloody wars, tears, and hate campaigns. Instead of nationalism and
racism, it is much more in line with our religious and ethical values
to practice a love and appreciation for our national cultures.’
4. (C) Mesrob summarized his hope on the subject, saying healing
would come to the community if the government could say it was sorry.
Even the Nationalist Action Party’s (MHP’s) extreme nationalist
founder, Alparslan Turkes, came close, he claimed, contacting the
president of Armenia some four times. If Turkey could somehow
acknowledge that they helped cause these sufferings, `I believe that
will be enough,’ he stated.
5. (C) DAS Bryza also asked the patriarch about progress in the
community’s efforts to open an institution of higher learning for
Armenians in Turkey and how re-opening Halki Seminary might affect
these efforts. Without responding directly to the possibility of
Halki opening, Mesrob said he was meeting with NSC Secretary General
Yigit Alpogan in the next few days and hoped for a `universal’
resolution to the need for minority community higher education. As
previously noted (reftel), the solution envisioned a faculty at
Istanbul University offering seminary courses as well as minority
language classes. Each minority, including the Jewish community,
would have its own subunit in the faculty. Practical instruction in
the liturgy would be taught at the respective places of worship.
Mesrob said this solution would also further intercommunal dialogue by
making courses in Christian theology available to interested Turkish
Muslim students. Mesrob was keen to find a solution before possible
passage of a resolution, which he realized could derail this effort.
`My community is not a friend of the resolution. It won’t make life
easy.’
6. (C) Comment. By nature, the Patriarch is inclined to take the
high road in defending his flock and the community; circumstances of
the Armenian minority that number less than one in one thousand Turks
make it imperative that he shape his public message with care. For
Mesrob, there is continuity from the Ottoman into the republican
government of Turkey where, for successive generations, minorities
have carried the burden of their initially de jure and now de facto
second class citizenship. End comment.
7. (U) This cable was cleared by EUR DAS Matthew Bryza.
ISTANBUL 00000137 002 OF 002
JONES
From: A. Papazian
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2011/09/10/wikileaks-turkey-armenians/