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Thoughts as We Approach the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide
By Ara Caprielian
"Mass meetings on behalf of the Armenians amount to nothing whatever if they are mere methods of giving a sentimental but ineffective and safe outlet to the emotion of those engaged in them."
—Theodore Roosevelt
It has been our centuries-old quest to live as a sovereign nation in our historic Homeland. Our contemporary demand for a free, independent, and united Armenia is a relatively modern political formulation of the above.
Centuries of foreign
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Dr. Ara,
Thank you very much.
A very thoughtful article that is timely, factually accurate,
relevant and forceful.
There is a major effort by the Armenian nation, in the Homeland and the Diaspora to commemorate the Centennial of the Genocide. There also is a valiant effort by the various organizations (i.e. ANCA in the USA)on the political front. All these events, petitions, papers, sponsored resolutions should be supported by all Armenians regardless of what political party , or church they are affiliated with, because the cause is the one and only, and in it’s purpose we should be unified.
I am hopeful that all these actions/events will have an effect and a tangible result. However, I personally mentally am prepared to be disappointed due to several political factors and considerations.
And yet, I totally agree with you. The Centennial is not the end game, nor the final chapter. There is still work to be done.
Vart Adjemian
100 % agree with Dr.Ara Kapielian.
Dr. Stepan Simonian
Great article.
I think all this non-recognition by the US of the Armenian Genocide is an organized scam by un-American politicians in the USA. Up until now, “American” politicians have insulted our people and nation with the biggest lie: that the US “needs” Turkey and thus it is not an appropriate time given that the US is “battling terrorism” (which of course its policies and actions created).
So let me get this straight. Those foreign spy neocons of the State Department and other government agencies, do not hesitate for one second to threaten and take action against the world’s number two super power, Russia, the result of which could end up in a catastrophic nuclear war, but they act like “Turkey the all-powerful nation” cannot be angered FOR COMMITTING THE BIGGEST CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY of all things, or else “the US will suffer”!?
I would bring into question the loyalties of these foreign spies working as “American politicians”. How can an “American politician” have the audacity to claim that the world’s number one superpower can’t upset a country like Turkey, which is totally and completely dependent upon American military and other aid? What an insult to not only the USA itself, but to all principles of reason and logic.
On top of that, Sultan Erdogan of the new wannabe-Ottoman empire comes out and barks at every European nation and the US with “threats” if they recognize a mere truth, The Genocide, and he is allowed a free pass. Russia has recognized the Genocide, yet Turkey remains one of Russia’s biggest trading partners. When was the last time Sultan Erdogan barked at Putin and told him what to do? This can only mean that western politicians are either complete idiots, or they are behind all those “threats” themselves using their favorite puppet dictator. I’m inclined to think the latter even though the former has merit too.
Iran, according to these same insane neocons, is an “evil country” and therefore all countries associated with the US must engage in sanctions against Iran… but wait, of course the west’s darling Turkey is exempt, it can deal with Iran all it wants. War crimes must always be punished, but of course, Turkey is again exempt from committing the biggest war crimes throughout history. All those Middle eastern countries will “pay the price” for dealing with terrorists. But wait, even though everyone knows ISIS and Turkey are pretty much the same thing, and Turkey has been hosting those terrorists since day one and though the US is spending millions to “fight ISIS” – once again darling Turkey is exempt from any accountability for being a state sponsor of terror.
When will all this insanity and hypocrisy of the west end, I wonder.
Dr. Ara Caprielian
Thank you for this well written article. I just would like to mention a new threat to our Nations survival.
It is a well known fact that since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of our third republic the numbers of the population of our homeland is alarmingly decreasing, people are leaving the country for economical reasons, yet neither the administration of the republic nor our main stream political parties are seriously addressing and trying to seek a solution for this problem.
Hrad Poladian
Sometimes when I read articles like this about the Armenian Genocide I can do nothing but groan in despair.
Is Ara Caprielian actually claiming that the Genocide was a Turkish response to an Armenian “centuries-old quest to live as a sovereign nation in our historic Homeland”? Maybe he believes in that Turkish denialist thesis – but most historians do not.
Is Capelian actually claiming that the millet system sustained Armenian identity? Most historians would hold that it effectively rendered Armenian identity moribund, that the Ottoman authorities created the millet system to suppress and control its subject peoples, and that the Armenian Church within the Ottoman empire (as the Ottoman-appointed leader of the Armenian millet) was required to suppress ideas of an “independent homeland and the preservation and development of a native culture”.
The modern Armenian state has no “legal, historical, and moral right to demand a border rectification between Armenia and Turkey”, nor has it ever presented any such claims. To suggest otherwise plays directly into the arms of Turkish denialists. The Armenian Genocide had NOTHING to do with preventing the birth of an Armenian state, and had NOTHING to do with the creation of the borders of that state. Caprielian’s gross distortion of the real history of the Armenian Genocide actually places him side by side with those Turkish denialists who claim that the “relocations” were a justified Turkish wartime response to traitorous Armenians who were rebelling to create their own state by carving territory out of the Turkish state.
“Sometimes when I read articles like this about the Armenian Genocide, I can do nothing but groan in despair.” Actually, Turk denialists groan in despair whenever they read any kind of article about the Armenian Genocide.
“The modern Armenian state has no legal, historical, and moral right to demand a border rectification between Armenia and Turkey.” This is actually the very same claim that Turk denialists persistently make. Anyway, as a result of the Ottoman Turkish Empire’s annihilation of its Armenian population in which the Western Armenian provinces became completely emptied of its Armenian inhabitants, the Republic of Armenia therefore has every legal, historical, and moral right to demand a border rectification between Armenia and Turkey. As a matter of fact, in its Pan-Armenian declaration from January 29th, the Republic of Armenia leadership revealed its plans for legal claims against Turkey. A legal team headed by Gagik Harutyunyan (the president of the Constitutional Court of Armenia), is currently in the process of finalizing a thorough analysis of claims against Turkey.
Tonight the Armenian nation lost one of its greatest patriots and ceaseless workers on behalf of our Cause. RIP Ara Caprielian.