Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, told reporters Wednesday that Turks and Armenians “in Paris and Boston” should sit together and attempt to reconcile their memories of the tragic events that took place in 1915, which Armenians consider a systematic extermination campaign but which Turks insist were merely terrible deaths resulting from the collapse of an empire.
“We made some outreach to the American diaspora,” he said in remarks that appeared to reference the Boston area as home to a large Armenian community. “We told them ‘Our archives are open. We are ready to discuss everything.’”
Deep bitterness over the events in 1915 which led to the deaths of up to 1.5 million Armenians remains an obstacle to normal relations between Turkey and Armenia today. It has also created diplomatic strains with the United States. US presidents usually issue a statement on April 24, marking Armenian Remembrance Day, but some in Congress are attempting to pass a bill acknowledging the deaths as genocide, which Turkey warns will have a negative impact on relations.
Davutoglu said that members of the Turkish parliament have discussed passing a resolution condemning the US genocide against Native Americans in retaliation for the bill in Congress, but that he has not encouraged such a measure.
“You can create a success story out of history,” he said. “You can create hatreds as well.”
He said that Turkey had reached out to neighboring Armenia with signs of friendship and he remains hopeful that the Turkish parliament will eventually pass a law that will help normalize relations, although he said he is not sure if there are enough votes yet.
“As Turkey, we are ready to share the pain of our Armenian neighbors,” he said.
But his comments fell far short of the acknowledgment of suffering that millions of Armenians want to hear.
“1915 is the year of so-called genocide for them,” he said. “For us, we say ‘pain.’ We are ready to discuss. The same year, we had Gallipoli.”
Gallipoli was a joint British and French campaign to capture the capital of what is now Turkey to secure a sea route to Russia in which more than 200,000 Turks are believed to have died. Turks won that battle, but lost the war. World War I sparked the break-up of the Ottoman Empire.
He said one of his grandfathers died in Gallipoli, underscoring the emotion that many Turks feel about that campaign. But many Armenians consider it insulting to equate a military campaign that killed just over 200,000 with what they believe to be systematic expulsions and killings resulting in the deaths of up to 1.5 million.
The Boston Globe |
Akgün Medya