Ajemoglu Commentary in Courier

California Courier Online, Nov. 1, 2001


Commentary

Controversial Turkish Armenian Commission is a Misnomer

By Murat Acemoglu, M.D.

When the formation of the Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission (TARC)
was first announced with great fanfare (most Armenians became aware of its
existence from the pages of The New York Times and The Washington Post),
many people were taken by surprise because of the surrounding secrecy, and
the involvement of only a handful of individuals.
At first glance, some of the Armenian readers got the impression that
something important must have happened for these two influential newspapers
to publish this announcement since both papers, known for their pro-Turkish
bias, usually ignore Armenian related topics.
After the initial bewilderment, activist Armenians realized that, TARC was
the product of lengthy and secret meetings, which had the active support of
the U.S. State Department, the Turkish Foreign Ministry and the Diplomatic
Academy of Vienna. The Armenian government was also aware but was not
actively involved. The Turkish participants are hard-line Armenian Genocide
Deniers known for their association with the Turkish military and Foreign
Ministry establishments and handpicked by the Turkish government. One would
anticipate that the counterparts of these high ranking and seasoned Turkish
diplomats and military intelligence representatives would be Armenian
government representatives and Armenian diplomats who are up to par with
their Turkish partners. The Armenian participants were an array of unlikely
individuals identified and assigned to the commission by the US State
Department which created skepticism and controversy.
The "Terms of Reference" agreed by TARC members, after emphasizing the
serious differences between Armenian and Turkish participants, completely
fail to address the main issue, the Armenian Genocide, and legal problems
related to it. After all, the Armenian Genocide was a political act,
premeditated, organized and executed by the Ottoman government to create a
homogenous Pan-Turkic State comprised of Muslim-Turks and free from
foreign-Armenian elements, and not the result of inter-ethnic or religious
hatred or inter-communal conflict or civil war as Turks prefer to portray
it.
Therefore, common sense requires that any Turkish-Armenian reconciliation
process address the fundamental, outstanding, unresolved issues separating
Turks and Armenians and work for political solution; namely, confiscated
land and property as well as bank accounts, life insurance and holdings
issues. Without inclusion of reparation, restitution or financial and
territorial compensation one cannot talk about genuine reconciliation. Yet
the commission came up with cosmetic recommendations only and so-called
confidence building measures envisioned as joint projects to be carried out
in the fields of the business, tourism, culture, education, environment,
and media which were already taking place gradually for the past ten years,
long before the creation of TARC.
Aside from failing to address these unresolved issues, the very composition
of the Turkish members of the unofficial commission, and their arguments or
statements created the impression that Turkey's foreign policy and military
establishment circles and the U.S. State Department had more than
historical reconciliation on their minds when they jointly co-sponsored
TARC. Their objective appears to be to skirt the Armenian Genocide issue
which is perceived to be as potentially damaging Turkey's international
standing and its relations with Western Europe and NATO.
Following the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by French, Italian,
Belgian, Swedish, Russian, European Parliaments, and the Vatican, Turks
reacted with anger, reprisals and threats. As the U.S. intelligence
services helped to deliver Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan to
Turkish national security agents, in order to prevent further
destabilization of Turkey, most people suspect that, the U.S. State
Department acted with similar reasoning, when it spearheaded the formation
of TARC. Also many suspect that behind the Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation
attempts are geopolitical considerations to neutralize Russian and Iranian
influence in the region in order to open the energy rich Caspian Basin and
Central Asia to U.S. influence.
Since the recent terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the region
of Central Asia has become more then ever a crucial place. In fact, the
U.S. obtained the right to use Uzbekistan's airfields as a staging area to
conduct anti-terrorist operations in Afghanistan. Given this complex
political realignment in the region, TARC is considered to be a political
tool rather than a forum to solve unresolved Turkish-Armenian disputes
created by the Armenian Genocide. The commission so far is reluctant to
involve itself with legal, financial, moral and property issues that need
to be resolved if true reconciliation is intended or targeted.
Alas, after reading the statements that Turkish members of the commission
made after the announcement of TARC, one cannot help but become more
skeptical about the intent of the Turkish government which is dominated by
Generals. In fact, the presence of Retired Air Force General Sadi Erguvenc
is most revealing. He is the Commander of Joint Security and Chief of the
Turkish Intelligence Headquarters. He is the most powerful member of the
commission. His expertise includes analyzing data about the strengths and
weaknesses of the adversary, gathering information about the intent,
activities, plan and agendas of the enemy, assessing their power base and
resources, the degree of public support they are receiving, etc. His
objectives are to devise methods as to how to circumvent the Genocide
related legal, moral and material compensation issues and replace them with
cosmetic "Terms of Reference" as one can see in TARC's press release.
After reviewing the statements of the Turkish members of the commission one
comes out with the impression that the Armenian participants, in fact, were
not treated as equal partners in this commission. They were totally
victimized, deceived and placed in compromising situations with the
following statements attributed to Turkish members of the commission.
Gunduz Aktan, former Tur-kish Ambassador at the UN in Geneva, known for his
testimony before the congressional hearing of the Armenian Genocide in
September of 2000, where he vehemently denied the Armenian Genocide and
issued threats against the Congress that recognition of the "alleged"
Genocide may have dire consequences to Turkish-American relations. After
the formation of TARC, he said the Genocide is the concern of jurists and
historians. In a recent article in the Turkish Daily News, he gloated that
the British Ambassador to Armenia Timothy Jones labeled the events of
1915-23 as "terrible historical events" without using the word Genocide,
and called it an Armenian defeat.
Ozdem Sanberg, former Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkey and currently
Executive Director of an Istanbul-based think tank, made it abundantly
clear that "the basic goal of our commission is to impede the initiatives
put forth every year in the US Congress and Parliaments of Western
countries on the Genocide issue, which aim to weaken Turkey." Later on, he
elaborated further by stating: "The significant matter for us is that the
Genocide issue is not discussed by the American Congress any more. Because,
as long as we continue the dialogue, the issue won't be brought back to the
agenda of the Congress."
Another Turkish member of the commission, Volkan Vanik, a psychiatrist and
a psychoanalyst, has worked closely with noted Armenian Genocide denier
Nor-man Itzkowitz. He attributes the Armenian obsession with the Genocide
issue to a national psychosis, the "Persecution Syndrome," rather than the
legitimate human psychological response to Turkish denial.
The rest of the Turkish commission members, Ustun Erguder, the former
President of the Bogaz-ici University, and Ilter Turkmen, former Foreign
Minister of the Republic of Turkey, are closely linked to the Turkish
military establishment which has been at the forefront of Turkey's denial
of the Armenian Genocide and anti-Armenian propaganda and misinformation
campaign.
After this comprehensive review, one reaches the conclusion that the
Turkish agenda and strategy target certain objectives with the following
unambiguous statements attributed to Turkish members of the Turkish
Armenian Reconciliation Commission: 1) None of the Turkish participants in
TARC considered the events of 1915-16 a Genocide; 2) The intention is to
reduce the effects of current and historical events (what they mean is to
make the Armenian Genocide issue irrelevant, in both political and legal
terms); 3) The Genocide issue is principally the concern of jurists and
historians (marginalizing, de-politicizing or reducing the magnitude of the
crime merely to controversial, historical and disputed events); 4) The
intent is not to find what the truth is, but to open new horizons for the
future and enhance mutual understanding. (Yet they all know the truth, but
they choose not to face the reality, based on selective amnesia. And they
are trying to force the Armenian side to do the same -- to reconcile with
denial. Therefore, "reconciliation with denial" is a more appropriate way
of describing TARC); 5) The Armenian Diaspora and the Government of Armenia
have influenced various parliaments, the foreign news media and educational
institutions against us. It is better to engage them in dialogue rather
than risking international condemnation and witnessing the passage of
Armenian Genocide resolutions by foreign parliaments; 6) The basic goal of
the Turkish commission members is to impede the initiatives put forth every
year in the US Congress and the parliaments of western countries on the
Genocide issue which aim to weaken Turkey.
The Armenian members of the commission have yet to define clearly their
objectives other than those stated cosmetic "Terms of References" which
were released jointly with their Turkish counterparts. None of the stated
terms directly or indirectly touches upon fundamental issues arising from
the forced deportations of the Armenian civilian population from their
native lands, followed by wholesale organized massacres, confiscation of
the lands, properties, bank accounts, holdings, insurance policies, and the
destruction of Armenian churches, schools and monuments. Critics of the
Commission don't oppose the principles of free dialogue between Turks and
Armenians as a way of resolving outstanding issues. They object to the
Turkish Government's and the State Depart-ment's intent to circumvent the
Genocide issue for political expediency and geopolitical gains, forcing the
Armenian side not to bring the legal and political implications of the
Genocide to appropriate forums, and sidetracking Armenian national
interests and the Cause. The intent is to promote Turkish interests under
the pretext of maintaining regional stability, bringing Armenia to
partnership with Turkey, looking to the future and forgetting the past that
places such a heavy burden on both nations.
As long as the recently established Armenian Studies and Research Center in
Ankara continues to conduct revisionism, distortions and anti-Armenian
propaganda, blames the victims for their misfortune in order to vindicate
the perpetrators, as long as the Armenian presence and history is denied in
Turkish textbooks, and the Turkish members use TARC to circumvent the
Armenian Genocide and disclaim any moral, legal, and financial
responsibilities for the Armenian Genocide victims, then what we are
talking about is not true reconciliation, but reconciliation with denial.
Cosmetic gestures by the Turkish side like the recent Turkish translation
and publication of the anthology of the Armenian poetry, releasing Armenian
CDs, or allowing Armenian tourists to visit Akhtamar or the Ani cathedral
are not a substitute to assuming moral, legal and financial
responsibilities for the perpetrated crime of Genocide.

Dr. Acemoglu of Newton-ville, N.Y., is a Turkish-Armenian who is very
knowledgeable about Turkish-related issues. He is a frequent contributor to
Armenian-American newspapers