984th meeting – 17 and 18 January 2007
Item 3.1d
Written Questions by members of the Parliamentary Assembly to the Committee of Ministers
d. Written Question No. 511 by Mr Rustamyan: “Need for recognition of the Armenian genocide by Turkey”
The Representative of Turkey made the following statement:
“Written Question No. 511 by the Honourable Parliamentarian, Mr Rustamyan, refers to tragic events in the territory of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.
The first global war was unprecedented in the loss of civilian as well as combatants’ lives and the material damage it caused. All the nationalities which inhabited the territory of the Ottoman Empire had more than their share of human suffering. A disintegrating empire in a global war led to many human tragedies. Without doubt, one of them was the tragedy of the Armenians, many of whom lost their lives due to civil strife, forced relocation, massacres, epidemics and hunger. It is indeed a sad chapter in the common history of Armenians and Turks which spans several centuries.
We differ from the Armenian characterisation of the events of 1915, because it is based on a selective approach to human suffering. This is said not to belittle the suffering of Armenians during the First World War, nor to minimise the trauma of the tragedy which befell them. However, I repeat that, caught in the mayhem of the war, the human toll for all nationalities was very heavy indeed.
The Armenian perception of the events of 1915 underwent a basic change. As the proceedings of the Versailles Peace Conference of 1919, which convened to settle the post-world war order, reflect, the Armenians at that time considered themselves as combatants, thanks to their contribution to the Allied war effort against the Ottoman Empire with more than 100 000 men. The reward they sought for their military contribution was the creation of the Greater Armenian State. However, the emergence of the Turkish Republic, the outbreak of the Bolshevik Revolution and the subsequent consolidation of Bolshevik power in the Caucasus thwarted the realisation of Greater Armenia. It was then that the Armenian self-perception changed from that of combatant to victim in relation to the events of World War I.
This was almost a century ago. Europe witnessed even worse tragedies later in the 20th century. Today, the immense violence and destruction of the first half of the last century is replaced by solid peace, unprecedented co‑operation and ever-growing integration represented by the EU.
We believe that what was achieved in Europe on a continental scale can and should be achieved between Turks and Armenians. All the more so, since there is today an independent Armenia which is and will remain a neighbour to Turkey.
The proposal in April 2005 of Prime Minister Erdoğan to President Kocharian to set up a joint experts’ commission to study our common history was made in that spirit. Such a joint undertaking would help transcend the heavy legacy of the past by searching for a common understanding through the study of the historical material of the Ottoman archives in Istanbul, as well as Armenian archives in Jerusalem and the USA. We would all be better off by talking to each other, rather than at each other as we are now doing.
Regrettably, the Armenian leadership has until now preferred lobbying in Brussels, Paris, Washington and with other third parties, rather than seeking reconciliation with Turkey. Lobbying third parties retards reconciliation. Only dialogue with Turkey will achieve it.
Sooner or later this fact will be understood by Armenian political leaders. We hope that it will happen sooner, rather than later. As neighbours, we are ready to engage Armenia not only in addressing our common past, but our common future which we hope will be shaped by normalisation and co-operation.
Already the sheer logic of life and neighbourliness dictates itself. Despite the absence of formal relations, people to people relations are developing. Turkey is one of the favourite destinations for a growing number of Armenians for business and leisure. Tens of thousands of Armenians illegally work in Turkey. Turkey is one of the major trading partners for Armenia. These facts supplement the human bond provided by the 85 000 Turkish‑Armenians and the Armenian cultural heritage in Turkey and indicate the potential that normalisation and reconciliation will achieve. But for that to happen, the Armenian leadership needs to join us in overcoming the burden of history and look to a common future.”
The Representative of Armenia made the following statement:
“In addressing Mr Rustamyan’s Written Question, this delegation wishes above all to avoid entering into any form of academic debate.
The testimonies recorded by the German pastor, Johannes Lepsius, in 1916 in his “secret report on the Armenian massacres”, then in 1919 in his collection of diplomatic documents “Germany and Armenia, 1914‑1918”, and by the British diplomat, James Brice, in his “Blue Book” published in 1916, together with the account given by the American Ambassador stationed in Constantinople at the time, Henry Morgenthau, in his “memoirs” published in 1919, provide overwhelming and irrefutable proof of the premeditated genocidal nature of the massacres and deportations of Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1918.
Nearly two million Armenians were living in the Ottoman Empire just before the start of the First World War in 1914; only a few tens of thousands remain in Turkey today, most of them concentrated in Istanbul.
This fact in itself gives a sufficient idea of the scale of the genocide.
The continued denial of the Armenian genocide by the Turkish state has served only to reinforce, in Armenia, in the Armenian diaspora and in most parts of the world, the demand for recognition that it took place, for action to ensure that it is not forgotten, and for the right to remembrance; this attitude, which is combined with a refusal to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia and continued closure of its border, does not help to dispel doubts as to its desire to establish good-neighbourly relations with Armenia. Armenia, for its part, has never set any prior conditions for the establishment of such relations between the two countries.
And to answer my Turkish colleague regarding his proposal to set up a committee of historians, I would remind you that the Armenian authorities have proposed the setting up of governmental committees to discuss pending bilateral issues; so far there has been no response to this proposal from the Turkish authorities.
This delegation wishes to stress secondly that the question put by the Armenian member of parliament equally concerns Turkey and Turkish society as a whole.
In his question, the distinguished member enumerates a number of measures which, if implemented, would enable Turkish society to progress along the path to a total re-appropriation its history and the Turkish authorities to undertake the admittedly difficult task of repentance.
The specific proposals contained in it, such as encouraging a broad-based debate within Turkish society on the Armenian genocide, including this tragedy in schoolbooks, fostering academic research on this question or permitting the annual commemoration of these events on its territory, in fact raise the more fundamental issue of Turkey’s democratic development; in this connection, tribute should be paid to the courage of certain Turkish intellectuals who have clearly grasped the challenge posed by recognition of the Armenian genocide for the promotion of democracy and human rights in Turkey.
This necessarily depends on the education of the new generations and the learning of history, including this particular page, no doubt the darkest; it depends on the free exercise of media freedom, on reform of the Turkish Criminal Code, and in particular the abolition of Article 301 thereof, which permits the prosecution of anyone who maintains that the 1915 genocide did indeed take place; it also depends on a strengthening of minority rights; lastly, it depends on respect for human dignity and the right for all those in Turkey who condemn this crime against humanity to join together in saying “never again”.
These are obviously questions which concern all our member states; they are also questions which fall within the priorities of our Organisation and are central to its activities; this is why we believe that the Council of Europe can make its contribution and actually help this country to come to terms with its past.
By way of a conclusion, I should like to quote a comment by the famous philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, who, in an interview given last Sunday to a French newspaper, said in connection with Turkey’s recognition of the Armenian genocide:
“Memory is work, almost asceticism. It is a deep movement of the soul which requires courage, determination, humility and, above all, time. Germany and Europe have done this work. Now it is Turkey’s turn”.”