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PENDING THE JUDGMENT OF HISTORY
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1023:-pending-the-judgment-of-history&catid=3:all&Itemid=4
Wednesday, 24 April 2013 09:29
On April 24, the Armenian people all over the world remember and
commemorate the victims of the greatest crime in human history -
the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. In April 1915, a truly
national tragedy took place, and though 98 years have passed since
that terrible time, this unending pain continues to chafe the memory,
to torment the soul and heart of every Armenian who is not indifferent
to the fate of our Motherland and people.
The mass massacre of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire is
usually associated with the year of 1915, when the Turkish authorities,
taking advantage of the situation created by the World War I, launched
extensive and total extermination of Armenians.
However, it should be noted that the temporal frames of this
monstrous crime, which was methodically committed in several stages,
are much broader and cover the period between 1876 and 1923. So are
the geographic frames, as it concerns the physical extermination
and forced deportation of not only the Armenian population under
the power of the Turkish state in Western Armenia. In 1918 and
1920, during the invasion of the Turkish army in Eastern Armenia,
in particular, the Armenian population of Javakhk, Nakhichevan and
Nagorno Karabakh-Artsakh was subjected to genocide.
The Armenian Genocide was, in fact, the first crime in the modern
history of humanity committed with the aim of exterminating an entire
nation via a misanthropic plan previously developed at the state
level. With unprecedented ferocity and cold political calculation,
two million Armenians were killed, about 800,000, fleeing from death,
fled from the country, which had been the homeland of the Armenian
people, with its ancient culture, for millenniums. The Armenian
Diaspora, which covers a hundred of countries in the world and
amounts to over 5 million descendants of refugees, is a bright and
strong evidence of the genocide committed by the Ottoman Turkey. It
is also a peculiar reproach to the enlightened world, which did not
take effective measures for preventing the Armenian Genocide and then
for punishing its executors.
To be fair, it should be noted that the international community has
confirmed and acknowledged the fact of genocide committed in the 19th
century and in the World War I. Moreover, as an internationally legal
sanction and measure on eliminating the consequences of the crime and
protecting the Armenian people from further acts of genocide, it was
decided to separate Armenia from the Turkish state. Unfortunately,
the international community has not displayed consistency and has not
achieved any solution to the issue of Turkey's responsibility. Taking
advantage of the contradictions between the great powers and the
clash of the West with the Russian Bolshevism, the Turks managed
to frustrate the implementation of the Sevres Peace Treaty, which
envisaged to return sufficient territories to Armenia, as well as
guaranteed the safe existence and development of the Armenian people.
Today, the fact of the Armenian Genocide is recognized by many states,
and there is no doubt that the process of international recognition
of this crime will continue. However, even after nearly a century,
the main issue has not been resolved - the responsibility of Turkey
for the Armenian Genocide. This crime has no statute of limitations,
and that's why the Armenian people, the socio-political development
of which is still impacted by the genocide, has the right to hope
that Turkey will face the judgment of history and its actions will be
given internationally legal and moral assessment. Unfortunately, this
is not happening yet. And mostly because, like nearly a century ago,
morality is sacrificed to conjunctural interests and the very fact
of genocide is often used as a political tool of pressure on Turkey.
As for Turkey itself, it has not only repented to the Armenian people
for the greatest crime committed by the Ottoman Empire, but is also
responding quite aggressively to the very possibility of recognizing
the genocide by any state, launching its entire arsenal of blackmail
and threats. As a convincing evidence of such behavior, we can refer
to the recent ultimatums of the Turkish leadership towards France,
which was going to pass a law criminalizing the denial of genocide,
and the introduction of economic sanctions against it. Although modern
Turkey has formally renounced the succession of the Ottoman Empire,
it continues the policy of the genocide denial and even justifies it
under the guise of the military necessity of exterminating Armenians
during the World War I. However, the understanding of the necessity
of recognizing the genocide and repenting for it is maturing in the
Turkish society, especially among the intelligentsia. They believe
that it should be done also for the sake of the new generation of
Turks, thus freeing it from the heavy burden of the crime of the past,
which inflicts serious psychological trauma on it and does not allow
it to look confidently ahead. However, the objective realities in
present-day Turkey do not inspire hope for its nearest repentance. It
is proved by the hostile policy towards Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh
conducted jointly by Turkey and Azerbaijan, which is based on the
ideology of Pan-Turkism.
On April 24, Armenians around the world lit memorial candles and
offered prayers for the repose of the souls of the millions of victims
of the truly apocalyptic catastrophe, which, even after decades,
are waiting for the triumph of justice. For, even the almighty time
cannot subject this national tragedy to oblivion...
Leonid MARTIROSSIAN Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1023:-pending-the-judgment-of-history&catid=3:all&Itemid=4
Wednesday, 24 April 2013 09:29
On April 24, the Armenian people all over the world remember and
commemorate the victims of the greatest crime in human history -
the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. In April 1915, a truly
national tragedy took place, and though 98 years have passed since
that terrible time, this unending pain continues to chafe the memory,
to torment the soul and heart of every Armenian who is not indifferent
to the fate of our Motherland and people.
The mass massacre of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire is
usually associated with the year of 1915, when the Turkish authorities,
taking advantage of the situation created by the World War I, launched
extensive and total extermination of Armenians.
However, it should be noted that the temporal frames of this
monstrous crime, which was methodically committed in several stages,
are much broader and cover the period between 1876 and 1923. So are
the geographic frames, as it concerns the physical extermination
and forced deportation of not only the Armenian population under
the power of the Turkish state in Western Armenia. In 1918 and
1920, during the invasion of the Turkish army in Eastern Armenia,
in particular, the Armenian population of Javakhk, Nakhichevan and
Nagorno Karabakh-Artsakh was subjected to genocide.
The Armenian Genocide was, in fact, the first crime in the modern
history of humanity committed with the aim of exterminating an entire
nation via a misanthropic plan previously developed at the state
level. With unprecedented ferocity and cold political calculation,
two million Armenians were killed, about 800,000, fleeing from death,
fled from the country, which had been the homeland of the Armenian
people, with its ancient culture, for millenniums. The Armenian
Diaspora, which covers a hundred of countries in the world and
amounts to over 5 million descendants of refugees, is a bright and
strong evidence of the genocide committed by the Ottoman Turkey. It
is also a peculiar reproach to the enlightened world, which did not
take effective measures for preventing the Armenian Genocide and then
for punishing its executors.
To be fair, it should be noted that the international community has
confirmed and acknowledged the fact of genocide committed in the 19th
century and in the World War I. Moreover, as an internationally legal
sanction and measure on eliminating the consequences of the crime and
protecting the Armenian people from further acts of genocide, it was
decided to separate Armenia from the Turkish state. Unfortunately,
the international community has not displayed consistency and has not
achieved any solution to the issue of Turkey's responsibility. Taking
advantage of the contradictions between the great powers and the
clash of the West with the Russian Bolshevism, the Turks managed
to frustrate the implementation of the Sevres Peace Treaty, which
envisaged to return sufficient territories to Armenia, as well as
guaranteed the safe existence and development of the Armenian people.
Today, the fact of the Armenian Genocide is recognized by many states,
and there is no doubt that the process of international recognition
of this crime will continue. However, even after nearly a century,
the main issue has not been resolved - the responsibility of Turkey
for the Armenian Genocide. This crime has no statute of limitations,
and that's why the Armenian people, the socio-political development
of which is still impacted by the genocide, has the right to hope
that Turkey will face the judgment of history and its actions will be
given internationally legal and moral assessment. Unfortunately, this
is not happening yet. And mostly because, like nearly a century ago,
morality is sacrificed to conjunctural interests and the very fact
of genocide is often used as a political tool of pressure on Turkey.
As for Turkey itself, it has not only repented to the Armenian people
for the greatest crime committed by the Ottoman Empire, but is also
responding quite aggressively to the very possibility of recognizing
the genocide by any state, launching its entire arsenal of blackmail
and threats. As a convincing evidence of such behavior, we can refer
to the recent ultimatums of the Turkish leadership towards France,
which was going to pass a law criminalizing the denial of genocide,
and the introduction of economic sanctions against it. Although modern
Turkey has formally renounced the succession of the Ottoman Empire,
it continues the policy of the genocide denial and even justifies it
under the guise of the military necessity of exterminating Armenians
during the World War I. However, the understanding of the necessity
of recognizing the genocide and repenting for it is maturing in the
Turkish society, especially among the intelligentsia. They believe
that it should be done also for the sake of the new generation of
Turks, thus freeing it from the heavy burden of the crime of the past,
which inflicts serious psychological trauma on it and does not allow
it to look confidently ahead. However, the objective realities in
present-day Turkey do not inspire hope for its nearest repentance. It
is proved by the hostile policy towards Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh
conducted jointly by Turkey and Azerbaijan, which is based on the
ideology of Pan-Turkism.
On April 24, Armenians around the world lit memorial candles and
offered prayers for the repose of the souls of the millions of victims
of the truly apocalyptic catastrophe, which, even after decades,
are waiting for the triumph of justice. For, even the almighty time
cannot subject this national tragedy to oblivion...
Leonid MARTIROSSIAN Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper