Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News

Armenian Publisher in Istanbul Calls for Dialogue Between Armenians, Turks
by ISTANBUL MILLIYET (ANKARA edition), 23 Sep 2000
Posted: Tuesday, October 03, 2000 06:54 am CST

Subslug: Interview with Hrant Dink, publisher of the Armenian weekly paper Agos, by Naki Ozkan on bill adopted by the US House of Representatives sub-committee; place and date not given

[FBIS Translated Text] [Ozkan] What would you say for the Armenian bill adopted at the US House of Representatives sub-committee?

[Dink] The greatest wish of an Armenian of Turkey is the restoration of the spiritual ties between the Turks and Armenians. And that can only come about through a dialogue. And that dialogue should not be sought in the US Senate or in any other unrelated third locations. I believe that the emotions would subside if a dialogue were established between the two nations, or, since there is now Armenia, between the two countries.

I do not believe that there is a bundle of problems needing solution. The administrations of the two countries should establish contact, but in the meantime the peoples and the civilian organizations have to forge their own links. The rapprochement of the peoples was the moving force behind the dialogue between Greece and Turkey. The same could be done in the case of Armenia and Turkey. In such an eventuality, an important task would befall on the Armenians of Turkey. With both Turkish patriotism and Armenian identity we could act as a serious bridge between the two countries.

[Ozkan] What are the feelings of our Armenian citizens in Turkey regarding the Armenian bills abroad?

[Dink] If you like, let me cite myself as an example: I both have a Turkish and Armenian identity. I have internalized both of these identities. Any bad word against the Armenians hurts me. Similarly, any bad word by Armenians against the Turks, or movements like the ASALA [Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia], also saddens me very much. The badmouthing of both peoples jars our spiritual world.

We Revolted Against ASALA!

We revolted against ASALA. There was a time when we were called the "Armenian scum." We revolted against that word too. We, the Armenians of Turkey, want to make it possible, and have actually made it possible, to live both with our Turkish and Armenian identities. We deplore the existence of some fanatical groups. One way of expressing this revolt was for Artin, an Armenian, to set himself on fire in Taksim to protest the ASALA.

And now we have again been revolting by asking these questions: "Why has there been no dialogue? What is going on again? What has this American Senate got to do with us?"

[Ozkan] Some journalists who visited Armenia were received warmly in Yerevan, contrary to all expectations. What is your observation?

[Dink] The silent majority is not inimical to Turkey. Armenians though have suffered a historic trauma. They went through the 1915 incidents. Still, there is no sense in turning its "remembrance" [as demanded by Armenia] or its "oblivion" [as demanded by Turkey] into cardinal preconditions [for the establishment of ties]. Demanding its "recognition" or an "apology for it" are unacceptable. We can avoid painful disputes only be establishing a dialogue.

Only Fanatics Are Talking [subhead]

The problem is that only the fanatical elements are out talking. Only their voice can be heard. The important thing, whereas, is to put the two peoples on speaking terms again without resorting to international forums. Both our peoples suffered much in the past at the hands of the imperialists. They are the source of our troubles. As an Armenian I am vehemently opposed to the discussion of this issue by the imperialist circles and big powers. If I have anything to talk I will sit across from you and talk both the history and our future. I will leave everything to your knowledge and conscience, and will draw no hostility from history.

Let no taboos remain, let us talk, read, and pass the judgement ourselves. In such a climate, there would be no place for impositions.

There are those who still want to keep the Armenian people in a 1915-meter deep pit. They want to keep it there all-alone with its trauma. Whereas, that nation needs to climb up to the light at the opening of the pit and eventually come out of the hole. But a helping hand has to be extended. It is not my life's purpose to unearth a drama and go around informing everybody of it.

[Ozkan] Who should extend the helping hand?

[Dink] It is impossible to understand the deportation [of Armenians] unless one first studies the Baghdad Railway, the role of the Germans, and the blind eye turned to it by France and Britain. It is, therefore, not the French and the Americans who would extend a helping hand. It was they who pushed us into this pit in the first place. It is Turkey that has to extend a hand. The sides should stop traumatizing themselves, one side by fearing that "apology might be followed by demands for compensation and territory," and the other side by insisting that the incident "should never be forgotten." Both are unhealthy conditions.

The fanatical elements have turned this trauma into a political capital for frequent use. Turkey must deprive the fanatical elements of their capital. There is no sense in asking a state or a nation to "apologize." No hostility should be drawn from a drama. The third persons have no right of say in this affair.

Dialogue Is the Prescription, We the Doctors [subhead]

This trauma has to be cured before it is passed on to the new generations. Dialogue is the prescription and we both are our own doctors.

[Ozkan] What should Turkey do, in your opinion?

[Dink] One should realize that the third countries are using this issue as a trump card. French President's letter to Ecevit is a telling example: "You have not included our firm in the helicopter tender, yet I have been exerting tremendous effort to prevent the passage of the Armenian bill from the Senate." This issue has now been raised in America because of the elections. Turkey should not let the third countries to exploit this issue. But that is possible only through a dialogue [with the Armenians].
[Description of Source: Istanbul Milliyet (Ankara edition) in Turkish -- Centrist, Mass Appeal Daily; One of Country's Top Circulation Papers]

Related Information...

Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News Archives