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The Truth that No One Wants to Admit About TARC
by Garo Adanalian - August 13, 2001
Posted: Friday, August 17, 2001 at 12:52 PM CT
The Armenian contingent of the Turkish Armenian Reconciliation
Commission (TARC) is represented by the Armenian Assembly of
America (AAA), in conjunction with members and former
administration officials of the infamous Armenian National Movement
(ANM).
In an August 2 statement made by the Armenian members of TARC, its
members claim that "from around the world, most Armenians have
offered support, both publicly and privately. They share with us
the belief that if Armenians and Turks talk directly and in a
structured fashion, addressing the numerous issues that divide us,
some progress may follow."
I do not recall any public statements made by Armenian
organizations or political groups in Armenia or the Diaspora
showing their direct support for such dialogue, with the exception
of the AAA and the Armenian Council of America, the political wing
of the Social Democrat Hunchak Party of the US--an organization
that has evidently severed all links to its revolutionary past and
original mission or purpose--which merely supports the initiative
with "cautious optimism."
The ARF Bureau released a strong statement of disapproval on July
13, and on July 31, eight political parties and deputy groups in
Armenia, including the National Democratic Union, Communist Party,
Republican Party, Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Constitutional
Right Union, Country of Laws party, and deputy groups People's
Deputy and Agroindustrial People's Union, released a statement
condemning the commission.
The term "most Armenians" in and of itself is as misleading as it
is a distortion of the truth; no evidence can verify its
validity. This rhetorical statement by TARC is further proof why
this commission and its advocates, primarily members of the AAA and
the ANM, cannot be trusted to speak in the name of the Armenian
people in any form of dialogue with any nation, let alone Turkey.
Make no mistake that the AAA is an organization closely aligned
with the US State Department, which means that it is more closely
aligned with the interests of the US administration than those of
Armenia and the Armenian people. As the United States and Turkey
are NATO members and strong military allies, the United States has
vested interests in Turkey.
Moreover, US oil companies have strong interests in the Caspian Sea
and want to appease Azerbaijan in all ways possible to tap into its
oil resources. The State Department has no viable interest in
Armenia--it has no interest in Armenian Genocide recognition,
restitution, and restoration of Armenian territories occupied by
Turkey, or the dispute of Nagorno Karabagh.
In short, the State Department has no compassion for the Armenian
Cause. It will try to use Armenia and na?ïve Armenian-Americans,
like the AAA and its supporters, to achieve its goals of
destabilizing Russia's influence in the Caucasus and tapping into
the oil reserves of the Caspian, which brings us to the
establishment of TARC and the US support of such meaningless
dialogue.
The State Department needs TARC to try to convince the Armenian
community to be "reasonable" and allow for concessions on issues
such as the Armenian Genocide and the self-determination of Nagorno
Karabagh in order to open the borders between Turkey and
Armenia. The United States wants to build oil pipelines in the
region and will not do so as long as the region faces the
possibility of a renewal of war. If the State Department has the
approval of the Armenian-American community, which it perceives as
being led by the AAA, and TARC, it can somehow broker a deal to
include making concessions on Armenian lands and stalling continued
attempts in convincing the Turkish government to acknowledge the
Armenian Genocide by having the blockade on Armenia lifted.
The AAA is an organization comprising Armenian-Americans that
represent the established and elite or those that want to be
associated with the established and elite. It does not serve the
direct interests of the common Armenian people in Armenia or in the
Armenian Diaspora.
The AAA exists to support Armenia and Armenian-American issues only
if its members can benefit in financial, personal, or social status
terms. It does not care about socio-economic concerns facing the
Armenian people in the homeland--this fact is clearly evident. Note
that the Assembly does not directly support the self-determination
and national integrity of Nagorno Karabagh and the right to
maintaining and developing the liberated territories. Moreover, it
does not want to advocate recognition of the Armenian Genocide in a
political forum and does not advocate restitution, reparations, and
return of historic Armenian territories to the Republic of Armenia,
but merely advocates "affirmation" of the Genocide.
The Armenian Genocide is important for the Assembly to be
recognized as a historic event by the US government, but only to be
recognized and then placed in a museum, eventually to be forgotten
as another tragic event in the history of the world.
TARC exists because wealthy Armenians in the United States and
Armenia want to make money, and they feel that they can do so not
only in Armenia but in Turkey as well. If the Turkish blockade on
Armenia is lifted, transport barriers to and from Armenia would be
eradicated. Armenian-American investors can then move in and
establish tourism enterprises and other capital-generating
institutions. But is the integrity of the Armenian people worth
such a sacrifice for a few to earn millions of dollars? What about
the historic lands of the Armenian people--are they to be
sacrificed for the sake of American capitalism? What about the 1.5
million souls that died for their land, culture, and heritage? What
about the thousands more that died defending and preserving the
homeland?
The Armenian people in the homeland are suffering. They are
jobless, hungry, and desolate. They need employment in order to
live. Why don't established and elite Armenian-Americans invest
directly in Armenia and build factories and industries there to
employ hundreds of thousands of Armenians willing to work? By all
means, let the elite make its millions, but at least put the
Armenian people to work in order to do so. Why try to strike cheap
deals with Turkey in the name of reconciliation for the same
purpose--do we really need Turkey? Note that the countries that
traded with freely with Turkey, namely Georgia and Azerbaijan, are
actually in worse economic conditions than Armenia. Armenia lasted
10 years in its current social-economic condition without
economically unstable Turkey; it can certainly last 10 more with
the Armenian Diaspora's direct financial investment in the people
of Armenia. The Armenian people must continue to struggle in the
name of social justice, freedom, and democracy, and they should not
succumb to the sweet but deceptive words of a few opportunists.
--
Garo Adanalian is a former assistant editor of the Armenian Weekly
and still serves as a frequent contributor. He is a member of the
Armenian National Committee of America and has served as Chairman
of the Armenian National Committee of Eastern Massachusetts.
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