A promising start?
By Tatoul Markarian the ambassador of Armenia to the United States.
Mr. Erdogan's initiative, assuming its sincere aim is normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations, still raises many questions. A genuine effort by the Turkish government to allow the Turkish scholars to investigate the dark chapters of Turkish history would be worthy, though much belated. Such a move by the Turkish government would undoubtedly be applauded by our nations' true friends, as it would indeed begin a process of alleviating the burden of history in our region.
Armenia would be the first to welcome such a move by the Turkish government. [...].
Yet, as long as there are political taboos and legal obstacles to the free discussion and comprehension of this issue in Turkey, including criminal penalties in the new Turkish Penal Code for mere assertion of the term genocide, any investigation mandated by the Turkish government will have a pre-determined outcome.[...].
Also, we witness the dangerous temptation of modern-day Turkish officials to present the extermination of the Ottoman Empire's Armenian population as a result of World War I [...] the exact hope, argument and calculation of the perpetrators that the massacres and deportations of Armenians would pass unnoticed under the cover of World War I.[...].
[...] caution is also inspired by the fact Prime Minister Erdogan's letter was hurriedly circulated to European capitals and the United States Congress prior to the April 24 Commemoration Day and even before Armenian President Kocharian had an opportunity to respond formally. This left an impression the initiative may not have been mainly directed at Armenia.[...].
{Armenia is} interested in concrete steps and results, never in a vague process for the sake of process. That is why we proposed and are proposing again the establishment without preconditions of normal relations between Armenia and Turkey.[...].
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears on:
http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20050514-102422-5146r.htm
Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...].The bold emphasis is mine.
Mr. Erdogan's initiative, assuming its sincere aim is normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations, still raises many questions. A genuine effort by the Turkish government to allow the Turkish scholars to investigate the dark chapters of Turkish history would be worthy, though much belated. Such a move by the Turkish government would undoubtedly be applauded by our nations' true friends, as it would indeed begin a process of alleviating the burden of history in our region.
Armenia would be the first to welcome such a move by the Turkish government. [...].
Yet, as long as there are political taboos and legal obstacles to the free discussion and comprehension of this issue in Turkey, including criminal penalties in the new Turkish Penal Code for mere assertion of the term genocide, any investigation mandated by the Turkish government will have a pre-determined outcome.[...].
Also, we witness the dangerous temptation of modern-day Turkish officials to present the extermination of the Ottoman Empire's Armenian population as a result of World War I [...] the exact hope, argument and calculation of the perpetrators that the massacres and deportations of Armenians would pass unnoticed under the cover of World War I.[...].
[...] caution is also inspired by the fact Prime Minister Erdogan's letter was hurriedly circulated to European capitals and the United States Congress prior to the April 24 Commemoration Day and even before Armenian President Kocharian had an opportunity to respond formally. This left an impression the initiative may not have been mainly directed at Armenia.[...].
{Armenia is} interested in concrete steps and results, never in a vague process for the sake of process. That is why we proposed and are proposing again the establishment without preconditions of normal relations between Armenia and Turkey.[...].
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears on:
http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20050514-102422-5146r.htm
Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...].The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 3:19 PM
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