Editorial: The Unofficial Travel Advisory
Aug 11th, 2010 | Category: Featured News, Op/EdRecent news about Armenian tourists being beaten and murdered in Turkey has fostered dialogue on whether Armenians should vacation in Turkey. Regardless of the moral dimension of this argument, it is a disservice to Armenian citizens to not educate and make them aware of the risks they face while traveling to Turkey. This article contains an unofficial “travel advisory” which we think all Armenian citizens traveling to Turkey should be made to read and understand.
Recently, Armenians have received a sobering dose of news that should make any vacation goer to Turkey think twice. In one instance, members of an Armenian family were beaten by employees of a local Turkish hotel and subsequently detained by Turkish law enforcement. As if the harrowing ordeal of being severely beaten was not enough, some of the family members also spent time in jail before being released and sent back home.
In a more shocking case, a pregnant Armenian woman (Ann Davtyan) was killed and her body (which had obvious signs of torture) was found dumped in a canal. While the details of Davtyan’s murder still remain a mystery and we don’t know who killed her, the fact is that because no diplomatic relations exist, there cannot be any effective cross-border law enforcement investigation. The family has even encountered delays transporting her body to Armenia because of this fact.
Many in Armenia and the Diaspora cannot morally justify visiting a country where their ancestors were murdered and where to this day the Armenian Genocide is being perpetuated through a policy of denial and brainwashing. However, this article would like to raise an slightly different argument. While vacations in Turkey are cheap and likely the major factor for the decision to vacation there, the lack of diplomatic relations will make any complication to your vacation quite difficult and expensive.
Over the recent years, the government of Turkey has spent a great deal of resources on polishing its image as an open society. This has included publicizing the possibility of ending its illegal blockade of Armenia and creating the false image that Turkey is tolerant towards Armenians. The reality is that Turkey has kept the Armenian border shut, it has refused to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia, and to this day Turkey educates its children to hate Armenians.
An argument can be made that regardless of the Turkish government’s official stance, ordinary Turks and the Turkish society at large are more tolerant today. However true this may be, there is still a large portion of Turkish society that has been fed on hatred towards Armenians. Hrant Dink’s assassination three years ago and subsequent lack of proper justice being served should be stark reminders that an Armenian needs to think twice if this is where he/she should spend the next vacation.
Meanwhile, the costs of vacationing in Armenia remain high in comparison to what Armenians can pay and receive in value by traveling abroad and specifically to Turkey. Foreign and local business-savvy tourism companies have taken advantage of this by establishing joint ventures in Armenia in order to advertise Turkish vacation packages. In its turn Armenia’s struggling Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), after being in existence for two decades already, has yet to come up with an essential public service for its citizens: advice on travel abroad. Had the MFA done its job, Armenian citizens would have an increased awareness of the risks of traveling to Turkey and would most likely make the safe choice of opting out.
The combination of Turkish propaganda and passivity by Armenian foreign ministry has created an environment where vacation goers are convinced to purchase their tickets without proper warning or understanding of risks. Given the current lack of any such warning to Armenian travelers, here is an brief unofficial travel advisory to Armenians who are considering visiting Turkey:
ARMENIAN NATIONALS SHOULD EXERCISE CARE IN EVALUATING THE RISKS OF TRAVEL TO TURKEY. THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA DOES NOT HAVE DIPLOMATIC OR CONSULAR RELATIONS WITH TURKEY. IN THE CASE OF ANY EMERGENCY, THE ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT MAY NOT BE ABLE TO EFFECTIVELY INTERVENE OR EVEN MONITOR THE WELFARE OF ITS CITIZENS IN TURKEY.
THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT CONTINUES TO REPRESS ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS MINORITIES. A CERTAIN SEGMENT IN TURKEY STILL HARBORS HOSTILITY TOWARD ARMENIA AND ARMENIANS. TURKISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS ARE FORCED TO TEACH STUDENTS UNTRUE EVENTS ABOUT ARMENIANS, ACTIONS WHICH FOSTER MORE BIGOTRY TOWARDS ARMENIANS.
IT IS A CRIME IN TURKEY TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE. THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT HAS ROUTINELY ARRESTED JOURNALISTS AND INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE SPOKEN ABOUT THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE (EVEN WHILE ABROAD).
The Armenian government can no longer remain inactive to the risks awaiting unaware citizens traveling to Turkey. The Armenian government should promptly take the following actions in order to address this issue:
- The Armenian MFA must create a travel advisory system in order to properly educate its citizens about travel abroad. Almost all countries have such announcements and it is incomprehensible why Armenia doesn’t yet have such advisories.
- The Armenian government should regulate tour companies who sell airline tickets or tours to Turkey and other locations where the Armenian government has no diplomatic representation. All travelers who purchase tickets for vacations in Turkey should sign statements indicating that they have read the travel advisory and are aware of the dangers facing them.
Only through a comprehensive awareness system (that includes regulation of travel companies) can the Armenian government adequately protect its citizens abroad. In addition, it is our belief that if Armenians are properly warned of the dangers of travel to Turkey, much fewer Armenians will put themselves in danger and will opt for safer travel destinations including tourism within Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).
One of the reasons why Armenians prefer to go to Turkey and not go to any resorts in Armenia is the fact that all the resorts are owned by oligarchs. They hate the oligarchs even more than they hate Turks, and rightfully so. So they rather give their money to Turks than to make the oligarchs even richer. The Turks executed the Genocide of Armenians 95 years ago, and our Government and oligarchs are executing a Genocide now. They killed the soul and the heart of this nation. They broke them. They are like vampires feeding off the people’s blood. So don’t blame Armenians for traveling to Turkey. Blame Armenian Government and the monopolistic society that it created.
First of all I am new here and came across your website just now through a post by the armenian group@yahoo,secondly my following remarks go to Ms Ana´s post , above.
The comparison that she makes is totally exaggerated. True the oligarks in Armenia have possibly crossed the margin,but then there are a very few amongst them that contribute to the public welfare as well.
What is more she overlooks the fact that this system/regime if you will is copied or followed from the West.Mainly the United States that is exactly in this same fashion.Had Armenia and the rest of the 14 ex-soviet republics opted for a milder type regime Governance,say like Sweden,Finland Denmark and Norway,i.e., a European socialistic system,going gradually to capitalism-through a transitional period ,like Spain,Portugal and Greece did(all three famed for their dictatorial-feudal governance systems) then Armenia would be less -as she describes- a polarized society.Alas, Armenia is in the current now and wheels cannot be turned back.
What can be done probably ,is to prepare the public in peaceful fashion to opt for a less”wild free economy”,such as above mentioned Scandinavian countries,by and by.I shall begin to comment here by the by…I liked this site and thank you for hosting me.Do I have to register?
kind rgds,
G.P.
We are doing injustice to ourselves because we can’t apportion the blame right. The blame of creating a monopolistic society needs to go around to this Armenian government and all the earlier ones, as well as to the Armenian citizens and the Diasporan Armenians who are filling up the tourist traps, many if not most knowing that they are being gouged and that the money is going to the oligarchs. In fact, there has been hardly any public discussion about the nation’s future anywhere in the Armenian world given the death grip the mafia has on the country. Apparently, we don’t care enough to complain or when we complain, we put a slant on it depending on our perceived interests, including a moral justification to have a cheap Turkish vacation. Therefore, since the genocide happened 95 years ago, it is ok to spend our money in a country like Turkey, where consecutive polls have been saying the majority of Turks don’t want to have anything to do with non-Moslems, especially Armenians. All these speak of volumes about why we are facing these circumstances.
Many people have an emotional reaction to this issue. However, if we put emotions aside, there is a simple necessity to protect people. Many people who go on vacation are either not aware of the lack of diplomatic relations or really do not understand the risks of that. Yes, there are many things wrong in Armenia, but two wrongs don’t make a right and we should try to get some things right.
Furthermore, contributing to and supporting a genocidal Turkish government is one of the worst ways to take revenge against Armenian oligarchs. Its like shooting yourself in the foot. Take your vacation money to Georgia or Russia or Europe. Why put your life in danger and go to your enemy’s country for vacation? And when I mean “enemy” I mean it in the least emotional terms (95 years of baggage doesn’t help). “Enemy” means a state or people for whom the well-being of Armenia and Armenians is not in their best interest.
While everyone should have a right to complain about their government, the first comment (Anna) is completely ridiculous. The Turkish government committed the genocide of Armenians first in Western Armenia in 1915 which it controlled, and then Turkey attempted to finish the job in Eastern Armenia first in the invasion of 1918 and then again in the invasion of 1920 but was fortunately at least partially stopped on both occasions. Since that time Turkey has destroyed nearly all traces of Armenian existence in territory they control; lobbied the world into abandoning any support for the Armenians; built a domestic education system which instills hate in the future generation of Turks against Armenians; denied the Armenian Genocide; illegally blockaded the Republic of Armenia since the latter’s Declaration of Independence from the Soviet Union; and provided support semi-fascist Azerbaijan in its War against Armenians. For you to equate corruption in the Armenian government to the guilt the Turks carry for the Armenian Genocide is flawed and an insult to the memory of the Martyrs of Armenia. Corruption exists in every government, particularly those which have only recently emerged from the ashes of Communism. Your careless and selfish exploitation of the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide in order to draw sympathy and support to your own political goals is an affront to to the ideals of justice in the world. Shame on you, it should be a crime that you so casually exhume the memory of the victims of a genocide as a tool to attack the problems facing Armenian society and the Armenian government. Do the Armenian nation a favor, and think before you post any such comments in the future; DO NOT play into the hands of the Turks and other enemies of Armenia.