U.S. OFFICIALS MORE WORRIED ABOUT TURKISH FEELINGS THAN
GENOCIDE
16-02-2007 15:29:00 | USA | Articles and Analyses
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
Armenian Americans are more insulted by the offensive
attitude of the Bush administration toward the Armenian Genocide
than they are by Turkey's refusal to acknowledge it. They wonder
why the leaders of this great country are more worried about
appeasing an unreliable foreign power than the pain and
suffering of their own citizens of Armenian origin who are the
descendants of the survivors of that genocide; why U.S.
officials, ignoring the proven facts of the Armenian Genocide,
are calling for yet another study similar to the one demanded by
the Iranian President on the Holocaust; and why do they allow
Turkey to bully the U.S. by meaningless threats?
To gain a better insight into the mindset of the Bush
administration, we would like to present excerpts from two press
conferences recently held by high-ranking U.S. officials who are
known for their pro-Turkish views on the Armenian Genocide:
First, the comments made by Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State Matthew Bryza in response to questions from Turkish
reporters on Feb. 1, 2007, prior to the arrival of Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul to Washington:
"Our position on [the congressional resolution on the
Armenian Genocide] is that our policy remains of course
unchanged. We don't believe that political statements or
diplomatic statements are the appropriate way to resolve this
issue of how to refer to these horrible events of 1915. I'm sure
we all agree that what happened was a horrible tragedy. It's
terrible. It's an issue that has so many sides, so many
complicated angles, so many differing points of view that
politicians can't do it justice by simply making a
determination. What we would like to see happen is that learned
people, everyday common people, professors, philosophers,
historians have a chance to sit down and have a candid
discussion over time for an extended period that gets at the
core of what happened and allows the societies of Turkey and
Armenia to reconcile themselves with their pasts and with each
other. You can't do that through a political decision.
"...The Turkish government and the Armenian government have
talked about historical commissions. They've talked about
diplomatic discussions as well to normalize relations. Then
there's the question now, since the tragic murder of Hrant Dink,
about an even more intensive discussion of Article 301. It's
hard for the Turkish government simply to abolish Article 301
given political realities. We understand that. But I think from
our perspective it would be a wonderful step if there no longer
was this issue out there of Article 301 that provides a pretext
or a reason for people outside of Turkey to criticize Turkey.
"We are here as Turkey's friend. I hope Turkey considers us
one of its closest friends in the world. In that spirit we want
to do everything we can for what we view as Turkey's proud
traditions of tolerance and of co-existence, of all sorts of
ethnic and religious communities. We want the world, especially
Europe, to understand what a strong record Turkey has. Article
301 still makes that difficult. It has a magnetic impact on
thinking in Europe and gets everybody to focus just on that
issue rather than on all of the complex history of Turkey."
Next are the comments made by Assistant Secretary of State
Daniel Fried to Turkish reporters on Feb. 8, at the conclusion
of Gul's visit to Washington:
"...We discussed the [Armenian Genocide] resolution which
has been introduced about Armenian-Turkish issues, about the
Armenian, what its supporters call the Armenian Genocide. This
bill does not have the support of the administration. The
administration opposes this bill. We have made that clear. We
are continuing to make it clear. Later today, I am going up to
meet with key figures in the Congress about this bill and I
expect our efforts will continue. ...I, and I suspect more
senior people in the U.S. administration than I, will be
discussing this. Our argument is essentially this. Such a
resolution will damage U.S.-Turkish relations and for no good
purpose. Such a resolution would not in fact advance
Turkish-Armenian dialogue and it would not advance the process
of Turkey's examination of its own past.
"I've always been of the view that democratic countries
need to take a hard look at the dark spots in their own
history.... Our view is that Turkey is going through a process
of looking at its own history with Armenians. The killings in
1915 were horrific. They need to be looked at honestly and
without taboos, but not because Americans say Turkey should look
at this. It should be looked at because Turks, in the process of
building a democracy and deepening a democracy, are looking at
these issues for their own reasons. I think this process is
going on in Turkey. It is painful. It is emotional.... So my
argument to the Congress will be that this natural, painful
process in Turkey needs to be allowed to unfold with
encouragement and support, but not pressure from the outside.
That will be my argument. Now I don't expect that everyone will
accept it, but I will make the case as best I can. And it won't
be just me. There will be more senior people than I making the
case and pointing out that Turkish-U.S. relations should not be
damaged for no good purpose. But this is obviously a very
emotional issue and I believe it is in Turkey's interest for its
own reasons to take steps to examine its past and to reach out
to Armenians worldwide and to Armenia despite the fact that
Turks don't like all of the things that Armenian communities
say.
"...Speaker Pelosi and Foreign Minister Gul did not meet.
We think that such a meeting would have been a good idea. The
Speaker, let me put it this way, does not always listen to all
the advice from the administration. She does represent a
different political party. She is, after all, now I suppose the
leader of the opposition in Congress. We do not support this
resolution. We will make efforts to see that this resolution
does not pass. That is an unequivocal statement of the
administration's position. I hope that Turkey, without regard to
this resolution, makes every effort to reach out to Armenia and
Armenians and makes every effort to examine its own history. Not
because of outside pressure, but because this is appropriate for
Turkey's own development as a democracy.
"The debate in Turkey about its history, the position of
writers such as Orhan Pamuk, the position of intellectuals, the
participation of Turkish scholars in the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission some six years ago [Correction:
"Truth" was not a part of TARC's name] is all the result not of
any outside pressure. Orhan Pamuk doesn't care at all what the
Americans think. It's the result of internal Turkish processes.
I applaud these, and I hope that Turkey for its own reasons will
do everything it can to reach out to Armenia and Armenians.
Great nations are not afraid to confront the dark spots of their
past. The United States had to do so and we were not our best
selves, we were not true to our best traditions until we had
done so. I believe the same is true of all countries. I believe
the same is true, therefore, of Turkey. I hope Turkey does this
not to please the United States but because of itself and this
is something the United States can best influence by being a
friend, not by passing resolutions. That is my view and I hope I
can help convince the Congress of it."
The most reprehensible comment was the one made by Dan
Fried when he said: The Armenian Genocide "resolution will
damage U.S.-Turkish relations for no good purpose!" Both he and
Bryza seem more concerned about catering to Turkish
sensitivities than the fact that an entire nation was almost
wiped out. They seem to forget that this congressional
resolution has more to do with trying to reaffirm America's past
acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide than bringing pressure
to bear upon Turkey. It is high time for these U.S. officials to
stop playing shameless political games and start calling the
genocide by its true name.