Thank You Vecdi

[Lev7]

By Garen Yegparian

 

We haven't had this much Turkish fun in the LA basin for a while. I suppose

the Turkish government had forgotten where the victims of its genocidal

policies reside in large numbers.

We of course demonstrated outside the Beverly Hills Hilton where Turkish

Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul was addressing the Los Angeles World Affairs

Council. But other than observing that participation seemed low, I can't speak

to how well it went since I was inside being amused by the 'turkey-du-jour'

Gonul.

He is presumably intelligent and competent at what he does, but it was not in

evidence that day. His English seemed reasonably solid, but slow in coming

forth. His speech was prepared and he read it in a painfully obvious, tedious

way, with an occasional live joke thrown in. He wasn't even able to get

through

the whole of it. Besides omitting portions of his comments about Iraq, he

conveniently consumed the allotted time and left Caucasus and Artsakh issues

out along with Central Asia. Nothing about Armenia of any substance was

part of

his presentation. You'd think we didn't exist (in his wishful thinking).

So what did he say? Much of it seemed somewhat general, though he did cite

statistics about Turkey's expenditures in the realm of defense, with specifics

focusing on purchases from the US and Israel. He emphasized Turkey's

"even-handedness" in dealing with Israel-Palestine issues. Turkey's role in

NATO was trumpeted to such a degree that the casual listener might think it

founded the defense pact and single-handedly kept it alive. He took cheap

shots

at Syria and other neighbors, pointing out that of 18 current conflicts 13 are

in Turkey's neighborhood.

This brings us to items of greater specific interest to Armenians. If so many

conflicts are in its neighborhood, doesn't that suggest that Turkey is a cause

of instability? Not according to good ole Vecdi. You see Turkey is a net

"exporter" of security since 6149 personnel from 58 countries have

participated

in programs at the NATO Partnership for Peace Center established 1998 in

Ankara. Translation: Turkey gets to wine and dine these folks in an attempt to

win itself friends--and much of it at others' expense. Isn't that a great

deal?

In addition, "peace at home, peace in the world" is paradigmatic in Turkey

(and

for Gonul personally--sniffle, I am so touched) as stated by Ataturk, the

magnificent peacemaker.

Terrorism, the catchall word for the Bush regime and its cohort of cronies

and

fawners, was prominently on display. Turkey (imagine violins playing) really

understands what the US is going through after the September 11 attacks since

it's been at war with terrorists (sic: Kurds justly seeking statehood) for 20

years at the cost of 32,000 lives.

Gonul ended his presentation with inane niceties and remarks clearly intended

to kiss-up to American powers that be, an overabundance of the standard,

fatuous fluff that attends such presentations by representatives of countries

groveling to be in Washington's good graces.

It only got more ridiculous during the question and answer session, but more

revealing. In the context of a response to a question about Iran, Gonul

referred to Iraq as having been "part of our country." The only time that

applied was during the Ottoman Empire (OE). So he clearly admits that the OE

and Turkey are integral from the perspective of statehood, in this case

successively. So much for arguments that the Genocide was committed by a

"different" country.

Two questions of direct Armenian interest were posed. An elderly woman asked,

in the kindest, most non-aggressive way imaginable, why Turkey refused to

simply acknowledge the history of 1915. His response, "We are thinking

there is

nothing to acknowledge." Then he told of being from "Eastern Turkey" and half

his father's family being massacred by Armenians. He also tried without ever

making a clear point, to play divide-and-conquer by claiming there exist three

types of Armenians: "our Armenians, Armenians in Ermenistan, and Armenians

living all over the world." He then proceeded to describe how Armenians and

Turks lived happily side-by-side until 1878 when part of the OE was lost to

the

Russian Empire. In this remark, he built on an earlier theme about how Turkey,

continuing the policies of the OE, practiced multiculturalism, just as in the

US (please hold your laughter 'til later). Then, the Russians trained young

Armenians to hate Turks. When WWI commenced, these 'Turk-hating' Armenians

returned to the OE and starting killing Turks. In response, the Turkish Army

killed Armenians. Again, it's interesting that the Defense Minister confesses

it was the army, an organ of the state, which did the killing. I told you it

got more ridiculous. Can you picture a bunch of 50-60 year old Armenians

running around in Turkish occupied Armenia, during WWI, mass-murdering Turks?

This guy and his ilk ought to try their hand at stand-up comedy! Here, a

fed-up

outburst from the audience pointed out Gonul's lies. The participant was even

threatened with removal.

The second Armenian question asked the minister what happened, in 1915, to

the

Armenian part of the mosaic of cultures and religions he'd claimed during his

presentation constituted the OE. Here, the dangers of reading a speech

prepared

by someone else manifested. Gonul was clueless as to what "mosaic" meant. The

question was repeated. Then the MC repeated it as he did with all the

questions. Yet Gonul continued his fumbling. He asked what a "museum" had

to do

with the discussion. Finally, a man approached and clarified it for him,

presumably in Turkish. He looked like a complete fool. It was pleasing.

When he

finally did respond, he claimed 152 nationalities and religious groups lived

happily together until the West attacked and awoke the Christian population.

Not that he claimed there were no killings, you see. Then he described having

an Armenian "aunt"--I guess it's all the rage these days in Turkey to claim an

Armenian relative, which in straight talk would be known as a Genocide

survivor. And many Armenian boys were orphaned, and went to military schools

and now live happily in the mosaic. Yup, believe it or not, his response

was as

disjointed as the last few sentences.

Throughout Minister Gonul's presentation, I was taking notes. One of the

Turks

at my table kept eyeing me nervously, wondering why. It was a great

pleasure to

observe his uneasiness. Meanwhile, his friend was busy regaling the woman

sitting beside him with the glories of Turkish tourism. Isn't it great to

usurp

others' legacies, use it to make money and cover up your crimes against those

very same people?

When all is taken into account, we can only say "Thank you Mr. Gonul, thank

you

Turkey. Please send him to visit us more often." He's one of the best things

for Armenians and others with grievances against Turkey, reminiscent of former

Ambassador Sukru Elekdag, the boxer turned diplomat and his "masterful"

mouthings.

 

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