And all of this is occurring because President Barack Obama, on Armenian Remembrance Day, said the following: "Ninety-four years ago, one of the great atrocities of the 20th century began. Each year, we pause to remember the 1.5 million Armenians who were subsequently massacred or marched to their death in the final days of the Ottoman Empire. The Meds Yeghern must live on in our memories, just as it lives on in the hearts of the Armenian people.
History, unresolved, can be a heavy weight. Just as the terrible events of 1915 remind us of the dark prospect of man's inhumanity to man, reckoning with the past holds out the powerful promise of reconciliation. I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view of that history has not changed. My interest remains the achievement of a full, frank and just acknowledgment of the facts.
The best way to advance that goal right now is for the Armenian and Turkish people to address the facts of the past as a part of their efforts to move forward. I strongly support efforts by the Turkish and Armenian people to work through this painful history in a way that is honest, open, and constructive. To that end, there has been courageous and important dialogue among Armenians and Turks, and within Turkey itself. I also strongly support the efforts by Turkey and Armenia to normalize their bilateral relations. Under Swiss auspices, the two governments have agreed on a framework and roadmap for normalization. I commend this progress, and urge them to fulfill its promise."
"Nothing can bring back those who were lost in the Meds Yeghern. But the contributions that Armenians have made over the last 94 years stand as a testament to the talent, dynamism and resilience of the Armenian people, and as the ultimate rebuke to those who tried to destroy them."
The obsession of Turkey's cynical politicians has now turned to the term "Meds Yeghern" (Great Calamity), a popular term used in many similar contexts in the storm of tragedies that, to a great extent, wiped out the soul of Asia Minor; Greek deportations, Gallipoli, the Russian Front, the Balkans and, of course, Armenians. All of the people -- Christians as well as Muslims -- used that word (I recall my great grandfather saying "Büyük Felaket" when describing the Bulgarian invasion in Western Thrace).
What common people use, without doubt, on many occasions transforms into international law. However, there is a difference between what lives in the memory of those people and what worries the political decision makers. In many cases, the short path to empathy and justice is obstructed or delayed by the concerns of the political decision makers. As we all know from history, hatred is the fuel of the cynical (or cowardly) politician.
In that sense, it is understandable that obsession still spreads its poison. Obama actually didn't use the real Armenian term, "tseghaspanutyun," for genocide; but, it did not matter. I recall a television debate between one of the most hawkish (former) diplomats, Şükrü Elekdağ, and a pioneer of the "apology campaign" (to Armenians). The main thesis of Elekdağ was the following: You launched this campaign by using "Great Catastrophe," he said, and this means you indirectly recognize it as genocide. He was convinced of this, as any militant would be.
Now, after Obama's speech, the e-mail campaigns on the Internet are "revealing" a huge conspiracy (!): The US "prepared the Turks for the term Meds Yeghern by helping launch the apology campaign so that they will, in the end, have to accept the term genocide." There is a serious side to it, too: Many of the Turkish politicians believe it is true. A single word is still holding them hostage to a false history.
Nevertheless, April 24, 2009, marks a different time, a different mindset. There are two dynamics that define the course of Turkish-Armenian relations and Turkey's path into the family of democracies. As the address of Obama points out clearly, the dynamic of recognizing the "Great Tragedy of Ottoman Armenians" proceeds untouched, to the 100th anniversary, the year 2015. For years, as I and some others claimed constantly, the only deed that could reverse its lethal political and social consequences would be to normalize relations with Armenia, capital to capital, people to people. Luckily, against all odds in regional politics, the two countries have now reached a historic accord. Although it will have to be a "careful" rapprochement, it seems that the process will be irreversible because of energy and security concerns and because of the common goal of having a stable southern Caucasus.
Turkey is different, too. Step by step since the early '90s, a civilian dynamic has developed, culminating in academic conferences and, recently, some 30,000 signatures on the apology declaration to the Armenians. It marks a remarkable transition. Hopefully, one day soon, it will be those civilians on both sides choosing to name it whatever they will: Meds Yeghern or something else. The obsession is already sentenced to oblivion.
