Peace and Conflict Studies - Spring 2014

Peace and Conflict Studies Volume 21, Number 1 78 conspiracy of silence” (p. 118) which made it that much harder for Armenians to risk stigmatisation and humiliation by speaking about it; this only began to change in the 1990s (pp. 116-119). Armenian culture is too often solely associated with the violence of the genocide, and as a result, “the way in which they relate to their cultural origins is often influenced by feelings associated with loss, anger and rage at having lost their culture” (p. xxviii). This point is particularly salient for diasporans, who may be disconnected from the Armenian language and religion and thus have little other connection to or understanding of Armenianness. When trauma is experienced on such a mass scale and left unaddressed, it is passed from one generation to the next. Subsequent generations can experience similar psychological effects without the capacity to express their origins (Alayarian, 2008, p. 46). The genocide, as a key aspect of pan-Armenian consciousness, has entrapped Armenian identity: Armenians cannot turn away from the genocide even momentarily, but must guard it against the continued attacks of denial. Ironically, Turkish identity is similarly trapped by the need to perpetuate the denial; the people of Turkey would benefit from mourning the events of the genocide, as a way of moving beyond it (Göçek, 2003). Collaborative Struggles for Turkish Acknowledgment The genocide is an historical event of which many Turks remain largely ignorant, a result of successful government efforts with this intention (Akçam in Balakian, 2003, p. 375). As part of this effort, the history of Armenians as a once-significant community within the borders of modern Turkey has been actively erased (Hovannisian, G., 2010, p. 225). However, in recent years there have been indications that an increasing number of Turkish citizens are becoming aware of this history (Trebitsch, Schültze, & Friedler, 2009). A significant turning point within Turkey was the murder of Turkish Armenian journalist and Editor, Hrant Dink, who had written articles urging recognition of the Armenian genocide. Dink was shot outside his Istanbul office on January 19, 2007. The killer, a seventeen-year-old “ultranationalist,” claimed his motivation was Dink’s offense of Turkish honour (Trebitsch, Schültze, & Friedler, 2009). As the documentary Aghet – a genocide (Trebitsch, Schültze, & Friedler, 2009) depicts, Dink’s murder sparked a demonstration march of “hundreds of thousands” of Turks wanting to honour his efforts. The marchers carried signs reading “We are all Hrant Dink. We are all Armenians.” A former Turkish ambassador described the march as “very unusual,” and Dink’s daughter, Delal, said of the march, Nobody could imagine that in Turkey, that many people would go on the street and say “We are all Hrant Dink. We are all Armenians.” There is this public who are