A New Beginning to the Armenian-Turkish Relationship

By Garegin Esmaili
Esmaili818@yahoo.com

In the last few months, I’ve been seeing many Armenians, especially here in the United States, finding it difficult to accept the Turkish-Armenian Protocol that was signed.

I want to share a point of view that I’ve come to accept after conversing with passionate Armenians, your everyday Turks, and scholarly historians. I find it difficult to accept Armenians pushing their point of view onto the world and rejecting all efforts of reconciliation by demanding Turkish acceptance of the Armenian Genocide.

Adolf Hitler committed horrific atrocities against the Jews, yet the world has long forgiven the German people and accepted a sole figure responsible for the extermination of the Jews. Talaat Pasha is that person for us Armenians.

In the time of World War I, Armenians had a population of a few million settled in cities across the east in what was then known as the Ottoman Empire. At the same time, there were the nomadic Kurds who were less in number, but were heavily armed. Talaat Pasha feared the Kurds who had a large arsenal of weapons; so he figured out a solution to defuse them and, at the same time, eliminate Christian Armenians, allowing him to be able to create a purely Islamic state. Basically, the Kurds were paid to carry-out the slaughter of Armenians.

In international courts, many eyewitnesses have indeed testified to witnessing the Turkish Gendarmes also taking part in the slaughter and raping of Armenian women. But the truth is, all the individuals involved in the massacres are now dead. Talaat Pasha was sentenced to death in Constantinople but escaped to Berlin, where Soghomon Tehlirian shot and assassinated him on a street in the Charlottenburg District of Berlin in the 1920’s.

Rejecting the Armenian Protocol today because Turkey will not accept the full terms and facts of the Armenian Genocide as we know, is an invalid argument. I think it is wrong for us to come in the way of collaborative work for long lasting peace and prosperity.

The Turkish-Armenian Protocol signed by both of our presidents last summer will undoubtedly revive the economy of the entire region as better chartered borders and communications will boost both Armenian exports into Turkey and Turkish imports into Armenia. The protocol also calls for a joint academic collaboration between universities and historians from both countries to research and publicize all aspects of the Genocide.

Last year a judge in California ruled in favor of Armenian’s claim against insurance companies to collect damages on properties lost during the genocide. However, the appellate court in an appeal denied the ruling, stating that the losses occurred during time of war. If we can gain credibility from high ranking sources from both sides, we can undeniably gain credibility in our own arguments.

I believe the Turkish people today are good people and that we can all create a much better world together. I hope that by writing this article, I am able to convince Armenians of this common goal that we should all share: to establish world peace through time.

Although Turkey has committed many faults and wrongdoings today and yesterday, perhaps we can do our part and strive for world peace in all corners of the world. The Armenian people demand acceptance of only their version of history, when we all know that there are many sides to all arguments. Let’s accept individual responsibility and our mortality, as we will all one day be dust in the wind. In 1915, specific individuals, NOT AN ENTIRE NATION, thought they could erase the great Armenian people off the face of this earth. They did not succeed, for we are still here.

Today, let’s move past the blames and take on a challenge that has been considered unimaginable for almost a century. Let’s be the ones who can create a unity that will produce a million possibilities and opportunities for years to come.