1245) Letters to the Editor by Sukru Server Aya

Ref:
http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2006/11/1234-gul-says-turkey-working-on-new.html
http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2006/11/1232-media-scanner-17-articles-in-one.html
http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2006/11/1226-press-scanner-16-articles-in-one.html
http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2006/11/1228-prof-heath-lowry-on-burning-of.html

Dear Seda,

O P E N L E T T E R




Enough on Orhan Pamuk polemics and advertisement

Re: A- http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2006/11/1234-gul-says-turkey-working-on-new-html
# 1232 - Media scanner # 10 – About Orhan Pamuk

B- http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com./2006/11/1226-press-scanner-16-articles-in-one.html

# 1226 - Item # 9 – About Orhan Pamuk’s ‘Snow’ by Anahit Hovdesepian

In reference to above commentaries in your news letters, I give hereunder a translation of a “news-clip” which appeared in “VATAN” Newspaper dated Nov/ 19, 2006, which I trust is self-explanatory.

(About Orhan Pamuk)
He found four mistakes in one sentence. (Pictures of Orhan Pamuk and Prof. Ilber Ortayli)

"(Reputed historian) Prof .Dr. Ilber Ortayli, in a conference in Adana, Seyhan, made an interesting remark for the Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk. Rerplying a question of one listener, he said the following: “In one of the books he has written, there is a sentence reading:

“The imam (chaplain), at the hour of afternoon, got out on the balcony of the mosque and read the afternoon prayers call”.

Any person who is aware of the realities of his community, would know that, first, there is no “hour” of namaz-prayer, there‘ is “time”. Time and hour are different concepts. Mosques to not have a “balcony”, the “minaret has a gallery” (serefe). The imam (chaplain) does not make the call; the call is made by “muezzin”, and he does not go up on the gallery (serefe), he reads the call from the inside.

This example proves that persons who try to do something without knowing the community they come from, do not do right things, they cannot.” "

(Translated from “VATAN” Nov.19, 2006)
********************************

Vatan Gazetesi 19.11.2006
Bir cümlesinde 4 hata buldu

Orhan Pamuk’un kitabındaki bir cümleyi analiz eden Prof. Dr. Ortaylı “İçinden çıktığı toplumu bilmiyor” dedi.

Adana Seyhan’da düzenlenen bir konferansta konuşma yapan Prof. Dr. İlber Ortaylı, Nobel ödüllü Orhan Pamuk için ilginç bir saptamada bulundu. Ortaylı, bir dinleyicinin Pamuk’la ilgili sorusu üzerine şunları söyledi. “Kaleme aldığı bir eserde şöyle bir ifade geçiyor. ‘İmam ikindi namazı saatinde caminin balkonuna çıkarak ikindi ezanını okudu.’ Bu toplumun gerçeklerini, inançlarını bilen her insan bilir ki, bir kere namazın saati olmaz, vakti olur. Saat ayrı, vakit ayrı bir kavramdır. Camilerde balkon yoktur, minarenin şerefesi vardır. Ezanı da imam okumaz müezzin okur, o da şerefeye çıkmaz içeriden okur. Bu örnekle de sabittir ki kişiler kendi içinden çıktıkları toplumu bilmeden bir şeyler yapmaya çalıştıklarında doğru şeyler yapmazlar, yapamazlar.”

Prof. Dr. Ortaylı konferansta ayrıca, Kozan ilçesindeki Anavarza Antik Kenti’ne dikkat çekerek burada kazı yapılması halinde büyük bir zenginliğin ortaya çıkacağını söyledi.
++++++++++

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OPEN LETTER

Re: http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2006/11/1228-prof-heath-lowry-on-burning-of.html

Subject: Controversies on the Burning of Izmir

I am indeed surprised that some persons titled “scholar”, jump into wrong conclusions despite the clarity of existing documentation. I shall be much pleased if you can relate this message to Prof.Marjorie Housepian, and request an explanation in the light of the concrete documentation covered in the TAT bulletin of our “information treasurer, Holdwater”, I dare to add below information.

Apparently, Holdwater missed below excerpt from documentations sent to him some two years ago. Anyway, here is the excerpt and I kindly invite the “opposite viewers” to submit their comments with relative documentation, in an open forum to end this “hearsay scholarship”.

(Excerpt from PROTESTANT DIPLOMACY AND THE NEAR EAST, ISBN-0-816-605-750, by Joseph L. Grabill, page. 263):

The view of Turks in Barton’s message to Harding and Hughes was inappropriate, as remarked by President MacLachlan of International College. The Turks did not massacre Greeks, as Greeks had done to Turks in May 1919, About the worst the Turkish Army did was force captured Greek soldiers to shout “Long Live Mustafa Kemal “ as they marched into detention. Turkish soldiers protected International College during the disruption of the occupation; a Turkish cavalryman rescued MacLahlan from irregulars who nearly beat the missionary to death while trying to loot the agricultural buildings of the college. (MacLahlan suffered broken ribs and badly injured arms and legs; it took him nearly two months to recover). A three-day Smyrna fire (September 13-15), which Turks made every effort to control destroyed nearly a square mile in Greek and Armenian areas and made two hundred thousand people homeless. Included in this loss was the American Board’s Collegiate Institute for Girls. Mac Lahlan’s investigation of the fire’s origins led to the conviction that Armenian terrorists dressed in Turkish uniforms, fired the city. Apparently the terrorists were attempting to bring a Western intervention.

If we are not to believe the report of Fire Brigade commander (Austrian) Paul Grescovitch, or President of Izmir International College (a protestant Missionary) MacLachlan or the report of an American correspondent, Mark O. Prentiss, who all eye witnessed the fire, WHOM CAN BE MORE PROFICIENT, NEUTRAL and dependable?

Regarding the statement that the incident was not mentioned in Ataturk’s “NUTUK” is soimply because Ataturk did not advertise even much worse atrocities and this was not important enough to be mentioned in his book “NUTUK” (The Speech). However, there is some correspondence, bale by Ataturk for the Western Powers suggesting to send an investigation committee from Istanbul, saying that the fire was already eye witnessed by correspondents of foreign press and their diplomatic corps.

(It will take some time to find that document, which Ataov definitely has, and which can be found and submitted if of dire necessity.

This much of slandering and falsification of incidents, makes my stomach fill sick! Is it not possible to find unbiased scholars, free of ridiculous prejudices?

Sukru S. Aya – Istanbul 20.11.2006

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British refugees from Smyrna

Mr. H. Lamb, the British Consul General at İzmir reported that he "had reason to believe that Greeks in concert with Armenians had burned Smyrna" [1]. This was confirmed by the correspondent of the Petit Parisien at İzmir in a dispatch on 20 September 1922.

There were not only Greeks and Armenians but also British taking refuge from İzmir as the invasion ended. While some fleeing to İstanbul, where they think it can still be held in British hands, some fled directly to Britain. There had been no record of missing British nationals during the fire. There were also eyewitnesses to the fire among the British refugees. According to The Times dated 6 October 1922:

Thirty-six refugees from Smyrna arrived at Plymouth to-day, having been sent home from Malta.

(...)

Mr. L. R. Whittall, barrister-at-law, who has been in Smyrna for some years said there was no evidence as to who set fire to the town, but the consensus of opinion was that it was Greek and Armenian incendiaries.[2].

(1) Colonel Rachid Galib, 18 May 1923. Current History, V., "Smyrna During the Greek Occupation" p.319.

(2) The Times, 6 October 1922. Firing of the Town, Plymouth

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Re: http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2006/11/1226-press-scanner-16-arricles-in-one.html #13

O P E N L E T T E R - Reply to “American Magazine” NY Nov.10, 2006

Editorial : Pilgrimage to Constantinople

Dear All,

I have been greatly disturbed by the “air” of subject editorial, and wish to convey below reply, which I hope someone can manage to relay to subject magazine and members of “North American Orthodox Catholic Theological Consultation”. Full article can be viewed under above reference. I am taking an excerpt of this “typical bigotry” in further down section of my “draft book chapter”, named “DIVINITY for BIGOTRY and ANARCHY” which will be self-explanatory when the full chapter and other references will be printed in the book. It so happens that the fast progress of some events, reconfirms the promptness of some of my remarks and approaches.

I would like to name this “REPLY” to above impolite editorial as “ LOGICAL SERENITY or CLERICAL DIVINITY? In my preferential style, I will let other Christians of history, teach Christian bigots of today, of the past incidents which had become “past history” but it is apparent from subject article, that “much is desired to revive Constantinople”, in which Christians and Jews were fully protected by Ottomans for nearly eight centuries. It becomes clear that Catholics – Orthodox – Protestants, who were cutting each other’s throats for centuries (other than in Ottoman ruled lands) now are in a “holy – crusade type alliance” and some priests, feel free to “use their Celestial Supremacy Rights” and lecture the Secular Republic of Turkey and her citizens, who are not restricted to use their common sense and intelligence versus the sermons of priesthood, and which should appeal only to their churches where they can give their sermons to their own believers. When priesthood, starts to preach the stale dictums, and expect to rule today’s life, "not by scientific and intelligent rules, but by books written by their forefathers", then we must start with the flatness of the world and creation! Below paragraphs have been quoted with references. Since some excerpts have been taken at random, I should be excused for the arrangements, if found confusing or retroactive, but the contents’ I hope speak for themselves clear and loud!

* (Translated from “VATAN” Nov.19, 2006)

Protest in France for Erection of Pope’s Statue

In the town of Ploermel, France, a group of about 500 persons arranged a demonstration against the decision to put a statue of Pope Jeran Paul 2, in the town square. Demonstrators gathered around the base of the statue, constructed for ten thousand dollars. The township had a budget of $ 38.500 for the statue. A teacher, wearing a red beret as symbol of French Republicans, spoke to the AFP Agency correspondent and said: “They are spending public money for showing a subject of religion. This is wrong. It is against secularism.”

* (Excerpt from “Protestant Diplomacy and the Near East” Joseph L. Grabill, ISBN 0816605750 – p.180)

On February 8, the President wrote to his Secretary of War, asking if it was legal to dispatch American soldiers to Armenia and Constantinople. He got an affirmative opinion, with the caution that bring-the-boys-home demands were increasing. Then the New York Federation of Churches cabled Wilson asking British or American supervision for the Armenians in Asia Minor.


*(Excerpt from “Imperialism Evangelism and the Ottoman Armenians” ISBN-07146-3448-4, p.132)

The circumstances gave rise to what might be called gunboat Christianity. Ottoman Christians were being slaughtered and the fleet should be sent with orders to bombard Ottoman ports if necessary. The Evangelical Alliance of Boston passed a resolution calling on the US government to send such a naval force to ‘Turkish’ waters as would ‘make the American name respected in the Mediterranean or on the Kurdish mountains’ and to take action with other governments to ‘forcibly prevent the butchery of fellow Christians in Armenia>.

From Chapter 6: DIVINITY for BIGOTRY & ANARCHY

The Bible is the Book of the Church… The Jewish Church stands behind the Old Testament. The

Christian Church stands behind the New Testament. The Bible is the Making. And behind the

Church stands Priesthood. # 1

Lloyd M. Graham, DECEPTIONS OF MYTHS OF THE BIBLE, Citadel, (ISBN 0-8065-1124-9) (Preface)

Truth is never pure and rarely simple. Oscar Wilde

Superstition is the religion of feeble minds. Edmund Burke

Religion is the opium of the people. Karl Marx

The prerequisite of a priesthood is a divine Avenger with man as a sinner and hence dependent on priests for salvation. To this end the process was continued: first the semimythic Elohist, rewriting and holifying the Jhwist’s characters, and finally the Priest declaring a personal God created the world in six days by saying Let it be. This God-concept of the priestly mind is the cornerstone of the bible, and if it is false, everything based upon it is also false. # 2-A

2-A, Ibid preface 2

To execute, every one for himself, the law of God’ is, no doubt, an admirable principle. For a Catholic, who believes that the Church knows the law of God, it may even be made into a rule of government. The results, as seen in Papal States, may not have been quite what most moderns would think desirable; for example, the Inquisition still practiced persecution, and issued edicts so late as 1841 ‘commanding all people to inform against heretics, Jews, and sorcerers, those who had impeded the Holy Office, or made satires against Pope and clergy’; while in 1851 a railway across Romagna was prohibited on the ground that ‘railways produce commerce, and commerce produces sin’. # 2-B

2-B, Bertrand Russel, FREEDOM VERSUS ORGANIZATION, 1776-1914 , London, Unwin Books, p.139

These reasons are derived in some sacred book which is considered so authoritative that its dicta must never be questioned. Most of the moral exhortation which is practiced by the clergy or by those who give strengthening advice in the Y.M.C.A., is concerned with exhorting hearers to obey such precepts; and failure to obey them is viewed conventionally as much more heinous than unkindness, or malice inspired by envy, or group hatred leading to political disaster. # 2-C

2-C, Bertrand Russel, HUMAN SOCIETY IN ETHICS AND POLITICS, Londo, Unwin Books, p.139


You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God in vain… # 3

Bible - Exodus Chapter 20

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor… # 4

Bible - Exodus Chapter 20

You shall not covet your neighbors house nor anything that is your neighbor’s # 5

Bible - Exodus Chapter 20

The great hypocrisy of humans is that “when end justifies the means”, even the corner stones and pillars of Christianity may be denied or reverted to “win some converts into the advertised showcase of the same faith”. Now let us read some more excerpts:

“Some moderate to liberal theologians have begun to challenge half-baked preaching about the rapture and the end times ‘a toxin endangering the health-even the life- of the Christian churches and American society.’ Suburban mega-churches, in turn, find themselves explained as offering spiritual equivalent of shopping mall; would you like physic healing today…” # 6

Kevin Phillips, AMERICAN THEOCRACY, Viking – Penguin, (ISBN 0-670-03486-X) p. 101

“ …many Protestants, lacking priests to assure them forgiveness, searched God’s grace in personal experience. By the 1890s holiness Methodists were defecting from their old church. Baptists were overtaking and passing Methodists…” # 7

Kevin Phillips, AMERICAN THEOCRACY, Viking – Penguin, (ISBN 0-670-03486-X) p. 112

“ … Moreover, in these cases the clergy were commonly among the most prominent drumbeaters. “ # 8

Kevin Phillips, AMERICAN THEOCRACY, Viking – Penguin, (ISBN 0-670-03486-X) p. 122

“ Besides inner conversion, evangelicalism also emphasized outward conversion efforts by its adherents. As a result the nineteenth century saw a huge increase in foreign missionary activity, along with an upsurge of moral imperialism –belief in Britain’s duty to save the world- that abetted and reinforced the everyday patriotism of parades, naval reviews, music-hall songs, and saber-rattling literature. Initial public enthusiasm for World War I, as we will see, marched in part stirring cadences of Onward Christian Soldiers” # 9

Kevin Phillips, AMERICAN THEOCRACY, Viking – Penguin, (ISBN 0-670-03486-X) p.226

“ By 1914 many British churches were but all draped in flags…” # 10

Kevin Phillips, AMERICAN THEOCRACY, Viking – Penguin, (ISBN 0-670-03486-X) p. 255

“ Yet much of their activity purports to be missionary. Instead of British church people and Bible societies accompanying Queen Victoria’s soldiers to India, we have U.S. missionaries following the flag to the Middle East..” #11

Kevin Phillips, AMERICAN THEOCRACY, Viking – Penguin, (ISBN 0-670-03486-X) p.259

Before we proceed further with other excerpts, let us take a break and glance through the book written by Prof. Edwin Grosvenor about Turks in Constantinople, how they treated Christians (when Orthodox – Catholic – Protestants) were fighting each other but they always put the blame on the “Antichrist Muslims”. Knowing how the empire was drained of all resources under capitulations and heavy debts, it is worth while to read how much money the Sultan spent for restoration of St. Sophia, which was used even as stable by Catholic crusaders. What an irony, that the founder of Robert College, Cyrus Hamlin was such an extreme Armenophile, that he preferred to learn Armenian instead of Turkish (the host country) and eventually saw the right in himself to request US Battleships, which were sent, to “teach Turks”!

“The church has never, before or since, been in so pitiable condition as just before the Ottoman Conquest. It and the Empire had grown old together. It was a question which would outlast the other, the feeble, dying Empire, or the decaying church. The historical importance of Sancta Sophia is almost boundless. No other church in any land, no other structure reared in any age by human genius, has held so large a place in a nation’s life. “In its name is centered the entire duration of Byzantine history.” The Cathedral of Rheims, Notre Dame, Westminster Abbey, Saint Peter’s, the Parthenon, tenanted and crowded as they are by thrilling associations, evoke not so countless memories. This is the official sanctuary of an Empire wherein Church and State were one, and which through more than eleven hundred years was the heir and equal of Rome. Up its nave and aisles swept the pageantry of monarch and pontiff …” # 13

Edwin A. Grosvenor, CONSTANTINOPLE, Boston, Little Brown and Company, 1900, p. 530

“On July 16, 1054, while the church was thronged by the Orthodox clergy and people, Cardinal Humbert and two other Latin bishops, legates of the Pope, walked steadily up the nave till they reached the altar in the holy place. Then, standing under the colossal mosaic picture of the meek-eyed Christ, whose arms were stretched in blessing, they laid upon the altar the papal excommunication of the Orthodox Eastern Church, and the anathema against the seven deadly heresies of the Greeks, devoting them and all who shared their doctrines “to the eternal society of the devil and his angels.” Then “they strode out, shaking the dust from their feet, and crying, ‘Let God see and judge.’ ” Thus the seamless robe was rent; the hitherto undivided Christian Church was tom in twain, and has never since been reunited. The Protestant may ill determine or appreciate the rights and wrongs of the contending parties, — of Michael Keroularios the Patriarch, or of Leo IX time Pope ; time points at issue, so vast to them, may appear trivial and of almost microscopic littleness to-day …

… Here, on Easter morning, in April, 1204, the warriors of the Fourth Crusade, red-handed from their conquest of the city, caroused and feasted. A courtesan, seated on the patriarchal throne, sang obscene songs in nasal tones to mock the chanting of the Greeks. Meanwhile the drunken soldiers indulged in nameless orgies with women of the street, and the fane resounded with their indecent and Satanic glee. In derision the consecrated bread and wine were mixed with blood and dung. Meanwhile strings of beasts of burden were driven in, covered with priestly robes and loaded with plunder…” # 14

Edwin A. Grosvenor, CONSTANTINOPLE, Boston, Little Brown and Company, 1900, p. 533-534

“… Some were indeed clinging to the ancient legend that when a victorious enemy reached the Column of Constantine an angel would place a flaming sword in the hand of a little child, who forthwith would drive back the invaders. The Ottoman beat open the doors of the southern vestibule, whereon may still be seen the narks of their impatient violence. The crowded mob of refugees, paralyzed with horror, offered no resistance. No blood was shed, either of conquered or conqueror. No violence was used. The half—dead captives—ascetic monk, and maiden on whose veiled face the sun had hardly shone, high—born lady and kitchen scullion, patrician and beggar — were bound together in couples, and driven forth in long files to be sold as slaves.” # 15 *

Edwin A. Grosvenor, CONSTANTINOPLE, Boston, Little Brown and Company, 1900, p.536-537

“The sultans have shown as much solicitude for the preservation of Sancta Sophia as did their predecessors the emperors. The oft-shattered eastern semi-dome, thrown down by earthquake, was rebuilt by Mourad III in 1575. The same Sultan undertook thorough renovation of time mosque, as had also done his great ancestors, Mohammed II and Souleiman I. But the most important of all was that accomplished by Sultan Abd-ul Medjid. This occupied more than two years, involved an expenditure of over 1,500,000 dollars, and was performed in the most satisfactory manner by the Italian architects, the Fossatis. Every part was tested, and whatever lacked was supplied. A framework of iron girders was wrought in throughout. Each mosaic was laid bare, carefully cleansed and restored, and then as carefully covered over. When all was complete, Sultan Abd-ul Medjid, on July 13, 1849, performed his devotions in the renovated mosque, and afterwards, with his accustomed munificence, rewarded whoever had any part in its renewal. A commemorative gold medal was struck, bearing on one side the picture of the mosque, and on the other the ‘toughra,’ or seal of the Sultan.” # 16 *

Edwin A. Grosvenor, CONSTANTINOPLE, Boston, Little Brown and Company, 1900, p. 539

“The Ottomans regard Sancta Sophia with the utmost reverence. Therein they but follow the example of the illustrious Conqueror, whose eager steps first turned hither after his hard-won victory, and whose first official act in his blood-bought capital was its conversion into a mosque. Alone of all churches submitted Islam, it retains its Christian name, the Aya Sofia of the Moslems being but the literal rendering of the ‘Aya Sopia’ of the Greeks.”

# 17 * Edwin A. Grosvenor, CONSTANTINOPLE, Boston, Little Brown and Company, 1900, p. 541

“Among them were the Duke of Argyll and Gladstone – drawn in Punch as the ‘Old Crusaders’ sitting on white chargers with lances in hand – and the Duke of Westminster, Lord Bryce and an assortment of higher eclastics. Symbolically the first mass meeting of the “Armenian agitation” (May 1895) was held at St. James hall, Piccadilly. The mood was one of uncompromising hostility to the Turks and their religion. The Duke or Argyll began by insisting that England had the duty to impose a protectorate over the Christians of the Ottoman state. The Moderator of the Church of Scotland spoke of the sacred right of insurrection, of England’s right and duty to intervene alone if necessary and if his reopening of the Eastern Question meant ‘the abolition of the open scandal of the worship of Mahomet in the first great Christian church erected by the first Christian Emperor, the sooner the question was reopened the better’ (The Times so reported). Both the Bishop of St, Asaph and Canon MacColl argued for a show of force to save the Christians and bring ‘that abject coward the sultan’ to his senses. The contribution of Lady Henry Somerset can scarcely be ignored. She spoke of love of Christian women ‘for their sisters yonder in the clutch of the harem-despot of Constantinople’.” # 18 *

Jeremy Salt, IMPERIALISM EVANGELISM AND THE OTTOMAN ARMENIANS (ISBN - 07146-3448-4) p.125 .

“The Duke of Westminster outlined the case against the Ottoman government and the need for a European supervision to stop the inhuman treatment of Christians in a land where ‘Islam crushed up all prosperity, all progress, all happiness, as it did in the lands to which its withering influence extended’.”

# 19

Jeremy Salt, IMPERIALISM EVANGELISM AND THE OTTOMAN ARMENIANS ISBN - 07146-3448-4) p.128

“Gladstone suggested that recent action of the Porte ‘in Armenia particularly but not in Armenia exclusively’ were founded on ‘a deliberate determination to exterminate the Christians of that Empire’. No one apparently asked for the evidence or suggested that without it such a statement was inflammatory and irresponsible. The rhetoric was unchanging, generally predicated on England’s rights and responsibilities as a Christian nation and it was usually England’s failure to ‘do something for the Armenians was contrasted with its apparent readiness to go to war with the United States over Venezuella. ‘To fight for a few miles territory did not become us: but war on behalf of the Armenians, on behalf of men being butchered and women who were being ravished, was surely if ever justified. Not everyone was impressed. ‘The ministers of religion who stood up to preach a crusade on Monday night’ The Times wrote in an editorial after a protest meeting just before Christmas in 1895.” # 20 *

Jeremy Salt, IMPERIALISM EVANGELISM AND THE OTTOMAN ARMENIANS ISBN-07145-3443-4, p.129

“How a declaration of war against Turkey is to be reconciled with the preaching of “peace, goodwill towards men is a point which these champions of the Armenians are no doubt able to settle to the satisfaction of their conscience”. ‘There is a time in the history of a nation like Great Britain’ asserted the Bishop of Hereford, ‘when it should face for a just, inevitable and humanitarian act towards a suffering people’. England’s honour, it seemed, was more important than peace. How England could launch an invasion of the Ottoman Empire was not a question which the Bishop of Hereford or other clerics addressed in specifics. Presumably the generals would sort out these petty details once the decision had been taken. If England would not act, suggested G.W.E. Russell, Russia was well placed militarily and geographically to take to take the responsibility for the Armenians herself and even occupy Istanbul ‘if necessary’. Even Wilfred S. Blunt, the fierce opponent of British intervention in Egypt supported it for the same of the Armenians. We have taken the Armenians solemnly under our protection, receiving substantial payment from their master for the protective right in the island of Cyprus. We have encouraged them for our own purpose to organize themselves and rebel, and the Sultan has now got them by the throat and backed by Europe is defying us to come on and deliver them. If we do not go to war we shall be sitting down under the greatest affront we ever suffered as a nation. We bombarded Alexandrian rabble, with Sir Beauchamp Seymour’s valet, had lost their lives. Here some scores of thousands of peaceful citizens have perished through our fault and we have done nothing but talk.” # 21 *

Jeremy Salt, IMPERIALISM EVANGELISM AND THE OTTOMAN ARMENIANS ISBN - 07146-3448-4) p. 130

“Evangelical Alliance of Boston passed a resolution calling US government to send such a naval force to ‘Turkish’ waters as would ‘make the American name respected in the Mediterranean or on the Kurdish mountains’ and to take action with other governments to ‘forcibly prevent the … butchery of fellow Christians in Armenia.’ “ # 59

Jeremy Salt, IMPERIALISM EVANGELISM AND THE OTTOMAN ARMENIANS ISBN – 07146-3448-4, p.132

“But Revd. Hamlin goes further, for he affirms that the ‘right of revolution is not to be questioned’. It is true, however, that he adds ‘but when circumstances make success impossible, attempts and plots for it become criminal’. …

In his letter to the ADVERTISER Hamlin went even further, giving the name and address of the leading Hunchak in the United States ‘for those desiring to get further information’….

As we have seen, Hamlin later had a change of heart and condemned the Hunchaks and the Russian gold and ‘Russian crafty’ which he saw standing behind them. “ # 60

Jeremy Salt, IMPERIALISM EVANGELISM AND THE OTTOMAN ARMENIANS ISBN 07146-3448-4 p.112

Above excerpts need no other comments, since they are self-explanatory, but let us compliment:

“The seventy-eight-foot Papyrus of Ani is the longest papyrus of the Book of the Dead from the Theban period. Dating from 1420 B.C., it was created for Ani, a royal scribe. The ancient Egyptians believed that after death the magic powers of the right words- contained in the various Book of the Dead texts- would help them on their journey through the Underworld. The Papyrus of Ani contains many hymns to the gods, as well as spells for opening doors… The famous “Negative Confession” describes the values they coin the Ani and other papyri they considered important to uphold while on earth to merit eternal life after death’ on the day of judgment, the deceased enumerates the sins he has not committed; “I have not stolen… I have not uttered lies… I have not committed adultery…” # 62*

E. A. Wallis, THE BOOK OF THE DEAD, Gramercy Books, N.Y.(ISBN- 0-517-12283-9) Original in 1895– Cover page

- Note: Do you see much difference between this and what the First and Second Testament and Quran teaches?

And today how far or close, are Merkel and Pope to Ani papyrus?

“German chancellor Angela Merkel has suggested Europe needs a constitution that makes reference to Christianity and God following her audience with Pope Benedict XVI on Monday (29 August. 2006) German leader, the daughter of a protestant pastor, visited the Pope at his summer residence in Castel Grandolfo, Italy, to discuss several issues in European and international politics, ahead of the Pope’s September visit to Germany his homeland. We spoke about freedom of religion,’ Ms Merkel told journalists following the 45-minute meeting.
She added ‘ underlined my opinion that we need a European identity in the form of a constitutional treaty and I think it should be connected to Christianity and God, as Christianity has forged Europe in a decisive way,’ according to press reports...... During earlier negotiations on the content of the new EU charter, Spain, Italy and Poland were among the strongest supporters of a reference to God in the treaty. but its opponents argued it could prove controversial in view of Turkey's potential membership of the EU as well as due to the strict separation of state and church in some countries, such as France…”

E-mail: http://euobserver.com/9/22280/?rk=1 29. 08 2006 – 0946 CET | By Lucia Kubosova

And a last Jewel of hypocrisy defying logic and intelligence !

And about a century later in Nov. 2006, it is indeed regrettable for average “human intelligence and conception” to be indulged in world politics and confrontations, provoked by clergy people. Below excerpt from “America Magazine NY, Nov.10, 2006” refers to the scheduled visit of Pope Bendict XVI to Istanbul, sprinkles the seeds of fomentation, without giving any explanation as regards the cause, nor any leniency between different faiths exploited by fundamentalists of all religions.

“A principal purpose of the trip is to strengthen relations with Orthodox Church and Ecummenical (?) Patriarch Bartholomew attending the celebration of the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle (Nov.30), patron of the see of Constantinople. How fraught with difficulty the journey may be is evident from the tensions between the Turkish government and the patriarchate over constraints Turkey has imposed on the religious freedom of the Great Orthodox Church. Following a recent meeting, the North American Orthodox Catholic Theological Consultation Identified several of the difficulties faced by the ecumenical patriarchate. The group’s statement declared: ‘By decisions reached in 1923 and 1970, the government imposed significant limitations on the election of the Ecumenical Patriarch. Even today, the Turkish state does not recognize the historic role the Patriarch plays Among Christians outside of Turkey. The Turkish Government closed the Patriarchate’s Theological School on the island of Halki in 1971 and, in spite of numerous appeals from governmental and religious authorities, still does not allow to reopen, severely limiting the patriarchate’s ability to train candidates for the ministry.’

This kind of religious bigotry, goes much beyond any “logic and rights of sovereignty”, and brings back the whole status, to even older times than the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. As much as there is no “Batavia” or “New Amsterdam” the religious bigots should understand that there is no longer Constantinople for over 550 years, nor any island named “Halki”.

Republic of Turkey is a secular state. Ruling by “religion” (Shariat) caused total destruction of the Empire, because all laws and rules had to comply with Quoranic tribal rules, fifteen hundred years old, versus “science and intelligence”. Too bad that the “Consultation members” who made such a an presumptuous declaration or demand, are not aware of the experiences Missionaries and Turkish Educational System had in the near past, and divert simple realities, assuming “celestial rights” advertised under “human rights camouflage” or “freedoms” to (foment trouble and) interfere in the sovereign rights of a country, ruled by and not by “Clergy-written fiction books”. As a citizen of Turkey, I suggest that below facts may be also taken in to consideration, as an “opposite freedom of opinion”. The “Pope” not aware of the facts written by Prof. Edwin Grosvenor, about the past of Catholic and Orthodox relations, nor the tolerance granted by Turks throughout the past, and which has been repeatedly abused, has already given blundering speeches, fomenting the Muslim world, not realizing that Republic of Turkey is the only country in the Muslim hemisphere, where he was invited and where he can visit as “guest of our State”.

a. Republic of Turkey abolished the office of Moslem Caliphate, which was a higher position than Patriarchates.

b. At the Lausanne Treaty, Turkey offered movement of the Orthodox patriarchate out of Turkey, (because of too
many sad experiences) but after petition of the Conference parties, “agreed to keep this institution, only as a ‘Priesthood within the town of Fatih’. Turkey does not have to know, or acknowledge any exceptions for “ecumenical or other titles of nobility or divinity”. The Greek Orthodox community in Istanbul is reduced down to some 2000. Much like the “imam” of a Mosque in USA has to be a U.S. Citizen, the head of the Orthodox Greek Church in Turkey, has to be a ‘Turkish citizen’. There is no Constantinople see, nor any patron to be ‘diplomatically accredited’ by Republic of Turkey, under our constitution and sovereignty.

c. Election for a Patriarch active in Turkey, has to be made by “residents of Turkey”. If another sovereign State of Vatican is intended, sorry, but we the Turks are fed up with this type of clerical domination and interference with State affairs.

d. The Priests’ School in Heybeliada, was shut by the Patriarchate, who refused to comply with Turkish law of education. The school can be reopened, connected to one of our University Faculties of Divinity, but the Patriarchate want their own independent self-sovereign-rule and the “right to freely educate citizens of other countries”. Does the Greek State permit Moslems, to even elect their own ‘Greek citizen’ leader of Moslem community? No! Personally, after having made this study and presenting the menace and catastrophes they infected on humanity, just to hang on their dominant and wealthy status all over the world, I think returning of capitulatory rights to clergy classes, should be rather, totally eliminated and brought to equality, instead of “dictatorial unquestioned supremacy”. The paradox between the simple life of Christ, and the wealth of the Pope or Patriarchs (in their golden robes), speak for themselves. In other chapters of this book, there is sickening examples of the “war mongering of churches” and it appears that Clergy Unions (Vatican and other Churches, as well as fanatics such as Taliban or alike) will keep on poking the “logic and common sense of humans” to differentiate, so that they exist and their profession becomes ‘indispensable’. The equation which stands unsolved, from the very start of all religions is the following: “Are clerics serving or exploiting the public ?”

Hence, I offer my best wishes (not empty prayers) to a safe arrival and return of the Pope in Turkey, without new scandals or scars under the dark clouds of religious fanaticism. Divinity may only serve to comfort the personal beliefs of individuals, not to cause new catastrophes similar to what we had and regretfully evidencing in other parts of the world where human intelligence is suppressed.


Sukru S. Aya, Istanbul 20.11.2006

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