2158) Letter to the Editor of St. Louis-Post Dispatch by Yuksel Oktay

Dear Editor,
St. Louis-Post Dispatch

Zabelle Norsigian Vartanian is wrong in stating that Ambassador Henry Morgenthau witnessed the atrocities . . and recorded them in the official US historical record (1913 – 1916). (Denialist propoganda, St. Lous Dispatch, October 27, 2007). Ambassador never ventured from the environs of Istanbul but published a book ‘’Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story,’’ ghost written for him by his Armenian secretary and Armenian translator, full of fabrications, distortions and insults to Ottoman Turks. Perhaps Vartanian should read the book by Lewis Einstein published in 1917, ‘’ INSIDE CONSTANTINOPLE DURING THE DARDANELLES EXPEDITION - A Diplomatist’s Diary, April – September 1915 to really understand the background of a genocide that never took place.

Einstein diaries cover the period from April to September 1915, a crucial time in the history of the Ottoman Empire when Armenians claim that a genocide was carried against them. The main topic is the Dardanelles Expedition that started with the naval attack on March 18, 1915 and the author constantly refers to massacres throughout his diaries which he hears about without giving any specifics and never mentioning the Armenian uprisings.

Vartanian’s s statement that 1.5 million Armenians were killed is also a distortion of facts and the Hitler statement has been proven to be a fabrication. Armenain terrorists began massacring Ottoman Turks long before 1915 when they rebelled against the government to establish a state of their own on lands where they were not the majority following many uprisings from Sasoon to Van in eastern Anatolia, the reason for the forced-resettlement with inevitable deaths on both sides.

Yuksel Oktay, November 3, 2007

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Denialist Propaganda

In reading Erkin Baker's diatribe concerning the Armenian genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, I vividly recognized the orchestrated language of denialist propaganda. ("The Ottoman-Armenian conflict was a civil war, not genocide," Oct. 22) Twenty-two nations, 40 U.S. states and numerous academic organizations have recognized this historical event as genocide. First-hand accounts were provided by Henry Morganthau, the U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, who witnessed the atrocities and recorded them in the official U.S. historical record.

The misinformation Ms. Baker shares results directly from the Turkish government's refusal to acknowledge this tragic era in their history. Ensuing generations, therefore, think such never occurred. Germany has taken responsibility for the actions of its precedent Nazi government. The United States never would stand for anything less than full acknowledgement of the Holocaust horrors.

Indeed, if such horrific happenings are not professed, they stand to be repeated. Hilter proved this in his response to his underlings' questioning his malevolent plan of extermination of the Jews: "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?" Also, the mutilation and murder of the 1.5 million Christian Armenians who perished needs to be recognized officially.

Ms. Baker needs to educate herself with more than Turkish propaganda. She could begin by reading the educational materials prepared by Facing History and Ourselves, the world's preeminent genocide education organization. At the same time, it is disheartening that a paper as superb as the Post-Dispatch would print such fabrications and a misleading account.

Zabelle Norsigian Vartanian |