This was Carl Bildt’s position
From an optimist: Orhan Pamuk on Turkish- Armenian relations
Very personally, my first contact with Turkey and well worth it. Followed by many other contacts. So, you can say that I’m biased, pro-people ( all people) and pro-Turkey too about many other matters and in the given circumstances what is understandable must be understood.
The truth:Turkey is a very important country – not just in NATO, not just in history and not just now.
The relationship between Sweden and Turkey goes a long way – beyond Karl XII . Jan Hjärpe with his sociological approach of introducing Islam, usually started his public lectures by telling his Swedish audience that Sweden used to pay the Jizya tax to Turkey to ensure safe passage on the seas – when Turkey was the headquarters of the Ottoman Empire up to the dissolution of that Empire sometime around 1918….
A very important place in history : CONSTANTINOPLE
Yesterday is/ was not the same as today, certainly not after listening to Cornel West on Faultlines talking about matters that concern us all as concerned 21st century human beings.
Reading Cornel West or listening to him tell it as it is (the way he sees it) usually impacts on how one sees the world. So, by this morning – the world had surely changed since yesterday – but not that much and neither have we, although today it’s with a slightly different world view – slightly enhanced by West’s even-handed approach and more ready to confront the news about the Swedish Parliament adopting a resolution condemning Turkey for Genocide of the Armenian people about a century ago and this elicits some comment – especially since the reaction from Turkey is both predictable and understandable.
All talk about genocide – inevitably calls up other genocides in history, such as what is incontrovertibly the Holocaust – not that the tragedy of one genocide is being compared with the tragedy of another genocide. Some people have been so callous that they say that some genocides have been “ overdimensionalized” – big word for a mighty evil that they would like to trivialize. People cry – he who feels it knows, whether in Darfur or Rwanda and people cry and mostly have to cry their own cry. The tendency is not that other people are going to cry your own cry for you – as you. The Human family has still not yet arrived at that stage of empathy, and the world continues in the formatted us ( could be We Sweden) and you – and we always hear about Israel and the Palestinians, but not as yin and yang. Some see it in terms of the Lord versus the accursed d-evil…
This Resolution by the Swedish Parliament comes a week after a US Congressional committee vote that recognizes the events of 1915 as genocide of Armenians
An important contributing factor is surely the pressures that have come from here: the Armenian Diaspora not least of all in the United States.
The people of Armenia feel that their suffering has at long last been recognised after 95 years of pursuing just this recognition, that it was genocide.
The most important question now is, what are the repercussions and implications of this resolution? For Turkey it’s a matter of national honour which the Turks believe is certified by historical data – that it was not genocide. No nation wants to be deemed guilty of genocide or war crimes, whatever the circumstances, even if perpetrated by more barbaric ancestors.
Another question is : Must compensation be paid ?
One more question: Will this improve Turkish-Armenian relations?
Turkey is furious about Sweden’s parliamentary Resolution and has recalled their Ambassador. This is serious. There’s bound to be further fallout – because it’s such an IMPORTANT matter and since there is a large and important Turkish prescence in Sweden it’s certainly going to impact on the next general elections of September 19, 2010. It’s easy to see that since it’s the opposition that tabled the motion which was supported by only 4 government votes – it will be payback time for the opposition on election day and the Turks on the whole ( and friends of Turkey) will probably not vote for opposition parties.
Even I have my own prejudices, mostly based on the little that I know about the matter:
Armenia is a Christian country. This too must have had some impact on the decision -making over the resolution.
As a matter of fact the Armenians are said to have been “the First Christian Nation on Earth.”
As a young Armenian Swedish fourth grader once told me – it was Armenian troops who were first into Berlin and who liberated the inmates from the first German concentration camp ( History books will generallly report that the troops were Russian – and indeed Armenia was under Russia.
Some relevant facts:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participants_in_World_War_II
“Armenia
Main article: Military history of Armenia
During World War II, Armenia was part of the Soviet Union as the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. Over five hundred thousand Armenians fought for the Soviet army, and half of them fell in battles.[4] Five Armenian infantry divisions were formed. Armenia gave 4 marshals and 60 generals. The Armenian Church and overseas Armenians donated large sums of money. After the war, the Armenian and Georgian Republics laid territorial claims to Turkey. However, the Soviet government was not willing to return the lands
Some captured Armenians, who had lived under the terror of Joseph Stalin and sought to topple the authoritarian structure of the Soviet Union, chose to fight for the Axis. They fought in the following units:
- Armenische Legion (Armenian volunteers)
- 30.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (russische Nr. 2) (Armenians, Tatar Volunteers units)
- Freiwilligen-Stamm-Regiment 2 (Armenians & Azerbaijanis)Sweden’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Bildt, says that his government will continue its support for Turkey’s application to join the European Union and that the Swedish Parliament’s decision is deeply regrettable.
- SS-Waffengruppe Armenien (Armenian volunteers)
Sweden’s able minister of Foerihn Affairs Carl Bildt assures Turkey that his government will continue to support their bid to enter the European Union and that he find’s the Swedish Parliamentary resolution deeply regrettable.
Another outstanding issue that will mitigate against Turkey’s entry into the European Union is surely the absolutely contemporary KURDISH question. Much will depend on how Turkey addresses that problem and as Joe Biden said in Israel the other day, some hard truths can only come from good friends.
( To be continued )
Shabbat Shalom and wishing everyone a peaceful weekend…