2759) The Armenian Issue, President Barack Husein Obama And The Last Rites

February 22, 2008, Istanbul, Turkey

President Obama’s campaign pledge that he will sign the ‘’Armenian Resolution’’ following its passage at the US House of Representatives which is expected to be brought to the floor by the Speaker Nancy Pelosi before the end of this month has encouraged the Armenian-Americans (better known as the Armenian Diaspora) to launch an early campaign in the United States of America. The passage of the resolution, based on totally unfounded claims and distorted and fabricated facts, would be contrary to the Resolution that was passed in the US Congress in 1922 (1). It would also be detrimental to the interest of the American people and . . the newly formed US Government. Armenian genocide issue is a myth and its recognition as such would be an insult to Turkic people everywhere and the Turkish – Americans, at least those who are concerned, and should never be brought to the Congress or signed by President Obama. A Letter that was sent to Hon. Nancy Pelosi in 2006 is given below. (Annex 1)

Telephone Call From President Obama On The President Week

As the Americans in the US and abroad, including the many expatriates living in in Turkey, were celebrating the ‘’Presidents Day’’ on February 16, the Turkish people woke up to the news of a telephone call from President Obama to President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Many reported that the historical telephone call with President Abdullah Gul lasted half an hour and afterwards President Obama also spoke with the Prime Minister also. This was in sharp contrast to the lack of a telephone call from the outgoing President Bush as he did communicate with many world leaders and also from President Obama following his victory. According to many newspapers, among the topics that were discussed were praise by President Obama on the important role that Turkey plays in the Middle East and its leadership and other subjects were also discussed, including the Armenian issue, but not the famous Davos incident or the Turkish-Israeli relations.

With these new developments, the Speaker of the House Hon Nancy Pelosi should not bring the Armenian resolution to the Congress, and in fact ‘’Return it to the sender'' and never bring it up again. As the campaign manager for the new page ‘’Organizing for America,‘’ you too must know that the Armenian Resolution is wrong and President Obama should not be put in a position to sign it as he certainly will if the House accepts it.

The Last Rites And The One Book That Tells It All, ‘’the Genocide Of Truth’’

I liken the story of the Armenian issue to the life of American writer William Saroyan as told in a book by his son Aram Saroyan, ''The Last Rites''. Most of William Saroyan's books have been translated to Turkish and a new book of collected articles by different authors who knew him was recently published and presented during Saroyan's 100th anniversary celebration in Istanbul. But there was no mention of Aram Saroyan's book, ''The Last Rites.''I am sure for a good reason since Saroyan's son tells the other side of the story of his famous father. On the inside cover of the book the following statement reveals what has not been told to the public:

''For this is very much the story of a man behind a mask: the sweet and gentle poet shedding light and happiness, who is in fact, some kind of darkness himself - to be discovered and dispelled, exorcised somehow through the very act of this book. William Saroyan had become an emotional exile. And he was taking his son with him in his last, long journey, even as he refused to see him.'' The Armenians have been portrayed as victims of a nation that planned their extinction, which is false and based on distorted facts behind a mask, just like in the “Last Rites.”

The Genocide Of Truth, A Book That Tells The Truth

Last year a Turkish businessman, Sukru Aya, published a 702 page book on the Genocide issue, demonstrating to the whole world through pages of documents authored by the Armenians and their supporters that the Armenians were responsible for starting the conflict in order to create a state of their own on lands where they never constituted the majority. I read the book, The Genocide of Truth, and wrote three part review and also attended the presentation of the Turkish version of the book on January 19, 2009, “Soykirim Tacirleri ve Gercekler.” Sukru Aya at the young age of 78, also traveled to London last week and made a presentation on the Armenian issue at a Conference organized by the Federation of Turkish Associations in England.

Professor Dr. Turkkaya Ataov, a prominent Turkish historian, is in the United States now, at the age of 75, on a lecture tour that will take him to over 20 cities across the country that started on February 10, 2009. He has written over 75 books on all aspects of the Armenian issue and hundreds of articles published in many newspapers and magazines and has made many presentations. One of his books, ''Armenian Falsifications'' tells about the distortions that the world public is led to believe in through the writing and books of some American authors..

Thousands of books and tens of thousands of articles have been published by the Armenians and their supporters over the years, telling only the Armenian side of the story, with few written by those who have taken the time to find the truth. For 90 years, the world has been reading a book supposedly written by the US Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire (1913 - 1916), Henry Morgenthau, ''Ambassador Morgenthau's Story'' and ''The Murder of a Nation'', a chapter from his book published under separate cover by the Armenian Benevolent Association of America in 1975 as part of the 60th anniversary commemoration activities, simply called ''Armenian Martyr's Day - 60th Commemoration 1915 - 1975.'' Amb. Morgenthau states in his book that he did not like the Turks and that Turks had no place in Europe and even in Asia Minor and had one goal in his life, which became a reality in 1948. An article on the Ambassador's book is given below (Annex 2).

Ambassador Morgenthau’s book has been referenced by many authors and researchers, who believe what they read at face value. Among these are Samantha Power, now an advisor to President Obama) and Peter Balakian, whose book ‘’The Burning Tigris,” is full of distortions and fabrications, just like the Ambassador’s book. A commentary on Samantha Power's presentation on her book at the US Holocaust Museum in WDC is given below. (Annex 3)

The Blue Book
The Burning Tigris

Another book often referenced by the newcomers is ''The Burning Tigris'' by Peter Balakian which also relies heavily on Henry Morgenthau's book. As explained in a letter to the publisher, this book is also full of lies, distortions and, more importantly, a lot of omissions. (Annex 4)

The Impact Of Distorted History To Today’s World
The impact of distorted history and fabricated resolutions certainly have an impact in today's world, wherein the main issue and tragedy. Several years ago, an Armenian-American wrote the following in the Company newsletter of a large utility in California, also involved in the Turkish electricity market:

‘’When a major earthquake devastated Armenia in 1988 – killing more than 25,000 people and leaving 500,000 homeless – Azerbaijan and Turkey began blockading Armenia the same year, which has added to the difficulties in rebuilding the nation.’’

The above is a lie as Turkey was the first country to rush to the aid of the Armenian earthquake victims and shows how American people are deceived, an example of thousands of articles full of distortions that continue to be published all the time, which creates a negative of image of Turks and Turkey.

From 1965 to 2099

Having studied the Armenian issue since 1965, I believe that the massacres that took place were mainly as a result of Armenian uprisings who fired the ''First Shot'' as told by Prof. Justin McCarty in one of his articles and the atrocities of the World War I. The relocation was a tragedy which should have never happened but it can not be labeled as ''genocide.'' After 44 years of research, reading and writing (to newspaper editors, book publishers, to the State Governors, President of the United States when the Turkish Consul General was murdered in Los Angeles and to the President of Armenia), producing a booklet on the 1915 events both in the east and the west and the Armenian issue and speaking to who ever would listen, I believe that the death of Armenians that came about as a result of their uprisings and deliberate massacres of Moslems that led to their relocation to other parts of the empire can not be labeled as '‘genocide.’’ The Armenian Diaspora, especially in the United States and Europe, has succeeded deceiving the people through false propaganda, fabricated stories and endless publications that tell only the Armenian side of the tragedy, without mentioning the atrocities committed by the Armenian separatists and terrorists.

Turks do not hate the Armenians, as some Armenians would like the Americans believe, and most agree that what happened in 1915 and during the preceding and later years following the Re-location was very sad and wants the world to recognize the suffering of the Turks as well.

As Holdwater, a Turkish-American who lives in New York but can not reveal his real identity due to threats that he receives constantly from some fanatic Armenians, wrote last year to the Director and the Chairman of the Canadian Public Education System, ‘’The time has come to stop psychologically damaging ourselves and our children by ‘’Holocaust studies’ abd Holocaust museums (which equally applies to the Genocide studies and the genocide museum under construction in WDC). The Armenians, the Jew or the African, should not damage their development with a continual conditioning of hate, neither should spurious guilt be visited upon others. These negative preoccupations and obsessions are obstructing our evolution.’’

Respectfully,

Yuksel Oktay, PE
Istanbul, Turkey

February 22, 2009

PS. As I write this, CNN International is advertising the repeat of a 4 part documentary on genocide, ''Bloody Scream Murder'' which begins with the alleged Armenian genocide.

---

Annex 1. Letter Sent To Hon. Nancy Pelosi In 2006.

Honorable Nancy Pelosi,

Congratulations for the successful campaign of the Democratic party and your new position as the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The elections renewed the confidence of the people in the US and around the world that the American democracy is working well and the mistakes made in the past will eventually be corrected for the benefit of all mankind.

During your televised meeting with President Bush at the White House on November 10, you stated; ‘’We have our differences and we will debate them. That is what our founders intended. We will do so in a way that will get results.’’ These were powerful words which everyone hopes will get results and I hope will also have an impact on a very important issue that involves the relations between the United States and the Republic of Turkey, the only democracy in the Middle East, and the Turkish people,.

Your views on some of the Turkish issues are well known, which hopefully will change and help to pave the way for better relations between the two countries. It is sad that some Armenians have lost no time in declaring that you will be bringing the Armenian Resolution to a vote in the House of Representatives, which would be contrary to your statement at the White House, since the tragedy of 1915 has not been proven as genocide. What happened between the 1890s and April 24, 1915 was the consequences of Armenian uprisings in eastern Anatolia while the Armenians in western Anatolia were enjoying their lives as an integral part of the Ottoman Empire, with many prominent Armenians in high offices of the government. It is true that both the Armenians and the Turks suffered terribly during those horrible war years and the Armenians and the Turks have differences on this issue. It is also true that most Americans have been led to believe a genocide through the inundation of false propaganda. I hope, before bringing the Resolution to the floor for a vote, you will sponsor a debate on this crucial issue in order to establish the facts and put an end to the never ending attempts to get the Armenian resolution passed.

Hovhannes Katchaznouni, the first Prime Minister of Armenia, stated in 1923 the following, in summary: ‘’The Dashnak party had nothing that they could do on a grand plan sponsored by the West for creating a greater Armenia, stretching from the Black sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The Armenians formed illegal armed guerrillas and attacked the Moslems. They ignored the strength of the Turks and tried to get the attention of the western powers through their uprisings. The re-settlement order of the Ottoman government is justified from their point of view and the Dashnak Party is responsible for what happened in those years. There is nothing that the Dashnak Party can do and therefore should dissolve itself.’’

Around the same time, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder and the first President of the Republic of Turkey stated the following: ‘’The Armenian issue, which aims at meeting the economic interests of the capitalist world rather than bearing in mind the veritable interests of the Armenians themselves, was best resolved with the Kars Agreement. The friendly ties between two industrious people coexisting peacefully for centuries have been satisfactorily established anew.’’

For many years after the above statements, the relations between Turkey and Armenia flourished and there was peace between the people of the two countries.

Then something happened in 1965 and the Armenians began commemorating April 24 as genocide day, even inviting the District Attronet of New york Henry Morgenthau II to deliver a speech at the commemorative services held at the Riverside Church in New York City. Unfortunately, the Armenians also used US Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire Henry Morgenthau’s book of memoirs, ‘’Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story’’ for their purposes. This was followed by commemorative services every year which led to the formation of the ASALA terrorist organization, leading to the murder of 34 Turkish diplomats and their relatives in foreign countries and more than 35 innocent civilians.

Armenian-Americans portray themselves today as the heirs of the mythical 1915-23 Armenian genocide’s victims, which is not a true reflection of history. Thousands of Armenian citizens of the Ottoman Empire migrated to the United States and other countries long before 1915, including the parents of the Pulitzer Prize winner William Saroyan, who settled in Fresno, California in 1904. Unfortunately, the Diaspora Armenians still support the Dashnak Party which holds the government in present day Armenia, with false claims against the Turkish Republic. Today, the Armenians of Turkey lead a comfortable life as an integral part of Turkish society and most are opposed to the disturbing activities of the Armenian diaspora.

I wish you much success in your new position and urge you to look at the Armenian issue with an open mind and do not allow yourself to be deceived by false propaganda. As shown in the attachment, a photograph of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk has been altered by replacing the two puppies with a dead child and used as a poster during the Armenian conference at the University of California in Los Angeles on April 14, 2005. This is only one of many fabrications and falsifications used by some Armenians to deceive the American people, which should have no place in a modern society.

Sincerely,

Yuksel Oktay, PE
A concerned American with Turkish heritage.

Istanbul, Turkey +90 532 (Full Phone Number Withheld by the Website Management)

Attachment, Altered photograph of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

A booklet on Ataturk, published in 1981, will be sent by mail.

cc. Sen John Kerry

Hon. Governor Bill Richardson
Hon. Governor Howard Dean
General Wesley K. Clark (Ret.)

District Office - 450 Golden Gate Ave. - 14th Floor - San Francisco, CA 94102

(415) 556-4862, Washington, D.C. Office - 235 Cannon HOB - Washington, DC 20515 - (202) (Full Phone Number Withheld by the Website Management)

---

Annex 2.

The Blue Book, The Black Book, The Real Problem Is The Orange Book

April 30, 2005
There has been a great deal of discussions and presentations in the Turkish media and TV channels during April this year about the British propaganda material ‘’The Blue Book’’, and Talat Pasha’s recording of Armenian re settlements in ‘’The Black Book.’’ However, there has been no mention of another book which is worst than ‘’The Blue Book.’’ This is The Murder of a Nation, by Henry Morgenthau, available in most libraries in the United States and possibly in other countries as well.

The book appeared in 1975 during the 60th anniversary of the alleged genocide and was published by ‘’Armenian General Benevolent Union of America Inc’’, located in New Jersey, with contributions from many Armenian Americans, including Vahan and Mary Najarian. On the cover of the orange book is a picture of the Akdamar Armenian Church in flames, which is in the middle of Lake Van.

The book is actually a re-print in a book form of 125 pages from Ambassador Henry Morgenthau’s infamous book, ‘’Ambassador Morgentau’s Story’’, which was published in 1918 by Doubleday, Page and Company. Henry Morgenthau was the US Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1916 and supposedly wrote only one book in his life, which was first issued from his diaries under the English title ‘’Secrets of the Bosporus’’.

Prof. Heath Lowry did a research on the book and published his findings in ‘’The Story Behind Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story’’. Prof. Lowry showed that most of the material in Morgentahu’s book was provided by his Armenian translator and Armenian secretary, most second and third hand, devoid of what was actually happening in eastern Anatolia where the Ambassador never visited.

On page 51, Morgenthau writes the following: ‘’Perhaps the one event in history that most resembles the Armenian deportations was the expulsion of the Jews from Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella. According to Prescott 160,000 were uprooted from their homes and scattered broadcast over Africa and Europe.’’

Ambassador Morgentau, himself a Jewish American, conveniently omits the fact that it was the Ottoman Turks who took the Jews from Spain and settled them in cities like Selanico, Istanbul and Bursa. There is a Museum in Istanbul that tells the story of this humanitarian deed.

And yet on page 50, the Ambassador writes the following: ‘’My only reason for relating such dreadful things as this is that, without the details, the English-speaking public cannot understand precisely what this nation is which we call Turkey.’’

Everyone who is concerned about the ongoing and never ending smear campaign of Armenians against Turkey all over the world should read this book and tell the librarians that the book is actually a propaganda material which does not tell the truth, and therefore, does not belong in a library.

Respectfully.

Yuksel Oktay
April 30, 2005 Istanbul
(First published in the New Anatolian newspaper, Ankara)

---

Annex 3
What is behind Samantha Power lecture on Genocide
March 26, 2002, US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington DC

A presentation on the genocide issue was made by Samantha Power in connection with the publication of her book, "A Problem from Hell — America and the Age of Genocide" at the Classroom A of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum where the infamous saying by Hitler on the Armenians is also exhibited, which has been proven to be nothing by a fabricated lie.

According to the flyer distributed at the meeting, Samantha Power is the executive director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She is not an academician, but a reporter who has served as a war correspondent for the US News and World Report and Economist from 1993 to 1996. In 1996 she worked for the International crisis Group in Bosnia.

The Pulitzer Prize winning
book; William Safire
was on the Pulitzer team.

Two copies of the book were placed on the table before the meeting started. Going through the pages of the book, I noticed that the first chapter of the book was on the murder of Talat Pasa, a leader of the Young Turk revolution and a member of the Party of Union and progress that was in power during the world war years. There was and extensive coverage of Henry Morgenthau, the US High Commissioner in Istanbul who is known for his false reporting on the Armenian issue. There were photographs of the Armenian murderer and the high commissioner. To my astonishment, I could not find any reference to the US Ambassador to Turkey Admiral Bristol, who has written about the Armenians or to any of the US authors who has published books on this issue as well.

Reading the first chapter of the book and looking at the references, one could easily see that the book could have been better entitled as "The Armenian Propaganda from Harvard" which will probably be put aside after reading the first chapter.

The author was presented by a Director from the Museum, who claimed that this was going to be an excellent presentation on ' the crimes against humanity' and would present a chance 'to honor the past'. The director continued with a statement followed with the address of the web site where additional information could be found " We will learn what the obstacles are on how to deal with these problems". There were less than 50 people in the audience. The web page is www.ushmm.org/conscience.

Ms Power started by reading a passage of her book, somewhere past the center section which was about the Rwanda killings where over 800,000 Tutsis had perished. She commented that her purpose in writing the book was to avoid recurrence of genocide and made references to the Armenians killed during 1915, never mentioning the deaths of the Ottoman Turks at the hand of the Armenian rebels and terrorists. She also mentioned that there was good news referring to a 7 year project that has been carried on at the Center for Human Rights, again making a casual remark on the Turkish destruction of Armenians.

Ms Power went on stating that neither the UN nor the US Government responded to genocide properly and singled out Senator Dole as being the only up-stander when he got involved in the Bosnian killings. Here, she even commented that Dole was spared his life when his Armenian doctor treated him during the war and that he never forgot this. She also complained that Clinton did not go to Bosnia or Rwanda. One could easily see that Ms Power was extending an open invitation the President Bush to issue the Proclamation on the so called Armenian genocide, long sought by the Armenian-Americans.

Following the one hour presentation of Ms Power, the Director asked the first question, sitting next to the speaker. "If you imagine a world where there was genocide prevention, what would that world look like?" Ms. Power stated that she would challenge the question rather than answering it, since there is so much inherent selectivity, whatever that means. Then she went into a long and confusing dissertation which I could not really comprehend.

This was followed by a question from Guler Goknar from the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) from Washington DC who stated that she had read the first chapter of the book and was amazed that there were no mention of Admiral Bristol or any of the American authors who have written about the Armenian issue, such as Bernard Lewis, Stanford Shaw, Heath Lowry, Justin McCharty. She also remarked that the author was inducing the evidence with the conclusions.

Ms. Power responded by stating that one of her limitations on her part was the lack of knowledge of Turkish or Armenian , and went on saying that she had no Armenian boy friend or anything like that and that the book was a result of 7 year research, also claiming that she had read all the books that Ms Goknar had mentioned.

As Ms Goknar left the room, I asked the second question, after elaborating on the lack of information on the Armenian issue from the Turkish point of view, first objecting to her use of "Turkish destruction of Armenians" when the Turkish Republic had not even been proclaimed. I told Ms Power that a Conference was held in Istanbul on March 15 on the 81st anniversary of the murder of Talat Pasa where 6 foreign and 6 Turkish historians and academicians had made presentations, including Prof Eric Feigl and Judge Samuel Weems. I told her that one of the points raised at the Istanbul conference was the fact that the murder of Talat pasa was actually carried out by the British by using Armenian murderer as a ploy in order to prevent Talat pasha returning to Turkey and also to plot on the Musul oil fields which British wanted to control.

I also told Ms Power that Samuel Weem's book, Armenia- the Great Deception, would be coming out on April 6 which would show to the world that the Armenian Church was involved in the Armenian uprisings and were partly responsible for the Armenian deaths. I asked her why she had not mentioned Adm Bristol and not a word about the Armenian uprisings and the death of Turks in her book. The Director was getting uneasy and asked me to cut it short and ask the question.

Ms Power responded by saying that she had studied the issue for 7 years and that she was able to present the truth as she saw it. I also told her that, what Morgenthau had produced was based on lies, but did not have time to state that the Hitler quotation exhibited in the Museum was a lie, and also wanted to ask her if she considered the dropping of the Atom Bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki genocidal, but the director wanted to proceed with the next question.

As I left the meeting room before others had started asking questions in order to attend a meeting, I felt that both the publication of the book and the presentation by Samantha Power at the Holocaust Museum of all places was by design and the purpose was nothing more that to pressure the President of the US to sign a proclamation declaring April 24 as the Armenian genocide day, which will never happen. I hope that some of the Turkish Americans who attended the presentation, including Gunay Evinch from WDC, will write about this and a worldwide campaign will be started protesting , the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy and Harvard University for allowing Samantha Power to publish a totally one sided book, ignoring the truth, which is an insult to all Americans

Respectfuly,
Yuksel Oktay

---

Annex 4.
January 19, 2004

Letter to Gail Winston
The Editor Of Peter Balakian’s Book ‘’The Burning Tigris’’
Published By Harpercollins, Oct 2003

Dear Gail,
I read the book ‘’The Burning Tigris’’ which you have edited, from cover to cover, including many published reviews in the Amazon and TallArmenianTale websites, Peter Balakian’s letter to the readers in his web page and the so-called praises in the HarperCollins web page. I must say that the great American people and others around the world are being deceived like never before by yet another misguided Armenian as many others have also done before. How sad.

Before providing you with my comments on the contents of the book, I would like to give you a brief summary of ‘’what has been left out’’ and misstated by Balakian, which should prove that the motive behind the esteemed writer and professor’s thoughts was nothing more than twisting the minds of his readers and providing propaganda against the Turks, in a way taking revenge, very cleverly indeed.

Selected Bibliography in the back of the book (pages 442 – 453) includes over 200 references, which the author characterizes as being ‘’the most Germaine to his study of the Armenian Genocide and the American response,’’ which is a clever excuse. If one looks at the list carefully, it can easily be seen that only those serving his hideous purpose are included, ignoring even books written by distinguished writers such as Prof Justin McCarthy, who is an American and an authority on the Armenian issue, and Prof Heath Lowry, another American who has exposed the truth and the motives behind Henry Morgenthau’s book. It is a pity that Balakian does not refer to Justin McCarthy’s books and excellent article ‘’The First Shot’’ that tells the true story of the massacres that began well before 1915 and resulted in killing of innocent lives on both sides.

The list of some of the books that the author seems to have deliberately omitted is given at the end of this article. The number can be extended from 23 well into hundreds, but time does not permit. I would like to present information on only a few of these books and show you, dear Editor, and the readers that Balakian, with his one sided story, is doing a disservice to his readers and humanity. Anyone who cares to read these books as well can easily reach the conclusion that Balakian was hiding the truth.What is very sad is the fact that the book is already available at many libraries across the US and possibly in other countries around the world, probably through donations by the Armenian organizations who are more interested in promoting a mythical genocide than the real facts. And Peter Balakian is going around the country talking about his book on C-Span Booknotes, and many other programs, which he produced with funds from foundations and supporters, feeding false information to an unsuspecting audience..

In the first book, Among the Turks (1), the renowned educator Cyrus Hamlin states that the reporters and travelers who come to Turkey hire dragoons who have a classic horrors about the ‘’unspeakable Turk’’ to palm off upon all unsuspecting travelers who are just passing through stating that ‘’he must be a man of rare sagacity who can sift the truth from the falsehood, while he is in Levantine hands’’. And Hamlin emphasizes the often neglected fact that ‘’this whole class of Levantines are the enemies of Turkey.’’ (p357). This was stated back in 1877.

The second book, The Turk and the land of Haig, or Turkey and Armenia – Descriptive, Historical and Picturesque (2), by Antranig Azhderian, published over a hundred years ago and eleven years after Hamlin’s book, gives an excellent account of life among the different group of people in Turkey. This is what Antranig Azhderian writes in his book after he immigrates to the United States as the causes that has brought about the crisis between the Turks and Armenians long before 1914:

- The first cause is the religious antipathy of the Mohammedan Turks

- The second cause is the racial antipathy

- The third cause is the European Diplomacy. The vexatious intervention of the owers in the affairs of the Turks, instead of healing up the differences between them and the Armenians, has aggravated it.

- The fourth is that the Armenians have imbibed the spirit of the nineteenth century and so have outstripped the Turks in civilization.

However, in the same book (p. 364), the author admits the following:

''I do not deny the existence and the active propogandism of Armenian revolutionists. I do not even deny that, to some extent, the religious war has been stimulated by Armenian political agitators.''

No wonder Balakian and authors like him do not include Hamlin’s or Antranig Azhderian's book in their references.. If they did, their theory would collapse.

The third book, Inside Constantinople (3), by Lewis Einstein, has a wealth of information on the Dardanelles Expedition and the fatal attack of the Allies in 1915, which the author states as a probable cause for the massacres. The book is 291 pages but has no references or list of books either.. only daily recording of what he saw, heard, received and possibly imagined with cleverly inserted passages on the Armenian massacres. What is most interesting is that Mr Einstein does not refer to Ambassador Morgenthau at all...not even once, although he was the Ambassador at the time. In a way this makes sense since Morgenthau did not actually write the book ‘’Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story’’, although he claims that it is based on his diaries, oddly enough kept only during his time in Turkey. ‘’ However, many have studied the book and the diaries, including weekly letters that the distinguished Ambassador sent to his family, and discovered great discrepancies among the documents.

According to a book by Prof. Heath Lowry, ‘’The Story Behind Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story’’ (4), which is not included in the Balakian’s list of references, Morgenthau’s research and reporting relied in large part on his politically motivated translator Arshag Schmavonian and secretary Hagop Andonian. In fact, Heath Lowry reveals that one of his contemporaries, a distinguished foreign correspondent George A. Schreiner, took strong exceptions to Morgenthau’s efforts and injustice perpetrated by his book. This is what Lowry quotes from Schreiner’s book: ‘’It is hoped that the future historian will not give too much heed to the drivel one finds in the books of diplomatists-authors. At least I have found these books remarkably unreliable on the part played by the author. It would seem that these literary productions are on a par with the blue books’’ published by governments for the edification of the public and their own amusement, as in some case I will show

Heath Lowry makes extensive reference to Schreiner’s book, ‘’From Berlin to Bagdat: Behind the Scenes in the Near East (5)’’ published in 1918, is not mentioned by Balakian. Therefore whatever Balakian has included in his book about Morgenthau is wide open to question since Morgenthau was not involved much with Turkish issues. Interestingly, Morgenthau’s son Morgenthau I spoke at the 50th anniversary of the so called Armenian genocide in 1965 in NY City and his grandson, Morgenthau II wrote an article about his grandfather in the op-ed pages of the Boston Globe, owned by the New york Times, which was protested by many Turks.

This is what Lewis Einstein writes on the Van incident (p.68). ‘’There is little news from the interior save that the Russians have entered Van. The contingent is mostly composed of Armenian volunteers who fight with desperate courage, but whose excesses have shocked even the Russian commanders’’. So much for the movie ‘’Ararat’’ which is another story and reviewed in great detail in a book ‘’Ararat, Sanatsal Ermeni Propogandasi (Ararat, Artistic Armenian Propagandasi) (6)’’ by Sedat Laciner and Senol Kantarci, 2002, also not mentioned in Balakian’s book. More on this in a separate article later.

The seventh book, Turkey Observed (7), by R.P. Lister, talks not only about the Armenian uprisings, but also about the Greek invasion of Anatolia and claims of Greeks and Armenians on the Anatolian lands and writes. ‘’All these lands were once Greek. It must be difficult for a Greek not to be bitter; on the other hand, it is difficult to see what the Greeks gain by it. So many people have excellent reasons for feeling bitter about other groups of people; the Jews about the Germans, the Greeks and Armenians about the Turks, and all sorts of people about the brutal and bloody-minded British. These national grievances are all totally understandable and indescribably stupid. You can replace ‘’Indian’’ with ‘’Greek’’ and ‘’American’’ with ‘’Turk’’ and it would make no difference.’’

On page 231, Mr. Lister writes about ‘’the Armenian’s Dream of independence following the example of Serbs, Greeks and others when the Ottoman Empire began to crumble.. In 1915 they (Armenians) were restless again. The Turks, having their hands full already with a difficult war, took ruthless steps to quell the UPRISING. They deported (re-located) what was meant to be the entire population of Armenia to Syria and Mesopotamia. Their organization was insufficient; a third of Armenian population escaped deportation..

Mr. Lister is an Englishman and must know what really happened during those terrible years that misguided Armenians write about freely and that the Blue Book that Balakian refers to in his book was nothing more than a propaganda material cooked up by Arnold Toynbee. Furthermore, this Englishman admits that no more than 300 thousand Armenians died, not 1.5 million as claimed by Balakian and others, which is a lie.

This is what Eleanor Bisbee tells us in her book The New Turks (8): ‘’When the Russians and the Turks became enemies at war in 1914, the Armenians sided with the Russians. As soon as word spread that the Armenians were massacring Moslem Turks and Kurds and were setting up an Armenian government in Van, the Young Turks passed a law to disarm and deport them. This turned into the 1915-1916 migrations and massacres of Armenians, and was followed by counter-massacres of Muslims by Russo-Armenian forces occupying eastern Turkey in 1917-18 (p.49).’’

Balakian has also neglected references to the books written by Greeks who have been able to establish friendship and business relations between the two peoples despite the massacres following the Greek invasion of western Anatolia in 1919.The Greek writer Dido Sotiriyu tells the following in his book

‘’Send My Greetings to Anatolia’’ (9):
‘’And you, the son-in-law of Blind Mehmet! Especially you. Why are you looking at me with revulsion on your face? Yes, I killed you, so what? And again I am crying….You killed too! Brothers, friends, fellow countrymen… A huge generation killed each other for no reason!. The son-in-law of Blind Mehmet, send my greetings to my homeland! Send my greetings to Anatolia!. You should not feel hatred against us because we soaked your land with blood. God damn the executioners that allowed the brother kill his brother:’’

Incredibly, Balakian does not mention the Turkish Armenians who live a comfortable life in Turkey and are not bashful to state their content in many articles collected in a book published in 1980 in Istanbul, Facts from the Turkish Armenians (10). An article by Sinork Kalustyan, the Armenian Patriarch, published on April 4, 1975 in Milliyet newspaper is among the many that tells about the Turkish Armenians:

Turkey has been our native land from time immemorial, and we constitute an integral part pf the Turkish Nation. We share equally any mishap and misfortune befalling our motherland or our compatriots. We the Turkish Armenians are determined to contribute to national solidarity. In fact, during the last fifty years since the proclamation of the republic, the Armenian compatriots have amply proved this fact by their attitude and action’’

William Saroyan, the Pulitzer Prize winner Armenian-American writer, the son of an Armenian from Bitlis in Eastern Anatolia, wrote about an episode that tells the real story when he said that ‘’The real enemy of the Armenians were the Russians, not the Turks’’. Pulitzer Prize winner Saroyan wrote many books and told the story of the Armenian Tragedy in his short story ‘’Antranik of Armenia’’ (11).

The war was with the Turks of course. The other enemies were less active than the Turks, but watchful. When the time came one of these, in the name of love, not hate, accomplished in no time at all what the Turks, who were more honest, whose hatred was unconcealed, could not accomplish in hundreds of years. These were the Russians.

Balakian also makes extensive references to the Missionary activities and refers to Frank Andrew Stone’s book, Academies for Anatolia: A Study of Rationale and Impact of the Educational Institutions Sponsored by the American Board in Turkey , 1830-1980. In fact the Van uprisings is told in a book by Clarence D. Ussher, An American Physician in Turkey - A Narrative of Adventures in Peace and in War (12)’’. Mr Ussher was a Missionary and Atom Egoyan wants us to believe that his book was the basis of his movie ‘’Ararat’’, which is not accurately portrayed. And Balakian ignores this important book, as he has also not mentioned another book on the Missionaries, ‘’Kendi Belgeleriyle Anadolu’daki Amerika – 19. Yuzyilda Osmanli Imparatorlugu’ndaki Amerikan Misyoner Okullari (13)’’, 1989. ( America in Anatolia based on Documents – The Missionary Schools in the 19th Century Ottoman Empire .)

Not many Turks wrote books about the tragedy of those years, mainly because dead people can not write memoirs, as Turks were killed by the thousands, not only by the Armenians, but also by the Greeks, the Bulgarians, the British, the French, the Italşians, the Russians, etc. Everyone of these nations have made peace with Turkey, except the Armenians.. If people interested in the Armenian issue could read books written by some interested Turks and Americans like American Samuel Weems, who tell the other side of the tragedy, but is ignored by the Armenian authors.

Some of he false statements and distortion of facts include the following:

1. Izmir (Smyrna) was not burned by the Turks as Balakian claims, but by the Armenians or the Greeks as they fled the city following their defeat. American, English, and French commission of inquiry attested that the city had been deliberately fired by the Greeks and Armenians in order to prevent its falling into Turkish hands; American writer, E: Alexander Powell, 1923.
2. A statement attributed to Hitler is a fabricated claim which is false, and should not be displayed at the Holocaust Museum of the United States in Washington DC.
3. Telegrams supposedly issued by Talaat Pasha are fabricated.
4. The number of Armenians killed or died as a result of war, famine and illnesses is probably no more that 300,000. According to many books that cover the Ottoman, British and Armenian Church census, the population of Armenians living in Turkey during the times of the conflict was around 1,300,000. Again, according to Armenian history referenced in many books, over 700,000 Armenians relocated ,before, during and after the 1915 incident, a good number voluntarily, including thousands to present day Armenia, otherwise, how could the Armenian Diaspora reach 6 million today.) Considering all the Armenians living in Istanbul, İzmir and many other cities in Turkey at the time, 200,000 were never affected by the relocation. Therefore, the number of Armenians who died over the years (that is, not only in 1915), not only in 1915, may be between 100,000 and 300,000; very sad, but this was primarily due to the Armenian uprisings which are never mentioned in the books written by the pro-Armenian.

The Burning Tigris has a catchy title, which is silly since Tigris is the name of a river, Dicle, in the southeastern part of Turkey , and water does not burn. The subtitle, "The Armenian Genocide and America 's Response" is nothing but an invention by misguided Armenians and their supporters to perpetuate their claims while completely ignoring the uprisings of Armenians and the killing of thousands of Turks during the war period covered in the 391 page book.

Dear Gail, I have been reading books all my life (I am 67 years old) written by many different writers from around the world. It has always been a pleasure to read books by John Steinbeck, William Saroyan, Stephen Kinzer, Justin McCarthy and hundreds of others. I have also read books written by other Armenian writers, such as Michael Arlene, which are always one sided and does not go beyond embedding seeds of hatred..

As an American citizen who believes that one of the greatest attributes of the US is the availability of libraries everywhere, I feel sickened by the continuing flood of books full of misconceptions perpetrated by the Armenian lobbyists using their financial and political influence, which should stop. Libraries that acquire or accept books like ‘’The Burning Tigris’’ should know what they are offering to their readers.

1. Among the Turks by Cyrus Hamlin, American Tract Society, 1877

2. The Turk and the Land of Haig, or Turkey and Armenia - Desciptive, Historical, and Picturesque, by Antranig Azhderian, 1898, The Mershong Company, New York

3. Inside Constantinople – A Diplomatists Diary During the Dardanelles Expedition April – September, 1915. By Lewis Einstein, 1917, John Murray, London

4. The Story behind Ambassador Morgethau’s Story, by Heath W. Lowry, 1990, The Isis Press, Istanbul

5.From Berlin to Bagdat: Behind the Scenes in the Near East, by George Schreiner, 1918

6.Ararat, Sanatsal Ermeni Propogandasi (Ararat, Artistic Armenian propaganda)

7. Turkey Observed by R.P. Lister, 1967

8. The New Turks by Eleanor Bisbee, University of Pennsylvania, 1951

9. Send My Greetings to Anatolia by Dido Sotiriyu

10. Facts from the Turkish Armenians, Istanbul, 1980

11. Antranik of Armenia, a story by William Saroyan

12. An American Physican in Turkey - A Narrative of Adventures in Peace and in War by Clarence D. Ussher

13. ’Kendi Belgeleriyle Anadolu’daki Amerika – 19. Yuzyilda Osmanli Imparatorlugu’ndaki Amerikan Misyoner Okullari,’’ (Turkish) – America in Anatolia – The Missionary Schools in the 19th Century Ottoman Empire, based on Documents, by Dr. Uygur Kocabasoglu, 1989, ARBA Yayinlari, Istanbul

14. Death and Exile: The Ethnic Cleansing of Ottoman Muslims at the end of the Empire, by Justin McCarthy, 1997

15. Armenian Atrocities and Terrorism, by Assembly of American Turkish Associations, 1997

16. Rus Generali Mayewski’nin Dogu Anadolu Raporu – Van ve Bitlis Vilayetlerinde Askeri Istatistik, (Report by Russian General Mayewski on Eastern Anatolia), by Hamit Pehlivanli, 1997

17. Turkey 1908 – 1938, The End of the Ottoman Empire, by Benoist Mechir, 1989

18. Turkey, The Awakening and the Turkish revolution of 1908, by E.F. Knight

19.Armenian and Russian Oppressions (1914-1916) by Dr. Erdal Ilter, Koksav, Ankara, 1999

20.Armenians and the 1915 Event of Displacement by Prof. Dr. Azmi Suslu, KOKSAV, KOK Series of Social and Strategic research Series No 7, Ankara 1999

21. Turkish Genocide, (in Turkish) by S. Kemal Ermetin, Tore Yayin Gurubu, January 2001

22. US Library of Congress: Bristol’s Papers and Letter dated 28 March 1921

23. The Myth of Innocence, by Kamuran Gurun

And many more.

Sincerely,
Yuksel Oktay, Istanbul

---