According to several sources, we learn that the Syrian army would enter Kessab and would have defeated the jihadists from Tchalma. It would continue its advance towards Al-Samraa having also taken Nabain. Information to take precautions, not having confirmation of news agencies.
Turkish PM says 30,000 of 2,000,000 Armenians living in Turkey proves there was no ‘genocide’
ISTANBUL
Only a week after expressing condolences for the 1915 deportation and killings of Armenians, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said the small Armenian community still living in Turkey was proof that there was no genocide in the past.
Speaking in an interview with Charlie Rose from PBS, Erdoğan said what happened in 1915 could not be described as a “genocide.”
“This is not possible. Because if there were a genocide, [there would not be] Armenians still living in Turkey,” Erdoğan said, reiterating that Ankara was ready to open its historical archives.
“We see genocide as a crime against humanity. We will never shut our eyes to it. We are ready to open our archives. Armenia and other third party countries should do it too,” he said, adding if documents prove it, then Turkey would apologize.
“These events did not happen under the Turkish Republic, but the Ottoman Empire. If the documents show it, then we will not avoid apologizing and accepting the consequences,” he said.
In an unexpected statement issued April 23, Erdoğan had stressed the common pain endured by the two peoples, expressing condolences for the descendants of the mass killings in 1915.
“The incidents of World War I are our shared pain. To evaluate this painful period of history through a perspective of just memory is a humane and scholarly responsibility,” his statement said.
The remarks had a widely positive response, with Washington describing them as “historic” and many commentators noting that they constituted a major step for confronting the past.
Golden Loophole: How an alleged Turkish crime ring helped Iran
Reuters’ special report by Hümeyra Pamuk, Steve Stecklow, Babak Dehghanpisheh and Can Sezer.
In this city’s Grand Bazaar, sellers along labyrinthine passageways hawk carpets, jewelry and souvenir knick-knacks to tourists.
Turkish police believe that until recently, the area around the market also sat at the center of an audacious, multi-billion-dollar scheme involving bribery and suspect food shipments to Iran.
To date, no one has been charged. But a recently leaked police report – which contains allegations of payments to top Turkish government officials including cash stuffed into shoeboxes – has added fuel to a growing corruption scandal that has shaken the highest levels of Turkey’s political establishment.
A review by Reuters of the report’s 299 pages, as well as interviews with currency and precious metals dealers, offer colorful new details of how what police call a “crime organization” allegedly helped Iran exploit a loophole in the West’s sanctions regime that for a time allowed the Islamic Republic to purchase gold with oil and gas revenues.
While the gold trade was then legal, the police report alleges the purported crime network bribed officials in part so it could maintain control of the lucrative business.
Then, when the West last July prohibited the gold trade as a sanctions violation, the police report alleges the network concocted records of shipments of food at preposterous volumes and prices to continue giving Iran access to foreign currency.
The police report – which includes transcripts of wiretapped conversations and surveillance photographs – was prepared for prosecutors. Reuters confirmed its authenticity with Ekrem Aydıner, the current chief prosecutor in charge of the case.
Turkey’s Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdoğan, has called the police investigation a foreign-orchestrated plot without legal merit. In recent months, Turkey’s judiciary removed several prosecutors from the case. That has raised questions about whether Turkish law enforcement authorities will continue to pursue it. Aydıner said the matter remains under active investigation.
In many ways the plot described in the police report resembles a made-for-TV crime series: A cop who is thought to have tipped off tax authorities finds himself transferred to a distant outpost by the Black Sea, a plane that arrives from Ghana carrying 1.5 metric tons of gold with no clear owner, and millions of dollars in payoffs to various officials to block rivals and gain valuable favors such as fast-track Turkish citizenship for members of the purported crime network and their families.
The report presents a wealthy young businessman of Iranian descent named Reza Zarrab as the ringleader. Zarrab grew up in Turkey, holds citizenship, resides in a manor on the Bosphorus and goes by the Turkish name Rıza Sarraf. He is well known on Istanbul’s celebrity circuit, and is married to Turkish pop star Ebru Gündeş, who is a judge on a popular television talent show. Following her husband’s detention in December – he was released from jail two months later without being charged – she tearfully told viewers, “God willing, I hope these dark days will pass quickly.”
When Reuters reporters recently visited his residence, they were greeted by about a half-dozen security guards who said he was out of town. His attorney, Seyda Yıldırım, later declined to comment.
In an interview published on April 19 with Sabah, a Turkish newspaper, Zarrab said, “The trade I do is completely legal.” He later said in an interview on Turkish television that he had helped to reduce the country’s current account deficit.
Gold rush
The police report states that its investigation found evidence of bribery, fraud and gold smuggling. Although not central to the police investigation, the West’s economic sanctions on Iran provide the backdrop of the alleged scheme.
As financial sanctions tightened in 2012, both Turkey and Iran had pressing needs: Turkey required oil and gas for its fast-growing economy, while Iran desperately needed hard currency to pay for new automobiles and other foreign imports.
Under the sanctions – imposed by Washington and Brussels to contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions – Turkey was permitted to purchase oil and gas from its neighbor. But it was required to pay in Turkish lira, a currency that is of limited value for buying goods on international markets. All payments were to be deposited in an Iranian bank account at Turkey’s state-controlled Halkbank.
In 2012, Turkey purchased from Iran more than $10 billion worth of oil and gas, according to Reuters’ calculations based on data from Turkey’s energy market regulation board and Turkish officials.
One commodity that Iran was permitted to purchase with its money was gold. A veritable Turkish gold rush ensued with bullion shipped to Iran in everything from couriers’ rucksacks to airplane cargo holds.
Turkish gold exports to Iran exploded from one metric tons in 2011 to 125.8 metric tons in 2012, worth $6.5 billion, according to the Turkish statistical institute. Another 85 metric tons, worth $4.6 billion, were exported that year to the United Arab Emirates, a known transshipment point to Iran.
The police report alleges that Zarrab and a network of companies he controlled were running much of the gold trade with Iran, sometimes via Dubai. “It is understood that, to overcome sanctions and move money to Iran, Rıza Sarraf used Turkey as a stepping stone,” the report states.
To keep the business running smoothly, the report alleges, Zarrab’s network paid bribes to Zafer Çağlayan, Turkey’s economy minister; Muammer Güler, the interior minister; Egemen Bağış, the European Union Affairs minister; and Suleyman Aslan, Halkbank’s chief executive.
All three ministers, who have since either resigned or been dropped from the cabinet, have denied wrongdoing; none have been charged. Çağlayan declined to comment; Güler could not be reached for comment. Lawyers for Bağış and Aslan did not return calls seeking comment.
Halkbank has denied violating any domestic or international laws. A spokesperson declined to answer questions but did say the bank is not under any investigation by Turkey’s police or judiciary.
According to the police report, many of the payoffs were allegedly picked up in a building on a row of jewelry dealers near the Grand Bazaar. Police also tracked the shipment of a Swiss watch the network allegedly gave to Çağlayan, the economy minister, that cost about $340,000. Bağış, the EU Affairs minister, at one point allegedly received $500,000 cash delivered in a chocolate box, along with a silver plate. In an intercepted phone conversation about the plate, the report quotes Zarrab as telling an associate, “Don’t make it too expensive.”
The report alleges that Aslan, the former head of Halkbank, and Çağlayan received a percentage of the Iranian money transfers, resulting in bribes that totaled tens of millions of dollars. In December, police raided Aslan’s house and seized $4.5 million stuffed in shoeboxes, according to local media reports. Aslan told police the cash was a charitable donation from various businessmen to build an Islamic school, the media reports said.
The police report alleges the bribes bought the network perks such as reduced commissions from Halkbank for money transfers, authorization to drive along highway emergency lanes and assistance in preventing rivals from participating in the lucrative trade. One Istanbul gold and currency trader told Reuters, “I went to the bank about 18 months ago and tried to open an account, saying I wanted to sell goods to Iran and that I was going to pay via Halkbank. But they did not let me. There has been unfair competition in terms of using this bank.”
The bribes also secured the network police protection, the report alleges. Suspecting at one point that a local police officer had initiated a tax audit of some of Zarrab’s companies, the interior minister arranged to have the officer transferred to Zonguldak, a Black Sea coastal town about 200 miles east of Istanbul, the report alleges. According to the report, a wiretap allegedly picked up Güler telling Zarrab that “we have sent him into exile.”
The network also allegedly received special assistance when, in January 2013, a plane carrying 1.5 metric tons of gold bullion arrived at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport from Ghana without proper paperwork. The report cites wiretapped phone calls between Zarrab and Çağlayan’s office allegedly showing that Çağlayan intervened at Zarrab’s request to prevent customs officers from seizing the shipment. The cargo was held up for days, but ultimately released.
The circumstances surrounding the Ghanaian gold shipment remain murky. An Iranian billionaire businessman named Babak Zanjani, who is accused by the United States and European Union of violating sanctions on Iranian oil, recently posted a statement on the website of his company, Sorinet Group, stating he was the original purchaser of the gold from Ghana. “This type of trade was completely legal,” he wrote.
Yet Zanjani boasted last year in an interview with Aseman, an Iranian magazine, of violating sanctions. “This is my work – sanctions-busting operations,” he was quoted as saying. He is in jail in Tehran on charges of owing the government more than $2.7 billion from oil sales; he denies any wrongdoing.
In the website posting, Zanjani said he had met Zarrab “a few times” but that they had not done any business together. Zarrab said in the television interview earlier this month he had met Zanjani twice, but “I am neither friends nor partners with him.”
Fake food
Washington closed the gold loophole last July. In the television interview, Zarrab said he stopped trading gold and “shifted to food and medicine,” which were still permitted. In a four-month period, he said, that trade totaled about $1.6 billion.
But the police report alleges that some of the food shipments never actually took place, but consisted of counterfeit invoices submitted to Halkbank that should have raised plenty of red flags at the bank.
The documentation included bills of lading that purportedly showed that cargoes “of 150,000 metric tons were being carried in vessels with a capacity of 5,000 tons,” the report alleges.
In another case, the report includes an alleged copy of an invoice for a shipment to Iran of about five metric tons of raw brown sugar. The cost? A whopping $250 a pound, more than a hundred times the market rate.
The report also quotes from a wiretapped conversation with Zarrab in which an associate allegedly tells him about the food shipment records, “The documents we are giving are wrong. I mean, they are documents that do not exist in reality.”
Following their investigation, the police staged a series of raids and detained dozens of suspects in December. Later that month, one of the prosecutors on the probe was removed from the case. He accused police of refusing to comply with his orders to detain even more suspects. “Suspects have been allowed to take precautions, flee and tamper with the evidence,” the prosecutor, Muammer Akkaş, said in a statement to Turkish media. Reached by Reuters this month, he declined to comment.
Aydıner, the new chief prosecutor on the case, said the detentions were just a precaution and that no suspects have been formally charged. “Of course, they are still under investigation,” he said.
Shortly after the December raids, two of the ministers who allegedly accepted bribes – Economy Minister Çağlayan and Interior Minister Güler – resigned; Bağış, the EU Affairs minister, was replaced in a cabinet reshuffle.
Aslan, the chief executive of Halkbank, left his job in February. He was recently named to the board of directors of a larger, state-owned bank.
As part of a preliminary deal struck in November between Western powers and Iran, Tehran promised to scale back its nuclear development program in exchange for the suspension of certain economic sanctions. The deal, which took effect in January and is to last until July, includes allowing Iran to resume some gold trading.
But there’s no evidence that Turkey is benefiting. Some Istanbul traders say they are too jittery to sell gold to Iran. Gold exports have plummeted.
EDITORIAL: The Centennial Must Become A National Movement for Justice
On April 24, 1965, the entire Armenian nation—for the first time our brethren in Soviet Armenia—rose up to demand justice and recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Such national solidarity reinvigorated the Armenian Cause and began a movement that today has resulted in widespread recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
We, as Armenians, still fight the good fight for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide because Turkey has not ceased its denial of the crime, despite numerous calls by world leaders for it to come to terms with its bloody past. Even the absurd statement by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday proves that Turkey is unable to advance beyond the decades-old lie that its leaders have been feeding their own population and the international community.
This, coupled with countries like the United States’ adamant opposition to the truth, still places the issue of the international recognition of the Genocide high on our national agenda as we look toward the 100th anniversary of the Genocide. Justice, however, goes beyond recognition and it includes reparations and restitution for the crime of Genocide.
We often say that taking lessons from history is the best way to progress and tell the world that the recognition of the Genocide as an act of man’s inhumanity to man will curtail such instances of human rights violations in the world.
Perhaps, it is time that we take our own advice and take a lesson from the past.
The impetus for a nation to rise up on the 50th anniversary of the Genocide introduced a landscape that emphasized national unity and gave birth to a movement at the center of which was a national understanding of our national priorities.
In recent years, however, the term “national priorities” seems to signify different things to different people or circles. Whether it is due to political expediency or personal interests, this fundamental concept has been defined in various terms. Some argue that the current socio-political plight of Armenia’s citizens is our national agenda, while other contend that the national priority should be the Artsakh question or the situation plaguing our communities in Syria.
While each of those singular issues should become a focal point of every Armenian, they are but links in a larger chain that define our national purpose. After all, the Genocide was an attempt by the Turks to obliterate the entire Armenian Nation. As such, our response to it must be unified and resolute.
As we begin our march toward the centennial, the imperative to act advance as a national movement becomes the critical turning point on whether we will success as a nation to overcome the obstacles and persevere.
Let us rise up, as our nation did 50 years ago, and let of collectively fight for justice for the 1.5 million martyrs as well as for the advancement of our NATION.
Source: Azsparez
Conditions in Azerbaijan ‘Worst Ever,’ Says Former Ambassador
BAKU—“I have been engaged in U.S. – Azerbaijani relations since 1992 and I haven’t seen a situation worse than the one that currently exists in Azerbaijan,” former U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard Kauzlarich (1994-1997) said when answering questions from the Azerbaijani news agency Turan.
Richard Kauzlarich expressed serious concerns about the political situation in Azerbaijan, pointing to new facts on persecutions of journalists and political activists. Meanwhile, dozens of American diplomats, congressmen and other officials are going to participate in a conference called “Vision for the Future” held in Washington on April 29-30. Some observers believe that this is a PR event sponsored by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), Turan reports.
According to Kauzlarich, the American Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, James Warlick, is being criticized in Azerbaijan, while U.S. Congressmen are accused of espionage. At the same time, the Azerbaijani authorities are financing an Azerbaijani-American conference to be held in Washington “to support the U.S.-Azerbaijan strategic partnership.”
Referring to the arrest of journalist Rauf Mirkadirov in Azerbaijan, Kauzlarich said the arrest of this prominent independent journalist after his forced deportation from Turkey, raised serious concerns among human rights groups all around the World.
Rauf Mirkadirov’s arrest for Kauzlarich “is the last link in the downstream actions of Aliyev’s regime aimed to suppress political dissidence, freedom of media and any attempts to engage in positive contacts between Armenians and Azerbaijanis.”
“The regime is not afraid of Russia or Iran but of its own citizens … [The Azerbaijani authorities] even prohibit hotels to host events organized by NGOs that criticize the regime. This is all further proof that the regime doesn’t care about foreign reactions to the growing suppression of the Azerbaijani people,” Kauzlarich emphasized.
As Turan notes, it is expected that at the upcoming U.S –Azerbaijani conference, six key U.S. Senators and the Deputy Assistant of the Secretary of State for Energy Diplomacy will make speeches at the special session on “Eurasian Energy Corridor.” At the same time, 20 other congressmen will discuss the U.S.-Azerbaijani strategic partnership in the Caspian region.
U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard Morningstar and the deputy assistant of the Secretary of Defense Evelyn Farkas, along with several American scholars and an Azerbaijani member of parliament will make speeches at a panel discussion titled, “Azerbaijan, A Reliable Friend at the Most Important Global Crossroads.” None of those discussions are dedicated to the political situation in Azerbaijan.
Recently, the embassy of Azerbaijan has hired former member of Massachusetts’ House of Representatives Bill Delahunt to work on the organization of strategy and relations with the legislators, on relations with the U.S. government, communication with U.S. officials, and, perhaps, also with the American mass media, Turan reports.
Rauf Mirkadirov, a columnist for the Azerbaijani newspaper “Zerkalo,” was arrested on April 18 in Ankara on charges of expiration of documents. On April 19, Mirkadirov was deported to Azerbaijan, where he was immediately arrested and put in custody by the MNS on suspicion of treason. On April 21, the court in Baku sanctioned his arrest for three months. Mirkadirov is accused of cooperating with special services of Armenia; specifically he is accused of transferring state secrets, including information about the deployment of Azerbaijani armed forces to Armenia during 2008-2009.
Battles in Syria’s Kessab continue
The heated battles continue in Syria’s Armenian populated town of Kessab and its neighboring regions.
Tert.am’s sources report that the government forces have managed to liberate several key coastal districts though it is still early to speak about retaking the entire city and ensure the local Armenians’ return.
Aleppo, Syria’s former economic capital which has a big Armenian community, has now resumed the electricity supply after a 12-day outage.
Tert.am’s sources in Aleppo say that the situation was relatively calm on Monday.
The problem of the food shortage, which caused a major panic especially in the Easter period, has also been resolved. The city now has fuel supply, but cars still reportedly line up near gas filling stations. The city is said to be facing a shortage of liquid gas balloons.
Genocide recognition vain without reparation – Armenian historian
The recognition of the Armenian Genocide will have no value without condemnation and reparation, an Armenian historian has said, commenting on the issue in the light of the Armenia-Turkey reconcilation.
“Today’s Turkish leadership is all the time making attempts to find a roundabout way to mislead [the public] from the main problem which is the reparation. We need a legal way to pursue all the matters as was the case with the Holocaust,” Ashot Melkonyan told a debate organized at the Armenian Center for National and International Studies.
The historian stressed the importance of drastically changing the Armenian tactics on the issue to focus more attention on condemnation and reparation rather than recognition per se.
As for the Armenia-Turkey protocols, Melkonyan said he has fears that a Turkish decision decision to ratify them one day may cause Armenia to follow suit. Meantime he noted that he has observed positive changes in the Armenian authorities’ attitude towards the issue.
“I am not enthusiastic about the Turkish intellectuals’ idea to recognize the Armenia Genocide. They are encouraging, but there are dangerous moments there,” he said, adding that the Turkish denialism which continues to date is a proof that the country remains the Ottoman Empire’s successor.
Analysts Call Turkish PM’s Condolences on Armenia a Political Ploy
April 28, 2014 4:56 PM
The message came last Wednesday, one day before Armenians marked the 99th anniversary of the killings in 1915 by Ottoman Turks. Erdogan released the statement in Turkish, Armenian and seven other languages, expressing hope that those killed are in peace and offering Turkey’s condolences to their descendants.
Though the message had an unprecedented conciliatory tone, Sinan Ulgen, a visiting scholar of the Carnegie Institute in Brussels, says Erdogan’s move was part of a wider strategy.
“This has been a plan that was prepared by the foreign ministry. It was not something that was initially set up by the prime minister. It is part of Turkey’s strategy to change the perception of the country on this issue of Armenia, and more steps are due to follow,” said Ulgen.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan brushed off Ankara’s condolences, accusing Turkey of “utter denial” in failing to recognize the World War I mass killings of Armenians as genocide.
Up to 1.5 million people died in the massacre, and many consider it the first genocide of the 20th century. Armenia wants Turkey to recognize it as genocide, but Ankara has categorically rejected the term, insisting instead that up to 500,000 Armenians died as a result of fighting and starvation during World War I.
The issue remains deeply contentious in Turkey. Many supporters of Turkish nationalism, who make up a large percentage of the prime minister’s grassroots supporters, strongly oppose any efforts to recognize the killings as genocide.
Cengiz Aktar of the Istanbul Policy Center says that with presidential elections looming, there are limits to how far Erdogan can go on the Armenian issue.
“Bearing in mind his designs to become the president and his personal idea about the genocide, that is the utmost limit. He can’t go further than that and it won’t have an effect on relations between Armenia and Turkey,” said Aktar.
Leading members of Armenia’s diaspora have accused Erdogan of being more interested in seeking to derail recognition of the Armenian genocide than wanting cordial relations.
But Ankara denies such charges, pointing to the positive responses to Erdogan’s message, both nationally and internationally, including from some prominent members of Turkey’s small Armenian minority.
Analyst Ulgen says whether or not relations with Armenia move in a positive direction, Erdogan has already scored an important diplomatic success.
“Given the overall quite positive response that this statement has triggered both domestically and internationally, it has helped to improve the image of the government and of the prime minister at a time when there has been many criticisms regarding the behavior of the government,” said Ulgen.
In his comments, Erdogan also repeated an earlier proposal by Turkey for a joint study of the events if 1915, involving academics from both countries. Whether this effort and others will bear fruit remains to be seen.
Rasim Ozan Kutahyali, Erdogan erases Armenian taboo in Turkey
A day before the annual commemoration of the 1915 Armenian genocide, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his condolences to the grandchildren of those who lost their lives. As the BBC noted, issued in nine languages, was unprecedented in the history of the Turkish republic. Specifically, he said, “We wish that the Armenians who lost their lives in the context of the early 20th century rest in peace, and we convey our condolences to their grandchildren.” He also stated, “Millions of people of all religions and ethnicities lost their lives in the First World War. Having experienced events which had inhumane consequences — such as relocation, during the First World War — should not prevent Turks and Armenians from establishing compassion and mutually humane attitudes towards one another.”
Devlet Bahceli, chairman of the opposition Nationalist Action Party (MHP), when asked to comment on Erdogan’s statement said, “There is nothing to assess here. It is too much to torment this nation like this.”
Faruk Lologlu, deputy chairman of main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), said the most important aspect of Erdogan’s statement was his use of the word “condolences.” He asserted, “Condolence is a sacred notion, so there is no need to take offense.” Lologlu did, however, question why, after being in power so long, Erdogan had chosen 2014 to make his statement.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu added his voice, stating, “History is not black and white. … Everyone needs to show virtue by sharing the pains of the past. I hope the hand we extended will be reciprocated. Turkey does not make such statements under pressure. It is not a declaration made because of timing requirements.”
Armenia and the Armenian diaspora want the deaths of some 1.5 million Armenians forcefully deported during the Ottoman Empire to be recognized as genocide. Some 20 countries, including France, Germany, Russia and Sweden, recognize the 1915 events as such, but the United States, with a large Armenian diaspora, has not yet done so. I am one of those Turks who considers the deaths genocide and have openly said so in the Turkish media and through Al-Monitor. Many people recognize me on the street in Turkey because I am also a TV personality. Some Turks support me for this opinion, but others hate me.
The reality is that in pre-Erdogan Turkey, no one — whether a well-known, popular media figure or someone working in the most marginal media — would have written that the 1915 events were genocide. Doing so would have resulted in immediate imprisonment. In the Erdogan era, speaking about 1915 has gradually come to be accepted. Today in Turkey, the Armenian genocide can be freely discussed. Turkey has made significant progress in respect to freedom of expression on this and the Kurdish issue.
Some writers who personally dislike Erdogan and the Gulenist movement, whose secretive penetration of the state is now known, still insist on presenting an incorrect portrait of Turkey to the world. Sure, some of Erdogan’s policies have been bad — there is much to criticize about his 11-year rule — but as prime minister, he has proven that he is a leader who learns from his mistakes. He has no immovable obsessions and is flexible. His political speeches are provocative, and he stands firm against his rivals, but when it comes to official policies, he can dispense with rigidity and reverse positions.
For example, Erdogan’s analysis of the situation in Syria was faulty, which led to bad policy decisions. With his Syrian policy at an impasse, Erdogan is now likely to take a more realistic position. We should not ignore, as Mustafa Akyol’s analysis for Al-Monitor suggests, that Erdogan will be the most important political figure in Turkey for the next 10 years. The Erdogan phenomenon must therefore be examined impartially, free of personal animosities.
A prominent Turkish writer who knew and shared my views about the 1915 Armenian genocide predicted that Erdogan would have me fired from my newspaper. I disagreed, saying that I understood Erdogan’s approach to the Armenian issue, but being a wise politician, he would tackle public perceptions step by step and at the end eliminate the taboo surrounding 1915. I do not feel that anything justifies portraying Erdogan as a reactionary in regard to the Armenian question.
I asked a friend of mine sensitive about the Armenian issue if he would still be unsatisfied if on April 24, 2015, Erdogan traveled to Yerevan as the new president of Turkey, prayed for the genocide’s victims and laid a wreath on their memorial. His response was that Erdogan should not be the president of Turkey, and that we had to be freed of the man. My friend was accepting that anyone other than Erdogan become president, even if he was a fascist who would justify what we did to the Armenians.
Erdogan’s Turkey will from now on confront 1915. Many more steps could follow in 2015. When it comes to facing up to the past, Erdogan is far ahead of his party and cabinet. Davutoglu’s comment on the issue was in a language reminiscent of the Kemalist diplomatic tradition. Turkish diplomacy under Davutolgu must support Erdogan’s courageous move and not create obstructions for Erdogan.
With Erdogan’s statement on 1915, the last taboo of the Turkish republic is gone. True, most people still think as they were conditioned to by Kemalist Turkish nationalists, but Erdogan’s approach will soften this unaccommodating mentality. Erdogan is a leader who can change the minds of people. The Turkish nation must, indeed, convey our condolences to the grandchildren of our Armenian brothers and sisters massacred by the Talat Pasha government in 1915. In this, Erdogan has once again proven to the world that he is not a leader from the usual mold. Those assessing Turkey in Washington must take care to accurately analyze the Erdogan phenomenon.
Rasim Ozan Kutahyali has been a columnist for Sabah since 2011 after writing for Taraf from 2008 to 2011. He is a popular political commentator on various TV programs, having started at CNNTurk and now appearing on Beyaz TV. Kutahyali is known for his anti-militarist and liberal political views. He can be reached at rasim.ozan@hotmail.com
Turkish PM’s Armenian statement unimaginable just 20 years ago
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
Barçın Yinançbarcin.yinanc@hurriyet.com.tr
The Turkish government’s message of condolence talking about the “shared pain” stemming from the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 is a watershed development that would have been unimaginable in years past, according to former Envoy Ömer Lütem.
“You could not imagine this, let’s say five years ago … 10 years ago, never; 20 years ago, it was unimaginable. There has been a change in the Turkish official position,” he said.
What is your evaluation of the statement?
It is related to the moral side of the Armenian question. First of all, it did not seem to have something related to politics. The moral side or the sentimental side is very important because Armenians really fell some pain. It could look bizarre, because these events happened a century ago, but as they were repeated every day to them, there is the impression as if they happened recently. So the moral side is extremely important when you say we present our condolences; that we are sharing your pain. I think it will have an influence on Armenians, but what will result from the political point, that remains to be seen. The militant ones won’t be influenced. But the silent majority, the majority of the people who are not vocal, but they will be impressed.
Does it mean that it is the first time the Turkish government has shown empathy with the pain you are talking about.
That empathy was expressed with strong words; it was never said like that before. The foreign minister said something similar, but the tone was softer
Is it the first time Turkey recognized April 24th as a remembrance day?
That is correct; before there was an effort not to notice it, but it was there. Yet officially … I don’t know. They did not put emphasis on recognizing April 24 as the Remembrance Day.
But is it an official recognition that something terrible happened in the past?
They did not put it that way. What is not emphasized is not what happened, but the pain that exists; they are not the same thing.
But after all pain is a consequence of an event; so that is not defined then?
That’s right. I think they did not say that something has happened on purpose. They tried to underline the human aspect of what happened.
What is the importance of the statement?
It is a very important turning point. Though it concerns the humanitarian aspect, it is first time that there has been a display of real empathy towards the Armenians. I have been dealing with the Armenian question for the past 30 years; I have not seen something similar: it is going directly to the people, to their pain, to the people suffering and trying to understand this and presenting condolences; you could not imagine this, let’s say 5 years ago … 10 years ago, never; 20 years ago, it was unimaginable. There is a change in the Turkish official position.
Why do you think it has taken so long?
I think that this government, from the beginning, tried to solve this question. Instead of fighting, arguing with the Armenians, they have been trying to find other ways. One of the very important elements on the subject was the proposal about the creation of a historical commission. Before, it was always Armenians saying something, and Turks saying ‘this is not right.’ The government tried another way, but they have not been successful until now.
With the centennial of 1915 approaching, I think the government had the idea to make something that would withdraw the people’s attention, especially the Armenians. I think this is the main cause.
So the Armenians will think their decades-long efforts of recognition are paying off.
Most of them will think that their efforts to convince that what happened is genocide are paying off; but the text of the PM’s message does not give this impression at all. The message says from the moral point of view, yes we understand your pain, but it did not say anything that can be interpreted as recognition of genocide
But do you think it was a positive step?
Yes, it is, but I don’t know whether it will be well received or not. But this kind of move takes a rather long time to be accepted; you cannot expect a result in a few days’ time. The government of Armenia did not say much. Most probably they are consulting each other and some countries first, like Russia for instance.
How do you think the Turkish public received it?
In general it was well received. The main opposition party was not against; this is important. The MHP [Nationalist Movement Party] was against it and that is expected. The Kurdish party opted to support the Armenian view about three years ago anyway and the AK Party represents above half of the population. I can say that there is not much of strong opposition to that message except from the MHP.
Do you think there is an evolution in the Turkish society’s approach to the issue?
In the beginning, Turkish society was not very much against the Armenians. First of all people, say they don’t know about the 1915 events. They became angry about these kinds of allegations; they took it as a personal offense. In time, they separated allegations and Armenians in the street. ‘I like my Armenian neighbor,’ they say, ‘but Turks would never commit genocide.’ But the message contains nothing controversial.
Do you think that the strong mandate Erdoğan received from the elections made it easier for him to take this step?
Without having such a big majority, no government would dare take this step.
You said previously that Turkish people were not aware of what happened to the Armenians; so do you think there is now awareness due to Armenians’ genocide recognition efforts?
Armenian terrorism is the main reason for the awareness. They began to shoot Turkish diplomats. And Turkish people were shocked and started asking questions.
What should be done as far as the next steps are concerned?
Turkey has made a great effort; normally, Armenians should respond. And then if there is a positive reaction, then additional steps could come. But if I were in the government, I would rather wait for the reaction from the Armenians, especially in Armenia.
Who is Ömer Lütem ?
Born in Istanbul in 1933, Ömer Lütem graduated from the Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Ankara in 1957 and became carrier diplomat the same year. His most important posts have been:
Turkish Consul General at Cologne, Germany (1975-1979) Director General of Intelligence and Research of the Foreign Ministry (1981-1983), Ambassador of Turkey to Bulgaria (1983-1989), Deputy Undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry (1989-1992), Ambassador of Turkey to the Vatican (1992-1995), Permanent Representative of Turkey to UNESCO (1995-1997). In 1998 he retired.
He was previously Director of the Institute for Armenian Research of the Center for Eurasian Strategic Studies (ASAM), 2000-2008 and 2009-2012 Director of the Center for Eurasian Studies (AVIM). He has been advisor of the center since 2013.
Lütem is the editor of the Review of Armenian Studies, Ermeni Araştırmaları (Armenian Studies) and Uluslararası Suçlar ve Tarih (International Crimes and History).
His works include: Türkiye Bulgaristan İlişkileri, 1983-1989 (Turkish-Bulgarian Relations 1983-1989) (ASAM-Ankara 2000); Balkan Diplomasisi (Balkan Diplomacy) (Co-Editor) (ASAM-Ankara 2001); Ermeni Sorunu El Kitabı (Handbook of the Armenian Question) (co-author) (ASAM- TEİMK, Ankara 2003), Armenian Terror (ASAM- Ankara, 2007), Armenian Question: Basic Knowledge and Documentation (AVIM- Ankara 2009).