Healing and the Role of Women in Genocide

I recently read an interview with the Turkish journalist, Ece Temelkuran’s about her new book Deep Mountain. The book is a history of the Armenian genocide, which Temelkuran began after her friend, Hrant Dink, an Armenian-Turkish journalist, was shot and killed for his research on the subject. In the article Temelkuran asserts that there is a deep emotional divide between the Armenian and the Turkish peoples and says that the best way to heal this divide is to open up communication through storytelling. What struck me about this article however, was her discussion of a woman’s role in genocide and, more specifically a woman’s role in healing. Temelkuran claims that women are often left out in the writing of a national identity. She says that women’s stories are more compassionate and optimistic about humankind, which is why she ends each section of her book with a story from an Armenian woman.

Naturally, this piece got me thinking. While I’m not sure how I feel about painting any one gender in broad strokes, it is a fact that there have been very few, if any, female perpetrators in the genocides we have studied thus far. In one sense I wonder whether this means that a woman’s perspective is only as a victim. However, guilt as a perpetrator, especially in the case of the Armenian genocide seems to have enveloped entire national identities. It is in this sense that Temelkuran is able to present herself as, if not the perpetrator, than at least a member of the guilty party willing to openly discuss the conflict with others.

So much of our class time is spent discussing definitions of genocide so that we can place it in a legal context. Who can we condemn and who can we not? Who needs to be punished for these egregious acts of murder? The questions are no doubt important, people need to be held accountable for such crimes, but it doesn’t mean that it will heal divides between two distinct populations. Finding accountability is a step, but it is not the entire healing process. I absolutely agree with Temelkuran when she says that in order for any change to be brought about, dialogues need to be opened between the Turkish and Armenian communities, and really any other communities in similar situations. The question is if it is the job of women to open such dialogue or if it is the job of everyone.