Sehr geehrte(r) Frau/Herr ...
Thank you for your replies to my message to inform me about the Greens’ position concerning Armenian Genocide allegations. So far I understood with the help of the Google translation service, you think that,
Thank you for your replies to my message to inform me about the Greens’ position concerning Armenian Genocide allegations. So far I understood with the help of the Google translation service, you think that,
- You have confidence in your opinion that what has been lived through is a genocide,
- UN Convention can work retrospectively,
- Parliaments can pass resolutions,
- There is a consensus in the Bundestag,
- Even some renowned Turkish scholars have written works supporting this view,
- You encourage all those who have doubts about a genocide, to read the research by reputable historians, and historical documents,
- The topic should be covered in the textbooks,
- Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin explicitly referred to the extermination of the Armenians next to the Holocaust in the drafting of the UN convention,
- You want to contribute to the reconciliation of Turks and Armenians.
I am pleased to hear that you aim to be helpful in this matter. It is very important because if you really include this topic into your textbooks 500.000 Turkish-German children and their families will be affected. The children will be asking “Mum, are we barbarians, have our grandpas killed innocent Armenians? But my granduncle/grandaunt and his family members were killed by an Armenian Dashnaq chete and their village was completely annihilated. I am confused. Turks and Armenians were living together. There were 4-5 times more Turks than Armenians. But Armenians said we want this land for ourselves only, you either go or die. We didn’t want to leave our homeland to them and fought for it not only against Armenians, but also Russians, English, French and Greeks who occupied our lands. More Turks than Armenians died and our country was devastated. And yet we are blamed now, after 100 years! Why? Don’t they want us here? Where shall we go next? Shall we go back to Turkey? But I was born here. Do I need to go to that school?”
I assume you will also help mothers to explain their children why the Western World ignores 520.000 Muslims massacred by Armenian Dashnaq Chetes from 1910-1922 in Eastern Anatolia and another 600.000 relocated Muslims who lost their lives for exactly the same reasons as for Armenians, that is epidemics such as typhus which also killed General Goltz in Kut-ul Amare, scarcity of food –it was Britain who didn’t allow the Spanish ship to unload the potatoes they have brought for Armenians despite all efforts of Talaat Pasha, with the fear the soldiers would also take share and gain strength to fight against them for instance!--, attacks of outlaws, misbehaviour of corrupt civil servants and officers –1673 of them were prosecuted, 67 were sentenced to death, and the others were given various punishments, few being found not guilty, in March - April 1916. Talaat Pasha says we were aware that many more had to be prosecuted similarly but we lacked reliable human resources and were obliged to keep them in place unfortunately--.
Lemkin is said to have drawn a parallel between Armenian massacres and the Holocaust by genocide allegers. “In the Perinçek case, Switzerland claimed that Lemkin came up with the concept of genocide because he was inspired by the 1915 events. However, Tal Buenos, who studied Lemkin very closely and worked in Lemkin’s archives, demonstrated that the claim made by the Swiss government was unfounded. In fact, the Swiss government did not repeat this misinformation later on. In his personal correspondences and archives, Lemkin used the concept of genocide in a very broad sense and even categorized the atrocities committed by the Greeks against the Muslims as genocide. Similarly, Professor Paul Mojzes wrote a critically important book, titled Balkan Genocides. According to Mozjes, the first and foremost genocide was carried out against the Muslim populations during the Balkan Wars of 1912-13. In addition, Benjamin Liberman’s book, Terrible Fate: Ethnic Cleansing in the Making of Modern Europe, traces genocide back to the deportation and killings of Muslims during the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877-1878. A good portion of this book discusses the ethnic cleansing and massacres of Muslims” (Past Tragedies and the Present by H. Yavuz, in AVİM Conference Book No: 15, 2015 Prospects For Turkish-Armenian Relations, p.60 http://tinyurl.com/jkrff5u). Nevertheless the UN Convention excludes this point in particular. Eminent scholar Bernard Lewis thinks such a comparison is “absurd” and makes an interesting analogy saying “… 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” (http://tinyurl.com/pro8pyx, slide 22). On other legal points I would like to suggest ECHR Press Releases ECHR 370 (2013), dated 17.12.2013 and 325 (2015) dated 15.10.2015 and would like to leave you with Irish scholar Dr. Pat Walsh who says “Parliaments can do what they please but it doesn’t alter anything. They are responsive to pressure groups and can pass motions to their heart’s content. No facts are altered when they do since parliaments have no competence in this area. It should be pointed out that what matters is International legal judgement. The U.N. defines what constitutes “Genocide” and it has not defined the Armenian events as such. Neither has any other international court – quite the reverse in fact. https://drpatwalsh.com/2016/04/21/the-irish-times-at-it-again/)
When the story is started from the night of April 24, 1915, isolated from the context, and decorated with assumptions and opinions, it can be presented as a genocide as it has happened in the West over the last century. However, the story actually goes back to 1774, and one finds it difficult to characterize the tragic event as genocide when,
- how Armenians were used as an instrument to intrude with the home affairs of declining Ottoman Empire by Britain and Russia,
- Russia’s desire to reach the southern seas through Eastern Anatolia and calculated maneuvres of Britain to stop this,
- rise of nationalism in the West in support of industrial revolution for the development of nation states, spread of this new rising value as an ideal amongst young people including Armenians and Turks,
- the pains suffered by Balkan Muslims, during nationalistic movements of the various Balkan peoples, almost all being either killed or swept out of their homes and found a new home in Anatolia –Shouldn’t this be recognized as the first genocide of the century ?--,
- the lessons taken by the Ottoman government from the bitter Balkan experience, while it is taken as exemplary by the Armenians,
- the role of the missionaries in the spread of nationalistic ideals among the Armenian young generation –Lepsius was also a missionary—in the 19th century,
- the role of Armenians in Russo-Ottoman wars of 1828, 1856, 1877-78
are all understood.
Lemkin is said to have drawn a parallel between Armenian massacres and the Holocaust by genocide allegers. “In the Perinçek case, Switzerland claimed that Lemkin came up with the concept of genocide because he was inspired by the 1915 events. However, Tal Buenos, who studied Lemkin very closely and worked in Lemkin’s archives, demonstrated that the claim made by the Swiss government was unfounded. In fact, the Swiss government did not repeat this misinformation later on. In his personal correspondences and archives, Lemkin used the concept of genocide in a very broad sense and even categorized the atrocities committed by the Greeks against the Muslims as genocide. Similarly, Professor Paul Mojzes wrote a critically important book, titled Balkan Genocides. According to Mozjes, the first and foremost genocide was carried out against the Muslim populations during the Balkan Wars of 1912-13. In addition, Benjamin Liberman’s book, Terrible Fate: Ethnic Cleansing in the Making of Modern Europe, traces genocide back to the deportation and killings of Muslims during the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877-1878. A good portion of this book discusses the ethnic cleansing and massacres of Muslims” (Past Tragedies and the Present by H. Yavuz, in AVİM Conference Book No: 15, 2015 Prospects For Turkish-Armenian Relations, p.60 http://tinyurl.com/jkrff5u). Nevertheless the UN Convention excludes this point in particular. Eminent scholar Bernard Lewis thinks such a comparison is “absurd” and makes an interesting analogy saying “… 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” (http://tinyurl.com/pro8pyx, slide 22). On other legal points I would like to suggest ECHR Press Releases ECHR 370 (2013), dated 17.12.2013 and 325 (2015) dated 15.10.2015 and would like to leave you with Irish scholar Dr. Pat Walsh who says “Parliaments can do what they please but it doesn’t alter anything. They are responsive to pressure groups and can pass motions to their heart’s content. No facts are altered when they do since parliaments have no competence in this area. It should be pointed out that what matters is International legal judgement. The U.N. defines what constitutes “Genocide” and it has not defined the Armenian events as such. Neither has any other international court – quite the reverse in fact. https://drpatwalsh.com/2016/04/21/the-irish-times-at-it-again/)
When the story is started from the night of April 24, 1915, isolated from the context, and decorated with assumptions and opinions, it can be presented as a genocide as it has happened in the West over the last century. However, the story actually goes back to 1774, and one finds it difficult to characterize the tragic event as genocide when,
- how Armenians were used as an instrument to intrude with the home affairs of declining Ottoman Empire by Britain and Russia,
- Russia’s desire to reach the southern seas through Eastern Anatolia and calculated maneuvres of Britain to stop this,
- rise of nationalism in the West in support of industrial revolution for the development of nation states, spread of this new rising value as an ideal amongst young people including Armenians and Turks,
- the pains suffered by Balkan Muslims, during nationalistic movements of the various Balkan peoples, almost all being either killed or swept out of their homes and found a new home in Anatolia –Shouldn’t this be recognized as the first genocide of the century ?--,
- the lessons taken by the Ottoman government from the bitter Balkan experience, while it is taken as exemplary by the Armenians,
- the role of the missionaries in the spread of nationalistic ideals among the Armenian young generation –Lepsius was also a missionary—in the 19th century,
- the role of Armenians in Russo-Ottoman wars of 1828, 1856, 1877-78
are all understood.
When the big picture is not seen –maybe intentionally or out of short-sightedness--, an academician, who has made career with the support of the Zoryan Institute for instance, can interpret the expression of “the Armenian question is resolved” if ever said, as a sign of “intent of genocide” while in my view it simply means Armenians resettled in the South can no longer be exploited in the power games concerning the Eastern Anatolian territory and intrusion into Ottoman home affairs. I don’t know if those renowned scholars refer to first hand reportings such as General Bronsart v. Schellendorf ‘s article concerning evidence for Talaat Pasha (Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung No.342, 24.07.1921), The Armenians Official Report dated 11 December 1915, written by General Bolkhovitinov, the Chief of Staff of the Caucasian Army. The loss rate among relocated Armenians was % 20 according to one scholar (McCarthy) and 37 to another (Guenter). The loss rate among Muslims who moved towards inner Anatolia was % 43 (Öğün). To understand why Turks were obliged to take such a rather heavy handed military measure I would suggest an article published in 3 parts in 1893-94 in the UK: "Armenia and the Armenians," The Presbyterian, Dec.22, pp.824-825, Dec.29, pp. 841-842,1893, Jan. 5, 1894 pp. 10-12. US Rear Admiral Colby M. Chester’s following words make one wonder what kind of a pre-planned annihilation exercise we are talking about: “Those from the mountains were taken into Mesopotamia, where the climate is as benign as in Florida and California, whither New York millionaires journey every year for health and recreation. All this was done at great expense of money and effort, and the general outside report was that all, or at least many, had been murdered. It seems almost a pity to upset the good old myth of Turkish viciousness and terribleness, but in the interest of accuracy, I find myself constrained to do so, although it makes me feel a bit like one who is compelled to tell a child that Jack the Giant Killer really found no monstrous men to slay” (Turkey Reinterpreted, New York Times Current History, Sept. 1922, XVI, 6, p. 945 of 939-949) I can provide these two articles as pdf if wished.
As for the historical documents, Armenian and Russian documents are usually ignored in the West for their own reasons. Dr. Mehmet Perinçek has found a plethora of documents in the Russian archives and he has been publishing them in his books and articles. In my recent work titled “Dünden Bugüne Ermeni Ülküsü ‘The Armenian Cause’ ve Tehcirle İlgili Bilgi Kaynaklarının Yeterliliği Üzerine [On the Armenian Ideals: “The Armenian Cause” from Past to Present and the Availability of Information Sources” which took me to the top 5% of researchers on Academia.edu by 30-day views as at May 22nd, I have been through major information resources and assure you that there is serious volume of literature which by no means support genocide allegations.
A genuine desire in the facilitation of reconciliation should have encompassed call to Armenia to withdraw from occupied Azeri lands so that one million Azeri refugees can go back home in Nagorno-Karabagh, recognition of Hocali massacre and paying respect to victims, an invitation to Armenia to stop their demands of reparations and land since all was settled at the time and literature cover how they were all settled.
Despite all these facts, now that the Bundestag has reached a consensus on an opinion, of course it can be converted to a resolution. A resolution was passed in 2005 as well, but it remains as an opinion and its all impact will be hurting Turks and deepening the problem. Now that the ECHR binding final decisions seem to have no value for the Bundestag, perhaps you think of passing a motion to propose the Court to be demolished next time. I wonder how your educational system will buy the idea of insertion of a topic in the textbooks based on an opinion. In early 90’s when something went wrong and the system got stuck it would write FATAL ERROR on the black screen. This resolution idea somehow reminded me of that screen. However, I still don’t lose my faith and hope that commonsense will overcome on the day of voting for the friendship of all peoples, in these days as another ethnic group is tried to be exploited to play a similar game of 100 years ago. But this time people did not let to be played on, instead left the terrorists to their own without roots and reason to fight except being an instrument in the power game. Their supporters are better review their positions. We say “this country is ours, we are one”. Nobody should play on a group within us, and attempt to exploit historical events to put pressure on us.
Although one step beyond, I prefer, to think that as human beings we are tiny elements of the universe and better be aware of our place humbly and be respectful to any entity in the universe and live in peace and harmony; I still respect the green ideas as well, and hope that your color does not change its shade with hues of political interests, double standards etc. getting mixed. Finally can I suggest Tal Buenos’s very interesting article titled “The Cyclicality of the Genocide Accusation” in AVİM Conference Book No: 15, 2015 Prospects For Turkish-Armenian Relations, p.76-89 (http://tinyurl.com/jkrff5u).
Respectfully yours,
As for the historical documents, Armenian and Russian documents are usually ignored in the West for their own reasons. Dr. Mehmet Perinçek has found a plethora of documents in the Russian archives and he has been publishing them in his books and articles. In my recent work titled “Dünden Bugüne Ermeni Ülküsü ‘The Armenian Cause’ ve Tehcirle İlgili Bilgi Kaynaklarının Yeterliliği Üzerine [On the Armenian Ideals: “The Armenian Cause” from Past to Present and the Availability of Information Sources” which took me to the top 5% of researchers on Academia.edu by 30-day views as at May 22nd, I have been through major information resources and assure you that there is serious volume of literature which by no means support genocide allegations.
A genuine desire in the facilitation of reconciliation should have encompassed call to Armenia to withdraw from occupied Azeri lands so that one million Azeri refugees can go back home in Nagorno-Karabagh, recognition of Hocali massacre and paying respect to victims, an invitation to Armenia to stop their demands of reparations and land since all was settled at the time and literature cover how they were all settled.
Despite all these facts, now that the Bundestag has reached a consensus on an opinion, of course it can be converted to a resolution. A resolution was passed in 2005 as well, but it remains as an opinion and its all impact will be hurting Turks and deepening the problem. Now that the ECHR binding final decisions seem to have no value for the Bundestag, perhaps you think of passing a motion to propose the Court to be demolished next time. I wonder how your educational system will buy the idea of insertion of a topic in the textbooks based on an opinion. In early 90’s when something went wrong and the system got stuck it would write FATAL ERROR on the black screen. This resolution idea somehow reminded me of that screen. However, I still don’t lose my faith and hope that commonsense will overcome on the day of voting for the friendship of all peoples, in these days as another ethnic group is tried to be exploited to play a similar game of 100 years ago. But this time people did not let to be played on, instead left the terrorists to their own without roots and reason to fight except being an instrument in the power game. Their supporters are better review their positions. We say “this country is ours, we are one”. Nobody should play on a group within us, and attempt to exploit historical events to put pressure on us.
Although one step beyond, I prefer, to think that as human beings we are tiny elements of the universe and better be aware of our place humbly and be respectful to any entity in the universe and live in peace and harmony; I still respect the green ideas as well, and hope that your color does not change its shade with hues of political interests, double standards etc. getting mixed. Finally can I suggest Tal Buenos’s very interesting article titled “The Cyclicality of the Genocide Accusation” in AVİM Conference Book No: 15, 2015 Prospects For Turkish-Armenian Relations, p.76-89 (http://tinyurl.com/jkrff5u).
Respectfully yours,
Selma Aslan
.
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