Armenian-Turkish Relations

[Federate]

Re: Armenian-Turkish Relations

U.S., France Praise Armenian Move On Turkey


The United States and France praised Armenia on Friday for not annulling the Western-backed agreements to normalize its relations with Turkey despite Ankara’s refusal to implement them at this juncture.

The U.S. State Department insisted that the normalization process has not collapsed and that the Turkish-Armenian protocols may still be put into effect “over the long term.”

“We note President [Serzh] Sarkisian’s announcement that Armenia will suspend the discussion of the protocols in its National Assembly,” Philip Gordon, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said in a statement circulated by the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan.

“President Sarkisian’s announcement makes clear that Armenia has not ended the process but has suspended it until the Turkish side is ready to move forward,” he said. “We applaud President Sarkisian's decision to continue to work towards a vision of peace, stability, and reconciliation.

“We continue to urge both sides to keep the door open to pursuing efforts at reconciliation and normalization,” added Gordon.

U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley likewise said Washington is satisfied with Sarkisian’s decision not to withdraw Yerevan’s signature from the agreements. “This is something that the Armenians had hinted to us that they were prepared to do, so we're not surprised by the announcement,” he told a daily news briefing late on Thursday.

“We are actually encouraged that, both in the case of Armenia and Turkey, both sides have taken pains to make sure the process doesn’t collapse. That gives us some reason for optimism that over the long term we can find ways to come back to it and try to push forward the protocols again,” Crowley said.

In a televised address to the nation earlier on Thursday, Sarkisian said he and his governing coalition have chosen not to scrap the protocols for the time being at the request of the United States, Russia and other foreign powers. He mentioned in that regard his recent talks with the U.S., French and Russian presidents.

Sarkisian and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington early last week. According to Crowley, Obama conveyed the following message to the Armenian and Turkish leaders: “Keep the process going; if you don’t think that this is the right time, that’s fine, we’ll step back and reevaluate how to move forward.”

The U.S. reaction to the Armenian decision was echoed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. “President Sarkozy welcomes by the Armenian president’s readiness to adhere to the process of normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations, despite difficulties which the two sides have encountered in the process of ratifying the protocols signed in Zurich on October 10,” the French Embassy in Yerevan said in a statement on Friday.

The statement said France is urging Armenia and Turkey to “maintain the dialogue” and “multiply efforts” to implement the protocols.

http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/2022369.html

[ninetoyadome]

Re: Armenian-Turkish Relations

Turkish historians invited to look at archives in Armenia
Thursday, April 22, 2010
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
YEREVAN - Hürriyet Daily News




At the center of the Armenian capital of Yerevan, 30 meters below Abovyan Street, lies a subterranean historical archive covering an immense 7,000 square meters.

The underground repository is one of three different locations, including the National Archives building, holding archival documents related to the country.

The documents most valuable to Armenians are, without a doubt, those that shed light on the painful events of 1915, when up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed shortly after World War I under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Yerevan insists the events constituted genocide, but Turkey fiercely rejects the label, saying civil strife caused many deaths on both sides.


Turkish-Armenian relations
Turkey cool to Armenia's decision to halt ratification of protocols
Armenian statement
Read the full text of the Armenian coalition's statement.

In a rare interview with a Turkish newspaper, Dr. Amatuni Virabian, the director of the National Archives of Armenia, invited Turkish historians to carry out research in the archives. “We are ready to help them in whatever way we can,” Virabian told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

“The documents in Turkey’s national archives are all in the Ottoman language,” Virabian said. “However, ours are in Armenian, as well as in Russian, English, German and French. This makes things easier for researchers.”

The director also noted that 12,000 documents in the archives have been transferred to the digital medium.

Reflecting on Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s suggestion that a committee of Turkish and Armenian historians could be formed to seek out the truth about the 1915 events, Virabian said he believes this might happen very soon.

“But this should not be done under the title of a committee. And the first attempt should not come from officials,” he said. “We must move gradually.”

Virabian added that he was in touch with associate professor Yusuf Sarınay from Turkey’s General Directorate of State Archives.

Responding to a question on why the Armenian archives in the U.S. city of Boston and in Jerusalem had not been opened yet, Virabian said the Boston archive belongs to Dashnaks and the documents there are currently being catalogued. “The archive at the Jerusalem Patriarchate is kept closed for some stupid reason based on enmity between some individuals,” he said.

Focus on Germany’s role

One argument frequently voiced in Turkey is that opening these archives might uncover the connection between the Committee of Union and Progress, the ruling party of the Ottoman Empire between 1908 and 1918, and Armenian Dashnaks. It is also said that such an action might shed light on whether Dashnaks attacked the Muslim population in eastern provinces of Turkey.

“Yes, a cooperation of some sorts might be found out,” Virabian said. “Of course Armenians also attacked Muslims; I cannot deny this as a historian. But the reason for those attacks was avenging the massacres of 1896 and 1915.”

Armenian historians have recently been focusing on Germany’s role in the events of 1915. “In the Armenian archives, there are documents from the archives of Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom and the United States,” Virabian said. “These documents lay it bare that Germany had a part in the events. Being an ally of the Ottoman Empire, it could have stopped [the events] if it wanted to. German military officers themselves attended the killings.”

On June 15, 2005, the German Bundestag passed a resolution on the events of 1915 that deplored “the inglorious role of the German Reich in the face of the organized expulsion and extermination of Armenians, which it did not try to stop.”

The National Archives of Armenia is preparing to display historical documents on the 1915 events at its building in Yerevan on April 23.

“We have recordings dating back to 1916 of the survivors of the genocide, in addition to detailed documents and even films about the districts and provinces in eastern Turkey,” Virabian said. “We also have letters sent by the Armenian Patriarchate in Turkey to Echmiazin, the religious center of Armenians.”

“I want to ask something to those who say [the events of 1915] were not genocide,” Virabian added. “What has happened to the Armenians of Anatolia? Have they run away somewhere? If so, what is their address?”

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=armenian-archive-chief-invites-turkish-historians-2010-04-22

[Alexandros]

Re: Armenian-Turkish Relations

Good!

This way, nobody in the US government will be able to use the establishment of Turkish-Armenian ties as an excuse for not recognizing the Armenian genocide...

Yes, I couldn`t agree more.

[Davo88]

Re: Armenian-Turkish Relations

Good!

This way, nobody in the US government will be able to use the establishment of Turkish-Armenian ties as an excuse for not recognizing the Armenian genocide...

[AstalaVist]

Re: Armenian-Turkish Relations

Televised Address of the President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on the Process of Normalization of Relations between Armenia and Turkey

22.04.2010
Fellow Armenians;

A year has passed since the Armenian-Turkish-Swiss joint statement on steps to normalize the relations between Armenia and Turkey. During this period, the two Protocols aimed at normalization of the relations have been publicized, discussed in the public domain, and signed. The documents have for quite a lengthy time now been in the parliaments of Armenia and Turkey, awaiting ratification. Armenia has all along demonstrated her commitment to the process of normalization of relations, to the point of including the Protocols in the agenda of the National Assembly. We have made clear to the whole world that our position is nothing but firmly constructive. We have stated that, if Turkey ratified the Protocols, as agreed, without preconditions and in a reasonable timeframe, failure by the Armenian Parliament to ratify them would be precluded.

Now, the time has come to gauge the notion of a “reasonable timeframe” and whether a conduct is “without preconditions.” These criteria were set forth by not only Armenia, but also all the mediators involved in the process, all of our international partners.

For a whole year, Turkey’s senior officials have not spared public statements in the language of preconditions. For a whole year, Turkey has done everything to protract time and fail the process. Hence, our conclusion and position are straightforward:

1.Turkey is not ready to continue the process that was started and to move forward without preconditions in line with the letter of the Protocols.

2.The reasonable timeframes have, in our opinion, elapsed. The Turkish practice of passing the 24th of April at any cost is simply unacceptable.

3.We consider unacceptable the pointless efforts of making the dialogue between Armenia and Turkey an end in itself; from this moment on, we consider the current phase of normalization exhausted.

My Fellow Armenians;

During this period, I have discussed and continue discussing the future of the process launched with Turkey with Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Barack Obama of the United States, Dmitri Medvedev of Russia, as well as our colleagues in a number of European organizations. We are grateful to them for supporting our initiative, encouraging the process, and exerting efforts to secure progress. The matter of the fact is that our partners have urged us to continue the process, rather than to discontinue it.

Out of respect for them, their efforts, and their sincere aspirations, we have decided after consulting our Coalition partners and the National Security Council not to exit the process for the time being, but rather, to suspend the procedure of ratifying the Protocols. We believe this to be in the best interests of our nation.

Armenia shall retain her signature under the Protocols, because we desire to maintain the existing momentum for normalizing relations, because we desire peace. Our political objective of normalizing relations between Armenia and Turkey remains valid, and we shall consider moving forward when we are convinced that there is a proper environment in Turkey and there is leadership in Ankara ready to reengage in the normalization process.

While announcing to the world the end of the current phase of the process, which was launched with the September 2008 match between the national football teams of Armenia and Turkey, I express gratitude to President Abdullah Gül of Turkey for political correctness displayed throughout this period and the positive relationship that developed between us.

Fellow Compatriots;

In two days, we will commemorate the 95th anniversary of the first genocide of the 20th century, the remembrance day of the Armenian Genocide. Our struggle for the international recognition of the Genocide continues. If some circles in Turkey attempt to use our candor to our detriment, to manipulate the process to avoid the reality of the 24th of April, they should know all too well that the 24th of April is the day that symbolizes the Armenian Genocide, but in no way shall it mark the time boundary of its international recognition.

We express our gratitude to all the states, organizations, and individuals that support us in deploring and preventing crimes against humanity. We are also grateful to all those Turkish intellectuals that struggle for the restoration of historical justice and share our grief. On this eve of the 95th anniversary, we call upon everyone to remember that the memory of one and a half million innocent victims exterminated under a state-orchestrated program merely for being Armenian continues to pose before mankind the demand for recognition and condemnation.

Fellow Compatriots;

We are stronger today than ever before and stand straight as always. Henceforth, our efforts for a better Armenia, a better region, a better world, and a more solid unity of Armenians worldwide will only multiply. Rest assured that results will be visible all along.

God bless us!

president.am

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenian-Turkish Relations

Diaspora expansion takes priority to borders

Sabah-Tr
16 April, 2010 03:25:00

With just days left before April 24th rolls around, Turkey has
decided to take a surprising step. DavutoÄ?lu met with the Ambassadors
and Consuls based in North America in order to deliver the message;
`The normalization of relations with Yerevan will only be possible if
it includes the diaspora.'

As the international community awaits the Turkish-Armenian borders to
open, Turkey has decided to open the door to the diaspora first.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu made an announcement to
the mission chiefs in North America where the diaspora is most
prominent. "Normalization is only possible if it includes the Armenian
diaspora. This process will be completed with the diaspora.' Minister
DavutoÄ?lu was joined by the ambassadors in the North American
continent as well as consuls from Toronto, Chicago, New York, Houston,
Los Angeles and Boston to receive detailed information regarding the
differences between the diaspora. During the meeting, in which mission
chiefs from the United States as well as Canada were in attendance,
DavutoÄ?lu expressed that the normalization process with Yerevan would
soon be coming up. Emphasizing that the process will be successful if
the diaspora is included, DavutoÄ?lu made the following requests:

Open the mission doors to the Armenian diaspora, and invite them in.
Attend meetings and events held by the diaspora and explain our
position to them¦
Invite the diaspora to come to Turkey, including even those who are
opposed to Turkey.
Try to attend meetings with Armenian diplomats¦
Explain our position to almost everyone, including Macedonia, Albania
and the Palestinians¦


ATHENS EXAMPLE FOR YEREVAN

Minister DavutoÄ?lu delivered these requests to diplomats following
Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an's recent meetings in Washington with US
President Barack Obama and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. During
ErdoÄ?an's meetings in Washington and with the United States'
initiative, it was decided to; `prepare the public psychologically for
the normalization process.'

Stating, `We do not want to have to deal with a poor neighbor,'
DavutoÄ?lu reminded of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council
meeting with Greece in May and mentioned; `Why can't we do what we do
with Greece with Armenia?'

[Eddo211]

Re: Armenian-Turkish Relations

No result is a result too, especially in Armenian-Turkish relations

By April 24 hardly anything will be changed in the attitude of Turkey towards “history”, but the world community will definitely change its position for the worse in relation to Ankara.

The meeting Sargsyan-Erdogan in Washington, as expected, gave no results, despite Obama’s obvious demands to come at least to some agreement. Nevertheless, in the Washington meeting there can be marked a few points which could play some role in the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, and this role is both positive and negative.

April 13, 2010

PanARMENIAN.Net - But first, let us decide the place Armenia can take in the region, given the complete collapse of the Georgian president as the leader of the South Caucasus (failure of the Bush policy) and the high-flying and inadequate nature of the president of Azerbaijan. The United States was reluctant to invite Ilham Aliyev, and Mikhail Saakashvili was simply ignored. It would be naïve to think that Serzh Sargsyan was invited for no special reason: most apparently the Obama administration has come to the conclusion that with the help of Armenia it can kill two birds with one stone - consolidate its position in the Caucasus and slightly neutralize Russia. Apparently the motives are Armenian-Turkish relations. Even though the meeting Sargsyan-Erdogan gave zero results, the fact of its occurrence is already good, as in Turkey it is the prime minister and not the president that has the last word.

As for Armenia, the President, as always, was accurate in his wording: “Armenia is ready to normalize relations with neighboring countries, but she is not ready for any preconditions. Our position in the Armenian-Turkish process has been and remains unchanged: Ankara cannot speak to the Diaspora in the language of preconditions, we will not allow it. Armenia is not going to question the Armenian Genocide or believe that Turkey can play any positive role in the Karabakh conflict settlement,” the President said.

But Erdogan, as always, stayed true to himself: failing to railroad the Karabakh issue, which he had promised to “brother” Aliyev, Erdogan reverted to the process of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide and began to build up pressure on it. Now the attempts of the Turkish government to silence the events of 1915 are treated strictly and sometimes quizzically by the world. Soon Turkey will just be laughed at, because the state that denies its own history deserves only ridicule. Moreover, Turkey’s attempts to take the issue of the Armenian Genocide onto historical level are doomed to failure. What is more, Turkish Prime Minister is sure that President Obama will not use the term “genocide” in his traditional address to the Armenian American community on April 24.

“It’s my guess, because so far no American leader has pronounced this word, and I believe that President Obama will not do it either,” Erdogan said. Let us remind the Turkish Premier that on April 22, 1981 on the occasion of the Remembrance Day of the Holocaust victims, 40th U.S. President Ronald Reagan in his statement (N4838) said: “The lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten – like the genocide of the Armenians before it and the genocide of the Cambodians which followd it, and like too many other such persecutions of too many other peoples.” Ronald Reagan was much bolder and stronger than the presidents following him, and under his rule, as far as we remember, no one dared to blackmail or threaten the United States. And if we recall the history, on January 20, 1981 a few minutes after newly-elected President Reagan’s inauguration the hostages that had been held captive for 444 days in the American Embassy in Tehran were returned to U.S. officials.

But this is the story so much disliked in Turkey. To our regret, Georgia too has recently been suffering from a similar “dislike”. In no other way can be explained in one of the streets of Tbilisi, on the wall at the intersection of Ingorokva and Tchaikovsky the appearance of a sign reading: “Here heroically died true Turkish patriot, statesman and military commander Ahmed Cemal Paşa (1872-1922). Dedicated to his immortal memory that will never be effaced in the hearts of friendly Georgian and Turkish peoples.” Here’s a fine kettle of fish! “Butcher” Cemal Paşa, guilty of slaughtering one and a half million of his fellow Armenians, is a hero for the Georgian people... And though the sign was removed, its appearance is quite symbolic. Georgia has not yet recognized the Armenian Genocide and most likely she will not until she receives a command from Ankara. Or from somewhere else, such as from the U.S…

Let us note in conclusion that by April 24 hardly anything will be changed in the attitude of Turkey towards “history”, but the world community will definitely change its position for the worse in relation to Ankara.

http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/world/details/47030/No_result_is_a_result_too_especially_in_ArmenianTurkish_relations

------------------

As I have said before..........Armenia is an "Ace in the Hole" for USA. Sooner or later they will play that card.

[Mukuch]

Re: Armenian-Turkish Relations

Theodore Roosevelt

May 11, 1918, letter to Cleveland Hoadley Dodge

...the Armenian massacre was the greatest crime of the war, and the failure to act against Turkey is to condone it ... the failure to deal radically with the Turkish horror means that all talk of guaranteeing the future peace of the world is mischievous nonsense.

Herbert Hoover

The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover, 1952

The association of Mount Ararat and Noah, the staunch Christians who were massacred periodically by the Mohammedan Turks, and the Sunday School collections over fifty years for alleviating their miseries—all cumulate to impress the name Armenia on the front of the American mind.

Jimmy Carter

May 16, 1978, White House ceremony

It is generally not known in the world that, in the years preceding 1916, there was a concerted effort made to eliminate all the Armenian people, probably one of the greatest tragedies that ever befell any group. And there weren't any Nuremberg trials.

Ronald Reagan

April 22, 1981, proclamation

Like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians which followed it, ... the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten.

George Bush Sr.

April 20, 1990, speech in Orlando, Florida

[We join] Armenians around the world [as we remember] the terrible massacres suffered in 1915–1923 at the hands of the rulers of the Ottoman Empire. The United States responded to this crime against humanity by leading diplomatic and private relief efforts.

John Evans

US ambassador to Armenia said to American Armenians on February 19, 2005

"Today I shall call this Armenian genocide". "I think that we, the US government, owe you, our fellow citizens, a more straightforward and honest discussion of this problem. I can tell you as a person who has studied this problem - I have no doubts about what happened." "I think that it is inappropriate for us, the Americans, to play with words in this case". "I believe that we must call a spade a spade."

http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.ph...Turkish_Quotes

Nice quotes... thank you...

[hipeter924]

Re: Armenian-Turkish Relations

Theodore Roosevelt

May 11, 1918, letter to Cleveland Hoadley Dodge

...the Armenian massacre was the greatest crime of the war, and the failure to act against Turkey is to condone it ... the failure to deal radically with the Turkish horror means that all talk of guaranteeing the future peace of the world is mischievous nonsense.

Herbert Hoover

The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover, 1952

The association of Mount Ararat and Noah, the staunch Christians who were massacred periodically by the Mohammedan Turks, and the Sunday School collections over fifty years for alleviating their miseries—all cumulate to impress the name Armenia on the front of the American mind.

Jimmy Carter

May 16, 1978, White House ceremony

It is generally not known in the world that, in the years preceding 1916, there was a concerted effort made to eliminate all the Armenian people, probably one of the greatest tragedies that ever befell any group. And there weren't any Nuremberg trials.

Ronald Reagan

April 22, 1981, proclamation

Like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians which followed it, ... the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten.

George Bush Sr.

April 20, 1990, speech in Orlando, Florida

[We join] Armenians around the world [as we remember] the terrible massacres suffered in 1915–1923 at the hands of the rulers of the Ottoman Empire. The United States responded to this crime against humanity by leading diplomatic and private relief efforts.

John Evans

US ambassador to Armenia said to American Armenians on February 19, 2005

"Today I shall call this Armenian genocide". "I think that we, the US government, owe you, our fellow citizens, a more straightforward and honest discussion of this problem. I can tell you as a person who has studied this problem - I have no doubts about what happened." "I think that it is inappropriate for us, the Americans, to play with words in this case". "I believe that we must call a spade a spade."

http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Armenian_Genocide_Quotes#Turkish_Quotes

[ninetoyadome]

Re: Armenian-Turkish Relations

Erdogan
“The killings of Uighur Turks by the Chinese police during demonstrations constitute genocide. I use this term intentionally.”(Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, July 2009)

“Muslims don’t commit genocide.”(Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, November 2009) talking about Darfur

“Politicians cannot decide on genocides. This is the duty of historians.”(Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, March 2010)