Norayr Eblighatian: Diaspora and its Extensions

Norayr Eblighatian penned the attached on his Facebook page today, November 9, 2020 and titled it “Turkish Integrated Diaspora and its Extensions”. It behooves us to be cognizant of the new dynamics.

“Know your enemy and know yourself” Sun Tzu

Lately a day does not go by without hearing about attacks on demonstrators and ‘hunts’ for Armenians. It seems that we have not taken notice of a growing presence of the Turkish Diaspora.

* Traditionally, a Turkish presence in Europe is thought of as economic migrants leaving Anatolia and working in Western Europe, especially in Germany (after WWII). These numbers are rough estimates but are quite impressive:

- Germany: 6+ million (population 83 million) or approximately 7+% of the country.

- France: 1+ million (population 67 million) or approximately 1.5+% of the country.

- Netherlands: 0.5+ million (population 18 million) or approximately 2.8+% of the country.

- Austria: 0.5+ million (population 9 million) or approximately 5.5+% of the country.

Of course, these numbers are not reliable as Europeans can count Kurds as Turks, but nevertheless the numbers are there.

* Aside from economic migrants, there are also the remnants of the Ottoman Empire, especially in the Balkans and Turkey has made significant effort of reclaiming them as ‘Turks’ before they go native and are assimilated. In the Middle East, the example of the Turkmen during the Syrian civil war and the Turkish sentiment reawakening in Northern Lebanon (Tripoli) are well documented.

* The Turkish Diaspora is also organized and integrated with Turkey.

- One of the interesting tidbits of information is the latest attempt by France to scrap a 1977 agreement of imam (and teacher) exchange program. The date is significant as the West tried repeatedly to push Turkey and Moslems to fight against the Soviet Union. Afghanistan is a relatively newer example and one can go all the way back to the Korean War where a Turkish Army infantry brigade fought against North Korea in the early 1950s.

- Another indicator is the attempt to ban the ‘grey wolves’ organization in France and Germany. The Kurdish Diaspora has worked for years to ban the grey wolves, but has not been successful yet.

* Visualizing the Turkish Diaspora, one can see three concentric circles:

1. The Diaspora of Turks leaving Anatolia for economic reasons and the Diaspora left from the Ottoman Empire.

2. The ‘Turkic nations’ with the Ottomans or Turkey as the center or leader. PanTuranism has its roots in the ‘Great Game’ during the 19th and 20thcenturies. It was encouraged by the West in its confrontation with the Russian empire. While the Great Game is officially over, other variants still exist. But the crucial issue is that PanTuranism is not dead. It gets resurrected when the opportunity arises and is put to use.

3. Pan-Islamism with the Caliphate moving to Istanbul and being exploited by the Turks. The latest alliance of Turkey and Pakistan against Artsakh is an example of this.

* The key inference from all the above is that the Armenian Diaspora, which we consider a center of strength, is being challenged by another Diaspora.

- How are we going to reorganize and become more efficient in light of the war in Artsakh?

- How are we going to face the challenge of the Turkish Diaspora?

- How are we going to upgrade the interrelationship between the Republic of Armenia and the Diaspora. Clearly, it is beyond the setup of a ministry or the office of a High Commissioner. Nor is it an issue of personalities. Eventually it will encompass all the structures that our parents and previous generations erected in a cold war atmosphere.

* I will finish by a quote from Erdogan:

‘… (You) are our power outside the country […] For us you are not only emigrants, you are our strength in foreign countries… I would request you to make the best use of the power in your hands. I am expecting you to fill the ballots in Germany and in Europe to fill with your favor and determination.’

—Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan in a speech to German-Turkish citizens in the German city of Karlsruhe prior to the 2015 elections in Turkey.