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SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: TURKEY AND THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
OpEdNews
July 1 2013
By Henry Pelifian
Scenes like this were common all over the Armenian provinces, in
the spring and summer months of 1915. Death in its several forms -
massacre, starvation, exhaustion - destroyed the larger part of the
refugees. The Turkish policy was that of extermination under the
guise of deportation.
T he Genocide Education Project on their website shows this photo
and caption from Ambassador Henry Morgenthau's Story.
There has been an unreal and even false assumption regarding Turkey
among many Americans and even the U.S. government as it strides across
the globe spending billions tinkering with this or that alliance with
foreign aid and military bases. In this pragmatic view Turkey is a
staunch ally with a history of Islamic tolerance. For many decades
Turkey has received hundreds of millions of dollars annually for
allowing U.S. bases on its soil. The Bush-43 administration forgave
Turkey's $5-billion-dollar debt to the United States.
In fact, Turkey negotiated the $5-billion-dollar debt forgiveness
in exchange for the right of American aircraft based in Turkey
to attack Iraq. Foreign aid is not considered bribery; it is just
government-to-government assistance. But the number of Swiss bank
accounts that have been created from American foreign-aid money litters
the globe from Asia to Africa. According to the Oxford Atlas of World
History the United States government since World War II has been
"supporting manifestly corrupt and oppressive right-wing regimes
considered friendly to the USA." It is missing the point on Turkey
to believe this is about foreign aid; rather it is missing the point
on genocide.
There are Americans today, even Christian religious leaders, who
are extolling Turkey claiming one may freely choose Islam, but
the history of Turkey clashes with this notion of tolerance. Early
in the Twentieth Century the Turkish government embarked upon the
first genocide of that century. Adolf Hitler remarked to his aids
in the 1930s to support his own pogrom against the Jews: "Who now
remembers the Armenians?" Who does remember the Armenians? Politics
of the moment are often more important than historical truth and its
important impact on the future of the world.
Nearly two million Christian Armenians in Turkey were killed in a
genocide that hinged on the Armenians converting to Islam. A devoutly
Christian people for centuries, the Armenians were determined to face
the Turkish onslaught rather than deny their faith. The Armenians
were a successful people, active in commerce, owning businesses and
property in Turkey, as well as being artisans and talented craftsmen.
That was all swept away by the Turkish government's brutal attempt
to exterminate all Armenians.
Although the Armenian genocide is fully documented, the Turkish
government to this day refuses to acknowledge its treachery. The
Turkish government at the outset of the genocide began by drafting
unknowing Armenian males into the army and murdering them. Once the
Armenian towns and villages were devoid of the young men, the Turks
committed atrocities on the largest scale by uprooting Armenian women,
children, and elderly from their ancestral homes in Turkey and marching
them into the desert.
The memory of the genocide of Armenians in Turkey is alive today
among Armenians whose relatives survived and fled Turkey. My father
as a boy was taken with the elderly, women, and children to a barren
and deserted area to makeshift prison camps. Along the way the
Armenians were raped and mutilated. Those who were dying of thirst
and malnutrition were left to die in the desert. The Turks were slowly
starving the Armenians to death in the concentration camps.
My father's job when he was a boy was to bury the dead in a ditch
near the encampment, which he did for several years. His grandmother
told him one day that when she died he was to bury her in the ditch
and be strong and escape. He did just that. He roamed Turkey as a boy
disguising himself as a Turk. At the end of World War I the British
occupied Turkey, permitting the Red Cross to enter the country. With
the help of the Red Cross my father made it to the greatest nation
in the world, as he often told me.
Armenians throughout America have similar memories of their families
dying at the hands of the Turks. All this talk of a secular Turkey
attempting to become part of the larger world rings very hollow
and untrue. How can a country move forward with the first genocide
of the Twentieth Century as part of its history? It cannot and all
those who sing the song of a modern Turkey sing a song laced with
the most barbaric form of human depravity by ignoring the genocide
of an entire people -- the ultimate human crime.
Until Turkey recognizes the Armenian genocide it will always be
a rogue nation for all people who know that truth and honesty is
humanity's surest guide to a better future. Would Germany be a rogue
nation today if it had not admitted to the holocaust? Dismissing the
slaughter and carnage of nearly two million Armenians by the Turkish
government is a legacy that cannot be forgotten.
Any government or people who promote modern Turkey without recognizing
and admitting the genocide of Armenians are embarking upon a historic
lie, a lie that encompasses Turkey every day and every year. It is
time for the U.S. government to probe its relationship with Turkey
not for temporary advantage, but for lasting impact for all people
who desire that genocide be condemned and wherever possible arrest
those responsible for committing atrocities. There is no statute of
limitations for the crime of genocide.
Armenians ask only that the truth be told, revealed, and acknowledged.
Without truth humanity never quite makes a full step forward, but
hovers in the shadow of lies hidden in endless denials.
http://uniskywriter.blogspot.com/
Henry Pelifian has written many columns and articles on government and
current events. He has published a play THOREAU based on the life,
works and words of Henry David Thoreau, a war novella and short
stories based on his years overseas called (more...)
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Setting-the-Record-Straigh-by-Henry-Pelifian-130701-641.html
From: A. Papazian
OpEdNews
July 1 2013
By Henry Pelifian
Scenes like this were common all over the Armenian provinces, in
the spring and summer months of 1915. Death in its several forms -
massacre, starvation, exhaustion - destroyed the larger part of the
refugees. The Turkish policy was that of extermination under the
guise of deportation.
T he Genocide Education Project on their website shows this photo
and caption from Ambassador Henry Morgenthau's Story.
There has been an unreal and even false assumption regarding Turkey
among many Americans and even the U.S. government as it strides across
the globe spending billions tinkering with this or that alliance with
foreign aid and military bases. In this pragmatic view Turkey is a
staunch ally with a history of Islamic tolerance. For many decades
Turkey has received hundreds of millions of dollars annually for
allowing U.S. bases on its soil. The Bush-43 administration forgave
Turkey's $5-billion-dollar debt to the United States.
In fact, Turkey negotiated the $5-billion-dollar debt forgiveness
in exchange for the right of American aircraft based in Turkey
to attack Iraq. Foreign aid is not considered bribery; it is just
government-to-government assistance. But the number of Swiss bank
accounts that have been created from American foreign-aid money litters
the globe from Asia to Africa. According to the Oxford Atlas of World
History the United States government since World War II has been
"supporting manifestly corrupt and oppressive right-wing regimes
considered friendly to the USA." It is missing the point on Turkey
to believe this is about foreign aid; rather it is missing the point
on genocide.
There are Americans today, even Christian religious leaders, who
are extolling Turkey claiming one may freely choose Islam, but
the history of Turkey clashes with this notion of tolerance. Early
in the Twentieth Century the Turkish government embarked upon the
first genocide of that century. Adolf Hitler remarked to his aids
in the 1930s to support his own pogrom against the Jews: "Who now
remembers the Armenians?" Who does remember the Armenians? Politics
of the moment are often more important than historical truth and its
important impact on the future of the world.
Nearly two million Christian Armenians in Turkey were killed in a
genocide that hinged on the Armenians converting to Islam. A devoutly
Christian people for centuries, the Armenians were determined to face
the Turkish onslaught rather than deny their faith. The Armenians
were a successful people, active in commerce, owning businesses and
property in Turkey, as well as being artisans and talented craftsmen.
That was all swept away by the Turkish government's brutal attempt
to exterminate all Armenians.
Although the Armenian genocide is fully documented, the Turkish
government to this day refuses to acknowledge its treachery. The
Turkish government at the outset of the genocide began by drafting
unknowing Armenian males into the army and murdering them. Once the
Armenian towns and villages were devoid of the young men, the Turks
committed atrocities on the largest scale by uprooting Armenian women,
children, and elderly from their ancestral homes in Turkey and marching
them into the desert.
The memory of the genocide of Armenians in Turkey is alive today
among Armenians whose relatives survived and fled Turkey. My father
as a boy was taken with the elderly, women, and children to a barren
and deserted area to makeshift prison camps. Along the way the
Armenians were raped and mutilated. Those who were dying of thirst
and malnutrition were left to die in the desert. The Turks were slowly
starving the Armenians to death in the concentration camps.
My father's job when he was a boy was to bury the dead in a ditch
near the encampment, which he did for several years. His grandmother
told him one day that when she died he was to bury her in the ditch
and be strong and escape. He did just that. He roamed Turkey as a boy
disguising himself as a Turk. At the end of World War I the British
occupied Turkey, permitting the Red Cross to enter the country. With
the help of the Red Cross my father made it to the greatest nation
in the world, as he often told me.
Armenians throughout America have similar memories of their families
dying at the hands of the Turks. All this talk of a secular Turkey
attempting to become part of the larger world rings very hollow
and untrue. How can a country move forward with the first genocide
of the Twentieth Century as part of its history? It cannot and all
those who sing the song of a modern Turkey sing a song laced with
the most barbaric form of human depravity by ignoring the genocide
of an entire people -- the ultimate human crime.
Until Turkey recognizes the Armenian genocide it will always be
a rogue nation for all people who know that truth and honesty is
humanity's surest guide to a better future. Would Germany be a rogue
nation today if it had not admitted to the holocaust? Dismissing the
slaughter and carnage of nearly two million Armenians by the Turkish
government is a legacy that cannot be forgotten.
Any government or people who promote modern Turkey without recognizing
and admitting the genocide of Armenians are embarking upon a historic
lie, a lie that encompasses Turkey every day and every year. It is
time for the U.S. government to probe its relationship with Turkey
not for temporary advantage, but for lasting impact for all people
who desire that genocide be condemned and wherever possible arrest
those responsible for committing atrocities. There is no statute of
limitations for the crime of genocide.
Armenians ask only that the truth be told, revealed, and acknowledged.
Without truth humanity never quite makes a full step forward, but
hovers in the shadow of lies hidden in endless denials.
http://uniskywriter.blogspot.com/
Henry Pelifian has written many columns and articles on government and
current events. He has published a play THOREAU based on the life,
works and words of Henry David Thoreau, a war novella and short
stories based on his years overseas called (more...)
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Setting-the-Record-Straigh-by-Henry-Pelifian-130701-641.html
From: A. Papazian