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  • Fresno Bee: Another voice for truth

    Another voice for truth

    Pope mentions, during his visit to Turkey, the Armenian genocide.
    Fresno Bee Editorial
    12/04/06

    Pope Benedict XVI raised the issue of the Armenian genocide committed by the
    former Turkish regime in the latter years of World War I ~W albeit
    indirectly ~W on Nov. 30, in the middle of his controversial visit to
    Turkey.

    The oblique reference came during a meeting with the Armenian Apostolic
    Patriarch of Istanbul, Mesrob I, spiritual head of the 50,000 Orthodox
    Armenians who remain in Turkey ~W out of a population of millions who lived
    there before the massacres and expulsions of 1915-1917 took place.

    The pope had already angered many in Turkey and the rest of the Muslim world
    in September, when he quoted from an obscure medieval text that recorded a
    debate between a Byzantine emperor and a Persian visitor. Benedict recalled
    that the emperor had told his adversary: "Show me just what Muhammad brought
    that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as
    his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

    That caused a storm of outrage in the Muslim world, and threatened, for a
    time, to derail the pope's trip to Turkey.

    In his conversation with the Orthodox prelate Mesrob, Benedict praised the
    Armenian people for remaining faithful even under "truly tragic conditions,
    like those experienced in the past century" ~W a clear reference to the
    genocide.

    Thus the pope adds his voice to the many seeking justice from Turkey ~W or
    at least a recognition of an ancient injustice. The current Turkish
    government, a successor to the Young Turks who replaced the corrupt and
    decaying Ottoman Empire, does not bear responsibility for the massacres, but
    it does have a duty to the truth.

    The continued refusal of the Turkish government and most of the Turkish
    people to even acknowledge that the genocide took place flies in the face of
    incontrovertible historical fact.

    Some 1.5 million Armenians ~W men, women and children ~W were savagely torn
    from their homes, sent on long and deadly marches, or simply killed out of
    hand.

    Many of the survivors came to this country, and a few ~W along with many
    thousands of their descendants ~W can still be found in Fresno and the
    Valley. Here they have built good and prosperous lives, and are thoroughly
    American. Yet they still remember the horrors of the genocide, and still
    thirst for recognition and justice.

    It's a thirst we share, along with many others ~W including, it is clear,
    the pope.

    Another voice for truth

    Pope mentions, during his visit to Turkey, the Armenian genocide.
    12/04/06

    Pope Benedict XVI raised the issue of the Armenian genocide committed by the
    former Turkish regime in the latter years of World War I ~W albeit
    indirectly ~W on Nov. 30, in the middle of his controversial visit to
    Turkey.

    The oblique reference came during a meeting with the Armenian Apostolic
    Patriarch of Istanbul, Mesrob I, spiritual head of the 50,000 Orthodox
    Armenians who remain in Turkey ~W out of a population of millions who lived
    there before the massacres and expulsions of 1915-1917 took place.

    The pope had already angered many in Turkey and the rest of the Muslim world
    in September, when he quoted from an obscure medieval text that recorded a
    debate between a Byzantine emperor and a Persian visitor. Benedict recalled
    that the emperor had told his adversary: "Show me just what Muhammad brought
    that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as
    his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

    That caused a storm of outrage in the Muslim world, and threatened, for a
    time, to derail the pope's trip to Turkey.

    In his conversation with the Orthodox prelate Mesrob, Benedict praised the
    Armenian people for remaining faithful even under "truly tragic conditions,
    like those experienced in the past century" ~W a clear reference to the
    genocide.

    Thus the pope adds his voice to the many seeking justice from Turkey ~W or
    at least a recognition of an ancient injustice. The current Turkish
    government, a successor to the Young Turks who replaced the corrupt and
    decaying Ottoman Empire, does not bear responsibility for the massacres, but
    it does have a duty to the truth.

    The continued refusal of the Turkish government and most of the Turkish
    people to even acknowledge that the genocide took place flies in the face of
    incontrovertible historical fact.

    Some 1.5 million Armenians ~W men, women and children ~W were savagely torn
    from their homes, sent on long and deadly marches, or simply killed out of
    hand.

    Many of the survivors came to this country, and a few ~W along with many
    thousands of their descendants ~W can still be found in Fresno and the
    Valley. Here they have built good and prosperous lives, and are thoroughly
    American. Yet they still remember the horrors of the genocide, and still
    thirst for recognition and justice.

    It's a thirst we share, along with many others ~W including, it is clear,
    the pope.

    http://www.fresnobee.com/274/story/16923.ht ml
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