280) Armenians About Turks

Armenian historian Asoghik, who recorded his impressions on the arrival of Seljuk Turks to Anatolia, wrote, "The Armenians of Byzantium have welcomed the Seljuk conquest with lengthy celebrations in the streets and thanksgiving to God for having rescued them from long years of Byzantine oppression. Seljuk Turks gave protection to the Armenian Church, which the Byzantines had been trying to destroy. They abolished the oppressive taxes which the Byzantines had imposed on the Armenian Churches, monasteries and priests, and in fact exempted such religious institutions from all taxes. The Armenian community was left free to conduct its internal . . .. affairs in its own way, including religious activities and education, and there never was any time at which Armenians or other non-Muslims were compelled to convert to Islam. The Armenian spiritual leaders in fact went to Seljuk Sultan Melikshah to thank him for his protection."

Another Armenian historian Mathias related: "Melikshah's heart is full of affection and good will for Christians; he has treated the sons of Jesus Christ very well, and he has given the Armenian people affluence, peace, and happiness."

After the death of another Seljuk Sultan Kilic Arslan, the same Armenian historian Mathias wrote: "Kilic Arslan's death has driven Christians into mourning since he was a charitable person of high character."

It was, however, the world-renowned historian Arnold Toynbee who centuries later reinforced the words of Asoghik and of Mathias by saying the following: "The Ottoman institution came perhaps as near as anything in real life could to realising the ideal of Plato's Republic."

"Edson L. Clark, the British philosopher and historian, had this to assert, "The Turks were far better men and far abler rulers than the wretched tyrants they superseded...", "The Turkish dominions were better governed and were more prosperous than most parts of Christian Europe."

And the well-known American historian and novelist, Harold Lamb, wrote this, "Few Europeans realized that the Turkish Ottoman Sultan Suleyman was the head of the most democratic government of their time."

An article, which appeared on May 15, 1991 in this very newspaper had another revelation. This time the person who was doing the revealing was Hovhannes Katchaznouni, the Prime Minister of the Soviet Armenian Republic during World War I:

"At the beginning of the fall of 1914, when Turkey had not yet entered the war, but had already been making preparations, Armenian revolutionary bands began to be formed in Transcaucasia with great enthusiasm, and especially, with great uproar...they fought against the Turks because they could not refrain themselves from fighting. This was an inevitable result of psychology on which the Armenian people nourished itself during an entire generation that mentally should have found its expression, and it did so...

"We overestimated the ability of Armenian people, its political and military power, and importance of the services our people rendered to the Russians. And by overestimating our very modest worth and merit, we were naturally exaggerating our hopes and expectations..."

The Armenian historian Vartanian relates that "Ottoman Armenians were completely free in their traditions, religion, culture and language in comparison to Russian Armenians under the Czars. "The Ottoman Empire was the Armenians' only shelter against Russian oppression."

Finally, here are the prophetic words of another Armenian writer Borian, who says, "Czarist Russia, at no time, wanted to assure Armenian autonomy but used the autonomy factor to destabilize the Ottoman rejime: For this reason one must consider the Armenians who were working for Armenian autonomy as no more than agents and spies of the Czar, to attach Eastern provinces to Russia."

The Russians thus have deceived the Armenians for years; and as a result the Armenians have been left with nothing more than an empty dream.

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