In century-old dispute with Turkey, Armenia should present more effective arguments

PanARMENIAN.Net - Let us begin with the Treaty of Sevres which is considered invalid by all the rules of international law, as it was not ratified by the Ottoman Empire and was later replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne, signed by the present Republic of Turkey. So, it is at least incorrect to say that Turkey is ‘afraid’ of the Treaty of Sevres. Moreover, it is even funny when historians insist on the implementation of the Sevres provisions, which are long dead and buried. In fact, it should be acknowledged that the practice of wishful thinking has intensified lately in Armenia.

The same is true about the infamous arbitral award of Woodrow Wilson. It’s not a matter of absence of statute of limitations or anything else. Armenia just demands the impossible, relying on non-existent agreements and decisions. But, in reality, everything is quite simple: proofs that the Ottoman Empire committed genocide, which claimed the lives of around 2 million people, are kept in various archives of the world, including that of Turkey. This is what should serve as a basis for the claims. It is quite obvious that the congressmen approving Resolution 252 on the Armenian Genocide thought of the Sevres or the Wilson award least of all. It is also appropriate to mention that the Diaspora hardly ever refers to non-existent agreements in its claims…

By the way, all is fair in achieving goals you’ve set. The only thing is that in the century-old dispute with Turkey, Armenia should present more effective arguments. These arguments must leave no room for Turkish denial. However, it should be noted that currently Turkey is vigorously destroying monuments of Armenian architecture and, what makes it even worse, appropriates them. Not only Armenian and Greek, but also Jewish monuments share this fate.

The other day Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that “Al-Aqsa mosque, the Cave of Patriarchs in Hebron, and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem have not been and will never be Jewish. They will forever be Islamic and will never be considered part of the Jewish heritage.” Erdogan’s logic is clear in this issue: Palestine used to be part of the Ottoman Empire, while Israel was not on the map then. An ordinary reader, especially one in the Near East, will not try to define who owns this or that legacy, and taking into account the wave of anti-Semitism in the world, which does not subside after the operation “Cast Lead” in the Gaza Strip, the reader will simply be inclined to believe what Prime Minister Erdogan says. The same is true about ancient Greek heritage, which Turkey is currently laying claims to, since presently Troy is in the territory of Turkey. Armenian monuments are in no better condition. “The city of Ani flourished under the rule of Smbat Bagratuni”, guide books say. However, there is no single word about who the Bagratunis were. The same is true about the Fortress of Van, where local schoolchildren quite seriously persuade you that it was conquered by Ataturk in the battle against Urartu…

Thus, agreements, resolutions and open letters are incapable of changing anything. As we have been repeatedly mentioning, the strong have the power and law in their hands, while Armenia is as weak and dependent as she used to be, no matter how sad it is to acknowledge.