1015) Europeans’ Dishonorable Acts Of Intolerance Against Turks

CRUSADES ALL OVER AGAIN
Strasbourg, France (Reuters)-Some time ago when the European Parliament formally accused Turks of conducting “genocide” against Armenians 90 plus years ago, Just a few days prior to this unfair edict, the consummate head of world Catholics, the late Pope John Paul II and the Armenian Catholicos Karekin II of the Holy See Etchimiadzin had signed in Rome, Italy a communiqué condemning the Ottoman Turks of an alleged genocide.

It is our firm belief that the pro-Armenian resolutions passed by either the European Union, or by Vatican, are like steer horns. A point here, a point there, and a lot of bull in between. . .

It seems to be apparent that when it comes to dealings of Europeans with the Muslim Turks an unending act of intolerance is still the order of the day. It goes without saying that this unpleasant predicament would cease to exist in a heartbeat if by some magical decree the religion of the Turks could change overnight making them Christians, and thus acceptable to join the E.U.

THE BATTLE LINES ARE DRAWN
What the Turks cannot comprehend is the intensity with which this religious zealotry still continues unabated or diminished in the slightest after all these past centuries. Familiar annals of the Crusades provide the Christian world with a rare example of history being written by the losers; even in this jaded age the view endures of the Crusades as an epic , noble struggle to liberate the Holy Land . But how does the Muslim world remember the conflict? Turks, who encompassed those lands and their population and represented that Muslim world, see it from a different angle. They see it as a brutal, unprovoked invasion by barbarians; but they also reflect upon the Crusades as a shinning moment in the Muslim history, whose refined characteristics were never acknowledged, never appreciated. Therefore, this is a completely new point of view, a true eye-opener.

WHY THIS CONTINUUM?
A small source of solace, if it can be called that, may be found in the non-partisan, and Nonsectarian observations by an 18th century historian, Edward Gibbon. In the judgement of this enlightened historian, the Crusades did not only sap wealth and human lives from Western Europe, but it also prevented it from fostering friendly relations with the Ottoman Muslim world. Gibbon, in unison with all the scholars of the time and era, saw the concurrent Christianity as vile, superstitious, ignorant, and deceitful in its approach to Muslim Turks.

THE IMPACT OF THE CRUSADES
Thomas Madden, in his excellent work “The Concise History of the Crusades” talks about : “Spanish galleons laden with new world gold and silver financed more than one Holy League or war against the Turks. But more than that, the new wealth, coupled with a rise of industrial technology, allowed Europe to purchase raw materials from the Ottomans and sell back to them the finished goods at a bargain price. The resulting trade deficit, and the repeated failure of the Ottoman Empire to embrace technological advances in anything other than military applications, ultimately doomed the Turkish economy. Europe never did win a decisive war against the Turks until World War I, when the Ottoman Empire was already a dilapidated shell of its once glorious self, unable to compete with Europe’s skyrocketing economy, the Ottoman Empire slowly bled to death. In the end, the discovery and exploitation of the New World not only saved Western Europe, but propelled it to world hegemony. The Muslim threat was neutralized not by the crusades to the East, but to the West.”

Today the Turks find themselves in a situation where their reputation and their very future depend on the defense of their ancestors. The Armenian groups, after having announced their animosity toward Turks by endlessly spreading their false stories of hearsay atrocities and even Genocide, allegedly committed against their people by a now-defunct government, the Ottoman Empire, so long ago that no one living today could have firsthand knowledge of those events are trying to exclude Turkey from the European Union. Even though their claims are unjustified, unproven, even adjudicated to be false by a number of scholars, and historians, enemies of the Ottoman Empire at the time, the accusations, demands, lies, continue to bombard not only Turks, but governmental offices all over the world. The recent European Union accusation in Strasbourg, France is a perfect illustration of this fact. Unfortunately, justice is blind. Once accused of a crime in this world, the suspicion sticks. Even if one is supposed to think that the accused is innocent until proven guilty, in truth, especially if the accused is an outsider, to Christendom, he is considered guilty, and seldom ever can erase the spot on his reputation, or worse, have his voice heard.

Although there are many, many more Turks in the world than there are Armenians, the Turkish people do not care, do not speak up. Will the world know the truth if they don’t shout it as loudly as they do their lies? I don’t think so. At this time the ‘Green parties’ in Austria and Germany have approached the Austrian parliament and the German ‘Bundestag’ to acknowledge the Armenian claims of Genocide against their people. It is the same attempt that was successful in Australia and in Canada, and recently in France and Italy. Will Austria and Germany hear Turkish defense, or buckle under to the volume of the Armenians’ vociferous caterwaul?

So, what is the Turkish defense? How can Turks put an end to this crucible?

THE FACTS ARE:
The Armenians, who were relocated, were living in a war zone. The Ottoman Empire was at war with Czarist Russia. Armenians in that area were sabotaging their own army because they were promised a piece of Turkey by the Russians. Not only was the army the target, but Turkish civilians and Armenian civilians fought each other. Many more Turks than Armenians were killed during that struggle. There is no deliberate order given, no decree issued for Genocide to be found in the Ottoman archives. Armenians living in other parts of Turkey or the Empire were not affected at all. After the First World War, the powers who had defeated the Ottomans, especially Great Britain, rounded up 140 top Ottoman officials and imprisoned them on the island of Malta. For three years the Armenian scholar ‘Haig Khazarian’ had the opportunity to gather proof of Ottoman persecution and war crimes against the Armenians. After three years of no such evidence, the prisoners were released and the British admitted their mistake. And ever since their government never attempted to officially accept the subject of “genocide”.

Surely all this is known to the Armenians, Greeks and Kurds, and to all of the European Union’s fellow members they can not really believe that the Armenians were the innocent victims of an evil empire. When it comes to the Armenian irregulars who deserted the Ottoman armies and joined the Czarist units with their arms and ammunition, were responsible for the deaths of 2.5 million Muslims. They may not all have been Turks, nevertheless as Sircassians, Tatars or Kurds they were all Ottoman citizens. What is it that the Armenians and their Christian cohorts in the European Union hope to gain by this drive? Is it absolution for the former’s treachery? Is it an attempt at saving face after their humiliating betrayal they suffered when the Czarist Russia turned Communist and let them hang in limbo? Or is it the hope for a substantial monetary gain, such as the survivors of the Holocaust are receiving from Germany today?

(An Editorial)
Mahmut Esat Ozan
Chairman-Editorial Board
The Turkish Forum-USA
meozan@turkishforum.com