1100) Armenian Games Of The Dinosaur (Taha Akyol)

Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria once described French President Jacques Chirac this way: ‘Chirac, the tired old dinosaur who seems increasingly uncomprehending of today’s world.’ Zakaria was explaining that Chirac couldn’t understand how China has grown with its market economy. Doesn’t Chirac’s attitude on the so-called Armenian genocide confirm this view? The tired old dinosaur who can’t grasp the understanding of history, science and freedom in today’s world is behind old-fashioned political games. . .

He’s taking steps to win over Armenia for France in the Caucasian region. This region is of course very important with its geopolitics and oil, but Chirac trusts Armenia and declares enmity against Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Last December 19 French historians published a declaration on ‘Freedom for History.’ About 700 scholars signed it. They repeated this when the law on punishing denial of the so-called Armenian genocide was debated in the French Parliament in May. The declaration said the following: ‘History is not a religion. The historian doesn’t accept dogma, doesn’t have respect for any prohibition; this can be inconvenient, but history is not ethics. Historians don’t condemn or glorify, they explain. History is not the slave of current events.’ The same law is being considered now. Historian Jean-Pierre Azema compares the determination of history by law to the Soviet interpretation of history. France has accepted a law that the good parts of colonialism will be explained in history books.

Some will ask whether the Armenian question is being debated in Turkey. As soon as the decision to cancel the conference on Armenia was made, I criticized the decision on TV. Many people criticized it. The issue is discussed in Turkey, but banned in France. French politicians of Armenian origin said the following: ‘Turks massacred Armenians because the Armenians cooperated with France. Don’t forget that Armenia used to be a French colony.’ These words aim at French people who like colonialism, but they are a big lie. Armenia was never a colony of France. It is a lie, but important. It reflects the hatred of Armenians and French arrogance. This hatred and arrogance is behind the law on the so-called Armenian genocide.

09 October 2006,
Milliyet