Armenian Letters 5: Dr. Laciner's Response

Dr. Sedat Laciner

Dear Maral,

you argued in your previous letter that Armenians are not convinced by the Turkish argument, because they had witnessed the Ottoman abuse and Genocide first hand. Of course there are people who experienced that difficult times among the Armenians. However the second and third generation Armenians in the diaspora have never experienced the 1917 Events, they have never been to and almost all them have never met a Turkish man or woman. Ironically many Armenians who experienced the Ottoman rule spook Turkish language, most of them lived in their houses like a Turkish family. They missed , and when they met a Turkish abroad, they hugged their neighbors, and even some of them confessed that ‘some Armenians’ made great mistakes to the Ottoman State . It is ironic that the second and third generation Armenians’ hate is greater than the first generation Armenians', not because of the experiences or respect to their grandparents’ memories. The new generation Armenians created a monster called ‘Turk’. When an Armenian in or in the says ‘Turk’ or ‘Turkish’ he/she does not mean a name of a nation or a group of people. As a matter of fact that diaspora Armenians do not want to meet with a real Turkish, and they do not want to establish dialogue with the Turkish people. They do not want all, because confronting the real Turk would destroy all the Armenian identities in diaspora. What would left from an Armenian if he/she does not hate from the Turks. What unite the millions of Armenians in the diaspora except the hate against the ‘terrible Turk’.


Wake up, wake up!...

There is no ‘terrible Turk’…

Turks are not the monsters you created. Turks and Armenians are the most similar peoples in the world. Both listen the same melodies, they eat almost the same food, both think in a similar way etc. If I do not say that ‘I am a Turk’ no Armenian could guess my race… We did not only share the same territories, but the same fate. The only difference between us is that you left these territories, but we stayed. We experienced the tragedy, we died, and we killed. You have forgotten that you killed, you just remember your pains. I understand both of them because I still live here. I can easily see the hate in your eyes, how you suffer in defining your Armenianness, why you hate etc. Turkish people passed all this process decades ago. We wanted to forget all the pains and hates. Otherwise the Turks were not able to establish a state, not able to survive. The Armenians in chose a different way, they preferred to remember and to maintain all the pains alive. They encouraged their youth to continue to kill. They declared war, and they started a terror campaign while Mustafa Kemal made all the possible efforts to establish friendly relations with the Greeks, Armenians and with all the neighbors in a short time after the great war. He knew that needed its neighbors to establish a common future. The First Armenian Republic was occupied and Armenians more suffered in the Russian rule. Thanks God, the collapsed and the Armenians established another independent Republic. But they still focused on the hate against the neighbors, they once more wanted more territories instead of more friends in the region.


WRITING A NEW HISTORY

All nations rewrite the world history. All nations blame the others and praise itself. However the real leaders and real intellectuals are aware of that the facts and written history are not the same. Great nations can confront with their pasts. They can criticize their past, and the real leaders and real intellectuals focus on future co-operations, not obsess with the past mistakes. The problem with the Armenian ‘nation’ is that the Armenians have no real leaders and brave-heart intellectuals. The Armenian ‘leaders’ always encouraged the hate between Turkish and Armenian people. They said “kill, take the revenge, put a bomb’ etc. They declared wars. I have never read a book or an article making self-critics about the Armenian past. There is no Armenian who questions the 1915 Events in a different way. If you are Armenian, you cannot think differently. This is strange for me, because Anatolia is a place of diversity and pluralism. One may find all the diverse ideas in Turkish academia, media and politics even in the Armenian issue. You post me the ‘pro-Armenian’ Turkish articles. I am aware of all them and it is very easy to find more radical papers everyday. No one could guess a Turk’s ideas on Armenian issue before discussing the matter. That’s the difference between a Turkish and an Armenian. So I have no representing all the Turkish people on this issue. Of course majority of the Turkish people think as I do, but even there are differences between these people too.

is a place of diversity and pluralism. One may find all the diverse ideas in Turkish academia, media and politics even in the Armenian issue. You post me the ‘pro-Armenian’ Turkish articles. I am aware of all them and it is very easy to find more radical papers everyday. No one could guess a Turk’s ideas on Armenian issue before discussing the matter. That’s the difference between a Turkish and an Armenian. So I have no representing all the Turkish people on this issue. Of course majority of the Turkish people think as I do, but even there are differences between these people too.

***

You remind me Turgut Ozal’s speech. Actually a very bad example. Turgut Ozal was the most brave-hearted Turkish leader. He even once said that “let’s recognise what the Armenians say. Both people should not lose time and energy because of a useless debate on the past”. He has no problems with the Armenians and he never accepted the Armenian allegations. His problem was with the current problems and he made enormous efforts to establish diplomatic and other connections with the young Armenian Republic . was one of the states who recognise the Armenian Republic . But when occupied the neighboring ’s territories and attacked the Nakhcivan region near Turkish borders Ozal had no choice. If Armenian can not accept Ozal and Tayyip Erdogan policies they have no chance in solving ‘Armenian Problem’, because the history will not see more pro-Armenian Turkish in future. And if you have problem with Ozal and Erdogan, it means that Armenians do not live in a real world.

***

I do agree with Mr. Saydali. “He who lives by the sword, must be prepared to die by the sword.” If you attack a nation, they would attack you too. This is a basic rule of the world. If Armenians attacked the , Washington would do more than the done so far. Look at the case. What did? Armenians have undermined the Turkish interests for the decades. The Armenian lobby in the and Western Europe has joined all anti-Turkish blocks. They supported the PKK terrorism, they made co-operation with the anti-Turkish Greek campaigns etc. has seen the Armenians almost in all anti-Turkish campaigns and policies (not only in the Armenian issues). And Armenian terrorism massacred the distinguished Turkish diplomats. None of them had any connection with the Armenian issue. Even some of the Turkish diplomats killed by the Armenians had no idea about the Armenians. The terrorists also killed their wife and children. If the diplomats were not the Turkish but Americans, I am sure that the Washington would have used ‘sword’. And now, Azerbaijani territories have been under the Armenian occupation. Remember Hocali, do not just remember the 1915. It was just a decade ago, not almost a century ago. If Armenian occupy neighboring countries, if they threaten their neighbors, they can never expect friendly responses. Mr. Saydali reminds Inonu, Sakarya, Izmir and . In Inonu, Sakarya and Izmir clashes Turkish people defended their independence. Greeks occupied the Western Anatolia and they were forced to leave. In , did not occupy the whole of the island but saved the Turkish Cypriots. No one has been injured since the Peace Operation of 1974 in . You blame Mr. Saydali’s understanding and you imply that the real source of the ‘monster Turk’ image is the Turkish threats. If it was so, Americans would be the monster not the Turks. has never occupied any country in 20th century. has never declared war against any nation during the Republican era (except the Cyprus Peace Operation and United Nations operations). has never threatened the Armenians. has never attacked the Armenians. On the other hand Armenians massacred Turkish diplomats and other Turkish representatives. Armenians attacked number of Turkish companies and embassies. Armenians have threatened the Turkish people. Armenians are talking about ‘occupying the Eastern Turkey territories’, Armenians accuse the Turkish people of coming the most terrible crime: genocide. does not recognise ’s and ’s national borders. And you could speak about so-called ‘Turkish threats’ against the Armenians. I think Armenians should look at the mirror. ‘Armenian genocide allegations’ are considered an insult by the Turkish people. Turkish people perceive the accusations as a matter of honor. and Turkish people do not threaten the Armenian people or . Turkish Prime Minister invites Armenian President to , he offers to establish a joint commission, he and many other Turkish politicians offer dialogue. does not speak about the war or conflict. has made enormous effort to stop Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. But at the same time it should be noted that if one attacks the others, he/she may find attacks. If one wants friendly relations, he/she should be a real friend.

By the way, it is really difficult to me why the Armenians are so sensitive on Turkey-Greek relations but show a great indifference on Occupied Azerbaijani territories and massacred Turkish diplomats. Armenians now say nothing about Armenian terrorism.

NEEDED ENEMY

Armenians in the diaspora needed to create enemy to unite the Armenians in the , , Europe and other countries. You say that “The Armenians who survived in the past 5000 years do not need a common enemy for their solidarity.” Please remember Armenians did not live in the , and Western Europe for 5.000 years. And when they first came to US for instance, they were not a part of a strong nation. Even they could not communicate by Armenian language. Some Armenians were speaking Russian, some other Turkish, and some of them were speaking Arabic. The strong American or European cultures and languages was an open threat to the Armenian culture. Not the Armenian tragedy but the ‘Armenian Genocide Legend’ was created by the political and religious institutions to save the Armenian identity in the ‘new world’. The Armenians created a world based on hate against the ‘Turkish monster’. There was no Turk in the North America , and lack of Turkish opposition made creating a past easier. Now the Turks oppose the Armenian claims. And the Armenian Diaspora perceives the Turkish opposition as matter of insult. Because they created a ‘religion’ and they cannot make any discussion on the matter. Because even discussing the matter is considered a sin by the Armenian Genocide ‘Faith’. Armenians in Diaspora sees the Armenian issue as a matter faith, not a matter of politics or history.

It is true it was a common experience shared by the “Survivors” and their offspring.

MASSACRE AND GENOCIDE


Armenians resist to understand that and Turkish people have no problem in accepting the Armenian tragedy and massacres in the past. Yes, it is a fact, many Armenians were killed or massacred by the Kurdish or Turkish individuals or groups as the Armenians killed or massacred them. The matter is that these events cannot be named as ‘genocide’. Genocide is a legal term and all kind of killings cannot be genocide. If so, there are many genocides against the Turkish nation in history. Turkish people do not deny a ‘genocide’ but they deny the ‘Armenian allegations’. And there is no universally accepted ‘Armenian genocide’. Armenian political groups manipulate the domestic politics of the Western countries. The French Parliament accepted the Armenian allegations in session which very small group attended. The Armenian diaspora makes impact on the French media and the Armenian French journalist write the anti-Turkish articles in the French papers. and the Turkish people in the West did not give response to the Armenian lobbying activities in the past. However now the situation has changed. The Turkish diaspora is now stronger and oppose the Armenian ideas. The problem is that the Armenians just accuse the Turks of being denier instead of establishing a real dialogue.

ENVER AND CEMAL PASHAS

Personally I do not agree with the Ittihad’s policies. Cemal, Enver and his friends were so utopian and romantic. They caused the collapse of the Ottoman State . They made great mistakes, yet I know that they did not make genocide, because they were Turkish. I agree with you, needs to question its past, ant it tries its best. There is no one voice in . Diversity on historical matters is beyond what you can expect from Turks. The problem is that the Armenians show no effort. They just blame and accuse. That’s why the Armenians are like a one single block in this issue.

NOTHING LEGITIMATES INSULTS

In your letter you try to legitimate the Armenian insults to me and to the Turkish people. This is not a right and nice way. Nothing legitimates insults. Insult is not an ethical problem, but also a legal problem. You cannot insult anybody. I do not insult anyone. I do not force anyone to think like me. You can believe in ‘genocide stories’, you can blame me. Free world. All are your choices. But, you have to accept that we have freedom of speech too. And when you accuse me of committing the most horrible crime in the world, I have all the rights to defend myself without insulting anyone. And I do not accept your accuses. Even if your parents were experienced a real tragedy in Anatolian territories, and even if my parents killed your parents, you have no right to insult me. There are local and international courts, is member of Council of Europe and recognized all the individual rights to apply European courts. The local Turkish courts are also open to the Armenians and others. You may apply to American or any other courts. And imagine, can I insult you because of that you and the majority of the Armenian people do not condemn the Armenian terrorism during the 1970s and 1980s and the current Armenian Occupation in . Many Turkish diplomats were massacred by the Armenian terrorists and most of them were declared ‘hero’ by the Armenian State and community. Do I have the right to insult you? I can just criticize your attitude. I strongly condemn the Armenian community for terrorism, yet I cannot insult, and I do not insult. Supporting terrorism is a grave mistake and I see no difference between ASALA and Usame Bin Laden men. And the latest genocide in the recent years was Hocali Genocide. The innocent civilians were genocided in by the Armenian Armies and the Western media, including The Economist, the NYT and many others, pictured and documented the genocide. The Armenians are now silent. They say nothing about the Hocali Genocide, yet they can remember the events happened almost a century ago.


You can make terrorism, you may kill innocent diplomats, you may massacre families of Turkish diplomats, Tashnaks have all the right to kill the high-ranked Ottoman statesmen in the name ‘revenge’, you can insult me, you can fire American and Turkish professors’ houses because they do not agree with you, you can make genocide in Hocali, you do not have to remember 520.000 Turkish and Kurdish civilians killed by the armed Armenians during the First World War, you have all the rights to occupy almost 20 percent of your neighbor Azerbaijan, you can claim territories from Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia, you have all the right not to recognise international borders, you can make anti-Turkish lobbying in the US and elsewhere, you have the right to undermine all the Turkish interests abroad, you can make films showing Turkish people barbarians etc., but we can do nothing. We, the poor Turks, have to be silence. We have no rights to question what you argue. We have to accept what you say. You can kill us, you can blame us, but we cannot give any response. Otherwise you call us ‘denier’.

HRANT DINK

You remind me the Hrant Dink case. He was given a six-month suspended sentence. But I am sure that Dink will remain in and will never go to to live because he knows that is more democratic and he can defend what he thinks in . It is true we still have problems in implementation of the new laws, yet shows a real progress while the Armenians are still there. The courts verdict was not shared by the Turkish media and majority of the Turkish people, including Prime Minister and by many Cabinet members. If Dink was in , he could not speak anything about the Armenian issue.

ARMENIAN CHURCHES


You argue that only 6 Armenian churches left in , and only one of them is functioning in the eastern . First of all you call eastern Turkish provinces ‘Armenian vilayets’ and ‘Ermenistan’ (). This is not a friendly approach. If you say Turkish provinces , one day Turkish people may say that “there is no and Armenian Republic is not a legitimate state.” There is no end in such aggressive and provocative debates. is , and is . There are many churches in the Eastern region of , particularly in the Mardin province. I don’t know the real figure but Armenians can find a church to pray in every main cities. The problem is that the number of Armenians is very small and they cannot finance a church or a school in this region. The obstacle is not the law or the governmental restrictions. If a Turkish Armenian wants to establish a church there is no restriction. Americans, Europeans and even Korean missionaries now establish their own churches even at the heart of , in Ankara . Missionary activities right now in is very high. I mean the Armenian population in the mentioned region is not enough to establish churches. In Istanbul there are about 100,000 Armenians. They have many schools and churches. We met with the Patrick Mesrop II last year and he complained about the Istanbul Armenians. They do not send their children to the Armenian schools and the voluntary assimilation is at the level of real risk. The mixed marriage in particular threatens the existence of Armenian people in .


You claim there are just 6 churches in Istanbul . However the Armenian Church does not confirms you. If you visit http://www.hyetert.com/rehber.asp site you will see that someone deceives you. The list of the Armenian Churches under the Istanbul Armenian Patriarchate rule:

Note: [List ommited here, interested readers can find it in the link above]

Do you still think that all Turkey Armenians vanished?

I will continue to my response in a separate letter, because your letter’s size is beyond a normal letter. I do not want to lose the focus of the debate.

Sedat Laciner

JTW, 10 November 2005

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