Editorial: Dolma…and Some Music: The Turkish Foreign Ministry’s Newfound Pastime
Ever since the Turkish government failed to secure the ratification of the Turkey-Armenia protocols and essentially froze the so-called “normalization process,” it has been desperately looking for alternative ways to give the semblance of progress where there is none.
The protocols aimed at creating a schism between Armenia and the “bad Armenians” of the Armenian Diaspora, thus stalling the process of genocide recognition worldwide. But after Ankara tried to impose further preconditions, even official Yerevan—which seemed very keen to ratify the protocols—was defiant and stated that the Armenian Parliament was ready to vote on the protocols, but only when its Turkish counterpart did so. With the ball in its court, official Ankara failed to deliver and the process was halted.
With little (if any) prospect of securing the ratification of the protocols in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) before the general and presidential elections in the next two years, Ankara is now, more vigorously than before, looking for PR victories elsewhere. The Akhtamar Mass in September was supposed to serve such a purpose, but again, domestic politics interfered and, with the heads of Armenian churches and major organizations boycotting the Mass, little was accomplished.
Now, across the Atlantic, here in New York, the Turkish Consulate General is holding a concert at Carnegie Hall on Oct. 7 to celebrate what is being touted as the “re-opening” of the Holy Cross Church in Akhtamar. Mind you, the church has not been re-opened; it is a museum where visitors are not allowed to pray. Pianist Shahan Arzruni will be performing during this celebration. He has ignored calls from the community to withdraw from the event and to not become a pawn in the Turkish government’s PR campaign.
Several months ago, a Weekly columnist coined the expression “dolma diplomacy” referring to those who try to create dialogue between Turks and Armenians on the premise of “We used to be neighbors, we eat the same food and listen to the same music, so let’s leave the past aside and speak about everything else.” The Carnegie Hall event is yet another expression of this dolma diplomacy, and is an insult to the intelligence of Armenians, Turks, and others who are striving to make justice the bedrock of any conciliation between Turks and Armenians.
The events of the last few months show the power of Armenian unity. Despite the position and geopolitical power of Turkey, they lost the public relations battle of Akhtamar. How did this happen? Our forces rallied around a common purpose… to expose a Turkish attempt to gain favorable publicity under false pretenses. It may have taken a little while( after all unity is not exactly a natural process for us), but in the end we got it right….church, gov’t, political parties and the business groups.
Although the protocol process started out in a divided manner(exactly what the Turks had hoped for, the diapora and Armenia connected in time to put Turkey on the defensive… as they remain today. Although the public protests of the diaspora against the Armenian government’s pro-protocol position was painful, I believe that it did influence the government. As a result Sarkisian is looking stronger and has suceeded in putting Turkey in a position as the party that caused the collaspe of the protocols.
These are significant results and should motivate us to continue this approach. It’s difficult because it sometimes requires us to subordinate our individual views for the good of the overall Armenian nation. It’s also a healthy process for our community; especially here in the US where we have a long history of disunity. The initial tension within the community that occurs as we debate these issues should continue…. as long we display the wisdom to rally together, as we have, to prevent opportunistic Turks from taking the advantage. Let us pray for our unity on these issues.
Well said, Stepan!
I consider the Arzuni/Turkish event, now using Arzuni, just another of the onging Turkish PLOYS… which desperately, Turkish leaders employ/and continue in so many directions, over and over, again and again. Sadly, Arzuni, if he performs will be considered in memory not for his musical talents, but rather, for his behaviour against his own Armenian nation. Ahmot! Manooshag
P.S. Turks will surely attend – to ‘retaliate’ for the small numbers at Aghtamar!
AMEN Stephan jan.. you are absolutely correct in stating that unity is not really one of our strong characteristics but at the end of day after debating and dividing, if we come together and crash the evil together is all that matters..
We have demonstrated that being united we can accomplish great deeds. and with God’s power we will continue to do so…
God Bless
Perhaps, Arzuni is in a difficult situation. We don’t know the consequences for him if he refuses to perform.
It seems like nobody is in favour of peace! Continue this way, and try to pretend as if it is a good life what you are offering… Self-consciousness is a good feature, we need to reconcile it with social consciousness for a healthy future. Otherwise, what we become is just mentally ill, obsessed, and paranoid humanbeings. I reject agreeing with this editorial article. It is too much journalistic and least academic for my intellectual capacity.
Ooooh, but dear great Ali Can, is it even possible to fathom anyone to match up with your “intellectual capacity”? Instead of talking like an Oracle, can you actually present arguments refuting point by point any and all untruths in the editorial above?
The Turkish newspaper Radikal has translated and published the editorial in full:
http://www.radikal.com.tr/Radikal.aspx?aType=RadikalHaberDetay&ArticleID=1022695&Date=08.10.2010&CategoryID=99
If you look on Youtube you will see how they are very clever in using this diplomacy with Greeks. Turkish and Greek musicians playing for a Greek audience and dancers. The message conveyed is that Greeks and Turks have so much in common.
Did the Turkish FM say anything about the “Dolma diplomacy” (what a lovely phrase! cheese diplomacy was good too) as exhibited at Ani’s Cathedral, with the blessing of the authorities? What was that? “Prayer diplomacy”? Someone was speaking of “genocide tourism”, that’s a nice expression too. It is true that maybe Arzuni has been threatened or blackmailed, even if he denies it, no one can be sure. What would we do if we were told that “our safety and that of our family can’t be guaranteed”? Given the way decent Turks are treated by their government, there is little that can’t be supposed when it comes to Armenians, Greeks, Jews or Kurds. Has anyone heard of “justice diplomacy” so far? How often do Turkish officials and intellectuals mention that word? Suspicions are inevitable. And no, it is not the Armenians” fault. When you have been made fun of and cheated dozens of times, what do you do? You stop buying Nasredin hoja’s yoghurt after you have found mud at the bottom of the jar each time. It is always sad when great music is used for dubious purposes. I had thought that after what the nazis had done to classical music, no one in the world would use it for any purpose except aesthetic enjoyment. I think the only people entitled to celebrate the reopening or the restoration of an Armenian church with a concert or a ball in NY or Madrid, if they find it fit, are Armenians, just as the only people entitled to celebrate the renovationof a synagogue in a country that has exterminated Jews should be the Jews, or a mosque where Muslims have been killed, the population that built that mosque in the first place. Doesn’t this make sense? I try to imagine white Australians organizing a concert in London or Rome to celebrate some slight progress concerning the Aborigenes, without asking the latter what they think of that “progress”. The bizarre thing is that what is never accepted for other ethnic groups is found super when it happens to Armenians. By the way, do they still show Sari Gelin in Turkish classes as part of “diplomacy, ?