Armenians Should Be Seeking Justice, Rather than Symbolic Recognition for the Genocide Committed Against Them by Ottoman Turkey.
The Armenian Weekly
April 2011 Magazine
In the immediate aftermath of the Armenian Genocide, most of the wretched survivors were scattered throughout the Middle East. They had no food, no shelter, and barely the clothes on their back. The first generation of survivors firmly believed that their nightmare would soon be over and that they would be able to return to their ancestral homeland in Western Armenia, from which they were so brutally uprooted.
On Aug. 10, 1920, the Treaty of Sèvres was signed by more than a dozen countries, including the Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Turkey, and Armenia. These countries, large and small, committed to restoring justice to the long-suffering Armenian nation. The Treaty of Sèvres recognized Armenia’s independence and asked U.S. President Woodrow Wilson to fix the borders between Armenia and Turkey. Unfortunately, this treaty was never ratified; the European powers abandoned their “Little Ally.”
The newly established Republic of Armenia lasted only two years before being swallowed up by the Soviet Union and Turkey. The destitute refugees, abandoned to their tragic fate, were forced to settle down in permanent exile. In those early years, their first priority was survival, fending off starvation and disease.
Gradually, they rebuilt their lives, in new homes, churches, and schools. Engaging in lobbying activities or making political demands was the last thing on their minds. Every April 24, they would commemorate the start of the Armenian Genocide by gathering in church halls and offering prayers for the souls of the 1.5 million innocent victims of what was then known as the “Meds Yeghern,” or Great Calamity.
President Barack Obama, for reasons of political expediency, revived that old Armenian term in his first two annual April 24 statements, even though, for the past 60 years, ever since Raphael Lemkin coined the term “genocide,” Armenians have referred to those mass killings as “tseghasbanoutyoun” (genocide).
The succeeding generation, particularly after 1965—the 50th anniversary of the genocide—tried to break the wall of silence surrounding the greatest tragedy that befell their nation. Tens of thousands of Armenians, in communities throughout the world, held protest marches, wrote letters to government officials, and petitioned international organizations. The Turkish government, along with the rest of the world, initially turned a deaf ear to Armenian pleas for recognition of the long-forgotten genocide. But, as media outlets, world leaders, parliaments of various countries, and international organizations began acknowledging the genocide, Turkish leaders, astonished that the crimes perpetrated by their forefathers were still making headlines after so many decades, began pumping major resources into their campaign of denial, funding foreign scholars to distort the historical facts, engaging the services of powerful lobbying firms, and applying political and economic pressure on countries acknowledging the genocide.
Since 1965, the legislatures of more than 20 countries, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Greece, Russia, Poland, Argentina, and Uruguay, have recognized the genocide. Even though it is commonly assumed that the United States has not acknowledged the genocide, the U.S. House of Representatives in 1975 and 1984 adopted resolutions commemorating the Armenian Genocide. On April 22, 1981, President Ronald Reagan issued a presidential proclamation that specifically mentioned the genocide. The legislatures of 42 out of 50 U.S. states have adopted resolutions acknowledging the genocide. In fact, the U.S. government first acknowledged the genocide back in 1951, in a document submitted to the International Court of Justice, commonly known as the World Court. Furthermore, the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities adopted a report in 1985, prepared by special rapporteur Benjamin Whitaker, acknowledging that the Armenian Genocide met the UN criteria for genocide. The European Parliament also adopted a resolution in 1987, recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Hundreds of Holocaust and genocide scholars have issued joint statements confirming the facts of the genocide.
After so many acknowledgments, the Armenian Genocide has become a universally recognized historical fact. Regrettably, despite such worldwide recognition, there are still a few major countries that have not yet recognized it. Those siding with the Turkish denialist state are not doing so due to lack of evidence or conviction, but, sadly, because of political expediency, with the intent of appeasing Turkey.
Armenians no longer need to convince the world that what took place during the years 1915-23 was in fact “the first genocide of the 20th century.” However, a simple acknowledgment of what took place and a mere apology would not heal the wounds and undo the consequences of the genocide. Armenians are still waiting for justice to be served with a restoration of their historic rights and the return of their confiscated lands and properties.
In recent years, lawsuits have been filed in U.S. federal courts, securing millions of dollars from New York Life and French AXA insurance companies for unpaid claims to policy-holders who perished in the genocide. Several more lawsuits are pending against other insurance companies and banks to recover funds belonging to victims of the genocide.
In 1915, a centrally planned and executed attempt was made to uproot from its ancestral homeland and decimate an entire nation, depriving the survivors of their cultural heritage, as well as homes, lands, houses of worship, and personal properties. A gross injustice was perpetrated against the Armenian people, which entitles them, as in the case of the Jewish Holocaust, to just compensation for their enormous losses.
Restitution can take many forms. As an initial step, the Republic of Turkey could place under the jurisdiction of the Istanbul-based Armenian Patriarchate all Armenian churches and religious monuments that were expropriated and converted to mosques and warehouses or outright destroyed.
In the absence of any voluntary restitution by Turkey, Armenians could resort to litigation, seeking “restorative justice.” In considering legal recourse, one should be mindful of the fact that the Armenian Genocide did neither start nor end in 1915. Large-scale genocidal acts were committed starting with Sultan Abdul Hamid’s massacre of 300,000 Armenians from 1894-96; the subsequent killing of 30,000 Armenians in Adana in 1909; and the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians from 1915-23.
After the genocide, the Republic of Turkey continued the forced Turkification and deportation of tens of thousands of Armenians. Most of the early leaders of the Turkish Republic were high-ranking Ottoman officials who had participated in perpetrating the genocide. This unbroken succession in leadership assured the continuity of the Ottomans’ anti-Armenian policies. The Republic of Turkey, as the continuation of the Ottoman Empire, could therefore be held responsible for the genocide.
An important document, recently discovered in the U.S. archives, provides irrefutable evidence that the Republic of Turkey continued to uproot and exile the remnants of Armenians well into the 1930’s, motivated by purely racist reasons. This document is a “Strictly Confidential” cable, dated March 2, 1934, and sent by U.S. Ambassador Robert P. Skinner from Ankara to the U.S. Secretary of State, reporting the deportation of Armenians from “the interior of Anatolia to Istanbul.”
The U.S. ambassador wrote: “It is assumed by most of the deportees that their expulsion from their homes in Anatolia is a part of the Government’s program of making Anatolia a pure Turkish district. They relate that the Turkish police, in towns and villages where Armenians lived, attempted to instigate local Moslem people to drive the Armenians away. … The Armenians were told that they had to leave at once for Istanbul. They sold their possessions receiving for them ruinous prices. I have been told that cattle worth several hundred liras a head had been sold for as little as five liras a head. My informant stated that the Armenians were permitted to sell their property in order that not one of them could say that they were forced to abandon it. However, the sale under these conditions amounted to a practical abandonment.”
The U.S. ambassador further reported: “The Armenians were obliged to walk from their villages to the railway and then they were shipped by train to Istanbul. … The real reason for the deportations is unknown. … It is likely, though, that their removal is simply one step in the government’s avowed policy of making Anatolia purely Turkish.”
In the 1920’s and 1930’s, thousands of Armenian survivors of the genocide were forced out of their homes in Cilicia and Western Armenia and relocated elsewhere in Turkey or neighboring countries. In the 1940’s, these racist policies were followed by the Varlik Vergisi, the imposition of an exorbitant wealth tax on Armenians, Greeks, and Jews. And during the 1955 Istanbul pogroms, many Greeks, as well as some Armenians and Jews, were killed and their properties confiscated. This continuation of massacres, genocide, and deportations highlights the existence of a long-term strategy implemented by successive Turkish regimes from the 1890’s to more recent times in order to solve the “Armenian Question” with finality.
Consequently, the Republic of Turkey is legally liable for its own crimes against Armenians, as well as those committed by its Ottoman predecessors. Turkey inherited the assets of the Ottoman Empire and, therefore, must have also inherited its liabilities.
In recent years, Turkish officials, ignoring the verdicts of the 1919 Turkish Military Tribunals, have claimed that the Armenian Genocide could not be considered a genocide since there was not a court verdict to that effect. That argument was taken away from them once and for all on Dec. 12, 2007, when Switzerland’s Federal Tribunal, the country’s Supreme Court, confirmed a lower court’s conviction of Turkish Party leader Dogu Perincek for denying the Armenian Genocide. This is the first time that the highest court of any country passed such a judgment on the Armenian Genocide, setting a precedent for all future legal action on the issue.
Finally, since Armenians often refer to their three sequential demands from Turkey—recognition of the genocide; reparations for their losses; and the return of their lands—Turks have come to believe that by denying the first demand—recognition—they will be blocking the other two demands that are sure to follow. Yet, commemorative resolutions adopted by the legislative bodies of various countries and statements on the genocide made by world leaders have no force of law, and therefore no legal consequence. Armenians, Turks, and others involved in this historical, and yet contemporary, issue must realize that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, or the lack thereof, will neither enable nor deter its consideration by international legal institutions.
Once Turks realize that recognition by itself cannot and will not lead to other demands, they may no longer persist in their obsessive denial. Armenians, on the other hand, without waiting for any further recognition, can and should pursue their historic rights through legal channels, such as the International Court of Justice (where only states have jurisdiction), the European Court of Human Rights, and U.S. Federal Courts.
Justice, based on international law, must take its course.
Harut Sassounian
Mr. Sassounian erroneously takes it upon himself to dismiss the worth and meaning of Medz Yeghern as the principal term used within the Armenian community to designate the Armenian Genocide. He calls it the “old” term that Armenians used in their church halls. Medz Yeghern means GREAT CRIME, not the fuzzy ‘great calamity’ that he is urging us and the world to accept. Medz Yeghern has been and still is in continuous use among Armenians and in fact is much more deeply rooted and resonant for most of them than his dry, legalistic “tseghaspanutyoun”. In deprecating and degrading its meaning, he reduces it exactly to what Davutoglu and the Turkish press and propaganda machine wishes it to be, handing them a victory in the long struggle over truth and giving Obama and succeeding presidents a free pass to use it again and again to evade the truth.
“Justice, based on international law, must take its course.”
Yes, Harut, you are absolutely right. We all agree. What we need to know is WHEN. Also, why not now?
“Meeyan Zenkovi ga …..Meeyan Zenkovi ga …..Hayots Pirgootyoon.”
Laws Must Prevail To Get Our Wrights
Always we should protect Our Selves
* Always we should protect
* Our Language
our Artful hands
Our Kindness
Our Honesty
Our Dignity
Not to Vanish
From this “Unhealthy Earth”
Our Genes are special
For helping human kind
Must Last…
As the most Nations defined Us
“Artful honest loving People”
More than what We know about our selves
Sylva-MD-Poetry
Laws Must Prevail To Get Our Rights
Always we should protect Our Selves
Always we should protect
Our Language
Our Artful hands
Our Kindness
Our Honesty
Our Dignity
Our Humbleness
Not to Vanish from this “Unhealthy Earth”
Our Genes are special
For helping human kind
Hence…Must Last…
We know little about our selves
As the most Nations defined Us
“Artful- Honest- Peace loving People”
As they know more than what
We know about our selves…
Sylva-MD-Poetry
April 26, 2011
Mr. Sassounian,
Yes, we as Armenians are born with the burden to seek justice for the destruction of our nation.
However, Please tell me when WE ARMENIANS ARE GOING TO COLLECTIVELY STOP BEING JEALOUS, ENVIOUS, TRAITOROUS, BACKSTABBING & DIVIDED towards each other?
It was an Armenian who after all gave Talaat the 250 names of the intellectuals. Its Armenian Lawyers today that steal and rob the proceeds from the recent court decision to allow the fair compensation of life insurance to the decedents of the Armenian Genocide. When I read that story it didn’t surprise me one bit. Its the Armenian thugs in Armenian today that rob elections and its people of wealth and opportunity so a few families can POCKET ALL THE MONEY. Its Armenians today that argue, fight and sue each other to put their own self interest over a long over due Armenian Genocide museum .For gods sake we have 2 POPES?
When will all that end Mr. Sassounian??
John: Why is our situation different from other nations and human beings? I could provide you with tons of information on betrayal, jealousy, envy, backstabbing, and division. Also on many nations having “two popes”. These are universal traits typical to all human beings. It’s a matter of choice: you either have a hang-up about these traits or you also appreciate Armenian virtues such as talent and wit, patriotism, industriousness, bravery, self-sacrifice, etc. Show us any nation that’s perfect??
Agree with paul:
Since we are keenly aware of everything Armenian, we see every little wart.
It’s the ‘Green Ford’ syndrome: as soon as you buy a green Ford, you suddenly start noticing how many green Fords there are on the road.
The myth that Jews, for example, help each other and Armenians don’t has taken a life of its own: Jews are certainly more able to help each other, because they have been in the US far longer and are at least an order of magnitude wealthier than Armenians. However, their willingness to help is no more than ours.
I have a couple of close Jewish friends, and they tell me goings on in their communities: it’s no different than ours.
Victims of Jewish convicted criminal Bernie Madoff were mostly (trusting) Jews, who collectively lost something like $40-$50 Billion (about $10 Billion has been recovered).
That’s the most infamous example: there are crimes committed by all ethnic groups, and their victims are generally their own.
Considering the body blows the Armenian Nation has received for several centuries, it is remarkable we have maintained our high levels of integrity and morality.
Stealing, cheating, fraud goes on at the highest levels of Western societies – except their thieves wear three piece suits and couch their theft in flowery legalese.
I totally agree with Harut that it’s time to stop spinning our wheels by trying to get the U.S. to symbolicly acknowledge the Genocide. Granted, the publicity has kept the issue in the foreground, but other pursuits are long overdue. The Diaspora needs to push Armenia to immediately start filing legal claims in all the relevant Inhternational courts of JUSTICE. As I’ve said many times before, establish Turkish guilt, demand reparations, and then perhaps Turks and Armenians can work on reconciliation.
Remember the old NIKE commercial? JUST DO IT!
Thats besides the point. Read the article again and try to understand the meat and potatoes of it.
To Paul and Avery,
Firstly, the word Medz yeghern was for the first time (by a non Armenian)pronounced by Pope John years ago.
Secondly ,unfortunately I have to totally agree with Paul that the mainstream Armenian is as yet as he describes.however I cut that in short narrowing it down to only TWO BAD TRAITS THAT WE STILL-as a whole- have and practice.
A. Envy & being non-cooperative ,please Paul, let us not use those words(though you maybe right there!! TOO. JOHN also has stated a few facts too, from ottoman time betrayals etc., But dear John, the Armenian took care of that low Vahe Ihsan(that was his name) and that by the then ARF acting in Constantinople(Istanbulla) in their new name to it. Luckily we have sorry old chap Dashnagtsagans that i am to use this word now,you have been our watch dogs…later also the crazy ( I like to amicably name them so) Armenian Young men who CONDUCTED CORRECTIONAL ACTS OF VIOLENCE.nEVER SAY TERRORIST ACTS,sINCE OURS WAS ACTUALLY LIKE i DUBBED IT,trying to correct the Diplomats.And they knew when to put a stop to it and join up with the Freedom fighters in NK.let´s get back to the main issue , as to above.
Now then,for over 33 years,after our 3 Congresses in Europe, ¨¨´The World Armenian Congress, the first one convened in 1979 Sept 3/6 with near 380 participants from 23 Armenian community countries and 28 there were ¨Zegucaber¨ presented ¨papers¨ and 7 of us were elected by popular vote after 6 Sessions in 3 days each lasting more than 8 hours as temporary members of the Executive board. Whatever,since then the Armenian mindset this also one of the other beautiful Traits(minor at that) there have followed one in Moscow, another in Paris now by name of Haybachdban that recently also denominates itself Wesstern Armenian National Council(though when they first started and wrote appeals to join up they were writing as Western armenian parliament to which i protested saying that we are not Kurds, We have one Parliament in RA,Yerevan, so then they altered it Conseille..anyhow yet another that Tried to come up in L.A. in Nov.,20th was it? 2010 and it is still in the making?
To surmise,the only way out is to classify ourselves into PROFESSIONAL GROUPINGS, LIKE 5 ON THE SCEN ALREADY THE HEALTH/medical, the BAR(Law), the Enmgineers & Sciences, the Sportive and the Jewlllers there are TEN more to be formed.THAT IS WHERE WE GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER BETTER TO MINGLE TO LEARN FROM EAC OTHER TOSOCIALLY GET FORRMED.OR ELSE LIKE SELJUK MONGOLS KILL EACH OTHER´S BUSINESSES-LIKE SOME DID TO ME AND BROTHER WE HAD THRIVING BUSINESS THEY KILLED IT..UNFORTUNATLEY ARMENIANS..BUT WE HAVE LONG AGO FORGIVEN THEM,LET GOD JUDGE…OTHERWISE JUST BY TALKING AND DELIVERING GRANDIOSE DISCOURSES(SPEECHES) WE CANNOT ACHIEVE ANYTHING .OH ONE MORE THINK aGANJ kHOSEI -i DO NOT GIVE NAME- THAT PROPOSED( i ONLY SUGGEST BY THE BY)voting, elections …as though we have not had enough of that!!!!well this one was a novelty so to speak that from each corner of the world small or medium size communities should cast some tens of thousand votes to elect one delegate.May I ask based on what?by money spending? is this not true what i just wrote.Then git a load of this please.-
Tomorrow I am lucky adnn win both here on these shores and in Europe some 300 million dollars or Euros. Then I let my immediate family and friend gather around me then further away to thsoe who are dollar hungry and tell tthem IF YOU WANT A CUT OF MY WINNINGS ,SMALL AND OR LAREGE DEPENDING ON THE PERON´S ABILITY COME AND VOTE FOR ME? iS THIS WHAT WESTERN hEMISPHEREIC VOTING IS ABOUT AND OR.NOT TO FORGET A BIT MORE DIGNIFIED ONES, ONLY A PARTISANS SETTING fwd THEIR CANDIDATES AND THEM POLITCO ELECTING ONLY THERI DESIRED PEOPLE TO cONGRESS OR parliament…Have I said enough.If not then better luck next time when i shall add to it. Mine? and I am signing off is BASED ON PEOPLE OF -FROM EACH ADVANCED PROFESSIONS- BEING ELECTED BY THERI COLLEAGUES ONLY BASED ON THEIR HAVING ONE OF ONLY 3 MAIN MERITS THAT THEY PRESENT.
MOST ADVANCED IN PROF. MOST CULTURALLY AND WITH NETWORKING CAPACITY AND ONE ECONOMICALLY THERE AINT ANY 4TH rEAL mERIT…
Hey Diran,
I don’t know what your true intations are by writing a comment above, and I am not also sure how much Armenian you are, but if you speak Armenian then you should know that the exact translation of the word Genocide is TSEGHASPANUTYUN not Great Crime or Meds Yeghern. (Tsegh means NATION and spanutyun means KILLING) AND TSEGHASPANUTYUN IS EXACTLY WHAT TOOK PLACE in 1915.
Dear John,
I think you have a point when you say “It was an Armenian who after all gave Talaat the 250 names of the intellectuals. Its Armenian Lawyers today that steal and rob the proceeds from the recent court decision to allow the fair compensation of life insurance to the decedents of the Armenian Genocide”.
But first we need to define what an Armenian is before we can answer your question. Just because someone has a last name ending with “YAN or IAN”, or speaks Armenian, or was born in Armenia, or was raised in an Armenian family does NOT mean thay are Armenians. The most extreme way to define an Armenian that I have ever heard came from GAREGIN NJDEH, and he says “unless you are ready to give up your life for Armenia then you are not Armenian”. Of course it was back then, when things were different. Well, times have changed. I am sure that had he been alive today, he would have used a different strategy, perhaps the strategy that is written in the above article. Probably instead of giving up your life for Armenia, he would have said dedicating (partialy) your life to the Armenian question. But as for the Lawyers stilling and robbing the proceeds of the court rulings, again, I am not sure how much Armenians they are. All I know that (especially) one of them loves money more than anything else. I would like to know what have they done for the Armenian community prior to those cases. Have they spent a single minute (like you and I and others here) talking about their heritage without getting paid?????? See my friend, we gotta be careful whom we take as an Armenian.
Hey Diran, also
In case your name is not Diran and you are (or closely related to) Mr. Ergun Klirkovalli (the mastermind behind the historyoftruth.com) then I think you should read the following article http://www.armeniadiaspora.com/humor/2325-white-house-unable-to-generate-new-genocide-synonyms.html I think you will like the last paragraph ;) But if you are indeed Armenian then next time please do not reffer to Armenians as “THEM” but reffer to Armenians as “US”.
This is what you wrote : Medz Yeghern means GREAT CRIME, not the fuzzy ‘great calamity’ that he is urging us and the world to accept. Medz Yeghern has been and still is in continuous use among Armenians and in fact is much more deeply rooted and resonant for most of THEM than his dry, legalistic “tseghaspanutyoun”.
To AR [April 27th comment]:
I know very well that TSEGHASPANUTYUN literally means genocide in Armenian. That was not my point. My point (perhaps not well expressed) was not to use that fact to torpedo and discredit the term MEDZ YEGHERN which has a long and dignified history among Armenians as their traditional name for the Genocide. Medz Yeghern means Great Crime, meaning the CRIME OF GENOCIDE. My only true intention is this: to do everything I can to counter the rampant practice of erroneously translating Medz Yeghern as ‘great calamity’, which is a SERIOUS DISSERVICE to the Armenian cause and completely leaves out of the picture the CRIMINALITY clearly conveyed by the name Medz Yeghern, a term that reflects the clear understanding of the Armenian people that they were subjected to an attempt to totally wipe them out as a people.
I agree with John. It is these traits that you mentioned is the root cause of division and hatred. As a result many young Armenians don’t want to participate or get involved as political parties and organizations conquer and divide our community into halves. I believe that the classy Armenians were massacred and we are left with the uneducated and un-classy peasants we have today who claim to be more Armenian than any other generation. Unfortunately, I refuse to transmit my language and culture to my children. The day when there is one church and one unified national republic of Armenia may result in my reconsideration, till that happens the existing situation shall prevail.
Just want to say to Diran, that I get your point about not allowing the term medz yeghern to be diluted from ‘the great crime'(of genocide) to the ‘great calamity’. A tornado is a calamity, a flood is a calamity, a multi-vehicle accident is a calamity, a house fire is a calamity. But a genocide is a calamity so huge and so heinous that it deserves its own word, and deserves to be distinguished in infamy. Just as Lemkin recognized when he coined the term, words do matter when we are trying to pursue justice, preserve a truthful history and prevent the distortion and denial that Turkey is trying to fool the world with today. Whether we Armenians use the term Medz Yeghern or Tzeghaspanutyun, let’s agree that we mean genocide and not a generic term like ‘calamity’. And when others use our language, let’s make sure that they mean what we mean by these terms.
Only to Sophia,
No dear,pleae do not be that ¨tajante¨ spanish that best describes a sort of cutting-like…
Please talk to your children in our millenia tongue.My grandchildren ,both half Armenian, learnt from grandma and me to speak Armenian the Boy-alas passed away recently-began on his own through internet and wrote a bit too.
you see indeed I agreed with what both,Paul and Avery wrote..also John,but we haave to be a bit forgiving,no not to those that John wrote -our watchdogs kill them,period.As rgds to to those who are betrayers of Armenian activists intellectuals .
But for smaller evils,such as envy copyists and excercising low character traits,we have to EDUCATE OURSELVES TO COME UP TO A CIVIL SOCIETY.AND BEST WAY TO THAT IS BELIEVE IT OR NOT THROUGH FORMATION INTO PROFESSIONAL COLLEAGUES ASSOCIATIONS…WHICH WILL ALSO RENDER MUCH BETTER RESULTS IN THE FUTURE.
FORGET ABOUT THE IDEOLOGIES.THESE HAVE BEEN IN PRACTICE AND IN FRICTION WITH EA OTHER FOR A LONG TIME NOT ONLY AMONGST ARMENIANS BUT OTHER NATIONS TOO.WE NEED TO FORGE AHEAD WITH A NOVELTY ,A NEW SCHEME WHICH I HAVE DEVELOPED OVER 33 YRS…THAT IS WHERE WE GET TO BECOME SOCIALLY FORMED—-
KIND RGDS
Ok Diran,
And what I am saying is “rampant practice of erroneously translating Medz Yeghern as ‘great calamity’” might be a great way to have the Turks agree on 1.5 million deaths. And as soon as they do, then the numbers will do the remaining of the job which at the end will qualify for a Genocide. Calamity does NOT mean it was not a Genocide. Does it make sense??? We have to play it right and we will achive our common goal my friend.
Agree with Ananoon. Every crime or calamity has its own, unique name, and the term that’s been invented by Lemkin based on his study of the Armenian and Jewish calamities is GENOCIDE. This is the term that presidential candidate Obama used when he promised to recognize the Turkish crime, and not Medz Yeghern that we, Armenians, sometimes use amongst ourselves. It’s like if the calamity of the Jews (if still unrecognized) would be termed Shoah—that Jews use amongst themselves—instead of Holocaust or Genocide that’s now universally accepted. This linguistic gymnastics of the White House are most deplorable cheap tricks that only denigrate the US president and the nation. Shame! I feel shame when the leadership of the most powerful democratic country in the world lags behind authoritative Russia or tiny nation of Uruguay resorting to everything but the proper term. Shame!
Sharply disagree with Sophia. Division and hatred are not uniquely Armenian Diasporan traits. Talk to the Jews, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, etc. and you’ll be amazed at the similarity of problems existing both within their respective communities and between their Diaspora and their homeland nation-states. Talk to Russians or Ukrainians, and you’ll see church separation, two Mother Sees and division amongst their political parties. These are universal peculiarities of any Diaspora nation, and Armenians are not exclusion. However, rarely have I seen that an Armenians would refuse to transmit native language and culture to children. What do internal divisions have to do with raising our children as Armenians? Unbelievable…
AR:
I don’t know Diran other than from his posts. I have seen and read his posts here and @ Asbarez.com for many months.
Judging by his writing, Diran is as Armenian as it gets. He has done commendable literary battle with the Turk regulars that appear here and @ Asbarez.
I re-read the sentence “…them….” a couple of times: it’s an innocuous use of the pronoun, not inappropriate the way that sentence was constructed.
Diran’s last sentence, immediately following the ‘offending’ one – “…evade the truth” – clearly shows which side of the fence he is on.
I meant to say “authoritarian Russia” not “authoritative Russia” above…
To ANANOON [April 27 comment]
Your citation of Lemkin and his conviction that words do matter goes right to the crux of the matter. Lemkin is crucial to this whole discussion and should never be forgotten. That is one of the most important reasons to defend the true meaning of Medz Yeghern. The crime Armenians named the Medz Yeghern is exactly what started Lemkin on his long quest to find the word which ultimately fulfilled its meaning. To change its meaning by calling it calamity (or catastrophe, or disaster, or tragedy) is to uproot it from its history. That is no small matter. One only has to read to read the first three or four paragraphs of the following article from Zaman to see the predictable consequences of denaturing the meaning of Medz Yeghern.
http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=173578
John, seems you don’t know the history of the communists’ control of our Etchmiadzin…
Our churches had fled the country to preserve our religion. Some to Viienna. Some returned to USSR Haiastan (and were subject to the Armenian communists) the other branch of our church chose not to return to Haiastan – instead went to Antelias, Lebannon and from there remained the free voice of our Armenian religion – and is still today that free voice – since the church leaders of Ethmiadzin are still, as are all leaderships of Haiastan, still of the communistic mentality… whose leaders look at the diasporan Armenians as the enemy… where, in actuality, it is the Turks/Azeris who are the enemies of our homeland. The ARF has been the voice and the hopes for the freedom loving citizens of Haiastan and too, the diasporans…. for Azad anghaght Haiastan.
Avery,
After his reply I believe you are right, he is. (Although I am not sure what you mean by “as Armenian as it gets”.) I am not an English specialist but it sounded like it was a honest mistake. Regardless, I have nothing against anymone here, because people are expressing their opinions. Thanks for the update :)
To my good friend AR: If I understand you correctly, you think it’s not such a bad idea to agree with the Turkish denialist state that what happened to the Armenians was simply a calamity, since that would lead to its eventual recognition that it was, in fact, a genocide. I think you are dead wrong with that theory. You can be sure that it would remain “the great calamity”, not genocide, as far as the Turkish state is concerned. And any Armenian who is willing to talk up the idea that it was simply a calamity rather than a crime perpetrated by the Turkish government will undoubtedly have many plates of hot, steaming dolma waiting for them at the end of the red carpet extended to them. I will not be among them.
:) Diran,
There is certainly more than one strategy to make Turkey recognize the Genocide. I don’t mind being wrong as long as my strategy works. And why I think it works because never before Turkey’s government reaction to USA’s presidental speech of April 24 was as unpleasing as this year. Why do you think they were not pleased and had bad comments?? Because the 1.5 million deaths were offficialy declared by the US president. Like I said calamity does NOT mean it was not a Genocide. There are bunch of other factors that i can not get into now. Of course as an Armenian (approaching it emotionaly ) I would have loved to see USA recognize it a decade or two ago, but fortunately or unfortunately it is a tactical game of politics. As long as you want it recognized then I don’t think any of us is dead wrong in our strategies. It could only be good or better. And my last question to you is: Is RECOGNITION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BY USA all you care for?? Or do you care about raproachments more?? In case your answer is raproachment, then how do you know when is the best time to recognize it? Think about it, seriously.
Diran,
Who told you that Turks agree that the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians is a calamity???????????? You have to be careful here my friend. Turks do NOT separate the deaths of Armenians with the death of Turks. And they call it “the tragedies caused by WW1”. As soon as they seperate the two issues then we will see what they call it. The day Turkish government issues a statement saying that the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians was a calamity, then you should know that recognition of the Armenian Genocide is around the corner. :)
To AR:
It would be easier for me to respond if you were better informed. It doesn’t seem that you have followed the recent history of the issue very seriously. If you had you would know that Turkey throws a big fit every year about the Presidential April 24th statement. Last year was no exception you will find out if you do the research. It is all rehearsed ahead of time. This year they didn’t even send a high power delegation to caution the President on his choice of words, because they knew ahead of time that he would stay within their lines. Do you think the first time they read his statement was in the papers on the morning of April 24th, then they got all p’d-off at him? Not at all. Another thing: this year his statement had something new that was very welcome for Turkey, the statement about “contested history”. That took his betrayal of his promise one step further than in years past. You don’t think they cheered about that in Ankara?
Now on the use of ‘calamity’ vs. ‘genocide’ by the Turkish government. No, I don’t expect the Turkish government to suddenly declare that what happened to the Armenians was The Great Calamity. It is more likely that they will allow the talk of the so-called “great calamity” to go on in civil society, always with the understanding that it was a ‘great calamity’ for the Turks too, and then, addressing itself to the rest of the world and particularly the EU say, “See, the Turkish people recognize the Great Calamity (never mentioning the figure of 1.5 million Armenians) and we have allowed this discussion to go on. Therefore, we have fully faced our history. Now let us in to the EU, and let’s have no further talk of the so-called ‘Armenian Genocide”. That’s what I see happening. Zero accountability, in any sphere, for the genocide.
After rereading your original response [April 27, “Hey Diran”] I realize that your mistake was turning upside down what I was saying. My point was to emphasize that Armenians had an excellent word for their genocide even before the word genocide was created. This name, Medz Yeghern, was rooted deep in their language and meant Great Crime. It meant they realized that they were all, regardless of any distinctions, subjected to one, unified crime. I think it is very unfortunate to gut that name of its core meaning, CRIME. I don’t know why any Armenian thinks that the name gains any value by being constantly mistranslated as ‘calamity’ and robbing it of its clear indication that a crime was committed, that is, the crime of genocide. From the Turkish perspective, it is no small benefit to have that historic state crime converted into a vague calamity. I don’t think Armenians should help them do it and am disturbed when they do. That is all.
For what it is worth….in a discussion w/ a staunchly anti-Armenian and well known Turkish journalist, I was told that the (only) reason they don’t and won’t call it genocide is because the events happened before the term was invented! How do you like that for intentional obfuscation and evasiveness? He said that none of the human tragedies of that scale that happened before the term ‘genocide’ came into official use can be described as such. Of course, that’s like saying gravity did not exist until Issac Newton dropped an apple…but hey…it’s sly and it’s clever and totally dishonest. Based on this man’s position in Turkish politics and as a well known writer, this says to me that they all know very well that what happened from 1915 – 23 was, in fact, fully a genocide. They’re not that stupid…the thing is, they have also figured out know how to get around it and have many collaborators around the world helping them in this effort.
Diran,
I don’t know what you are trying to justify by your recent comment, but I truly wish every Armenian was better informed about the topic than I am. ( I hope you get the point.) Anyways, no matter how much less informed I am, you still have not answered my question about what is important for you; regcognition or reparation? (of course you don’t have to answer.)
If you are so well informed then tell me please when was the (Armenian) word TSEGASPANUTYUN created??
Also, on April 29 you wrote: To my good friend AR: If I understand you correctly, you think it’s not such a bad idea to agree with the Turkish denialist state that what happened to the Armenians was simply a calamity, since that would lead to its eventual recognition that it was, in fact, a genocide.
Then on April 30 you wrote: No, I don’t expect the Turkish government to suddenly declare that what happened to the Armenians was The Great Calamity.
Common Bro. Should I even get into how much contradictions those two statements have? How can I agree with turkish denailists on something that they don’t even say in the first place. You are too busy correcting me, try to understand the point.
(You clearly missed the 1.5 million deathts which makes all the difference. Call it whatever you want: Calamity, Crime, Genocide, Tragedy. Lets have them agree on number of deaths first. )
AR: The language was condensed but it was not a contradiction. I meant: if the Turkish state was prepared at some point in the future to refer to the genocide as ‘the great calamity’ (but not genocide) and Armenians agreed on that designation, then your idea was that this could be the first step in Turkey’s eventual recognition of the genocide and calling it by its name. I am saying, if official circles in Turkey start referring to the Armenian Genocide as “the great calamity”, that’s where it will stop. It is very much in Turkey’s interest to steal Medz Yeghern from the Armenian language and give it a meaning that it does not have in Armenian and invest it with a distorted meaning which is convenient for even more creative forms of denial on the part of the Turkish state. Official circles are not at ‘great calamity’ yet, but I see them headed in that direction based on the atmospherics created by those citizen initiatives whose mantra has become ‘the great calamity’ (or disaster, or tragedy, or catastrophe; in any case, ‘buyuk felaket’, in Turkish).
Maybe certain Armenians have decided that it is better to get half a loaf, i. e., agreement on ‘great calamity’ from Turkey, instead of insisting on Genocide, the full loaf. Maybe they feel it is the most humane thing to do in the circumstances, I don’t know. All I know is that they should not sell “Medz Yeghern” in the bazaar for whatever value they can get.
You ask me what is important to me. What is important to me is that Turkey acknowledge its crime of genocide against the Armenian people, express appropriate remorse, and stand ready to provide restitution. This would meet the minimum standards of morality as commonly understood around the world. I see acknowledgement of its historic responsibility for the Genocide as, by far,
the most important point.
Diran,
I see what your concern is. You think that as soon as they officialy reffer to it as “The Great Calamity” then that’s where it will STOP. I don’t want to argue with you, and I can see why you may think so. But! I think that’s where it will START. You can’t expect from 60 million uneducated (on this topic) people wake up one day and admit to something that they know the exact opposite. So, I think by dividing the two issues, which is their loses (WW1) and ours (let them call it whatever they want at this time), they will be forced to come up with explanation. (Obviously we could NOT have lost more people than them if it was only because of WW1, since it was them that were heavily involved in that war.) Now if we can get them to agree on one more thing, which is the number of the deaths (which again sooner or later they will) then it will be only a matter of time before they themselfes stand up and say that it was a Genocide. I hope you have noticed that starting last year there is a movement in Turkey towards recognizing that something did really happen to Armenians. Unfortunanately we have to live through this, but I think we are on the edge of having them properly recognize The Genocide. THEY KNOW THAT THEY HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE. They are just buying time by trying to show the world that they are good guys (in the other international matters) so when the time comes for reparations they can get away with minimum.
Today, 96 years since the Ottoman Turks began the elimination of a nation – wonders me. How great and inspired these Turk leaders shall have felt… killings, rapes, kidnappings, tortures beyond descriptions – all pursued as they had planned. Too, their plan to ‘steal’ the lands of the Armenians (too the Armenian culture) and more, all to become as if all the ancient Armenian history belonged and were all the history of Turks. All that was Armenian was to become – ready made – for these barbaric hordes from the Asian mountains seeking a homeland for themselves. To accomplish this meant that their plans were to remove/eliminate all humans, all men, women, children… all Armenians, marched and worse, to their deaths. Any and all signs of any Armenians – eliminated – for there shall not remain any signs that Christian Armenians ever had existed on the planet earth!
How barbaric! What a demented mentality against all humanity! Too, how did they sleep nights, how did they face their own children, knowing peoples were being slaughtered and worse. Each and every day, daily, for years, ongoing until their goals for the deaths of the Armenians were reached. Turkey killed Armenians for lands for muslim Turkeys only! Then, too, planned that they, and too their subsequent leaderships – all – shall never admit that they had initiated these crimes – their crimes never to be admitted. Denials, (lies) became the subsequent Turkeys’ leaderships M.O. Why not? Committing their crimes, knowingly to ‘get away’ with Genocides’ – for the guilt of the Turks – the bullying stance of Turks appears to supersede all truths from the victims, until today – 2011!
Too, despots, since this first Genocide of the 20th century has been replicated/copied by all the Genocides have been pursued, since the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, and the perpetrators the winners – the victims the losers! For, too,
– if Genocide of the Armenians had been brought to justice, reparations paid, the advanced and ancient Armenian peoples would, today, have stood tall with all the civilized nations of the world;
– if Genocide of the Armenian peoples had been brought to justice, ALL of the other Genocides the world has ‘allowed’ – all these innocents shall never have become the victims to Genocides – into today, 2010, sadly in Darfur;
– if Genocides had been eliminated via President Woodrow Wilson’s efforts – the ancient and advanced nation of Armenia shall have stood as a shining star – an outstanding leader amongst the Caucasus… joined with a civilized world.
– if Genocides had been eliminated in early 20th century… what a different world we shall have had – for then, humanity would have reigned, not Genocides!
May I suggest that now and then you also enter another web site ..panarmenian.net..mostly to be abreast of latest news developments AS TO ARMENIA TURKEY..
WHILE YOU GUYS ARE DISCUSSING DISPUTING ABOVE , Mr. Erdogan is declaring near Armenian border…NAKHIJEVAN HIGHWAY SHOULD BE READY soon and ..
WE WILL NOT SIGN PROTOCOLS AND OPEN BORDER UNTILL KARABAGH ISSUE IS RESOLVED(MEANING TO HIS DESIRE,OF COURSE).
May God forbid that sign the protocols and open borders…I HAVE TIME AND AGIAN WARNED -LIKE RAFI HOVANISSIAN ´S MOST IMPORTANT CONCERN IS…TO RECALL THE SIGNATURES,,THAT LUCKILY GIVES US THAT CHANCE N O W !!!
fOR ONCE, THAT IS SIGNED HELL WILL BREAK LOOSE ON ARMENIA AND OUR CAUSE/case and everything.No!!! turks will not attack Armenia by fporce.This time over they will enter to buy out everything, enter as seemingñly good natured tourists(some maybe) but mainly to do their JOB!!!! infiltrate amongst us ,with perfectly Armenian speaking turks and Azeris(you guys forget that 150,000 Azeris lived soviet Armenia .I have poetry from an azeri poet that is as good as an Armenians´´and these are ready made AGENTS TO OPERATE in RA,then travel to NK.Please direct all your efforts to pursuade RA Govt. to RECALL SIGNATURES …NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I BEG EVERYONE´S FORGIVENESS,for above fast and bad writing.MY concern my dear compatriots is to prevent anything bad or worse to befall on our homeland,or whatever is left of it..please concentrrate On reorganizing our RANKS AND FILES..My scheme also includes clause that has ¨Dual membership is O.K.¨¨meaning one can be member of any reñliogious, political party or what not but FORM PART OF A PROFESSIONAL COLLEAGUES ASSOCIATION.THAT IS WHAT WE NEED NOW IN ORDER TO GATHER UP ALL THOSE WHO ARE NOT PARTISAN ,DO NOT WISH TO BE SO AND ARE BEING DRIFTED AWAY….WE ARE LOOSING STEAM BECOMING NEARLY EXTINCT.
WHEREAS WE COULD A AFORCE OF MORE THAN A 100,000 IN 16 FIELDS OF PROFESSIONA WELL FORMED AND THRUSTING FORWARD WITH OBJECTIVES:_
to have ¨¨national investment trust fund ¨¨for all ARMENITY IN GENEVA CH
TO DIRECTLY COOPERATE THROUGH MEMBERS OF THE INTERPROFESSIONAL COLLEAGJUES ASSOCIATIONS OF ALL COMMUNITY COUNTRY ADN RA ,GO THERE AND HELP HOMELAND FARMERS SMALL FACTORY OWNERS THIS THAT AND FORGE AHEAD.FORGET ABOUT THE 151 MILLION EUROS THAT EU ONLYU TWO DAYS AGO PLEDGED TO GRANT TO ARMENIA.THAT WILL BE …AND ONLY PARTIALLY DIRECTED TO …WHATEVER. I NEVER WISH TO DELVE INTO THAT.BECASUE I KNOW FULL WELL THAT THESE LOAN OR GRANT GIVING PARTIES DO THAT IN THEIR WAY -MOST PROBABLY WITH KICK BACKS AND OTHER CONDITIONS ATTACHED TO IT..
I AM TALKING OF A NATIONAL TRUST FUND ,TO BE GOVERNED BY MONETARY EXPERTS APPOINTED BY OUR 5/6 magnates who will have the nucleus of it formed AND THEN THE PCA´S MEMBERS PROFESSIONA,L COLLEAGUES ASSOCIATIONS WILL ALL I N V E S T IN IT.
2. FIRST AID-MOST IMPORTANT PRIORITY,OR RATHER EVEN THE FIRST,REPLACING ABOVE LOANS TO PEOPLE IN RA WILL BE TO ORGANIZE REPATRIATION to RA/artsakh,javakhk…FOR THSE PEOPLE TO HAVE NOT ONLY TRAVEL COVERED, WHICH IS ONLY A FRACTION OF EA FAMIL OR PERSON THAT WILL BE PROVIDED WITH BUT real CAPITYAL INVESTMENTS IN SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZE FARMING THIS THAT.
THINK PLEASE THINK WHICH IS IMPORTANT!!!!!!
THANKS FOR YOUR ATTN:
g-p