GERMAN PARLIAMENT DEALS FATAL BLOW TO TURKISH DENIAL OF
GENOCIDE
21-06-2005 14:35:00 | USA | Articles and Analyses
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
Last week, there were three important countries that had
not yet recognized the Armenian Genocide: Germany, the United
States and Great Britain. Following last Thursday's action by
the German Bundestag (parliament), there are now only two major
countries left that are still in denial: the United States and
Great Britain.
Just a few months ago, if anyone had said that Germany
would adopt a resolution on the Armenian Genocide anytime soon,
we would have questioned that person's sanity.
There are several reasons why the German Parliament's
decision is a significant development:
- Germany is one of Turkey's staunchest allies in Europe;
- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his ruling party
were initially completely opposed to this proposed resolution;
- While only 30,000 Armenians live in Germany, there are
more than 3 million Turks in that country;
- The Turkish government and the large Turkish community in
Germany tried everything in their power to block the
consideration of this resolution by the German Parliament;
- All the political factions in the Bundestag, including
the ruling party, ended up unanimously supporting the resolution
on the Armenian Genocide;
- The resolution states that the Germans acknowledge their
own share of guilt in the Armenian Genocide and urge the Turks
to face up to their dark past.
The Bundestag's adoption of this resolution deals a fatal
blow to the Turkish government's desperate attempts to bury the
issue of the Armenian Genocide. This must be particularly
demoralizing for Turkish Prime Minister Receb Tayyip Erdogan who
spared no time and effort trying to convince the world that
there was no such thing as Armenian Genocide. In fact, as I have
written repeatedly in this column, the more the Turks try to
block the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the more they
bring this issue up to the attention of world leaders and the
international news media. For example, at the beginning of June,
a Turkish group paid close to million dollars to send to Time
magazine's half a million European subscribers a 70-minute long
DVD that denied and distorted the facts of the Armenian
Genocide. The Turks thus made another half a million people
aware of the Armenian Genocide.
Ironically, a big debt of gratitude for the success of the
German resolution goes to Turkey's own ambassador to Germany,
Mehmet Ali Irtemcelik. He inadvertently helped the passage of
the proposed bill by insulting the members of the German
Parliament during his hysterical efforts to block its passage.
Some Armenians are troubled by the fact that the Germans
took this initiative in order to accomplish their own agenda of
preventing Turkey from joining the European Union. The concern
is that the Germans appear to be exploiting the issue of the
Armenian Genocide to further their own interests. In my opinion,
it is salutary that German and Armenian objectives have
coincided in this instance. Such a convergence would ensure that
the Germans would not easily back away from the recognition of
the Armenian Genocide, as they would not want to abandon their
own interests. After all, how can one expect the leaders of a
country to side with the Armenians on any issue, if doing so
would run counter to their own interests!
Some Armenians are also not pleased that the resolution
refers to "the deportations and massacres" of Armenians by
Ottoman Turkey, rather than a direct use of the term "genocide."
In the official explanation of the resolution, the text actually
does use the word "genocide," and describes in great detail the
atrocities committed against the Armenians by the Young Turk
regime. Furthermore, the resolution uses various other words
that are the equivalents of genocide, such as "mass murder,
extermination or annihilation, and destruction." It states that
"numerous independent historians, parliaments, and international
organizations designate the expulsion and destruction of the
Armenians as a genocide [Volkermord]." The resolution also
estimates the number of those killed in the genocide as "more
than a million," according to "independent calculations." It
acknowledges that the German Reich, as the chief ally of the
Ottoman Empire during WW1, was deeply involved in the mass
murder of Armenians. In the past few days, hundreds of articles
have been published on the adoption of the Armenian resolution
by the German Parliament. Once again, the Turkish leaders made
matters worse for themselves by lashing out at the German
government. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul described the
resolution as "irresponsible, dismaying, and wounding." Prime
Minister Erdogan referred to it as "wrong and ugly." He said
that history would put the German leaders to shame. This
undiplomatic name-calling further antagonized the Germans. A
spokesman for the German government said he disagreed with
Erdogan's characterization, saying that the resolution was
"balanced." The Turkish and German exchange of words following
the passage of the resolution generated more articles on this
issue. Thanks to Turkish demonstrations and protests in both
Ankara and Berlin, the international media continued to provide
extensive coverage of the fall-out from the resolution on the
Armenian Genocide.
As prominent Turkish commentator Mehmet Ali Birand wrote
last Saturday in the Turkish Daily News: "The Armenian genocide
allegations are being approved by a new parliament every passing
day. The trap we are in is closing on us. One day we will see,
we are left alone by ourselves. All Western parliaments will
accept the genocide and will be applying pressure on their
governments. The recent development in the German parliament is
just a typical example of this. Let's not see this as a stab in
the back. Armenians have dominated the international arena to
such an extent that the governments no longer feel the need to
resist them."
The noose is tightening around the neck of genocide
deniers. It is only a matter of time before the other two
countries, the United States and Great Britain, would abandon
their feeble attempts to deny what their own archives prove
beyond the shadow of a doubt. Then Turkey would have no place to
run and no place to hide. The Turkish leaders should realize
that without acknowledging the Armenian Genocide and without
making appropriate amends to the survivors, Turkey has no chance
of being admitted to the European Union.
The lengthy text of the German Parliament's resolution
makes that point abundantly clear.