ISTANBUL, Turkey (A.W.)—Three weeks before his service in the Turkish military ended, Private Sevag Sahin Balikci, 25, was shot and killed in his army unit stationed in Gumusorgu, near the Kozluk district of Batman province, in southeastern Turkey. The incident happened on April 24, on the 96th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
News about Sevag’s death was first reported by the semi-official Anadolu News Agency. Sevag, it said, was shot after another soldier’s gun accidentally went off while they were joking around with each other. The other soldier, whose name has not yet been made public, was soon after arrested. The unit commanders attempted to reach Sevag’s family to inform them of their son’s death, but they had changed their address a few weeks earlier and instead heard the news from websites that broke the story within a couple of hours. The next day, another statement issued by the General Command of the Turkish Armed Forces contradicted the initial story; it read that Sevag was shot by a stray bullet from his friend’s gun while they were fixing the fences around their station.
“I don’t believe that my son died by an accident on April 24,” said Sevag’s mother, Ani Balikci. “The statement about the accident doesn’t mean anything to me because preventing these accidents is the duty of those who are in charge there. I need an explanation from the Turkish Armed Forces,” she said.
Balikci family lawyer Cem Halavurt told reporters that even if it becomes clear that it was an accident and not a homicide, someone must be held responsible for this. “We are going to sue those who are in charge in the administration,” he said.
According to Radikal daily, the family of Sevag Sahin Balikci requested a full investigation of his death and said it would get lawyers to inspect the autopsy report. Later that first day, however, the family turned more cautious in their statements. Murat Shant Ozdemir, Sevag’s brother-in-law, said they believe what happened was an accident. Ozdemir said that it was a very unfortunate coincidence that this happened on April 24. “We don’t want to link this with anything and we don’t want it to be manipulated by others,” he said.
Ani Balikci’s comments the next day were also more cautious: “We don’t know if it is an accident or not yet. We are going to meet the commanders with our lawyer and they are going to deliver a full report. We are going to visit his army unit station and meet the eyewitnesses. Some people are making false statements on the internet,” she said. “The other soldier who shot my son was his best friend. I sent Easter cookies to the whole unit a day before that. This is not related with April 24 at all. I have no fear from anybody. I already lost my child, why should I be afraid? The commander and the major were at our home and they were as sad as we are,” she said.
The military honored the memory of the private in Diyarbekir on April 25, before the funeral in Surp Vartanants Church of the Ferikoy neighborhood in Istanbul. At the church, Bishop Tatul Anoushian said, “He died while conducting a sacred service. He was very close to his community, society, and country. On behalf of the Patriarchate, the Spiritual Assembly, and our community, I thank chief negotiator Egemen Bagis who represented our government, the chief of staff, his friends in arms, and the non-governmental organizations for their support,” he said, without mentioning anything about the obligations and responsibilities of the state in Sevag’s death.
‘I believe they were talking about April 24’
Melani Kumruyan, Sevag’s fiancée, had a different story to tell. The Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos reported that Sevag had told Kumruyan that he had experienced problems in his unit. According to Kumruyan, a couple of weeks earliest a soldier in his unit lost some money. One of his commanders had held Sevag responsible and beat him mercilessly. Sevag filed an official complaint against the commander for the incident. He later withdrew the complaint under pressure.
“The investigation is ongoing. I want to know who did this and how as soon as possible. I don’t believe that this happened while they were kidding with one another,” said Kumruyan. “I believe that he was murdered. Some fascists in his unit were pressuring him. I think that they were taking about April 24 ,the Armenian Genocide commemoration day, and one of them shot him,” she said.
Kumruyan doesn’t stand alone in her suspicions. Several women attending the funeral at the church told an Armenian Weekly correspondent that they do not believe what the Army Command is saying about Sevag’s death, but that they also cannot do anything about it. No matter what the outcome of the investigation is, the Turkish Armed Forces will remain under suspicion, they said.
The Army Command has attempted to refute those claims through an official statement denying Kumruyan’s remarks. This was neither the first nor last such case in the Turkish Armed Forces, however. A day after Sevag’s death, another soldier, Ugur Pamuk from Diyarbekir, who was serving in Igdir, was also found dead. His commanders claim he committed suicide, the Turkish daily Taraf reported. With this incident, the number of non-combat army deaths in Turkey under suspicious circumstances over the past five years has reached 414.
The army is one of the most closed institutions in Turkey and is a pillar of the Turkish ruling establishment. In the past, it has largely escaped public criticism about its destructive role in Turkish politics and its abuse of power.
Armenian Weekly correspondent Harout Ekmanian filed this report from Istanbul.
Harout Ekmanian
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The Turkish State and Turkish Military are guilty – unless proven innocent.
Why ? because they lie about everything and anything having to do with Armenians.
The fact this young ARMENIAN man had the repellent Turkish flag – soaked with the blood of 2,000,000 innocent murdered Armenians – covering his coffin is an added tragedy and insult.
Sevag, your death will not be forgotten by your brothers and sisters in the Diaspora and Armenia. We never forget. We never forgive. We’ll wait until the time comes.
Hey Avery,
So now it’s 2M “innocent murdered Armenians”! Boy, those numbers just keep on a chang’in, don’t they!! Tell me, how many non-Armenian Turks are in the Armenian military? I’ll wager a guess that the figure is “ZERO”! There are far too many Russians there to “protect” you all against us “evil Turks” (since you’re all far too weak to defend yourselves)! Also, the incident occurred in the SE region of Turkey, did it not! How ironic it would be if he was actually killed by a PKK insurgent ! Can you say with a 100% certainty that this scenario did not actually happen? I thought not!
Avery…Karam can be a real bitch…and it’s coming after all of you…SOON!!!
robert…
you are one despicable, miserable, vicious todd.
i bet you were among those sub human turks who were celebrating at the turkish embassy/washington while the armenians were lamenting on their lose,
and by the way that was the best thing your stupid turkish americans could have done to really show what low lives you people really are… the whole world saw,
thank you very much, aside from apologizing to us for you crimes, paying reparation and returning western armenia to us, this was truly the next best thing, thank you again
your loving armenian friend
Three Armenian soldiers were killed by Azeri-Turk snipers on April 28-29th in Artsakh. Where are the articles about them? They have families too, they were not serving in NATO-Turkish army. There were no church services for their souls in Armenian churches in the Diaspora…
Pentagon paid for training and equipment of Azeri snipers who kill Armenian soldiers every month. Where is the outrage?
Armenians have only and only and only one option to be supper power in the region. Until then, Armenians would be subject of continuous genocide.
Greetings Robert, some of your statements shows your lack of logic.
Now then if Nato did not arm turkey for decades turkey would still be wearing fez s and turbans.In your statement you question 2Million victims;fair enough.Does that mean that you accept that the Armenian Genocide is a real historical fact with 1.5 million victims?
There are many Turkish scholars ,Orhan Pambuc being one of them..that write and speak openly about the genocide and many many writers end up in turkish jails for mentioning “IT”.Under turkish law for insulting “turkishness.”what a joke.Your government fed you male bovine excrement about turkish history.The facts are facts and documented in international archives.My suggestion to you ;read Orhan Pambuc’s book..you might be enlightened an informed.I hope you can read better than you can write.good luck Robert if that’s your real name.
krikor
Just to enlighten you guys that orhan pamuk isn’t scholar and he is only a novelist. He also doesn’t mension the armenian genoside in his novels as i have read all his novels.This is a statement he made in order to get the nobel prize that’s all.i think robert questions the number of the victims as it looks increasing all the time
ROBERT WHEN YOU ARE QUESTIONING THE NUMBERS I WILL NOT REFRESH YOUR RUSTY BRAIN, BUT IT IS WHAT IT IS THE TRUTH HERTS AND YOU SHOULD FACE IT AND TRY TO SWALLOW IT 1896 OVER 300.000 ARMENIAN WERE SLAUGHTERED, BETWEEN 1896 AND 1915 THOUSANDS MORE WERE MURDERED AND 1915 STARTED THE BIG GENOCIDE ALL THE TILL 1955 DO YOUR RESEARCH SO BOTTOM LINE IS WE DONT NEED TO EXAGURATE THE NUMBERS TRUT IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR RUSTY BRAIN, AND DONT LOOK AT LIFE THRU YOUR FINGERS ITLOOKS VERY BLURY, I .M NOT TRYING TO QUESTION YOUR INTELIGENCE SINCE THERE IS NONE, BUT ONLY TELLING YOU WHAT IT IS, I DONT WANT YOU TO GET UPSET BUT INSTEAD WHAT YOU CAN DO IS SIGN THE WEB SITE WERE OVER 30.000 TURKS ALL READY APOLOGISED FOR THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE.
Robert.. first of all.. it is not KARAM.. it is KARMA.. learn to spell the word you eagerly want to put on us.. but TRUST ME.. Karma is a bitch but it is not going to be on us .. It will be on YOU and your GOVT.. for murdering innocent people for no reason but their ethnicity.. What is sad is that you who represent % of ultra nationalism come in here and spew your venom by addressing to the peope of murdered nation like you know something.. reality check SIR.. you know bird’s SH***$***T…. your non-Armenian Turks in the Armenian Army statement makes no sense.. no sense at all.. do you even read your comments before you click “submit’? .. we know you are “submit” happy finger but please don’t making yourself laughing stock here as you usually do with your stupid and anit-Armenian comments… Your govt is such a liar and bastard that whatever they say or do when it comes to Armenians will never be taken seriously and as the truth.. the world knows how Turkey operates.. on lies, distorton and buying off politicians… so get off your high and stupid horse…
good one Krikor… apres…. Gayane
Sevag Sahin Balikci Born in Nisan died in Nisan Nisan means April in Arabic even Turks have stolen months’ names Because they don’t know seasons…they can kill in any season First of all to say…My dear Sevag Why Turks changed your name? We are born in Arab Muslim countries And we lived all our life there… No body changed our names… They enjoy calling us Sako…Saro…Koko Never an Arab killed an Armenian Those people are never muslims They lost humanity Every Armenian must move from there Not to face a new genocide… All the nations love Us The earth belongs to us… Ottoman’s are Seljuks Let them stay there And smell…our degenerated blood See our skeleton under their minarets… Excavation must start…and without delay… Sevag…You are in our minds alive or dead All of us will die But your name as a martyr will eternally stay… Any analyst for your death will say, They killed you Because they enjoy killing All the world knows them And after they kill They pretend innocent And must lie… Because they believe in a god Who is a slayer like them…
Hey Robert:
Although Armenians – when remembering the awful day of April 24, 1915 note the number 1.5 Million – it only refers to the number your Turk brothers murdered from 1915-1923.
1894-1896: Sultan Hamid murdered an estimated 300,000-500,000 Armenians.
1909 Adana massacre: estimated 25,000-30,000 Armenians murdered.
There were several other massacres prior to the Hamidian one throughout the 1800s and between 1896 and 1909: I don’t have the dates and numbers handy just now: the reason they are not widely known is because the numbers – 1,000 here, 2,000 there – pale in comparison to the rest.
As Krikor noted above: if you object to the 2,000,000 figure, does that mean you fully, unconditionally accept the 1,500,000 ? I didn’t think so (….I have read your other posts over the months and know of your frequent use of the term “alleged Armenian ‘genocide’ “)
Nevertheless, if you add up the numbers I have cited above you should arrive at the grand total of about 2,000,000 murdered Armenians: even someone “educated” in the Turkish Higher Institutes of Brainwashing (aka Turkish Un-Education System) should be able to do simple addition. After all, we are not asking you to solve differential equations.
And enough already with your ridiculous ‘Karma’ nonsense that you keep throwing in at every post: we got it – you believe in Karma.
Voskanapat:
You are absolutely right: for some strange reason Diasporans (that would be us) don’t show the same level of outrage when Armenians are killed or murdered by ‘Azeri’ Tatars in Artsakh. It’s as if it’s normal and expected.
Maybe we expect RoA authorities to do something about it, instead of us: don’t know.
Most of the killed soldiers so far have been 18-20 years old: let’s contemplate for a moment what their families are going thru.
Many of these young men are most likely only sons.
That young civilian Manvel whom Azeris abducted, tortured and then murdered was an only-son and the sole support for his poor family.
All web sites in the Diaspora and Armenia (*.am) should have permanent links to a page listing these men, something similar to the [Demand Justice for Zaruhi] graphic on ArmeniaWeekly.com
Hey Robert,
I have a suggestion for you: First of all YOU don’t be a bitch.
Welll said Avery…. apparently numbers are the not the strongest part of the Turkish educational system.. because people like Robert don’t know how to count… OR they simply refuse to come to terms that maybe Armenians are telling the truth and do not exaggerate like the Turkish lying and manipulating govt……
Whichever the year!
Whichever the occasion!
We face the GENOCIDER!
This is the result of ‘Criminals’ gone unpunished for 96 years!
Americans killed Usama bin-Ladin
They trained him to kill…
He was a happy man enjoying his wealth
American are singing…they are happy
They should know that…
He did not kill as much as the Ottomans’ did
and still do in a secret way
Killing innocent kurds…
Journalist like Hrant Dink…and from their blood …Turkish
Even Orhan Pamuk was threatened…
And recently Armenian soldier Sevag
For every place they invaded…occupied…
Taking Yemen’s Coffe call it Turkish Coffee
Taking all the Prophets Scimitars and
demonstrating in their museums…Earning money
Treating people as slaves and recently i heard sex slaves…
Not only they Genocided Armenians,
They Left Arabs 500 years…behind
They never built school or mosque in their lands…
Throw their books in the rivers…
And named them with bad proverbs
As if they are saints
They can never see their inhumanity…!
And they are America’s Allies
Let as see for how long their friendship will last!?1?
To the editorial board:
Congratulations on setting a fine example for future Armenian youth!! Censoring and deleting posts. Now they (youth) can learn that it’s okay to insult, lie, whine, distort, alter, intimidate, defame, slander, manipulate, assault, vandilize, murder, etc. without ever being held responsible, nor to ever be challenged! In reallity, you’ve simply proven the point we’ve been making for years. I hope that you’re all proud of yourselves!
When i was in the Turkish Army in Corlu in 1984 There was an Armenian junior lieutenant .He was very good friend.
I send him my greetings from here Ankara if he reads .
Necati Genis
Necati Genis — No one in Armenia or anywhere in the Armenian Diaspora throughout the world would argue that an ordinary Turk and an ordinary Armenian can befriend. Our indignation is against the policy of denialism of the heinous crime of your grandfathers and the distortion of historical truth that your governments advance, not against ordinary Turkish citizens. Your state is a successor of the Ottoman Empire in which several times—in 1894-96 by Sultan Abdul Hamid II, in 1909 by the CUP, in 1915-1918 by the CUP, and in 1918-23 by the Republican Kemalist government—approximately 2 million Armenians were deliberately and systematically slaughtered as an ethnic and religious group, their lands emptied of them, their homes resettled by Turks, their personal properties, valuables, money, bank accounts, pastures, cattle, and insurance indemnities stolen. Recognition of guilt and repentance by your government for the crime of genocide has nothing to do with a possibility of friendship between a Turk like you and an Armenian like the jr lieutenant you came to know while in the army.
MONASTRAS— please read the comment by Avery.. he breaks it down for you people because it seems like majority of Turks on these pages are really bad at math… really.. where do you see us increasing the numbers of murdered innocent Armenians by your cold blooded ancestors? so please read the break down and then tell us if we are exaggerating the numbers… ROBERT— i am glad to see that you FINALLY described how your govt is manipulating and creating such robots in your country.. thought you would never face the music and understand that Turkish govt for years and years and years have been brainwashing and making (youth) learn that it’s okay to insult, lie, whine, distort, alter, intimidate, defame, slander, manipulate, assault, vandilize, murder, etc. without ever being held responsible, nor to ever be challenged! Thank you for pointing this out about your govt… John D….. I agree with you 100%….
Robert
Why do you call your self Robert
Do you know
What Robert means?
Or you call your self Robert
Because You are a real Robert
From Many Genes
Many DNA
But because you have Turkish nationality
You want to protect
Committing sins after sin
Against peace loving people…
Who build your minarets…
Awake and analyze your DNA
Only the scientist can tell
From the place you have arrived
To insult the artful history of Armenians
May be you are an Arab…from Saudi Arabia
May be you have Armenian blood
But you aren’t aware…
May be you don’t have any genes from Seljuk’s
May be you are an original Jew from Sinai…?
Sylva-MD-Poetry
Written instantly
Hey Robert:
re: “also, the incident occurred in the SE region of Turkey, did it not! How ironic it would be if he was actually killed by a PKK insurgent ! Can you say with a 100% certainty that this scenario did not actually happen? I thought not!”
I know you were really, really hoping that it was the PKK that killed Sevag.
Unfortunately for you it is being reported that the murder suspect, who has been arrested, was another soldier in his military unit – Kivanc Agaoglu.
It is being claimed it was an ‘accident’.
Too bad: looks like your Karma didn’t work this time.
“insult, lie, whine, distort, alter, intimidate, defame, slander, manipulate, assault, vandilize, murder, etc”
Excuse me.. These are Turkish trends, acts and ways. Do not try to throw your dirty clothes on us, you proud denialist.
Robert, you are so misguided by unexamined nationalism and hatred for Armenians. I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you simply can’t accept the awful truth of the genocide committed by the Ottoman/CUP government and the modern Republic of Turkey’s denial of this genocide. But if you think that patriotism means that you never criticize your government when they are wrong, then you are wrong. You need to open your eyes because you are sadly deluding yourself.
“I have by no means told the most terrible details, for a complete narration of the sadistic orgies of which these Armenian men and women were the victims can never be printed in an American publication.” —- Henry Morgenthau, U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in 1913-16
Source: “And Those Who Continued Living in Turkey after 1915”, page 99.
“I have by no means told the most terrible details” says Mr. Morgenthau. Naturally, since he has rarely left his residence in Istanbul (sorry Konstantinyye!), let alone visitin Eastern Turkey, from what we understand had very limited or no knowledge of Turkish, and in this age of little internet, newspapers and TV, happened to get most of his information from his Armenian help. I totally believe him!
“Robert, you are so misguided by unexamined nationalism and hatred for Armenians.” Ah look, who is talking, and on these very pages where Turkophobia is paraded with such pride. “Unexamined hatred and nationalism” I like that.
Robert writes: ‘Now they (youth) can learn that it’s okay to insult, lie, whine, distort, alter, intimidate, defame, slander, manipulate, assault, vandilize, murder, etc. without ever being held responsible, nor to ever be challenged!’ Your words seem to also reflect the Turkish Army’s handling of the event. Kind of Hitlerian. Gayane, PLEASE, we’ve got to be more civilized with our language or we embarrass ourselves before others. Write what your thoughts, let them steep, reread and edit it if necessary. What you write has much merit but if said with moderated temperament would have greater value. But foremost, people don’t react to Robert and Murat’s comments and hopefully they’ll go away. It’s their mission to rile/antagonize you, their conniving psyche hasn’t changed in the past 95 years or more…it’s pathological and Armenians have more important/critical matters to deal with than Robert & Murat’s distractions.
Murat, You and Robert are two peas in the pot so i say “VOID”.. to whatever you write.. the end..
“I have by no means told the most terrible details” says Mr. Morgenthau. Naturally, since he has rarely left his residence in Istanbul (sorry Konstantinyye!), let alone visiting Eastern Turkey, from what we understand had very limited or no knowledge of Turkish, and in this age of little internet, newspapers and TV, happened to get most of his information from his Armenian help. I totally believe him!”
You bet you’ve got to believe Ambassador Morgenthau. Because being stationed in Istanbul (sorry, ancient Christian Byzantine capital of Constantinople, tobe historically and toponymically correct), he witnessed the rounding-up anddisappearing of the Armenian intelligentsia on April 24, 1915. One doesn’t haveto have an excellent command in a minor language, such as Turkish, to see genocidalatrocities against the Armenians, which Ambassador Motgenthau in his officialtelegrams to Washington described as “the death warrant to a whole race.” Hewrote, in particular, “I am confident that the whole history of the human racecontains no such horrible episode as this. The great massacres and persecutionsof the past seem almost insignificant when compared with the sufferings of theArmenian race in 1915.” (Source: Henry Morgenthau, Ambassador Morgenthau’sStory (New York: Doubleday, Page & Co.: 1919), pp. 307-309, 321-323.)
In the age of little internet, newspapers and TV, Ambassador Morgenthau happened to get most of his information not only from what he himself witnessed, but also from his Consuls stationed in several places throughout the Empire where they first-handly witnessed and reported to both Morgenthau and Washington the atrocities of the barbarous Turks. They were: (1)American Consul Oscar S. Heizer stationed in Trebizond during the Armenian Genocide; (2)American Consul J.B. Jackson stationed in Aleppo during the Armenian Genocide (witnessed death marches and mass starvation of Armenians organized by the Turks in the Syrian desert of Deyr ez-Zor); (3)American Consul Leslie A. Davis stationed in Harput (sorry, Kharberd in Armenian, to be historically and toponimically correct) during the Armenian Genocide.
The problem with Turlish posters here is their denialism of an increasingly obvious and widely recognized fact of the deliberate destruction of Armenians. I understand that it is hard to admit that your grandparents were mass murderers, torturers, mutilators, rapists, child killers, and thieves. It is very psychologically difficult to realize that you belong to a nation capable of committing genocides of other human beings, innocent human beings. But this is who your ancestors were. If you wish to differ from them, tha only way out is not the denialism of their crimes, but repentance and apology to the victims. I don’t think you personally are capable of doing this. But one day, you nation will kneel and ask for forgiveness. This is not fantasy, this is what happens at the end of the road, simple because there IS a higher justice than the mundane one.
AMEN to that John D. AMEN ….
You are absolutely utterly correct in what you stated above…thank you for providing specifics ……
Maybe Murat, Robert and their kind including their brainless and heartless govt should get serious physcological help.. it is traumatic to think their grandfathers/ancestors are murderers of an entire innocent race.. you are right John D. maybe that is what they need first and foremost.. maybe US should gather up their most expensive shrinks and send them to Turkey… but then again US needs to professional help as well because no country in their right mind would work hand in hand with the BIGGEST violators of all human rights, Turkey…..
Is it any wonder that another very respectable American, Admiral Bristol’s reports and comments on the same issues and in the same time period have been diligently avoided in these forums?
He had summed it up pretty nicely.
True, there are those who have a hard time dealing with facts, and it is not whom you mostly think.
Admiral Bristol? Who was he? An official representative of the government of the United States in the Ottoman Empire as Ambassador Morgenthau and Consuls Oscar S. Heizer, J.B. Jackson, and Leslie A. Davis? No… Bristol was a fervent supporter of the Chestler concession, approved by the U.S. Congress of the newly founded Republic of Turkey in 1923, that allowed the U.S. development of oil and railways in the Near East. He barred access to murder cites of Armenians and Greeks by the Turks to stop reports. One of the worst cases of distortions from Bristol’s part was actually forcing eyewitnesses of the Smyrna fire organized by the Turks to change their versions. When he left the Ottoman Empire and finally the Chestler concession proved to be a failure, he plainly and simply admitted that the Ottoman authorities ordered the destruction of the Armenians. Yes, Bristol said harsh things about Greeks and Armenians, particularly the Greeks. He was known for his Greekophobia, part of it was due to the fact that on the Western part of the Empire Greeks were considered as a driven force against the Ankara-established Kemalist force. Bristol was well aware that with the Armenians and Greeks in the region, if their rightful land claims are given legitimacy, both will control the market and have all the shares, when the Americans and Western investors were simply replacing the Armenians. The same happened a little before WWI, when the Ottoman with the Baghdad railroad project promised the Germans contacts in the East, basically replacing the indigenous Armenians. Bristol was placed in the Ottoman Empire specifically to profit of the potential new market. It was basically because of him that just after the makeshift Turkish Republic was declared, the U.S. already had commercial contracts prepared and signed. He achieved one part, but he failed the Chestler concession because the Kemalists outsmarted him and because the idiot was dumb enough to believe every Turkish craps and empty promises they made to him (how can a normal person believe a sly Turk??). Turkish revisionists often use Bristol as evidence, while, in reality, he has no credibility whatsoever.
Admiral Bristol reported on events in Armenia well after they happened and with a particularly harsh prejudice against Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks as the administration served were advocating the interests of oil companies (feeling the might gain access to Baku) and isolationists after WWI who did not want to help defend Armenia. He was a fervant supporter of the Chestler concession. He barred access to murder cites to stop reports, particularly in Smyrna. A lot of things could be said about him. One of the worst cases of distortions from his part was ctually forcing eyewitnesses of the Smyrna fire to change their versions. When he left the Ottoman and finally the Chestler concession was a failure he plain and simply admitted that the Ottoman autorities ordred the destruction of the Armenians. He as known to say many harsh things about Greeks and Armenians, particularly the Greeks, he was known for his Greekophobia, part of it was due to the fact that time on the Western part the Greeks were considered as a driven force against the Ankara established Kemalist force. Bristol was well aware that with the Armenians and Greeks in the region if their land claims are given legimicy, both will control the market and have all the shares, when the Americans and western investors were simply replacing the Armenians. Bristol was placed there specifically to profit of the potential new market. It was basically because of him that just ater the republic was declared the US already had commercial contracts prepared and signed. Revisionists often uses him as evidence, while he has no credibility. He was not there to witness any events prior to the burning of Smyrna. Bottomline: Ambassador Morgenthau, who informed the world about the Armenian Genocide, was there when it happened. Admiral Mark Bristol, who became U.S. High Commissioner in Turkey after World War I, did not even arrive in Turkey until 1920. Since Bristol was not in Turkey during the Genocide, and the Armenians had already been killed, he had to ask the Turks what happened. Bristol could only talk to the executioners of the Armenians, the Turks. The Turks are hardly creditable witnesses to their own crime. Bristol, a stern military man, liked the military junta ruling the post-World War I Turkey, and he eagerly talked about the “bad qualities” of the Armenians and Greeks. Do “bad qualities” justify a genocide? If so, that might put even the Turks and Americans at risk.
Bristol was said to do the following by TIME back in 1925
When the New Turks became lusty, Admiral Bristol (without instruction from the U. S. State Department) told them to quit massacring Armenians. They quit. With similar effect he told the Greeks to control themselves at the sight of a Turk.–I SAY HA HA.. now that is funny…
Bristol said: The new regime in Turkey is a most remarkable evidence of a revolution in form and administration of a government. Briefly, an absolute monarchy has been replaced by a republic. Church has been separated from state and religion eliminated from all law codes. Religion of any kind may be taught in the churches and the mosques, but not in the schools. All persons born in Turkey, without regard to race, religion or nationality, have all rights of Turkish citizenship. The Turkish leaders without previous experience must evolve the new administration. There are bound to be mistakes and the evolution will be slow, but there are many evidences of progress. –Can you say ” This sounds the same BS the current govt of Turkey and US have been feeding everyone about Turkey?”.. OF COURSE….
and of course another dillusional and sick individual who is obsessed with the loony Bristol and calls himself Holdwater has a site where he sh****$*$*#((#$*$#ts all over the pages with his anti-Armenian and Pro-Turkish venom and inaccurate BS…his website is http://www.tallarmeniantale.com/holdwater.htm
his contact e-mail is holdwater@gmail.com… I almost puked and i wish i puked on him or her who is the author of such filth… i am guessing his half or step-brother of Murat or Robert.. cause they have the same mentality ….
John D.. Excellent reply…
G