* The monument to promote reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia,
sculpted by Turkish artist Mehmet Aksoy in Kars, Turkey.
In Turkey, as well as in the rest of the Middle East, the fight is still for one tribe against the other, not for values. Turkish politics is full of such examples today, starting from the constantly moving internal political alliances, to Turkish foreign policy in the Middle East and Caucasus. From Egypt and Syria, to the young republic of Armenia, with whom Turkey shares a closed border. Closed by Turkey itself.
Through my several travels inside Turkey, I realized that I often get introduced among people as an Armenian first and foremost, anything else about myself comes last. I often felt myself representing a “tribe” in front of other “tribes”.
Coming from a sectarianly divided Middle East, this wasn’t unfamiliar to me, as I always encountered new people telling me “some of my best friends are Armenians”. Maybe Turkey is the original place where all this have started. The last time I was in Istanbul, a friend quoted Hrant Dink, saying that we were a nation in this country, but they have turned us into a minority...
We were a nation, we were owners, which might have been a threat in the eyes of the “other tribes”, but now, in best case, we are known for making tasty sujuk or good jewelry.
Although Turkey have recorded remarkable developments in regards of its treatment of its Armenian community and the society became more open and accepting in the last decade, however, some things still need time to change.
Still, there is not one Turkish political force, which speaks for at least 1 percent of the Turks, that regards Armenians without labels or prejudices, but with historic responsibility and equality. Even among the Kurds, who have been oppressed for decades, the major political forces and representatives of the Kurdish people in Turkey, which are now welcoming Armenians to come back to their homeland, still do not go very far. None of such representative forces are ready to take real responsibility, compensate, or at least give back the real estate properties that they have seized. There are evident examples today in Mardin and elsewhere.
Moreover, the hostility towards Armenians and Armenia is still so high that the Armenia-Turkey border is shut down by Turkey since over 20 years. Being pressed in this difficult corner of the world, the issue of the closed border is the bleeding wound of Armenia, which is languishing the country everyday. This is an issue that even the friends of Armenians in Turkey are still hesitant to talk about it. This is the number one problem that the friends of Armenians in Turkey must be pressing, writing and informing the public opinion about it every day.
Today we need values and men of values, more than anything else. Without it all efforts or attempts of reconciliation are void. Values would destroy both physical and psychological borders. Values start with confronting history not re-writing it. Only values can help us ascend from tribal mentality into civilization. This is the best role that Turkey can play for itself and become an example for the region.
* Harout Ekmanian is a journalist at the Civilnet internet television network in Yerevan, Armenia.
* Click here to read the article in Turkish.
