Hundreds gathered in İstanbul's Taksim Square to mark the 98th anniversary of the tragic events that led to relocation of Armenian population in Anatolia in the First World War in Ottoman Turkey. (Photo: Today's Zaman, Onur Çoban)
24 April 2013 /HANİFE SEVDE KÖSE, İSTANBUL
Turkish Armenians and Turkish civil society groups joined with a foreign delegation comprising 20 anti-racist and Armenian representatives from 15 countries to commemorate the 98th anniversary of the tragic events of 1915 in İstanbul's Sultanahmet Square on Wednesday.
The foreign delegation, which joined the commemoration for the first time this year, included the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) Young Professionals from Bulgaria, the Roma Center in Romania, which works for Roma rights, and the AGBU from France and the European Grassroots Antiracist Movement (EGAM). There were also representatives from Turkish NGOs.
April 24 is the symbolic date when about 200 Armenian religious and intellectual leaders were rounded up in İstanbul in 1915 before they were imprisoned and summarily executed.
In a separate occasion, nearly a thousand of people gathered in Taksim Square to mark the event.
Protestors have deliberately staged the event in front of the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts in Sultanahmet Square, as the building of the museum was a prison in 1915 where Armenian intellectual leaders before they were executed.
During the commemoration, different civil society groups delivered speeches and urged the Turkish government to recognize the 1915 events as “genocide.” One person protested against the commemoration, saying "Turkish nation do not do genocide. You are bending the truth." Immediately, he was taken away from the crowd by the protestors.
A member of the EGAM delegation, Moavia Ahmad, said he was optimistic about a move that can come from the Turkish government to solve the issue. “My opinion [about Turkey] has started to change with Turkey's deal with the Kurdish issue, which is opening doors for other issues just like the Armenian problem, ” said Ahmad. However, he added that it will be early to comment on Turkey's attitude towards apologizing for the 1915 events before the 100th anniversary of the events in 2015.
However, many of the protesters think that public opinion should be changed in such a way that when Turkey recognizes the 1915 events, there will not be strong opposition to the steps that will be taken by the government to solve the issue.
Osman Kavala, who attended the commemoration, told Today's Zaman that public opinion could be changed through giving objective information to schools and via media. “Opinion may change in a short time period,” he added.
Marie Anne, an Armenian whose grandparents moved to France from Anatolia, said they were able to understand the opposition coming from some Turkish people who say Turks cannot do any wrong towards Armenians. However, she said we should help them understand that some tragic events happened in the past.
Another protestor from the Greens and Left Future Party, Nadire Gül, said every year the number of people who attend the April 24 commemorations has been increasing, in particular those from an Armenian background.
Armenia, backed by many historians and parliaments in several countries, says about 1.5 million Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey during World War I in a deliberate policy of genocide by the Ottoman government.
The Ottoman Empire dissolved after the end of the war, but successive Turkish governments and the vast majority of Turks take the charge of genocide as a direct insult to national pride. Turkey argues that the killings occurred at a time of civil conflict in which both Armenians and Turks were killed and that the casualty figures are inflated.
In 2005, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent a letter to then-Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and proposed to establish a joint committee of historians to study the incidents of 1915. However, the Armenian government has not replied to this request of PM Erdoğan.
April 24 is the symbolic date when about 200 Armenian religious and intellectual leaders were rounded up in İstanbul in 1915 before they were imprisoned and summarily executed.
In a separate occasion, nearly a thousand of people gathered in Taksim Square to mark the event.
Protestors have deliberately staged the event in front of the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts in Sultanahmet Square, as the building of the museum was a prison in 1915 where Armenian intellectual leaders before they were executed.
During the commemoration, different civil society groups delivered speeches and urged the Turkish government to recognize the 1915 events as “genocide.” One person protested against the commemoration, saying "Turkish nation do not do genocide. You are bending the truth." Immediately, he was taken away from the crowd by the protestors.
A member of the EGAM delegation, Moavia Ahmad, said he was optimistic about a move that can come from the Turkish government to solve the issue. “My opinion [about Turkey] has started to change with Turkey's deal with the Kurdish issue, which is opening doors for other issues just like the Armenian problem, ” said Ahmad. However, he added that it will be early to comment on Turkey's attitude towards apologizing for the 1915 events before the 100th anniversary of the events in 2015.
However, many of the protesters think that public opinion should be changed in such a way that when Turkey recognizes the 1915 events, there will not be strong opposition to the steps that will be taken by the government to solve the issue.
Osman Kavala, who attended the commemoration, told Today's Zaman that public opinion could be changed through giving objective information to schools and via media. “Opinion may change in a short time period,” he added.
Marie Anne, an Armenian whose grandparents moved to France from Anatolia, said they were able to understand the opposition coming from some Turkish people who say Turks cannot do any wrong towards Armenians. However, she said we should help them understand that some tragic events happened in the past.
Another protestor from the Greens and Left Future Party, Nadire Gül, said every year the number of people who attend the April 24 commemorations has been increasing, in particular those from an Armenian background.
BDP seeks establishment of parliamentary commission on 1915 incidents
Pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) parliamentary group deputy chairman İdris Baluken submitted a motion to Parliament in which he sought for creation of a commission to investigate the 1915 incidents.Armenia, backed by many historians and parliaments in several countries, says about 1.5 million Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey during World War I in a deliberate policy of genocide by the Ottoman government.
The Ottoman Empire dissolved after the end of the war, but successive Turkish governments and the vast majority of Turks take the charge of genocide as a direct insult to national pride. Turkey argues that the killings occurred at a time of civil conflict in which both Armenians and Turks were killed and that the casualty figures are inflated.
In 2005, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent a letter to then-Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and proposed to establish a joint committee of historians to study the incidents of 1915. However, the Armenian government has not replied to this request of PM Erdoğan.