Some analysts referring to the Pope`s given sacred liturgy Vatican and his made statement that the 20th century’s was first genocide of the Armenians, it is qualified as a tsunami for Turkish people, that is, to the fact what Turkey was afraid of . During the conversation with “Aravot” ethnographer Hranush Xachatryan disagreed with the idea that the Pope’s statement was a tsunami for Turks. She does not believe that the Pope’s statement made a serious concern in Turkish society.
– “Of course, it’s hard for the Turkish authorities who adopted denial policy for the adoption of Armenian Genocide”.
Mrs. Xachatryan does not exclude that the subject will become of public debate for a long time. According to her, Germany is taking steps to revise the Armenian Genocide concerning terms adopted by the Bundestag, thus changing its attitude towards the issue.
-“Being a practical country, Germany in this case, will become more practical in general, I am sure, will increase the level of participation in the genocide evidentiary materials, publications, using different departments, etc. I do not exclude that at its part discussions Germany will think of compensation issues and even start some projects in this direction. In this case, perhaps Germany would have the leader policy of the Armenian genocide and the move could affect the other countries, especially the First World War members. I do not rule out the appearance of the Treaty of Lausanne`s unfulfilled obligations issues of some countries (including France, England and, of course, first of all, Turkey). I think that everything will come out: “abandoned / stolen estate” problem which was quickly “closed” after the Lausanne Conference in 1926. Hranush Xachatryan reminded of Lausanne Treaty “Economic Conditions” title 65, section 3 of the Constitution where Turkey was adopted that in 1915the deportations and killings were to be characterized as “illegally taken by military means,” and pledged to compensate for losses and to return to owners if they are alive if not to heirs the property confiscated.
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-“This certainly applies to mainly Armenians, each of the survived Armenians who were killed or seized his property had the right to get back in. It is very important that this issue does not have any time limit. According to 30treaty of the agreement the citizens of the Ottoman Empire (in this case Armenians) based on the Ottoman territories of one of the countries (Syria, Iraq, Lebanon …) had the right to become a citizen and by the agreement 33 had a right to the country of their citizenship (in this case, Turkey) in their own way to dispose of their own real estate to move or sell their movable property without any tax or duty. If the 34th and 35th articles fulfilled in two years, this right was given to any former Turkish citizens, including, of course, Armenians”.
The anthropologist also said.
-“In September 1923, Turkey passed a law prohibiting Cilicia and” Eastern States, “the return of all Armenians emigrated from Turkey in 1927. On May 23, the second law states that all citizens who did not participate in the “War of Independence” in 1923 July 24 till the time of adoption of the law, including Turkey, were not returned, lost their citizenship. In 1925 December 26 newspapers published the statement; according to it the law of those who stayed was changed: the order to dispose the stolen property was also significantly changed. It was announced that the uncoordinated sale of “abandoned property” damaged to the country, so it was decided to set up special committees to evaluate the Armenians entire movable and immovable property and other properties, to carry out their sale through auction. Later this decision was implemented not only to killed, exiled, runaway Armenians property, but also to the rest of the Muslim Armenians in one way or another. Soon, however, in 1926, in August the government announced that they would hold up on August 6, 1924 in confiscated property. But this decision applies only to the Young Turks` Armenians deported confiscated property, which according to the official announcement, is registered and protected by the state for displaced persons. These are the people or their descendants, who were provided their possessions by Article 65 of the Treaty of Lausanne to get back, while the 1915 deportations and murders, on August 6, 1924 until the date of their estate near-found people had in fact continued to be seized…”
By Hranush Xachatryan`s formulation the laws of the state on the one hand prohibited refugees, who fled, but the surviving Armenians from entering the country, deprived of citizenship, further deportations, on the other hand, prohibited the free movement of people within the state. Putting aside the serious issue of Turkish provinces still subjected to various pressures even did not know and could not have absorbed the decision, not about the laws passed against them in Turkey. Mrs. Xachatryan believes that Turkey’s obligations under the Lausanne Treaty were treated with contempt, and there was no authority or country to control or monitor its performance in any way. And although a number of countries that are parties to the treaty, Britain, France, Italy and Japan were obliged to follow the implementation of the right of minorities in Turkey and to put on Turkey’s obligation without the consent of the League of Nations and not to make any changes, but each country “ignored” these and followed the Turks “tricks”, probably because they, too, to put it mildly, were not “faithful” to the same contract commitments. Actually each country violated the Lausanne Treaty, as long as it could. According to 72 Article they also had private rights and obligations, including Turkey, the properties of their territories or stolen property, and had to pay to the “peace treaty countries involved in the commission of recovery,” the same commission should among others, to care for the Armenian refugees who appeared in their territories. If these issues come out, particularly Germany begins to raise these issues, it really will be a tsunami for Turkey”.
Eva HAKOBYAN
