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FORUM: TURKS HAVE BEEN BRAINWASHED CONCERNING GENOCIDE
By Bruce Matzkin
New Haven Register
http://nhregister.com/articles/2012/07/11/opinion/doc4ffdec9f1fdb9816647323.txt
July 11 2012
CT
My favorite pizza place near my office was being renovated recently, so
I went to another I'd driven by hundreds of times, but never visited.
While waiting for slices, I thought I detected Turkish being spoken
by the employees: a young woman, a middle-aged man and an older
woman. I asked if they were speaking Turkish, and the young woman
confirmed this.
As tactfully as possible, I asked about their views on the Armenian
genocide, since it was in the news in France: A new French law outlawed
denial of the genocide.
The young woman clearly was puzzled by my question. After a brief
exchange in Turkish, the man and older woman both said, in broken
English, "It's all political."
Seeking clarification, I asked bluntly: "Do you believe there was a
genocide of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks?" The young woman replied,
after more Turkish with the others: "It didn't happen. It's just a
political thing against Turkey."
I thanked them for the pizza and left.
I know relatively little about the Armenian genocide. I've read
a number of books - including "Ambassador Morgenthau's Story," by
the U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and "Black Dog of Fate,"
by Peter Balakian. I have seen Atom Egoyan's amazing film, "Ararat,"
and have generally been alert to news of various countries' efforts
at official recognition of the genocide.
I don't recall if I had heard of the Armenian genocide prior to
marrying a remarkable Armenian woman, but my interest in learning
about it certainly had its genesis then.
I do know it is a well-documented fact that the Young Turk government,
which ruled the Ottoman Empire - the precursor to modern Turkey -
before and during World War I, orchestrated the first modern genocide
when it attempted to obliterate the empire's Armenian population,
culture and history.
How do I know this? The same way everyone knows there was an American
Civil War, and the same way that everyone alive 50 years from now
will know about the Jewish Holocaust - from historical documentation.
Also, I have visited Tsitsernakaberd in Yerevan, where hundreds of
world leaders, including American presidents, have planted personalized
signs in memory of what occurred.
Outside Turkey, the Armenian genocide is a nearly universally accepted
fact by disinterested historians. In Turkey, it is a crime to even
mention the idea there was an Armenian genocide.
Only political considerations have prevented recognition of the
genocide from becoming law in the United States. President Barack Obama
tactfully avoided the issue in 2009, telling the Turkish parliament:
"I know there's strong views in this chamber about the terrible events
of 1915. ... It's really about how the Turkish and Armenian people
deal with the past."
Turkey's obstinate refusal to come to grips with its history blinds it
to the truth, accepted by other countries. The denial is continuation
of the crime itself.
Indeed, from what I read and believe, concomitant with Turkey's
official policy of denial is the continued disappearance from Turkey
of signs that there ever was a vast and vibrant minority Armenian
culture, including vandalism and destruction of Christian Armenian
churches from that era.
Germany and the United States have moved on from their own dark
histories of genocide and slavery only by acknowledging and condemning
that which made their histories dark. Rwanda has taken action to move
past 1994's 100-day genocide by recognizing it as such and holding
accountable those with responsibility.
With technology and communication assuring witness to any modern
genocide, it is only the Armenian genocide that remains in dispute,
although not seriously so. And, there is nobody alive to hold
accountable, removing that sticky issue as an excuse.
Although what we know about history and most current events is what
we read, hear and see in the media, what I learned while waiting for
pizza slices I could never have appreciated from just reading about
it. In 2012, the citizens of a free and democratic country have been
brainwashed by their own government, and even those living in the U.S.
remain indoctrinated.
By Bruce Matzkin
New Haven Register
http://nhregister.com/articles/2012/07/11/opinion/doc4ffdec9f1fdb9816647323.txt
July 11 2012
CT
My favorite pizza place near my office was being renovated recently, so
I went to another I'd driven by hundreds of times, but never visited.
While waiting for slices, I thought I detected Turkish being spoken
by the employees: a young woman, a middle-aged man and an older
woman. I asked if they were speaking Turkish, and the young woman
confirmed this.
As tactfully as possible, I asked about their views on the Armenian
genocide, since it was in the news in France: A new French law outlawed
denial of the genocide.
The young woman clearly was puzzled by my question. After a brief
exchange in Turkish, the man and older woman both said, in broken
English, "It's all political."
Seeking clarification, I asked bluntly: "Do you believe there was a
genocide of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks?" The young woman replied,
after more Turkish with the others: "It didn't happen. It's just a
political thing against Turkey."
I thanked them for the pizza and left.
I know relatively little about the Armenian genocide. I've read
a number of books - including "Ambassador Morgenthau's Story," by
the U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and "Black Dog of Fate,"
by Peter Balakian. I have seen Atom Egoyan's amazing film, "Ararat,"
and have generally been alert to news of various countries' efforts
at official recognition of the genocide.
I don't recall if I had heard of the Armenian genocide prior to
marrying a remarkable Armenian woman, but my interest in learning
about it certainly had its genesis then.
I do know it is a well-documented fact that the Young Turk government,
which ruled the Ottoman Empire - the precursor to modern Turkey -
before and during World War I, orchestrated the first modern genocide
when it attempted to obliterate the empire's Armenian population,
culture and history.
How do I know this? The same way everyone knows there was an American
Civil War, and the same way that everyone alive 50 years from now
will know about the Jewish Holocaust - from historical documentation.
Also, I have visited Tsitsernakaberd in Yerevan, where hundreds of
world leaders, including American presidents, have planted personalized
signs in memory of what occurred.
Outside Turkey, the Armenian genocide is a nearly universally accepted
fact by disinterested historians. In Turkey, it is a crime to even
mention the idea there was an Armenian genocide.
Only political considerations have prevented recognition of the
genocide from becoming law in the United States. President Barack Obama
tactfully avoided the issue in 2009, telling the Turkish parliament:
"I know there's strong views in this chamber about the terrible events
of 1915. ... It's really about how the Turkish and Armenian people
deal with the past."
Turkey's obstinate refusal to come to grips with its history blinds it
to the truth, accepted by other countries. The denial is continuation
of the crime itself.
Indeed, from what I read and believe, concomitant with Turkey's
official policy of denial is the continued disappearance from Turkey
of signs that there ever was a vast and vibrant minority Armenian
culture, including vandalism and destruction of Christian Armenian
churches from that era.
Germany and the United States have moved on from their own dark
histories of genocide and slavery only by acknowledging and condemning
that which made their histories dark. Rwanda has taken action to move
past 1994's 100-day genocide by recognizing it as such and holding
accountable those with responsibility.
With technology and communication assuring witness to any modern
genocide, it is only the Armenian genocide that remains in dispute,
although not seriously so. And, there is nobody alive to hold
accountable, removing that sticky issue as an excuse.
Although what we know about history and most current events is what
we read, hear and see in the media, what I learned while waiting for
pizza slices I could never have appreciated from just reading about
it. In 2012, the citizens of a free and democratic country have been
brainwashed by their own government, and even those living in the U.S.
remain indoctrinated.