119) Turkish Scholars Friendly To Genocide

The following excerpt is from Professor Justin McCarthy's fine article, "The First Shot."

Who are These Turks?

Recently there have been meetings on the Armenian Question held in Germany and America. The meetings in America were mainly held behind closed doors. They were secret. No one but the participants knows what went on in these meetings. Some few meetings have allowed the public to listen, but have never included speakers who have doubted the existence of the "Armenian Genocide." Nevertheless, these meetings have been widely publicized, because there have been both Turks and Armenians at these meetings. The Armenian nationalists say, "You see, Turkish scholars agree with us."

Who are these Turks? They are those who have passed a test before they are allowed into the club. Before they can be a part of the gatherings, the Turks must agree that there was an Armenian genocide. The Armenian nationalists will not meet, or even speak, with anyone who disagrees with them. So these meetings are not scholarly inquiries. They are political gatherings of those who wish to condemn the Turks, and some of those who condemn the Turks happen to be Turks themselves.

There is nothing strange in this. I need not tell you that there are Turks whose ideology drives their historical judgment or that there are Turks who honestly disagree with the large majority of other Turkish scholars. It is a good thing to have disagreement, because wisdom comes out of debate. That is the problem with these meetings—they are not debates.

Professor Justin McCarthy

I have recently read many e-mails and letters that condemn the Turks who meet with the Armenians. Other Turks condemn them for in some way betraying their country. This is not right. No scholar should ever be attacked because he says what is unpopular. Freedom is the basis of all good scholarship, and that includes the freedom to be wrong. Attacking those who disagree with you is the way of the Armenian nationalists who bomb professor's houses, kill diplomats, threaten scholars, and take advantage of unjust French laws to sue professors who dare to speak out.

I hope this is never the way of the Turks. I go into bookstores in Istanbul and Ankara and see books in Turkish, written by Turkish citizens. These books state that the Turks did commit genocide. I read Turkish newspapers that include interviews with men whose words sound as if they were been written by Armenian nationalists. Sometimes I laugh at their arguments.

Sometimes they anger me. But I know that it is a good thing that they are able to speak. It shows that Turkey is mature enough, confident enough, to accept disagreement.



For the rest of this outstanding exercise in logic and honesty, click here.
Benedict Arnold

Benedict Arnold
An American hero, at least, before
turning traitor ...an honor the
Turkish Turncoat cannot claim

A Turkish Scholar Sponsored by the Armenians
March 19 , 2001

From Terrorism to Armenian Propagandist:
The Taner Akcam Story

Mustafa Artun

You may have heard that the ranks of those who accuse Turkey of having committed a "genocide" against the Armenians now include a Turkish citizen named Taner Akcam. Akcam who is affiliated with a German research center and claims a doctorate in history, has become the darling of the Armenian diaspora activists in this country and in Europe. He has been invited to the United States several times — all expenses paid by Armenian organizations — to give talks and participate in conferences.

Currently, he is a "visiting scholar" at the Armenian Research Center (ARC) at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. The ARC serves as one of main mouthpieces of anti-Turkey Armenian propaganda in the U.S. Its Director, Dennis Papazian, is a well-known professional falsifier of history who has consistently denied that Armenians were involved in the deaths of thousands of Turks in Eastern Anatolia during World War I.

Taner Akcam

During the past decade, Akcam has published several books in Turkey on the Armenian issue, including Turk Ulusal Kimligi ve Ermeni Sorunu (Turkish National Identity and the Armenian Question). Akcam's publications show no evidence that he knows Ottoman Turkish or that he has ever worked in the Ottoman archives. In his writings, Akcam parrots the familiar arguments that have become the staple of the Armenian propaganda machine. He wholeheartedly endorses the Armenian claim that the Armenians were the victims of a horrible "genocide" that was planned and carried out by the Ottoman government during World War I.

While dismissing the actions of the Armenian terrorist organizations against the Empire's Turkish and Muslim populations, he puts the blame for the tragic events that took place more than 80 years ago solely on the Young Turk leadership. Moreover, in line with the standard Armenian arguments, Akcam asks that Turkey formally apologize for its "crimes" to cleanse its national and collective conscience from this "horrible" burden. In his only publication to appear in English so far — an essay that was translated from German by none other than the well-known protagonist of the Armenian version of history, Vahakn Dadrian — Akcam goes so far as to argue that there was a close connection between the Armenian "genocide" and the national resistance movement in Anatolia led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and that the foundations of the new Turkish Republic reflected the involvement of its leadership in a genocidal policy. At the conclusion of his essay, Akcam wonders how traumatic it would be for Turks to discover that the individuals they regarded as "great saviors" and "people who created a nation from nothing" were in fact "murderers and thieves".

To understand how a person who claims Turkish citizenship can express such outrageous views, it is important to know something about his background. Taner Akcam was born in Kars — a province where there is a sizeable number of Turkified Armenian families — and he is the son of the leftist writer Dursun Akcam. Taner Akcam became involved in radical leftist activities while he was still a lycee student. His radicalism intensified while he studied at the Middle East Technical University in the early 1970s. Akcam moved from student activism into political terrorism by joining the THKP-C (Turkiye Halk Kurtulus Partisi-Cephesi-Turkish People's Liberation Party-Front) in 1972 — a terrorist organization that was implicated in the assassinations and killings of numerous far-right militants, Turkish security officials, and American and NATO military personnel. In the mid-1970s, Akcam became a leading member of DEV-YOL (Devrimci Yol-Revolutionary Path) and the editor of its periodical Devrimci Genclik Dergisi (Revolutionary Youth Magazine). It might be recalled that DEV-YOL was one of
the two principal leftist terrorist organizations (the other being DEV-SOL) that played a major role in the bloody escalation of
political violence in Turkey during the 1970s. In the bizarre ideological divisions among the leftist groups that proliferated on the Turkish political scene at the time, DEV-YOL was known
as following a "pro-Soviet" line in terms of its international loyalties. DEV-YOL's bloody terrorist activities, which claimed hundreds of
fatalities and a large number of serious injuries, included assassinations, armed attacks, bombings, and bank
robberies. The group also achieved notoriety when it set up a so-called "liberated zone" in the town of Fatsa
on the Black Sea coast where DEV-YOL militants established their control for several months before being routed by the security forces.

During this period of heightened terrorism, Akcam was an active participant in the planning of assassinations and armed attacks against the targets chosen by DEV-YOL. He was in the inner
leadership circle of the terrorist organization and worked as the right-hand man of its leader Oguzhan Muftuoglu. In addition, as the
editor of DEV-YOL's magazine, he wrote numerous articles exhorting DEV-YOL militants to engage in violence to bring down "the oligarchy", to punish "the fascists", and to get rid of "American imperialism." By the mid-1970s, as political violence between the far-left and ultra-nationalist groups escalated, Akcam had
become one of the leading "theoreticians" of leftist terrorism and violence in Turkey.

Taner Akcam was arrested in 1976. After a trial that lasted several months he was sentenced to eight years and nine months for his role in fomenting terrorism and political violence. However, Akcam did not stay in jail for long: in a spectacular incident that made the headlines in the Turkish press, he escaped from a prison in
Ankara along with four other convicted terrorists in March 1977. After hiding in Turkey for several months, he managed to find his way to Germany where he asked — and received — political asylum.

In Germany, Akcam continued his involvement in radical leftist activism and became the leader of a group known as Gocmen Harekat (Migrant's Movement) that sought to reorganize the
other leftist terrorists who had escaped from Turkey. In the aftermath of the 1980 military coup in Turkey, Akcam became a leading figure in mobilizing demonstrations and protests against Turkey in Germany.

He also wrote articles in various leftist publications in which he criticized DEV-YOL's leader Muftuoglu for his "pacifism" and called for the renewal of the "armed struggle" in Turkey. He also maintained his fanatical criticisms and attacks against of the West in general, and the United States in particular. In an interview in
1989, he declared: "I consider saying 'yes' to NATO and the European Union the biggest shame for a revolutionary. I am against the West since I consider it an imperialist power...and because I view the technology, culture, and politics of the West
dangerous for all mankind."

Akcam returned to Turkey in 1993 for the first time since his prison escape. Since his 1977 conviction and sentence had expired, he could not be put back into prison. In a press conference that he held upon his arrival to Istanbul, he stated that "DEV-YOL's struggle" was going to continue. However, by the early 1990s, DEV-YOL had become a relic of the past and a new generation of terrorists
had appeared on the scene that did not much care for older militants such as Akcam. Taner Akcam then worked for a period as an "advisor" to another former leftists radical, Gurbuz Cap¹n, who had become the mayor of Esenyurt municipality in Istanbul.

In the 1990s, Akcam decided to reinvent himself as a "scholar" by writing books and articles on the Armenian question. Following graduate work in the university, he became affiliated with a research center in Hamburg. His uncritical acceptance of the Armenian version of the events that took place in Eastern Anatolia during World War I quickly gained him the sympathy and support of
the anti-Turkey groups — Armenians, Kurds, and Greeks — first in Europe, and later in the U.S. At last, after spending years
in terrorist organizations, hiding from the police, and living in exile as a refugee, Akcam had found his true calling in life. By gaining the dubious distinction of being the first "Turkish scholar" to agree wholeheartedly with all the Armenian allegations and claims against Turkey, Akcam finally managed to make a name for himself outside of terrorism and also earn a livelihood through the financial support provided by Armenian diaspora organizations.

Akcam's critical views about Turkey and the actions of the Turkish state is typical of a generation of leftist intellectuals and political activists who emerged on the Turkish political scene beginning in the late 1960s. For them, the Turkish state is capable of doing nothing good and worthy and everything that smells foul and nasty.
As their hopes for a leftist revolution in Turkey faded away with the
disintegration of the Soviet Union and the communist regimes around Turkey, they have searched for new venues to vent
their anger and opposition to the Turkish state. Some former radical leftists have taken up political Islam as their new cause. Others have become supporters of radical Kurdish nationalism and the PKK. And in the case of Akcam, his lifelong opposition to Turkish state has manifested itself through his unabashed support for the Armenian falsifiers of history.

It is lamentable that a person who has been a fanatical critic of the U.S. throughout his adult life and who has worked in terrorist organizations that were directly responsible for the deaths of American citizens is now warmly embraced by Armenians living in this country. Perhaps this should not come as a surprise since the
Armenian activists have shown, over and over again, that they are willing to provide moral and material support to those who engage in terrorist acts directed at Turkey and Turkish officials. As a former terrorist leader with a long record of involvement in activities against the Turkish state, Akcam should feel at home among his new Armenian patrons.
-----
Akcam's past (via another source):

December 4, 1974
Arrested for unrest at the College of LHG, METU

July 28, 1975
Arrested for obstructing the scheduled exams at the METU, Ankara

November 4, 1975
Participated in an act of violence in Malatya, wich resulted in an injury to a taxi cab driver.

November 20, 1975
Became the executive editor of the periodical "DEV-GENC" (DEV-GENC later on had fractured into DEV-SOL and DEV-YOL. DEV-YOL believed in accomplishing the revolution by peace and education while DEV-SOL believed in terrorism. It's interesting to note that Akcam became part of DEV-SOL.)

March 9, 1976
Imprisoned for 8 years..
March 12, 1977
Escapes from prison into Germany
-----

Holdwater: Mr. Akcam is predictably plastered all over Armenian and Armenian-friendly web sites. Here is an excerpt that reveals his way of thinking (from "Discussing Genocide: Contextualizing the Armenian Experience in the Ottoman Empire," by Ronald Grigor Suny and Fatma Muge Göçek, from a genocide conference held at the University of Michigan [a follow-up in the series from the article below, and one that I refer to in the "End-of-2005 ADDENDUM," also below; by the way, this institution is the one with the Michigan-Dearborn branch that Dennis Papazian operates out of]... with familiar faces like Dadrian and Hovannisian, along with plenty of Turkish Turncoats in attendance; Turks in and out of the "Handy List" below included Leyla Neyzi, Soner Çagaptay, Fikret Adanir, Baskin Oran):


One of the most outspoken and courageous Turkish historians of the events of 1915, Taner Akçam, showed how Ottoman archival documents directly contradict the official Turkish state narrative. He argued that the Young Turks implemented a general resettlement plan for ethnic and religious minorities in Anatolia between 1913 and 1918 and that a decision to cleanse Anatolia of non-Muslim elements was made at the beginning of 1914. These plans applied, not only to Armenians, but also to Arabs, Kurds, Albanians, Bosnians and others, and were directed at the Turkification of Anatolia, which after the Balkan Wars was conceived as the heartland of the Turks. Armenians, however, were thought of and treated differently from other minorities. There were no qualms about killing Armenians, and Akçam stated that the documents suggest "a genocidal intention on the part of the ruling party."

"Suggest"?

Ahhhh, so it wasn't just the Armenians. The other ethnic groups of the empire were all in line to get kicked out, with the resettlement program beginning in 1913, before World War I got underway. It is curious that this program never got implemented in any way, but that's another story. By God, thanks, Taner Akcam... for "proving" the popular "Pan-Turanism" theory of why the Armenians got exterminated. See, it wasn't just the Armenians... it was ALL the ethnic groups. It's just that the Armenians, the favorites of the Ottoman Empire for centuries, "were thought of and treated differently from other minorities." Of COURSE! It all makes perfect sense now...

It is curious that even the Armenian God, Henry "Holier-than-Thou" Morgenthau expressed no sign of this idea of runaway Turkish nationalism (which prompted their attempt to "exterminate" the Armenians... and as Mr. Akcam now informs us, was eventually going to affect all the other ethnic groups) in either his 'Diary' or 'Letters,' although the idea runs rampant throughout the ambassador's phony book.

So Anatolia was thought of as the heartland of the Turks. I would go along with that one, and I believe Anatolia was considered as the heartland of the Turks well before the Balkan Wars. But wait a minute, wait a minute. Akcam's pal, Halil Berktay, says (below) Anatolia was "unknown by the Turks" in 1915. Boys! Get your notes straight, already..!

ADDENDUM:

Taner Akcam appeared on a Minnesota radio talk show in May 2005, and his version of events regarding his criminal past was that he simply published an article about the Kurds in a student newspaper in 1976, and because Kurds weren't supposed to be mentioned, he got ten years. (Not eight, as reported above.) After a year, he got tired and decided to escape... he described this so off-handedly, it sounded like escaping was an option for the having. (ADDENDUM, 3-07: A release entitled "Dr. Taner Akcam to Give Lecture at Harvard University" informs us that "he escaped by digging a tunnel with a stove leg.") Once Akcam arrived in Germany, the interviewer mentioned that Akcam's life had been threatened to the extent of plastic surgery being suggested, and was I surprised to learn the ones who did the threatening were not the Turks, but an extremist Kurdish group in Europe. (How ironic.) Akcam went on with his usual blather about Turkey needing to be a democracy and in sticking "the G-word" (as he alternately kept calling it) whenever possible. At one point, he distinguished Ataturk from being genocidal, pointing out that Ataturk criticized the previous administration for its murderous ways... which I found interesting, as he usually blames Ataturk for being another genocidal maniac during his part of the Turkish struggle. I was impressed the interviewer appeared broad-minded and had done his homework. He read an intelligent rebuttal by the Turkish embassy in Ottowa after Akcam had departed, something I gave the producers of the program a lot of credit for.

RELATED:

An eye-opening analysis of Taner Akcam's questionable scholarly skills along with his lack of ethics

A Handy List of "Turkish Turncoats"

The following are Turks or have Turkish-sounding names...
but they are usually biased and almost always anti-Turkish; many are of a close knit circle who know each other and who may have even worked together at some time in their past:

Halil Berktay (Turkey)
Ahmet Insel
Bulent Peker
Salim Deringil
Taner Akcam (Germany, USA)
Ali Ertem
Fikret Adanir (Germany)
Donus Gunduz
Murat Peker (USA)
Fatma Muge Gocek (USA)
Koray Caliskan
Dilek Kurban
Yunus Tuncel
Ercin Kursat Ahler (Germany; reportedly, an ethnic Armenian)
[Alternate spelling: Ms. Elcin Kuersat-Ahlers]

Submitted by Bassoy:

Akin Birdal, Writer, Honorary President of the Human Rights Association
Demir Kücükaydin, Writer, Journalist
Ragip Zarakolu, Publisher, Writer
Recep Marasli Writer
Dogan Akhanli Writer

End of 2005 ADDENDUM:

The first list was copied from an entry in The Turkish Forum, and the second was submitted by a reader. There are many other additions that I've personally come across since, but there are so many of these Turks crawling out of the woodwork, that updating this list is far from a priority; so do keep in mind that the above is far from comprehensive.

However, as I had written this page early on with a little more animosity than I possess now, I'm realizing that I'm unfamiliar with many of these names. So please remember: innocent until proven guilty. On the advice of one I have faith in, there was a name on this list that I am now removing: Engin Akarli (USA). I have seen further evidence he is genuinely approaching this matter as a man of conscience. (When he refers to this myth in writing, for example, he has been known to put the word genocide in quotation marks, a big point in his favor.) I don't understand why he has permitted himself to be a part of genocide club conferences, or to be used on a TV program whose intentions were obvious. However, he deserves the benefit of a doubt, as does most everyone else on the list.

A further elaboration: It's possible, because Turks have a tendency to be gullible and a desire to be fair, that when there are workshops presented by the genocide industry, the Turks can think everything must be on the level and they are attending a scientific conference. For example: "young Turkish scholar" Soner Cagaptay [Çagaptay] from Yale University, and Leyla Neyzi (anthropology, Sabanci University), two names that are not on the list above, attended one of those Suny-Gocek shindigs in March 7-10 of the early 2000s. So I'd like to give them the benefit of a doubt, not knowing anything more about them, in that they may be naive idealists. On the other hand, in order to attend a conference provided by the genocide industry, one must already need to have agreed to the genocide.

The genocide industry is frightened to invite anyone with different views, because once they get into genuine history, their genocide scam would run the risk of exposure. At this writing, the genocide industry's tentacles have extended as far as Turkey, and one of these conferences (with Fatma Muge Gocek at the helm) was held in Turkey by excluding the "denialists" as both participants and audience members. (A few of the latter slipped in, regardless.) There was a contra-conference organized soon afterward, and all the participants from the genocide conference were allowed to attend, demonstrating the "denialists" did not have anything to hide. Fikret Adanir [also present in the Suny-Gocek affair] was one of the few who braved the waters, and after a while reportedly couldn't say much in the face of solid, concrete historical facts. Halil Berktay declined to attend.

Therefore: if attendance is closed to anyone with "denialist" views in conferences presented by the genocide club, were Cagaptay and Neyzi that naive? Especially when this particular March workshop had the hands, in organization and participation, of two Armenian Genocide "hotbed" universities, those of Michigan and Minnesota? One look at the other participants was telling enough: aside from Suny (who is not as extreme as many of his fellow Armenian professors) and Gocek, we're talking Vahakn Dadrian. Richard G. Hovannisian. Taner Akcam. Isn't it obvious what kind of a conference this was? And on top of it all, the conference was partly subsidized by the Manoogian Simone Foundation and Dadrian's Zoryan Institute.

If Cagaptay and Neyzi thought what they were attending was academic in nature, instead of the propagandistic farce that it was, am I not kind by giving them the benefit of a doubt? There simply is no end now to these opportunistic Turks, trying to make names for themselves, from the profitable genocide industry. Unfortunately, they are doing so by dragging their nation through the mud.

...The perverse fantasizers that (the Armenians) are, they go on with their delusions, occasionaly encouraged by the likes of Halil Berktay and Taner Akcam. It's incredible that they do not see the total irrationality of this idee fixe of theirs. They pay off Akcam. They pay politicians here and in France to pass useless "resolutions." They then point to the utterings of these bought- politicians as proof that their claims are true. Incredible, simply incredible! Is this not tantamount to the delusion of the odious macho-man who brags about his prowess with women? Then, as proof of this prowess, he offers the testimony of his well-paid hooker.

The Armenian fanatics are on a fool's errand. It boggles the mind that a people known for their savvy business acumen could be so out of touch with reality. But that's their problem. They will achieve their obscene and invidious goals, as soon as the first snow of the season hits Hell!

Keenan Pars

Turkish Scholars Acknowledge the Genocide

Azg/Mirror On-Line 03-22-2000

By Daphne Abeel
Mirror-Spectator Staff

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - In 1998, Prof. Ronald Grigor Suny, professor of political science at the University of Chicago, traveled to Koc University in Istanbul to lecture on the Armenian Genocide. That trip and the ensuing contact with Turkish scholars was the genesis of a three-day workshop this past weekend (March 17-19), held at Wilder House, University of Michigan. "What was so extraordinary and unexpected," said Suny, in an interview following the workshop, "was that within just a few minutes into the first panel, there was a discussion on the highest level, free of political bias. This is what we had sought - the creation of a community of scholars who could talk openly about these issues. The Turkish participants, except for
one, used the word 'genocide' repeatedly."

Titled "Armenians and the End of the Ottoman Empire," it brought Armenian and Turkish scholars together for the first time to engage in an open discussion of how Armenians contributed, adjusted, and, ultimately, felt victim to the transformation from Ottoman Empire to the modern Turkish republic.

Said Suny, "My trip to Istanbul had excited me about the possibilities of engaging with Turkish scholars." With the assistance of his academic colleagues at the University of Michigan, Kevork B. Bardakjian, Fatma Muge Gocek, Stephanie Platz, and Kenneth Church, a broad invitation was issued to
scholars in the Armenian and Turkish communities to come together. "We got a good response, even from Turkish scholars in Turkey, although there were some from the Armenian community who did not feel ready for this type of discussion," said Suny.

The workshops attracted participants from Istanbul, Germany, New York City, California, Minnesota, Boston, and Princeton, N.J.

Suny, in his opening remarks, praised the participants' courage, saying, "This is a small, humble and historic meeting. It is the first time scholars of different nationalities, including Armenia and Turkey, have gathered to present papers and discuss, in a scholarly fashion, the fate of the peoples of the Ottoman Empire as that state declined and disintegrated."

While the workshops touched on the fates of Jews, Circassians, Arabs and Greeks, Suny said, "The principal focus was on the people and events that have been elided- the massacre and deportations of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, which constituted the first genocide of the 20th century."

Suny singled out several speakers for comment. Among them was Dr. Gerard J. Libaridian, an historian based in Boston, who served as senior advisor to the former president of Armenia, Lebon Ter-Petrossian. Libaridian participated on a panel titled "The Young Turks and the Armenians." and opened his remarks with the reading of a poem, "The Crossroads" by Eghishe
Charents. Using the poem as a touchstone for his talk, he said, "It is important not only what happened, but what we make of what happened. Why do some people like the problem and not the solution? We share a common past that has been hijacked by the nationalists."

Suny also reported on the comments of several Turkish scholars. Salim Deringil from Bosphorus University in Istanbul said, "This was the most difficult paper I've written in my life. Venturing into the Armenian crisis is like wandering into a mine field." Suny praised Deringil for producing "wonderful documents relative to the situation of Armenians and Turks in the Ottoman Empire."

Engin Akarli of Brown University called for "a dialogue with the documents and the need to move away from universally normalized concepts like the nation-state."

Halil Berktay of Sabanci University in Istanbul presented a paper in which he explored "the stereotypes of others presented in Turkish literature during the World War I period."

Borrowing a term from another Turkish scholar, Taner Akcam, Berktay spoke of "a collapse panic" in the Ottoman Empire and said, "Today, there are illusions about Turkish Armenia. It looks as though Anatolia is normal territory for the Turks. But in 1915, Anatolia was unknown by the Turks, a backward place. The Turks had to reoccupy it after World War I."

Suny reserved special mention for Akcam, who is affiliated with Stiftung zu Forderung von Wissenschaft und Kultur in Hamburg. Akcam, a radical student leader who opposed the Turkish military regime and escaped from a prison in Ankara was "the first important Turkish scholar to study the Armenian Genocide and to use the word 'genocide'," said Suny. During his presentation, Akcam used Turkish documents to pinpoint the actual decision
to carry out the deportations early in March 1915, after the defeat of the Turkish army on the Caucasian front.

To his Turkish colleagues, Akcam said, "I am so happy to be here. I don't feel so alone now."

Encouraged by the content and participation in this workshop, Suny said that plans for additional workshops and discussion were in the making. "We should go on and invite others to join us. It is so important that we not think of ourselves as Armenian or Turkish historians, but as scholars who are coming together for a mutual discussion."

The tentative title for the next workshop is "World War I and the Ottoman Empire: Imperial Dissolution in a Transnational Conjuncture."

"Several universities have expressed interest. I have high hopes that this dialogue will continue," said Suny.

Holdwater: "Akcam said, 'I am so happy to be here. I don't feel so alone now.' " Yep, makes sense, Mr. Akcam. Birds of a feather stick together. Unfortunately, the feather in question has less to do with being Turkish and more to do with being Armenians in Turkish clothing.

Seems like all the "Turkish" participants are from the handy-dandy Turkish Turncoat list, above. It's too bad this was not a true forum, where legitimate scholars got together... like the one Levon Marashlian attended: those with differing views. I see none of the REAL Turkish scholars from that particular conference participating in this one. No, all of the ones here had to "have passed a test before they are allowed into the club," as Professor Justin McCarthy put it; I'm sure none of the real scholars were even asked.

Just as long as the end result is that the unwary could see these participants as "Turkish scholars." Exactly like this particular news account puts it: "Turkish Scholars Acknowledge the Genocide."

How disgustingly dishonest.

First Prof. Suny is reported to have been behind "a broad invitation ... issued to scholars in the Armenian and Turkish communities to come together." Suny comments, "...There were some from the Armenian community who did not feel ready for this type of discussion," making it seem like this meeting would have been too impartial for Armenians to feel comfortable, since we know Armenians can't genuinely contest the actual facts. Then Suny is quoted as saying, "The principal focus was on... the massacre and deportations of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, which constituted the first genocide of the 20th century." So the "genocide" is already accepted as a fact. What a stupid charade. And how disingenuous of Prof. Suny to make it sound like Armenians would be uncomfortable. The whole business sounds tailor-made for the Armenians.

And why not? Professor Suny happens to be, according to his page at the University of Chicago web site, a member of the Armenian Assembly Committee for the Holocaust Museum and The Zoryan Institute, both extremely partisan Armenian "genocide" associations, and the Genocide Project Oversight Committee, which sounds like another Armenian hang-out. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies, The Armenian Review, Journal of Armenian Studies, Armenian Forum, a contributing editor for Armenian International Magazine, and part of the Society for Armenian Studies since 1978 (serving as chairman a couple of years). He worked as the "Alex Manoogian Professor" in the University of Modern Armenian History from 1981 to 1994. (Unsurprisingly, Suny also happens to be an ethnic Armenian.)

By the way, that's the Alex Manoogian behind the financing of most of the PBS Armenian programs. The late auto-parts Detroit businessman who saw his company mushroom to annual sales of $3 billion emigrated from Turkey in 1920, and later was joined by his parents, his brothers Charles and George, and sisters Margaret and Aghavni. Sounds like the whole family joined, and... hey. Weren't the Armenians supposed to have been "annihilated" in the Ottoman Empire?

Get a load of this paragraph, on Halil Berktay:

Borrowing a term from another Turkish scholar, Taner Akcam, Berktay spoke of "a collapse panic" in the Ottoman Empire and said, "Today, there are illusions about Turkish Armenia. It looks as though Anatolia is normal territory for the Turks. But in 1915, Anatolia was unknown by the Turks, a backward place. The Turks had to reoccupy it after World War I."

"Turkish Armenia"? Is Halil Berktay so much in bed with the Armenians that he even agrees with them to the extent of surrendering his own national soil to the Armenians? Wow.

"Turkish Armenia"

"Anatolia was unknown to the Turks" in 1915. Anatolia is the heartland of Turkey, and was the heartland during the Ottoman Empire..! If Turks weren't living in Anatolia, where were they living?

Is Halil Berktay out of his mind?

WHO IS THIS HALIL BERKTAY?

I'd like to say I consider myself a progressive-type person, although I don't like simplistic labels like "liberal" and "conservative." I'm aware there are wackos on both ends of the spectrum... there are right wing nuts, and there are left wing nuts. It appears Taner Akcam and Halil Berktay comfortably fit in the latter group.

In an insightful report from The Wall Street Journal Europe, "Turkey's Triumph," the author gives reasons why the left isn't too crazy about Turkey. (Of course, hating Turkey is not the domain of strictly the left; the religious right in America won't easily be caught praising "Moslem" Turkey, and there is no shortage of "ethnic politics"- playing Republicans who like to kick Turkey around. Two examples on this site are provided by Gov. George Pataki, and Rep. James Rogan.) The Wall Street Journal author states that even though Turkey champions what would normally be considered "liberal" principles, the left "hates" Turkey because "Turkey flouts the rules."

Turkey flouts the kind of politically correct principles the left would like to establish as the norms of international behavior: Force is never the solution; terrorists and dictators are always to be negotiated with; groups (not individuals) are bearers of rights; and cultural expression is always a good thing.

Perhaps there is truth there; it explains one reason why PKK leader Ocalan has been blindly cradled by those who unthinkingly accepted the terrorist as a representative of the Kurds. The Kurds are normally seen as oppressed, and human rights groups are traditionally composed from the ranks of "liberal" people. In their hopes for doing good, these people can have a tendency to reduce issues to black and white... which is something "uncompassionate" conservatives are especially good at. (And Turcophobes have a special talent of reducing Turkey to bad guy status, when they break issues down to black and white.)

It makes sense, then, to understand why Turncoat Turks like Taner Akcam and Halil Berktay (and a lot of the others from a similar generation and mindset) can work so fervently for anti-Turkish causes. They're from that old ultra-left wing school... and everything Turkey does is something slightly less than pure evil.

However, because they seem to hate Turkey, does it give them the right to unscrupulously bend the facts and figures?

HALIL BERKTAY: WANTED!

Halil Berktay was such a leftist extremist, he was apparently regarded as a Marxist-Leninist "terrorist" back in those politically volatile 1970s days of Turkey. He appeared in a "WANTED" poster. These posters were not as we have them in the USA, like the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" sometimes encountered in post offices... the Turkish government evidently distributed them to police stations and newspapers (not the general public) for reasons of crime prevention and/or tips leading to their apprehension. The Turkish headline translates as: "Leaders and militants of the secret organization called The Party Of Revolutionary Laborers and Peasants of Turkey."


Mr. Berktay's "mug shot" is second from left, top row; bottom row's second from left features Mehmet Umit Necef, another "left-wing nut" from the 1970s who was involved in the infamous "trunk murder" (Sandik Cimayeti) where a buddy (or two?) was found by the Istanbul police, chopped up in a trunk. After a long disappearance, he resurfaced in Denmark, after having reinvented himself as a sociologist, like bird-of-a-feather, Taner Akcam. He may currently be working at Syddansk Universitet, and was defended by the director of the Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Professor Uffe Ostergaard, after Turkish authorities may have attempted to extradite him. "Turkish authorities have tried to intimidate him to stop his involvement in the debate on the Armenian genocide," the professor is reported as having said (in the Danish weekly "Weekendavisen," THE "SO-CALLED" GENOCIDE, Klaus Wivel, Nov. 2001), further adding: "(The Turks) have filed so many objections that I've had to say that we have an obligation, in the name of freedom of research, also to explore the Armenian genocide, though we actually don't have any expertise on this in Denmark." At least the good professor was honest enough to admit his ignorance on the topic. (The hypocritical Danish center has "Professional Ethics"-Man Eric Markusen on its payroll.)

Mr. Wivel's mostly biased article tells us Necef wrote an article for Weekendavisen, about the Armenian "genocide," responded to by the Turkish Embassy's Cemal Erbay, ending with accusations directed toward Necef: "And as we get to you, Mr. Necef, we encounter a person who has achieved residency in Denmark by dragging Turkey through the mud. How, then, can you claim to step into the role of honest broker? First you ought to take a look at your own checkered past and vindicate yourself. Relieve your conscience. Only then can you lecture about Turkey's past."

Thank goodness for the Armenian "Genocide"... how else would these antiquated ex-communists like Akcam, Berktay and Necef have validated the recent chapter of their lives? What a great "excuse" for these motherland-despising turncoats to keep "dragging Turkey through the mud."

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Below is an article that may shed light on not only where a man like Halil Berktay is coming from, but also his personality.

The Turkish Left

"The Weak Reed- East European Intellectuals at the Turn of the Century" was a study of the intelligentsia in crisis. Two of the panelists, Gyory Csepli of the Institute on Ethnic and Minority Studies, Budapest, and Halil Berktay, of the University of Bosphorus, Istanbul, used the event as an opportunity to pour out all of the disappointments and frustrations with trying to change society. At the age of fifty or so, both of these sad gentlemen announced their retirement from politics.

(The Gyory Csepli part has been edited out.)
Halil Berktay

Halil Berktay

Berktay spoke for twice his allocated length of time, and probably would have spoken even further if the chairperson hadn't kept making a T with her fingers, as in your time is up. He gave a litany about the mess that the Turkish left created in the 1960s. Sectarianism and dogmatism dominated the scene. Boy, aren't we lucky that this was only a problem in Turkey. In the universities, different departments were the rival turfs of pro-Soviet parties or Maoist parties, etc. Everybody had the goal of destroying everybody else. Sometimes this literally meant murdering your opponent.

In the mid 1980s, there was the possibility of forming a unified socialist party, but each faction refused to subordinate its own narrow interests to the good of the broader movement. The movement then imploded. Today the Turkish left consists mostly of people who want to turn the clock back to the 1960s dogmatism in the hopes that this time they can get it straight. This thinking is embodied in Jim Hillier's crossposts from the Turkish Maoist movement. It is also reflected in the Trotskyite manifestos which we still get from time to time on the Spoons lists. Nothing changes for these comrades.

Berktay is upset because he has just turned 50 and his life on the left has produced little of lasting value. He has spent time in prison for his beliefs. He also has had to struggle for academic positions. He is through with politics, however. He wants to spend the last 20 years or so of his life sitting by the side of the rose tending to his garden.

In the discussion period, I told him that there was a new Turkish left as embodied in the Workers Educations Centers and the interest that comrades like Zeynep (I didn't mention her by name) have in a non-sectarian and non-dogmatic Marxism.

He belittled the Workers Educations Centers. They are only 1% of the Turkish left and are stuck in a neo-Althusserian mode of re-reading Capital and other fundamental works. He then continued in this vein for what seemed like an eternity. They didn't understand this and they didn't understand that. His tone of voice was that of a professor correcting an errant student. This is a no-no with me.

Since I was hung-over and didn't feel like being lectured to, I got up from my chair and headed toward the door. The chairperson reprimanded me for being rude. Although I didn't plan on justifying my retreat, I simply said that I don't enjoy being lectured to in such a patronizing fashion. I also said that Berktay sure still seems to have plenty of things to tell the Turkish left even though he has announced his retirement from politics. I only hoped that he would learn to adopt a less authoritarian style if he changes his mind and decides to give young activists the benefit of his wisdom. His current style reminds me too much of the style of the 1960s, which he found so self-defeating. With those words I split.

Louis Proyect
From www.columbia.edu

Some Turks Opine on Halil Berktay

Subject: MESSAGES FROM PROF. JUSTIN McCARTHY AND PROF. OZAY

Yes, Prof. McCarthy and Prof. Ozay are right in what they say with regards to freedom of speech which must also apply to eccentric and sometimes idiotic Professors. Is there a rule which say that there are no idiots among Professors?

I can only recall Prof. Eisenk of the 60s, who thought blacks, asiatics and women with big breasts are less intelligent. He also claimed that whites are a superior race - and all that at a time of South-African apartheid, Vietnam and so on.

Of course no University fired him, BUT, the students of the 60s took the shit out of him. I remember in one of his lectures in the LSE, he had to run for cover under a tomato and bad eggs attack. Yes, it is up to the students to punish or reward such shitty Professors (Sorry Justin, sorry Mehmet, please no offence). where are the students of the 60s? Where are the students of today?

Best regards
Kufi Seydali

Note: I like both Prof. McCarthy and Prof. Ozay, both of whose lectures (symposium) I attended in Vienna, and I mean no offence with my references to some eccentric academics.


Holdwater: Speaking of the ethical standards at American universities... I wonder if anyone at UCLA has examined the Armenian Educational Foundation (AEF)-sponsored Chair in Modern Armenian History that Richard Hovannisian has held at the University of California, since it was endowed in 1986?

Academia vs Halil Berktay

We have read multiple responses to Mr. H. Berktay's statements. Professor McCarthy and our associate Kufi Seydali's concerns are well founded with respect to freedom of expression and speech, which may well have been somewhat neglected recently when some academicians expressed concerns about war.

Expressing concerns about war or questioning the uncovered aspects of politics are indeed freedoms prevalent in free societies. However, when it comes to academia where formal knowledge dissemination takes place, those who participate in the very process, academicians must invariably base their teaching on truth and available facts. And when an academician speculates or telltales about a past event without substantial evidence, it is not only unethical but he also seriously threatens the respectability of the institution where he teaches.

In other words, allowing an academician to speculate may well challenge the opposing, in this case well founded historical facts. Mr. Berktay's attitude certainly is in the responsibility jurisdiction of Sabanci University.

Furthermore, substantial evidence disseminated in this Forum has more than proved the political content of the 'Genocide' rumination. Thus Mr.Berktay would be much better off by joining the Fallwell-Pataki Club for furthering his unsatiable agenda of personal gains.

Yuruk Iyriboz
Turkish Forum Advisory Board October 25, 2002
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BERKTAY'S SCHOLARLY WORTH

Mrs. Gülseren Yalter, who was a close relative of Dr. Şakir.... kindly gave us the copies of interviews given by Professor Halil Bertkay to Neş’e Düzel of the daily Radikal and Şahin Alpay of the daily Milliyet, on October 29, 2000 and October 20, 2000, respectively. During these interviews Professor Dr. Halil Berktay stated as follows: ”In 1915, Bahaddin Şakir, who was a member of the Secret Organization, coordinated some special death squads, made up of prisoners who narrowly escaped death sentences to organize the massacre of 600.000 Armenians. Those people were similar to Yeşil, Çatlı and the Hizbullah of our day. These are the clear facts. In the past, Bahaddin Şakir was what Yeşil is today”. I explained to Mrs. Yalter my long-standing interest in the subject, and about my undergoing research based on local and foreign sources. In the meantime, the Turkish press was criticizing the interviews given by Berktay in Paris, regarding the Law for the Alleged Armenian Genocide that was under discussion in the French Parliament. Particularly, there was one interview by Berktay, published on November 9, 2000 in L’Express; the interviewer asked him if he had any proof to the fact that the genocide was organized by ‘the Secret Organization’ (Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa) of the Union and Progress Party, Berktay replied: ”Of course, this task was given to the Secret Organization (Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa) to be carried out. There cannot be any written document supporting such a task. However there are some indications verifying that such an order exists”. This interview given by a historian without any concrete proof was met with great resentment in the Turkish press. [5] Furthermore, former Ambassador Şükrü Elekdağ, who is very well informed on the subject, gave the following statement to a newspaper, under the heading: ”Dr. Halil Berktay’s suggestions regarding the Alleged Armenian Genocide does not reflect the truth nor the impartial demand for proof expected of a man of science, there is no planned genocide”. Former Ambassador Elekdağ continued his argument as follows:

“The allegation by Berktay that the relocation ordered by Union and Progress resulted in a genocide committed by the Secret Service (Teşkilat-I Mahsusa) is nothing more than a repetition of those claims long supported by Armenian historians.

However, the Armenians have not been able to bring forth any kind of proof with regard to this allegation. Therefore, what Berktay claims is a charge with no concrete evidence what so ever.

The Secret Service (forerunner of today’s national Intelligence Agency) was charged with the task of enlisting the assistance of Russian, Egyptian and Indian Moslems to the Ottoman State in the event of a war.” [6]

We shall try to give some insight on this subject, which we have tried to summarize, in line with the knowledge derived through local and foreign sources of information under the heading of ”The Assassination of Dr. Bahaddin Şakir in Berlin, and the Relocation of the Armenians”.

Prof. Arslan Terzioğlu, excerpted from THE ASSASSINATION OF DR. BAHADDIN SAKIR IN BERLIN AND THE ARMENIAN RELOCATION IN LINE WITH NATIONAL AND FOREIGN SOURCES OF INFORMATION

"...There are some indications verifying that such an order exists.”

If one should see Halil Berktay lovingly patting the head of a child in public, I guess there would also be some indications, in certain warped minds, verifying that Halil Berktay could be a pedophile... but to accuse Berktay of pedophilia on the basis of such flimsy "evidence" would be incredibly irresponsible, disgustingly ugly, and even morally and legally criminal. (Such a repulsive charge, by the way, is what some of Mr. Berktay's beloved Armenians and Greeks enjoy accusing Atatürk of.) A moral and responsible individual must be very, very careful of making mindless charges, because mud sticks. Mr. Berktay sure doesn't give the concept of honorable professorship a good name.


Halil Berktay: Dashnak Hero

In an Armenian article entitled "Genocide not the only crime against Armenians, Armenian official says" (Oct. 11, 2005), Member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (A.R.F.) and the National Assembly of Armenia, Vahan Hovhannisian, "hailed Turkish historian Halil Berktay's position that 1915 events should be qualified clearly as genocide."

"(Berktay's) speech would be rather useful for those Armenian politicians who repeat the Turkish official position that the Armenian Genocide was a result of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation's activities."

Hovhannes Katchaznouni, A.R.F. leader and first Prime Minister of Armenia: "The proof is, however — and this is essential — that the struggle begun decades ago against the Turkish government brought about the deportation or extermination of the Armenian people in Turkey and the desolation of Turkish Armenia. This was the terrible fact!"

(Hovhannisian also declared: "Turkey has committed another crime against Armenians when in 1919, it unleashed a war
against the independent Republic of Armenia." Katchaznouni: "The Armenian-Turkish war which broke our back began in the Fall of 1920... there remains an irrefutable fact. That we had not done all that was necessary for us to have done to evade war. We ought to have used peaceful language with the Turks whether we succeeded or not, and we did not do it... We were not afraid of war because we thought we would win.... When the skirmishes had started the Turks proposed that we meet and confer. We did not do so and defied them.")

At least Vahan Hovhannisian is a loyal Dashnak; in the proud tradition of his terrorist organization, he has no compunction about lying, even though his first prime minister is on record contradicting everything he is claiming.

Halil Berktay should be equally proud of being associated with this crowd, and for enhancing their painful propaganda.

Related: More details on how the Turkish Ex-Ambassador to the United States set Halil Berktay straight on Berktay's distortion of the facts.

Holdwater's Closing Comment

One point to keep in mind is that we don't know what propels these Turks to add fuel to the fire which roasts their nation from all corners; at least one of them is at least partly sponsored by the Armenians, and many appear to have a politically-inspired anti-Turkish mindset. However, let's not forget career opportunists exist in every field, and coming across as contrary... particularly in such an explosive arena as the Armenian "Genocide"... can work wonders in making a name for oneself. Would we be talking about the likes of Taner Akcam and Halil Berktay if they didn't choose to hang their bed sheets out the window with the little drop of blood, after first going to bed with the Armenians?

I was just about to wind this page up, until I came across the news that in 1999 some Turk living in Germany claimed that he got the signatures of 10,000 other "Turks" recognizing the Armenian "Genocide":


TURKISH INTELLECTUALS SAY TURKEY MUST RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

At commemoration ceremonies in Yerevan and Los Angeles, Turkish intellectuals called on Ankara to recognize Turkey's responsibility for the Armenian Genocide. In Yerevan a delegation of Turkish intellectuals presented signatures from 10,000 Turks collected by a Frankfurt-based group called The Union Against Genocide. Ali Ertem, who headed the visiting delegation, read the letter accompanying the collected signatures. It said, "We have come to apologize to you and stretch out our hand of reconciliation." The letter added, "Only recognition and confession can prevent the repetition of such tragedies in the future." A similar gesture took place during commemoration ceremonies.

Taner Akcam, a professor and author who resides in Germany, told a Los Angeles rally that his message was not for Armenians but for Turkey. He said, "I am convinced that if Turkey does not address this issue it cannot become a democracy." Akcam was in Los Angeles in conjunction with a new documentary about the Armenian Genocide called, "The Wall of Silence." Meanwhile, Turkey protested the convening of a conference on the Armenian Genocide on April 29 and 30 at the European Parliament building in Brussels. The two day meeting is sponsored by a Belgian-Armenian group and is characterized as the first step in the new century to more effectively defend the reality of the Armenian Genocide.
[Sources: AFP 4-25, SNARK 4-24, Milliyet 4-16, LA Times 4-25] The year: 1999

Hmmm. I see our shameless friend Taner Akcamian is at work, continuing his good work for the Armenians. The above is from an Armenian source, and you just know any Turks believing in the Armenian "Genocide" must be classified as "intellectuals." People with respect for genuine history might prefer referring to them by another "I" word... "ignoramuses." (Of course, those Turks who speak for the falsified genocide for other reasons can be called other words, and they don't have to begin with "I.")

The organizer of this effort, which must have fizzled out since it's already a few years old, is a fellow by the name of Ali Ertem, identified as a journalist in Germany. When I searched for more on Mr. Ertem, I came across the editorial below.

Professor Ozan lends his thoughts on Turkish Turncoats... of all stripes, and not simply the "scholarly" kind.

HOW DO YOU DEFINE BETRAYAL?

WHY MEHMET ALI BIRAND IS ACCUSED OF IT, AND WHY I BELIEVE HIS ACCUSERS
Mahmut Esat Ozan
Generally speaking, it is rather hard to define the act of betrayal, and very hard to understand why a person commits it. After all, betrayal is another way of saying treason. And everyone knows that treason is simply aiding and abetting the enemy. To go against the precepts of national sanctity and pronounce hurtful statements should not be considered exercising one’s freedom of speech. How can one tell if the pronouncement of some words are tantamount to a betrayal? As it is in the case of one of the members of the US Supreme Court, who was asked once, how he could define ‘pornography.’ He said : “I cannot define it, but I’ll know it when I see it..”

It is unfortunate that we have come to this. But we might as well tackle the sad case of Mehmet Ali Birand now, and make it an example not to be repeated by others in the future. For those who are not aware of the troubles of this well-known journalist, the presentation of a thumbnail sketch of events is in order . As a journalist, Mehmet Ali Birand comes from a decent family. He went to the best schools, became a radio and TV Personality. He writes regularly for the largest publication of Turkey, the Istanbul daily ‘Hurriyet.’ His columns are frequently translated into English and are reprinted in “The Turkish Daily News.” Another newspaper known as ‘Posta Gazetesi’ has been giving him ample space on its pages for his articles. In fact, it was in this newspaper that Birand wrote on the 14th of January 2001, his now infamous article which created a huge propagandistic polemic, whose reverberations are still continuing to date.


Mehmet Ali Birand was speaking about the perennial alleged Genocide issue. He said in gist and in a paraphrased form, that the Turkish government should relax its attitude vis-à-vis the genocide issue, and accept the fact that this was already considered a ‘fait accompli.' He wrote further and said that the whole world had accepted this holocaust as such, and that it would be difficult to make the nations of the world to change their beliefs on this issue. He urged Turks, therefore, to apologize forthwith from the Armenians. He also hazarded an opinion of his own and suggested that the Turkish authorities produce filmed documentaries of various lengths and distribute them worldwide,. Another one of his recommendations was to erect several monuments commemorating the Turkish as well as the Armenian dead, as casualties of the period of 1914-1923. His further proposals would deal with the writing of sufficient amount of articles and stories in all kinds of publications, to keep these changes alive and viable for the whole world to see and to learn the ‘truth’ from them.

In the past we were made aware of the existence of some domestic so-called historians, who wholeheartedly supported the Armenian Genocide. Among them we had heard of the names of Ahmet Insel, Bulent Peker, Salim Deringil, and of course, the most ‘esteemed’ professor of history from the Sabanci University, Halil Berkay.

From Germany the names of Ercin Kursat Ahler, Ali Ertem, were often mentioned, and the infamous ‘genocide expert’ Taner Akcam was always at the head of the perfidious gang. Taner Akcam, himself and some others had escaped from where they were incarcerated and fled the country . They were serving time for having committed crimes against their own country. The United States of America is no exception in this regard. Here among us we have also a few of these deviates, living and ruining the good name of Turkey and Turks every time they have a chance. Among these expatriates we see another name Peker, this time a Murat Peker, perhaps a dear relative of the other Turcophobe Bulent Peker. He is followed by a Fatma Muge Gocek, Engin Akarli, Koray Caliskan, Dilek Kurban, Yunus Tuncel are the most prominent turncoats.

They, of course, have one thing in common among themselves. They are all traitors, and betrayers of anything and everything sacred for Turkey and Turks. Unfortunately, they were all born in the bosom of the Turkish Republic, from different ethnic spectrum, and foreign and alien ideologies. Nevertheless, they all had a mother and a father, and kin and friends. Supposedly, they went to the same type of Turkish schools, and studied under the same system of education which always tried to make its young citizens learn to love their country. A country which succeeds to in achieving this goal ninety-nine out of hundred per cent of the time. But as everyone knows a single rotten apple can easily spoil the whole bushel or crate of fruit in them.

In the United States some would argue with you and say that Birand was using his constitutional right to free speech. What they may be forgetting is that America has a tradition of democracy and in the USA the usage of constitutional rights go all the way back to 1776 and earlier. America is surrounded by friendly neighbors, and on top of it is the only existing super power left on the planet, whereas the fledgling Turkish Republic is in its infancy compared to the United States and furthermore it is surrounded by deadly enemies at every corner ready to inflict pain and damage on her.

Even though the citizens of today’s modern Turkish Republic are the indisputable masters of a reduced territorial land space which they inherited from the Ottoman Empire and reshaped by the great Kemal Ataturk; they are still vulnerable to all kinds of ruse, deceit and chicanery their detractors keep handy to be used against them. In this day and age to rely on the accolades bestowed on Turkey and Turks by writers of the past is not enough. The fact that the famous French writer Pierre Loti calling once his friends, the Turks: “the noblest of all nobles,” and then reiterating later on in his book, entitled Fantome D’Orient” by saying that :“This high nobility is not artificial or showy, it is the gift of nature,” won’t help anyone.

Our enemies, the Armenians and the Greeks, don’t believe in the Turk’s nobility anyhow. They wouldn’t even care for it. They want our land . They want reparations from us. They want to hear the sound of our last breath on earth. They wouldn’t give a wooden nickel for Pierre Loti’s continuation of his words where he says:…” the Turks’ Orient is the land of dreams and legends. The Turk is the eye, the tongue, the light and the truth of that magic land.” For our enemies the truth will only be realized when they could gouge out the Turk’s eyes, cut off his tongue and let his lifeless body rot under the hot summer sun as the Armenians did to our brethren in the Eastern Anatolia and in the Caucasus of 1919 where Turks were in majority in the city of Yerevan. They were all murdered one by one. Armenians also put to knife 40.000 Muslims in one week in the city of Van. The despicable Armenian General “DRO”, Drastamat Kanayan bragged once that there was not a single Muslim Turk remaining in the Caucasus. He should know .He was known as the “butcher” of 2,5 million Turks, Circassians, Tatars and Kurds. The Soviets hated him and expelled him out of Russia in the early Twenties. He lived and died in exile in Massachusetts ten years or so ago. His body was taken to Armenia for reburial there with great fanfare and pomp and circumstance as the greatest hero that country has ever had. Why? Because he had ethnically cleansed Armenia from the ‘dreaded’ Turks whose country once treated him and the likes of him as ‘Milleti Sadika’ meaning in its English translation: “Most trustworthy Citizens.” This ‘butcher of Turks’ name adorns the walls of museums in the Armenia of Robert Kocharian nowadays.

What is so sad about Mehmet Ali Birand is that he happens to be a fellow GS graduate of mine. In 1973 at a G./S. Pilav in Beyoglu he was introduced to me by a former classmate who was the Ambassador to Jordan at the time. Then he seemed to be a nice fellow. But now that he has sided up with the Armenians and wants to apologize to them and is thinking of recompensing them with monuments to be built in their honor, I am deeply ashamed. There are accusations now that he was a leftist, and that he harbored sympathy for the Kurdish movement in his heart. I would say this, he could keep whatever he has in his heart, but when he comes out with an unfathomable statement and says that, as Turks, we are the perpetrators of the vilest and the cruelest of all crimes against humanity, genocide, I am not on his side, and I could never be again.



END-2005 ADDENDUM: Holdwater has subsequently come across "genocide" articles by Mehmet Ali Birand, and they sounded fair. We can all be guilty of writing passionately one moment, only to revise our views the next. Prof. Ozan can fall into this "passionate" trap himself, as with the bloated figure of victims, attributed to Dro. (Ozan was not deliberately lying about this; he noted this claim that has been plastered over the Internet, and must have accepted its truth because of an emotional need... after constantly being barraged by Turcophobic slander. I have since written him and told him he was wrong, and he has stopped making this particular claim.) And there are certainly earlier writings of my own on this site that I look at and think, "Man! Did I go overboard."

There are many Turks who believe there was a genocide of the Armenians. Turks who have come to America, not having been exposed to this topic at home (the idea was to prevent perpetuation of hatred, and to look ahead in brotherhood), in their gullibility, ignorance and sense of fair play, have easily fallen prey to relentless Armenian propaganda. These are not "Turncoat Turks." (In fact, I rarely use that term anymore, as I had written this page when I was more "emotional." My preferred description is "Opportunistic Turks.")

I'm now aware that the gullible brand of Turk has gone as far as to include academicians from Turkey. Yes, you would think Turkey's educated crowd would at least be aware of the dirty politics behind the genocide matter, but these "intellectuals" can be just as susceptible to swallowing the propaganda as the layman. (A testament to the universality of humanity, since more than enough professorial "intellectuals" from the rest of the world have lazily accepted the claims of Armenian propaganda as well.) That does not mean these Turks do not love their country and wish the honor of their nation to suffer harm. No, these Turks have simply arrived at a point where they believe they have discerned the truth.

The so-called "Turncoat Turks" are those who have studied the issues, and have made a point of solely accepting one side of the story, no differently than the Armenians... becoming purposeful propagandists. They do this for personal gain, in terms of career advancement for the most part (such Turks are the darlings of the biased Western world), or because they have a chip on their shoulder about their country (i.e., they simply don't like Turkey), or because they have a hidden ethnicity that command their true loyalties, or a combination of the above. It is important to make this distinction.

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© Holdwater
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