That Turkey Does The Ostrich

[Siamanto]

PRESS RELEASE

Ref: PR/04/11/014

Assembly of Armenians of Europe

Contact: Armine Grigoryan

Rue de Tr�ves 10, 1050, Brussels

Tel : +32 2 647 08 01

Fax : +32 2 647 02 00

 

Turkish denialism of Armenians in the capital of Europe

 

"Mothers, Goddesses and Sultans"- but not Armenians

 

17/11/2004, Brussels - The Palace of Fine Arts of Brussels (Belgium)

hosts the exhibition on Turkey `Mothers, Goddesses and Sultans' which

will last from October 06 2004 to January 16 2005. The exhibition

accounts pieces from the collection of the Topkapi Palace (Turkey),

Louvre, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the museums of Berlin and

the most important museums in Turkey. This exhibition is organized

with the mutual agreement of the prime ministers of Belgium and Turkey

in order to introduce the Belgian and European society with the

cultural values and the history of Turkey and intends to emphasize the

European vocation of Turkey.

 

The leaflet on the exhibition distributed to the visitors at the

entrance of the Palace of Fine Arts says `We encounter the peoples,

who have left their traces in Anatolia in the course of 9000

years. The journey takes us through such renowned cultures as the

Hitties, Greek and Roman antiquity, Byzantium and the Ottomans'. From

the first sight one may find the absence of the Armenians and Armenian

culture in Anatolia very strange, since for centuries the Eastern

Anatolia was the cradle of Armenians and it is also called the

Armenian Plateau. Even during the Ottoman Empire Armenians

represented a sizeable and dynamic part of the ottoman population,

particularly in Istanbul and other urban centre, and their omission in

this exhibition is quite deliberate on the part of the Turkish

organizers. But the most interesting piece of the exhibition is the

map of the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1923, without any mention of

the Armenians or Armenian Republic (the first Armenian Republic, 1918

- 1920) and Greece (independence of Greece recognized by the Ottoman

Empire in 1832). No expert or historian would dare to make a single

map to represent such a complex region over for such a long period of

time (1299 - 1923), since the movement of borders has been radical

over the period considered, and at times extremely rapid.

 

The Ottomans fought against the neighboring Byzantine State, crossed

into Rumelia and then captured Constantinople in 1453 during the reign

of Sultan Mehmed II (1451-1481)[ii], putting an end to the Byzantine

Empire. The Ottomans fought with the Serbs, Bulgarians, Hungarians,

Venetians, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Britain, the Vatican, Spain

and also France and Russia. During the reign of Sultan Selim I

(1512-1520), Egypt was conquered and the "Caliphate" passed from the

Abbasids to the Ottoman dynasty. During the reign of Suleyman the

Magnificent (1520-1566) the borders of the Empire extended from the

Crimea in the North to Yemen and Sudan in the South, and from Iran and

the Caspian Sea in the East to Vienna in the Northwest and Spain in

the Southwest[iii].

 

However, the Ottoman Empire lost its economic and military superiority

vis-a-vis Europe, which had developed rapidly with the Renaissance and

the geographical discoveries starting with the sixteenth century and

failed to adapt to the new developments. Thus, the balance of power

shifted in favor of the European States starting in the same century.

The nationalist movements that started in the nineteenth century and

the rebellions of the Balkan nations organized and supported by the

European States and Russia, brought about the emergence of independent

states within the Ottoman territories in the Balkans.

 

The Russian field marshal M.I. Kutuzov's victorious campaign of

1811-12 forced the Turks to cede Bessarabia to Russia by the Treaty of

Bucharest (May 28, 1812).

 

Agha Mohammad Khan (Iran, reigned 1779-97), had reasserted Iranian

sovereignty over the former Iranian territories in Georgia and the

Caucasus. Fath 'Ali (Iran, reigned 1797-1834). attempted to maintain

Iran's sovereignty over its new territories, but he was disastrously

defeated by Russia in two wars (1804-13, 1826-28) and thus lost

Georgia, Armenia.

 

Subsequent wars of Russia with Turkey were fought to gain influence in

the Ottoman Balkans, win control of the Dardanelles and Bosporus

straits, and expand into the Caucasus. The Greeks' struggle for

independence sparked the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-29, in which

Russian forces advanced into Bulgaria, the Caucasus, and northeastern

Anatolia itself before the Turks sued for peace. The resulting Treaty

of Edirne (Sept. 14, 1829) gave Russia most of the eastern shore of

the Black Sea, and Turkey recognized Russian sovereignty over Georgia

and parts of present-day Armenia. Furthermore, in the Balkans, the

Ottomans acknowledged Greece as an autonomous but tributary state,

granting autonomy to Serbia, and recognized the autonomy of the

Danubian principalities of Moldavia and Walachia under Russian

tutelage. In 1832, the Turkish Sultan finally recognized the Greek

Independence and Prince Otto had accepted the crown

 

In 1918 the Republics of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan declared

their independence from Russia which lasted until 1920. From 1920 to

1923 the three countries of South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan,

Georgia) were merged into Transcaucasian Federated Republic. The first

independent Republic of Armenia was also recognized by the Ottoman

Empire.

 

The above-mentioned historical facts prove the presence of the

Armenians in the region which should not be ignored. It is very

strange to see the name of `Azerbaijan' on the map, while the names of

Armenia and Greece are absent. As reported by Radio Free Europe, the

Azerbaijani Defense Ministry spokesman called for Azerbaijan's (the

closest ally of the Republic of Turkey) takeover of the entire

territory of Armenia and removal of the entire Armenian population

from the Caucasus. He went so far as to say, and we quote, `Within the

next 25 years there will exist no state of Armenia in the South

Caucasus'. This inevitably reminds of the intentions of the

perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide. In this context the negationism

of the Armenians is not a simple mistake or lack of professionalism by

the organizers of the exhibition, but has its roots go back into the

beginning of the 20th century - the Armenian Genocide committed by the

Ottoman Empire in 1915. The Armenian Genocide is still denied by the

Republic of Turkey, which also imposes a blockade on the Republic of

Armenia for more than 10 years. Therefore, the radical exclusion of

Armenians from ottoman history is consistent with the genocide carried

out in 1915-1916 and it has been the practice in Turkey since the

establishment of the republic in 1923.

 

The negationism and the denial of the Armenian Genocide are also

reflected in the premeditated annihilation of Armenian cultural

heritage in the territory of the actual Republic of

Turkey. Sourb. Arakelots[iv] (of the Holy Apostles) Church of Kars

turned into a mosque in 1998. The church of Tekor[v] which was erected

in the 5th c. and was standing until 1956 served as a target during

the artillery trainings of the Turkish army. The monastery of

St. Karapet[vi] was plundered and partly devastated in 1915. During

the artillery trainings of the Turkish troops in the 1960s the

monument turned into a heap of stones which were later used for the

foundation of a village in the same place; the carvings of the

Akhatamar Church (Lake Van, Eastern Turkey) is nowadays used for

shooting practice for the visitors, etc. So, after some decades there

will not be any evidence or trace of the Armenians in the region.

 

The Assembly of Armenians of Europe considers such negationist and

revisionist attitude of the Republic of Turkey, aspiring to the EU

full membership unacceptable. We believe that such behaviour

destabilizes the whole region of South Caucasus and impedes the

normalization of Armeno-Turkish relations. Moreover, the extension of

this denialist approach to an exhibition carried out in Belgium, in

partnership with Belgian institutions, is a worrying sign at a moment

when Turkey is pressing to join the European community of values. The

Assembly of Armenians of Europe is sure that this is an attempt of the

Turkish authorities to force their own denialist approach on an

unsuspecting European public.

 

_____

 

Mustafa Ibn-Abdullah (1609-57), the first and foremost Turkish

goegrapher. In his most important oeuvre `Miror of the World' (Jehan

Numa) he writes about Armenia (folio 121a) - `Armenia consists of 2

parts, Maior and Minor=85.'

 

[ii] http://www.osmanli700.gen.tr/english/sultans/07index.html

 

[iii]

http://www.osmanli700.gen.tr/english/sultans/10index.html

 

[iv]

http://www.raa.am/Jard/TURKEY/Arakelots/Arakelots_Galery.htm

 

[v]

http://www.raa.am/Jard/TURKEY/Tekor/Tekor_Galery.htm

 

[vi]

http://www.raa.am/Jard/TURKEY/S_Karapet/Karapet_Galery.htm

 

 

http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg97131.html