Not Many New Approaches for Armenian Issue
The symposium witnessed the reproduction of nationalist reflexes and unscientific propositions.
Propositions and questions such as "The Armenians had sold their masters", "deportation is a form of crisis management", "how could one compare those who die from deportations with those who die from the flu", "there is no nobler nation on earth than the Turks" were repeated.
A 25-page anonymous brochure printed by İstanbul University entitled "The Attack of the Genociders and the Reactions One Must Give to Them" was introduced at the last minute at an unnamed exhibit.
The symposium started with a practice inappropriate for an academic meeting, namely with the reading of the National Anthem and the March of the 10th Year Celebrations of the Turkish Republic. Then there was a moment of silence observed for those who had lost their lives during World War I.
The National Anthem was sung by Katya Hallacoglu from Ferikoy Armenian Elementary School who was elected the best national anthem singing student and the Tenth Year (of The Republic) March was sang by the Surp Takavor Choir. The same choir then sang some Armenian pieces.
The Brochure with the unknown author and publisher
Among the various bookstands in the hall way were the publications of the Prime Minister's Office, Ataturk Research Center and the Gomidas Institute. During the first panel, there was added next to the books of the Gomidas Institute a brochure stand for a 25-page brochure entitled "The Attack of the Genociders and the Reactions One Must Give to Them."
The name of the author was someone named "Holdwater" and the translator the Turkish Forum member Fatma Sarıkaya who had attended the Bilgi University conference in September 2005. Vice Rector Şafak Ural stated that the brochure had been printed by the Istanbul University Press right before the symposium but it had not yet been accepted as an Istanbul University publication because it had not been examined adequately.
There was no information in the brochure that it had been printed by Istanbul University. The entire content of the brochure whose writer is unknown has been taken from the website www.tallerarmeniantale.com and translated by Fatma Sarıkaya.
On the first day of the conference that will continue for three days, a total of 18 presentations took place under the themes "Armenians under Ottoman Adminsitration," "Deportation according to Archival Documants" and "Great Powers and the Armenian Issue."
Even though the original title of the paper of Yair Auron who participated in the symposium from Israel was "Armenian Genocide during World War I According to the Narrtives of the Witnesses and Jewish Documentation," it appeared in the program as "Armenians under Ottoman rule according to the archival documents of the Yishuv (the Palestinian Jewish community)." This misprint was corrected at the end of the presentation by Yusuf Halacoglu.
Auron: "1915 is a Genocide"
As could also be understood from his paper title, Yair Auron gave a presentation on the proofs of the Armenian genocide in the Jewish sources. Auron stated that he had been researching genocides for 30 years and the Armenian genocide for 20 years and that he employed the term genocide not to offend anyone but because he interprets 1915 within the scientific and legal conceptualizations as genocide.
Saray: "Armenians and Greek were used as Tools for Selfish Purposes"
Mehmet Saray who presented in an emotional tone a paper entitled "Armenians and the Ottoman conception of the state" said the following at the end of his paper: "The Turkish nation is the most noble nation of the world; friends, it is not possible for such a nation to commit genocide." Saray also stated that the Armenians and Greeks were used by the Britain, France and Russia as 'tools.'
Bozkurt: "Non-Muslims prevented equality"
In her talk entitled "non-Muslims in Ottoman Law," Gülnihal Bozkurt said that the legal differentiation between the Muslims and non-Muslims occurred because the Ottoman state was a religious state and the legal system applied a religious one. She claimed that the non-Muslims did not support the application of the reforms that gave them more rights but also more responsibilities and that was why the introduction of an egalitarian understanding (to Ottoman society) was prevented directly by the non-Muslims.
Ali Arslan who defended the view that the Armenian church and the Armenian problem were interconnected stated that the (activities of the) churches had to be observed very carefully and that he wished the churches were centers of peace and love.
"Armenians have sold their Masters"
Erol Kurkcuoglu who stated while giving his paper that "the Armenian problem is an artificial (non-existent) issue created by the Russians and Western powers" referred to the Russian historian Velichkov in stating that Armenians always had masters. He narrated that these "master"s'were respectively Romans, Byzantines, Iranian, British, French and Germans. He concluded his talk by stating that "Armenians have always changed their masters in history and have sold them (the masters)."
Deportation as Crisis Management
Hikmet Ozdemir stated that his talk searched for the answer to the single question: 'what are the reasons for the deportation?' and pointed out that he had "the right to ask to know what his colleagues at Bilgi and Sabanci Universities thought about this." Ozdemir listed various rebellions to argue that deportation emerged as a crisis management technique during war.
Why did Gomidas go abroad?
In his paper entitled "Deportation according to Ottoman documents", Yusuf Sarinay gave the example of Gomidas, the first ethnomusicologist of Anatolia, stating how helpful the state elite had been in sending him abroad for his medical treatment.
Sarınay did not state that Gomidas had lost his mental health because of what he had lived through and witnessed.
Sarınay also argued that Armenians had been sent south in order to move them away from the warfront to settle them at a secure place.
"Comparison of deportation and flu deaths"
Yusuf Hallaçoğlu argued in his talk entitled "population loss due to deportation and migrations" that the number of casualties due to sickness, travel, hunger was 227 500 and that this could be compared to those in England who died from the flu.
The Activities of the Missionaries and the Armenians are Different from One Another
Hilmar Kaiser who presented a paper entitled "Merzifon, 1915: Ottoman Armenians and American Missionaries during times of Crisis" stated that one should not equate those who performed missionary activities with the Armenians because Armenians sometimes converted to Islam to escape genocide and this (conversion) would not be acceptable to the missionaries.
As proof for his argument that the purposes of the two groups were entirely different, Kaiser relayed from the memoirs of the wife the negative reaction received by the Armenian doctor who had become the director of the Merzifon missionary hospital.
Kaiser stated that Merzifon was totally cleansed of Armenians except for the Protestant Armenians who were disabled or working at the American mission.
The symposium that has not been well attended will continue at the same place Thursday and Friday. (TS/KÖ/FMG/YE)