Turkey reacted angrily Thursday to a U.S. congressional committee's vote to condemn the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey in World War I as an act of genocide, calling the decision "unacceptable." (International Herald Tribune)
My reaction to the vote?: "It's about fucking time. Can we get on with things now?"
Of course, one could argue that passing a purely "symbolic" Congressional resolution hardly seems worth the fact that it might create a gigantic diplomatic and strategic crisis. On the other hand, how could such a "symbolic" historical footnote create such a gigantic diplomatic crisis?!
In my experience with Turks as colleagues, acquaintances, and clients, I've found that they are among the most chauvinistic, patriotic, defensive, stubborn, and aggressive people on the planet. A Turkish former employee of mine is also one of the sweetest and happiest people I have ever known. They're human. But they also have major "national identity" issues (not unlike many Americans, one might say... but without the "superpower" mantle that backs it up). You might also say that they have a kind of "inferiority complex" that causes them to act out with major overcompensation.
A Turkish (half ethnic Russian) physician whom I once briefly dated summarized the dilemma of the Turkish collective psychology as a series of questions:
- Are we modern or are we traditional?
- Are we European or are we Asian?
- Are we Muslim or are we Secular?
Of course, the answer to both halves of all these questions is "yes", and it's true for so many cultures and societies that are sort of on the "periphery" (to use a sort of defunct term from ancient social anthropology). However, for Turks, it seems as if there's a whole lot more at stake and riding on the answers to these questions. They're reviled by Europeans in uncountable ways, yet courted by the West as an ally and trading partner. Not for nothing did Atatürk go to great lengths to try to drag his country kicking and screaming into the 20th century -- sometimes employing tactics that seem harsh and "colonialist" in hindsight (and which still create conflict between Turks more than eighty years later).
Despite all this, it's hard to understand why calling out an honest-to-goodness Genocide (the "ցեղասպանության" referred to in the title of the post) that occurred more than ninety years ago can still get people marching on the US Embassy in Ankara today.
I agree with those who essentially say: "Let the Turks have their tantrum over this (
as they did with the French a few years ago) to get it out of their system, and then hopefully we can move on."
If the Afrikaaners could get over it and work through the grief dredged up by South Africa's post-independence Truth & Reconciliation Commission,
Türkiye should be able to deal with this.
Here's something from the self-help bookshelf for you to chew on, Turkey: Just because you've "done bad things" doesn't make you a "bad country." We'll love and accept you anyway. I can guarantee it.
A post by Joe today reminded me of a situation I think about fairly often, considering it occurred a good 15 years ago.
The Shins
