Erdogan’s Adviser Bagis Sends Letter To U.S. Legislators
Turkish Press
July 17 2005
ANKARA – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s foreign policy
adviser Egemen Bagis has sent a letter to members of the U.S. House
of Representatives.
In his letter, Bagis stressed that good relations with the United
States constituted as a basic principle of Turkey’s foreign policy.
Noting that as allies and partners, Turkey and the United States had a
long-standing and robust strategic cooperation on regional and global
issues, Bagis wrote, “our cooperation is driven by our shared vision
and by our joint interests, based on deep-rooted common values.”
Bagis indicated, “given the current regional and global challenges,
Turkish-US relations are more important than ever. Our relations are
based on strong foundations and we are mutually determined against
multi-dimensional threats.”
The letter continues, “as Chairman of the Turkish-U.S. Inter
Parliamentarian Friendship Caucus of the Turkish Grand National
Assembly, it is my duty to uphold the strong ties between our
countries. Similarly, it is my responsibility to act against threats
that may hurt our relations, disrupt our friendly ties and that may
unnecessarily enrage the Turkish public opinion against our good
ally, the USA. It is with this sense of duty that I am addressing
this letter to you on a matter which is of great sensitivity to the
Turkish people and of importance to our relations.”
“We understand some members of the U.S. Congress have submitted
two similar draft resolutions. (H. Res. 316 introduced on June 14,
2005 and H. Res. 195 introduced on June 29, 2005) This has caused
great disappointment and concern in Turkey. The draft resolutions as
they stand contain misinformation, baseless allegations, and false
accusations against my country,” wrote Bagis in his letter.
-“TERRIBLE POLITICAL MISCALCULATIONS”
Bagis indicated, “it also misrepresents a controversial chapter
of Turkish-Armenian relations at a time when our government, led by
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is taking positive steps towards
our neighbor Armenia. Tragic events of 1915 were triggered by a
terrible political miscalculation of the Armenian citizens of the
Ottoman Empire. Encouraged by the Czarist Russia’s imperial policy of
capturing Anatolia and reaching the warm waters of the Mediterranean,
Ottoman Armenians allowed themselves to serve as the fifth column
of Russia in Turkey. As a result they rebelled against the central
government, triggered a civil war and paid a terrible price.”
-BUSH ALSO SUPPORTS ERDOGAN’S PROPOSAL”
Bagis went on saying, “the events of 1915 cannot be labeled as
‘genocide’. Primarily, such a liberal usage of this terrible word is
an insult to Holocaust, which is the gravest crime against humanity.
Turkey has always maintained that parliaments and other political
fora are the most inappropriate venues to discuss and pass judgments
on controversial historic periods. History is a discipline that
should be left to the historians. In order to shed light on this
controversial historic issue, the Turkish Government has opened
all its archives to researchers. Furthermore, Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan has proposed the establishment of a study group of
Turkish and Armenian historians to work study together on the events
of 1915. The proposal not only covers the archives of Turkey and
Armenia but also requires unbiased research in the archives of all
relevant countries, including Russia. Then the plan is to share the
conclusions with the international public. Prime Minister Erdogan’s
proposal was much appreciated and supported by President Bush.”
“Genocide is the most vicious crime against humanity. Accusing a
nation with genocide is a very serious act. Any such act comes with a
responsibility to prove such an accusation and rest it on historical
facts and international legality. We do not wish the U.S. Congress
running a judgment based on one-sided allegations,” stated Bagis.
-HISTORIANS SHOULD ANALYSE-
Bagis went on saying, “Turks and Armenians have lived in peace for
over eight centuries in Anatolia. The Armenian community, dispersed
throughout the Ottoman territories lived as loyal and, in certain
aspects, as privileged citizens of the Ottoman Empire. They served
as ministers, generals, ambassadors, governors, commercial envoys and
in similar other capacities. They were not subject to discrimination
in any shape or form.”
The letter continued, “towards the end of the 19th century, the ‘Great
Powers’ of the time began regarding the Armenians as an important tool
of manipulation against the Ottomans. Their aim was to accelerate the
destruction of the Ottoman Empire. These powers promised the Armenians
a state in Eastern Anatolia where paradoxically the Armenian citizens
were only a minority. As a result of the provocations of ‘Great
Powers’, various Armenian bands began to organize from the 1880s and
onwards. These armed militia staged rebellions in various provinces
and launched an ethnic cleansing campaign. They were trying to force
mass immigration of the local population and to alter the demographic
structure these regions. Their methods were massacres and harassment
of the Turks and other Muslims. The start of World War I and the
entry of the Ottoman state into the War against the Allied Powers
was seen as a great opportunity by the extremist Armenians. They
revolted and collaborated with the invading Russian army and
other foreign forces. As a fifth column of the Russian occupation,
Armenian bandits attacked the Ottoman troops and disrupted the supply
routes. Under these circumstances, the Ottoman government informed
the Armenian Patriarch, Armenian Members of Parliament and other
prominent Armenians that if these activities were to continue, the
government would have to take defensive measures. Armenian activities,
however, continued unabated. In the face of these enormous internal
and external threats, the Ottoman Government, in May 1915 resorted
to a defensive internal security measure, which any country facing
a similar situation would take. Again, the Ottoman government was
facing an armed rebellion by its own citizens who happened to be
members of a certain ethnic group and they were collaborating with
a foreign belligerent. The Ottoman government adopted the Relocation
Law to transfer its Armenian citizens living in the war zone to the
southern territories of the Empire. The Armenian citizens had been
informed well advance about this decision and their transfer started
after necessary preparations. Meanwhile, Armenian citizens living
outside the war zone were excluded from this resettlement process.
Thus, some 200,000 Armenian citizens living in Istanbul, Edirne,
Kutahya, Aydin and Izmir were not affected. The law in question
envisaged every precaution to ensure the security of the Armenian
citizens during the transfer, first and foremost, the safety of their
lives and protection of their assets. The Ottoman central government
instructed the local authorities to take the necessary security and
other measures for the orderly relocation of the Armenian citizens.”
“Relevant documents about these circulars are available in the Ottoman
archives. Despite these measures, war conditions, and local ethnic
animosities prompted attacks against the Armenian convoys during the
transfer process. Due to the limitations of the ongoing World War I,
lack of food supplies and other relief material, as well as harsh
climate and epidemics took their toll on the population. The relocation
was suspended in November 1915. In early 1916 it was brought to an
end. After the war the Ottoman Government issued a decree, allowing
the previously relocated Armenian citizens return to their places of
origin. According to a report prepared by the Armenian Patriarchate,
-and this document is the U.S. archives- 644,900 Armenians returned
to their places of origin, as a result. In the meantime, some 1,390
people were tried in Ottoman courts for attacking the Armenian convoys
and for related criminal acts. Many were convicted, some with death
penalty. At this point, we need to ask: If the Ottoman government had
intended to annihilate its Armenian citizens, why would it prosecute
civilians and officials for mistreatment of Armenian convoys and why
would it later allow the Armenians to return to their towns?”
“According to 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of
the Crime of Genocide only a competent tribunal can determine whether
genocide is committed or not. As underlined by the same Convention,
the tribunal in charge is either the tribunal of the State in the
territories of which the act was committed or an international penal
tribunal as may have jurisdiction with respect to those Contracting
Parties which have accepted its jurisdiction. 1948 UN Convention does
not grant any competence to national or international parliaments
for the recognition or affirmation of the crime of genocide. Since
so far Armenian genocide claims have never been ascertained in any
competent court ruling it would be highly erroneous to talk about an
international recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide. Again,
the abovementioned attributions to the UN documents are a poor attempt
to add some air of legitimacy to the unfounded, biased and one-sided
allegations. Again, if a tragedy took place in Eastern Anatolia in
1915, it was due to a tragic political miscalculation by a certain
ethnic group against the central government. The result was a civil
war which should be analyzed by historians and not by legislators,”
wrote Bagis.
Bagis added, “I hope my letter will create another opportunity for
you to reexamine the content of the draft resolution H. Res. 316 from
a wider perspective. That perspective is the Turkish-US relations.
The adoption of these resolutions would not facilitate our efforts
to improve Turkish-Armenian relations since the Armenian Government
and Diaspora will feel further encouraged in pursing the policy of
making political gains on this disputed period of history.”