Turkish Press reaction to Armenian Resolution
The USG Open Source Center translates and summarizes Turkish press reaction to the US congressional resolution concerning the Armenian genocide.
'Turkey: Roundup of Press Reactions to House Resolution on Armenian Genocide
Highlights of reports and articles in the Turkish secular press about a resolution supporting allegations that Armenians were subjected to genocide by the Ottoman army in 1915 which was approved by the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs on 10 October
Turkey -- OSC Summary
Friday, October 12, 2007
Istanbul Milliyet (Internet version-WWW) in Turkish--centrist, mass appeal daily, one of the country's top circulation papers, owned by Aydin Dogan, head of the Dogan Media Group--carries a 600-word report entitled "Turkey's Bargaining Chips" which highlights possible actions that could be taken by Turkey in order to persuade the US House of Representatives not to ratify the resolution in a plenary session. According to diplomatic sources, an authorization bill which the Turkish Government intends to push through Parliament in order to send Turkish troops into Iraq can be used as an important bargaining chip.
In addition, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to tell the Bush Administration during his upcoming visit to the United States in November that cooperation between Turkey and the United States about Iraq and other issues could be seriously hurt if the resolution eventually clears the House of Representatives. According to the report, Turkey may also use other options such as imposing prohibitions and restrictions on US military activities in Incirlik air base, refusing a possible US request to use Mersin port during a troop pullout, preventing or restricting the use of Habur border crossing, refusing possible US requests to join peace-keeping operations, furthering political and economic ties with Iran, including the conclusion of an energy agreement which the United States strongly opposes, and disqualifying US companies vying for military contracts.
In a 400-word article entitled "The Armenian Resolution," Milliyet columnist Taha Akyol accuses Armenian nationalists of resorting to "the ugliest forms of dirty tricks such as using humanly and religious feelings for fueling hatred and vengeance, issuing threats, and bribing people." He says: "Various US presidents described the events that took place in 1915 as a 'mass massacre.' But, Armenian nationalist were not satisfied. Their primary objective in convincing parliaments to pass 'genocide' resolutions is to prepare the ground for making forcing Turkey to meet their political demands and to pay compensations. This is a political assault."
Pointing out that American politicians downplay angry reactions voiced in Turkey, Akyol concludes by saying: "We should show them that Ankara is not bluffing and American interests in the region and the Armenian State have started to suffer harm."
In a 400-word article entitled "Why did not the Strategic Card Work?" Milliyet columnist Sami Kohen says that efforts made by the Armenian lobby in the United States and their influence on the US Congress outweighed the strategic arguments of the Bush Administration. Ascribing the passage of the resolution to pressure put and tactics used by the Armenian lobby and distrust toward Turkey due to the rejection of a motion on Iraq in 2003, Kohen points out that there are signs indicating that Ankara intends to take concrete action rather than making statements in response. He comments: "The matter should be handled not emotionally, but by taking Turkey's interests from a broad perspective despite public outrage. In other words, steps to be taken should be effective and produce the intended results without causing much harm to as or severing basic external ties. Turkey is still able to use its 'strategic card' for that purpose."
In a 300-word article entitled "Incirlik Card," Milliyet columnist Derya Sazak says that the Turkish Government which, he notes, has cooperated with the United States in the past five years is in a state of shock. Sazak asserts that expansionist policies pursued by the United States in the Middle East has changed the situation. He says: "Today the United States has new allies. A process started in the US Congress about 'Armenian genocide' at time when Turkey was planning a cross-border operation in northern Iraq because of the PKK's presence there. The 'friendly and allied' United States scored the 'Armenian genocide' goal after Johnson's letter about Cyprus, the embargo, and the 'hood' incident in retaliation for the rejection of a motion on 1 March (2003) which were among the crises witnessed in recent past. What else should happen to prompt Ankara to close down Incirlik?"
Istanbul Hurriyet (Internet version-WWW) in Turkish--centre-right, mass appeal daily, country's top circulation paper, owned by Aydin Dogan, head of the Dogan Media Group--carries a 400-word editorial entitled "Blame Falls on us, not the US Congress" by Oktay Eksi who says that a propaganda campaign waged by the Armenian diaspora will attain its goal this time. Eksi points out that successive Turkish governments did not allocate sufficient resources and personnel in order to refute Armenian allegations and to conduct an aggressive campaign like Armenians. He cautions: "Unless our government realizes the gravity of the situation and takes action based on 'war logic' rather than making empty statements, we would miss the last opportunity and face a defeat."
In a 400-word article entitled "The Biggest Retaliation," Hurriyet columnist Ferai Tinc points out that retaliation threats issued by Turkey were ignored by US congressmen because they have lost their deterrent effect and turned into political tactics mainly targeting the Turkish public. Stressing that Turkey may resort to official retaliation, Tinc says: "I am not sure whether such official retaliation could be effective. But, I know that actions it has taken in Iraq, its indifference to the PKK's terror campaign, stopping its efforts in Cyprus, and the last resolution have irreparably tarnished the United States' image in the eyes of the Turkish public. In my view, retaliation in the form of a nation's judgment is the biggest, most effective, and lasting retaliation."
In a 350-word article entitled "We Lost our Nerves," Hurriyet columnist Tufan Turenc says that Turkey was shaken by what he describes as a second blow delivered by the United States at a time when the Turkish nation was grieving for soldiers killed by PKK guerillas. Turenc criticizes the government for not responding to insidious plots hatched against Turkey and says: "Even the United States did not take them seriously although they had obeyed and sworn allegiance to it. The Armenian resolution was approved amid a big round of applause from an Armenian audience. There is no doubt that genocide will be recognized by an overwhelming majority of the members of the House of Representatives. The Justice and Development Party could not cope with terrorism and the Armenian question."
Istanbul Sabah (Internet Version-WWW) in Turkish -- Center-right, mass appeal daily; under state receivership since April 2007 pending investigation into alleged wrongdoing by former owner Turgay Ciner -- carries a 400-word editorial entitled "Shackles" by Erdal Safak cautions that if a resolution supporting Armenian allegations of genocide will sooner or later ratified by the US Congress because Hillary Clinton who, he says, describes the events of 1915 as genocide and is a staunch supporter of Armenian claims will succeed US President Bush. Safak also says that Turkey actually drew unnecessary attention to Armenian allegations by resorting to retaliations against countries where resolutions about Armenian genocide were adopted by parliaments and showed that it was its Achilles' heel although it could have resolved the problem 15 years ago without much fuss.
Istanbul Vatan (Internet version-WWW)-- Center-right, mass appeal daily, published by a group of former Sabah columnists allegedly with financial backing from media tycoon Aydin Dogan --carries a 600-word article entitled "For the Sake of Justice" by Gungor Mengi who predicts that the resolution will not be ratified by the Senate and President Bush even if it clears the House of Representatives, adding that Turkey should devise a new strategy aimed at totally eliminating the possibility of the passage of a resolution about Armenian genocide as a result of a decrease in the United States' dependence on Turkey due to security considerations.
Labels: Turkey
posted by Juan Cole @ 10/13/2007 12:05:00 AM
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11 Comments:
Is it not the job of historians to establish what happened? Or is the "truth" record of the American Establishment so perfect that we need it as proof?
There have been a lot of comments on the role of the Kurds. While it is well established that tribes in that are were involved heavily, it is wrong to condemn all Kurds. In fact many Armenians left their babies with Kurdish families in Iraq because they feared the tiny things could not make it through the mountains. They left crosses and some instructions and the Kurd ensured the kids were brought up as Christians but could not teach them Armenian obviously. These Kurdish-speaking Armenians in Iraq have a special name which escapes me right now.
There were hundreds of thousands of Armenian Iraqis who turned down the offer of returning to Armenia after its independence, but are now fleeing the US "liberation" in great numbers. Those in Lebanon also suffered from Israel's barbarity and US “pangs”. I would have though the US-Armenians should condemn the Americans and Zionist for what is happening now to reduce the suffering of fellow Armenians.
Though I am personally sad that the US has reduced its foreign policy to this nadir of idiocracy, I must in good conscience support any bill that announces the truth. The truth is that the Ottomans/Turkish government systemically murdered its own Armenian Christian people because they blamed them for Russian victories in the Caucasus region. They Turks lost massive amounts of territory and 'honor culture' of the late Victorian period demanded a response. So a crime against humanity was committed.
Now can the Turks pass a bill announcing to the world that the US/UK/RoW attack on Iraq is also a crime against humanity? I would also support any such bill by any country.
Truth is a bitter pill to swallow, and as Mr Chomsky once said; it does not matter even if no-one is jailed, we must recognise our crimes and at least give the victims THAT small dignity.
Thanks for this; it's the best English-language coverage I can find.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhajir_%28Caucasus%29
It's only genocide when Turks do it, evidently.
The Turkish government should own up to the crimes of the Ottoman past.
All I know is that when it comes to ASALA, the invasion of Azerbaijan, and the Nazi collaboration of national heroes like Dro Kanayan, I hear "But--the genocide!"
The Caucasus was a landscape of mixed ethnicity and religion. Did the CUP cabal conspire to deport and massacre more than a million Christians? Yes.
But somehow Armenians want to cheer their war of liberation and then make some sick comparison between themselves and the German Jews. I don't know of too many Jews who committed terrorism against Germany.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1896_Ottoman_Bank_Takeover
I have never denied the memories and stories passed down by Armenian ancestors. I know that Ottoman soldiers and irregulars did horrendous things.
When I tell them that many Turks remember, or were told by ancestors who claimed to remember, Armenians shutting people up in mosques and burning them to the ground, I'm told it's all propaganda.
Armenians and Turks need to open up to each other. I'm not saying their crimes are equal--not at all. Armenians were much, much weaker than the Ottoman elite. And yet, let's not act like the age of nationalism was one-sided, with evil, brutish, moustachioed Mohammedan dogs on one end and passive, helpless Armenians on the other. This conflict was helped from both sides, and if you studied the Ottoman-Russian conflicts you'd do yourself some good.
Why do the Armenians and their supporters like Rep. Radanovich and Rep. Schiff assume the massacres the Armenians inflicted upon Turks and Muslims before and after 1915 and the tragedies the Armenians forced them to suffer, as events which never occurred? Here are a few examples about what the Armenians did:
* The Armenians performed hundreds of revolts against the Ottomans, being organized by Armenian committees H?nçak and Ta?naksütyan (24 revolts only in September to December 1895).
*In 1905, the Armenians killed all the Turks and Muslims who lived in Su?a in Azarbaijan (Russian newspaper Novoye Obozrenye 6 September 1905).
*The Armenians who struggled against the Ottomans in Armenian-Russian troops murdered 40% of the Muslim population in Van, Bitlis, Erzurum. V.A. Gurko-Kryajin declared that the Muslim folk around Erivan and Kars were eradicated and the districts ?uragel, Ka??zman, Karakurt, Sar?kam??, Surmali were fired and destroyed so that the folk were forced to escape, in his book entitled ‘Neareast and the States’ (V.A. Gurko-Kryajin, Blijniy Vostov i Derjav?, p.93, Nauçnaya Assotsiatatsiya Vostokovedeniya Pri Ts?K SSSR, Moscov, 1925).
* ‘150 000 Armenian volunteers in Russian Army were the only forces against Turks’ told Armenian Boghos Nubar, in Paris. (Times of London , 1919 Jan 30 Link: http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2007/10/2013-150-000-armenian-volunteers-in.html)
*‘The Turks who had been slaughtered like animals were buried in large holes in the Eastern Anatolia’ writes Russian Lieutenant Colonel Twerdo-Khlebof in his diary (www.tsk.mil.tr/ermeni_sorunu/arsiv_belgeleriyle_ermeni_faaliyetleri/pdf/yarbay_tverdohlebov.pdf).
*Many mass graves have been found in the Eastern Anatolia. The Armenians who were invited to investigate these mass graves many times, insistently rejected these offers.
*Armenian Soviet historian A.A.Lalayan stated that the Ta?naks displayed extreme courage to massacre Turkish women, children and ill and old people (Contrarevolyutsionn?y ‘Da?naktsutyun’ ? ?mperialisti-çeskaya Voyna 1914-1918 gg.’, Revolyutsionn?y Vostok, No.2-3, p.92, 1936).
*T. Haçiko?lyan, in a speech he delivered, told that the Ta?naks eradicated thousands of Turks with their bloody hands (T. Haçikoglyan, 10 Let Armyanskoy Sttrelkovoy Divizii,p4-6. ?zdatelstvo Polit. Uprav. KKA, Tiflis, 1930).
*Were they only the Armenians who were forced to immigrate? While the number of the Ottoman Armenians who had to immigrate for security was 500 000, the number of Muslims who had to immigrate to Anatolia’s more secure places to escape from the Russian- Armenian attacks in the Eastern Anatolia and Caucasia was 1 million, only during 1916 and 1917.
*Death rate among these immigrants and additionally the Turkish troops, because of cholera, typhus, dysentery outbreaks were very high.
*In Syria and Lebenon, massy death occurred because of poverty. English ships attacked the ships which carried wheat to Lebenon and had them sunk (Özdemir H,2005).
It is difficult to understand why the contemporary senses of morality of American congressmen and congresswomen do not allow to take effective action against massacres of the Turks by the Armenians during the same period and name the mass killing of the Turks and other Muslims as a ‘Turkish/Muslim genocide’ performed by the Armenians?
Though I am personally sad that the US has reduced its foreign policy to this nadir of idiocracy, I must in good conscience support any bill that announces the truth. The truth is that the Ottomans/Turkish government systemically murdered its own Armenian Christian people because they blamed them for Russian victories in the Caucasus region.
History should be written by historians; it's not the business of politicans to vote concerning the history of another country. Period. Similar votes have been casted in several countries in Europe, including in Switzerland and, more recently, in France; the Turks have always reacted strongly, postponing a long planned official visit etc. Personnally I think that it's more important to support the ICC (international criminal court punishing actual crime agains humanitary laws), that to point fingers at past misdeeds. Let'us try to make the future better. For the past, she countries who committed these misdeeds have to present their excuses and if possible offer compensations. That said, what about the genocide of formers Americans Indians ? The Canadian had made public excuses to its native population (I seem to remember it was done pretty recently), but what did the US do ? How many compensation did it pay the Vietnamese to compensate for its war crimes ? especially the dammages and longterm malformations caused by the "agent orange".
Why do the Armenians and the supporters of H.Res.106 assume the massacres the Armenians inflicted upon Turks and Muslims before and after 1915 and the tragedies the Armenians forced them to suffer, as events which never occurred? Here are a few examples about what the Armenians did:
* The Armenians performed hundreds of revolts against the Ottomans, being organized by Armenian committees H?nçak and Ta?naksütyan (24 revolts only in September to December 1895).
*In 1905, the Armenians killed all the Turks and Muslims who lived in Su?a in Azarbaijan (Russian newspaper Novoye Obozrenye 6 September 1905).
*The Armenians who struggled against the Ottomans in Armenian-Russian troops murdered 40% of the Muslim population in Van, Bitlis, Erzurum. V.A. Gurko-Kryajin declared that the Muslim folk around Erivan and Kars were eradicated and the districts ?uragel, Ka??zman, Karakurt, Sar?kam??, Surmali were fired and destroyed so that the folk were forced to escape, in his book entitled ‘Neareast and the States’ (V.A. Gurko-Kryajin, Blijniy Vostov i Derjav?, p.93, Nauçnaya Assotsiatatsiya Vostokovedeniya Pri Ts?K SSSR, Moscov, 1925).
* ‘150 000 Armenian volunteers in Russian Army were the only forces against Turks’ told Armenian Boghos Nubar, in Paris. (Times of London , 1919 Jan 30 Link: http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2007/10/2013-150-000-armenian-volunteers-in.html)
*‘The Turks who had been slaughtered like animals were buried in large holes in the Eastern Anatolia’ writes Russian Lieutenant Colonel Twerdo-Khlebof in his diary (www.tsk.mil.tr/ermeni_sorunu/arsiv_belgeleriyle_ermeni_faaliyetleri/pdf/yarbay_tverdohlebov.pdf).
*Many mass graves have been found in the Eastern Anatolia. The Armenians who were invited to investigate these mass graves many times, insistently rejected these offers.
*Armenian Soviet historian A.A.Lalayan stated that the Ta?naks displayed extreme courage to massacre Turkish women, children and ill and old people (Contrarevolyutsionn?y ‘Da?naktsutyun’ ? ?mperialisti-çeskaya Voyna 1914-1918 gg.’, Revolyutsionn?y Vostok, No.2-3, p.92, 1936).
*T. Haçiko?lyan, in a speech he delivered, told that the Ta?naks eradicated thousands of Turks with their bloody hands (T. Haçikoglyan, 10 Let Armyanskoy Sttrelkovoy Divizii,p4-6. ?zdatelstvo Polit. Uprav. KKA, Tiflis, 1930).
*Were they only the Armenians who were forced to immigrate? While the number of the Ottoman Armenians who had to immigrate for security was 500 000, the number of Muslims who had to immigrate to Anatolia’s more secure places to escape from the Russian- Armenian attacks in the Eastern Anatolia and Caucasia was 1 million, only during 1916 and 1917.
*Death rate among these immigrants and additionally the Turkish troops, because of cholera, typhus, dysentery outbreaks were very high.
*In Syria and Lebenon, massy death occurred because of poverty. English ships attacked the ships which carried wheat to Lebenon and had them sunk (Özdemir H,2005).
It is difficult to understand why the contemporary senses of morality of American congressmen and congresswomen do not allow to take effective action against massacres of the Turks by the Armenians during the same period and name the mass killing of the Turks and other Muslims as a ‘Turkish/Muslim genocide’ performed by the Armenians, also?
Everyone is perfectly aware of the fact that historians already have established the occurrence of the Armenian genocide. The Turkish response has been reprehensible.
Turkey should be more than willing to apologize for the genocide and compensate the victims. That is just basic human decency.
If House Democrats pander to the Bush regime on this one, it would be morally repugnant. The only reason Bush and his cronies oppose the resolution is that they want the Turkish government's collaboration in the occupation of Iraq.
There just isn't any legitimate reason for any member of Congress to vote against a long-overdue resolution.
If the Turks retaliate, the best response is an international boycott and divestment campaign until they withdraw from their occupation of western Kurdistan.
...And the bottom line is the crime has to be punished! regardless of what country implemented it. The attempt of the author above (who mentioned invasion of Azerbaijan) is not well grounded. Let's not involve Armenian-Azeri relationships for now, that's relevant, but still a different story.
Armenians perfectly realize that modern Turks have nothing to do with the genocide of 1915. There has got to be a way to solve the problem. Definitely Turkish government's denial only adds fuel to Armenians' burning souls who will NEVER stop pushing the issue.
I just read an article in the Turkish media where is says "The US can do without Turkey, but Turkey will lose a close friend."
People who blame American-Armenians for lobbying the US Senate should realize that those Armenians ended up in the US as a result of the genocide, Armenians in ELSEWHERE – again, ended up in elsewhere as a result of the genocide. Consequently, they do what they are supposed to do - pursue The Armenian Issue as far as it needs to go.
I wish I had time to write more in this blog, but anyone interested more can just google, the truth never disappears. I thank those Turkish scientists and journalists who are talking (and getting jail time) about the TRUTH.
… To sum: (1) today’s Turks are not guilty for the genocide, except those who deny (this relates to not only Turks but any other nation that so far didn’t recognize the massacre implemented by Ottoman Turkey in 1915 as Armenian Genocide, (2) there is no way for Turkey to integrate to EU without recognizing the killings of 1.5 million of innocent Armenians (think about this number for a moment… it’s horrifying)…
History must be left to the historians?
Well, people never read historians. It's true. NPR, the Nation, the Washington Post, have all whitewashed the Armenian genocide as a controversy. None of these media organs are reading the historians. Microsoft Encarta whitewashed the genocide under Turkish pressure. We have a genocide denial problem in the US, and that includes the Armenian genocide. Even our best universities employ professors who deny it. So, this idea that it should be left to the historians assumes that people read history at all. And we know they don't. If not rephrased by so many progressives and Democrats over the last few days, I daresay the very idea is one Dick Cheney and the Neocons would love, a caste of politicians who care very little about history because it's not in their purview.
The fact is, there has never been a good time for this bill. It's been killed repeatedly in the past becuase there wasn't a good time. The Turks have been battling the Kurds for decades. They have gone into Iraq multiple times. They will be fighting the Kurds well into the future. Iraq will be a nightmare for the foreseeable future. In other words, there will not be a good time for this bill. Maybe EVER. It's been 95 years already. Maybe in 150 years, the bill will stand a chance of passing?
Genocide scholars agree that the last criminal act of genocide is denial and forgetting. We are there, America. I'm not talking about Turkey. I'm talking about the issue as discussed in our media and publications inside the US. If this bill doesn't get passed, we may eventually find ourselves complicit with the denial, and thus complicit with genocide.
That's why this is important.
It is not in the interest of the parliaments to arrive at conclusions on events that took place a century ago. If parliaments are going to judge the events in history, then historians do not need to spend time in archives because whatever they say will not count, but the position of their consituency will matter.
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