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Al-Ahram, Egypt
Jan 29 2015
Recognising a genocide
The Syrian regime is using the Ottoman massacres of Armenians and
Assyrians to bolster its credentials, reports Bassel Oudat
The regime led by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has not been known
for wanting to investigate the massacres of Christians or allocate
blame for the atrocities committed in the region a century ago, when
it was under Ottoman rule.
In recent weeks, however, it has started to bring Ottoman war crimes
to the fore, a tactic it hopes will make Ankara uncomfortable and
curry favour with local Christian communities.
It is using the atrocities to try to pressure Turkey and incite Syrian
Christians to side with it in its war against the opposition and to
reject Turkey's interference in Syrian affairs.
In 1915, Ottoman troops are believed to have killed more than one
million Armenians and nearly half a million Assyrians, Syriacs,
Chaldeans and Greeks. Turkey has never officially admitted the
atrocities, although its government last year offered "condolences" to
descendants of the Armenian victims.
Despite calls by local Christians on the Syrian regime to recognise
the massacres, a step already taken by nearly 20 nations worldwide,
the government has never shown any interest in the matter. It had
formerly discouraged mention of the atrocities in a bid to stay on
Ankara's good side, but all this is now changing.
The Syrian regime and media are suddenly up in arms about the
massacres, stressing the brutality of the Ottoman Turks and the
widespread nature of the bloodshed. The government is not only
allowing churches to hold masses for the victims of a century ago, but
is also broadcasting these masses through its media and sending
official representatives to attend them.
Reversing an earlier ban on publicising the massacres, which the
Syriacs call sayfo, or "sword," the regime is trying to whip up
Christian feelings in the hope of winning support among the country's
two million Christians, who may feel vulnerable due to the rise of
Islamist extremism in the region.
When Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II, head of the Syriac Orthodox Church,
delivered a sermon on the Ottoman atrocities earlier this month this
was highlighted in the Syrian press, especially his remarks about the
current suffering of Christians in the region.
The utilitarian nature of the regime's newfound humanism is not lost
on Christian politicians. Sayeed Moqbil, a key opposition figure, said
the regime is acting "crudely" and its humanitarian concerns do not
fool observers.
"Up until now Syria has never recognised the Ottoman Turkish massacres
carried out against the Christians a century ago," he said.
Members of minority groups had in the past asked the regime to
recognise the massacres, but the request fell on deaf ears. The only
explanation for the regime's turnaround is that it wants the
Christians to help it stay in power, Moqbil said.
Soleiman Youssef, a Syriac scholar of minority affairs, concurred with
this assessment. Speaking to the Weekly, Youssef noted that some
members of the Christian community are satisfied to see the regime
change its position on this sensitive issue, but the reversal lacked
moral authenticity.
"We do not deny that this step by the Syrian regime has caused a sense
of satisfaction in various Christian circles, but many doubt the
sincerity of the regime. Syria should have been one of the first
countries to recognise the Syriac massacres, some of which happened on
Syrian territory," he said.
Syrian Christians have long argued that the 1915 massacres should be
recognised as a crime against humanity and taught in Syrian schools,
but the regime had previously ignored them.
The ultra-nationalist Committee for Union and Progress, which ran the
Ottoman Empire after deposing Sultan Abdulhamid II in 1908, followed
xenophobic policies that culminated in the massacre of Armenians,
Assyrians and Greeks, a crime which Turkish governments have never
fully recognised aside from an apology issued last year.
Al-Assad's regime in Syria, eager to promote ties with Turkey, in the
past ignored the massacres, just as it ignored the fact that Turkey
had previously annexed a province of Syria, Iskenderun or Hatay, and
stolen water from the Euphrates River.
But the memory of the massacres was kept alive by Syrian Christians,
many of whom are related by blood to the victims. In Qamishli, a
Syrian city on the Turkish border, there are thousands of Assyrian and
Armenian families whose ancestors fled Turkey during the massacres.
Although Al-Assad poses as the protector of Syrian minorities,
including the country's two million or so Christians, he has arrested
the leaders of the opposition Syriac and Chaldean parties. According
to rights groups, 40 churches have been damaged in the course of
Syria's four-year civil war, with 36 being attacked by the regime and
only four by the opposition.
To promote its relations with Turkey, the Syrian regime erased the
Iskenderun province from official maps, declined to discuss the
redrawing of borders, said nothing when Turkey withheld the Euphrates
water, and allowed the Turkish army to wage attacks five km into
Syrian territory in order to chase alleged insurgents.
Tensions between the two countries rose after Turkey sided with the
Syrian revolution in March 2011, however, and Turkey has since offered
refuge to Syrian opposition members.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/10303/19/Recognising-a-genocide.aspx
From: A. Papazian
Jan 29 2015
Recognising a genocide
The Syrian regime is using the Ottoman massacres of Armenians and
Assyrians to bolster its credentials, reports Bassel Oudat
The regime led by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has not been known
for wanting to investigate the massacres of Christians or allocate
blame for the atrocities committed in the region a century ago, when
it was under Ottoman rule.
In recent weeks, however, it has started to bring Ottoman war crimes
to the fore, a tactic it hopes will make Ankara uncomfortable and
curry favour with local Christian communities.
It is using the atrocities to try to pressure Turkey and incite Syrian
Christians to side with it in its war against the opposition and to
reject Turkey's interference in Syrian affairs.
In 1915, Ottoman troops are believed to have killed more than one
million Armenians and nearly half a million Assyrians, Syriacs,
Chaldeans and Greeks. Turkey has never officially admitted the
atrocities, although its government last year offered "condolences" to
descendants of the Armenian victims.
Despite calls by local Christians on the Syrian regime to recognise
the massacres, a step already taken by nearly 20 nations worldwide,
the government has never shown any interest in the matter. It had
formerly discouraged mention of the atrocities in a bid to stay on
Ankara's good side, but all this is now changing.
The Syrian regime and media are suddenly up in arms about the
massacres, stressing the brutality of the Ottoman Turks and the
widespread nature of the bloodshed. The government is not only
allowing churches to hold masses for the victims of a century ago, but
is also broadcasting these masses through its media and sending
official representatives to attend them.
Reversing an earlier ban on publicising the massacres, which the
Syriacs call sayfo, or "sword," the regime is trying to whip up
Christian feelings in the hope of winning support among the country's
two million Christians, who may feel vulnerable due to the rise of
Islamist extremism in the region.
When Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II, head of the Syriac Orthodox Church,
delivered a sermon on the Ottoman atrocities earlier this month this
was highlighted in the Syrian press, especially his remarks about the
current suffering of Christians in the region.
The utilitarian nature of the regime's newfound humanism is not lost
on Christian politicians. Sayeed Moqbil, a key opposition figure, said
the regime is acting "crudely" and its humanitarian concerns do not
fool observers.
"Up until now Syria has never recognised the Ottoman Turkish massacres
carried out against the Christians a century ago," he said.
Members of minority groups had in the past asked the regime to
recognise the massacres, but the request fell on deaf ears. The only
explanation for the regime's turnaround is that it wants the
Christians to help it stay in power, Moqbil said.
Soleiman Youssef, a Syriac scholar of minority affairs, concurred with
this assessment. Speaking to the Weekly, Youssef noted that some
members of the Christian community are satisfied to see the regime
change its position on this sensitive issue, but the reversal lacked
moral authenticity.
"We do not deny that this step by the Syrian regime has caused a sense
of satisfaction in various Christian circles, but many doubt the
sincerity of the regime. Syria should have been one of the first
countries to recognise the Syriac massacres, some of which happened on
Syrian territory," he said.
Syrian Christians have long argued that the 1915 massacres should be
recognised as a crime against humanity and taught in Syrian schools,
but the regime had previously ignored them.
The ultra-nationalist Committee for Union and Progress, which ran the
Ottoman Empire after deposing Sultan Abdulhamid II in 1908, followed
xenophobic policies that culminated in the massacre of Armenians,
Assyrians and Greeks, a crime which Turkish governments have never
fully recognised aside from an apology issued last year.
Al-Assad's regime in Syria, eager to promote ties with Turkey, in the
past ignored the massacres, just as it ignored the fact that Turkey
had previously annexed a province of Syria, Iskenderun or Hatay, and
stolen water from the Euphrates River.
But the memory of the massacres was kept alive by Syrian Christians,
many of whom are related by blood to the victims. In Qamishli, a
Syrian city on the Turkish border, there are thousands of Assyrian and
Armenian families whose ancestors fled Turkey during the massacres.
Although Al-Assad poses as the protector of Syrian minorities,
including the country's two million or so Christians, he has arrested
the leaders of the opposition Syriac and Chaldean parties. According
to rights groups, 40 churches have been damaged in the course of
Syria's four-year civil war, with 36 being attacked by the regime and
only four by the opposition.
To promote its relations with Turkey, the Syrian regime erased the
Iskenderun province from official maps, declined to discuss the
redrawing of borders, said nothing when Turkey withheld the Euphrates
water, and allowed the Turkish army to wage attacks five km into
Syrian territory in order to chase alleged insurgents.
Tensions between the two countries rose after Turkey sided with the
Syrian revolution in March 2011, however, and Turkey has since offered
refuge to Syrian opposition members.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/10303/19/Recognising-a-genocide.aspx
From: A. Papazian