Armenian preacher: 'Remembering 1915 to forget it'

The misfortune that Armenians encountered in the last years of the Ottoman Empire changed the destiny of a whole nation. In a short period of time, Armenians were deported from their homeland, where they had been living for over 5,000 years, severing their connections with the past. As a nation that tried to survive with its culture, language and beliefs that relatively made themselves at home during the Ottoman period, this small oriental and Christian society found themselves in different realms with unfamiliar languages and traditions. They drifted apart, spreading to various countries including China, Singapore, Uruguay and Australia. Families were torn apart. Only a minority could remain in Turkey. However, until very recently, they were also mistreated during the single-party rule of the Republican People's Party (CHP) with an aim to reduce their numbers. Their foundational properties were expropriated through intimidation. The word "Armenian" was turned into a kind of swearword.They were ostracized and objected to segregationist discourses and inflictions. A large majority of them had to immigrate.

Today, the number of Armenians in Turkey is around 50,000. Most of them cannot speak in Armenian, but they decidedly try to sustain their institutions.

This picture changed a lot during the AK Party's 12-year rule. Due to the colonialmodernist prejudices of Western countries and a superficially pro-Western but essentially and practically totalitarian and racist Kemalist regime, has always been supported.
On the contrary, the AK Party was labeled as anti-democratic and obscure merely because it is a religious party.

When the AK Party came to power on Nov. 3, 2002, some of the so-called liberals, who have strong connection to the international community, vouched for the AK Party's good conduct. Therefore, the West was able to look at Turkey objectively for a short while. However, when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan refused their offers for limited democratization and exercising power over Erdoğan, they withdrew their support. They also initiated a campaign alleging Turkey is becoming authoritarian. A majority of Western journalists and politicians took heed of these claims. Thus they could not evaluate what happened in Turkey objectively. This kind of opinion has been more adopted in the West for a year now.

The Westerners reverted to their essences and they were unwilling to tolerate the true equality in Turkey, aside from accepting some rights of the religious people. They lost their objectivity due to their upper class arrogance and Islamophobia.

However, Erdoğan was up to his old tricks once again and broke the taboo of the 1915 incidents, which is regarded as the biggest taboo of Turkey.

Now, these so-called liberals and leftists, who are essentially Kemalists, are desperately trying to undermine Erdoğan's statements concerning the 1915 incidents. Because they do not care about either Armenians or their sorrows. They were reckoning on the 1915 events in order to declare Erdoğan a dictator once more in 2015. What they expected was Erdoğan would head for a nationalist and denialist discourse in a gradually straining atmosphere of 2015. Thus they were aiming to weaken Erdoğan by use the 1915 as matter of propaganda in the outer world.

However, religionists in Turkey and their leader Erdoğan are very well aware of the fact that those who are responsible for the discrimination they objected to throughout history, the murder of the Kurds and oppression of Alevis were the same as those who conducted the 1915 genocide: the unionists and their subgroup Kemalists. Armenians are very determined to keep distance from them.

It is a preposterous thesis that this is a political initiative. The matter of 1915 is the biggest taboo of Turkey and Turkey will witness the presidential election in just four months. Most likely, Erdoğan will run as a candidate in the election. And just a year later, we will go through general elections.So far, leaders did not take a risk like this in a critical period of two elections. Erdoğan could have gone through the 2015 elections successfully without reviving this issue.However, instead of doing this, he put an end to the denial of the 1915genocide through a two-page statement.

Because Erdoğan knows very well that it is necessary to face 1915 in order to repair connections with the past. He thinks religious and democratic grassroots are ready for this confrontation. This explanation may not be satisfying for the Armenian diaspora and Yerevan as they have reasonable anxieties of living in denial for 99 years. But, they should brace themselves for a different Turkey.Erdoğan's statement was not an ordinary one.Turkey is initiating a process of permanent confrontation rather than a temporary one.If we want that our sorrows be respected, we should assess this as a great opportunity. At least we are required to give it a chance.

You should follow Turkey's agenda more carefully and keep yourselves aloof from those who struggle for power.

For the first time in history, we held a mourning ceremony for those who were lost at the church of St. Mary of Blachernae in Istanbul on April 24. Statements of the preacher were giving prescription of recovery.He was saying, "In order to forget the 1915, we should remember it first."