3753) Genocide or Betrayal: The true story behind the Armenian question

Halim Gençoğlu
University of Cape Town

The Armenian deportation of 1915 is one of the most politicized historical questions in the field and public sphere. Unfortunately, the historians who support the hypothesis of some Armenians that see the event as an effort at ‘genocide’ are not keen to consult archival sources regarding the issue, but rather repeat the same allegations from a political perspective. This is why the Armenian government did not accept President Erdogan's offer to bring Armenian historians to Turkey to work in a mutual history commission regarding Armenian question. The invitation was rejected by the Armenian government because labelling the other side guilty seemed less risky than working on archival documents with Turkish historians.[1] . . .

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3752) Facts & Fictions Of Turkish Denial

The Turkish government in its propaganda campaign uses a battery of digressions, excuses, half-truths, and obfuscations in its arsenal of denial.

Below we will examine some of these claims and outline the historical reality of the Armenian Genocide, by using mainly Turkish, Austrian and German sources to expose the distortions of the Turkish government. As Turkey's allies during WWI, Austria and Germany could hardly be accused of an anti-Turkish attitude:

FICTION # 1: The Armenian deaths do not constitute Genocide
FICTION # 2: The Armenian deaths were the result of a rebellion and inter-communal fighting
FICTION # 3: The Armenians collaborated with Turkey’s enemies
FICTION # 4: The Armenians were relocated for their own safety
FICTION # 5: The Armenian Genocide was not planned or state-sponsored
FICTION # 6: 1.5 million Armenians did not die
FICTION # 7: More Turks died than Armenians
FICTION # 8: The British released Young Turk leaders because of lack of evidence
FICTION # 9: The Armenians were well treated
FICTION # 10: Hitler did not make his famous statement . . .

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3751) Armenian Claims Discussed More Because Christian Armenians Gained More Sympathy In Christian West, Says Academic

An academic in the US argued on Thursday that there is "no document proving that the killing of Armenians was an official policy" of the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

Speaking at Turkish-American Security Foundation (TASFO), Michael Gunter of Tennessee Tech University explained that well-known documents published by Armenian author Aram Andonian in 1919 to supposedly prove deliberate massacres, were fabrications.

Having conducted research on the events of 1915, Gunter said Armenian claims had a greater audience because Christian Armenians had gained more sympathy in the Christian West.

"Also, Muslim Turks were historical enemies of the West. Since Armenians also spoke Western languages better than Turks, they were able to convey their messages to the West better," explained Gunter, a professor of sociology and political science.
. . .

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3750) Russians Shall Have Constantinople… Postscript To Durnovo Memorandum

Dr Pat Walsh 2019-07-20

The great dream of the Tsars over the centuries had been to conquer and convert the Ottoman capital of Istanbul/Constantinople into Tsargrad and free the Straits for the Russian Black Sea fleet. In 1914 Tsar Nicholas II entered into alliance with the British Empire in order to fulfil that dream as a part of the Great War on Germany and the Ottoman Empire that he was expecting. Plans had been made by the Russian army and navy in preparation for the day, the Armenian Dashnaks had been primed and all that was needed was the right event in the Balkans to act as detonator.

It was for that reason that the Great War was brought to the Ottoman Empire in 1914 . . .

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