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TURKS MUST BE ALLOWED TO DISOWN CRIMINAL YOUNG TURKS' DARK LEGACY OF GENOCIDE
By Appo Jabarian
Executive Publisher/Managing Editor
USA Armenian Life Magazine
May 31, 2012
Turkey is at a crossroad and Turks are faced with a dilemma. On the
one hand they feel increasingly compelled to build an atoned future.
On the other hand, they feel the effects of decades-old Turkish
state-sponsored brainwashing to push under the rug the dark pages of
the genocidal past. However, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's
recent 'overtures' to Armenians has amplified this intra-personal
Turkish duel.
The trajectory from being saddled by responsibilities of dealing with
the consequences of Genocide, to being totally free of the burdens of
a criminal past has become a necessity. And it can start when Turks
receive inspiration and enlightenment from righteous Turks who have
already achieved inner peace by acknowledging the Armenian Genocide.
No human being should be required to burden himself with denial just
because he was lied to by his own government for nearly a century.
Turks need to actively encourage one another to distance themselves
from the criminal Young Turks, and to disown their dark legacy of
Genocide. Today's Turks and especially the new generation should
be empowered to condemn criminal Young Turk regime and ideology at
the speed of light; and to emulate Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (father
of Turkey).
In an August 1926 interview with The Los Angeles Examiner, Ataturk
stated that the remainders of the Young Turk government should be held
accountable for the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian Genocides. "These
left-overs from the former Young Turk Party, who should have been
made to account for the millions of our Christian subjects who were
ruthlessly driven en masse, from their homes and massacred, have been
restive under the Republican rule", he said.
So how can the Turkish trajectory to enlightenment on the facts of
the Armenian Genocide be fine-tuned and synchronized with the urgent
Armenian demands for Restitution, Reparations, and Recovery?
For centuries before the Genocide, several sovereign peoples such
as Syrians, Lebanese, Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbians, Arabs, Kurds,
Syriacs-Assyrians and Armenians, were forced to make territorial and
human "contributions" to the Turkish Ottoman Empire. When the process
of the dissolution of the Empire began, several Ottoman subject
peoples achieved total liberation of their territories. A host of
Turkish-occupied lands reverted to their rightful owners. But not
all were so lucky.
And as a direct result of the incomplete process of dissolution
of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, Kurds, Armenians, Greeks, Syrians,
and Syriacs-Assyrians continue to be denied the liberation of their
ancestral lands - The Kurds and Syriacs-Assyrians in Merdin region
and parts of ancient Mesopotamia; Armenians in Western Armenia and
Armenian Republic of Cilicia; and Syrians in "Al-Iskendrun" (called
"Hatay" under Turkish occupation); whereas Greeks continue to suffer
because of continued Turkish occupation of Greek Constantinople,
Greek Smyrna and Greek Pontus.
While the Government of Turkey has been suppressing free discussion
of the Genocide, Former Secretary of the UN Human Rights Committee,
Professor Alfred de Zayas, Geneva School of Diplomacy, recently
stated: "Because of the continuing character of the crime of
genocide in factual and legal terms, the remedy of restitution has
not been foreclosed by the passage of time. Thus the survivors of the
genocide against the Armenians, both individually and collectively,
have standing to advance a claim for restitution. This has been
also the case with the Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, who have
successfully claimed restitution against many States where their
property had been confiscated. Whenever possible 'restitutio in
integrum' (complete restitution, restoration to the previous condition)
should be granted, so as to re-establish the situation that existed
before the violation occurred."
Fast forward to the most recent developments: Should serious
negotiations materialize between Turkey and Armenians, "the joint
Armenian delegation could ask Turkey to take the following preliminary
actions to show its good faith: 1) Compensate all Genocide victims; 2)
Rebuild and return all religious sites to the Armenian Patriarchate of
Istanbul; 3) Return all confiscated private and community properties
to their Armenian owners; 4) Provide the Republic of Armenia with
special access to the Turkish port of Trabzon for commercial purposes;
5) Give Armenians visa-free entry to Ararat, Ani, and other Armenian
historical sites in Turkey; 6) Lift the blockade of Armenia; 7)
End Turkey's official policy of denial of the Armenian Genocide and
annul Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code; 8 ) Refrain from all
hostile policies directed against Armenia and Artsakh (Karabagh),"
wrote Harut Sassounian Publisher of The California Courier.
Sassounian's article represents a magnificently crafted course of
action and a viable platform for all parties involved. (See page E7).
On May 29, Turkish writer and publisher Ragib Zarakolu renewed his
criticism of the Turkish policy of denial: "My generation knew what
happened and tried to conceal it. However, the younger generation had
to believe this lie under certain conditions, which is even worse. ...
Turkey has gone blind and deaf. ... My country has turned into a
cemetery of the dumb," Zarakolu stated adding that Turkey must come to
understand that recognizing and apologizing for the genocide has become
a precondition for establishment of democratic society in the country.
"Turkey must accept the historic truth. This is the only way for Turkey
to restore the trust in itself. Recognition, apology and reimbursement
- these will never bring back what has been lost," he noted.
Comprehensive abandonment of Young Turks' ideology, coupled with
restitutions and collective atonement can transform Turkey.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
By Appo Jabarian
Executive Publisher/Managing Editor
USA Armenian Life Magazine
May 31, 2012
Turkey is at a crossroad and Turks are faced with a dilemma. On the
one hand they feel increasingly compelled to build an atoned future.
On the other hand, they feel the effects of decades-old Turkish
state-sponsored brainwashing to push under the rug the dark pages of
the genocidal past. However, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's
recent 'overtures' to Armenians has amplified this intra-personal
Turkish duel.
The trajectory from being saddled by responsibilities of dealing with
the consequences of Genocide, to being totally free of the burdens of
a criminal past has become a necessity. And it can start when Turks
receive inspiration and enlightenment from righteous Turks who have
already achieved inner peace by acknowledging the Armenian Genocide.
No human being should be required to burden himself with denial just
because he was lied to by his own government for nearly a century.
Turks need to actively encourage one another to distance themselves
from the criminal Young Turks, and to disown their dark legacy of
Genocide. Today's Turks and especially the new generation should
be empowered to condemn criminal Young Turk regime and ideology at
the speed of light; and to emulate Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (father
of Turkey).
In an August 1926 interview with The Los Angeles Examiner, Ataturk
stated that the remainders of the Young Turk government should be held
accountable for the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian Genocides. "These
left-overs from the former Young Turk Party, who should have been
made to account for the millions of our Christian subjects who were
ruthlessly driven en masse, from their homes and massacred, have been
restive under the Republican rule", he said.
So how can the Turkish trajectory to enlightenment on the facts of
the Armenian Genocide be fine-tuned and synchronized with the urgent
Armenian demands for Restitution, Reparations, and Recovery?
For centuries before the Genocide, several sovereign peoples such
as Syrians, Lebanese, Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbians, Arabs, Kurds,
Syriacs-Assyrians and Armenians, were forced to make territorial and
human "contributions" to the Turkish Ottoman Empire. When the process
of the dissolution of the Empire began, several Ottoman subject
peoples achieved total liberation of their territories. A host of
Turkish-occupied lands reverted to their rightful owners. But not
all were so lucky.
And as a direct result of the incomplete process of dissolution
of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, Kurds, Armenians, Greeks, Syrians,
and Syriacs-Assyrians continue to be denied the liberation of their
ancestral lands - The Kurds and Syriacs-Assyrians in Merdin region
and parts of ancient Mesopotamia; Armenians in Western Armenia and
Armenian Republic of Cilicia; and Syrians in "Al-Iskendrun" (called
"Hatay" under Turkish occupation); whereas Greeks continue to suffer
because of continued Turkish occupation of Greek Constantinople,
Greek Smyrna and Greek Pontus.
While the Government of Turkey has been suppressing free discussion
of the Genocide, Former Secretary of the UN Human Rights Committee,
Professor Alfred de Zayas, Geneva School of Diplomacy, recently
stated: "Because of the continuing character of the crime of
genocide in factual and legal terms, the remedy of restitution has
not been foreclosed by the passage of time. Thus the survivors of the
genocide against the Armenians, both individually and collectively,
have standing to advance a claim for restitution. This has been
also the case with the Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, who have
successfully claimed restitution against many States where their
property had been confiscated. Whenever possible 'restitutio in
integrum' (complete restitution, restoration to the previous condition)
should be granted, so as to re-establish the situation that existed
before the violation occurred."
Fast forward to the most recent developments: Should serious
negotiations materialize between Turkey and Armenians, "the joint
Armenian delegation could ask Turkey to take the following preliminary
actions to show its good faith: 1) Compensate all Genocide victims; 2)
Rebuild and return all religious sites to the Armenian Patriarchate of
Istanbul; 3) Return all confiscated private and community properties
to their Armenian owners; 4) Provide the Republic of Armenia with
special access to the Turkish port of Trabzon for commercial purposes;
5) Give Armenians visa-free entry to Ararat, Ani, and other Armenian
historical sites in Turkey; 6) Lift the blockade of Armenia; 7)
End Turkey's official policy of denial of the Armenian Genocide and
annul Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code; 8 ) Refrain from all
hostile policies directed against Armenia and Artsakh (Karabagh),"
wrote Harut Sassounian Publisher of The California Courier.
Sassounian's article represents a magnificently crafted course of
action and a viable platform for all parties involved. (See page E7).
On May 29, Turkish writer and publisher Ragib Zarakolu renewed his
criticism of the Turkish policy of denial: "My generation knew what
happened and tried to conceal it. However, the younger generation had
to believe this lie under certain conditions, which is even worse. ...
Turkey has gone blind and deaf. ... My country has turned into a
cemetery of the dumb," Zarakolu stated adding that Turkey must come to
understand that recognizing and apologizing for the genocide has become
a precondition for establishment of democratic society in the country.
"Turkey must accept the historic truth. This is the only way for Turkey
to restore the trust in itself. Recognition, apology and reimbursement
- these will never bring back what has been lost," he noted.
Comprehensive abandonment of Young Turks' ideology, coupled with
restitutions and collective atonement can transform Turkey.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress