the armenians an issue of a century

Friendship and peace is our horizon

Prof.Dr.AhmetDAVUTOLU

Prime Minister

In todays world, deriving enmity from history and creating new antagonisms are neither acceptable nor useful to build a common future

RecepTayyipERDOAN

President

Metin : %95 K

C: 100 M: 35

C: 68

C: 15

3New Approaches in the Democratization Process

Table Of Contents

OUR NEIGHBOUR OF A THOUSAND YEARS: THE ARMENIANS .....................................................................................................................................9

Meeting the Armenians ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 9

From a Society of Tolerance to a Crossroads with the Armenians ......................................................................................................11

Ministers of the Ottoman State with Armenian Origin ...........................................................................................................................12

Deputies with Armenian Origin in the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies ................................................................................................12

AN ISSUE OF A CENTURY ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14

The World War I and Bitter Memories for Both Societies ......................................................................................................................14

About Armenian Allegations of Genocide ....................................................................................................................................................21

Turkeys Hand Extended in Peace and Armenia .........................................................................................................................................23

NEW TURKEY FOR EVERYONE ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 29

Reforms with an Impact on Freedoms and Social Lives of Minorities in Turkey (2002-2015) ....................................................29

New Approaches towards Armenians of Turkey in the Democratization Process (2002-2015) .................................................39

TURKEY EXTENDS A HAND IN PEACE ................................................................................................................................................................................. 44

The Message of the President of Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoan, on the events of 1915 ......................................44

Comments of the Armenians on the Message ............................................................................................................................................46

Echoes of the Message in Global Media .......................................................................................................................................................47

New Turkeys Approach to the Issue Being Hopeful for the Future by Deriving Lessons from the Past ...................................... 48

Sar Gelin .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 49


IntroductionHistory is remembered by people with great achievements and beauties as well as with great pain and maybe even more so with pain.

Pain is what is left behind after great traumas of death, exile, displacement, and being away from the homeland.

When preceding great pain, great beauties and great kindness lose their significance; only the tales of suffering told from generation to generation are carried on. Every child born to this world grows up amongst the tales of such great pain.

Humanity has been able to leave behind the pain in its ancient history as a result of substantial changes but unfortunately the suffering of the two major wars is still keeping societies under its influence and defines the attitude of people towards each other.

Anatolia has been a land of welfare where communities of different ethnicities, religions, sects and denominati-ons made a pact to live in peace. In order to not relive the pain of the past, those people who lived through the pain of centuries, united and became one around the words of the great Yunus:

We bear malice against no one. Even strangers are friends of ours

Mystic is what they call us. Hate is our only enemy

We harbor a grudge against none. To us the whole wide world is one

Those who are in control of their hands, tongues and loins, they are considered to be friends, companions, nei-ghbours

However, the Anatolian territory declared as an area to be plundered by imperialist powers following World War I and the people neighbouring this territory has fallen into disarray under the war and the plundering and faced death, immense pain and exiles. Neighbours became enemies, those who had considered strangers as friends started bearing malice against each other.

We have come to our day today with the buildup of pains and deaths of those times. Our collective memory and our tales have been crushed under that great pain and the beauty of the days when we were friends and neigh-bours are long lost.

Out duty today is to turn to back to great Yunuss words, to become friends and neighbours again, and to be able to say that to us the whole wide world is one and raise our children as the children of peace and welfare rather than children of hate and vengeance.

I hope and believe that this study and similar others will be instrumental in re-establishing peace, fraternity and friendship among the children of this land.

Prof. Dr. Numan KURTULMU Deputy Prime Minister


Foreword

This study portrays the century-old issue between two ancient peoples who had established relations-hips of neighbourhood, friendship and blood for a thousand years and then mutually been hurt under the combination of various factors such as the policies of third countries, war and conditions of the period.

Our aim is not to compare our pain and sorrow and place the entire burden of the issue to the other side but to seek ways to starting a new page without leaving any of this as an issue for the next generation as a legacy.

Having built their churches and schools within the Ottoman State, assumed top positions in arts, music, architecture, bureaucracy and displayed their productivity most during this period, Armenians have lived in peace and harmony with their Muslim neighbours until the end of 19th century.

Both communities certainly have bitter memories that have been etched in their brains dating back to World War I. However, using such pain, as a political tool in national and international arena does not contribute to social, regional and global peace.

Two societies that have created a mutually common culture for centuries should be building a common future not by underscoring their pain but by recalling their ancient friendship once again.

Our Prime Minister Ahmet Davutolus states that The two ancient nations can demonstrate the wis-dom to understand each other and contemplate a future together. Having shared the same geography and a long history, it is only the Turks and the Armenians who can address all of their issues together and work jointly to find ways forward and our President Recep Tayyip Erdoans states that No one can deny that the last years of the Ottoman Empire are filled with pain for Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian and other millions of Ottoman citizens regardless of their religion or ethnic origin. A fair hu-manitarian and conscientious stance requires an understanding of all the pain experienced in this period regardless of religion or ethnic origin. Both our Prime Minister and the President express their will to share the pain, to dress the wounds and re-establish friendship.

We hope that this study will contribute to overcoming current problems between the two societies and rebuilding the ancient friendship.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kudret BLBL

Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities

President

OUR NEIGHBOURS OF A THOUSAND YEARS: THE ARMENIANS. AN ISSUE OF A CENTURY

8

New Approaches in the Democratization Process

Having already underscored the inhumane consequences of the relocation policies essentially enforced under wartime circumstances including that of 1915, Turkey shares the suffering of Armenians and, with patience and resolve, is endeavoring to re-establish empathy between the two peoples. AhmetDAVUTOLU

Prime Minister

Akdamar Church/Van


OUR NEIGHBOUR OF A THOUSAND YEARS: THE ARMENIANSMeeting the Armenians

Armenians are among the ancient folks/peoples of Anatolia. When-ce and when they migrated to Anatolia is a controversial topic in the academic world.

Being in the Indo-European languages family, Armenians named themselves as Hay and their country Hayastan or Hayk. The name Armenian that is used today is accepted to come from Armina or Armania, which are names given to the region where the Armenians used to live.

Having accepted Christianity in 3rd Century A.C., Armenians are known in history as the first nation to recognize Christianity as a state religion.

The land where Armenians lived remained under the rule of Persi-ans, Macedonians, Seleucids, Romans, Sassanids, Byzantines and Arabs for centuries and, lastly after 11th century, was ruled by the Turks.

Although their first contact with the Turks took place a long time ago, Armenians lived together with the Turks in the same state and for a very long time during the Ottoman period.

10


Mardin

11


From a Society of Tolerance to a Crossroads with the Armenians

Having lived as a Christian religious group whose rights were guaranteed as per Islamic law starting from Seljuqi period, Armenians moved their religi-ous center in Ktahya to Bursa by the hand of the state after the Ottomans conquered Bursa.

After the conquest of stanbul, the Armenian spiritual leader in Bursa was brought to stanbul and an Armenian Patriarchate was established in stan-bul in 1461. In 1830, Catholic Armenians and in 1850 Protestant Armenians established their own churches and were recognized as a community by the Ottoman State.

Armenians who lived as loyal citizens of the state throughout the Ottoman history were named as millet-i sdka (loyal nation). They were generally engaged in farming, local industries and small-scale trading activities on their own land in Eastern Anatolian villages and towns and in domestic and foreign trade; exchange of gold and other monetary assets; construction; and taxation in large cities.

Within this process, Armenians high level of wealth did not create any dis-comfort amongst the dominating state and the society. That is why the Armenians lived side by side, amicably and in peace with the Turks starting from the beginning of the Ottoman State until the onset of the armed acti-ons by the Armenians.

Although there were rare instances in other great states of 19th century where there were statesmen from a religious-ethnic group that differs from the dominating nation, Ottoman state bureaucracy started to vary in par-ticular with the start of Tanzimat (Reorganization) period and Christian mi-nisters, ambassadors, governors started to work as statesmen and even non-Muslim representatives were assigned for international conferences and peace talks.

This diversity among the Ottoman state bureaucracy was much advanced as opposed to their contemporaries. As a matter of fact, the racial and lan-guage diversity during First Constitutional General Assembly was unique considering the other monarchies of the period.

Their loyalty to the state, their affinity to Turkish traditions and even their good command of Turkish allowed Armenians to be appointed to official or non-official tasks for the state.


12


Ministers of the Ottoman State with Armenian Origin Krikor Agaton Minister of Public Works(1868)Davut Garabet Paa General Manager for Telegram (1861)

Minister of Public Works(1868)Andon Tngr Yaver Pasha Minister of Postal and Telegram Services (1868, 1875)Agop Kazazyan Deputy Minister for Hazine-I Hassa (1880) (Ministry respon-

sible for the personal revenue and expenditures of the sul-

tan in the Ottoman State) Minister of Finance (1886)

Gabriel Noradukyan Minister of Public Works(1908)Minister of Foreign Affairs(1912)

Berdos Hallacyan Minister of Public Works(1909)Krikor Sinapyan Effendi Minister of Public Works(1912)Oskan Mardikyan Effendi Minister for Postal, Telegram and Telephone Services (1913)

Deputies with Armenian Origin in the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies Namr Electoral DistrictNamr Electoral DistrictAgop Babikyan Effendi Tekfurda (Tekirda)Agop Boyacyan Effendi Tekfurda (Tekirda)Artin Bogezenyan Effendi HalepBedros Hallayan Effendi stanbulHamparsum Boyacyan Effendi Kozanstefan racyan Effendi Erganistefan Ispartalyan Effendi zmirKarabet Paayan Effendi SivasKarakin Pastrmacyan Effendi ErzurumKegam Dergarebetyan Effendi MuKrikor Zohrab Effendi stanbulNazaret Dagavaryan Effendi SivasTrayan Narl Effendi GeliboluVahan Effendi MaraVahan Bardizbanyan zmirVahan Papazyan Effendi VanVarteks Serenglyan Effendi ErzurumVirmiyan Effendi Van

13


Armenians who freely assumed positions in bureaucracy, trade, arts, music, architecture, etc and sometimes even top positions in these areas, created a privileged class within the borders of the Ottoman State like other minority groups.

Unfortunately, this period coincided with a time of escalating nationalism amongst Armenians, as was the case for other ethnic groups in the Ottoman State.

The relationships between Armenians citizens and the Ottoman state entered an era of deterioration following a regression after the Ottoman States loss of prestige and at war and then also due to its exposure to European intervention in every field.

Each war lost brought together an intervention to domestic affairs, which sought to use minority groups as a tool for intervention.

Article 16 of the Treaty of San Stefano signed after the 1877-78 Russo-Ottoman War guaranteed that The Sublime Porte engages to carry into effect, without further delay, the improvements and reforms demanded by local requi-rements in the provinces inhabited by Armenians , which essentially led to reflection of the Armenian Issue in an international document and mention of the existence of a region called Armenia for the first time in history.

As opposed to Article 16 of the Treaty of San Stefano, Article 61 of the Treaty of Berlin signed as result of the Berlin Congress held in 1878 stated that the Sublime Porte undertakes to carry out reforms demanded by local require-ments in the provinces mainly inhabited by Armenians, to make steps taken to this effect known to the relevant states and accepts the supervisory role of these states in their application. Such provisions brought together a right for external intervention to Turkish-Armenian relationships.

Some European states that the intervention in domestic affairs of the Ottoman State under the guise of reforms, the missionary activities targeting Armenians and the circumstances of the period gave rise to a kind of resistance movement amongst the Armenians and formed armed political groups. Consequently, the Erzurum Rebellion in 1890, Kumkap demonstrations that same year, the Kayseri, Yozgat, Corum and Merzifon incidents of 1892 and 1893; the Sasun revolt of 1894; the Sublime Porte demonstration and the Zeytun rebellion that same year; the Van uprising and the occupation of the Ottoman Bank, followed by the Second Sasun revolt of 1903; the attempted assassination of Sultan Abdulhamid in 1905 and the Adana rebellion of 1909 led the Armenians to an irrevocable process.

It was then evident from several incidents until the World War I that the relationship between the state and the Armenian Community was deteriorating and that an atmosphere of distrust emerged.


14


stanbul / Beyolu

AN ISSUE OF A CENTURYThe World War I and Bitter Memories for Both Societies

The competition amongst states brought along polarization and caused the World War I to erupt. The Ottoman Government, which initially entered into an alliance agreement with Germany, was officially engaged in a war which would later on cause the collapse of four empires including itself and four large dynasties in November 1914.

Composed of various ethnic and religious elements and beginning to experience significant public order problems with the Armenians, the Ottoman State had to undertake due considerations when preparing to face the Russian Army in the east.

15


Kocamustafa Pasha Surp Kevork Armenian Church Surp Krikor Lusavori Ermeni Kilisesi

Being more under the influence of Russians and gradually increasing their separatist activities every day, the Arme-nians started deserting the army as of August 3, 1914 when the Ottoman State declared mobilization and gradually commenced their armed actions. Availing themselves to the opportunity created by the Russian armys offensive on the eastern border in November 1914, the Armenian armed groups gave rise to rebellions in several provinces.

In a period which follows the defeat of Ottoman armies by Russia in Eastern Anatolia, when the Battle of anak-kale started in the west and when stanbul was in danger, the Armenians expanded their actions in parallel to the attacks of the enemies. In this period, following the rebellions in Zeytun, Bitlis, Mu and Erzurum, rebellions were also began in Van.

Leading a fight of life-or-death on several fronts, the Ottoman State had to resort to some compulsory measures to secure at both fronts during this wartime and to avoid otherwise unavoidable deaths of hundreds of thousands of Muslims.

Faced with this critical situation and acting on the responsibility attached to having a state tradition, the Ottoman Government made a decision to resolve the situation on 24th of April 1915 and closed down Armenian committee centers that were engaged in armed actions, seized documents of the committees and arrested the Armenians who were known to be involved in dissident activities.

Efforts of the Ottoman Government to resolve the issue through goodwill and minor measures within the nine months following the declaration of mobilization unfortunately did not yield any results.

When the Armenian rebellion was continuing with full force in Van, the Turkish army was already busy on the batt-lefield thus unable to suppress such incidents behind the front.

When the situation took a turn for the worse, the Ministry of Interior sent an encrypted letter to the governors in Erzurum, Van and Bitlis on May 9, 1915. The letter stated that Armenians were in intense preparations for armed action in Van region and that a decision was made to remove them from this region and drive them towards south.


16


Having shared the same geography and a long history, it is only the Turks and the Armenians who can effectively address their issues together and work jointly to find ways forward.

AhmetDAVUTOLU

Prime Minister

Yerevan/Armenia

17


In its encrypted letter to the 4th Army Command dated May 23, 1915, Ministry of Interior stated that the Armenians to be evacuated from Erzurum, Van and Bitlis provinces were to be resettled in the southern part of Mosul province and in the sub-division of Zor and in the sub-division of Urfa excluding the Central City and that the Armenians to be evacuated from the vicinities of Adana, Aleppo and Mara are to be resettled in the Eastern part of the provin-ce of Syria along with the Eastern and Southeastern part of the province of Aleppo in places determined by the Government.

The Ministry of Interior sent a letter dated May 26, 1915 to the Prime Ministry in order to provide a legal basis for the implementation of immigration.

In the aforementioned letter, the Ministry of Interior stated that the invaders were seeking to obtain Ottoman land sow discord amongst Armenians, who were Ottoman subjects, and assisted Armenians to realize their desires to invade. The Ministry of Interior also stated that the uprising Armenians took a variety of means to hinder the progress of the armys fight against the enemy, that they abstracted the transport of food items and ammunition to the soldiers, that they collaborated with the enemy, that a group of them joined the enemy ranks, that they performed armed attacks against the military units and innocent civilians, that they were involved in manslaughter and looting incidents in cities and towns, that there is a need for a radical measure for the security of the state and that on this account, it had been deci-ded to transfer the Armenians rioting from the war zones to other regions.

Within this scope, a Provisional Law was enacted on May 27, 1915 that included military measures to be taken against those who oppose governmental acts in the case of war. This provisional law entered into force upon its publication on June 1, 1915 in the official gazette of the time named Takvm-i Vekyi.

Article 1 of the provisional law granted authority to the army, corps and legion commanders to take any military measures during wartime against those who resist Governments orders, defense of the country and protection of public order and those who perform armed attacks or carry out resistance activities. The second article allowed the same commanders to im-migrate and relocate people of a village or town who were identified to have been engaged in treason and espionage to other places individually or collectively.

In order to resolve any possible setbacks that may have arisen in the implementation of the said Law and to facilitate implementation, various different Regulations were enacted. To this end, on May 30, 1915, a regulation entered into force regarding provision of accommodation and food for Armenians that were relocated to other regions due to war and extraordinary conditions. According to the provisions of this regulation, Armenians were able to take all


18


their animals and movables with them during their migration. The offi-cials on the immigration route were assigned with the responsibility to ensure the security of the lives and goods of immigrants as well as to arrange their food and rest during the immigration process. Armenians were resettled in villages and towns with arable fields upon reaching their immigration destinations. In cases where there were no arable land to be given to immigrants in the areas where they were resettled, they were given permission to utilize state farms and villages. The costs of destitute immigrants were covered by the government.

A new regulation issued on June 10 ,1915 ensured sealed protection of buildings including furniture that belonged to those who were sub-jected to immigration. According to this regulation, the furniture and animals that should be sold were sold and the proceeds were paid to the rightful owners and real estate and land belonging to immigrants were recorded upon determination of their type, amount and value.

Immigration as was applied by the Ottoman Government was imple-mented as forced migration, which meant the relocation of persons within the same country. Thus, immigration was not carried out in the form of deportation in the meaning of forcing persons out of the country as expressed by the Armenian Diaspora in particular.

Internal conflicts, psychological traumas caused by conditions of war, local groups seeking revenge, banditry, hunger, epidemic diseases and general state of lawlessness prevalent in a state that was in down-fall constituted difficulties for the implementation phase of decisions made by state dignitaries.

Despite the Ottoman Governments plans for providing sustenance, protection and sufficient nourishment for immigrated Armenians, cer-tain setbacks and abuses in implementation caused many Armenians to have bitter memories of this period edged in their brains.

19


stanbul / Galata


20


It is essential to improve the understanding of mutual trust andcooperation, to familiarise with each other once again in the light of our800 years of shared history, to have humane relations with each other.

AhmetDAVUTOLU Prime Minister

Kars Armenian Church

21


About Armenian Allegations of Genocide

The documents of the period confirm the existence of some disobedient state of-ficials committing crimes against Armenian convoys, yet they also prove that the Ottoman Government did not intend for such incidents to occur, on the contrary, penalized those who committed such crimes.

First-hand sources demonstrate that the state officials who did not comply with the governments instructions to carry out the immigration in a regulated and secu-re manner were tried at the Court Martial established in the said period and those who were proven guilty were charged and were sentenced to be executed.

Following the end of World War I, some of the immigrated Armenians returned back and some of them migrated to other countries. In this period, following the estab-lishment of the State of Armenia, the relationships were maintained at State level (except for the Minority Armenians in stanbul). However, Cold War dynamics explo-ited the bitter memories and grief of Armenians. This fuelled the radical movements of some nationalist Armenian groups and caused them to be engaged in some an-ti-Turkish violent actions. Terrorist attacks, which are painful to recall for all Turks, have become a tool to attract the worlds attention to an Armenian thesis.

Since 1975, more than 30 Turkish diplomats and their families have been murdered during terrorist attacks organized by Armenian ASALA Organizations militants. In this period, Armenian opinions and genocide thesis started spreading widely also with the use of forged documents/photos from time to time.

Written resources in support of the Armenian thesis resorted to unreliable methods to be able to explain population figures. Some dubious memoirs were utilized and these were continuously referred to as resources to create a thesis for the recogni-tion of the so-called genocide.

Pointing out to the serious deficiencies of the genocide thesis does not mean a denial of great suffering by Armenians and the loss of many lives. Indeed, the main issue is not numbers; even the smallest number of innocent lives lost is agonizing.

The existence of millions of Muslim Ottoman lives lost in the same timeframe that are mostly overlooked by Western historians does not constitute a reason to ignore or belittle the many Armenian lives lost either.


22


However, insisting on genocide as the only option to define what Armenians experienced while ignoring the losses of Turkish people not only fails to honor the memories of the people who lost their lives but also fails to accurately reflect the historical records.

Portraying some adverse events that took place during Armenian immigration and the death toll in an exaggerated manner brought along a discourse of Armenian genocide and developing politics on this basis.

In his speech during the inauguration of the exhibition World War I Documents in its 100th Anniversary, President Recep Tayyip Erdoan expressed that the archives are the places to seek the truth in the face of allegations under the Armenian Issue, that they are ready to open all archives including the Turkish military archives if necessary and that they have applied even to third countries. The President said that they called for the establishment of a Common History Commission composed of the historians, scientists of the two countries and reveal the truth benefiting from the archives of relevant countries. The Presidents speech indicates that Turkey is ready for all kinds of cooperation in this issue today as before and that there is no hesitation regarding this issue.

As a result of the activities of Armenian Diaspora, a draft bill in line with the Armenian thesis has been adopted by parliaments of 20 countries.

In 1997, United Kingdom did not recognize genocide due to lack of clear evidence and in 2012 the French Constitu-tional Court annulled the denial law prepared by the government.

It is evident that there is a need for a new discourse and new approaches for two ancient societies that have been neighbours for a thousand years.

23


Turkeys Hand Extended in Peace and Armenia

Being one of the first countries to recognize the independence of Armenia on December 16, 1991, Turkey provided humanitarian aid to Armenia facing economic challenges following its declaration of independence and actively strived to ensure Armenias integration to regional organizations and Euro-Atlantic institutions.

However, the war erupting between Armenia and Azerbaijan due to Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region and the Khojaly Massacre led to the deterioration of relations between Turkey and Armenia and in 1993, Turkey closed its borders with Armenia to movement of people and goods. This situation did not cre-ate favorable conditions to establish diplomatic relations with the state of Armenia.

Turkey wanted normalization of relations with Armenia believing that this would help in creating a comprehensive and cooperative atmosphere in Southern Caucasia and contribute to the stability of the region. With this purpose in mind, Turkey in due course unilaterally implemented some confidence building measures.

On April 15, 2005, the Prime Minister of the time Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoan sent a letter to the Armenian President Robert Kocharian officially proposing the formation of a joint commission to undertake researches about the de-velopments and incidents that took place in 1915.

Prime Minister Erdogan emphasized in his letter that the Turkish and Armenian peoples who shared a common history and geography in a critical region of the world lived together for long years, but there were differences between them in their interpretations and evaluations of a part of their common history. He also stated in his letter that those differences which left painful memories to both peoples did not facilitate the improvement of the relations.

Prime Minister Erdoan proposed in his letter the formation of a group to be composed of both Turkish and Arme-nian historians and experts who would investigate developments and incidents of 1915 by using not only Turkish and Armenian archives, but also all archives found in other third countries and to announce their findings to the international public opinion.

Prime Minister Erdoan stated that such an initiative would shed light on a disputed period of history and also constitute a step towards contributing to the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia. Expressing his hope for this proposal which aims to create a friendly and more peaceful climate to be passed on to future generations would meet with the Armenian consent, he indicated that Turkey was ready to discuss the details of this proposal with Armenia if a favorable response is received.

Bilateral relations between Turkey and Armenia which could be considered as limited for several years started to be re-established upon invitations from both sides as of the year 2008.


24


In 2008, taking the first concrete step, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan invited his Turkish counterpart Abdul-lah Gl to the 2010 World Cup qualifying football match between Armenia and Turkey. President Gl accepted his invitation and became the first Turkish President to set foot in Armenia on 6 September 2008.

However, common painful memories of both countries from a century ago and the existence of certain circles that keep such memories as a policy pursuit brought along various criticisms in both countries. Nevertheless, this his-torical visit turned a new page in relations between Turkey and Armenia and raised hopes towards opening of the land borders and establishment of diplomatic relations.

This political convergence at the top level of both states also triggered mutual communication between the civil society organizations in Turkey and Armenia. This communication created the grounds on which new channels of dialogue could be built between the two sides that are still carrying the burden of past problems and mutual lack of trust.

The President of United States Barrack Obama also extended his support for the efforts to establish good re-lations between the two countries. In his address to the TGNA on April 6, 2009, President Obama expressed his support for the process with his following words: The best way forward for the Turkish and Armenian people is a process that works through the past in a way that is honest, open and constructive. Weve already seen historic and courageous steps taken by Turkish and Armenian leaders. These contacts hold out the promise of a new day. An open border would return the Turkish and Armenian people to a peaceful and prosperous coexistence that would serve both of your nations.

Other supportive statements sustained the hopes for further convergence in 2009. As a result of closed-door talks between Turkey and Armenia with mediation efforts of Switzerland, an agreement was reached on a road map aiming to normalize relations and ensuring peace, security and stability in the region. On April 22, 2009, the existence of this roadmap was announced to the public in a joint press statement by Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Armenia and Switzerland.

25


This convergence in Turkish-Armenian relations which had set its course based on historical events started to be harshly criticized by opposition groups in both sides. In particular, Armenia that is both financially and politically supported by the Diaspora felt the need to go on a tour of persuasion to explain this situation and to this end Pre-sident Sargsyan toured each country with the largest existence of Armenian communities and visited Beirut, Paris, New York, Los Angeles and Rostov-on-Don in Southern Russia.

During several of his visits, Sargsyan was protested by Diaspora Armenians gathering in the cities and the unalte-rable attitude of Armenians Diaspora was understood during such visits.

The joint work, although the talks were almost ceased from time to time, were concluded with the signing of Pro-tocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations and Protocol on the Development of Bilateral Relations on October 10, 2009. At the signing ceremony that took place in Zurich with the mediation efforts of Switzerland, the participation of several significant personalities such as the High Representative of the Union Javier Solana, Rus-sian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and French Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Kouchner indicated the positive attitude at the international arena.

The first of the protocols signed by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the two countries indicated the will of the two countries to establish good neighborly relations and aimed to pursue a new policy of peace within the framework of harmony and mutual understanding. Moreover, the aforementioned protocol set forth the mutual recognition of borders and Ankaras and Yerevans intentions to reopen the borders.

The second protocol where the concrete steps to be taken to develop diplomatic relations between the two countries emphasized Initiating a dialogue on the historical dimension also including an impartial scientific study of historical resources and archives serving to the purpose of defining and advising on current problems in order to rebuild mutual trust between two peoples and endeavored to open the door to evolving the adverse relations built on historical events to a new dimension.

Immediately four days after this positive step, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian visited Bursa to watch the second football match between Turkey and Armenia. Although such invitations which are indicators of good will contributed to the process they failed to be sufficient.

In line with their legislation, the Armenian Government submitted first to the Constitutional Court for Constitu-tional scrutiny and then to the Armenian National Parliament for ratification as per the procedure following the approval of the Constitutional Court. However, the heavy influence of the Diaspora was understood following a televised speech of President Serzh Sargsyan on April 22, 2010 announcing that the ratification process of Proto-cols is frozen.


26


Although the convergence between Turkey and Armenia was not completely established, Turkey demonstrates in every opportunity its determined will to continue with this process and is acting in good faith. The best example is Turkeys decision to open Turkeys borders to ensure transportation of Armenians fleeing from Syria due to the Syrian internal conflict using the route of Turkey to reach Armenia.

In a statement by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on January 16, 2013, it has been expressed that all ava-ilable facilitation was provided to ensure that humanitarian aid sent by Armenia to the Armenians living in Syria are delivered to those in need, that over 150 thousand people who had to leave their countries due to the conflict in Syria were welcomed without any discrimination on the basis of religion, language, race or ethnic origin and that several Armenians fleeing Syria arrived in Armenia via various routes including our country.

One month later on February 18, 2013, President of Republic of Turkey Abdullah Gls congratulation of Serzh Sargysyan on his re-election as the President following the Presidential elections in Armenia demonstrated Tur-keys continues will to establish good relations between Turkey and Armenia.

An important city of Turkey, Van is leading among the cities of historical significance for Armenians. There had al-ready been stanbul-Yerevan-stanbul flights and passenger transportation by bus via Georgia were being operated despite closed land borders. However, following the meetings between the Turkish Tour Operators Union and the Armenian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the announcement that reciprocal Yerevan-Van and Van-Yere-van flights would be initiated on April 3, 2013 created excitement among the public yet received reaction from some circles.

Syrians of Armenian origin fleeing from the conflict in Syria and taking refuge in Turkey

27


Bankruptcy announcement by the Armenian national airline company due to its economic problems and then subsequent statement by the company undertaking the responsibility for Van-Yerevan flights in Turkey expres-sing that the observed demand is much lower than the expected, demonstrated the failure of this initiative, which would have had a positive impact on mutual relations.

Despite the will demonstrated by Turkey for peace, the bilateral relations entered a stagnant course. Finally, for the Commemoration Ceremonies of the anakkale Battle to take place on April 23-24, 2015, invitation letters signed by the President Recep Tayyip Erdoan were sent to heads of state or government of 102 countries that have fought against the Allied States during World War I. Since Armenian citizens of the Ottoman State were also among those that fought against the Allied States in anakkale, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan was also invited. Sargsyan rejected this invitation in his response to the invitation letter. Furthermore, President Sargsyan made very harsh and undiplomatic remarks regarding the invitation to Armenia to participate in the Commemo-ration Ceremonies of the anakkale Battle during a session of State Commission on Coordination of Events for the Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary on January 29, 2015. The statement by the Turkish Presiden-cy in response to Armenian President Sargsyans remarks in Yerevan targeting Turkey and Turks; Turkey will continue to stand against all attempts to manipulate one-sided view of history through exploitative politicking. The long-established Turkish-Armenian friendship will be sustained despite the provocations by radical groups demonstrated to all that Turkey will always support peace and friendship with a constructive attitude however much the efforts are to abuse historical issues.


28


29


NEW TURKEY FOR EVERYONEReforms with an Impact on Freedoms and Social LivesofMinoritiesinTurkey(2002-2015)

The Republic of Turkey inherited several issues from the Ottoman State that are rooted in history. Although there have been efforts to resolve such issues with the Lausanne Treaty which is the founding treaty for Turkey, certain problems emerged during practical implementation in time and these varying and deepening problems have been carried over to our day. Although there have been certain initiatives undertaken by the gover-nments from time to time to resolve the problems, these initiatives did not have the nature of addressing problems as a whole.

While the world witnessed a period of introversion and narrowing of freedoms after Sep-tember 11, 2001, Turkey witnessed just the opposite characterized by expansion and an easing in the area of democratization and human rights. Where such ethnical, religious and cultural diversity constituting the richness of Turkey was not even spoken of, 2000s led to the emergence of a vastly free and dynamic atmosphere of discussion. Discussing and debating its problems openly in this atmosphere, Turkey has accelerated its democ-ratization moves.

The steps that have been taken within Turkeys democratic change and transformation process so far since 2002 strived to remove barriers to a culture of living together and steps have been taken to establish a more secure perspective towards the future.

During this new period, based on the idea that differences is a richness rather than a th-reat, policies embracing all parts of the society have been pursued and measures have been developed to indemnify past victimizations. The approach in the security policies which considered the nation and citizens as a threat was ended and a new approach that relies on the common sense of the nation, that has been passed down from the depths of history, has been embraced.

Considering the intensity, scope, qualities and impacts of the reforms, reforms of a histo-rical nature in terms of demilitarization, normalization, rule of law, raising human rights standards have been realized all of which could be considered under the title of democ-


30


ratization within the period 2002-2015 which corresponds to a special period in Turkeys democratization adven-ture. These steps that expand the area of fundamental rights and freedoms, facilitate the daily life of people in every area and reinforce the feeling of confidence in the state have been taken not merely for a particular segment but for the whole of society. All segments of society that had been intended to be under the yoke in every field benefited from the practices. With these steps, which have raised the bar for freedom and democracy, and dis-tinguished terrorist actions from legitimate demands, a more sensitive and responsible approach to all parts of society has been adopted. Suffering caused by wrongful practices in the past has been brought to an end. Thus, efforts were made to transform Turkey into a country that is freer and more secure, prosperous and peaceful for each and every one of its citizen.

Democratization policies that had long been debated yet only came to be realized in 2000s ensured on one hand that the society faced its problems and on the other hand functioned as a kind of social restoration.

In this period when the most comprehensive demilitarization and democratization steps of history of Turkey have been taken witnessed, the following novelties in the nature of a reform whose reflections are observed in social life and whereby citizens of Republic of Turkey of different beliefs and ethnic origins would feel freer and safer:

Making it Easier for Community Foundations owned by Minorities to Acquire Possessions and Exten-ding their Freedom:

Community foundations are charity organizations established by non-Muslim Ottoman citizens during the Otto-man period. Their registration and records were established in the ledger at the General Directorate of Founda-tions on the basis of their declarations issued in 1936 during the Republican period. Thus, these charity organi-zations belonging to communities are recognized as foundations.

The 1936 Declaration provided the possibility of registering all immovable properties that are stated in the declaration in their own names regardless of the recorded owner of the property in the title deed. Thus, the communities that acquired rights as minorities under the Lausanne Treaty were both named as community foundations and had the opportunity to register the immovable properties they own in their own names in the title deed.

The community foundations were able to acquire immovable properties through donations, bequeaths and pur-chases from 1936 until 1974. However, following a 1974 judgment of the Court of Cassation General Assembly, immovable properties acquired by community foundations through donations, bequeaths and purchases from 1936 until 1974 returned to their former owners where the ownership of some of such property was transferred to Treasury and some to the General Directorate of Foundations or third persons.

Community foundations owned by the resident minorities whose rights are protected under the Lausanne Tre-aty, were adversely affected by such practices in this time period. Such practices resulted in a significant nar-rowing of minorities religious freedoms and rights to property for their foundations.

31


With a view to resolving all these issues within the democratization process that initiated after 2000s, the amendments enacted in the Law on Foundations and the relevant regulation provided significant improvements and made it easier for community foundations owned by minorities to acquire and dispose of real estate as they wish.

Firstly, the amendment to the Law on Foundations within the scope of Third EU Harmonization Package adopted in 2002 clearly stipulated that if an application is lodged within 6 months, immovable properties that are under any circumstances determined to be under the ownership of community foundations shall be registered in the name of the foundations and that the donated or bequeathed immovable properties shall be subject to the pro-vision of the said article.

The new regulation entitled Regulation on the Acquisition, Disposal and Registry of Immovable Properties by the Community Foundations was adopted on January 24, 2003. The Regulation provided the possibility for non-Muslim community foundations registered as legal entities as per Law on Foundations to acquire and dispose of immovable properties to meet their religious, charity, social, educational, medical and cultural needs and to obtain revenue to this end.

In the past, as per the principle of reciprocity under the Lausanne Treaty, the permission of Council of Ministers was required for the registration of immovable properties in the name of the foundation. The new Regulation adopted on January 24, 2003 abolished the requirement for the permission of Council of Ministers to register immovable properties in the name of the foundation and stipulated that this permission would be given by the General Directorate of Foundations.

Within the scope of the 6th EU Alignment Package adopted in 2003, the amendment to the Law of Foundations extended the period of application applicable to community foundations seeking to register their real estate. Accordingly, the period of 6 months envisaged for applications to be made on behalf of community foundations to register on their behalf real estate, at the Foundations disposal, has been increased to 18 months.

As an important step toward strengthening of civil society, a new Law on Foundations has been enacted in 2008. Within the scope of Provisional Article 7 of the Law which introduced significant improvements on pro-perty rights, decisions were made to return a total of 331 immovable properties.

Addition of Provisional Article 11 to the Law on Foundations on August 27, 2011 paved the way for returning properties confiscated previously for various reasons back to community foundations to which citizens from different faith groups are affiliated. A regulation was issued on October 1, 2011 defining the implementation of Provisional Article 11 and applications from community foundations for the return of their properties were received until August 27, 2012. In this respect, as a result of an assessment by Council of Foundations upon the applications received from a total of 116 community foundations, 333 properties were registered to the relevant foundations and a compensation payment was decided to be awarded for 21 properties.


32


Moreover, after the Law on Foundations became effective, 21 properties, which had qualified as school buildings, were allowed to be converted into an income generating property.

Under the law which became effective in 2008, members are selected to represent foundations active in Turkey in Council of Foundations, which is the highest-level decision-making body of Directorate General of Foundati-ons. In the framework of Law on Foundations Article 41, one of the assigned fifteen members is selected in the name of community foundations and works in the Council of Foundations.

As a result of the assessment of applications made to Directorate General of Foundations, Council of Foundati-ons redefined the following as legal entity and granted them the community foundation status: zmir Jewish Community was granted the status of zmir Jewish Community Foundation, Surp Ha Tbrevank High School was granted the status of Surp Ha Tbrevank High School Foundation and Beyolu Central Greek High Scho-ol for Girls was granted the status of Foundation of Beyolu Central Greek High School for Girls.

Another important development within this scope is the return of the land belonging to the Mor Gabriel Mo-nastery back to the relevant foundation. The land belonging to Mor Gabriel (Deyrulumur) Monastery located in Midyat district of Mardin province had been transferred to the Treasury following a court case initiated by the Treasury. However, since it has been understood that the Deyrulumur Syriac Monastery Foundation meets the conditions under Provisional Article 11 of the Foundations Law No. 5737 dated 20/2/2008, it was unanimously decided by the Foundations Council of the Prime Ministry General Directorate of Foundations that the 12 plots should be returned to the aforementioned Foundation. This arrangement, which demonstrates that the right to property all our citizens is safeguarded without any discrimination, provided a relief to the injustice suffered by the Syriac community.

ExtensionofFreedomsonPrayerAreasofOurCitizenswithDifferentReligionsandBeliefs:

In order to extend freedoms on prayer areas of our citizens with different religions and beliefs, amendments were made to the Zoning Law in 2003. This amendment replaced the word mosque mentioned in the Zoning Law with the word Prayer Area. Thus, prayer areas other than mosques were included in this law. In addition, this amendment provided that when drawing up development plans, enough space will be set aside for prayer areas considering the needs of the district and region covered by the plan. In this regard, it was stipulated places of worship maybe constructed on the condition that permission is granted from the local authority and the regulations on development is observed. This stipulation had the aim of eliminating complaints regarding construction of places of worship to be used by believers of other religions.

Further to the return of immovable properties to community foundations, within the scope of freedom of reli-gious practice, the restoration of places of worship utilized by congregations of different faith groups has been accelerated. Within this framework, the churches, temples and synagogues belonging to foundations affiliated to the General Directorate of Foundations are being restored and put into service for our citizens:

33


Immovablepropertiesthatwere

restorated

Immovablepropertiesstillunder

restoration

Immovablepropertiesthatwillbe

restorated

Gkeada Saint Nicholas Church Ayvalk Cunda Taksiyarhis (St. Nicholas)

Church

Kilis Central Synagogue

Gkeada Aya Marina Greek Orthodox

Church

stanbul Edirnekap Aya Yorgi Church Hatay Yaylada Greek Orthodox Church

Hatay skenderun Syrian Catholic Church Edirne Central Synagogue (Big Synagogue) skenderun Arsuz Maryo Hanna Church

Surp Giragos Church Samanda Younoluk Village Armenian Church

Kumkap Meryemana Church

Hatay skenderun Greek Catholic Church

Diyarbakr Sur Armenian Protestant

Church

Vorvoks Vorodman Catholic Church

Gaziantep Nizip Fevkani Church

Gaziantep ahinbey Synagogue

Diyarbakr Sur Armenian Catholic Church

In this regard, The Ministry of Culture and Tourism granted permission to hold religious ceremonies in Trabzon Smela Monastery and Van Akdamar Church since 2010.

In order to expand freedoms regarding places of worship for individuals of different religion and faith, the Muni-cipality Law was amended in 2012 to include that local Councils may carry out construction, maintenance and repair works of places of worship. It has thus been stipulated that local Councils may carry out construction, maintenance and repair works of places of worship in addition to facilities and buildings for healthcare, educati-onal and cultural activities.

ConsultationswithNon-Muslims:

o In the past, some adverse events at both national and international scale also negatively affected the relati-onships between the state and minorities. This situation caused interruptions in the dialogues with minorities at certain periods. In line with resolving the problems of non-Muslim citizens which constitutes one of the im-portant dimensions of Turkeys democratization vision, an intensive consultation process has been carried out with citizens from different faith groups since 2009. To this end, a total of 12 meetings, 3 of which were grand reunions, have been held with the participation of various ministers and bureaucrats notably the President Re-cep Tayyip Erdoan and the Prime Minister Ahmet Davutolu and representatives of different faith groups only between 2009 and 2015.


34


In the meeting of January 2, 2015, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutolu met with representatives of non-Muslim communities at the Prime Ministrys Office in Dolmabahe and in his speech addressing the representatives of communities he emphasized equal citizenship using the following words: Regardless of their religious, sectari-an or ethnic background, the lives, properties, honour and ideas of all our citizens are sacred for us in all religi-ons. When we look at the basic principles of Islamic tradition, we see an upholding of human dignity, protection of lives and ideas, preservation of descendants and safeguarding of religion as universal principles accepted by all traditions. As recently applied in a concrete manner with the return of foundation properties, the principle of equal citizenship will continue to be our main motto.

PossibilityforMinorityNewspaperstoPublishOfficialAdvertisements:

In the past periods, minority newspapers suffered from serious economic problems due to their limited adverti-sement income and some of them even came to the verge of no longer being published. One of Turkeys oldest newspapers, Apoyevmatini almost had to close down because of economic reasons. When the closing down of the newspaper came up in 2011, an important public awareness campaign was launched in Turkey and many people who do not even speak the Greek language joined the subscription campaign to save Apoyevmatini.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutolu at the Dolmabahe Prime Ministry office with representatives of non-muslim minority communities

35


In that regard, a decision taken by the board of the Press Advertisement Agency in 2012 allowed the newspa-pers published by the members of the communities that are deemed to have the Minority status according to the Lausanne Treaty to publish official advertisements on condition that they make a written request to do so. This is considered to be an important step towards the improvement of the economic standing of the minority newspapers. With the help of these developments, on June 4, 2012, after a period of almost fifty years, a Greek publishing house became operational.

AllowingtoLearn,PromoteandPublishinDifferentLanguagesandDialects:

As a reflection of the democratization perspective and the approach of regarding differences as richness, signi-ficant steps have been taken during the democratization process initiated after 2000s to expand cultural rights starting with removing barriers to the use of different languages and dialects and developing these languages as well as providing the educational system with a more democratic and pluralistic structure.

In this area, with the Third EU Harmonization Package passed in 2002, broadcasting in different languages and dialects that are used daily by citizens, alongside the official language of Turkish, was made possible. In the same year, opening up private courses for teaching different languages and dialects was made possible. For this, relevant infrastructure was laid and the opening of these courses was enabled in 2003.

This initiative on languages was continues in upcoming periods as well. In this regard, in 2003 legal limitations against broadcasting in different languages and dialects were eliminated for TRT as well as private television channels. The regulations prepared within this scope introduced the possibility to broadcast in radio and televi-sion in different languages and dialects.

EnablingConvictsandDetaineesinPrisonstoSpeaktotheirKinsmeninTheirNativeLanguage:

In the past, certain restrictive legislative provisions meant it was not allowed for detainees and convicts in prison to communicate in a language other than Turkish with their families and relatives. This situation led to serious victimization of our citizens who cannot speak Turkish or can better express themselves in another lan-guage. This ban used to restrict individuals right and freedom to communicate.

With amendments made in the bylaw in 2009, convicts were allowed to speak in languages other than Turkish on the phone, in the event that the convict declared that s/he or the person s/he will talk to does not speak Turkish. With a later regulation, barriers to detainees and convicts in prisons seeing and talking to their visitors in languages other than Turkish were lifted. Thus, inhumane bans on these issues have been abolished.

LiftingtheBanonCinema,VideoandMusicWorks:

The advancement of culture and arts in our country could not achieve the desired level due to partial bans im-posed in certain periods due to various concerns.


36


With the changes made, the extent of these bans was reduced and now ban decisions given to the administra-tive departments must be sent to a judge for approval within 24 hours. Moreover, the NSC (National Security Council) representative was removed from the Supervisory Council for Works of Movie, Video and Music.

With the aim of ensuring uniformity in implementation with the member countries of Council of Europe who sig-ned the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production which is also signed by our country and with the other countries which are parties to the European Cultural Convention, the Law No. 3257 dated January 23, 1986 on Cinema, Video and Music Works was repealed following the enactment of Law No. 5224 of July 14, 2004 on the Evaluation, Classification and Promotion of Cinema Films. The Board of Inspection for Cinema, Video and Music Works was abolished due to this amendment.

AcademicResearch,Establishmentof Institutionsand IntroductionofElectiveCourses inDifferentLanguagesinDialectsinUniversities

Division of Assyrian Language and Culture was opened under the Institute of Living Languages of Turkey in Mardin Artuklu University in 2010 and postgraduate education was commenced with the Non-Thesis Masters Program and Masters Program with Thesis on Assyrian Language and Culture in 2013.

Division of Assyrian Language and Literature was established under the Department of Eastern Languages and Literatures in the Faculty of Science and Letters of Batman University in 2013.

Division of Assyrian Language and Culture was opened under the Institute of Living Languages of Siirt University in 2014.

SupportingCulturalActivitiesinVariousLanguages:

In the past, supporting cultural activities in different languages or dialects was not a widely applied practice. In fact, after the military coup of September 12th, it was even forbidden for citizens to speak different languages or dialects that they use every day. In response to this, in the last twelve years, as in all other fields, a change of paradigm was made in this area too and an emancipatory point of view was adopted.

In this scope, an Assyrian and Turkish book titled Kilise Atalar Tarafndan Kutsal Ruhun Kaval Olarak Adlan-drlan Sryani Mor Efremin iirleri was published in 2012.

TheRighttoHaveDefenseinOwnLanguageatCourt:

In our country in criminal cases there are certain language barriers for citizens to express themselves and this led to objections and concerns in terms of access to a fair trial.

For this reason, an amendment has been made to the existing legislation in January 2013 granting a defendant the right to defend him/herself in a language that s/he has stated to express himself/herself in a better manner.

37


Reverting Place Name Changes:

One of the most important pillars bridging the gap between the past and present is the names of geographical locations. Therefore, the name of every geographical location has a historical background. In the past, names of many regions and locations in Turkey were changed for political and ideological reasons. It was not possible for people to give the names that they desired to the locations where they lived in accordance with their local language and culture. This situation was detrimental to our citizens sense of belonging.

Taking into consideration the justified requests in this respect, we have paved the way to restore the former names of settlement areas. This change constitutes a good example for peoples opportunities to name where they live according to their own local languages and cultures.

The relevant legal arrangement was introduced in the Law on Amendments to Various Laws to Promote Fun-damental Rights and Freedoms which put into practice many of the legal steps included in the Democratization Package announced on September 30, 2013. The aforementioned Law, which entered into force on 13/3/2014, abolished the provision leading to ex officio change of village names and paved the way for restoring former names of settlement areas.

EnactmentofaNewCitizenshipLaw:

Annulling the Citizenship Law numbered 403, a new Citizenship Law was adopted, which enabled the Council of Ministers to reinstate citizenship rights to those who had been stripped of their Turkish citizenship on the grounds that they had committed an act incompatible with loyalty to the motherland. This law paved the way for reinstatement of rights to individuals who had to go abroad during the course of military coup on 12thSep-tember or for political reasons and whose citizenship was revoked at that time.

Establishment of the Human Rights Institute of Turkey:

An independent human rights mechanism, which is entrusted with the requisite power, was needed to institutiona-lize and reinforce our countrys achievements in the field of human rights on its journey for advanced democracy. To meet this need, the Human Rights Institute of Turkey was established in 2012, so as to work on the protec-tion and improvement of human rights.

This institution is authorized to carry out research and examination with a view to working on the protection and improvement of human rights and prevention of violations thereof, to fighting against torture and ill-treatment, to examining complaints and applications, to following up the results, to taking initiatives regarding the soluti-ons of problems, to carrying out training events to this end and to investigate and evaluate the developments on human rights.


38


Establishment of the Institution of Ombudsman:

In todays democracies, one of the important practices in the rule of law is the Ombudsmanship that aims to protect the citizen before the State and guarantee the rights and freedom of the individual.

To this end, with a law passed in 2006 for the first time, an Institution of Ombudsman, affiliated to TGNA, was established. However, this law was annulled by the Constitutional Court on the grounds that it was incompatible with Article 87 of the Constitution, which lists the functions and powers of TGNA. Then, this issue was regulated in 2010 Constitutional amendment, by incorporating the Right to Appeal to the Ombudsman in Article 74 of the Constitution. Within this framework, the Institution of Ombudsman has been established as an important step in the reinforcement of the principles of supremacy of law and good governance and in the protection of the rights of the individual. This institution started to accept applications as of March 29, 2013.

The Institution of Ombudsman which exists in developed Western democracies reports to the Presidency of TGNA and is in charge of examining, investigating and providing proposals to public organizations regarding their acts and operations as well as their attitude and behaviors on the basis of compliance with the law and equity through establishing an independent and efficient complaint mechanism to assess public services.

EstablishmentoftheMinorityUnitundertheYouthAssemblyofstanbulMetropolitanMunicipality:

A Minority Unit was established under stanbul Metropolitan Municipalitys Youth Assembly to handle and resolve the problems of students attending Armenian, Greek and Jewish schools and to foster dialogue and develop relations with minority schools.

Democratization of the Education System:

An important step in terms of the democratization of the education system is the lifting of the requirement to recite the student oath en masse every morning at primary and secondary schools. The practice of reciting the student oath was based on the Circular 1749/42 issued by the Ministry of National Education on May 18, 1993. However, this practice was considered to be pedagogically inappropriate and to the detriment of the mental development of the students as it was an uninformative and compulsory repetition promoting rote-learning only. The amendment of 21/7/2012 was accepted as a first step to abolish the reciting of the student oath at secondary schools. The practice continued at primary schools on the basis of Article 12 of the Regulation on the Primary Education Institutions of the Ministry of National Education only to come to an end with the amend-ment made in the regulation in question on 8/10/2013.

Furthermore, the Law Amending Certain Laws to Improve Fundamental Rights and Freedoms which entered into force in 2014, brought about the possibility to open private schools providing education in different langua-ges and dialects traditionally used by our citizens in their daily lives.

39


NewApproachestowardsArmeniansofTurkeyinthe DemocratizationProcess(2002-2015)

The initiatives aiming to expand the freedoms of non-Muslim communities in Turkey and to protect their pro-perty rights have also been extended to the Armenian Community. In parallel with the establishment of the New Turkey, efforts have been made in the reform process of the past 12 years to eliminate the problems and perceptions/biases denominated as the Armenian Issue and affecting the Armenian community in Turkey. The official and civil initiatives undertaken towards the Armenian Community are mentioned below:

Preparation of Textbooks in Armenian Language:

There are 22 Armenian schools of private school status in Turkey as affiliated to the Ministry of National Education. Upon the request submitted by Armenian schools, the Presidency of Board of Education undertook the task of preparing Armenian textbooks according to the curriculum of the Ministry of National Education. These textbooks are being distributed to Armenian schools free-of-charge since the 2010-2011 school year. To further extend right to education for our citizens of different religious groups, the Ministry of National Educa-tion had textbooks prepared in Armenian language and provided Armenian schools with these books free of charge to be used as of 2010-2011 school year.

Holding Religious Ceremonies in Van Akdamar Church:

Religious ceremonies were not held in the Akdamar Memorial Museum (Akdamar Church) on the Akdamar Island which is the largest island in the Van Lake within the provincial borders of Van. Upon the application submitted by the Van Governorate, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism granted permission to hold religious ceremonies in Van Akdamar Church once a year starting from 2010.

A religious service in Van Akdamar Church


40


Restoration of Armenian Churches:

Within the restoration works for places of worship used by communities of different faith groups, restoration of Diyarbakr Sur Armenian Protestant Church and Diyarbakr Sur Armenian Catholic Church has been completed. On the other hand, Samanda Younoluk Village Armenian Church is among the churches for which the restora-tion project is being prepared by the General Directorate of Foundations.

Publication of Turkish-Armenian/Armenian-Turkish Dictionary:

Armenian linguist Bedros Zeki (who also provided significant contributions to the Turkish language by preparing fifteen textbooks for teaching Turkish) published the Armenian-Turkish Ultimate Dictionary of approximately 50,000 entries in 1907 and the Turkish-Armenian Ultimate Dictionary in 1912. The Turkish Language Associ-ation published both dictionaries in 2009 thus providing a significant reference to the linguistic studies in both languages.

The Establishment of Armenian Language and Culture Departments at Universities:

Different languages and dialects that are spoken in Turkey are signs of Turkeys cultural richness. Within time, alongside impacts of other social circumstances in Turkey the obstacles in the legislation were removed over time and the efforts undertaken to teach and ensure proper learning of languages that are spoken and in a sense are living languages in Turkey made it possible for the universities to conduct academic researches on different languages and dialects, to establish institutes and offer elective language courses.

With the democratization process of Turkey, there has been a significant increase in the number of departments related to Armenian language in our universities in order to learn further about the language, culture and history of our Armenian neighbors.

On Armenian Language and Culture;

o An Armenian Language and Literature department was established within Faculty of Science and Letters at Nevehir Hac Bekta Veli University in 2008.

o An Armenian Language and Literature Department was established within the School of Foreign Langua-ges, Foreign Languages Department at Trakya University in 2008. The department was transferred to Fa-culty of Letters as Armenian Language and Literature Department in 2012 and in the same year a quota was set for student admissions to the undergraduate programme on Armenian Language and Literature.

o In 2009, a PhD program was introduced in the Armenian Language and Culture Department within the Social Sciences Institute of Ankara University.

o In 2009, an Armenian Language and Literature department was established as affiliated to the Eastern Languages and Literatures Department under the Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty of Ardahan University.

o In 2009, an Armenian Language and Literature department was established within the Eastern Langu-

41


ages and Literatures Department under the Faculty of Letters of University and in 2010 an Armenian Language and Literature program was opened to start admission of undergraduate students.

o An Armenian Language and Literature department was established within Faculty of within the Eastern Languages and Literatures Department under the Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty of Yldrm Beyazt University in 2011.

o An Armenian Language and Literature department was established within Faculty of Foreign Languages of Ankara Social Sciences University in 2013.

Publication of First Textbook to Learn Armenian:

The book entitled Armenian Lessons-For Self-Learners of Armenian Language published by the Erciyes Uni-versity not only is the first book to teach Eastern Armenian language in Turkey but also is a guidance book for those who would like to learn Armenian through self-study. The book firstly describes the characteristics of the Armenian language and its previous forms and then provided 16 lessons on the pronunciation system, sentence structure and morphology of Armenian language. The last chapter of the book includes a compilation of works of Armenian literature.

Supporting Armenian Films:

In the past, cultural activities in different languages and dialects were not sufficiently supported. In fact, there were even restrictions imposed for a period of time on citizens to speak different languages and dialects which they use in their daily lives. However, following the 2000s, as in all other fields, a change of paradigm was made in this area too and an emancipatory point of view was adopted. In this extent, The Board for Promotion of Ci-nema under The Ministry of Culture and Tourism provided financial support to a film, Lost Birds-Yitik Kular, including frequent Armenian dialogues.

Message of Condolence:

The condolence message of President of Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoan that was published in April 24, 2014 was the first direct message both to our Armenian citizens and to all Armenians. Marking a milestone for being timely, for its content and for what it emphasizes, the message was internationally appreciated.

Currently, 40,000 Armenian citizens of Turkey live in security, peace and welfare without experiencing discrimi-nation of any kind. They have all the rights and freedoms which are safeguarded for the citizens of Republic of Turkey. They have the freedom to worship in their own churches, they are being educated in their own schools with their own languages. Moreover, they can publish in media organs in their own languages and they can per-form their social and cultural activities in their own associations. In our day today, Turkish Armenian Patriarchate has many institutes and properties as listed below.


42


Ara Gler-Photographer Adile Nait-Actress

Onno Tun-Musician

Sami Hazinses- Actor Kemani Tatyos Effendi

The two ancient nations can demonstrate the wisdom to understand each other and contemplate a future together.

AhmetDAVUTOLU Prime Minister

43


Church 41 (34 in stanbul, 1 in Islands, 6 in Anatolia)Relief Branches 10

Cemetery 16

Orphanage 2

Hospital 1

High School 5

Grade School 15

Association 19

Sports Club 2

Newspaper 3 (2 daily, 1 weekly)

Journal 5

Bulletin 1

Kemani Tatyos Effendi, Bedros Zeki, Naid zcan who is remembered proudly in Turkish theatre and his children Adile Nait-Selim Nait, Vahi z who has the nickname of Horoz Nuri in black and white films, Nubar Terziyan the pretty and kind uncle of Turkish cinema, Sami Hazinses, the faithful actor of Turkish Cinema, Kenan Pars, Turgut zatay who were the leding actors of an era; Toto Karaca who makes everybody laugh and entertain them with his cantos, Onno Tun in music, Garo Mafyan, Ara Gler who is at the top in photography, Etyen Mah-upyan who is the Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister Ahmet Davutolu and all the others have contributed and still continuing to contribute to the shared culture of Turkey in many fields.

44The Message of the Prime Minister of RepublicofTurkey,RecepTayyipErdoan,ontheeventsof1915

The 24th of April carries a particular significance for our Armenian citizens and for all Armenians around the world, and provides a valuable opportunity to share opinions freely on a historical matter.

It is indisputable that the last years of the Ottoman Empire were a difficult pe-riod, full of suffering for Turkish, Kurdish, Arab, Armenian and millions of other Ottoman citizens, regardless of their religion or ethnic origin.

Any conscientious, fair and humanistic approach to these issues requires an understanding of all the sufferings endured in this period, without any discrimination to religion or ethnicity.

Certainly, neither constructing hierarchies of pain nor comparing and contrasting suffering carries any meaning for those who experienced this pain themselves.

As a Turkish proverb says, a fire burns where it falls.

It is a duty of humanity to acknowledge that Armenians remember the suffering experienced in that period, just like every other citizen of the Ottoman Empire.

In Turkey, expressing different opinions and thoughts freely on the events of 1915 is the requirement of a pluralistic perspective as well as of a culture of democracy and modernity.

Some may perceive this climate of freedom in Turkey as an opportunity to express accusatory, offensive and even provocative assertions and allegations.

TURKEY EXTENDS A HAND IN PEACECarrying over the issues of history to future generations would not only fail to contribute to international peace but also would create new conflicts. Therefore, Turkey has presented its will to overcome age-old resentments and turn to a new page. In this context, the statements and messages of Turkish Statesmen clearly express the same..

45


Even so, if this will enable us to better understand historical issues with their legal aspects and to transform re-sentment to friendship again, it is natural to approach different discourses with empathy and tolerance and expect a similar attitude from all sides.

The Republic of Turkey will continue to approach every idea with dignity in line with the universal values of law.

Nevertheless, using the events of 1915 as an excuse for hostility against Turkey and turning this issue into a matter of political conflict is inadmissible.

The incidents of the First World War are our shared pain. To evaluate this painful period of history with a perspective of sound memory is a humane and scholarly responsibility upon us all.

Millions of people of all religions and ethnicities lost their lives in the First World War. Having experienced events which had inhumane consequences - such as relocation - during the First World War, should not prevent Turks and Armenians from establishing compassion and mutually humane attitudes among towards one another.

In todays world, deriving enmity from history and creating new antagonisms are neither acceptable nor useful to build a common future.

The spirit of the age necessitates dialogue despite differences, understanding by heeding others, evaluating means for compromise, denouncing hatred, and praising respect and tolerance.

With this understanding, we, as the Turkish Republic, have called for the establishment of a joint historical com-mission in order to study the events of 1915 in a scholarly manner. This call remains valid. Scholarly research to be carried out by Turkish, Armenian and international historians would play a significant role in shedding light on the events of 1915 and an accurate understanding of history.

It is with this understanding that we have opened our archives to all researchers. Today, hundreds of thousands of documents in our archives are at the service of historians.

Looking to the future with confidence, Turkey has always supported scholarly and comprehensive studies for an accurate understanding of history. The people of Anatolia, who lived together for centuries regardless of their dif-ferent ethnic and religious origins, have established common values in every field from art to diplomacy, from state administration to commerce. Today they continue to have the same ability to create a new future.

It is our hope and belief that the peoples of an ancient and unique geography, who share similar customs and man-ners will be able to talk to each other about the past with maturity and to remember together their losses in a decent manner. It is with this hope and belief that we convey our condolences to the grandchildren of those Armenians who have lost their lives in the context of the early twentieth century and that they rest in peace.

Regardless of their ethnic or religious origins, we pay tribute, with compassion and respect, to all Ottoman citizens who lost their lives in the same period and under similar conditions.

(April 23, 2014)

RecepTayyipERDOAN

Prime Minister of Republic of Turkey President


46


Comments of the Armenians on the Message

With the message of The Prime Minister (The President) Recep Tayyip Erdoan on the events of 1915 which mentions a shared pain, Tur-keys Armenians raised their hopes for the future. The respected peop-le of the Armenian Community have emphasized that this peace offer should not be assigned with different meanings and they have made various comments as appeared in the press. Jerry Hrimyan, the head of Armenian Universal Tolerance Association has stated that this mes-sage should be regarded as a beginning since everything must have a beginning.

Commenting on the message of The Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo-an, the Armenian Patriarchate said: We warmly accept the expressed condolences.

Bedros irinolu, Chairman of Board of Directors of Yedikule Surp Prgi Armenian Hospital Foundation has thanked to Prime Minister (Presi-dent) Erdoan for his message on 1915 events in an ad published in a number of newspapers. I express my gratitude to our Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoan, the beautiful man who made us experience firsts in our lives, for his condolences. I extend the condolences of myself and my family to the grandchildren of our Muslim brothers and sisters who died in those black days irinolu said in the ad.

47


Echoes of the Message in Global Media

The message of the then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoan on 1915 events was published in 9 different lan-guages and had a wide coverage on world press in a short period of time.

France24Television said the message of Erdoan was A quite rare notice which has to be highlighted, while FrenchRadioEurope-1 commented on the message which paid tributes to the grandchildren of the Armenians who lost their lives in 1915 saying A new page in history. LeMondeNewspaper used the expression It was the first time that Erdoan used such explicit language in relation to this tragedy.

In German media, Sddeutsche Zeitung Newspaper pointed out that Prime Minister Erdoan used a more reconciliatory tone compared to his predecessors. A German broadcasting corporation, DeutscheWelle, interp-reted the message of Prime Minister Erd