Turkish Misinformation to split the Armenians‏

ARMENIAN DIASPORA IS EGOIST
Sedat LACINER
Journal of Turkish Weekly
Sept 16 2009

Armenian people is one of the ancient tribes. They created a great
civilization and contributed to the humanity and other civilizations
a lot. They established kingdoms and states as well. However as they
settled mainly on the crossroads of the civilizations, religions,
sects, races and great kingdoms, they could not maintain their
independence. As a result they have generally lived under the other
nations' sovereignty. Iranian Empire, Byzantium Empire, Russian Empire,
Arab Kingdoms, Seljuk and Ottoman Empires and Soviet 'Empire'. They
enjoyed great freedom under Seljuk and Ottoman Empires however many
Armenians were tortured and deported by the Byzantium Emperors due
to the religious disputes. Most of the time, they could not become
soldiers or governors. In short the main problem for the Armenian
peoples was lack of a state. When the French Revolution triggered the
nationalist movements in the world, the Armenians were not ready for
such a radical change:

The Ottoman Armenians were enjoying a great religious freedom and
they were among the most wealthiest class in the empire. Many Armenian
bankers, businessmen, doctors and intellectuals were very close to the
Palace. The Ottoman Armenians in the towns and rural areas were mostly
bankers, businessman or craftsmen. The Armenians with the Ottoman
Greeks dominated the Ottoman export and import. Moreover the Ottoman
Armenian population was not majority in any region. About 1 million
Armenians were scattered around the huge Ottoman territories. In
another word the Ottoman Armenians were not ready for a separatist
nationalist revolt. They were actually happy with the existing
system. The Church in particular had great privileges before the
Ottoman State and a great power over the Armenian citizens.

Under these circumstances, the Armenian nationalism was developed in
diaspora: In Switzerland and Georgia. Tashnak and Hnchak 'parties'
were established in Tbilisi and Geneva. The leading Armenians were
very young and inexperienced in politics. They had no enough power and
financial support to struggle against the Empires. Apart from these,
the young Armenian idealists set a formidable task for the Armenian
nationalism: To unite all Armenians in the Ottoman, Russian, Iranian
Empires and other Armenians in the region under a separate Armenian
State. So, they needed foreign assistance, and the great imperial
powers were very eager to 'undermine' the Ottoman Empire. The British,
French and Russian Empires gave a great encouragement to the Tashnaks
and other Armenian groups. However they did not fully keep their
promises and when they reached agreements with the Istanbul Government
the Armenian nationalists failed. Furthermore the Armenian nationalists
were encouraged but not fully supported when needed. Another problem
was that the Ottoman Armenians did not strongly join the Armenian
nationalists. Many Armenians in the Ottoman towns were against the
Armenian militants. Therefore the first target to be destroyed was
seen as the Ottoman Armenian leaders. Many Armenian leaders were
murdered by the Tashnak and other Armenian militants. They accused
all Armenian opposition of being traitor. The Armenian terrorism
killed more Armenians than the Muslims in the beginning of the
20th Century. The Armenian businessmen were threatened and forced
to give 'tax' to the illegal Armenian groups. The Tashnak militants
transferred a huge amount of weapons, provided by Russia and Britain,
to the Ottoman towns. They were preparing a war and revolt against the
Istanbul Government. They organized many terrorist attacks against
the politicians and institutions. In 1876 the Armenian militants
attacked the Ottoman Bank and exploded bombs before the bank. They
further organized an assassination against the Sultan (Head of State)
II. Abdulhamid.

When the First World War erupted, the Armenian extremists saw the war
as an opportunity and the co-operation between the Armenians and Allied
States increased. The Russian, British and French Empires who were in
war against the Ottoman Empire, Germany and Austrian Empire, considered
the Christian minorities as a tool against the Ottomans. Thus the
Armenian nationalists were encouraged for more terrorist attacks,
revolts and weapon transfers to Anatolia. The Van Revolt was one of
the most vivid examples for the Armenian Revolts. The Tashnaks in the
Van Revolt aimed to 'clean the region from the Muslims'. Thousands
of Muslims were killed or forced to leave the region. At the end
the Armenians declared their independence in Van province and then
handled the city to the Russian occupying forces.

The Armenian nationalist 'adventure' ended with a tragedy which
cost 500.000 Muslim and more than 110.000 Armenian lives. About
Thousands of Armenians were relocated, and many died due to the
war circumstances. The Armenians rioted against the Government in
many towns and attacked their Muslim neighbors with the French,
Russian and British encouragement. However the occupiers did not
keep their promises and with the end of the war the Armenians could
not return their homes. Many immigrated to the European and North
American states. The cost of the revolt was very high for the Armenian
nationalism. Nevertheless they could establish a tiny state in Caucasus
under the Tashnak rule. It is unfortunate that the Tashnaks could not
learn anything from the Ottoman Armenian experience and they started a
'revenge campaign' (NEMESIS) against the newly-established Turkish
State. As a matter of fact that the last thing Independent Armenia
needed was a 'revenge conflict' with the Turks. Armenia was a 'country
of dead' at that time. Armenian population was suffering from famine
and epidemic diseases, and more than 200.000 Armenians died under
these circumstances in the Tashnaks' Independent Armenia. However the
Armenian 'leaders' did not focus on the economic development, social
and cultural problems and political relations with the neighboring
countries while the newly Turkey's Government sole dealt with the
political and economic problems. The Armenian terrorists killed many
former Ottoman ministers. But the Tashnak attacks not only killed the
Turkish targets but also ended the independence of Armenia. Armenia
lost its independence and became a Soviet Republic under Moscow rule.

Armenians once more had to immigrate to the West. They suffered a lot
from lack of an independent state. They had no reasonable leader who
could lead them under the realistic and pragmatic principles instead
of purely naïve emotional motivations.

Under the lack of leadership, Armenians were exposed the great powers
national interests. Moscow, Washington, Paris and London abused the
Armenian issue.

Armenia gained its independence in 1991 after the decades when
the Soviet Empire collapsed. It is unfortunate that the Diaspora
Armenians and Tashnaks just focused on their own interests instead of
saving the newly-established Armenia. Tashnaks played a crucial role
in declaring war against the Azerbaijanis. The Diaspora encouraged
more wars to capture the 'lost territories' in Turkey, Georgia and
Azerbaijan. While the other former republics tried to decrease their
dependency on Russia, Armenia more and more became a 'Russian orbit'
in the region. When Russia lost its military bases in Azerbaijan and
Georgia, Armenians invited the Russians to their country.

The new Armenian nationalists and Diaspora saw Turkey the most deadly
enemy, though Turkey was one of the first states who recognized
Armenian independence. Actually Turkey considered Armenian State as
an opportunity to normalize the Turkish-Armenian relations. However
Armenian Diaspora seriously reluctant in normalizing the relations
because it established the Armenian identity on anti-Turkishness. The
1915 Legacy and anti-Turkish accusations have been the only uniting
factor in the diaspora. They feared that if Turkey and Armenia
normalized the relations, the assimilation of the Armenians in the
West could be accelerated. The Church and the political parties used
the Turkish-Armenian problems in cementing the non-homogenous Armenian
society. Moreover anti-Turkish Armenian Case was financial and prestige
source for many Armenians and Diaspora institutions. In another word
the Diaspora Armenian abused the problem with Turks for their personal
and institutional interest at the cost of Armenia. Their priority was
not State of Armenia but the Diaspora. They knew that the land-locked
and relatively poor Armenia had to solve its disputes with Turkey in
order to survive. However they sacrificed Armenian state once again
as they did in 1918.

To conclude, the foremost priority for the whole Armenians must to
protect and survive the young Armenia, instead of strengthening the
Armenian diaspora. Armenia should not be part of the adventurous
games of its Diaspora and Russia.

Wednesday, 16 September 2009

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sedat LACINER: Director, International Strategic
Research Organization (ISRO)
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