ISTANBUL—The “deportation” of Armenians in 1915 was inhumane, and Turkey has never supported the move, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Thursday as visited Armenia, reported the Hurriyet Daily News.
Davutoglu was in Yerevan to attend a meeting of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, on the sidelines of which he and Armenia’s Foreign Minsiter Eduard Nalbandian had an hour-long meeting.
“We are very pleased with the meeting with Nalbandian; it was candid. The primary aim is to build an environment of dialogue on a strong basis,” Davutoğlu said after the meeting, while dismissing claims that he suggested to Armenia that it withdraw from two regions in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Davutoğlu expressed his hope that a collective consciousness between the two countries could be created with what he called “just memory.”
“We say ‘just memory.’ What I mean with that we should know the facts. Then we see that Turkish-Armenian relations do not date back like German-Jewish ties. In every street, there is a common sign,” explained Davutoglu.
“After you discover this, then you see the deportation, which I see as a totally wrong practice done by [the Ottoman-era rulers under the Committee of Union and Progress]. It was inhumane,” Davutoglu told a group of reporters en route to Yerevan.
“But when you write history, taking the deportation into account, then a collective conscious was created from this side [Turkey] that Armenians betrayed their nation and deserved the deportation. We should destroy these two collective consciousnesses. We abolished this wrong consciousness in 2005, but Armenians still have it,” he told reporters.
“Our primary aim is not open only the Turkish-Armenian border but to form a foundation that will pave the way for a comprehensive peace,” added Davutoglu said.
“It has three pillars. The first one is relations between Turkey and Armenia. The second one is Azerbaijani-Armenian relations. This also includes Georgian-Abkhaz ties. The third one is relations between Turks and Armenians,” he said.
“If one of the pillars is crippled, it will create distress. Let’s say we opened the Armenian border gate. If a war breaks out between Armenia and Azerbaijan, then we would be forced to close it again. The hardest thing is to defrost the iceberg of the status quo. You could start a war when you trying to defrost it,” he said.
Davutoglu claimed that he has been meeting with members of the Armenian Diaspora during his travels to various countries, saying, however, that those meetings are not publicized “due to the fact that extremist Armenians would cause problems.
“In the past, talking with the diaspora has been perceived as a threat or aimed for intelligence issues. Diplomats thought, ‘What would I do?’ if it were recorded. But now it has become a duty. Since that time, whenever I go abroad I meet with the Armenian community if there is one,” announced Davutoglu, who explained that “What we realize is that if you cannot provide a basis in ties with the diaspora, that puts pressure on ties with Armenia and it becomes deadlocked.”
To quote Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), “War is deception.”
Արդեոք ինչպես կարելի է ստից-մարգարե գող աւազակ մարդասպանին սուրբ համարել?
This is all a part of Turkey’s plan for 2015. I wouldn’t be surprised if Davutoglu isn’t trying the “divide and conquer” strategy with the Armenian diaspora. He’s a sly fox…
we are making history- we must talk and as they admit it-we need to listen and shake hands- does not mean they have tea with us- good moves- do not block the efforts-ARF or anyone-they need to know and admit and shake loose
Davood Pasha, it is more inhuman when you and your cohort, deny Armenian Genocide ever took place in Turkey!!
These are baby steps which hopefully will result to full recognition of the atrocities perpetrated by the Ottoman Turkey against is own unarmed Armenian population and reparations. Armenian government should encourage these baby steps but hold a firm position on (a) full recognition of the genocide, and (b) full and fair reparations. Anything less is no justice.
Diplomatic regurgitation, he has said nothing, absolute balderdash. Now we were deported, just that , deported because we were perceived as working against the interests of the Ottoman. We were not massacred, just deported under in humane conditions. The border should not reopened, we should be seeking other exits via different directions. War with Azerbaijan is not far away, then the border will be closed again ? These conversation of Davotoglu is at the level of kindergarten kids.The billions of petro dollars the Azeries have invested in arms will be put into use, they are not buying war materiel just for parades in Baku.
The Turkish foreign ministry is bluffing all the time not only with Armenians! “Zero problems with neighbors” was a big hit and generated a lot of noise… but it ended up being “Zero neighbors with lots of problems”
If Turkey is talking with the Armenian diaspora that is great! But why they are not publicizing? On the contrary Turkey should celebrate and lots and lots of photo opportunities to publicize…
But look at the bluff that Mr. Ahmed Davutoghlu said and please Drum Roll “We don’t publicly announce the people we meet due to the fact that extremist Armenians would cause problems” Aha… Well there are two Revolutionary parties in the Armenian Diaspora one “Armenian Revolutionary Federation known as Tashnags” and two the “The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (SDHP) known as the Hunchaks” both of them labeled as extremists and many times labeled Comitaji’s by Turkey.
But when high ranking officials from both parties go to Turkey have meetings with Turkish parliament members or commemorate the hanging of 20 Hunchakian leaders how does the FM justify that?
For example Giro Manoyan and Mario Nalpatian (ARF Bureau) as well as the Chairman of the S.D. Hunchak party Executive Committee of Lebanon Mr. Alexander Keushkerian all of them were in Istanbul in 2013… So which extremists Mr. Ahmed Davutoghlu is avoiding? What a bluff!
Truth is such a rare thing in Turkey! One would give up but thanks to courageous democratic folks in Turkey are changing things… But the Turkish Government is still using old worn up political statements that do not hold water… They need to walk the talk!
Missak
Note:
Tashnak visit: http://www.armenianweekly.com/2013/11/12/bdp-arf-high-level-meeting-held-in-istanbul/
Hunchak Visit: http://massispost.com/archives/8813
For Turkey maybe they abolished this wrong consciousness in 2005, but for Armenians the Genocide and the consequence of the Genocideis is continuing.
Turkey is pursuing a policy of making inconsequential occasional gestures of which Davutoglu’s stray remark is an example, intended solely to persuade third parties that the Hai Tahd is being resolved by Armenia and Turkey, and another policy of denial and oppression, for whom the audience is Armenians.
Rat-Face-Oglu needs to take more initiatives on the Armenian question, including handing over a small chunk of territory to Armenia. Even though I believe in the “shared suffering” thesis of the events concerning 1915-1923, I think Turkey should cede some soil to Armenia. There are many actual, real revolutions going on in both our countries, including the anti-oligarchy protests in Armenia, as well as the Gezi Park movement in Turkey. I think if my peace plan gets implemented, this will strengthen pro-democracy movements in Turkey and Armenia. These are my opinions.
WE ARE TALKING NOT ABOUT RELOCATION , IT WAS AN ORDER BY THE OTTOMAN TURKISH GOVERNMENT OF THE REMOVAL, SLAUGHTER OF THE ARMENIANS AND CONFISCATION OF ARMENIAN LAND AND WEALTH, WHICH TURKEY PROFITED FROM. JUST SIMPLY GENOCIDE, WHAT SHARED PAIN??? BECAUSE SOME ARMENIANS WANTED TO FIGHT AND DEFEND THEIR FAMILIES???
I have said if you ask me, I believe the Turkish govt should cede some territories via the Kars treaty. How many people do you hear from Turkey talking about ceding some territories back to Armenia to resolve the Armenian question? Rarely! I am trying to be nice and I believe in a bipartisan solution by 2015 which can satisfy both sides and be fair for both sides.
Yes when Russia recently delivered another billion dollar of arms to Armenia. Now Turks become more “interested in peace” as Turkish influence started weaken in this region again. Ok it was inhumane but how about it was systematic and aimed to cleanse/purify Ottoman Empire territory. What was the purpose of deportations? Word deportation means relocation. When people leave one home and get another one. Turkish Government propaganda has been calling Armenian Genocide “deportation” which is pure lie!!!! Unless you call it Turkish style of deportation!!! Deportation?…. It was forced removal of indigenous population from its centuries own habitat with only one purpose- to take over their possessions: their businesses, land then you need to re-write history as you will have to explain and prove your future generations that their grandfathers were not the most prominent barbarians of their times . Come on Davutoglu. You do not want to call it Genocide then restore all destroyed Armenian communities and give Armenians back their land and provide through traffic for Armenia’s goods. Otherwise fuck you Turkogly Jew!
I know some Armenians get excited when they hear a Turkish official even remotely speak of the Armenian tragedy and suffering at the hands of his predecessors but I caution you not to trust this two-faced sly fox hypocrite. This is only a little part of a much bigger scheme the Turks are busy putting together. It is not even an acknowledgement of what happened in 1915 but a plot to water down the Armenian Genocide in order to exploit the Armenian public with what only appears sincere on surface only. They have been playing these games for decades. They have given all sorts of excuses over time and each time more embarrassing than before. The only excuse I have not heard from these liars is to claim the Armenians killed themselves.
This man is a master manipulator and the inventor of empty phrases such as “zero problems with neighbors” and “shared memory”. Well folks, his zero problems with neighbors was a hoax and it has turned into “zero neighbors with lots of problems” and his shared memory nonsense is a ploy to deceive our nation and the world, taking into account the centennial commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in 2015. He is trying to do to the Armenians what his boss Erdogan did some years back when he “allowed” the renovation of the Akhtamar Monetary on Lake Van and not because he cared about the Armenian plight but to deceive the world by showing a “softer” Turkish side when realizing more and more nations around the world are embracing the Armenian claims. If he was sincere in his gesture, he would have allowed full freedom of assembly and worship in Akhtamar instead of only once a year and while using this sacred church as a tourist site to portray false Turkish image abroad and to fatten the Turkish treasury for the rest of the year.
These are the very same Turkish leaders who make such statements when in Armenia but when in Azerbaijan they stand side-by-side with the Azerbaijani draft-dodging coward oil sheikh Aliyev making demands and threatening Armenia. These are the same two-faced, insincere and opportunistic liars who call our racial enemy Azerbaijan an “extension” of Turkey, a euphemism for pan-Turkism which was responsible for the preplanned extermination of 1.5 million of our people and the confiscations of our historic homelands. These are the followers of the same genocidal thieves who consider the occupied Western Armenian homeland and the pseudo-Turkish artificial state of Azerbaijan as “two states, one nation” with illegal border blockades in attempts to force our nation to yield to their bogus demands and to remind us what happens when we pursue our just cause.
Turkish leaders are wolves in sheep’s clothing and they must never be trusted. Any acknowledgement, whatever amount and at any level, without accountability is meaningless and it is nothing but a farce to buy time to continue with their denial policy once they are over the hump and out of the woods, that is when they feel safe again, fooling the world at our expense yet again with their trickery and deceptions.
HOW CAN WE BELIEVE THAT THE REAL INTENT AND POLICY OF CURRENT TURKISH GOVERNMENT IS STILL THE SAME: TO CRUSH EVERY OTHERS ON BEHALF OF GREAT TURKISH NATION AND ITS STATE?
LETS TURKEY RESTORE HISTORICAL ARMENIAN COMMUNITIES. APPLY AND TRULY PROTECT EQUAL RIGHTS, RESPECT OTHERS PAIN AND NEEDS. THEN THERE WILL BE FRIENDSHIP.
I don’t trust him. Even if what he says were honest and sincere, I wouldn’t be impressed, either.
WHO IS HE TRYING TO FOOL, NOT THE WORLD, CERTAINLY NOT THE ARMENIANS AND NOT SOME DECENT TRUTH SEEKING TURKS, JUST COME OUT AND SAY IT WAS GENOCIDE THE MURDER AND SLAUGHTER OF INNOCENT MEN WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND STEALING OF THEIR LANDS WEALTH AND SURVIVING GIRLS AND CHILDREN AND FORCING SOME TO BECOME TURKS AND DENY THEIR ROOTS, YOU ARE CERTAINLY A NATION OF INHUMANE BRUTE SAVAGES. COME ON ADMIT YOUR GUILT WE WILL NEVER FORGET OUR MURDERED RELATIVES BY SAVAGE TURKS.,COME ON AND JOIN THE CIVILIZED WORLD AND ADMIT YOUR ARE GUILTY