Opinion
Mensoian: An Unlikely Interview with Ahmet Davutoglu and Ismet Ucma
Note: This is not a real interview.
Participating in this unlikely interview below are two officials of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Ismet Ucma is a founding member of the AKP and a member of Turkey’s Grand National Assembly. Our second guest is Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister who, prior to his appointment in 2009, was chief foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Already a subscriber?Log in here
This story is FREE for you...
Create a free account to access this and four more articles, and get more sent to you with our e-newsletter.By submitting your email address you agree for Hairenik Association, Inc. to send you communication by email.
Rober Badinter Fmr. Minister of Justice of France says:
“Judicial authority is the only one competent to declare if a crime has been committed and who its perpetrators are. Thus the Jewish genocide by the Nazis was established by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. This tribunal, in which French magistrates participated, was the result of the London Accords, signed by France in 1944. The judgments of Nuremberg were considered res judicata, hence authoritative, in France. The same is true of crimes against humanity that occurred in ex-Yugoslavia and Rwanda and were judged by international criminal courts. No such thing exists for the Armenian genocide of 1915, committed before the international community became conscious of the moral imperative that butchers of humanity should not go unpunished. But this mission is the duty of international jurisdictions, first of all the International Criminal Court. “
{The law punishing the denial or outrageous minimization of the Armenian genocide of 1915 has been adopted by the French parliament. In this pre-electoral period, the Senate has decided to reconsider its earlier rejection of a text whose purpose was identical. Let us hope that the passage of this law by the French parliament will soothe the moral wounds that the Turkish authorities’ obstinate refusal to recognize the Armenian genocide of 1915 has caused the victims. I know, from my own personal experience, how cruel negationism is for the descendants of the victims of a genocide. But apart from this therapeutic function, I believe this law will bring only difficulties, including those that will afflict the Armenian community itself.} Posted: 01/25/2012 3:31 pm Robert Badinter Fmr. Minister of Justice and Fmr. Senator, The French Republic.
“the denial or outrageous minimization of the Armenian GENOCIDE of 1915”
“Turkish authorities’ obstinate refusal to recognize the Armenian GENOCIDE of 1915”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-badinter/armenian-genocide-dangero_b_1231888.html
Is it really an “interview” if all the answers to questions are “no comment”?
RVDV,
This should come as no surprise that vast majority of questions were answered with the “politically correct” no comment phrase. This a typical “Turkish-style-interview”. I am surprised that Armenians still try to reach out to Turks hoping that Turks have magically changed.
No comment
Great ‘interview.’
However, I prefer not to refer to 2015 as a ‘climactic year’ if it implies to many the end of a chapter. It may mark a significant milestone, but without an apology and justice it will only be one more genocide commemoration, one more observance, one more step in our quest. The quest must go on until justice is served.
Its abundantly clear that modern day Turkey couldn’t have come to existence without the mass murder and theft of wealth and property of the Armenians, Assyrians and the pontiff Greeks..
Its also abundantly clear to the extents of avoidance that today’s Turkish officials go through just to keep that truth a secret as an acknowledgement would shake the foundations of a Turkish nation that is clearly in denial of its own history..
Therefore it is that important for all Armenians to scream the truth at the top of your lungs as these people still enjoy the fruits of their horrific crime and till this day still do not face justice.
This is not a real interview, but an “unlikely” one, as mentioned in the title and the introduction.
Question from Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister?
Can you tell me where all the gold is buried?
“Unlikely” interview could also mean “an interview that one may not have expected to have taken place but actually did.”
Only after reading the disclaimer at the end did I know for sure that this interview did not take place. It would have been far more acceptable if it was made clear up front that that the interview was fabricated.
john the Turk
I agree that one may point to the ICC and ask why Armenia does not bring the case there. But the interview illustrates how many historians have argued that the CUP committed genocide against the Armenians. Isnt it better for you to try to answer the arguments if you are convinced they are mistaken? Or does your answer mean that you waver in your conviction that there was no genocide?
I see you.