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Today marks the 92nd anniversary of the beginnings of the [tag]Armenian genocide[/tag]. Although the Turkish Ottomans had organized several systematic massacres prior to 1915, the events that began in 1915 mark a significant political and military strategy to purge all Armenians from Ottoman lands.
Modern day [tag]Turkey[/tag] disputes the facts that there ever was a genocide, asserting that 1. the [tag]Ottoman Empire[/tag] was at war during World War I, and any “massacres” were simply acts of war. Both Armenians and Turks were dying; 2. Even if there was a genocide, modern day Turkey is not responsible for the actions of the Ottoman Empire.
On April 24, 1915, Ottoman government officials gathered the top 250 Armenian leaders and intelligentsia, and murdered them, beginning a wide-spread hunt for Armenians. Many were deported, only to die in the desert. By the end of World War I, anywhere between 1.5 million to 2 million Armenians were killed. Most historians regard these acts as the first genocide of the 20th century. On a personal level, many cousins and relatives of my maternal Grandfather were killed through the genocide.
What is painful to Armenians is Turkey’s continued denial that those events ever occurred. Most historians and many countries around the world recognize those events as Genocide. The United States government has yet to use the word genocide to refer to those events. Much of that has to do with the importance of our (military) alliance with Turkey. What is unfortunate is that many Armenian lobbies encourage voting for certain candidates based on their promise that once elected, the candidate will officially recognize the genocide. Armenians organized in mass against John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2000 because he said that our alliance in Turkey prevents him from ever publicly recognizing the genocide. Candidate Bush promised that he would recognize it. We still await for that recognition.
Over the last several years, the Turkish government has sought to create an international panel of historians to examine the events of 1915. Yesterday, the government took out a full-page ad in the LA Times challenging Armenians to agree to this type of forum. You can read it here. This forum is unnecessary. There is no reason for anyone to re-examine events that are historically accurate and true. If the Turkish historians feel like they should debate it, then they could do so on their own turf. The rest of the international community does not need to waste its time, energy or money for such useless exercises.
Armenians everywhere should commit to several resolutions. My thoughts are controversial and unpopular in the Armenian community:
- We recognize the severity of the genocide and its deep impact of our history. We do not need the approval or disapproval of other countries or societies to limit the importance of the events and genocide of 1915.
- We forgive the perpetrators of the genocide. As Christians, we are called to forgive and replace evil with good. The Turkish government not admitting nor apologizing for those events does not determine whether we forgive. We are not at the mercy of the Turkish government to extend forgiveness and practice the important tenets of our Christian faith.
- We commit to bring an end to genocide everywhere. Of all people, we recognize the pain of genocide and the pain of people not remembering. We will recognize and work pro-actively to bring an end to genocide everywhere.
- We commit to educating our children, and friends and strangers. No one but us is responsible for educating the world about our experience.
- We will define and pride our culture on our successes and contributions as a nation and people. Too many Armenians define what it means to be Armenian through a victims’ mentality. Play dumb and ask an Armenian to give you a quick answer to the question, “Who are the Armenians?” and you will get a quick history lesson of the genocide. We have allowed the Turks to steal our culture.
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Thanks for posting this Eddy. I think you’re right in calling people to acknowledge the truth reminding all people that forgiveness is not dependent upon someone’s apology; reconciliation might be, but forgiveness isn’t.
It’s sad that the majority of the states in the US acknowledge the genocide and label it as such, but the federal government won’t. It saddens me when our “interests” trump exposing the truth.
I’d like to hear more about your views on why the commission would be unnecessary. I think it is reasonable to be skeptical that the genocide-deniers could spin such a commission and force it into endless bureaucracy, but I think it could also be a moment of bringing out the truth and having people acknowledge it. It could be worthwhile for everyone — I imagine many people living in Turkey today either aren’t aware of the genocide or think it of something as a myth. On the other hand, depending on who is brought onto the commission, it could be something ridiculous like Iran’s similar commission about the Holocaust last year, headed by Ahmadinejad and attended by David Duke.
Your last sentence is exactly why. The genocide has been investigated by countless historians, governments, authors, writers–including Turks, Armenians and others—and most reliable/reasonable sources have concluded that there was a genocide committed by the government at the time against the Armenian people.
A commission that would examine the Turks’ role in the atrocities would make sense, but anything that begins with a zero-base assumption is futile. The Jews would not accept such a thing, neither should Armenians.
Eddy, those are 5 great points that would apply to many other peoples, including Palestinians. I am not sure which is the most challenging to live out.
Have you read the book My Big Father by Bruce Farnham? He gives a great contemporaneous account of the Armenian genocide even though it is more a side story to the main biography.
Thanks Samer about that book. I don’t know about it. I’d be curious to read what he says and the context it’s used in.