Announcement

**Gavur** · 01-23-2006, 10:10 AM

ANKARA: Growing problems

Growing problems

TDN
Saturday, January 21, 2006

I recently attended two meetings with the Turkish community in Zurich
for discussions on the Armenian allegations. As is the case in the
Netherlands, the problems of the Turkish community in Switzerland are
becoming more severe. Among the Swiss is a growing tendency to harbor
xenophobic, even racist, feelings against Turks. The 'just as you
have committed genocide against the Armenians you are now massacring
the Kurds' kind of claims have obviously taken root in Switzerland.

They are 100 percent sure that these claims reflect undeniable facts.

Gunduz Aktan

I recently attended two meetings with the Turkish community in Zurich
for discussions on the Armenian allegations. As is the case in the
Netherlands, the problems of the Turkish community in Switzerland are
becoming more severe. Among the Swiss is a growing tendency to harbor
xenophobic, even racist, feelings against Turks. The "just as you have
committed genocide against the Armenians you are now massacring the
Kurds" kind of claims have obviously taken root in Switzerland. They
are 100 percent sure that these claims reflect undeniable facts.

Since the Swiss authorities opened investigations into Perincek and
Hallacoglu, official contacts between Turkey and Switzerland seem
to have ceased. In other words, the stance taken by Switzerland has
reached the point where it can seriously damage bilateral relations.

Switzerland has, along with a number of other countries, displayed
an interest in the Armenian problem since the relocation of
Armenians. Sometimes this interest takes on an extreme nature. The
Swiss government announced that it does not share the views expressed
in the resolution the Swiss Parliament has adopted and the communiqué
it has issued. However, in Switzerland and in any other country in a
similar position, the government simply saying "I'm no part of that"
does not solve the problem. Everybody knows the government adopts
such an evasive stance so as not to compromise Swiss interests.

It is as if there is a division of labor among the institutions,
establishments and parliaments. With the audacity that comes
from collective responsibility -- or, to put it differently,
irresponsibility -- parliaments take whatever decision they
like on this issue. Meanwhile, certain journalists who use the
Armenian allegations to bolster the Kurdish separatist demands are
campaigning intensely, taking refuge in "democracy and freedom of
expression." Similarly, associations, institutes and certain people
at universities keep writing on this subject as if they were obsessed
with it.

In the face of this bombardment, people come to believe everything
they hear. Under the circumstances the government saying "I'm not
involved in that" does not prove meaningful. It should take a stance
and try to prevent further deterioration of bilateral relations. The
present situation gives the impression that as in Germany a number
of handpicked individuals and associations are carrying out a planned
psychological operation.

Naturally, there are other reasons, too. Switzerland is a state created
by three national minorities coming together. In the past it always
feared disintegration. In fact that fear lies behind Switzerland
not wanting to become an EU member. For this reason it considers
it important for its internal balances to support minority rights
everywhere in the world.

There may also be another, primary, reason: the xenophobia and racism
that are growing in Switzerland. In the latter part of the 1990s, due
to the pressure exerted by America and the Jews, Switzerland admitted
that it had committed crimes against the Jews during World War II,
and it had to pay out large amounts of compensation.

For this reason, as all the other countries that had taken part in
the Holocaust in some manner, Switzerland is trying to prove that
acts of genocide have been committed everywhere in the world at
various junctions of human history. In other words they are trying to
turn genocide into something "banal." The Armenian genocide claims
also provide the Swiss with a good opportunity to vent their racist
sentiments harbored towards the Turks. In a way they are telling
Turkey, "Admit your crime just as we have done."

In this context one has to refer also to a certain psychological
mechanism at work here. They "displace" their own racial hatred
toward the Turks by saying, "Turks harbor racial hatred towards the
Kurds." And they bolster that conviction by saying, "Turks did the
same thing to the Armenians, anyway."

Meanwhile, they obviously want to deny the fact that behind any act
of genocide there would necessarily be racist sentiments such as
anti-Semitism. When they incorporated part of the Genocide Convention
into Article 264 of the Swiss Penal Code, they chose to omit two key
words: "as such." Yet, it is precisely this phrase that indicates
annihilation of a given group just for "being a member of that
group." (In fact the French too had done the same thing.) Thus,
now they claim that there can be genocide without racism.

Under the circumstances one could say that Swiss society displays
serious symptoms of an illness. It would not be so hard to get rid of
that. Rather than parroting the Armenian theses, let them initiate
a joint study with us. We can study the archives together and hold
meetings. The Armenians as well could take part in these studies if
they so wanted. And we would see the extent of their knowledge on
the subject.

Announcement

Forum Rules (Everyone Must Read!!!)

The Grand Council of the Canton of Vaud Formally Recognizes the Armenian Genocide

The Grand Council of the Canton of Vaud Formally Recognizes the Armenian Genocide

Comment