Leave history alone, Turkish-Armenians tell outsiders

    Speaking to Sunday’s Zaman, many Turkish-Armenians have, in particular, denounced the approval of US and Swedish resolutions recognizing the killings of Armenians in 1915 as “genocide,” which they said would not help either side in the long-disputed problem.

Nazar Özsahakyan, chairman of Surp Yerits Mangans Armenian Church Foundation in İstanbul, stated that he shared the feelings of Turks when he first heard about the passage of the resolutions. “I reacted to those resolutions the same way Turks did,” he said, adding that he was not alone as a Turkish citizen of Armenian descent opposing any third country’s usage of the issue as a political tool. “All of the Armenians whom I have contacted think just like me,” he stated.

On March 4, the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs voted 23-22 to approve the non-binding resolution, clearing it for consideration by the full House. But it is unclear whether the measure will get a floor vote. The adoption of the resolution, however, irked many and stirred wide reaction in Turkey, which vehemently rejects the allegations and regards the events as civil strife in wartime that claimed the lives of many Turks and other residents of the region at the time as well as Armenians.

The Swedish Parliament recognized the Armenian genocide with a vote of 131 to 130, only a week after the US committee’s vote, further aggravating Turkey.

Kayseri Surp Krikor Lusarovic Armenian Church Foundation Chairman Zadik Toker joined Özsahakyan in taking a critical stand against the US resolution and reiterated that the decision has discomfited the Armenian community living in Turkey. “We don’t appreciate such moves, and the Armenians living in Turkey are uncomfortable with them,” said Toker. He added that bilateral issues should be resolved without the interference of third parties as has particularly been the case with the World War I-era Armenian killings. “Turkey and Armenia should resolve their problems on their own through meetings with each other and exchanging views,” he added.

The decades-long dispute is a highly sensitive issue in Turkey. Following the adoption of the resolution in the US, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu told reporters that the issue was a matter of honor for the country and thus they would assess what measures to take. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Abdullah Gül have denounced the US and Swedish moves as well. Turkish envoys in Washington and Stockholm were recalled immediately after the votes in a powerful reaction to the governments of both countries.

Etyen Mahçupyan, editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, argued that states should not take part in such discussions as primary actors. “Both US and Swedish votes were actions whose aims were unclear. I find them meaningful neither for understanding the past nor for setting the future,” said the Armenian author and journalist, adding that he did not approve of the Turkish government’s reaction to the moves, either. “I categorically reject states’ involvement in such matters. They should never become actors in similar discussions. Otherwise, we cannot avoid politicization there,” he asserted.

Markar Esayan, a deputy editor and a columnist of the liberal Taraf daily, joined Mahçupyan in dismissing state involvement in matters related to past sufferings. “Even if I am a citizen of Armenian descent, I regard this problem as a citizen of Turkey as much as I regard it an ethical and humane issue. I rise against the fact that the sufferings of people to whom I belong are being used as a factor of pressure on the country to which I belong,” he wrote in his column on March 4, even before the US vote, predicting that it was going to be in favor of the Armenian resolution.

Though the exact figure is unclear, it is estimated that there are up to 70,000 Armenians in Turkey, most of them living in İstanbul, while the rest are scattered across the country. There are also undocumented Armenian workers who left their homeland to seek better lives in Turkey. A study conducted by the Eurasia Partnership Foundation last year suggested that the number of undocumented Armenian workers was around 12,000.