The more Armenia fulfills Turkey’s requirements, the more Turkey adds more new requirements. Turkey demanded Armenia not to raise the Armenian Genocide issue and Armenia didn’t. Turkey was not satisfied and demanded Armenia to pressure the Diaspora in order for them not to raise the issue,” said representative of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Kiro Manoyan during a conference held at the “Hayeli” club dedicated to Armenian-Turkish relations.
According to Manoyan, just because Armenia is not demanding Turkey to return the lands doesn’t mean that Armenia will not do that later on. Manoyan believes that “demanding lands based on border issues” doesn’t mean declaring war.
“The Armenian side recognizes Turkey’s totalitarian territory, however, no authority figure can say that we don’t demand any lands from Turkey because in that case the Armenian people will not let that authority figure remain part of the authorities,” says the ARF representative.
In response to one of the journalists’ question about the fact that Robert Kocharyan had said a couple of years ago that Armenia doesn’t demand return of lands, K. Manoyan claimed that that must have been an error in translation and that there had been no such announcement.
The other side, historian Hayk Demoyan who was also participating in the conference, claimed that neither the Turkish side nor the Armenian side is ready to establish relations.
“Opening the border still doesn’t mean that we must establish good ties between the two countries, especially when opening the border will happen through the means of the third force,” says H. Demoyan. On one hand, Demoyan called on journalists “not to speak in the enemy’s tongue” and on the other hand, called on society to “get ready for that”.
“Never try to act as the victim,” he said.
According to the ARF representative, the Republic of Turkey is not only “the inheritance of the nation that committed genocide, but also the one that will use genocide for its interests.”
“Turkey is as responsible for the Genocide as the so-called Ottoman Empire was. Turkey is the one which led genocide to the finish,” says K. Manoyan.
H. Demoyan added to this. According to him, in 1924, based on the law about abandoned lands, abandoned property became state property, which meant to legalize what the Young Turks had committed during the years of 1914-1918.
“We have a huge potential today, what with Armenia, Karabagh and the Diaspora. Unfortunately, we are not taking advantage of that potential,” says the historian. He believes that if the Armenian-Turkish border was open today, then the “bird flu would spread more quickly.”
According to Mr. Demoyan, the bird flu may make everything worse in Turkey and there may be less tourists in Turkey due to the bird flu. This will lead to a centralization of the population and may lead to an economic crisis much like the one in 2000-2001. In other words, the end is near for Turkey. In any case, H. Demoyan is also of the opinion that opening the Armenian-Turkish border is not a matter of life or death.
“If we opened the border back in 1991, we might not have had local products today. Turkey committed an error by closing the border. If they had left it open, they could have controlled the entire economy of Armenia. There is even some control in the economic field despite the fact that the border is closed,” says Demoyan, who thinks that there may be “negative consequences” if the border is opened.
As for K. Manoyan, he thinks that it’s no use to recognize the Armenian Genocide if there are not going to be any results.
“Recognition of the Armenian genocide should help us stand up for our rights, otherwise, there is no use,” says Manoyan and claims that Turkey has not changed its attitude to this day.
According to the ARF representative, the pro-Islam Turkish authorities want Turkey to be admitted into the European Union not for the Armenians, but for Turkey. Basically, the Muslims living in Turkey want to set free from Ataturk politics.
“Turkey’s Prime Minister goes to official meetings alone. He can’t go with his wife because it is against the law for a wife to go to an official meeting and cover her head. The Prime Minister’s wife wasn’t even invited to the last meeting,” says Mr. Manoyan. The Turkish Prime Minister’s two daughters study in the United States because they want to cover their heads while going to the university-something which is forbidden in Turkey.
“Turkey has a goal to get rid of this ban in order to get admitted into the European Union, instead of improving relations with neighboring countries,” says the ARF representative as he reveals the motives of Turkey’s admittance. He is of the opinion that the Turks are tricking the Europeans, making it seem like they can change.
“We can’t even start thinking about that,” says ARF representative. According to him, there is a chance that Turkey might attack Armenia and as long as we live with that fear, the Russian forces must not leave our country.
“I think Georgia taught us a lesson-we shouldn’t go against the forces in our country,” he says.
Why is Turkey scared of declaring war on Armenia? According to Demoyan, the first reason is that Turkey is a member of NATO and secondly, “Turkey is not economically and politically independent.” The historian also said that the majority of Turkish weaponry “is just metal weapons”. K. Manoyan is of the opinion that Turkey is not attacking Armenia because in that case it can forget about entering the European Union. However, he also thinks that there is no guarantee that there will not be a revolution in Turkey and there will not be any authorities who will say “to hell with the European Union”. Wouldn’t it be better for Turkey to actually become a member of the EU? That way it could be more predictable.
“It depends on how it becomes a member. If it becomes a member and doesn’t change, then it’s obvious that it won’t be so predictable,” says the ARF representative. K. Manoyan thinks that it’s okay to discuss opening our border due to the fact that on the one hand, Turkey is our neighboring country and on the other hand, he doesn’t consider the discussions okay because “some people talk about opening the border with extreme enthusiasm.”