Open Letter to US President Mr. Barack Obama

April 9, 2012

Dear President Obama,

Yesterday a Turkish daily, HaberTürk reported that you are not expected to use the word “genocide” in your annual statement on Armenian Remembrance Day this year, by 99.9 percent. I have read your 2011 statement. I guess you will issue a similar statement mentioning Meds Yeghern and saying something similar to “I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view of that history has not changed”, but will not use the word “genocide”. We should probably thank you and relax a little before we start thinking what will happen next year. 

Some years ago myself, a German and a British colleague had a walk on a hill in Brighton where we have been having a meeting. As we strolled, we came across a ruined hut. I was not expecting such a view and asked what has happened there. My British friend hushed me casting a quick glance at our German colleague who was walking ahead hoping that she hadn’t heard. Then she whispered to my ear that the place was bombed during WWII and I understood that she did not want to offend our German colleague talking about it.  In your statement of 2011 you carefully express that the horrific events took place in final days of the Ottoman Empire. However, you probably know that such a sensitivity is really rare and people usually say “Turks”. Whenever Armenian Genocide Allegations are mentioned I remember that Brighton evening walk and think about the double standards. If it were the Ottoman Empire why Turkish people are expected to apologize? If there is sensitivity towards civil peoples' sufferings occurred during the war time why almost nobody in the West ever sympathizes with the sufferings and losses of Turks and other Muslim peoples who were subjects of Ottoman Empire, particularly from Balkans, Caucasus and Anatolia. Our losses were 5.5 million from 1912 to 1923. In an article it is stated that 2 million Muslims were killed by Armenians. A conference paper reveals that Armenians annihilated one third of Muslim population of Erzurum Province. I wonder if we shall ever hear an apology or a word of sympathy.

I would like to quote what Mustafa Kemal Atatürk had said about these tragic events of WWI “International society cannot accuse us about the decision of Armenian relocation which we had to took. … Contrary to the forgeries against us, all who were forced to re-settle are alive and most of them could return their home now if the Allied States had not forced them to join the war against us.” He explained to Clanence K. Streit, American journalist, on 26 February 1921 saying: “When the Russian Armies started a great attack against us, Armenian Tashnak Committee which was under the Tsarist service, encouraged the Armenian people who were behind the Turkish troops to riot. We always felt ourselves that we were between two fires. Our supply, logistic and medical convoys were attacked and massacred with no mercy, the bridges and roads were damaged and there was a terror campaign against the Turkish villages. The bandits lured all Armenians who could combat. Thanks to the capitulations, the weapons were stocked in the Armenian villages”.

I wonder, if you would consider briefly mentioning those from all countries who lost their lives or suffered at the WWI together with Armenians. I whole-heartedly join your pledge to stand strong against all those who would commit atrocities ... and against hatred in all its forms and wish for the days of peace and friendship to come which we all cherish and yearn for.

Respectfully,

Selma Aslan

A Turkish woman aged 62

whose grandmother had to emigrate from Erzurum to Istanbul

because of Armenian atrocities in 1916

http://armenianholocaustmystory.blogspot.com/

Ağrı Dağı  / Mount Ararat photo courtesy of   Metin Armağan


Armenian Holocaust:My Story blog by Selma Aslan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Gayriticari-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.