It’s April, that time of the year again. As if we needed one, the Kessab fiasco is running full steam as a reminder of the genocide. It even helped Erdogan’s party pull off a comeback win in Turkey’s local elections.
For those out there in our community who are busily stressing that what happened in Kessab is not “genocide,” all I have to say is best expressed by grade school parlance—No duh! Of course it’s not genocide, in the murderous sense. But it is very definitely a continuation of the ARMENIAN GENOCIDE, in the extirpation-from-our-homeland (or ethnic cleansing) sense. The Young Turks did not organize the genocide because they wanted to kill Armenians. They did so because they wanted Armenia-without-Armenians. It was a land grab. The real estate adage “Location, location, location” was the driving force behind the whole process. If Talat could have snapped his fingers and sent us all to the Atacama, Gobi, or Kalahari deserts, he would have. So those who call the Kessab situation genocide are, technically speaking, wrong. Those who point out this error are even wrong-er because they provide grist for Turkey’s propaganda mill against our overall efforts related to genocide recognition and the defense of our compatriots in Syria.
But, I suppose this is just a taste of things to come. It seems to me that the natural crescendo of effort (artist types creating more, activists politicking more, educators doing more informational outreach) that will attend the 100th anniversary of the genocide will be coupled with voices from our community, contending we’re “overdoing it” in a vacuous effort to seem oh-so-reasonable. There have already been voices in recent years arguing that we are “too focused” on the genocide, allegedly to the detriment of the Republic of Armenia. If anything, I’d argue the opposite: that we are so focused on the RoA that it is impinging on the attainment of our broader national goals. Again, these people will be serving Turkey’s purposes by creating discord among us and taxing the energy and enthusiasm of those committed and working towards a free, independent, and UNITED Armenia.
So here’s some advice and caution. Please excuse my presumptuousness, but I think it’s warranted given the likely intensity and density of the upcoming year. Whether motivated by guilt, inspiration, doing-the-same-old-thing, going with the (higher) flow, or hope, I suspect many members of our communities worldwide will be doing more than they usually do for, about, and with the Armenian Question (in its present incarnation). This can easily lead to complacency (the I-did-something-and-I’m-done mentality), fatigue (especially given the presence of the detractors referenced above), and even frustration (we’re-not-not-getting-any-closer concerns).
Despite all this, none of us gets to “take a break” after the 100th anniversary. It is very unlikely that within one year, Turkey will reform so extensively that we’ll be back in Daron, Dikranagerd, or Doert-Yol/Chork Marzban (Ardahan, Agn, or Adana—if you prefer). So we have many more years of struggle to anticipate. Go into the next year with this simple reality in mind, and we’ll be much better off come April 25, 2015.
Garen Yegparian
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Genocide Acknowledgment without Accountability is hollow and meaningless – it is worse than denial.
No amount of apology or acknowledgment will ever be sincere or enough – it is Genocide Acknowledgment with *Accountability* that matters.
What matters is the *accountability* and specifically Armenian lands, assets, wealth of Armenians confiscated, not to mention the lives of 2 million people brutally murdered, reparation and restitution.
The Turks have not only murdered humans, destroyed an ancient culture, civilization and rewritten history, the Turks continue to legitimize the act as well as the racist ideology that led to the act.
Genocide is a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. To bring about the disintegration of the political and social institutions, culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence, and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups.
So, Kessab is a continuation of genocide. Turkey’s militarized-economic border blockade is a continuation of genocide. Turkey’s support of Azerbaijan to kill Armenians is a continuation of genocide.
Acknowledgment with Accountability – land, reparation and restitution.
Examples of land: Artsakh, Nakhichevan, Ararat, Ani, Kars
Garen seems to be making the assumption that his conceptualization of our “broader national goals” can be achieved without a vibrant-strong-democratic-free market Armenia. He may be right-though I don’t conclude similarly. The quickest route to “our broader national goals” is building a strong Armenia. An Armenia that has influence in world forums-an Armenia that can project military force in its region. Otherwise, we are reduced to continuing our current approach of whining about other countries not doing enough for Armenia or the achievement of our “broader national goals”. It is hard to see how our “broader national goals” play in any country’s foreign policy agenda besides Armenia. We will not get back Western Armenia because others feel sorry for the pitiful Armenians. So sorry that they put aside their own national interests to right the wrongs done to us. So yes, our efforts should overwhelmingly be addressed to strengthening Armenia-make it the kind of place Armenian patriots might prefer to live versus say Southern California or Russia. Then just maybe Armenia might be able to take advantage of geo-political upheavals to seize back Western Armenia in whole or part. Otherwise, at the 200th anniversary we will still be singing “ain’t it awful” and our plaintive cries will even less germane to the world.
You’re actually wrong by accusing the Armenian people of “whining about other countries not doing enough for Armenia.” Demanding that the U.S. government recognize the Armenian Genocide, has absolutely nothing to do with whining about it not doing enough for Armenia. On the contrary, it’s a matter of human rights and social justice. And what’s really pitiful about all this, is how the United States absurdly pretends to be a leader in the department of human rights and social justice, but yet, is not capable of recognizing history’s “first modern genocide” (Armenian Genocide), due to the reason that a large portion of its foreign policy is being controlled by the Islamic terrorist state of Turkey. This again explains the reason why the United States did absolutely nothing when the Turkish government assisted the Al-Qaeda terrorists in its attack of Kessab’s Armenian community. Exactly what sort of a U.S. “war on terror” is this supposed to be? Once again, what’s really pitiful is how the United States persistently does the exact opposite of what it preaches.