As the dust is settled, I can tell what I think about the latest apology campaign of several Turkish writers in relation to the Armenian claims of genocide.
To summarize:
1) Three Turkish academics signed up an online petition last week. The petition reads: "My conscience does not accept the insensitivity showed to and the denial of the Great Catastrophe that the Ottoman Armenians were subjected to in 1915. I reject this injustice and for my share, I empathise with the feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers. I apologise to them."
2) The government and the army denounced this initiative, stressing that such efforts undermine the latest achievements in bilateral relations between Turkey and Armenia.
And what do I think?
I think that the apology campaign is very problematic and far from being constructive, especially in this sensitive time. It is just a useless effort by its attention-seeking and interest-pursueing creators.
* * *
PROBLEM ONE: Who does make an apology and why?
Even if all Turks, without any exception, of the early 20th century had killed all the Armenians of the time, why should the grandchildren of the killers make an apology to the grandchildren of the victims?
Moreover, it is clear that the situation was not like the allegation stated above. There were also thousands of Turks who were killed by the Armenian gangs during the civil strife. Now, with such a generalizing effort, the grandchildren of the Turkish victim would be making an apology to the grandchildren of the killer of his grandparents.
There are other problems as well: For instance, who will make an apology to all the Turkish diplomats who were killed by ASALA, the Armenian terror organization of 1970s?
Hence, the source and the target of the apology cannot be defined clearly, because the subject is too complex.
However, we can still trace some interesting facts by looking at the campaign.
As Ertugrul Ozkok, Hurriyet's Editor-in-Chief has pointed out, we see that the apology campaign has turned out to be a joke at some point, considering the people who have signed the letter.
Doesn't the signature of Peter Gabriel, the Genesis singer, got a sublime symbolic quality? An Englishman apologizes to the Armenians for a Turkish crime?
Maybe his signature was really needed, as most of the Armenian population had revolted in the early 20th century against the Ottoman rule ONLY AFTER the provocations of the British and the French. After getting the Russian military support, a smaller portion of Armenian population had organized as gangs to ethnically clean the Turkish villages in the eastern Turkey. They were partly successful, as the counter-measures of the Ottoman military command, including the mass-deportation of the Armenians in the eastern provinces, were.
As a result, Peter Gabriel's apology is as meaningful as the signature of anyone else in the list.
* * *
PROBLEM TWO: Can you solve the problem of the nationalisms with crypto-nationalist perspectives?
The apology letter is written by the academics who oppose all kinds of nationalism, but the text itself can't escape from the national discourse: Turks vs Armenians or Armenians vs Turks?
The concurring problem about the Anatolian tragedies of the early 20th century is far beyond the monopoly of any nation. It is a multinational, multicultural problem, based in the crackling disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. Armenians may have suffered most, in terms of the number of people effected; but the loss of one human life is as tragic as the loss of hundreds.
* * *
Finally, the apology is the wrong concept as long as the ones who should apologise for what they have done are all dead now. Those who should apologise is the statesmen of the Imperialist powers who provoked and mobilized the local peoples against the Ottoman rule and the Ottoman military command that had opted for the inhuman measures which -at least- ignore the innocent civilians.
The right concept is an eclectic effort to remember all the individuals who have died in vain at that time. We should study the history deeper and find the ones who were killed without poking a gun in their hands. Without emphasizing their nationalities, we should honor these real victims and condemn all the criminals behind the scene.
As a result, a truely meaningful reconciliation is only possible by recognizing all the humanitarian tragedies of the time. Not only the sufferings of the Turks and Armenians, but also Kurds, Greeks, Jews, Circassians, Assyrians, Arameans, Arabs, Azerbaijanis and all the Balkan peoples should be recognized.
We need a total redemption, embracing us all from Yerevan to Kars and from Istanbul to London, so I correct the apology text as follows:
"My conscience does not accept the insensitivity showed to and the denial of the all the tragedies of the Ottomans from various ethnicities were subjected to during the fall of the Empire. I reject this injustice and for my share, I empathise with the feelings and pain of my former compatriots. I condemn every party and every individual who had a share in their sufferings."
The Armenian militia, which were armed by the Russian army and supported by the British and French armies, are seen just before the revolt in Van province.
