Journal of Turkish Weekly
Monday, 12 October 2009
Armenian Diaspora is Egoist
Sunday, 11 October 2009
Armenian people is one of the ancient tribes. They created a great
civilization and contributed to the humanity and other civilizations a
lot. They established kingdoms and states as well. However as they
settled mainly on the crossroads of the civilizations, religions,
sects, races and great kingdoms, they could not maintain their
independence. As a result they have generally lived under the other
nations’ sovereignty. Iranian Empire, Byzantium Empire, Russian
Empire, Arab Kingdoms, Seljuki and Ottoman Empires and Soviet
`Empire’. They enjoyed great freedom under Seljuki and Ottoman Empires
however many Armenians were tortured and deported by the Byzantium
Emperors due to the religious disputes. Most of the time, they could
not become soldiers or governors.
In brief the main problem for the Armenian peoples was lack of a
state.
When the French Revolution triggered the nationalist movements in the
world, the Armenians were not ready for such a radical change:
The Ottoman Armenians were enjoying a great religious freedom and they
were among the most wealthiest class in the empire. Many Armenian
bankers, businessmen, doctors and intellectuals were very close to the
Palace. The Ottoman Armenians in the towns and rural areas were mostly
bankers, businessman or craftsmen. The Armenians with the Ottoman
Greeks dominated the Ottoman export and import. Moreover the Ottoman
Armenian population was not majority in any region. About 1 million
Armenians were scattered around the huge Ottoman territories. In
another word the Ottoman Armenians were not ready for a separatist
nationalist revolt. They were actually happy with the existing
system. The Church in particular had great privileges before the
Ottoman State and a great power over the Armenian citizens.
Under these circumstances, the Armenian nationalism was developed in
diaspora namely in Switzerland and Georgia. Tashnak and Hinchak
`parties’ were estab ng and inexperienced in politics. They had no
enough power and financial support to struggle against the
Empires. Apart from these, the young Armenian idealists set a
formidable task for the Armenian nationalism: To unite all Armenians
in the Ottoman, Russian, Iranian Empires and other Armenians in the
region under a separate Armenian State.
So, they needed foreign assistance, and the great imperial powers were
very eager to `undermine’ the Ottoman Empire. The British, French and
Russian Empires gave a great encouragement to the Tashnaks and other
Armenian groups. However they did not fully keep their promises and
when they reached agreements with the Istanbul Government the Armenian
nationalists failed.
Furthermore the Armenian nationalists were encouraged but not fully
supported when needed. Another problem was that the Ottoman Armenians
did not strongly join the Armenian nationalists. Many Armenians in the
Ottoman towns were against the Armenian militants. Therefore the first
target to be destroyed was seen as the Ottoman Armenian leaders.
Many Armenian leaders were murdered by the Tashnak and other Armenian
militants. They accused all Armenian opposition of being traitor. The
Armenian terrorism killed more Armenians than the Muslims in the
beginning of the 20th Century. The Armenian businessmen were
threatened and forced to give `tax’ to the illegal Armenian
groups. The Tashnak militants transferred a huge amount of weapons,
provided by Russia and Britain, to the Ottoman towns. They were
preparing a war and revolt against the Istanbul Government. They
organized many terrorist attacks against the politicians and
institutions. In 1876 the Armenian militants attacked the Ottoman Bank
and exploded bombs before the bank. They further organized an
assassination against the Sultan (Head of State) II. Abdulhamid.
When the First World War erupted, the Armenian extremists saw the war
as an opportunity and the co-operation between the Armenians and
Allied States increased. The Russian, British and French Emp
e in war against the Ottoman Empire, Germany and Austrian Empire,
considered the Christian minorities as a tool against the
Ottomans. Thus the Armenian nationalists were encouraged for more
terrorist attacks, revolts and weapon transfers to Anatolia. The Van
Revolt was one of the most vivid examples for the Armenian
Revolts. The Tashnaks in the Van Revolt aimed to `clean the region
from the Muslims’. Thousands of Muslims were killed or forced to leave
the region. At the end the Armenians declared their independence in
Van province and then handled the city to the Russian occupying
forces.
The Armenian nationalist `adventure’ ended with a tragedy which cost
500.000 Muslim and more than 110.000 Armenian lives. About Thousands
of Armenians were relocated, and many died due to the war
circumstances.
The Armenians rioted against the Government in many towns and attacked
their Muslim neighbors with the French, Russian and British
encouragement. However the occupiers did not keep their promises and
with the end of the war the Armenians could not return their
homes. Many immigrated to the European and North American states.
The cost of the revolt was very high for the Armenian
nationalism. Nevertheless they could establish a tiny state in
Caucasus under the Tashnak rule. It is unfortunate that the Tashnaks
could not learn anything from the Ottoman Armenian experience and they
started a `revenge campaign’ (NEMESIS) against the newly-established
Turkish State. As a matter of fact that the last thing Independent
Armenia needed was a `revenge conflict’ with the Turks. Armenia was a
`country of dead’ at that time. Armenian population was suffering from
famine and epidemic diseases, and more than 200.000 Armenians died
under these circumstances in the Tashnaks’ Independent
Armenia. However the Armenian `leaders’ did not focus on their own
economic development, social and cultural problems and political
relations with the neighboring countries while the newly Turkey’s
Government sole dealt with the problems. The Armenian terrorists killed
many former Ottoman ministers. But the Tashnak attacks not only killed
the Turkish targets but also ended the independence of Armenia.
Armenia lost its independence and became a Soviet Republic under
Moscow rule.
Armenians once more had to immigrate to the West. They suffered a lot
from lack of an independent state. They had no reasonable leader who
could lead them under the realistic and pragmatic principles instead
of purely naïve emotional motivations.
Under the lack of leadership, Armenians were exposed the great powers
national interests. Moscow, Washington, Paris and London abused the
Armenian issue.
Armenia gained its independence once more in 1991 after the decades
when the Soviet Empire collapsed. It is unfortunate that the Diaspora
Armenians and Tashnaks again just focused on their own interests
instead of saving the newly-established Armenia. Tashnaks played a
crucial role in declaring war against the Azerbaijanis. The Diaspora
encouraged more wars and tension to capture the `lost territories’ in
Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan.
While the other former Sviet republics tried to decrease their
dependency on Russia, Armenia more and more became a `Russian orbit’
in the region. When Russia lost its military bases in Azerbaijan and
Georgia, Armenians invited the Russians to their country. As a result
of dependency on Russia, Armenia has been isolated and when they could
not repay the credits the energy, communication and transportation
infrastructure have been sold out to the Russians.
The new Armenian nationalists and Diaspora saw Turkey the most deadly
enemy, though Turkey was one of the first states who recognized
Armenian independence. Actually Turkey considered Armenian State as an
opportunity to normalize the Turkish-Armenian relations. However
Armenian Diaspora was seriously reluctant in normalizing the relations
because it established the Armenian identity on anti-Turkishness. The
1915 Legacy and anti-Turkish accusations have been the only uniting
factor in the diaspora. They feared th Armenians in the West could be
accelerated.
The Church and the political parties have used the Turkish-Armenian
problems for decades in cementing the non-homogenous Armenian
society. Moreover anti-Turkish Armenian Case was financial and
prestige source for many Armenians and Diaspora institutions.
In another words the Diaspora Armenians abused the problems with Turks
for their personal and institutional interest at the cost of
Armenia. Their priority was not State of Armenia but the
Diaspora. They knew that the land-locked and relatively poor Armenia
had to solve its disputes with Turkey in order to survive. However
they sacrificed Armenian state once again as they did in 1918.
To conclude, the foremost priority for the whole Armenians must to
protect and survive the young Armenia, instead of strengthening the
Armenian diaspora. Armenia should not be part of the adventurous games
of its Diaspora and Russia.