Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesman, said Friday that Bush believes the Armenian episode ranks among the greatest tragedies of the 20th century, but the determination whether “the events constitute a genocide should be a matter for historical inquiry, not legislation.”
Mr. Johndroe and the president are either ignorant of, or willfully denying what reputable historians have already written: Armenia was a genocide. There’s dozens, if not hundreds, of history books on Turkey, Armenia, the Ottoman Empire, etc., that all cover it in detail.
Besides Bush/Johndroe are wrong in another way: The “why” of any mass murder moves beyond history into psychology, sociology and — political science.
As for Bush’s claims this will severely dent relations with Turkey (as if the botching of Iraq and consequent emboldening of Kurdish rebels inside Turkey hasn’t done anything), that may be hot air out of both Washington and Ankara, as much as anything:
“Turkey has been threatening every sort of doomsday scenario,” says Armenian National Committee of America Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We have been saying that Turkey would harm itself more than the United States if it carries through with these threats.”
As for Turkey’s call to have a set of international experts examine the issue, fine, let’s do that — as soon as Ankara stops criminalizing and censoring discussion of this issue by Turkey’s own historians.
1 comment:
Presently, 92 years after the instigation of the genocide of the
Armenians, selected Turkish "historians" maintain – for their own
self-satisfaction and for the targeted deception of the Turkish and
international public – that "there was no official document ordering
the extermination." If this Turkish logic were to be followed
through, the Holocaust would also be open to question; as is well-
known, no official document ordering the extermination was ever
supposedly issued under the National Socialist Regime either. The
malicious denial of the Turkish-instigated genocide of the Armenians
and the continual demand for still more proof is a byproduct of
the "glorious history" invented by Turkish bureaucrats for
this "chosen people." This invented, glorious history declares all
civilized people who ever existed within the perimeter of today's
Turkey – no matter what their indigenous culture is or was – as
proto-Turks. Armenians, of course, do not belong to this. The
splendid history of Turkey, an artificial, eulogistic and
ideological fabrication, continues to exclude the worst and darkest
sides of Turkey's past – such as the systematic extermination of the
Armenians.
Independent historians from around the world have long passed their
judgment on the subject. Genocide is genocide. A commission of
historians, as is suggested by Turkey, will and can not change the
facts. In the Turkish national identity, however, history is
subordinate to the primacy of the policy. After all, who cares about
historical facts? For each and every governmentally-dictated
domestic policy a history can be – and is – invented. Whether or not
this in any way serves to help the peaceful co-existence of the
varied ethnic groups on a long-term basis, however, is open to
question. Basically, the Turkish politicians are leading their own
next generation into an illness commonly known as amnesia.
The slanderous and obfuscating methods of Turkey regarding the
completion of the genocide begun in 1915 are no less precise.
Unfortunately, for some reason or other, some democratic countries
still yield to the aggressive Turkish nationalist stance and handle
Turkey with kid's gloves instead of taking them clearly to task in
regard to Turkey's continual denial of the genocide.
everybody in US should be sure, This Turkey needs EU , NATO and USA more than US and NATO need Turkey, Turkish politicans are well aware of the fact of Armenian Genocide and kurdish problem. Turkey is aware of this fact and need US and NATO, because Ankara can keep what they have stolen through a genocide from other people currently only and only with the help of NATO and US.
Turkey has allways used its islamic and nationalist- fasict groups/NGOS to blackmail US and EU. Nothing has changed Turkey in Turkey from 1915 , Turkey is still in need of its different racist NGOs for blackmailing and for other excuses
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