Dear Sir,
Asbarez.com reported that you have made an
address in the Parliament against Professor Justin McCarthy's visit, on
November 21, 2013, and quoted your views as follows:
“… revisionist Justin McCarthy has used
parliamentary facilities to promote his well-documented views questioning the
systematic slaughter of Armenians, Assyrians and Pontian Greeks from
1915 to 1923. ... ANZAC soldiers verify the Genocide as an irrefutable
historical fact through their eyewitness accounts. ... Denial of this Genocide
is an attack on those who perished, those who survived, and their descendants.”
Since you might have seen the open letter
I have written to Ms Michelle Rowland, Labour MP, Greenway, NSW, who also made
an address on the same topic, on the same day, I will not repeat the sources I
have suggested for a better understanding of the issue and the points I have
made there.
However, I have just a few questions
for you, if you don't mind, since I couldn't work out some points :
Concerning the first sentence quoted from
you, I wonder if you
- intentionally support an allegation which has no
legally valid proof or didn't know that was the case? (Michael
M. Gunter : As for the necessary attribute of premeditation to
demonstrate genocide, there are no authentic documents to such effect.
Although there are countless descriptions of the depravations suffered by
the Armenians, they do not prove intent or premeditation. )
- have any idea how many Muslim civil people lost
their lives during the same period and who killed them? (Henham
& Behrens: "The tragic events of 1915 had not been started by
Muslims. ... Between 1910 and 1922, 523,000 Muslims (Turk) were among the
casualties." Actually this is the number of those registered by name.
With mass killings through setting fire to places where people were
gathered like mosques or filling wells and covering the top with stones,
Muslim casualties are estimated around 2,5 million in Eastern Anatolia and
Caucasus. These events are well documented in Russian Archives and
elsewhere.)
- know that when the Ottoman Empire lost WWI and
Moudros Armistice was signed Turkish people started a war of independence
under leadership of Mustapha Kemal Ataturk in 1919 and established the
Republic of Turkey in 1923. By this statement you defame an all-time world
leader and a nation reborn from its ashes and constituted an exemplary for
a number of countries in Africa and Asia to gain their independences.
Please remember that Greek Prime Minister Venizelos even forwarded
Atatürk's name for the 1934 Nobel Peace Prize.Turks had to fight with any
group who took part on invaders' side. Is to fight with invaders a
genocide?
I must confess I am puzzled by this
sentence most: "ANZAC soldiers verify the Genocide as
an irrefutable historical fact through their eyewitness
accounts."
In an article published in Daily Telegraph
on November 23, 2013, it is quoted as follows: "In 1967, Governor-General Lord Richard Casey arrived in Turkey to
inspect the abandoned battlefields dotted along the west coast of the Gallipoli
Peninsula. For Casey, this was as much of a personal pilgrimage as a state
visit - 52 years earlier he had been a young lieutenant on this sliver
of Turkish coastline facing an
unforgiving enemy." I visited Gallipoli. As far as I could see the
battlefield was a bushy non-residential hill. ANZACs were able to advance one
kilometre or so only. In Talat Pasha's notes called Black Book, Çanakkale, which was then called Kale'i Sultaniye was not listed among
places Armenians were to be relocated. Only 2,540 (2474 Gregorian and 67
Protestant) of a population of 166,000 were Armenians there. Checking the
destination records meticulously one by one, Ara Sarafian* of GOMIDAS
was able to spot 404 Armenians relocated from Çanakkale. They were sent to
nearby settlements with the exception of 4 who were sent to Zor. Only those who cooperated with the enemy were
relocated later on. How many ANZACs were involved in intelligence activities
so that they knew about these few people and were able to witness? How come
they witnessed Armenians on the roads but did not hear at all about Van
Rebellion which caused whole Muslim population of Van Province that is 74
percent of all population, either to be atrociously massacred or
expelled. German Ambassador Wangenheim's report to the German Ministry of
Foreign Affairs cover details of this uprising. Armenians cleared the city of
Van completely by 16/17 May and welcomed Russians who they have helped to
come.
Erickson who has evaluated the events from military point of view stressed that "the Ottoman reaction was escalatory and responsive rather than premeditated and pre-planned. In this context the Ottoman relocation decision becomes more understandable as a military solution to a military problem. While political and ideological imperatives perhaps drove the decision equally, if not harder, these do not negate the fact that the Armenians were a great military danger."
If you ask me, the ANZACs were more likely
to witness Torossian who was fighting in the Ottoman Army (Fisk, 2013) and Armenian doctors who were healing the wounded Turkish soldiers. 284,000
Armenians were not relocated and some of them were in the Ottoman Army. Not all
Armenians opened their arms to invaders, some defended their land together with Turks.
Let me remind you that European Court of
Human Rights has emphasized that the term “genocide” requires precision in
regard to Article 10 § 2 of the Convention in the decision which is
in favour of Dogu Perinçek [leader of Labour Party, Turkey] against Switzerland
regarding the penalty given because he said "Armenian Genocide is an
international lie". In an interview published by Aydinlik daily on January
15, 2014, Oskar Freysinger, Vice President of Swiss People's Party which holds the majority in Swiss Parliament,
said "The Swiss parliament is
not a position where this issue can be debated or where an answer can be
searched for. Calling the events which happened 100 years ago as either a
genocide or reciprocal slaughter is not the job of Swiss
parliamentarians." Would you not think that this is true for any
parliament?
It is equally disgraceful to deny a crime
perpetrated and to acquiesce to allegations that our grandfathers murdered
innocent people intently although this wasn't the case, defaming them. I have
been reading on this topic since 2010 and sharing what I have learned through
my blog. If I were convinced that such a crime had been committed I would not
hesitate a second to apologize and support an apology. More I read more I
am convinced that we deserve an apology equally. I sometimes ask myself if the
crusades have never ended.
Attacked on seven fronts by the British,
by the French, by The Russian, by the Greek, by the Italian and quislings,
rebellions inside, Turks had a very hard time and very heavy losses. It was not
easy to reestablish friendly relationships again. Ataturk's sagaciousness in
announcing invader soldiers "our sons" and allowing their families to
visit them has led to a very unusual, extraordinary friendship between
Australia and Turkey. I hope Australian people will not allow adverse
groundless allegations to be taken seriously and destroy this valuable almost
centennial friendly relationship.
I wish Representatives of Australians in
local and federal parliaments to take decisions more knowledgeably based on
scholarly facts; rather than emotionally, based on reminiscences which reflect
half of a story, and I hope NSW and SA Parliaments review their
positions.
Faithfully yours,
Selma Aslan
A Turkish woman of 64 years age
whose grandmother had to flee from
Erzurum in fear of Armenians
Faithfully yours,
Selma Aslan
A Turkish woman of 64 years age
whose grandmother had to flee from
Erzurum in fear of Armenians
Sources
Australian Politicians Slam Genocide
Denier in Parliament. Nov.21, 2013.
Brown, Warren. "The Aussie PM,
Turkey's hero and their unbreakable bond forged at Gallipoli," Daily
Telegraph, Nov 23, 2013.
"Eleftherios Venizelos"
Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleftherios_Venizelos
Erickson, Edward J. Armenians and Ottoman
Military Policy, 1915. War In History 2008 15: 141.
http://wih.sagepub.com/content/15/2/141.
European Court of Human Rights. "Criminal conviction for denial that the atrocities
perpetrated against the Armenian people in 1915 and years after constituted
genocide was unjustified" press release dated Dec.17, 2013
(hudoc.echr.coe.int/webservices/content/pdf/003-4613832-5581451)
Fisk, Robert. "The Armenian hero
Turkey would prefer to forget : The Armenian-Turkish officer Torossian was
awarded medals by Enver Pasha," The Independent, May 12 2013.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-armenian-hero-turkey-would-prefer-to-forget-8612890.html
and my response to this article: Aslan, Selma. "Armenian Ottoman Captain Sarkis Torossian : A Hero of
Gallipoli Battle With a Medal from Enver Pasha," http://armenianholocaustmystory.blogspot.com/2013/05/armenian-ottoman-captain-sarkis.html
Gunter, MM 2013, 'What Is Genocide? The
Armenian Case', Middle East Quarterly, 20, 1, pp. 37-46, Political Science
Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 21 February 2013. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=poh&AN=83832163&site=ehost-live
Henham, Ralph J. The criminal law of
genocide: international, comparative and contextual aspects (2007), Ashgate
Publishing, sf. 25
Sarafian, Ara. Talaat Pasha’s Report On
The Armenian Genocide. London: Gomidas Institute, 2011. http://www.gomidas.org/uploads/Talaat%20Pashas%20Report%20on%20the%20Armenian%20Genocide.pdf (Ara
Sarafian is grandchild of one of the 1,000 families protected by Kutahya
Governor Faik Ali Bey. (http://armenianholocaustmystory.blogspot.com/2013/10/remembering-governor-faik-ali-bey-and.html)
"Swiss Politician Freysinger on
Armenian Question," Aydınlık, Jan 15, 2014.
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