Davutoğlu’s transformation: From ‘The Diaspora is our Diaspora’ to ‘Those who claim a right over our lands’
At a meeting at the PM’s Office in İzmir, Prime Minister Davutoğlu responded to questions at a program titled “The Prime Minister and the Agenda” on the TV channel Show TV.
At the program, Davutoğlu claimed that Selahattin Demirtaş had said, regarding the Armenian Genocide, “Kurds also have a responsibility, and I apologize for that” and then addressed Kurdish citizens:
“Can someone who accuses your grandfathers in this way be your representative? If he says, “The Turks and Kurds did this” can he represent Turkey? Among those who voice Armenian Genocide claims, there are certain elements in the Kandil-İmralı-HDP triangle that they are spokespeople for those who want to carry out certain operations on these lands, and who are against the Solution Process. There is also a section of society that believes in the existence of a democratic political environment in Turkey. We will take the Solution Process ahead with them. But Selahattin Demirtaş must make a choice, he must choose which section he belongs to.”
Davutoğlu then went on to claim that Demirtaş met and bargained with the Armenian Diaspora during his foreign visits, saying, “I wonder what bargains he has made that led him to sabotage the Solution Process upon his return to Turkey, I wonder what bargains he has made that he is acting in tandem with the Armenian Diaspora that claims a right over the lands on which the Solution Process focuses. If we can answer those questions, then we can stand in the right place regarding how the Solution Process will develop in the future.”
What did Davutoğlu say before?
In February 2015, Prime Minister Davutoğlu had met with representatives of Armenian, Greek, Assyrian, Chaldean, Bulgarian and Jewish institutions and speaking at the official dinner had mentioned the Armenian Diaspora, saying, “They are our Diaspora, they are not foreigners”.
The statement was as follows:
“Turkey invites its citizens that left Turkey because of ruptures that took place in the first half of the 20th century. I consider it important for the sense of belonging regarding Turkey to be felt as a source, whether it is in the context of the events of 1915, or the events of 6-7 September. They are our Diaspora, they are not a foreign Diaspora.
Although it is used in certain international legal documents and in the Treaty of Lausanne, we are determined to eliminate the concept of minority from social life. You are constitutive children of these lands. You did not come from elsewhere, and you will not go elsewhere. These traditions have lived on these lands, and they will continue to live. Only with such an awareness, only when we believe that we are all constitutive elements can we overcome those painful memories, or today’s acts of exclusion.”
