Laurent Leylekian
The recent protests and turmoil in Turkey fostered an already
existing – though curious – trend among Armenians worldwide. Some
members of the Armenian diaspora expressed strong support for the
Turkish protesters in their struggle against the more and more
authoritarian regime driven by the AKP. This trend has certainly been
facilitated by the fact that the Gezi Park events arose just after the
commemoration of the Armenian Genocide by some Turkish activists in
Istanbul and in other places in Turkey. Therefore, members of the
Armenian diaspora who were there on this occasion may have taken part in
– or may have at least been witness to – the confrontation between the
Turkish regime and its opponents. The unarticulated – and sometimes
thoughtless – mentality that drives these Armenians to such an attitude
probably comes from the vague belief that the Turkish state is an arch
villain, that any opponents of it partake in the longstanding struggle
of the Armenian people and could eventually share their fate. Thus, in
the minds of these people, an odd connection may have developed,
bolstered by some nascent, romantic fraternalism in the tear gas: that
the non-democratic nature of the Turkish state and its stubbornness in
denying the Armenian Genocide are somehow linked and that, conversely, a
democratic Turkey would necessarily pave the way to the recognition of
the Armenian Genocide.
