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| AAE: Turkish Denial Of Armenians In The Capital Of Europe |
| • From: Assembly of Armenians
of Europe <aae@euroarmenian.com> Turkish denialism of Armenians in the capital of Europe "Mothers, Goddesses and Sultans"- but not Armenians 17/11/2004, Brussels - The Palace of Fine Arts of Brussels (Belgium) hosts the exhibition on Turkey `Mothers, Goddesses and Sultans' which will last from October 06 2004 to January 16 2005. The exhibition accounts pieces from the collection of the Topkapi Palace (Turkey), Louvre, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the museums of Berlin and the most important museums in Turkey. This exhibition is organized with the mutual agreement of the prime ministers of Belgium and Turkey in order to introduce the Belgian and European society with the cultural values and the history of Turkey and intends to emphasize the European vocation of Turkey. The leaflet on the exhibition distributed to the visitors at the entrance
of the Palace of Fine Arts says `We encounter the peoples, who have left
their traces in Anatolia in the course of 9000 years. The journey takes
us through such renowned cultures as the Hitties, Greek and Roman antiquity,
Byzantium and the Ottomans'. From the first sight one may find the absence
of the Armenians and Armenian culture in Anatolia very strange, since
for centuries the Eastern The Ottomans fought against the neighboring Byzantine State, crossed into Rumelia and then captured Constantinople in 1453 during the reign of Sultan Mehmed II (1451-1481)[ii], putting an end to the Byzantine Empire. The Ottomans fought with the Serbs, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Venetians, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Britain, the Vatican, Spain and also France and Russia. During the reign of Sultan Selim I (1512-1520), Egypt was conquered and the "Caliphate" passed from the Abbasids to the Ottoman dynasty. During the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent (1520-1566) the borders of the Empire extended from the Crimea in the North to Yemen and Sudan in the South, and from Iran and the Caspian Sea in the East to Vienna in the Northwest and Spain in the Southwest[iii]. However, the Ottoman Empire lost its economic and military superiority vis-à-vis Europe, which had developed rapidly with the Renaissance and the geographical discoveries starting with the sixteenth century and failed to adapt to the new developments. Thus, the balance of power shifted in favor of the European States starting in the same century. The nationalist movements that started in the nineteenth century and the rebellions of the Balkan nations organized and supported by the European States and Russia, brought about the emergence of independent states within the Ottoman territories in the Balkans. The Russian field marshal M.I. Kutuzov's victorious campaign of 1811-12 forced the Turks to cede Bessarabia to Russia by the Treaty of Bucharest (May 28, 1812). Agha Mohammad Khan (Iran, reigned 1779-97), had reasserted Iranian sovereignty over the former Iranian territories in Georgia and the Caucasus. Fath 'Ali (Iran, reigned 1797-1834). attempted to maintain Iran's sovereignty over its new territories, but he was disastrously defeated by Russia in two wars (1804-13, 1826-28) and thus lost Georgia, Armenia.
In 1918 the Republics of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan declared their independence from Russia which lasted until 1920. From 1920 to 1923 the three countries of South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) were merged into Transcaucasian Federated Republic. The first independent Republic of Armenia was also recognized by the Ottoman Empire. The above-mentioned historical facts prove the presence of the Armenians in the region which should not be ignored. It is very strange to see the name of `Azerbaijan' on the map, while the names of Armenia and Greece are absent. As reported by Radio Free Europe, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry spokesman called for Azerbaijan's (the closest ally of the Republic of Turkey) takeover of the entire territory of Armenia and removal of the entire Armenian population from the Caucasus. He went so far as to say, and we quote, `Within the next 25 years there will exist no state of Armenia in the South Caucasus'. This inevitably reminds of the intentions of the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide. In this context, the negationism of the Armenians is not a simple mistake or lack of professionalism by the organizers of the exhibition, but has its roots go back into the beginning of the 20th century - the Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire in 1915. The Armenian Genocide is still denied by the Republic of Turkey, which also imposes a blockade on the Republic of Armenia for more than 10 years. Therefore, the radical exclusion of Armenians from ottoman history is consistent with the genocide carried out in 1915-1916 and it has been the practice in Turkey since the establishment of the republic in 1923.
The Assembly of Armenians of Europe considers such negationist and revisionist attitude of the Republic of Turkey, aspiring to the EU full membership unacceptable. We believe that such behavior destabilizes the whole region of South Caucasus and impedes the normalization of Armeno-Turkish relations. Moreover, the extension of this denialist approach to an exhibition carried out in Belgium, in partnership with Belgian institutions, is a worrying sign at a moment when Turkey is pressing to join the European community of values. The Assembly of Armenians of Europe is sure that this is an attempt of the Turkish authorities to force their own denialist approach on an unsuspecting European public. _____ [i] Mustafa Ibn-Abdullah (1609-57), the first and foremost Turkish |
Subsequent
wars of Russia with Turkey were fought to gain influence in the Ottoman
Balkans, win control of the Dardanelles and Bosporus straits, and expand
into the Caucasus. The Greeks' struggle for independence sparked the Russo-Turkish
War of 1828-29, in which Russian forces advanced into Bulgaria, the Caucasus,
and northeastern Anatolia itself before the Turks sued for peace. The
resulting Treaty of Edirne (Sept. 14, 1829) gave Russia most of the eastern
shore of the Black Sea, and Turkey recognized Russian sovereignty over
Georgia and parts of present-day Armenia. Furthermore, in the Balkans,
the Ottomans acknowledged Greece as an autonomous but tributary state,
granting autonomy to Serbia, and recognized the autonomy of the Danubian
principalities of Moldavia and Walachia under Russian tutelage. In 1832,
the Turkish Sultan finally recognized the Greek Independence and Prince
Otto had accepted the crown
The negationism
and the denial of the Armenian Genocide are also reflected in the premeditated
annihilation of Armenian cultural heritage in the territory of the actual
Republic of Turkey. Sourb. Arakelots[iv] (of the Holy Apostles) Church
of Kars turned into a mosque in 1998. The church of Tekor[v] which was
erected in the 5th c. and was standing until 1956 served as a target during
the artillery trainings of the Turkish army. The monastery of St. Karapet[vi]
was plundered and partly devastated in 1915. During the artillery trainings
of the Turkish troops in the 1960s the monument turned into a heap of
stones which were later used for the foundation of a village in the same
place; the carvings of the Akhatamar Church (Lake Van, Eastern Turkey)
is nowadays used for shooting practice for the visitors, etc. So, after
some decades there will not be any evidence or trace of the Armenians
in the region.