Turkey – Armenian Genocide?

The U.S. congressional panel has recently decided to pass a resolution (voted 23-22) calling the 1915 killing of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey a genocide (as it did back in 2007). The issue is a hotly contested topic that has been debated for over 90 years, but amidst a lack of a historical joint convention, fabricated documents all around, and an interpretation of what exactly constitutes a ‘genocide’ – there has been no final word on the matter. It is time to re-examine this crucial topic that seems to have gotten no closer to closure as years have passed.

Was there an Armenian genocide?

Anywhere from 300,000 to 1.5 million Armenians were killed during this turbulent period of internal struggle and collapse of the Ottoman Empire – and even Turkey agrees that many Armenians suffered and died as a result of violent massacres. The question therefore lies with whether there was a systematic precondition and plan to terminate all Armenians. This is where different opinions emerge.

20 countries as well as many historians and famous political figures (including President Obama) have deemed that the available evidence supports that the 1915 killings constituted genocide. On the other hand, even more countries (including the UK,USA,Israel) believe either a)it was not a genocide b) no clear decision can be made at the time or the most prevalent c) this is matter that needs to be decided by a panel of historians.

Why still so much uncertainty of the issue?

The question of the Armenian killings of 1915 is naturally the most important issue regarding the Armenian diaspora, regardless of how many years has passed by. Similarly for Turks, even tough the country was formed years after the 1915 killings by their Ottoman ancestors, it still doesn’t do justice to them or their ancestors to have such a heavy tag labeled on them forever by foreign countries. Turks believe the final word on the matter deserves to be made by historians alone, especially since the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ottoman Turks also perished during those chaotic times.

In both countries there are laws prohibiting the issue to be openly discussed, but the matter has recently been opened up in Turkey where historical archives have been opened and a call has been made for a historical panel to decide whether or not a genocide has really been committed.

So far Armenians have failed to accept any doubt on the events of 1915 – and consider any slight discussion on the topic a huge insult to the brutal deaths of their ancestors. In France also, it is now against the law to deny that what happened in 1915 is genocide.

This is the setting that has produced a deadlock for dozens of years. But recent matters have a re-sparked the flames of this debate.

US’s effect on Turkey-Armenia relations

The US congress, backed by powerful Armenian-American lobby groups in California, have brought this 90 year old cross Atlantic issue onto the forefront of American politics, causing scandals from many sides. Turkish lobbyists have immediately backfired and have pressured the US to not take action on this non-binding resolution – and they will most likely succeed as they did back in 2007 during the Bush administration.

Nevertheless, Turkey is unhappy that Americans (with their personal questionable history) can make such accusations when it has been such an important ally – and in a manner so frivolous with a single vote by congress members balancing the fate of a historic decision important to so many.

Armenians are going through mixed feelings with American Armenians most likely happy to have brought this issue onto global headlines and a small shot at progressing in what some say their final goal is to receive reparations and perhaps some land in Eastern Anatolia. Armenians in Turkey and Armenia might feel like the recent events will slow the recent progress that Armenia-Turkey relations were seeing including talks of opening up the borders between the two counties (brokered largely by Hillary Clinton).

US president Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and many US companies and people on the other hand are worried that this issue can do irreversible damage to US-Turkey relations, which have been on the forefront of Obama’s foreign agenda. Turkey’s Incirlik base has helped Americans in their Middle East war efforts, and Turkey despite their inconsistent attitude towards the US, remains a strong geo-political ally as well as a model Muslim secular state that Obama hopes other Muslim nations can emulate.

As can be seen, the Turkey Armenian ‘Genocide’ debate is far from simple and an issue that affects a wide range of people in different ways. What most can agree on however, is for Armenia and Turkey to finally drop the grudges against each other – irrespective of what word is used to describe the events of 1915 – and move towards a relationship that helps the lives of people living today.