TURKEY AND ARMENIA SEEK PEACE
By Christopher Torchia
AP
09 oct 09
ISTANBUL — Enter the "Hall of Armenian Issue with Documents" at the
military museum in Istanbul, and you get a very different picture of
what many historians view as the first genocide of the 20th century.
There, photographs show bodies of Ottoman Turks allegedly slaughtered
and mutilated — the term "martyred" appears in the captions — by
Armenian gangs. The message: Turks were victims of fighting between
the two neighbors, not the vast numbers of Armenians who were massacred
or deported from Ottoman territory during World War I.
Seeking to end a century of acrimony over their bloody past, Turkey
and Armenia plan to sign a deal this weekend approving diplomatic ties,
but nationalists on both sides will seek to derail its implementation.
That was clear Friday, when about 10,000 protesters rallied in
Armenia’s capital to oppose the planned signing. The marching
demonstrators carried placards with slogans such as "No concessions
to Turks!" and "No bargaining on genocide!"
"Even if the documents are signed tomorrow, that will mark the
beginning of our struggle against their ratification in parliament
and their implementation," said protest organizer Kiro Manoian of
the opposition Dashnak-Tsutyun party.
According to Omer Taspinar, Turkey project director at the Brookings
Institution in Washington, "The signing may be the easier part at t
his point."
Some vague wording in the agreement merely sets the stage for further
talks, and could be prone to interpretation or dispute even if the
two parliaments ratify the agreement as expected.
Better ties between Turkey, a regional heavyweight, and poor,
landlocked Armenia are a key goal of President Barack Obama. They could
help reduce tensions in the troubled Caucasus region and facilitate
its growing role as a corridor for energy supplies bound for the West.
The contentious issue of whether the killing of up to 1.5 million
Armenians during the final days of the Ottoman Empire amounted to
genocide is only hinted at in the agreement, which calls for diplomatic
ties for the first time and the opening of the sealed border within
two months.
The foreign ministers of both countries are expected to sign the deal
in Switzerland, which has hosted six weeks of talks between the foes.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is expected to attend.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will participate in the ceremony
in Zurich on Saturday, the Interfax new agency said.
A tour of Armenian communities by Armenian President Serge Sarkisian
sparked protests in Lebanon and France, with demonstrators in
Paris shouting "Traitor!" and decrying plans to establish ties with
Turkey. On Thursday, dozens of angry Armenians also staged protests
in central Yerevan, the Armenian capital, burning papers meant to
symboli ze the agreement.
The agreement calls for a panel to discuss "the historical dimension"
— a reference to the genocide issue — that will include "an impartial
scientific examination of the historical records and archives to
define existing problems and formulate recommendations."
That clause is viewed as a concession to Turkey because Armenia has
said that genocide was confirmed by international historians, and
further discussion could lead to deadlock. Turkey denies genocide,
contending the toll is inflated and those killed were victims of
civil war.
The Istanbul museum contains black-and-white photographs of piles
of Turkish corpses and official Ottoman documents that describe
Armenian atrocities: young girls whose lungs were hung on walls,
men whose brains were "drained" with bayonets.
A glass case holds the blood-stained shirt of a former Ottoman
official who was assassinated by an Armenian militant in Berlin in
1921. The Armenian room is a tiny part of a cavernous, dimly lit museum
dedicated to the glories of the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople,
renamed Istanbul, World War I battles against the Allies at Gallipoli,
and later clashes with Greeks.
"Given Turkey’s ongoing denial of the Armenian genocide, it makes
affirmation that much more important," said Bryan Ardouny, executive
director of the Armenian Assembly of America, part of the powerful
Armenian diaspora.
Another source of dispute is Nagorn o-Karabakh, an enclave in
Azerbaijan that is occupied by Armenian troops.
Turks have close cultural and linguistic ties with Azerbaijan,
which is pressing Turkey for help in recovering its land. Turkey
shut its border with Armenia to protest the Armenian invasion of
Nagorno-Karabakh in 1993.
Turkey wants Armenia to withdraw some troops from the enclave area
to show goodwill and speed the opening of their joint border, but
Armenia has yet to agree, Taspinar said.
"We may end up in a kind of awkward situation where there are
diplomatic relations, but the border is still closed," he said.
One gesture seen as vital to reconciliation is a plan by the Armenian
president to attend next week’s World Cup football qualifier between
Turkey and Armenia in Bursa, an old Ottoman capital. Sarkisian has
said he would go to the Oct. 14 game if there is progress on opening
the border.
A year ago, Turkish President Abdullah Gul visited Armenia for the
first game. Turkey won 2-0 in a round of "football diplomacy" where
politics overshadowed sport.
Associated Press Writer Avet Demourian contributed to this report
from Yerevan, Armenia.