Doga Akar Bilgin

REMARKS at TIMES SQUARE

On this, a day laden with great urgency and historical meaning, I would like to thank you for allowing me to appear with you and to share your grief and sorrow. Today does not merely mark the centennial of the annihilation of some 1.5 million Armenians; it also marks a century of denial of this crime. The Turkish government continues to deny not merely any responsibility for the horrors inflicted upon Armenian people, but even the fact that it happened at all. As a Turk, it is from this fact that my sorrow and great shame derive. My sole consolation […]

Hrant Dink Memorial Conference in Cologne

SEVEN YEARS SINCE HIS DEATH A full seven years have passed since Hrant was murdered; those who plotted his murder, the real guilty ones, are still free, and the trial continues… The first round of trials has concluded; the second has begun, and, in paraphrasing Marx’s famous adage about history repeating itself, the first time as a tragedy, the second, as a farce… Most of us are utterly shocked and confused: how is it that the real killers can still be in hiding? How can a single trial last so long? But the answer is, in fact, quite simple, and […]

Yeni Türk ulusal kimliği ya da başladığı anda biten hareket mi

Zaten Taraf gazetesinin “yarı-resmî” yazarı gibiydim. Şimdi düzenli yazmaya çalışacağım. Becerebilir miyim, bilemiyorum. Gezi Parkı herkes gibi beni de heyecanlandırdı… Bir de yaklaşmakta olan, soykırımın yüzüncü yılı 2015’i de ekleyince niçin düzenli yazmak istediğim sorusuna cevap ta vermiş olurum. Önce Gezi Parkı olayları hakkındaki temel gözlemim: yaşananlar yeni bir Türk kimliğinin şekillenmekte olduğunun habercisidir. Siyasi, kültürel ve sosyal boyutlarıyla, kendisine, tarihine ve geleceğine başka türlü bakmak isteyen yeni bir Türk ulusal kimliği şekilleniyor. Gezi Parkı’nda bir sokağa Hrant Dink adının verilmesi, Parkın eskiden Ermeni mezarlığı olduğunu hatırlatan bir anıtın dikilmesi, bu yeni Türk kimliğinin tarihe bakışının ilk habercileri sayılabilir. Bu […]

The Torossian Debates: What’s Ended

As far as this debate goes, let’s accept that the Torossian debates have come to an end with my piece that was published in T24. I showed without question that there was an Armenian officer named Sarkis Torossian and that he fought for the Ottoman Army. Even if his memoir contained information that was exaggerated or wrong in places, in the end he was telling us about his own life and that much of this story should be considered finished. Still, it seems like there is just one issue left over from the first stage of the debate. In a […]

The Captain Torossian Debates: A Tacit Agreement Over Silence

“A while ago, a very violent attack had been organized against one of our locations in Gapatepe [Kabatepe]. [Enemy soldiers] had attacked with such ferocity that after the attack the area between the casements had filled with Turkish corpses. It had been the most courageous attempt by the enemy to tear open the Australian and New Zealand lines. Some of the attackers had come as close as the casements that were being protected by the Victoria units; but our soldiers just disarmed this brave enemy and took them as prisoners. Later on we learned that the attack had been by […]

Where do I stand in the Torosyan debates?

Originally Published in Turkish in Taraf on December 24, 2012 (Translated by Fatima Sakarya) Torosyan and Cleaning House or Where do I stand in the Torosyan debates? When the late Turgut Őzal was asked if there was a difference between Turkey and Europe in the culture of violence, he had answered, paraphrasing, “Of course there is! When a car accident occurs in Europe, the drivers step out and exchange IDs and insurance information. With us the drivers step out and start beating up on each other.” The debate over Lieutenant Sarkis Torosyan’s memoir that Ayhan Aktar produced for publication reminds […]