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THE ALLIES AT GALLIPOLI: DEFEAT IN 1915, DISGRACE IN 2015
Foreign Policy Journal
April 2 2015
by David Boyajian April 2, 2015 No Comments
The Turkish government does not mourn the Allied dead any more than
it cares about the victims of its genocides.
April 25 will mark 100 years since the Allies--the UK, Australia,
New Zealand, and France--made their ill-fated landing on Turkey's
Gallipoli peninsula during WWI. Having barely gotten off the beaches
after months of fighting, the Allies withdrew in defeat, leaving over
44,000 dead and 97,000 wounded.
As in recent years, thousands will flock from the Allied countries and
elsewhere to Gallipoli for the Turkish-led April 24-25 commemorations.
Numerous world dignitaries, including Australia's and New Zealand's
prime ministers and Prince Charles, will also attend.
In April, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand hold Gallipoli
remembrances on their own soil and elsewhere. And throughout the year,
their citizens visit Gallipoli to pay tribute to the UK's 21,000,
Australia and New Zealand's 11,000, and France's 10,000 dead. This
is proper and honorable.
<img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-25925"
src="http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Erdogan_Smoke_Screen_001-215x300.jpg"
alt="Erdogan's Smoke Screen" width="215" height="300" />However,
thronging to April's sham commemoration staged in and by Turkey,
a notorious human rights violator? Which had mistreated Allied POWs?
Which today abuses its remaining Christians, as well as Alevis, Kurds,
and Jews? Which also committed genocide and pillage against millions
of indigenous Christian Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek civilians during
the Gallipoli battle and for years afterward? And which arrogantly
denies having done so?
The UK, Australia, and New Zealand themselves have made the Gallipoli
ceremonies in Turkey something less than solemn. Smiling lottery
winners receive tickets to the event. Youngsters vie to become
Gallipoli "youth ambassadors" and win all-expense paid trips. Is
Gallipoli the resting place of valorous Allied troops--or Disneyworld
Turkey?
Turkey's Gallipoli Charade
Westerners often do not understand Turkey. The Turkish government does
not mourn the Allied dead any more than it cares about the victims
of its genocides and the deliberately unmarked, mass graves in which
they lie.
Turkey enjoys the spectacle of defeated foreigners trudging to
Gallipoli. Indeed, Turkey holds a huge Gallipoli celebration the month
before. This year, it displayed a victory banner 1915 meters long.
Meanwhile, Turkey's Defense Ministry has reportedly removed the names
of non-Muslims from the list of its soldiers who died at Gallipoli.
2015's Gallipoli attendees can anticipate a lecture by Turkey's
egomaniacal President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He just built himself
a gaudy 1100-room palace for a reported $615 million. In 2013,
Erdogan killed demonstrators in Gezi Square who were protesting his
authoritarian rule, and regularly sues and jails journalists.
Genocide and Denial
The Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek genocides in Turkey were reported
extensively at the time in Allied countries' newspapers. France, Great
Britain, and Russia issued Turkey this famous warning in May 1915:
"The Allied governments ... will hold personally responsible ... all
members of the Ottoman [Turkish] government and those of their agents
who are implicated in such massacres." Australian and New Zealand
(Anzac) POWs, such as Captain Thomas Walter White, witnessed and
later wrote about the genocides.
Winston Churchill termed them a "holocaust." "Race extermination,"
declared U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Henry Morgenthau in 1915. It was
that extermination which first motivated Raphael Lemkin, the Polish
Jewish lawyer who later coined the word "genocide."
The parliaments of the European Union, Canada, France, Lebanon,
Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, and many others, as well as a
U.N. sub-commission, the Vatican, and the International Association of
Genocide Scholars (IAGS), have recognized the Armenian genocide. IAGS
has also recognized the Assyrian and Greek genocides. In 1951,
the U.S. referred to the Armenian "genocide" in a filing with the
International Court of Justice (World Court).
But the governments of the UK (except for Scotland and Wales),
Australia (except for New South Wales and South Australia), and New
Zealand refuse to acknowledge these genocides. They fear Turkey's
reaction. Contrast their gutlessness with the courage of Allied
soldiers at Gallipoli.
By ignoring the Armenian genocide, New Zealand and Australia are
"tacitly complicit in" genocide denial, says New Zealand writer and
businessman Stephen Keys. "Is [Turkey] the sort of government we as
New Zealanders are proud to stand alongside on April 25, 2015?"
Officially, 2015 is "The Year of Turkey in Australia." A more apt name:
"The Year of Turkish and Australian Genocide Denials."
France, on the other hand, has acknowledged the Armenian genocide
despite Turkish threats. A large French delegation headed by President
Hollande will be in Armenia on April 24 for the Genocide Centenary. On
that day in 1915, Turkey arrested and murdered hundreds of Armenian
intellectuals, doctors, priests, writers, and other community leaders
as part of the genocide.
Turkish Bullies
Turkey enjoys bullying others over Gallipoli. Five years ago,
it initially refused to issue visas to Australian and New Zealand
archeologists who were to map Gallipoli's battlefields. Turkey was
angry that Bonnyrigg, a Sydney suburb, had allowed construction of
a monument commemorating the Christian Assyrian genocide.
Two years back, Turkey threatened to ban New South Wales MPs from
Gallipoli because NSW had recognized the Armenian genocide.
Afraid of further incurring Turkey's wrath, earlier this year NSW
installed--surreptitiously--a plaque in Sydney's Hyde Park honoring
the Turkish hero of Gallipoli, and later president, Kemal Ataturk. The
plaque's fine words, allegedly penned by him, are undoubtedly insincere
and perhaps inauthentic. Moreover, this "hero" continued the evil
deeds of his predecessors.
Ataturk, Genocide, and Hitler
Ataturk welcomed veteran genocidists, such as Abdulhalik Renda and
Å~^ukru Kaya, into his new government. From 1919 to 1923, Ataturk's
forces murdered and expelled Christians who had survived the genocides.
In 1937, Ataturk directed the slaughter, sometimes using poison gas,
of thousands of Alevi Kurdish civilians, including women and children,
in the Dersim region. Among the victims were Armenians who had found
shelter there.
Hitler admired Ataturk's brutality. Ataturk was "the greatest man of
the century," the Fuhrer told Turkey's Milliyet newspaper in 1933,
and "Turkey was our role model." Indeed, in WWI, some German officers
took part in the Armenian genocide.
Visitors to Gallipoli will bow before Ataturk's statue unaware of
his appalling record.
The Dead Speak
The Allies fought WWI gallantly. Armenians from many countries were
among them. Armenians even formed a special French Foreign Legion
unit that fought with particular distinction. Hundreds of thousands of
Armenians also served in Allied armies in WWII, while Turkey remained
neutral and cozied up to Nazi Germany.
Beneath Gallipoli's shores and hills, the courageous Allied dead
surely whisper, 'Please, honor our memories by going elsewhere in
April, and shun Turkey's victory dance on our graves and those of
millions of Christian innocents.'
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2015/04/02/the-allies-at-gallipoli-defeat-in-1915-disgrace-in-2015/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Foreign Policy Journal
April 2 2015
by David Boyajian April 2, 2015 No Comments
The Turkish government does not mourn the Allied dead any more than
it cares about the victims of its genocides.
April 25 will mark 100 years since the Allies--the UK, Australia,
New Zealand, and France--made their ill-fated landing on Turkey's
Gallipoli peninsula during WWI. Having barely gotten off the beaches
after months of fighting, the Allies withdrew in defeat, leaving over
44,000 dead and 97,000 wounded.
As in recent years, thousands will flock from the Allied countries and
elsewhere to Gallipoli for the Turkish-led April 24-25 commemorations.
Numerous world dignitaries, including Australia's and New Zealand's
prime ministers and Prince Charles, will also attend.
In April, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand hold Gallipoli
remembrances on their own soil and elsewhere. And throughout the year,
their citizens visit Gallipoli to pay tribute to the UK's 21,000,
Australia and New Zealand's 11,000, and France's 10,000 dead. This
is proper and honorable.
<img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-25925"
src="http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Erdogan_Smoke_Screen_001-215x300.jpg"
alt="Erdogan's Smoke Screen" width="215" height="300" />However,
thronging to April's sham commemoration staged in and by Turkey,
a notorious human rights violator? Which had mistreated Allied POWs?
Which today abuses its remaining Christians, as well as Alevis, Kurds,
and Jews? Which also committed genocide and pillage against millions
of indigenous Christian Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek civilians during
the Gallipoli battle and for years afterward? And which arrogantly
denies having done so?
The UK, Australia, and New Zealand themselves have made the Gallipoli
ceremonies in Turkey something less than solemn. Smiling lottery
winners receive tickets to the event. Youngsters vie to become
Gallipoli "youth ambassadors" and win all-expense paid trips. Is
Gallipoli the resting place of valorous Allied troops--or Disneyworld
Turkey?
Turkey's Gallipoli Charade
Westerners often do not understand Turkey. The Turkish government does
not mourn the Allied dead any more than it cares about the victims
of its genocides and the deliberately unmarked, mass graves in which
they lie.
Turkey enjoys the spectacle of defeated foreigners trudging to
Gallipoli. Indeed, Turkey holds a huge Gallipoli celebration the month
before. This year, it displayed a victory banner 1915 meters long.
Meanwhile, Turkey's Defense Ministry has reportedly removed the names
of non-Muslims from the list of its soldiers who died at Gallipoli.
2015's Gallipoli attendees can anticipate a lecture by Turkey's
egomaniacal President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He just built himself
a gaudy 1100-room palace for a reported $615 million. In 2013,
Erdogan killed demonstrators in Gezi Square who were protesting his
authoritarian rule, and regularly sues and jails journalists.
Genocide and Denial
The Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek genocides in Turkey were reported
extensively at the time in Allied countries' newspapers. France, Great
Britain, and Russia issued Turkey this famous warning in May 1915:
"The Allied governments ... will hold personally responsible ... all
members of the Ottoman [Turkish] government and those of their agents
who are implicated in such massacres." Australian and New Zealand
(Anzac) POWs, such as Captain Thomas Walter White, witnessed and
later wrote about the genocides.
Winston Churchill termed them a "holocaust." "Race extermination,"
declared U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Henry Morgenthau in 1915. It was
that extermination which first motivated Raphael Lemkin, the Polish
Jewish lawyer who later coined the word "genocide."
The parliaments of the European Union, Canada, France, Lebanon,
Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, and many others, as well as a
U.N. sub-commission, the Vatican, and the International Association of
Genocide Scholars (IAGS), have recognized the Armenian genocide. IAGS
has also recognized the Assyrian and Greek genocides. In 1951,
the U.S. referred to the Armenian "genocide" in a filing with the
International Court of Justice (World Court).
But the governments of the UK (except for Scotland and Wales),
Australia (except for New South Wales and South Australia), and New
Zealand refuse to acknowledge these genocides. They fear Turkey's
reaction. Contrast their gutlessness with the courage of Allied
soldiers at Gallipoli.
By ignoring the Armenian genocide, New Zealand and Australia are
"tacitly complicit in" genocide denial, says New Zealand writer and
businessman Stephen Keys. "Is [Turkey] the sort of government we as
New Zealanders are proud to stand alongside on April 25, 2015?"
Officially, 2015 is "The Year of Turkey in Australia." A more apt name:
"The Year of Turkish and Australian Genocide Denials."
France, on the other hand, has acknowledged the Armenian genocide
despite Turkish threats. A large French delegation headed by President
Hollande will be in Armenia on April 24 for the Genocide Centenary. On
that day in 1915, Turkey arrested and murdered hundreds of Armenian
intellectuals, doctors, priests, writers, and other community leaders
as part of the genocide.
Turkish Bullies
Turkey enjoys bullying others over Gallipoli. Five years ago,
it initially refused to issue visas to Australian and New Zealand
archeologists who were to map Gallipoli's battlefields. Turkey was
angry that Bonnyrigg, a Sydney suburb, had allowed construction of
a monument commemorating the Christian Assyrian genocide.
Two years back, Turkey threatened to ban New South Wales MPs from
Gallipoli because NSW had recognized the Armenian genocide.
Afraid of further incurring Turkey's wrath, earlier this year NSW
installed--surreptitiously--a plaque in Sydney's Hyde Park honoring
the Turkish hero of Gallipoli, and later president, Kemal Ataturk. The
plaque's fine words, allegedly penned by him, are undoubtedly insincere
and perhaps inauthentic. Moreover, this "hero" continued the evil
deeds of his predecessors.
Ataturk, Genocide, and Hitler
Ataturk welcomed veteran genocidists, such as Abdulhalik Renda and
Å~^ukru Kaya, into his new government. From 1919 to 1923, Ataturk's
forces murdered and expelled Christians who had survived the genocides.
In 1937, Ataturk directed the slaughter, sometimes using poison gas,
of thousands of Alevi Kurdish civilians, including women and children,
in the Dersim region. Among the victims were Armenians who had found
shelter there.
Hitler admired Ataturk's brutality. Ataturk was "the greatest man of
the century," the Fuhrer told Turkey's Milliyet newspaper in 1933,
and "Turkey was our role model." Indeed, in WWI, some German officers
took part in the Armenian genocide.
Visitors to Gallipoli will bow before Ataturk's statue unaware of
his appalling record.
The Dead Speak
The Allies fought WWI gallantly. Armenians from many countries were
among them. Armenians even formed a special French Foreign Legion
unit that fought with particular distinction. Hundreds of thousands of
Armenians also served in Allied armies in WWII, while Turkey remained
neutral and cozied up to Nazi Germany.
Beneath Gallipoli's shores and hills, the courageous Allied dead
surely whisper, 'Please, honor our memories by going elsewhere in
April, and shun Turkey's victory dance on our graves and those of
millions of Christian innocents.'
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2015/04/02/the-allies-at-gallipoli-defeat-in-1915-disgrace-in-2015/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress