Editorial: Dolma…and Some Music: The Turkish Foreign Ministry’s Newfound Pastime

Editorial: Dolma…and Some Music: The Turkish Foreign Ministry’s Newfound Pastime
By: Weekly Staff
Ever since the Turkish government failed to secure the ratification of the Turkey-Armenia protocols and essentially froze the so-called “normalization process,” it has been desperately looking for alternative ways to give the semblance of progress where there is none.

The protocols aimed at creating a schism between Armenia and the “bad Armenians” of the Armenian Diaspora, thus stalling the process of genocide recognition worldwide. But after Ankara tried to impose further preconditions, even official Yerevan—which seemed very keen to ratify the protocols—was defiant and stated that the Armenian Parliament was ready to vote on the protocols, but only when its Turkish counterpart did so. With the ball in its court, official Ankara failed to deliver and the process was halted.

With little (if any) prospect of securing the ratification of the protocols in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) before the general and presidential elections in the next two years, Ankara is now, more vigorously than before, looking for PR victories elsewhere. The Akhtamar Mass in September was supposed to serve such a purpose, but again, domestic politics interfered and, with the heads of Armenian churches and major organizations boycotting the Mass, little was accomplished.

Now, across the Atlantic, here in New York, the Turkish Consulate General is holding a concert at Carnegie Hall on Oct. 7 to celebrate what is being touted as the “re-opening” of the Holy Cross Church in Akhtamar. Mind you, the church has not been re-opened; it is a museum where visitors are not allowed to pray. Pianist Shahan Arzruni will be performing during this celebration. He has ignored calls from the community to withdraw from the event and to not become a pawn in the Turkish government’s PR campaign.

Several months ago, a Weekly columnist coined the expression “dolma diplomacy” referring to those who try to create dialogue between Turks and Armenians on the premise of “We used to be neighbors, we eat the same food and listen to the same music, so let’s leave the past aside and speak about everything else.” The Carnegie Hall event is yet another expression of this dolma diplomacy, and is an insult to the intelligence of Armenians, Turks, and others who are striving to make justice the bedrock of any conciliation between Turks and Armenians.