ROTARY OF CHANGE

Yusuf KANLI

Even though we attach importance to an issue, sometimes developments in that peculiar area just skip our attention. It was in an article by Gila Benmayor published on March 12 in the TDN that I learned of an initiative by international Rotary’s 2430th District Governor Erhan Çiftçioğlu to bring together Turkish, Azerbaijani, Armenian and Georgian Rotary clubs within a program called Caucasus Friendship Days.

“Such a nice initiative from a man of vision” was my initial reaction to the report. Then I learned that in addition to Çiftçioğlu the Rotary Club of New York was very much involved in this project. Soon I learned that Giorgio Balestrieri, the international service division chief of the club, and his co-chair, Kaan Soyak, were as well very much involved in this project.

Soyak has been trying hard for many years to improve the climate between Turkey and Armenia. He has been doing this not because he is of ethnic Armenian origin but rather because he is a Turkish national who — unfortunately — unlike many of those declared nationalists, rather than talking rhetoric, has been working hard to open up new avenues for Turkish businessmen and acting with an awareness that a Turkey with a strong presence in the Caucasus and beyond will have a much better future in the European Union and the Western world.

Over the years, we had many occasions to share our approaches to the problems faced by the preoccupied and prejudiced perceptions in this country. Converting this geography into one of cooperation is in the best interest of all states of this area as well as of the international community.

Isn’t it time for Turkey to question the merits of keeping the Armenian border closed? What would happen if Turkey were to open the border? Would Armenia become more intransigent regarding Azerbaijan? Or would it become more stubborn regarding the “genocide” claims? Or, would it realize the importance of having a next-door neighbor like Turkey on peaceful terms with it and tone down from its current hard-line policies?

Armenia, as we have written many times before, started its independence with a population of over 3.5 million. It now has only around 1.5 million. Is this a success story? The Yerevan administration must understand that a policy of expansion and continued rejection of offers from Turkey to let the so-called genocide issue be resolved by historians will not help if it wants to maintain an Armenia on the world map. They must see that Armenia is vanishing.

But we should realize as well that we can’t continue the blockade of Armenia forever, hoping that we will force it to accept a peace with Azerbaijan that it otherwise would not, or a resolution of the genocide allegations issue that Yerevan would not consider if it had a way out. Such approaches will only postpone the problems, not solve them.

Just opening the border with Armenia is not enough. We should encourage trade with that country and the region, knowing that more trade means more interdependence and that interdependence makes countries realize the cost of adventure and thus forces them to stay away from it.

The efforts undertaken by Çiftçioğlu and people like him endeavor to establish human bonds of friendship in this geography and must be supported by everyone

TDBN editorial by Yusuf KANLI

Saturday, March 19, 2005