Mehmet Yilmaz: The last thing the Armenians want is a debate
Güncelleme Tarihi:
The Anadolu news agency has reported that the Armenian parliament has shelved a suggestion to form a commission dealing with genocide allegations and research. Deputy head of the Armenian parliament, Vahan Hovanisian, said recently of the unformed commission "It will only serve the purposes of Turks who wish to deny the reality of the Armenian genocide." He then went on to add "The forming of such a commission would mean that even Armenians didn't know what happened in 1915."
And so, once again, it becomes clear that neither Armenia nor Armenians in the diaspora actually have any real interest in what really happened in 1915. There is only one aspect of this all which really concerns them: officially registering Turks as genocide makers!
This should also highlight for us the fact that our traditional "let's leave this subject to the historians" suggestion will never receive a real answer. The Armenians, after all, are well aware of how their campaign, which they have carried on for years now, has helped them. They know well that real debate on research on the subject of the genocide allegations will only damage their campaign. Which is why they will never agree to it.
And this, I maintain, should show Turkey which road it should take from now on: the parallel but opposite road that the Armenians are taking! We need to start up a public relations campaign which involves all sorts of historical documents. It should be a campaign which involves not only the government, but civil society organizations too. I have been saying and writing this for years, and what I just don't understand is whether it is our brains or a lack of money which is holding us back on such a campaign.