2137) Letter To The Editors Of Newsweek & Time Magazines On The Armenian Issue

Newsweek Magazine
Dear Editor,

The statement by Amb Abromowitz,''They (Turks) have not come to grips with their history'', in his long article (Toward the Point of No return, Oct 25, 2007) is nothing more than a classical expression by those in the West who do not face their own history and conveniently ignore the real facts on the Armenian issue. For the benefit of the readers of your fine magazine, Amb. Abromowits should perhaps shed light on some of the historical facts on Turkish-American relations listed below which are often ignored by many writers and reporters..


First, the Ambassador should tell your readers the reasons behind his predecessors of long ago, the US Ambassador Henry Morgenthau's mind when he published his book ''Ambassador Morgenthau's Story,'' ghost written for him by his Armenian translator and Armenian secretary, both working at the US Embassy (Istanbul - Constantinople - 1913-1916). Armenians and their supporters have been using this book in their anti-Turkish propaganda, even publishing a chapter as ''The Murder of a Nation'', full of anti-Turkish statements and half-truths.

Second, the Ambassador should give background information on the support of England, Russia and France, and yes the Americans, given to the Armenian aimed at creating a state of their own on lands where they were not the majority and started mass killing of Turks during uprisings in Eastern Anatolia going back to the 1890s, the reason for the re-settlement of Armenians in 1915

Third, the Ambassador should enlighten the readers on the reluctance of the United States of America's in recognizing the Republic of Turkey until 1927, proclaimed in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk), when it took only 10 minutes to recognize the State of Israel in 1948.

Fourth, the Ambassador should also tell the readers about the motives behind Ms Samantha Power, the present day Morgenthau, in repeating the same untruthful ''stories'' from the Ambassador's book and daring to label the Turks with ''Race Murder'' in her book, '' A Problem from Hell'', found in almost every library in the US.

If the Ambassador is serious in helping the Turks and the Armenians in the reconciliation, perhaps he could facilitate bringing this issue to the United Nations where every responsible entitiy can present their case. The whole world has been led to believe that the Armenian issue is between the Turks and the Armenians, when most people know, although do not publicly state, that other countries and many organizations had a hand in its creation and worse, continuation to this day. A former teacher from one of the American High Schools established by the Missionaries stated the following:

''We agree that all of us - including Christian missionaries to the Ottoman Empire and to Turkey - need to acknowledge that wrongs were done to all sides during the early 20th century. We need to ask forgiveness of each other. Then we need to find ways to be friends. None of this is an easy step; the hurts are real, even if some of the causes may be dubious. For us, the greatest reason for friendship and healing is that the alternative is grossly destructive.''

Yes, as the Ambassador correctly states, the timing of the approval of the resolution by the House Foreign Affairs Committee was wrong, but what is more important is the submittal of the resolution to the House of Representatives with false wording, which is full of distorted and baseless claims, even referring to the defunct Sevr Treaty at the end of First World War, which was never ratified by the Ottoman government and rejected by the Turkish nation who fought a war of independence over it under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and replaced it with the Lausanne Treaty in 1923. The Ambassador is also correct in demanding from Washington to drop the resolution, not only ill-timed but also ill-informed and deceitful, never to bring it again.

Yuksel Oktay, PE
Former President, Federation of Turkish American Associations, NYC
Washington, NJ

---

Time Magazine
Dear Editor,
Ms. Samantha Power is at it again, repeating what she has written in her book, ''A Problem from Hell'' and stated at conferences accross America for so long, that death of Armenians in 1915 constitute genocide. Contrary to what she states in her Time article ''Honesty is the Best Policy'' (October 29, 2007), the ''Young Turk'' regime did not order the execution of Armenian leaders and intellectuals, but rather arrested them after their illegal activities in Istanbul and jailed them, some even finding their way to the States after their release, as many Armenians had done earlier. The Ottoman government was forced into re-locating the Armenians in eastern Anatolia to other parts of the Empire following their continous rebellions and the massacre of Turks.

What Power repeats is nothing more than the classical expression by those in the West who do not face their own history and conveniently ignore the real facts on the Armenian issue. For the benefit of the readers of your fine magazine, Samantha Power should perhaps shed light on some of the histroical facts on Turkish-American relations listed below, which are often ignored by many writers and reporters..

First, the Power should tell your readers the reasons behind the US Ambassador Henry Morgenthau's mind when he published his book ''Ambassador Morgenthau's Story,'' ghost written for him by his Armenian translator and Armenian secretary, both working at the US Embassy (Istanbul - Constantinople - 1913-1916). Armenians and their supporters, especially Samantha Power and Peter Balakian, have been using this book in their anti-Turkish propaganda, even Armenian association publishing a chapter as ''The Murder of a Nation'', full of anti-Turkish statements and half-truths.

Second, Power should give backround information on the support of England, Russia and France, and yes the Americans, gave to the Armenian aimed at creating a state of their own on lands where they were not the majority and started mass killing of Turks during their uprisings in Eastern Anatolia going back to the 1890s, the reason for the re-settlement of Armenians in 1915

Third, the Power should enlighten the readers on the reluctance of the United States of America's in recognizing the Republic of Turkey until 1927, proclaimed in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk), while it took only 10 minutes to recognize the State of Israel in 1948.

If Power is serious in helping the Turks and the Armenians in the reconciliation, perhaps she could facilitate bringing this issue to the United Nations where every responsible entitiy can present their case. The whole world has been led to believe that the Armenian issue is between the Turks and the Armenians, when most people know, although do not publicly state, that other countries and many organizations had a hand in its creation and worse, continuation to this day. A former teacher from one of the American High Schools established by the Missionaries stated the following:

''We agree that all of us - including Christian missioanries to the Otoman Empire and to Turkey - need to acknowledge that wrongs were done to all sides during the early 20th century. We need to ask forgiveness of each other. Then we need to find ways to be friends. None of this is an easy step; the hurts are real, even if some of the causes may be dubious. For us, the greatest reason for friendship and healing is that the alternative is grossly destructive.''

Yes, Power correctly states that the timing of the approval of the resolution by the House Foreign Affairs Committee was wrong. However, her claim that the House resolution tells the truth is also wrong and therefore, it should not be submitted to the House of Representatives which is full of false statements, distorted and baseless claims, even referring to the defunct Sevr Treaty at the end of First World War, which was never ratified by the Ottoman government and rejected by the Turkish nation who fought a war of independence over it under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and replaced it with the Lausanne Treaty in 1923. Samantha Power should be demanding from Washington to drop the ill-timed but also ill-informed and deceitful resolution, never to bring it again.

Respectfully,

Yuksel Oktay
Former President of Federation of Turkish American Associations

October 28, 2007