According to Ara Gochunyan, Editor-in-Chief of “Zhamanak” newspaper, during the administration of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Armenian community in Turkey had some guarantees, at least from the point of view of daily life and relations with the state. “It is difficult to interpret this issue with the psychology and sensibilities of Armenians in Turkey.
The attitude in RA is not clear either, so I dare to say that the date is at least debatable,” Ara Gochunyan, the Editor-in-Chief of Istanbul’s “Zhamanak” newspaper, replied to Aravot’s reminder that there are opinions that the installation of the Nemesis statue was not timely at this time. Five Armenian journalists from Armenia visited Istanbul within the framework of the “Armenia-Turkey: Dialogue of Journalists” program. According to Ara Gochunyan, the society in RA already accepts every attempt to normalize relations with Turkey rather painfully. “In this direction, it is a serious problem in that the political force in power during the normalization process supports one position, and the same political force supports a diametrically different approach as an opposition. In other words, the separation of political, governmental, or oppositional power must be clear here.”
According to the editor, the monuments are, first of all, symbols. He mentioned this occasion: “The timing of this initiative brings this new normalization process into a dead end, if not to say definitively, then at least it has become a symbol from the point of view of putting it in front of the first severe test. Whether the parties will reach a mutually acceptable conclusion or not, it is difficult to say at this moment. In other words, judging that even at the highest level of RA, there is no unequivocal approach to this issue, it isn’t easy to expect that Turkey can flex its position. To the question of what should be the solution, since official Yerevan announced that they would not dismantle the statue, Ara Gochunyan answered: “Naturally, one cannot expect that the figure should be removed in Yerevan because the process of normalization of relations with Turkey is so painful that it is perceived, there is a concept of dignity. Removing the statue after placing it there is an indescribable thing. At the beginning of this new, most recent normalization, I said that the fact that the historical circumstances are brought forward practically means an unwillingness to advance this process.
And now, willy-nilly or not, there was an initiative from the Armenian side, and as a continuation of it, there is such a situation in the ratio of the Turkish side’s influence and opposition. Turkish Foreign Minister Mr. Çavuşoğlu, who raised this issue, should consider that this opposition occurred in pre-election sentiments. The results of the elections already confirmed that nationalist sentiments are on the rise in Turkey, and those people, who feel that pulse, naturally had to push forward the topic related to nationalism. On the other hand, even in the case of the monument, in the formula of the justification of the protest expressed by Ankara, the point was not ignored that both the Nemesis monument being erected and the corridor of Zangezur is not opened. The political problem at the moment, until the recent past, the issue of genocide was seen as a barrier, and the problem of practical real political significance was the Artsakh problem, today the Artsakh problem, in the face of Turkey and Azerbaijan, is a resolved issue, and the messages of the Yerevan leadership reaffirm this. Today, only the Zangezur Corridor is left as a real politic.”
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To the question: How would you evaluate the results of the presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey from the point of view of the interests of the Armenian community, Ara Gochunyan answered: “The potential of the Armenian community, non-Islamic minorities in Turkey is such that one can only accept the results. Minorities and Armenians do not have the potential to influence the outcome of the elections. This unprecedented rise of nationalist sentiments in Turkey is not something to be ignored, to say the least, from the point of view of the minorities. That is a circumstance to be taken into consideration very seriously.
During Erdoğan’s more than two-decade rule, minorities and the Armenian community in Turkey had some facilities and guarantees, at least from the point of view of their daily life and relations with the state. The primarily favorable circumstance is the course adopted by Erdoğan towards minorities and Armenians and the general mentality prevailing in Turkey that different classes of society should not interfere with each other’s daily life and religion.
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
Istanbul
“Aravot” daily, 20.05.2023
