O.E. + R.o.T. = Continuity

It rhymes, doesn’t it? Say it out loud, nay, sing it. “O.E. + R.o.T. = Continuity”!

Of course, O.E. = Ottoman Empire and R.o.T. = Republic of Turkey, and any Armenian knows about the continuity, essentially seamless, between the two political entities that occupied (and continue to occupy) and abused (and continue to abuse) the land and people of the Armenian Plateau, extending to Cilicia and the Mediterranean.

But I was reminded of this continuity in a sharp way while reading Talin Suciyan’s The Armenians in Modern Turkey. Yes, yes, I know I’m YEARS behind in my reading. The book was published in 2016. The reminder appears in the introduction, on page seven: “The structural and administrative continuities between the Ottoman Empire and Turkey deserve particular attention.  I will dwell on these continuities and their role in reproducing denial in the first chapter of this book. Similarly, the Single Party period in Turkey should also be read in this context, by putting the institutionalization of denial at its core, and by using sources from other communities, in order to discover the intertwinement of denialist mechanisms.”

Why is this relevant now?

Most immediate and important is its utility as a pressure point on Turkey.

It serves as a counterweight to Turkey’s “indirect” pressure on Yerevan via Baku — whether through the latter’s direct military actions and encroachments or the tacit approvals it gets for anti-Republic of Armenia policies from Russia, no doubt in part thanks to Turkey’s intercession given the waltz Ankara and Moscow have been engaged in for the past decade or so.

Broadly, Yerevan is misguided in its foreign policy, specifically as relates to Ankara, another reason to put pressure on the latter.

Continuously reminding state and international authorities about Turkey’s ongoing genocidal policies and practices, including depopulation and ethnic cleansing (whether it be of Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks or Kurds), also opens the door to expose the parallel policies pursued by Azerbaijan. It’s worth noting here that these policies are applied not only to Armenians, but also the Avars, Lezghis, Talysh, Tats, etc., even if only to a less murderous degree. Of course, exposing and publicizing these abuses gives diplomatic leverage to Yerevan over Baku.

Expanding and capping the continuity theme between Ankara and Baku is accomplished through their own public “one nation, two states” declarations.

All these factors are useful levers to safeguard what little remains of Armenia under Armenian control, at a time when Armenian state authorities are risking all that our nation has achieved through their political and diplomatic ineptitude or delusion. I can’t quite pinpoint which of these is the dominant characteristic.

Get out there and make all these parallels known to all in your circles of friends, acquaintances and even just passers-by!

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Garen Yegparian

Asbarez Columnist

Garen Yegparian is a fat, bald guy who has too much to say and do for his own good. So, you know he loves mouthing off weekly about anything he damn well pleases to write about that he can remotely tie in to things Armenian. He's got a checkered past: principal of an Armenian school, project manager on a housing development, ANC-WR Executive Director, AYF Field worker (again on the left coast), Operations Director for a telecom startup, and a City of LA employee most recently (in three different departments so far). Plus, he's got delusions of breaking into electoral politics, meanwhile participating in other aspects of it and making sure to stay in trouble. His is a weekly column that appears originally in Asbarez, but has been republished to the Armenian Weekly for many years.

Latest posts by Garen Yegparian (see all)

• O.E. + R.o.T. = Continuity - November 20, 2024
• Armenia without Armenians - November 12, 2024
• Two rays of hope - October 8, 2024