In the first half of 90, the Dashnak papers called the first president of Armenia a “Turk”. This image (or, if allowed to say, “mythologema”) is also used later; remember, for example, in 2000, the Leon in “Grand Tobacco” funded cartoon is driving a train in a Turkish fez. In 90s, this campaign fell on a fertile soil, when I used to say “street people” that the Turks are a nation, and it should not be used as an invective, especially against the first figure of the state, my interlocutors were saying, “he had destroyed this marvelous country, shut down the factories, plundered, switched off the lights to bring and sell diesel, he has made all people a hawker or a refugee, what else he can be called, if not a Turk.” In short, a bunch of fairy tales, which justifies the swearword of a “Turk”.
Now, the young Republicans call Zaruhi Postanjyan a “Turk”, allegedly, she had no right to raise Armenia’s internal political problems at PACE. In fact, in terms of content, I do not agree with it, she had the right. It’s another issue that she, in my opinion, should have appeared just with political questions, and the topic of casino seems very frivolous and caual. In response to the Republican Party, the oppositions are saying, “No, Serge is a Turk, because he had plundered, he had made all people become refugees” and so on.
Let’s not go into details to know which of these allegations are correct, and which are wrong. The matter is that MP, publicists and commentators are using the word “Turk” as an abusive, insulting, and a very negative labeling. In other words, it is done not at the level of domestic but of public debate. Those who are in favor of such labeling bring up to two arguments 1/ other nations, including Europeans, are also using the work “Turk” in the abusive context, as well as “Armenian” in the same negative wording, 2/ is that the Turks are bad?
Both are very possible. But I do not care about other nations in this context. I care about us with our mythology, and our complexities. Let others be involved in their complexities. The complexities with regard to a “Turk”, to my understanding, disturb us in general, and especially disturb us to understand the real Turks.
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Let’s agree that none of us, Armenian, is a “Turk”. Only people belonging to given nationality are Turks.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
