There is a Moby song which seems to be about a woman who is drowning in a sea of love and she is getting tired of swimming and just wants to rest and be released from her endeavor to persevere. That is how many Armenians feel about the Armenian Genocide. We are growing tired of fighting for Turkish recognition of the event yet keep pushing on determined hoping to be released from this prison of memories.
Well now it would seem that people in Turkey are growing tired of fighting against recognition. According to genocide scholar Gary Kulhanjian a new generation of political leaders in Turkey, following a path opened up by intellectuals there like Orhan Pamuk, is beginning ever so slightly to acknowledge what happened in 1915 when 1.5 million Armenians perished. Mr. Kulhanjian believes that it is because these young leaders realize that their economic future rests with admission in the European Union and in order to gain entry they must take certain steps towards Armenians.
Mr. Kulhanjian also went on to report that the Turkish government has been donating money along with American Armenians towards the rebuilding of a historic church in Turkey. This is not some small thing considering that Turkey, though secular, is a Muslim country and it is said that crosses atop churches are forbidden. A mayor at the commemoration of the rebuilding said we have a lot to do to make amends for the past.
There are so many Armenian churches in a state of disrepair in Turkey that they rival the Greek, Hellenic, Roman and Byzantine ruins to be found throughout that country. These churches could become another facet of heritage tourism in Turkey.
So we ask our Turkish brothers and sisters please keep moving in this direction so that you may release living Armenians from the prison of 1915 and so that you may also release yourselves allowing us all to go forward into the future hand in hand.