Turkey's gestures sabotaged by Armenian hotheads


Turkey is moving ahead with its own reconciliation drive with the Armenians, yet every positive step is being effectively sabotaged by the international community with the help of the Armenian diaspora.

Last year, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, now the president of Turkey and at the time, the prime minister, started the reconciliation process by sharing the grief of the Armenians over the unfortunate incidents of 1915 by describing the events as "inhumane."

Erdoğan at the time went on to say "we wish that the Armenians who lost their lives in the context of the early 20th century rest in peace, and we convey our condolences to their grandchildren."

This was a calculated move that was not designed to appease the adversaries of Turkey, but to set the record straight and open the way for proper reconciliation between Turks and Armenians.

This year the government under Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu is taking another step forward in its own reconciliation process, allowing the Armenians to hold a religious service to commemorate the killings and deportations of a century ago. Turkey has also announced it will send a senior government official to attend.

Prime Minister Davutoğlu disclosed the gesture, as he issued a second annual statement of condolences for the deaths of "innocent Ottoman Armenians."

"We, the descendants of nations belonging to different ethnic and religious origins understand what the Armenians feel," Davutoğlu said in his statement. "We remember with respect the innocent Ottoman Armenians who lost their lives and offer our deep condolence to their descendants."

It was both "a historical and a humane" duty for Turkey to "stand up for the memory of the Ottoman Armenians and the Armenian cultural heritage," he said. With this in mind, he added that the Armenian Patriarchate would hold a religious ceremony.

So Turkey continues to do its part in the reconciliation process with the Armenians, but still the hot heads that dominate the Armenian diaspora and the Armenian government are not interested in anything short of a blood feud and revenge.

Turkey is not following this course because it is concerned about the international pressure the Armenians are trying to drum up, and thus wants to appease global public opinion. It is refusing to go down that road not out of fear of the pope's statements, nor the resolution of the European Parliament. Neither is it trying to ward off a pro-Armenian resolution in the U.S. Congress.

It is following its own course because morally it is the right thing to do. Turkey acknowledges that Armenians have been subjected to terrible tragedies, but is also aware that that is only one side of the coin. That is why Turkey wants all the historical records to be opened and experts to study them and come to a conclusion.

Turkey's historical record has always been exceptionally clean when it comes to treating its minorities. Turkey has provided shelter to people in trouble in the past (as in the case of Jews and other minorities), and also today as it provides shelter to two million Syrians.

However, the Armenian diaspora and government prefers to turn a blind eye to all this and is appearing to demand blood money, further fanning a feud between Armenians and Turks, and has land claims on Turkey. International public opinion must see this and put the issue in the right perspective.