Naming the results of the Armenian riot backed by the Russian military, which resulted in the unfortunate loss of both Armenians and Ottoman Turks 100 years ago, as Armenian ‘genocide’ could be seen as being subjective.
Some testimonies of survivors and witnesses form part of the backup for this argument. But there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other facts that are in the archives of Turkey and Armenia that will contradict the definition of this event as a genocide.
Calling it a genocide ignores the complex history that led to the suffering of millions of Armenians and Muslims alike. The evidence shows that the events were not the plan of a group of sick-minded officials that wanted to exterminate a race.
The pledge on April 23, 2015 of Stefan Löfven, Swedish Prime Minister, is clearly a step in the right direction where he says that “... calling that period as genocide might go unfulfilled.”
It is time to reach a modus vivendi. And that is only possible if and when all parties agree to be rational and ready to search for the claims with objective minds. Turkey has been saying that she is ready to do this. She also declared that she is open to the involvement of third party independent experts. The same should come from Armenia and from other countries.
To only blame Turkey will keep the wound open and bleeding, and it will not help the process. Especially using this reasoning for claiming financial compensation and land from Turkey will never be justified and will never happen.
Nobody with a good heart and open mind would agree with the terrible results of any war. Wars are wrong. Period. Understanding of wars, however, needs deeper and undeniable facts. Just like the present Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, I feel the pain and offer my deepest and the most sincere condolences for all Ottoman citizens, Turks and Armenians, who died under similar conditions.
I do hope that we stay away from the atrocities of wars and adopt the motto of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey ‘Peace in the Nation, Peace in the World’ for centuries to come.
— The reader is a university professor based in Dubai.
