Why Armenia pays high price for 'genocide' campaign

A diaspora-led push to recognize as 'genocide' the 1915-17 mass killing, which is commemorated on April 24, has soured relations with Turkey.

from the April 23, 2007 edition

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At Armenia's genocide memorial and museum, which sits on a hill overlooking the country's capital Yerevan, 12 gray granite blocks extend into the air, protecting an eternal flame, in front of which visitors have placed flowers. A long wall records the names of cities in Turkey where Armenians were evicted and killed. In front of it, a large poster depicts the face of Hrant Dink, the Armenian-Turkish journalist assassinated in Istanbul, Turkey, in January.

"This is not only an Armenian issue," says Hayl Demoyan, the museum and monument's young new director. "What do we see now? We seen endless genocides and denials of those genocides."

Mr. Demoyan, whose family left the city of Kars in eastern Turkey, is charged with protecting and researching the event's history.

But he is also anxious that the museum not demonize Turks and is considering an exhibit about Turkish people who saved Armenians. He believes coming to terms with the past will help Turkey embrace a new future and prevent future genocides from occurring. "Turkey is at a crossroads," he says. "One road leads to democratization. The other is destructive and leads to nationalism."

For many survivors and their families, though, animosity and distrust still run deep. Melikyan's son, Karen Melikyan, was raised on tales of the family's lost lands in Turkey, which many Armenians still call "Western Armenia." As a child, he heard endless stories about their beautiful two-story house in Igdir, the Russian gold coins – the family's life savings – traded for meager handfuls of flour when the family arrived in Armenia, and the old dog Challo who miraculously followed them to Yerevan a year later.

Many here hoped that the assassination of Mr. Dink, which led to a massive outpouring of support within Turkey, would help mend relations between the two countries, although most now feel that that opportunity has passed.

"The genocide, the massacres, are rooted so deeply in the Armenian psyche," says Karen. "I don't see that we can live together again. I'm not saying they are good or bad, but they are cruel. That is the way they are, and we have to be smart."

But others suggest that while the past cannot be forgotten, more effort needs to be made to build bridges with Turkey. "Of course the genocide is one of the most tragic chapters of our history and we need to make every effort to prevent this in the future," says Artur Baghdasaryan, an opposition politician and former speaker of parliament. "But we think our future relations with Turkey cannot be defined only by genocide."

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