news.az, Azerbaijan
Dec 22 2011
‘France is sorry for causing Armenian blood to be spilled’
Thu 22 December 2011 10:30 GMT | 12:30 Local Time
News.Az interviews Ergun Kirlikovali, president of the Assembly of
Turkish-American Associations and co-founder of the Pax Turcica
Institute.
How will the adoption of the bill on `Armenian genocide’ in the lower
chamber of the French parliament influence the Turkish-French
relations?
I am afraid there will be a wide range of reactions including but not
limited to diplomatic, economic, business, trade, social in nature.
Turkey is not the same country it was in 2001, when Turkish reactions
to France’s one sentence law recognizing the “alleged” Armenian
genocide were measured. Turkey is a regional power on its way to
becoming a global player with a steadily growing economy and
strengthening manufacturing sector and exports.
What is the cause of antipathy of the current leadership of France
toward Turkey?
Religious and ethnic bias. Pure and simple. These concepts are well
documented for America, by Justin McCarthy in his book “Turks In
America”, especially chapter 2, and one needs only to replace the
words America with France and Protestant with Catholic to see the
parallels in both societies. Deep rooted anti-Turkish bias is traced
back to 1096, when Pope Urban II called upon all Christians to join a
war against the Turks. Thus, the first crusader started from France.
Most folks got over it over the centuries, but some like Sarkozy, it
seems, could not. France’s role in using the Armenians against Turks
during 19th and 20th Centuries is well documented. The First World
War on the Eastern fronts were fought mostly on Ottoman/Turkish soil.
Turks did not bomb Marseille or Paris; the French bombed Dardanelles
and Antioch. Turks did not rain death and destruction on the French
people; the French invaded Turkish soil and rained death and
destruction on Turks. So who should recognize whose tragedy first?
Think about it… Turkey’s case during WWI may be one of the few
cases in the world, if not the only case, where the aggressor blames
the defender, and the villain impugns the victim, the haves accuse the
have-nots. Armenians took up arms against their own state and joined
the invading enemy armies.
What can be lower than that? Turks only defended their home in the
face of brutal foreign invasions aided by a heinous, treacherous,
treasonous fifth column involving numerous Armenians. France should
apologize to Turkey for invading Anatolia, raining death and
destruction on Turkish people, for dividing the Ottoman society along
ethno-religious lines, pitting one group against the other, and lying
about all of this for decades in their official propaganda “yellow
books.”
If one considers these points, one might realize that France has not
only Turkish blood, but also Armenian blood in her hands. This move by
the French Parliament might be convoluted way of saying “France is
sorry for causing Armenian blood to be spilled.” These are the
psychologies people like Sarkozy may be fighting with in their inner
worlds, whereas Turkish conscience is crystal clear on Turkish
history. Turks have always been, as France;s own Volatire famously
said, “moderate in peace and gentle in victory.”
Let’s get back to the bill. What can be the Turkish reaction to the
possible actions of the French law-makers?
Turkish Airlines (THY) is the fastest growing airlines in the world
with 170 planes, about half of them Franco-Gerrman Airbus aircraft.
THY’s purchase in the next decade exceed 100 billion dollars. There
are military contracts totaling more than even that. Mega
infra-structure projects amount to huge sums. Energy corridor
investments and implications are there. Turkey-France trade is about
$17 billion dollars and rising. There are about a thousand French
companies doing enormous amount of business. Turkey has a young and
vibrant population which makes it a major market as well as a
lucrative source of work force for EU.
As Arab Spring showed, Turkey’ importance in geographies ranging from
the Middle East to North Africa and from Balkans to Caucasus and
Central Asia is constantly growing. Turkey might decide to stop
sharing information and insight in this geography and even close its
airfiled to French aviation, both commercial and military. Some may
think so what, but if you look at all this from France’s point of
view, France will be the only nuclear power at the United Nations that
finds itself so deliberately isolated and incomplete. By taking
tacitly hostile steps against Turkey, although taking care not to
mention the name of the country, in 2011, 2006, and 2008, and now
poking its finger into Turkey’s eye, France may have actually designed
its own downfall in this vast geography. At a time when France is
battling credit-rating downgrade and the country is trying to cope
with shrinking economy and rising joblessness, this purely political
move by a politician with shallow grasp of real-politician, i.e.
Sarkozy, may go down in history as the case of “the man who shot
himself in the foot.”
How can the actions of the French parliamentarians influence the
Turkish-Armenian reconciliation?
French Senate influence on the normalization process of
Turkish-Armenian relations will be negative. This process, as you
know, already foresees the formation of a historians commission.
This in itself means there is a dispute that needs to be sorted out.
The French Senate seems to say “There is nothing to sort out. This is
genocide. And that’s that. No need to research this further.” This
kind of authoritarian, disciplinarian, and even fascist approach,
practically ending free speech, at least on this issue, is unbecoming
to French tradition of democracy. French Senate will be, in effect,
replacing history scholarship with legislation.
Can Azerbaijan provide any support to Turkey in resisting campaign of
Armenian lobby on passing the `genocide’ in the parliaments of other
countries?
Azerbaijan and Turkey must act together in all moves concerning
Armenia, ranging from the alleged genocide to Karabakh and its
surroundings. The world must see that they cannot separate the two
countries. Then they will realize that Azerbaijan, with her natural
energy resources and young and well educated population, and Turkey
dedicated to its Turkic heritage, a rising regional power, and an
energy corridor, are inseparable.
When a country decides to strike at one, they will find both countries
reacting strongly. That is already happening. We must stay the course
and pass the message that if you attack one of us, you attack both of
us. If you attack one of us, that means you will have energy
problems, regional presence difficulties, and trade and industry
deficiencies. If you attack one of us, you will pay for it dearly in
terms of lost markets, investments, and future.
F.H.
News.Az