Nothing is as mortal to the morals of the Turkish politicians as the recognition of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. When many in the world were mourning and commemorating the centennial of the Armenian Genocide with sorrowful indignation, the Turkish government paraded its usual April 23 pompous celebration of National Sovereignty Day, an occasion exploited by Turkish politicians to fan the flames of patriotism amid crowds of flag-waving children who had gathered in front of Kemal Ataturk’s Mausoleum. This ritual of glorification and veil of sanctity is the very ideological material that Turkey has used as a basis for its denial of the Armenian Genocide. Instead of accepting the bitter historical truth the conduct and bombastic rhetoric of Turkish politicians proves that they still consider themselves heirs to the Ottoman Empire, and act as if their predecessors were beyond such heinous acts. In defiance of human dignity and justice this ideology -- vestiges of which are being recreated in Turkey -- bends everyone to its arbitrary and oppressive force. The tyranny has gone so far that even US President Barack Obama declined to use the word “genocide” in his statement on the centenary. For more than a week, Turkish leaders have been busy refuting or focusing their wrath on anyone daring to use the “genocide” to refer to the crimes. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu reacted to Pope Francis saying the killings were “the first genocide of the 20th century” by declaring there is an “evil plot” against Turkey. Then, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan labeled the European Parliament’s decision to use the term genocide plainly as “enmity. Also, the Turkish ambassador to Austria was recalled in protest to the Austrian Parliament’s use of the “G” word. And the Grand Mufti of Ankara furiously threatened to turn the Hagia Sophia, an ancient Orthodox church which is now a museum, into a mosque. In spite of irrefutable scholarly evidence Cevdet Kırpık, a “scholar” at Erciyes University, has preposterously claimed. “According to our studies in the Ottoman archives, Armenians wore the clothing of Kurdish, Laz, Circassian and Turkish peoples in Anatolia and raided their own villages, killing their own people for the sake of winning independence.” Despite such pitiful objections and seemingly cunning and conniving attempts to entangle historical facts, the world is slowly acting, breaking the Turkish century-old imposed silence. We Kurds, as neighbors of Armenians since immemorial times, perhaps more than anyone else understand their anguish and sorrow. We share a historical affinity and affection traceable to the ancient civilized world. We have endured the same calamities and wounds. Kurdish leaders have been among the first to recognize the genocide and courageous enough to accept the fact that some Kurdish tribes were liable in the killings, although many guarded Armenians from vicious enemies. The struggle for global recognition of the Armenian Genocide has to continue because only two dozen countries have officially recognized the tragedy as such. With the new waves of genocides in the Middle East, it is more critical than ever to continue the struggle for recognition. The Turkish government cannot indefinitely ward off and crush global recognition of the Armenian Genocide without further falling into an utterly anti-democratic, arbitrary, exclusionary state with ideological convictions founded on the blood of Armenians, Kurds, and other minorities. Kurdish leaders, human rights advocates and activists should work together with Armenians so that Turkey is forced to take a critical look at its chronic denial. As long as the Turkish government and its leaders vehemently continue to reject their oppressive past and remain immured in brazen denial, there is very little hope for genuine reform and democracy in that land. Dr. Amir Sharifi is president of the Kurdish American Education Society Los Angeles. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.
