Turkish-Armenian dialogue a must, says archbishop

Friday, July 22, 2011

VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

It is absolutely essential that dialogue be established between Turks and Armenians to achieve understanding, a top Armenian-American spiritual leader has said, adding that Turkey’s foreign minister solicited his views on increasing such discussion.

“Turkish and Armenian people are members of the same family,” Archbishop Khajag Barsamyan, the primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), told the Hürriyet Daily News during a brief visit to Istanbul last week. “We ought to view history with courage and [learn] to apologize if we have been in the wrong. We need to be able to draw lessons from history’s negative and positive aspects in the name of humanity.”

A planned international gathering to celebrate the opening of the Surp Giragos Armenian church in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır will present a chance to establish such dialogue, Barsamyan said.

During the World Political Forum in mid-March, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu spoke favorably regarding the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border, Barsamyan said, adding that he was ready for any steps taken in the direction of establishing dialogue.

Barsamyan said Davutoğlu had asked him for suggestions about how to establish dialogue with the diaspora.

“I highlighted the significance of opening the sealed Turkish-Armenian border and instituting trade [ties] with Armenian business people from the diaspora,” he said, adding that he had also spoken to President Abdullah Gül about the same issues back when Gül was foreign minister.

“Mr. Gül requested advice from me about how to put Turkish-Armenian relations in order. I told him that Armenians have deep-running sorrows, and that these sorrows must be listened to without denial, or going on the defensive,” Barsamyan said.

“Davutoğlu said Turkish and Armenian people lived together for centuries. [He added that] vexing events have occurred in history and touched upon the significance of putting an end to these and looking forward. He said the diaspora Armenians are the people of this land,” Barsamyan said.

“I reminded him that the Armenian President Serge Sarkisyan took great risks in signing the [2009 Turkish-Armenian normalization] protocols despite all the reaction both from within [Armenia,] as well as from the diaspora, and I asked him why the protocols were not realized. Mr. Davutoğlu said there was need for a process, and that steps taken [in this direction] must produce solutions, not new problems,” the archbishop said.

The Turkish-Armenian border has remained sealed since 1993 when Turkey unilaterally closed the border due to the Nagorno-Karabakh War that broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Even though new protocols were signed in 2009 to re-establish relations between the two countries, the process has come to a grinding halt.

Opening of Armenian church a chance for dialogue

Barsamyan is arranging for more than 200 people from various Armenian associations in the United States to participate in a ceremony marking the reopening of the Surp Giragos Armenian Church in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on Oct. 22.

The reopening is an important step for dialogue, Barsamyan said, adding that it was important that many people were going to be coming to Turkey.

‘1915 must be put to scrutiny’

Touching upon the sensitive issue of the World War I-era killings of Ottoman Armenians, Barsamyan said: “The problems need to be put to debate and scrutiny. Clerics, historians, politicians and everyone [else] can claim their own roles; this is a must for the future. Unfavorable voices will surely arise from both societies. It is necessary to work in good sense. Open minded people who think straight are needed for this. I am ready as a cleric to take over the role that falls to me.”

The 20th century was a bitter one not just for Armenians, but for all the peoples of the world, the archbishop said, adding that he had roots in the eastern province of Malatya.

“We lost a big portion of my family during the bitter events. My grandmother was saved by a Turkish family; there was never any hatred in my family toward Turks. My grandmother continued seeing the family that saved her until she passed away. I also got to meet them,” he said.

Recent efforts to renovate Armenian cultural assets in Turkey represent a favorable development, according to Barsamyan, who also drew attention to the historical Surp Haç Armenian Church that was reopened for the Divine Liturgy on Akdamar Island in the eastern province of Van last year.

“It is extremely important that the traces of each culture in Anatolia, and not just those of Armenian culture, be maintained, for they all represent the common legacy of humankind,” Barsamyan said.