Turkey’s response to criticism over Armenian Genocide

It is no wonder why statements on the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire made last week by the European Parliament and Pope on the occasion of approaching the 100th anniversary of the tragic events have caused such a strong reaction of Turkey’s political establishment: the theme of "events of 1915" is still considered to be a taboo in the Turkish society. Responses by the Turkish authorities and statements of its intelligentsia constitute a suitable material upon which it is possible to demonstrate the pillars in the Turkey’s policy of genocide denial. When evaluating the events of 1915 Turkish side not only utilizes tragic historical experience of European countries, but also resorts to accusing Europe itself of being biased towards the Turks.

 

The first who spoke about the genocide this year was Pope Francis, who during the service in the church of St. Peter on April 12 made a reference to fate of the Armenians who were persecuted and killed en masse 100 years ago in the former Ottoman Empire. Speaking about the events that happened of a century ago in the years of the First World War in the eastern provinces of the empire, the Pope stated that "the first genocide in the history of twentieth century was committed in 1915 against the Armenians", also mentioning two other great crimes of the century, Nazism and Stalinism. However, it was not the first time when Pope Francis used the G-word. According to The Economist, the head of the Holy See have already brought up the Armenian genocide in June 2013 during reception of the Armenian delegation headed by the Patriarch of Cilicia of Armenian Catholics[1].

 

Following the Pope's statement on the genocide Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu posted in his Twitter account a statement saying that “the spiritual power must not distribute enmity and hatred, throwing baseless accusations”. Hours after nuncio of the Holy See to Turkey Luchibello Antonio was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, where he was given an official statement of the Turkish side. The document reads that the Turkish government was surprised by the fact that the Pope avoided mentioning sufferings and deaths among the subjects of the Ottoman Empire belonging to non-Christian faiths. Furthermore, Turkish officials noted in the document that the events of 1915 are not recognized by any international judicial body. Turkey paid special attention to the absence of any mention of the atrocities committed by the Nazis against the Jews and Gypsies in Europe during World War II.

 

The European Parliament also made its contribution to the debates on the Armenian Genocide by passing on April 15 a resolution calling on the Turkish leadership to recognize the events of 1915 as genocide. The EP resolution declared April 24 the Day of the Armenian Genocide in the European Union. It is worth mentioning that since its official recognition of the genocide in 1987 the European Parliament has passed several similar resolutions.

 

While delivering a speech at a business forum held during his official visit to Kazakhstan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan commented on the EP resolution on the Armenian genocide by asserting that the historical injustice was committed with respect to the Turkish people, who in the years of the alleged genocide "experienced grief and losses greater than anyone else’s"[2]. Turkish president, while claiming that Turkey has no problems with the Armenian people, urged the Armenian leadership to cooperate. Turkish president proposed establishing a bilateral commission of historians and other experts for joint investigation of the alleged events.

 

The head of the Turkish cabinet also responded to the EP resolution. During a press conference on April 17 Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told the journalist that if Europe wants to contribute to the peaceful coexistence of cultures and peoples, it is essential to avoid making steps that could lead to incitement of hatred against certain religious or national groups. Turkish Prime Minister also stated that the dispute over the 1915 events should not go beyond the bilateral Armenian-Turkish relations.

 

The Prime Minister also touched upon the role of Europe in the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. During the congress of the Confederation of Civil Servants’ Trade Unions on April 18 Dovutoglu noted that there was a rapid increase in number of hate crimes on the basis of victim’s nationality and religion. Besides, the Prime Minister drew attention to the fact that Turkey has repeatedly called on Armenia to start dialogue, for example, in 2005, when the statement for cooperation was issued on behalf of all parliamentary parties. Davutoglu reminded during his address that last year the former head of cabinet and now President Erdogan issued an open letter where he brought his condolences to the descendants of the victims who died in the last years of the Ottoman Empire.

 

Resuming debate on the "events of the year 1915" (a widely accepted expression used in Turkey to refer to the Armenian Genocide. The use of genocide word itself can have legal consequences) and the call of the European Parliament to recognize the genocide officially prompted main Turkish parliamentary parties to make a joint statement. Representatives of three major Turkish parties (Justice and Development Party, the Republican People's Party and the Nationalist Movement Party) on April 16 criticized the resolution of the European Parliament by declaring that the document does not take into account that during the First World War not only Armenians, but also other peoples living in the eastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire were greatly affected. Parties who signed the statement condemned the European Parliament for contributing to the growth of tension in the Armenian-Turkish relations.

 

Opposition parties hastened to take advantage of the existing situation. On April 16 Devlet Bahceli, leader of perhaps one of the most nationalist political forces in the Turkey, National Movement Party in a separate address condemned not only the resolution of the European Parliament, but also the Turkish government itself. According to Bahceli, such steps as last year's open letter of the government, where condolences to the descendants of killed Armenians were made, as well as the signing of the Zurich protocols in 2009, proved to be disastrous, and only undermined Turkey's position in the world.

 

Meanwhile, the Turkish press returned to examination of details in Etiena Mahcupyan’s resignation, one of the advisers to the Turkish Prime Minister. First news about resignation of Mahcupyan, one of the well-known intellectuals of the Armenian descent in Turkey, became public in early April after he openly called for recognition of the genocide. However, as the former adviser told the journalist, decision to resign is not related with genocide, in reality he has reached the maximum age for civil servants. According Mahcupyan, he continues to cooperate with the government on informal lines[3]. His appointment to such a high position in October 2014 was assessed by the experts as the government’s attempt to show that status of the Armenians in Turkey has improved.

 

Statements of the Turkish authorities provide good material upon which one can draw several conclusions about the policy of genocide denial in the country. To start with, as the examination of responses made by the Turkish leadership shows us, in Ankara’s eyes the reasons for Europe’s criticism lies not in a desire to get to the truth, but in the presence of turco- and Islamophobic sentiments in the European countries. In addition to that, the idea that anti-Islamic views in the European countries are pushing EU’s leaders to actively criticize Turkey is widely used by the ruling conservative Justice and Development Party in domestic purposes.

 

Secondly, in the discussion of the events of 1915 the Turkish side is using ridiculous argument of presenting examples of complete or partial extermination of peoples in the period of European colonialism[4] to justify actions of the Ottoman authorities. Another dimension of this thesis is the attempt to lay the blame for the committed crimes on other countries (Germany[5] or Russia - the latest version is widely accepted at the level of layman, for example, it is held that a large number of deaths occurred in in Armenia, where Russian administration allegedly did not undertake adequate measures to prevent mass starvation of the incoming Armenian refugees, this however ignores the common fact that most deaths were among Armenians deported to the desert territories of modern Syria).

 

Finally, Turkey insists on solving the problem in the framework of bilateral Armenian-Turkish relations. Meanwhile, the Turkish government itself at one time linked the restoration of diplomatic relations with Armenia with resolution of the Karabakh conflict (between Armenia and Azerbaijan), thus bringing a third party into relationship between two countries. Moreover, motives of the Turkish President’s invitation to from a joint bilateral commission on revealing the truth are not quite clear. While calling for a joint investigation of historical documents, Turkish side is silent about multiple cleanings in its national archives.

 

Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the Armenian issue, as well as other previously banned topics, are broadly discussed in the Turkish society more actively than ever before despite the still existing risks. Part of the reason for this lies in the ongoing negotiations with European Union over Turkey’s membership. One can hope that the trend towards more discussion in the country will continue in the future.