THE BLOOD FEUD GOES ON

THE BLOOD FEUD GOES ON

Turkish News
www.turkishnews.com.tr
December 14, 2001


Had the eminent members of TARC displayed more maturity, wisdom
and courage things might have been different. But this was clearly not
to be Looking at some of the reports emanating from Armenia and the
Armenian community in America and Europe over the past two days...

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SEMÝH ÝDÝZ
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... it is clear that the hardliners are gloating over the failure of
the Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission (TARC). They never
liked this venture anyway and made it very apparent from the
start. For example the Armenian members of TARC came under fire on day
one by the rightwing and ultranationalist Armenian Dashnak Party,
otherwise known as the Revolutionary Federation of Armenia.

Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian for his part went so far
as to call on the Armenian members to withdraw from the Commission,
openly implying that its continuation was doing harm to the `Armenian
cause.' For the Armenian side TARC was nothing short of `a ploy'
by Turks to divert attention from the disputed Armenian genocide.

It is an objective fact that the Turkish side was far more
level-headed and calmer on this score. There were hardly any vocal
critics of this venture. While the Turkish foreign ministry disowned the
initiative, there can be no doubt that it was following its proceedings
from the corner of its eyes to see where matters would lead.

But neither can it be doubted, given the way things were
developing, that it would not be long before angry voices were raised
against this venture on the Turkish side also. If we just look at the
controversy that raged in Turkey only a few days ago over the Turkish
film `Salkým Haným's Diamonds' we see that many in Turkey have
a long way to go yet before they can look at the past objectively,
maturely and with a sense of human compassion in order to try and
understand what really happened in 1915.

With both sides sticking religiously to their own political
interpretation of these sad events of the past it seems that
Turkish-Armenian reconciliation will have to wait for another time
that is characterized by much more wisdom than we have today. I used
the term `political interpretation' above intentionally because much
of what is said on both sides has little to do with history but a lot
to do with ethnically motivated folkloric memories and an ongoing game
of oneupmanship between the two nations with a view to securing
political, and subsequently legal advantages.

This is in fact what scuttled TARC. Both sides started off by
declaring that seeing as it was clear neither side could sway the other
on the issue of 1915, both sides should work for better understanding
between the two nations regardless of this fact. But it did not take
long for the boat to flounder, mainly because the Armenian members were
put under a cloud of suspicion with charges of betraying the Armenian
cause. There is a belief on the Armenian side that a 30 year campaign --
involving shameless terrorism that left scores of Turkish diplomats dead
-- which aims to have the Armenian genocide recognized is gaining major
ground.

It may be gaining ground in some respects, but there is little
that has changed as far as the Turkish side is concerned. With every
supposed political gain the Armenian side secures the Turkish position
becomes even more hardline. If Armenians believe that Turks can be
browbeaten into accepting their exclusive interpretation of history
because some self-serving Western politicians are backing them, then
they are seriously deluding themselves.

It is of course the prerogative of the Armenians to believe a
systematic genocide was perpetrated against their grandparents by
Ottoman Turks. It is a fact, after all, that hundreds of thousands of
Armenians died in horrible conditions -- along side the millions of
other Anatolians that died in a similar fashion -- during World War One.


By virtue of the same argument however it is also the prerogative
of Turks to reject this interpretation of events. On the other hand,
`legislating history,' as the French Parliament tried to do last
year with its `law' recognizing the alleged Armenian genocide will
change nothing in the end.

Armenians like to reel off the names of historians and
intellectuals who support the genocide thesis. On the other hand they
reject the fact that eminent non-Turkish academics, such as Bernard
Lewis and Justin McCarthy, have tried to put the events of 1915 in
proper perspective, and have forcefully disputed many Armenian claims. I
am not aware however that these men have been declared `bogus
academics' by the independent academic community in the United States
or in the world. To the contrary the stature of Bernard Lewis is growing
by the day given his deep knowledge of the Islamic world in general, and
Turkey in particular. Only a few days ago U.S.News & World Report
carried an extensive portrait on him under the headline `A Sage for
the Age.'

The short of it is that whatever personal assumptions and
prejudices there may be on both sides, the historic verdict is yet to be
given on the events of 1915 for those who are clamoring for a true
understanding of the causal events that led to the overlapping tragedies
of those turbulent years. The matter simply has not been studied
sufficiently by independent sources who bear no allegiance -- emotional
or otherwise -- to either side. Much of what has been written is either
by Turkish or Armenian historians or researchers -- who can hardly be
impartial in a matter like this -- or their sympathizers. The names that
come to mind immediately here are Arnold Toynbee, Israel Charny, Taner
Akçam, Christopher J. Walker, Esat Uras, and Sadi Koçaþ -- to list
but just a few.

But then the Turkish-Armenian dispute today has little to do
with history. It is a typical oriental tale of seeking vengeance,
vindication and retribution. Neither side has attained the social
maturity that would enable them to look together at a bloody past with
a view to drawing the true lessons about man's inhumanity to man. Put
bluntly the blood feud mentality goes on with no sight in end. Had the
eminent members of TARC displayed more maturity, wisdom and courage
things might have been different. But this was clearly not to be.