305) Is International Terrorism Acceptable If It Comes From Armenians?

(OR Is International Terrorism Acceptable if it victimizes Only Turks?)

Terrorists who claim allegiance to the Armenian cause have killed more than 70 Turkish diplomats and their family members in the last 30 years. Most of these assassinations and bombings took place "deep in the heart of Europe". In broad daylight, during business hours, in the middle of some of the worlds largest cities... Is terrorism tolerated if it comes from Armenians? Is terrorism welcome if it victimizes only Turks?

Before you rush to a judgment, please consider the following facts. Very few Armenians terrorists were ever caught and even fewer were convicted. Those who were convicted got very lenient sentences. Some of those convicted were released before they served their full sentence, before the blood of their victims dried. Many more suspects were released on minor technicalities.

Is it any wonder, therefore, that some KNOWN TERRORISTS have legitimately established efficiently functioning OFFICES in Europe where they quietly conduct BUSINESS? That they plot their next hate crime, which can be perpetrated next week, next month or next decade? Are they immune to civilized law in every country? Will we allow them to continue their destructive hate crimes just like those terrorists managed to stay out of the reach of law in the United States of America until September 11, 2001!

These facts speak for themselves. No matter how one slices it, all will agree, it is not a pretty picture.

Armenian terrorists base their hate crimes on allegations that genocide was committed against their ancestors residing within the Ottoman Empire during World War I. These claims are not based on facts, but on deliberately distorted historical rhetoric.

The facts is that the certain Armenian groups located in Eastern Anatolia resorted to a wide scale, bloody uprising during World War I, when the Ottoman Empire was fighting for its survival. These Armenians sided with invading Russian armies in 1914 and in doing so lost the trust and protection of the Ottoman forces. Since it was a time of limited technological resources the Ottoman forces were not able to precisely distinguish between who betrayed and who didn't. To minimalist an internal conflict during a period of global struggle the Ottoman Empire decided to relocate the Armenian population of Eastern Anatolia away from a vulnerable border and further from the influence of the Russian forces, since that group posed the most serious threat to Ottoman security. The displaced Armenian group was to be sent to the non-war zones within the Empire, such as Iraq and Syria.

It is important to note that the Armenian population of Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire where the Ottoman power was most secure, was not affected by this wartime measure. These Armenians remained in Istanbul, at their homes, throughout WWI and their descendants are still there today.

"In time of war, nine months after general mobilization, the Ottoman government had to stop the subversive actions of Armenian political organizations, and arrested on April 24, 1915 their leaders, 2345 persons in Istanbul. If this was genocide, why did they do nothing to the remaining 78,000 Armenians of Istanbul?" (Hurriyet, Oct., 16,2000)

Likewise, the Armenian groups of Izmir and Edirne and other Western provinces of the Empire, were unaffected by this relocation measure, because these Armenians were not judged to pose a "threat" to the Ottoman war effort.

Last but not least, even in Eastern Anatolia not all Armenians were relocated. The following groups, for example, were not moved because they did not engage in fifth column activities and did not harbor Armenian fighters brought in from Russia: 200 families in Elazig, 100 families in Malatya, 1700 families in Konya, 1000 families in various other parts of Eastern Anatolia. (Reference: Salim Cohce, Head of History Department, Inonu , University Malatya, Turkey)

The Turkish families bid a tearful farewell to their Armenian neighbors and friends who were deported from Erzurum. The Turks walked with them to the city limits and poured water behind them, a Turkish tradition meaning 'Come Back Safely'. Sadly, through misunderstanding and the deliberate distortion of facts, the children of those departing Armenians later came back to Erzurum and killed 90% of the remaining Turkish population in cold blood. (Reference: Official Russian Document No.31 to the Caucasus Army Commander dated March 3, 1918 - Erzurum, written by Lt. ABGRAL the Military Commander of Erzurum. Also see, the preface handwritten by the Erzurum Deveboynu Region, Artillery Officer, Lt. Col. Twerdo-Khlebof to the book 'The History Of The Second Artillery Contingent In Erzurum Kale".)

On route to Syria Turkish soldiers shared their rations with the Armenian deportees. It was a time of famine; nevertheless, the Turkish soldiers showed their gallantry. Also Turkish families took in and cared for many children until the war was over. It is important to point out that most of those who were relocated did make it to their destinations. Ottoman governors cared for them upon their arrival and throughout the war with what limited resources were available.

Ottoman government records clearly show that the intention was to remove not eradicate, as alleged, Armenians located in a certain region in order to preserve the safety of the whole of the Empire. Not all Armenians were deported, as alleged. Not all those relocated perished, as alleged.

Due to typical limited resources and supplies available during a terrible wartime, disease and famine took more lives than bullets and battles. These events cost both Turks and Armenians great suffering. In the end, for every Armenian casualty, there were 4 Turkish casualties. During the same time period, living with the same wartime conditions. The ratio is 4:1!

And yet, what one has consistently heard in the West, mainly due to relentless Armenian nationalist propaganda, was that only the Armenians suffered during WW1, as if Turks were not humans. This 4:1 ratio meant nothing to some biased minds.

It is indeed, important to remember that: Turkey did not retaliate against the Armenians or any other minority after its victory for independence, in spite of the fact that Armenians joined the enemy invaders causing serious casualties. Also the Turks have in no way retaliated against Armenians in the last 30 years, although the Armenian terrorist attacks around the world by ASALA, JCAG and others claimed more than 70 Turkish lives. These simple but irrefutable facts clearly demonstrate that Turks did not harbor, neither at the beginning nor the end of the 20th century genocidal intent, feeling or tendencies, despite the fact that the Armenian extremists have worked very hard to provoke such feelings among the Turks.

The simple fact is, while it was a terrible human tragedy, costly to BOTH SIDES, it was an uprising-caused-relocation-turned-civil war-during-a-world-war, but not genocide. Genocide is defined as the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political or cultural group. Nothing even remotely like that was intended, attempted or realized during the relocation of this group of Armenians during WW1. Here is the whole picture in a few simple words.

" While Turkey and Russia were at war, in Anatolia, the various communities fought and killed one another. This was civil war, not genocide... If one calls this genocide, then this is genocide for both sides. Thus, the word is inappropriate as it has become meaningless." (J. McCarthy, historian, Binyil, November 10, 2000)

It was a civil war during the time of a world war, provoked by bloody Armenian uprisings, designed to establish a Greater Armenia on Turkish soil, where the Armenians were not even close to a majority, in fact they comprised less than 30% of the population in any Ottoman province. Here is the rub: If the Armenians had succeeded, it would have been the first "apartheid" of the 20th Century, where an Armenian minority would be ruling over a Turkish majority.

The British government agrees with the above characterization. In a press release dated July 23, 2001, the British Ambassador to Ankara stated that he could not consider these events, while tragic and costly to both sides, genocide.

The Israeli Government also agrees with the above statement of fact. In an interview dated April 9, 2001, Shimon Peres, Foreign minister of Israel, told the press "The Armenian allegations are meaningless". He said what happened to the Armenians cannot be compared to the Jewish Holocaust.

Turkish Academicians are in agreement, too. More than 300 of them signed a statement on April 23, 2001, saying the events were a civil war within a world war, provoked by wide scale Armenian uprisings. (See www.turkishforum.com for further information)

Western Scholars & Historians voiced similar sentiments. More than 70 prominent historians in the United States of America signed a statement on May 19, 1985, urging the U.S. Congress NOT to legislate history. They said, "Historical evidence unearthed so far showed, that it was a civil war, mainly fought by Christian and Muslim irregular forces." Recognizing only Armenian suffering, and ignoring Turkish suffering would, therefore is untrue, unscholarly, and unfair.

To that, it must be added, that such "selective morality" would also be unethical, discriminatory, and racist. Plain and simple!

Armenian delegations tried once again to partition Anatolia, despite the fact that they comprised no more than 30% of the total population in any province within the Ottoman Empire, at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The delegation was given an opportunity to speak directly to the victorious Allied forces, without-it must be added the scrutiny or cross-examination of a Turkish delegation, and deliberately misrepresented the facts in order to gain favor. They did not succeed in this attempt and have not succeeded in subsequent attempts. Today when there is a Global Turkish Collation determined to let the truth be heard, they will never succeed.

The truth is easy to locate. The vast archives of the Ottoman Empire, spanning over 7 centuries, were classified and opened to scholars for research more than a decade ago. The root of the lies are well hidden because the Armenian archives in Erevan, Armenia, and Armenian Revolutionary Federation archives in Boston, USA, still remain closed to this day! Collectively called "The Armenian documents", these archives contain crucial information on thoughts, plans, schemes, connections, propaganda, agitation and terror used by the Armenian nationalists and terrorists. They constitute the other side of the story, so it is not surprising that they remain closed to this day!

As the strongest and most reliable friend of the Western world in the troubled near and Middle East, Turkey was recently devastated by activities of Kurdish terrorists who are in collaboration with Armenian extremists. Unfortunately, all this was observed with a callous indifference by our allies, with an attitude that can only be summarized by an ancient Turkish proverb: "Let the snake that doesn't touch me live 1000 years". However, as the September 11, 2001 atrocities indicate, terrorism has become a universal epidemic, which can only be stopped by eradicating it everywhere. "The Snake" has perhaps bitten off more than it can chew.

What any civilized person or institution must urge for first, is the opening of all ARCHIVES by all parties. Second, we must allow and support free and unrestrained scholarly RESEARCH of all evidence. Finally, all this must be followed by a meaningful, just and equitable DIALOG between the Turks and the Armenians. Siding blindly with partisan Armenian allegations of genocide, attempting to legislate history by votes of politicians and ignoring much larger Turkish suffering and loss, does not facilitate peace efforts.

This same civilized route to resolving conflicts peacefully can and must also be applied to Armenian aggression in Azerbaijan. Today, it is a bitter and sad fact, that Armenia continues to occupy 20% of Azerbaijan property by use of force, causing more than a million Azerbaijani non-combatant men, women and children to spend their 9th winter in cold, leaky tents with little food, medicine or hope.

It is because many fair-minded people started abandoning those baseless Armenian allegations of genocide during WWI and expansionist Armenian policies of 1990s, in favor of the Archive-Research-Dialog approach, that three major events took place in the West recently:

1. On October 11, 2001, the Foreign Relations Commission of the Austrian Parliament rejected to include into its agenda a resolution, stubbornly advanced by pro-Armenian and anti-Turkish circles, attempting to unfairly label the events of WWI as genocide.

2. On October 24, 2001; the European Parliament refused to include into the "Lamasery Report" a precondition, advanced by Armenian lobbyists in 4 separate legislative attempts (on the same day), that would force Turkey to accept the baseless allegations of genocide as the truth prior to acceptance to the European Union.

3. On October 24, 2001, the U.S. Senate rejected pressure from the Armenian community and Armenia's President Robert Kocharian to maintain Section 907 in its current form. The U.S. Senate voted to amend the fiscal year 2002 foreign aid bill to include language that would modify Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act. This would allow President Bush to waive this law if he determines that providing USA assistance to Azerbaijan is necessary to support United States efforts to counter terrorism.

As one can clearly see, the tide is turning. Common sense, reason, and fairness are replacing bias, hype, and hysteria.

We would like to reiterate our hope that the threesome of archive-research-dialog approach will eventually lead to an even bigger threesome: understanding, friendship and peace.

Isn't it time to stop this senseless blame-game and give peace a realistic chance?

Thank you for your time.

Peace,

Dr. Kayaalp Buyukataman, President, Turkish Forum, CONNECTICUT, USA
Mr Egemen Bagis, President, Federation of Turkish American Associations, NEWYORK, USA
Dr. Orhan Kaymakcalan, President, Assembly of Turkish American Associations, WASHINGTON, D.C., USA
Dr. Seyhan Nuyan, President, Federation of Canadian Turkish Associations, ONTARIO, CA
Dr. Seyhan Nuyan, President, Federation of Canadian Turkish Associations, ONTARIO, CA
DI. Birol Kilic, Secretary General, Head Association of The Turkish Organizations in Austria, WIEN, AUSTRIA
Kufi Seydali, Masc., DIC. President Friends of TRNC ; President European Cyprus-Turkish Associations Congress, WIEN, AUSTRIA ; V. President World Cyprus-Turkish Associations Congress
Dr. Ata Erim, President, World Turkish Congress, NEWYORK, USA
Mr Nazmi Kaya, President, Australian Turkish Association- VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
Mr Ali Sencer, Federation of Turkish Cypriots Association, NEWYORK, USA
Gurkan Capar, Secretary General, Australia Turkish National Unity Council
Ali Bonab, President, Azerbaijan Cultural Organization (BIRLIK) ANGERED - SWEDEN
Mustafa ALINCA, Président,Association Pour l'Echange Culturel avec l'Azerbaidjan (APEC AZERBAIDJAN) STRASBOURG/FRANCE
Gokhan Genc, President, Turks Forum Nederland, Leiden, The Netherlands
Shadman Huseyn,Chairman, West Azerbaijan-International Society of Deported People, Baku Azerbaijan
Ramadan Arif President, The Federation of Turkish Cypriot Associations of Canada
Dr. Manaf Sababi, Secretary General, Chamber of Azerbaijani studies, Lund Sweden
Bahar Yucel, President, TURKISH WOMEN LEAGUE OF AMERICA, NJ, USA
Yilmaz Gursoy, Ex. Director, Australian Turkish Media Group, Victoria Australia