Message to German Member of Parliament Erika Steinbach Concerning Her Call to Apologize and Remembering Khojaly Massacre

Dear Ms. Steinbach,

I have recently come across a news item about your call of early February to Mr. Erdogan to apologize before the Armenians and had a sleepless night as I feel very offended in such situations. I was also surprised because after the ECHR verdict of 17 December 2013, which pointed out that “…The existence of a “genocide”, which was a precisely defined legal concept, was not easy to prove. The Court doubted that there could be a general consensus as to events such as those at issue, given that historical research was by definition open to discussion and a matter of debate, without necessarily giving rise to final conclusions or to the assertion of objective and absolute truths [1]” I was not expecting this kind of pressure any longer.

Then I read about your career and was impressed by your efforts concerning expellees’ plight for recognition. This reading led me to other web sites about post WWII displacements telling how displaced people were affected. After this reading I can understand why you are interested in the Armenian case, and at the same time I feel that if you had a deeper insight of what had happened then,  you would probably not support the genocide allegations concerning 1915 tragic relocation.

Let me introduce myself first. I am a 64 years old Turkish woman born in Erzurum, in Eastern Anatolia. My maternal and paternal grandmothers lived through enforced migration as Erzurum became a war zone during WWI. They were lucky to be able to go back home when Turks were able to reborn from their ashes and establish the Turkish Republic. I ask myself is it a crime to win? Ours was a struggle for survival, how can there be attempts to criminalize us by accusations of genocide?

I don’t know if you have ever come across the video recording of prominent Middle East specialist Professor Bernard Lewis where he says: “… to make a parallel with the holocaust in Germany you would have to assume that Jews in Germany had been engaged in an armed rebellion against the German state collaborating with the allies against Germany, that in the deportation order the cities of Hamburg and Berlin were exempted, and the persons in the employment of the state were exempted. And the deportation only applied to the Jews of Germany proper, so that when they got to Poland they were welcomed and sheltered by the Polish Jews. This seems to me a rather absurd parallel. [2]”

To understand 1915 we should look back a little. Rise of nationalism in the late 19th century, independence of Greece and Balkan countries with the support of Europe and Russia, decline of the Ottoman Empire, and the work of missionaries around Anatolia inspiring Armenians with ideas to become their own rulers. One of these missionaries had expressed concern if they were doing the right thing in an article published in three parts  in 1894-95 in The Presbyterian [3] saying since Armenians formed only 30 percent of the population, if they took over the administration the results could had been even worse. Actually, 30 percent was probably an exaggerated figure because according to Russia, as taught in the Red Army Military Academy, the ratio was 20 percent only [4]. Despite forming such a minority, they wanted Eastern Anatolia for themselves. From early 1800’s onwards Eastern Anatolian Gregorian Armenians cooperated with Russia betraying Ottoman Empire in the wars of 1826, 1877-78 and WWI.

To pave the way to the Russian army, in April 1914, before the Relocation and Settlement decision on 27 May, Armenians insurrected in Van and 80.000 Moslem were either killed or had to flee. They cheered saying 1.500 Moslem were left in Van. Muslim Districts were turned to ruins. Käthe Ehrhold, a German nurse who was working at an Armenian orphanage as missionary at the time, witnessed  mercilessness of Armenians towards Muslims and wrote about it in her memoirs titled Flucht in die Heimat, published in 1937 [5]. Van Insurrection was one of the reasons for relocation.  Another reason was systematic insurrections in various locations to distract Ottomans as much as possible from the frontiers which extended to Yemen in the South, Galicia in the North, Gallipoli in the west. They were also sabotaging supplies along the logistic routes. I think it is plain that it was a must to take measures to secure the back of the army. Nobody denies that relocation has been very painful but there was no intent to exterminate. My message to US  Representatives Adam Schiff, Michael Grimm, David Valadao and Frank Pallone summarizes why this tragic event can not be regarded as genocide [6].

I will not repeat what I have written earlier but I would like to add some new data  I have compiled recently which might be helpful for you to judge the events more evenhandedly. As Russian Army was approaching, while Armenians were relocated to South, 800.000 Muslims fled towards West to inner Anatolia. “Before this enforced migration, the population of Erzurum was 705.000. 488.000 emigrated and 217.000 remained behind in the city captured by Russia with contributions of Armenians which made Armen Garo very proud as he expressed in his writings [7]. When Erzurum was emancipated 173.000 of emigrants returned, whereas 108.000 chose to settle at their destinations. These figures leave us with 207.000 people lost during emigration only from Erzurum province, which is 42 percent of emigrants [8]. Compare this with 20 percent loss amongst Armenians relocated to Der Zor under protection and care of the state as pointed out by Professor Justin McCarthy during his lecture in Melbourne, in November 2013, in contrast to  50 percent loss among those who went to Russia on their own will.  McCarthy has also stated that rate of losses among Muslims and Armenians were the same, both 40 percent [9].

On 26 February 1992 Armenians slaughtered 600 Azeris in Nagorno-Karabakh  where Armenians call Artsakh and feel very happy for having occupied saying that they liberated (!) not thinking of one million Azeries who had to flee to Baku and still wait for the days they will be able go back home. Would you consider sending a message of sympathy to them wishing conflict to be resolved?

18 March is the anniversary of emancipation of Erzurum in 1918. However, it is hard to cheer up when one remembers that Armenians left the province applying scorched earth policy and killing children, elderlies, women, any one they came across as they withdrew. If one single Armenian said I am sorry for atrocities and killings our grandparents exerted I would feel a bit better, but I have not come across such an expression yet. Would you consider inviting them to say they are sorry. I am not after an official apology which is expected to open the doors to compensation. I just want a bit of empathy.You probably know that many many Turks say they are sorry about what innocent Armenians had been through under  war conditions, but Armenians do not do that though pains of starvation and pestilence were common to both communities and killings were reciprocal.

History needs to be rewritten because when conflict starts it does not matter who is the first to draw his sword and no matter which party wins, people on all sides suffer. All sufferings should be recognized.

Respectfully,

Selma Aslan

References

1) 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)

2. Bernard Lewis Speaking on Armenian Allegations. www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG70UWESfu4

3) "Armenia and the Armenians," The Presbyterian, Dec.22, pp.824-825, Dec.29, pp. 841-842,1893, Jan. 5, 1894 pp. 10-12. [The author who used "The Correspondent"  pseudonym is thought to be the Director of Marsovan (Merzifon) American College.] (Ms Arzu Gedikozer,a dear friend living in London kindly got a copy going to Colindale Newspaper Library for me. I can forward the scanned version to you if you wish.)

4) Korsun, N. G. Turtsiya/Kurs Lektsii Po Voyenney Geografii, Çitannıh V Voyennoy Akademi RKKA, p. 37. Vıssiy Voyennıy Redaktsionny Sovyet, Moscow,1923 [Coursebook used by Red Army Military Academy] as translated by Mehmet Perinçek into Turkish in Rus Devlet Arşivlerinden 150 Belgede Ermeni Meselesi [Armenian Question in 150 Documents from Russian State Archives]. Ankara: Kirmizikedi, 2012. ( I hope you have friends  from Russia who can verify this source for you)

5) Ehrhold, Käthe. (1937). Flucht in die Heimat.Dresden-Leipzig.

6) Aslan, S. (June 13, 2013) Armenian Genocide Truth and Justice Act and the Truth.  http://armenianholocaustmystory.blogspot.com.tr/2013/06/armenian-genocide-truth-and-justice-act.html

7) Garo, Armen. Why Armenia should be free : Armenia's role in the present war (1918). https://archive.org/details/whyarmeniashoul00torogoog. Accessed on 16.02.2014. 

8) Aslan, S. (Feb. 17, 2014) Remembering Fall of Erzurum, 16 February 1916. http://armenianholocaustmystory.blogspot.com.tr/2014/02/remembering-fall-of-erzurum-16-february.html

9) McCarthy, J. (November 2013) What Happened During 1915-1919 presented by Australian Turkish Advocacy Alliance: Melbourne Symposium. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TPcNuu3jJWk

Some suggested further readings

Erich Feigl. (2006) Armenian Mythomania. http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2007/06/1755-free-e-book-armenian-mythomania.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

Katchaznouni, Hovhannes. The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnagtzoutiun) has nothing to do any more:The Manifesto of Hovhannes Katchaznouni, First Prime Minister of the Independent Armenian Republic. Translated from the Original by Matthew A. Callender. Edited by John Roy Carlson (Arthur A. Derounian). Published by the Armenian Information Service, 1955.

Knadjian, H. M. (19--?). The Eternal struggle. Fresno: Republican Printery. California Digital Library. https://archive.org/details/eternalstrugglew00knadiala. Accessed on 24.02.2014