What does Armenian diaspora want?
Portrayed as a unified obstruction group by Turkey, the diverse Armenian diaspora is eager to keep communication channels open with Turkey.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu delivered a heartwarming message Feb. 15: “[The] Armenian diaspora is not an enemy diaspora, it is ours. We will keep reaching out to them.” Yet on March 18, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called upon the Armenian diaspora, saying, “Come let’s go over the archives. We can assign experts to evaluate all documents, bring your documents. It is not ethical to go traveling around different countries, distributing money, establishing lobbies to carry anti-Turkish propaganda.”
The Armenian diaspora has become the scapegoat for the Turkish-Armenian conflict. As the commemoration of the Armenian genocide centennial approaches, the Turkish government keeps sending mixed messages.
For example, on March 24, disturbing graffiti appeared on the wall of an Armenian church in Bakirkoy district of Istanbul. It read: “Who cares if you are all Armenians [referring to the liberal groups standing with the minorities with the slogan 'We are all Armenians'], one of us being Ogun Samast [the murderer of prominent Armenian Turkish author Hrant Dink] is sufficient.” The graffiti, which caused an uproar on social media, was promptly cleaned up. Another one appeared the next day reading: "Holy Year 1915."
The existence of the diaspora itself poses the most difficult question: How did the Armenian population decline to 60,000 from 2.5 million at the end of the 19th century in Anatolia? While Turkish views on the Armenian issue are divided, there seems to be a general conviction in Turkey that the Armenian diaspora is now strong enough to affect Turkey’s international politics.
