A CONTROVERSIAL GENOCIDE
Hurriyet Daily News
Dec 19 2012
Turkey
by ROBERT ELLIS
The Danish Royal Library has, together with the Armenian embassy,
held an exhibition on “The Armenian genocide and the Scandinavian
reaction” though due to protests from the Turkish embassy, the
library’s director, Erland Kolding Nielsen, has agreed to hold an
alternative exhibition titled, “The so-called Armenian genocide.”
This decision has caused widespread debate and 37 Turkish
intellectuals, including Taner Akcam, Cengiz Aktar, Murat Belge,
Baskın Oran and Ä°pek and Oral CalıÅ~_lar, have in an open letter in
Denmark’s leading daily Berlingske called on the library’s director
to reconsider his decision. In their view, the Turkish government
has followed a policy of denial for more than 90 years, culminating
in the murder of Hrant Dink in 2007. To allow the Turkish government
to arrange an alternative exhibition will only support this policy.
As Turkish intellectuals fighting for a democratic Turkey, the
signatories conclude that Turkey, through its position of denying
historical truths, represents an obstacle to the development of peace,
democracy and stability in the Middle East.
The reason the Armenian genocide is so controversial is because it
is closely connected with Turkey’s self-image and the foundation of
the Turkish Republic. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has
claimed that “Turkey has not committed genocide throughout its history”
and that “The character of this nation does not let it commit such
crimes.” Even in defense of the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir,
he has said, “a Muslim can never commit genocide.”
Nevertheless, there is overwhelming evidence that Turkey, under the
leadership of the CUP (Committee of Union and Progress) in 1915, was
guilty of a premeditated attempt to annihilate the Armenian population
through massacres and deportation. The events must be seen in a
historical context, as the Ottoman Empire had collapsed and Armenian
nationalists – like the Kurds today – were demanding independence.
Turkey had allied itself with Germany during World War I and the
Russian advance on the eastern front with the support of Armenian
auxiliaries and the Allied invasion in the west at Gallipoli sealed
the Armenians’ fate.
A joint declaration by France, Great Britain and Russia on May 24,
1915 for the first time dealt with the concept of “crimes against
humanity” and formed the legal basis for the Nuremberg trials and
the U.N. convention on genocide. Turkish nationalists led by Mustafa
Kemal Ataturk originally supported the punishment of the perpetrators
but their attitude changed with the Treaty of Sevres and Turkey’s
partition. After the war of independence and the foundation of the
Turkish Republic in 1923, many of those suspected of war crimes were
given leading posts in the government.
In all fairness, it must be stated that Armenian auxiliaries and
guerillas were responsible for massacres of the Turkish civilian
population, but these acts of revenge can in no way justify a
premeditated campaign of racial extermination in the same way that
German atrocities in Russia after the invasion in 1941 can be excused
by the behavior of Russian troops in Germany in 1945.
What makes this topic so sensitive is Turkey’s fear that an open
debate, not to speak of any admission, can lead to territorial claims
from Armenia. This was why Justice Minister Cemil Cicek in May 2005
called a planned conference on Ottoman Armenians at Bogazici University
“a stab in the back of the Turkish nation.”
In 2005, Erdogan extended an invitation to Armenian president Robert
Kocharian to establish a joint commission of historians and other
experts to study the events of 1915, but this was rejected. One way
forward could be to hold an international conference on the subject,
where Denmark could act as an “honest broker.” But the question is,
who will take the initiative?
Robert Ellis is a regular commentator on Turkish affairs in the Danish
and international press.
——— THE LETTER
Don’t Stand Before Turkey’s Democratization and Confrontation with
its History!
The individuals whose signatures appear below have been distressed
to learn that the Royal Library of Denmark has given the Turkish
government the opportunity to present an “alternative exhibit” in
response to the Armenian Genocide exhibition.
It is incorrect to suggest that two different views of what happened
in 1915 are possible. Over one million Ottoman Armenian citizens
were forced out of their homes and annihilated in furtherance of an
intentional state policy. What exists today is nothing other than
the blatant denial of this reality by the Turkish government.
An honest reckoning with history is the non-negotiable precondition
of a true democracy. The Turkish government has been suppressing
historic truths and following a policy of denial for more than 90
years. In response to the many intellectuals in the nation who have
urged the government to confront history honestly, this systematic
suppression and intimidation policy, which reached its zenith with
the assassination of journalist Hrant Dink in 2007, continues unabated.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled in several cases on this
subject against Turkey’s position and actions.
By giving the Turkish government the opportunity to present an
“alternative exhibit”, you support their policy of suppression and
intimidation. The support that you are extending to a regime that
has made opposition to confronting history and denial of the truth
a fundamental principle is equivalent to supporting a regime of
apartheid. We want to remind you that your support constitutes an
obstacle to democratization efforts in Turkey today.
There is a regional aspect of this policy also. Peace, democracy and
stability in the Middle East will only come about through regimes
that are willing to confront history honestly. Through its position
of denying historical truths, Turkey represents an obstacle to
the development of peace, democracy and stability in the Middle
East. We, Turkish intellectuals fighting for a democratic Turkey,
urge you to reconsider your decision to grant the Turkish government
the opportunity to present an “alternative exhibit” and withdraw the
offer immediately and we invite you to join and support the democratic
civil initiatives demanding that Turkey confront its history honestly.
Fikret Adanır (professor of history), Taner Akcam (professor of
history), Ayhan Aktar (professor of sociology), Cengiz Aktar (professor
of political science), Cengiz Algan (The DurDe civic initiative),
Ahmet Altan (Chief Editor Taraf Newspaper), Maya Arakon (professor
of political science), Oya Baydar (Writer), Yavuz Baydar (Columnist
Todays Zaman Newspaper), Osman Baydemir (mayor of Diyarbakır),
Murat Belge (professor of litterature), Halil Berktay (professor of
history), Ä°smail BeÅ~_ikci (professor of sociology), Hamit Bozaslan
(professor of political science), Ä°pek CalıÅ~_lar (Writer), Oral
CalıÅ~_lar (Columnist Radikal Newspaper), Aydın Engin (founding
Editor T24 webnews), Fatma Muge Göcek (professor of sociology),
Nilufer Göle (professor of sociology), Ä°Å~_tar Gözaydın (professor
of law and politic), Gencay Gursoy (professor of medicine) AyÅ~_e Hur
(historian, columnist Radical newspaper), Ahmet Ä°nsel (professor
of economics), AyÅ~_e Kadıoglu (professor of political science),
Gulten Kaya (music producer), Umit Kıvanc (writer), Omer Laciner
(chief Editor Birikim Review), Roni Margulies (Poet), Baskın Oran
(professor of political science), Cem Ozdemir (Co-chair German Green
Party), Esra Mungan (professor of psychology), Sırrı Sakık (MP),
Betul Tanbay (professor of mathematics), Zeynep Tanbay (choreographer),
Turgut Tarhanlı (professor of international law), Ufuk Uras (Former
MP), Å~^anar Yurdatapan (Initiative for Freedom of Expression).
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/a-controversial-genocide.aspx?pageID=238&nID=37144&NewsCatID=396