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TURKISH COLUMNIST CALLS FOR FACING HISTORY ON 98TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
23.04.13
Ahmet Insel, columnist of the Turkey-based Radikal daily, addresses
a problem of facing history.
"Ottoman Muslims divided not only Armenians' property, but also
Armenian women and children, between themselves," writes the author.
April 24 is the 98th anniversary of arrests and deportation of most
Armenian deputies, writers, journalists, musicians, lawyers, doctors
and scholars to AyaĆ~_.
Many poor people were among them. They were arrested because their
names sounded similar to the great Armenians' names.
Most of them died, with only few of them allowed to return to Istanbul.
A month later, Ottoman Turkey's government launched a policy of
annihilating the Armenian population, with confiscation of property
being part of that policy. Some Armenian women and children were
forcibly converted into Islam.
Not only Armenians, but also Assyrians and Anatolian Greeks were
killed during the deportation.
Committee of Union and Progress committed a great crime against
humanity. Had the term 'genocide' existed at that time, their actions
would have been termed as 'genocide.'
Not only the Committee of Union and Progress was criminal. Most
Ottoman Muslims were supportive of the policy of de-Christianizing
Anatolia. The perpetrators of the genocide, the people that divided the
Armenian property and kept silent about the developments constituted
a majority. On the other hand, others were denouncing the great crime
and struggling against it.
"In remembering the pages of our history that are a source of pride
for us, we should also face the disgraceful pages and realize that
reconciliation with your own conscience is a constituent part of
peace," the author writes.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2013/04/23/genocide-radikal/
23.04.13
Ahmet Insel, columnist of the Turkey-based Radikal daily, addresses
a problem of facing history.
"Ottoman Muslims divided not only Armenians' property, but also
Armenian women and children, between themselves," writes the author.
April 24 is the 98th anniversary of arrests and deportation of most
Armenian deputies, writers, journalists, musicians, lawyers, doctors
and scholars to AyaĆ~_.
Many poor people were among them. They were arrested because their
names sounded similar to the great Armenians' names.
Most of them died, with only few of them allowed to return to Istanbul.
A month later, Ottoman Turkey's government launched a policy of
annihilating the Armenian population, with confiscation of property
being part of that policy. Some Armenian women and children were
forcibly converted into Islam.
Not only Armenians, but also Assyrians and Anatolian Greeks were
killed during the deportation.
Committee of Union and Progress committed a great crime against
humanity. Had the term 'genocide' existed at that time, their actions
would have been termed as 'genocide.'
Not only the Committee of Union and Progress was criminal. Most
Ottoman Muslims were supportive of the policy of de-Christianizing
Anatolia. The perpetrators of the genocide, the people that divided the
Armenian property and kept silent about the developments constituted
a majority. On the other hand, others were denouncing the great crime
and struggling against it.
"In remembering the pages of our history that are a source of pride
for us, we should also face the disgraceful pages and realize that
reconciliation with your own conscience is a constituent part of
peace," the author writes.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2013/04/23/genocide-radikal/