1915 is the name of a deep rupture in the process of the dissolution of not only a people but also an empire. Societies that had lived together in the same geography for centuries were torn apart by this great shock. This history, which is remembered with different narratives today, actually represents the fragmented memory of a common past. Suffering gains meaning not through competition, but through understanding, because the story of these lands bears the traces of living together rather than separation.
Erdoğan's commemoration of ’Ottoman Armenians who lost their lives“ in his messages since 2013 and the emphasis of different institutions of the state on ”innocent Turks massacred by Armenians“ show once again how divided memory is. The same history is being retold again and again in the language of different pains.
Yet this story is not only a story of separation, but also of a long coexistence. For centuries, Armenians and Turks shared the same cities, the same streets and the same bread. During the Ottoman period, Armenians became one of the productive and founding elements of the empire as artisans, merchants, architects, doctors and statesmen. This partnership brought with it not only an economic or political, but also a cultural intertwining.
The transfer of the Armenian Patriarchate from Bursa to Istanbul after the conquest of Istanbul went down in history as one of the strongest symbols of this coexistence and mutual trust. It was also an indication of how an empire could coexist with different identities.
But as empires weaken, not only borders but also the bonds between societies become fragile. The events of the early 20th century were shaped not only by internal dynamics but also by the great power struggles and political calculations of the time. The suffering experienced in this process left deep wounds in the memory of not only one side but also entire societies.
When we look back today, it is more meaningful to try to understand this common pain than to make definitive and one-sided judgments. Because history is not only the story of who was right, but also the story of who lost what.
Instead of bringing societies closer together, playing politics over the past pushes them further apart. What is needed is a memory that is not afraid of confrontation, but at the same time does not lose the will to live together.
Because the truth is that we Armenians are like Turks and Turks are like us. We are two peoples who shared the same food, grew up on the same streets, and were shaped by the climate of the same geography. As much as the things that separate us, maybe even more, are the things that make us alike.
Empires end. But memory remains. And that memory continues to determine the future, whether it is shaped by separation or peace. The question is how we carry that memory.