Armenians are understandably distressed when they encounter statements that distort or deny the facts of the Armenian Genocide, and feel comforted when it is properly acknowledged. While they are quick to castigate the deniers, they rarely take the time to recognize those who speak the truth.
These thoughts came to mind as I was reading two truthful and bold articles on the Armenian Genocide—the first by a righteous Jew, the editor of the Intermountain Jewish News (IJN) of Denver, Color., and the second by a righteous Turk, commentator Burak Bekdil of Hurriyet Daily News.
The editor of the IJN did not mince words, starting with the headline: “All that lying about the Armenian Genocide did not help.” He then proceeded to launch a frontal attack on Jewish organizations and Israel’s leaders who have been playing immoral games with the Armenian Genocide, just to appease the Turkish government. Here are some excerpts from that powerful editorial:
“We could use the word ‘diplomacy’ or ‘politics’ or ‘ignorance’ or ‘objectivity’ or ‘fairness.’ In truth, there is only one word: lie. For many years, some national Jewish organizations lied about the Armenian genocide, perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks during WW I. These organizations said it didn’t happen, or that it was a matter of ‘historical dispute.’
“…On the grounds that Israel had to maintain good relations with Turkey, these national Jewish organizations—not to mention Israel herself—accepted Turkey’s denial of the Armenian genocide, or said it was ‘disputed.’ Good relations with Turkey could only be purchased by acceptance of Turkey’s lying about the Armenian genocide, we were told. It was disgraceful.
“…Lying about the Armenian genocide should not be part of the currency of Israeli—or American Jewish—diplomacy with Turkey. Israel and these national Jewish organizations should now see that, even pragmatically, the lying did not help. And morally? When it comes to genocide, diplomacy and politics have no place. There can be no denying, ignoring or low-prioritizing genocide. Israel and national Jewish organizations denied that principle—and this denial is now coming back to bite them.
“…Regarding genocide, posterity is enormously unkind. Today, even in Turkey the number of scholars who acknowledge the Armenian genocide is growing. Various counter-claims, denying the Armenian genocide, look ever more outlandish. Can you imagine anyone credibly claiming that the Warsaw Ghetto revolt in 1943 shows that the Holocaust was just a ‘civil war’ between the Jews and the Germans? That’s how ridiculous the ‘civil war’ characterization of the Turkish prosecution of the Armenian genocide is coming to look. Posterity, we repeat, treats genocide deniers very unkindly.
“…When bad people murder a whole population, good people must respond, as respond we must in Darfur today. When time passes and we look back on people who murdered a whole population, we must never allow that transcendent evil to be denied or downplayed because of diplomatic or political considerations. It’s wrong. And it won’t work.”
Liberal Turkish commentator Burak Bekdil’s article is just as powerful. Several years ago, he received a suspended 20-month sentence for writing an article that criticized the Turkish judiciary. Now, once again, Bekdil risks being thrown into jail, as article 301 of the Turkish penal code makes it a crime to refer to the Armenian Genocide.
In his commentary, Bekdil is boldly suggesting that the Turkish government make a list of all its past crimes, adopt a resolution in parliament led by the AKP Party, and issue an apology to the victims. He specifically mentions “the Armenian Genocide” among Turkey’s past crimes! Here is an excerpt from Bekdil’s daring article:
“First, let’s make a list of the Turkish atrocities of the past century. There is Dersim, of course. But for a start, I shall also propose the Armenian genocide; war crimes against Greeks during the War of Independence; pogroms and other violence against Greeks, Armenians and Jews during the earlier years of the Republic; the deaths of 40,000 Kurds as the only Turkish Nobel laureate once put it; and more Kurdish atrocities between 1984 to 2002. Of course, these sorrowful events can be multiplied endlessly and any other ideas are most welcome… I would urge our pro-AKP liberals to pen a draft text in recognition of a full list of Turkish atrocities in the 20th century, decorated further with an official apology to the victims and their relatives.”
Armenian organizations should pay tribute to these two righteous men for daring to condemn their own leaders and expose their lies on the Armenian Genocide!
The editor of the IJN, Miriam Goldberg, can be contacted by emailing email@ijn.com.
Harut Sassounian
Why doesn’t the name of the Jewish editor appear in this article?
How Many Souls Can Humans Mourn?
How many souls can humans mourn?
How many mourns sow?
How many mourns unsown?
One, two, three, four, and many more!
Ageless, young, old, some unborn!
What lament? How many more?
Mother, father, sisters, brothers,
And many, many, many others.
Uncountable, unlamentable, ungrieveable.
All are vanished, no bit is left.
Not even a piece of handkerchief
To wipe the tears silently wept.
Eyes, ears, soul, spirits,
Full of dreads, terrors, horrors, fears.
Some say all lies,
Nobody can kill so many lads.
Many babies,
Many brides,
Many mothers, grannies,
More than cats, dogs, sheep, cows.
All done by butcher’s hands, feet, mouths, as well
With other hidden organs, soaked sinfully in blood,
God created spirits; yelled almighty’s name till sighed
After, vocal cords dried, of moist, of lard.
Innocent children were singing just few days before,
For Pashas to live long [
Pashas lived to slash innocent singers’ throats
No voices heard yet to lore in courts.
Yasha, Yasha our dears, our Pashas]
My mother, Viva (Victoria) sang in tears,
I learned Turkish from her indoors.
Today I’m poeting insightfully
Easing
her sourness in cores!
Deny, deny, and deny . . . all lies.
Turks continue to stress, emphasize,
“That was done by our unknowns, not human.
With criminal, scavenger’ hands.”
We are proud of what
We have done in the past.
We are Turks. We are Ottomans.
Our adamant law must never be panned.
We kill the way we like.
No one can break our pike.
Even if others dislike,
They must comply like us, and like.
If anyone objects our way,
Can go to any hell they ray.
The doors are open there to pray
We are Turks; everyone must us obey.
And follow our rule that’s our say.
Even things seem never blue but grey.
We must deny every crime and pray—
Insist to join the EU’s democratic parades.
To live the way we like, they do.
In our land, we behave
The way we have always had;
We can never change till depart.
Everyone knows
We have Ottoman brain—hands.
We never believe in freedom of speech.
We are not born French, democracy in us can’t preach.
Our tongues should deny and lie.
We can cut every tongue red, white, black.
Scimitars… we carry with pride—
Hidden, yet ready to shine; even in dark.
We will continue to slay forever-again.
Those who denigrate Turkishness.
In spite of this, who is real Turk man?
Of course, all Frenchmen; hence, Europeans.
Kurds and Armenians did not exist and never will.
They are only names in a thesaurus dear—
They all vanished, never been renowned,
Who are, from which space entered in count!
Kurds are Turks of the mountains,
Armenians forgotten in unknown terrains,
Existing before the pharaohs, never after then;
However, they have never been in our field of domain.
Their lands are ours they have all vanished.
EU countries should know our deeds!
Turkey is our land, only Turks, in resides.
Our skin is white, covering cyanotic blood,
Our hearts born dark; this is our way to last!
We will enter heaven by our scimitars!
We will never see hell! We’re born Turks in every cell.
We can kill till we invade EU lands and stay in their care.
Able to change heaven to hell
And settle always haughty there;
As far as no Armenians, breathe at pier,
Yet like to see their corpses as peer!
Kudos is due to this courageous editor and commentator.
Will Ms. Goldberg’s tone and the ICJ’s new found revelation about the Armenian genocide change once Turkey recommences its ‘proper’ etiquette of courtship with Israel?
Yes indeed kudos is due to this very courageous editor and commentator Ms. Goldberg of IJN. I hope matters surrounding the Armenian Genocide starts changing from now on. Thank you Ms. Goldberg.
The real issue here is why don’t we have the energy to honor and acknowledge outside communities when they support us. It seems we expect their support so when they do , it’s a bit taken for granted and when we don’t our reaction is strong. Any Turk that publically support the genocide recognition
and is in any position of visibility is a courageous individual and should be supported. It is insensitive for us to claim”they didn’t do far enough” or ‘we’ll see” . We don’t have code 301 to worry about or ultra-nationalists lurking. We don’t live in a society that has denied its people the truth and some are just beginning to experience a “reawakening”. After all, as Armenians in America, where was the genocide on our agenda before 1965? We must pay more attention to supporting, and not taken for granted, the acts of others on our behalf. If we did more for Darfur, for example, we might have a different perspective.
Dear Stepan, just for the record, ANCA which is an Armenian organization very well known throughout the States, has been working for the Armenian Genocide recognition for at least 30 years now as well as other Armenian organizations and communities throughout the world. You are saying as to where were we before 1965? Do you know what Talaat Pasha said right after the Armenian Genocide? He said that the Genocide was such an enormous blow to the Armenian people and nation that Armenians will not be able to raise their heads in 50 years. That’s what he said and that’s what he had predicted. And that’s exactly what happened with the survivors. Their miseries and pains were so enormous, after leaving millions of little orphaned children, how could they? Put yourself in their position, and you will see why the Armenian nation’s blow was so enormous that they thought about their own survival first. Right about in 1965, which was exactly 50 years after the Genocide that Talaat Pasha predicted, the Armenian nation started asking and demanding their rights for acceptance of the Armenian Genocide and for reparations.
For the record, I have been and I am always wholeheartedly thankful to the wonderful Mr. Orhan Pamuk, Mr. Taner Akcam and a whole bunch of Turkish intellectuals who today after knowing their country’s Code of 301, they are brave enough and ethical enough to be siding with the truth and with the acceptance of the Armenian Genocide. May God bless them for that.
BTW; I have also been very much involved within the Armenian community and I do indeed support Darfur myself.
Dear Seervart…. thank you very much for your thoughtful response. Relative to the “reawakening”in1965, my intent was not to be critical of the survivor generation. It’s quite the opposite. I am in awe of what the Armenianversion of the “greatest generation” accomplished. I could never feelanything but love and admiration for mygrandparents andtheir peers. They gave us everything we have today from infrastructure to inspiration. My comment was focused on the reality that they chose the correct priority…. to build a community in the diaspora and especially in the case of the Dashnaktsotooyn to keep nationalism and “the cause” alive.I highly recommend Michael
Bobelian’s recently published, “ Children of Armenia”. It provides great insight to the genocide recognition issue in America from its high profile in the early1920’s to the dormant period of the 1930’s until the 1960″s. My own personal view is that the 1965 change had more todowith a generational transfer of responsibility and the impact of the genocide on the succeeding generations born in the diaspora.
The ARF has had an incredible ability to adjust over the decades to the changing needs of the nation.From are revolutionary party that defended the homeland, it was the only party, in my view, that adjusted in this country to establishing a community frameworkandcontinues to this day. I credit the ARF almost single-handedly for maintaining nationism in the American diaspora. That traditional populist role has not translated into a majority parliamentary seats in Armenia, but i think they have recently made an attempt to return to its roots… a party of the people…. by playing the loyal opposition role. This is a huge opportunity, not only for the ARF, but for the evolutionof democracy in Armenia….. without which we will flounder.
Growing up in this country,I remember that the tri-color was viewed only as a Dashnag symbol and that only local gomidehs celebrated the Battle of Sardarapat( but Armenia never forgot) . I was
always upset that the entire Armenian community, because of partisan hatred, could not celebrate the 1918 equivilent of the Battle of Avarayr in 451. Without those brave people in 1918 our fate would have been similar to the impact if the Armenians from 451-484 had chosen a differnet path.
I enjoy your comments, even if we don’t agree 100%(maybe 95%),it is obvious that you are driven by a love of the Armenian people and that is what counts!!!!!
Dear Stepan, thank you for your good insight and comments about the May 18, 1918 and how fragments of Armenians, along with some survivors of the Armenian Genocide, under the flag of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation – Tashnagtsutyun fought until their last might and their last breath against Turkey who wanted to annihilate them once more. But the enemy couldn’t. We must be greatly thankful to ARF and our brave people for it. In the latter part of Armenian history, indeed May 1918 was a second Avarayr, except that in 1918 we undoutedly won the war against our enemy. And you are again right that if it wasn’t for the ARF, the Diaspora would not have been what it is today. In 1945 and then again in 1948, it was Tashnagtsutyun who was against sending their population from the Middle East into the harsh and the crude hands of the communists in Armenia; not because they were against for them to go to Armenia, but because they knew that the time wasn’t right for the population and they would have suffered enormously and which they did. Unfortunately some Ramgavars didn’t listen to the ARF and they pushed the population to repatriate and the ones that did go, were extremely sorry to have gone at that time. It was again Tashnagtsutyun who were against Armenians to leave the Middle East to go to Europe or even to the US. They knew that once the population went and mingled with the Europeans, they would assymilate much faster than if they remained in the Middle East, and again how right they were. But unfortunately wars broke down and governments nationalised businesses and many left the Middle East to go to greener pastures, only to assymilate much much more than if they had to stay back in the Middle East. Yes and yes again, the ARF played a great role for 119 years and indeed they are continuing their patriotic stand of gathering the Armenian nation together under one roof; and making them first to survive and then to thrive!
We all owe a great deal to this one and only organization that thinks and breaths for the people, our wonderful Armenian people!