Tweet
Letters: Centenary of Armenian genocide
Mon, Jan 5, 2015, 01:06
Sir, - 2015 is the centenary of the Armenian genocide that cost the
lives of up to a million Armenian men, women and children.
What makes the Armenian genocide so important is that because it was
so "successful" from an Ottoman Turk point of view it became a sort of
blueprint for further acts of genocide in the 20th century.
Infamously, Adolf Hitler is reported to have said: "Who, after all,
speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"
The relative success of the Armenian genocide encouraged others,
including Hitler, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, and the Rwandan government to
carry out further acts of genocide.
Acknowledgement and recognition by the international community that
the atrocities committed against the Armenian people between 1915 and
1922 amounted to genocide is vital in order to ensure justice and
accountability for the Armenian people, and to strengthen global
jurisprudence toward preventing further acts of genocide.
France, Russia, the US congress and the European Parliament have
already recognised the Armenian genocide but many other countries,
including Ireland and the UK, have yet to do so.
The present Turkish government must be pressurised by the
international community into accepting that its predecessors
perpetrated genocide against the Armenian people. Turkey has
aspirations to membership of the European Union, and Europe needs
Turkey as a positive bridge toward the Middle East and toward Islamic
communities.
The European Union should make it clear that recognition of the
Armenian genocide must be a prerequisite for EU membership, and
perhaps lead to EU membership for both Turkey and Armenia. - Yours,
etc,
Dr EDWARD HORGAN,
Castletroy,
Limerick.
http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/centenary-of-armenian-genocide-1.2053290
Mon, Jan 5, 2015, 01:06
Sir, - 2015 is the centenary of the Armenian genocide that cost the
lives of up to a million Armenian men, women and children.
What makes the Armenian genocide so important is that because it was
so "successful" from an Ottoman Turk point of view it became a sort of
blueprint for further acts of genocide in the 20th century.
Infamously, Adolf Hitler is reported to have said: "Who, after all,
speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"
The relative success of the Armenian genocide encouraged others,
including Hitler, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, and the Rwandan government to
carry out further acts of genocide.
Acknowledgement and recognition by the international community that
the atrocities committed against the Armenian people between 1915 and
1922 amounted to genocide is vital in order to ensure justice and
accountability for the Armenian people, and to strengthen global
jurisprudence toward preventing further acts of genocide.
France, Russia, the US congress and the European Parliament have
already recognised the Armenian genocide but many other countries,
including Ireland and the UK, have yet to do so.
The present Turkish government must be pressurised by the
international community into accepting that its predecessors
perpetrated genocide against the Armenian people. Turkey has
aspirations to membership of the European Union, and Europe needs
Turkey as a positive bridge toward the Middle East and toward Islamic
communities.
The European Union should make it clear that recognition of the
Armenian genocide must be a prerequisite for EU membership, and
perhaps lead to EU membership for both Turkey and Armenia. - Yours,
etc,
Dr EDWARD HORGAN,
Castletroy,
Limerick.
http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/centenary-of-armenian-genocide-1.2053290