TURKISH CONSUL EXPOSES TRUE COLORS BY INSULTING ARMENIANS
ON APRIL 24
02-05-2006 14:33:00 | USA | Articles and Analyses
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
As a growing number of parliaments, international
organizations, members of the media, Turkish scholars and
prominent world figures have come to acknowledge the facts of
the Armenian Genocide, the Turkish government has been
frantically looking for ways to counter the rapid progress of
the Armenian Cause.
The Turkish government has alternately offered economic
inducements and issued ultimatums to the fledgling Armenian
Republic, in order to compel it to give up its pursuit of the
international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Neither
tactic has borne any fruit. Of course, the real aim of the
Turkish leaders is to drive a wedge between the Republic of
Armenia and the Diaspora on this issue.
In recent years, the Turkish government has spent millions
of dollars to hire the best lobbyists that money could buy and
put on Ankara's payroll scores of Turkish and foreign hired pens
who are expressly tasked to disseminate anti-Armenian propaganda
worldwide. The infamous Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation
Commission (TARC) was another diversionary tactic. Funded by
Washington with the tacit support of Ankara and the
participation of a handful of misguided Armenians, TARC was
quickly abolished when it was met with almost unanimous
resistance both in Armenia and the Diaspora. This ill-fated
stratagem, under the guise of fostering dialogue, was in reality
intended to stall the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
The New Anatolian newspaper published an article last month
disclosing that Ankara is seriously concerned with "the rapid
rise" of the number of countries recognizing the Armenian
Genocide. It quoted a Turkish official as saying that Ankara has
been looking for ways of stopping this "very negative [trend]
from the Turkish point of view."
The New Anatolian reported that Turkey is alarmed by the
fact that the Armenian Diaspora is moving beyond securing the
recognition of the Genocide to having its denial punished by
law. Such an initiative is being introduced in the French
Parliament later this month. Turkish officials are also very
concerned about the incorporation of the Armenian Genocide in
the school curricula of various countries.
The New Anatolian also disclosed that a high-ranking
official from the Turkish Foreign Ministry met with unnamed
representatives of the Armenian-American Diaspora on the eve of
April 24. However, a Turkish official was quoted as saying:
"Turkey did not get any concrete results from its contacts with
the Diaspora." The Zaman newspaper reported that the Turks met
with "moderate" Armenians.
The reason for this failure could be that Turkish officials
are simply seeking to exploit their Armenian interlocutors
rather than trying to resolve outstanding Armenian-Turkish
issues. Ankara is probably pursuing three objectives with such
meetings: 1) to remove one of the roadblocks in the way of its
application for membership in the European Union; 2) to abort
further consideration of U.S. congressional genocide resolutions
by creating the false impression that Turkey is already
reconciling with Armenians; and 3) to drive a wedge not only
between Armenia and the Diaspora, but more importantly, to split
the Diaspora itself. On a personal note, because of the
above-mentioned concerns, this writer has turned down all
invitations for meetings with top Turkish leaders. Such meetings
could be meaningful only when the Turkish government is seeking
honest dialogue with Armenians.
The Turkish Consul General in Los Angeles, Engin Ansay, has
been tasked with the launching of these deceptive initiatives in
Southern California. He has been wooing a few members of the
local Armenian community by inviting them to private luncheons
and briefings at the Turkish Consulate. Regrettably, this
handful of misguided Armenians have fallen into his trap of
false rapprochement. One would hope that these individuals would
see through this Turkish ploy and extricate themselves from it
forthright.
Last month, Consul General Ansay showed his true colors
when he lashed back harshly and undiplomatically at the Armenian
community on the eve of April 24. This is an unbecoming behavior
for a Turkish official who has the rank of an Ambassador and has
served in many important diplomatic posts around the world. The
Turkish Consul General's offensive message was in response to a
letter from Steven Dadaian, who had written to the consulates of
various countries in Los Angeles, on behalf of the 91st
Anniversary Commemorative Committee, inviting them to attend the
annual commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in Montebello,
California.
Dadaian received the following rude reply from Consul
General Ansay, who sarcastically said that he would like to
attend the Armenian Genocide commemoration in order to "address
the gathering with regard to the first genocide of the 20th
Century initiated and committed against millions of Muslims and
Turks by Armenian forces armed and trained by Czarist Russia
during the First World War."
Hopefully, the Turkish Consul General's insulting reply
would open the eyes of the gullible Armenians who were
mistakenly led to believe that they were helping "reconcile"
Armenians and Turks by cultivating a personal relationship with
the official representative of the Turkish denialist regime.