An Open Letter to the Armenian Diaspora
Via Amerikan Turk, I stumbled upon an open letter to the Armenian Diaspora by Turkish writer, Mustafa Akyol. Of course, the subject of the letter is not hard to guess. It concerns the Armenian Genocide and is obviously written as a result of House Resolution 106. Before quoting from the letter which was also published by the Turkish Daily News, however, it’s interesting to read up on Akyol.
Mustafa Akyol is a Turkish Muslim writer, who argues both against Islamic extremism and extreme secularism and is an outspoken promoter of intelligent design.
Akyol was born in Ankara in 1972 and had his early education there. He later graduated from the Istanbul Nişantaşı Anadolu Lisesi and the International Relations Department of Bosphorus University. He earned his masters in the History Department of the same university.
[…]
In the past years he has given seminars in several universities in the U.S. and the UK on issues of faith, science, religious tolerance or inter-faith dialogue.
Mustafa Akyol’s articles on Islamic issues, in which he mostly argues against Islamic extremism and terrorism from a Muslim point of view and defends the Islamic faith, have appeared in publications like The Weekly Standard, The Washington Times, The American Enterprise, National Review, FrontPage Magazine and Islam Online. He lives in Istanbul and is currently working on a book titled An Islamic Case for Liberty, which he plans to have published in 2007.
Anyway, although many Armenians in the Diaspora will take exception to some if not all of what Akyol writes, I for one am glad that the letter is moderate and also an attempt to reach out to explain why many Turks react so strongly to the campaign to recognize the Armenian Genocide. Certainly, it is an attempt to initiate some kind of communication, discussion and debate.
A few days ago a new friend of mine who happens to be an American Armenian played some beautiful songs for me that come from the deepest roots of her ethnic tradition. While I enjoyed the numinous rhythms of that magnetic Armenian music, I realized how similar they were to the tunes of the Turkish classical music that I have grown up hearing. “Despite all the political warfare,” I said to myself, “alas, look how similar we are.” I actually have a similar feeling when I drive along the magnificent mosques and palaces of Istanbul, some of which were built by Armenian architects – men in fez who devoutly worshipped Christ and proudly served the Sultan.
Well, we were the children of the same empire, weren’t we? We actually lived side by side as good neighbors for centuries until the modern virus called “nationalism” descended upon us. And then hell broke loose.
[…]
I know what you think about that hell, especially about its most horrific episode, the one that took place in the year 1915. Your grandmothers must have told you about the plunderers, killers and rapists who attacked them and countless fellow Armenians. You call the whole tragedy “the Armenian Genocide” and try to convince the parliaments of the world to accept that definition. You also think, I presume, that we Turks are monsters who not only committed that horrible crime, but also refuse to take responsibility for it even after nearly a century.
This is how you see history and the present moment, right? Well, as a Turk, let me say that I understand you. Because I see that you sincerely believe in the accuracy of the historical narrative that you were raised on. How else could you have responded to that?
However, please note that there is another narrative about the tragedy of 1915, and that is what we Turks have been raised on. Our grandmothers told us that Armenians of the time collaborated with the Russian invaders and started to kill our people. Then, the narrative goes, our people started to kill the Armenians in order to both to protect themselves and to take revenge. “They killed us and so we killed them” is the summary of what 99 percent of the Turks know and think about what you call genocide. And just like you do, they sincerely believe in the accuracy of their historical narrative.
[…]
Now since we are getting to know each other, let me be a bit more blunt and take on what you have just done by convincing the U.S. Congress to pass a resolution on “the Armenian Genocide.”
If you think that acts like these will push us Turks to be more self-critical and initiate an internal discussion that will lead us to consider your narrative about 1915, you are daydreaming. The reality is quite the contrary. Foreign pressure will make Turkish society only more reactionary. Grounds for internal discussion will vanish. Moreover, our ultra-nationalist nuts will go crazier than ever. Their most militant ones might well target, once again, liberal intellectuals and our Armenian citizens. You are simply fuelling the fire.
The leaders of Turkey’s Armenian community, including Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan II, have been warning you about these dangers and urging you to stop playing this resolution game. But sadly, you don’t ever listen to them. You accuse them for lacking courage and having a defeatist psychology. But how do you know that you yourselves are not the victims of another psychology – that of the diaspora? Social scientists repeatedly say that diaspora communities tend to go fanatic. Have you ever considered taking a hint?
If you would like to hear some friendly advice, here it is: If you really want to see more Turks reflecting on your narrative about the tragedy of 1915, initiate a genuine dialogue. Try to convince not Mrs. Pelosi and her colleagues, but us, the Turks. Write more books and articles, create better movies and Web sites, and organize fair conferences and seminars telling us about your story. And do these not as propaganda tools against the Turks, but as communication efforts toward them.
Convey your message calmly, in other words, and it will be heard. But don’t try to impose it onto us. We are not a nation of monsters, but we do have a stubborn side. When foreigners start to dictate our history to us, we tend to revert back to our grandmothers’ stories. And if we will start listening to your narrative, that will not be because we are pushed into a corner by the politics of a powerful lobby, but because our hearts are touched by the memoirs of a terrible tragedy. Sincerely,
Mustafa Akyol
A fellow Anatolian
The full letter is available on Akyol’s blog.
This is the comment I left on Akyol’s blog which at time of writing is still awaiting moderation.
Found your post via Amerikan Turk and wanted to say that I appreciate your trying to reach out in a calmer way to Armenians and so on. Also wanted to point you in the direction of an interesting article which features some interesting opinions on the Genocide resolution by a friend of mine, Yektan Turkyilmaz, and Turkish historian Taner Akcam.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2007/10/16/armenian_genocide/
Some of what is said there is, I suppose, what you’re trying to say, although you appear to dispute the idea that Genocide occurred. Well, whatever the circumstances and reasons for what happened which Armenians and Turks will argue about forever it would seem, one thing is clear. That is, the term Genocide was actually coined by Raphael Lemkin with the Armenian and Jewish experiences as its basis.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael_Lemkin
Regardless, I have no bad feelings towards Turks. My only dislike is of nationalists on both sides. In fact, as I said in a comment on Amerikan Turk’s post, I despise nationalism in all shapes and forms. Patriotism is something different, but anyway.
Comment by Onnik Krikorian — October 19, 2007 @ 2:32 pm
Via Blogian, there’s another interesting piece from the Turkish Daily News which is again moderate, but illustrates how knee-jerk nationalist politics is in Turkey and refers to how it manifests itself in the Armenian Diaspora. Needless to say, both need to change in order for there to progress in Armenian-Turkish relations.
Comment by Onnik — October 19, 2007 @ 3:44 pm
Front Page Magazine? That’s David Horowitz. The Washington Times? Reverend Sun Myung Moon. You can’t get any more ultra-right-wing-to-the-point-of-religious-nuttery than that. Intelligent design, too, is the creation of PR firms hired to introduce an archaic superstition back into the masses so that when their son’s are dying in pointless wars they won’t have to look far for “meaning” and won’t make too much noise.
I’m sorry, but I don’t think saying that 99% of all Turks believe the Armenian Holocaust never happened amounts to anything other than confirmation of Turks’ being brainwashed by 90 years of nationalist propaganda. This guy is no “moderate,” Onnik. He’s just come up with a “friendly,” “open-minded” way of saying, “If you tell anybody I killed your mother, I’ll kill you.”
Like I’ve said, the solution to the Armenians in Turkey problem is to document atrocities being perpetrated against them for political reasons and based on that grant them political asylum along with a nice, hefty grant from the Armenian Diaspora so that they can get their new lives in the US or Europe or South America started. That’s what political asylum is, right? The Right of Asylum. Whom will they persecute then?
He’s right about one thing, though. Armenians do need to do a better job of propagandizing the truth among Turks.
Comment by Armen Filadelfiatsi — October 19, 2007 @ 4:38 pm
Looks like Mustafa Akyol isn’t the only one writing open letters. The Turkish Prime Minister is too, albeit in the form of an op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has more.
Comment by Onnik — October 19, 2007 @ 7:24 pm
Interestingly, the reality of the situation appears lost on the Armenian media and political parties with Panorama even talking as if territory inside Turkey is going to be gifted to Armenia and it’s population moved away.
Bizarre, and quite out of touch with any sense of logic or reality.
Comment by Onnik — October 20, 2007 @ 1:42 am
Yes, Mustafa is besides a good writer, a dear friend of me.
There are more columnists like him.
nice blog
regards ffrom a dutch in istanbul
Comment by Hans — October 20, 2007 @ 7:08 pm
Is there any non-fiction book about the Turkish/Armenian questions
that both groups think is a fair attempt at presenting arguments
and facts on all “sides” of the issue? I just spent half an hour reading
customer reviews of several books on the subject
that amazon.com offers, but couldn’t find any that
weren’t accused of unfairness, distortion, gov’t
manipulation, etc. by at least some readers.
Comment by Celinda Scott — December 12, 2007 @ 12:20 am