The full text of the speech is below:
An Open Letter to the Turkish People:
Today, I write to you on a topic of great importance to both of our nations. It is on a subject that many of you, especially the younger generation, may know little about because it concerns a chapter of world history that your government has expended enormous efforts to conceal. Turkey has been at the center of human civilization from Neolithic times to the present, and your arts, culture and science have enriched the world. . . .
Direct Link To The Document
Comments By Zekiye Aksoy 13 April 2014
The Armenians and the biased journalists and politicians continuously attack the Turks, claiming that the Armenian thesis can not be discussed in Turkey, and Turkish government conceal facts from her citizens.
Could anybody tell me, if Armenian thesis were banned in Turkey, then how could Armenian historian Ara Sarafyan give a conference on the thesis of Armenian genocide in I.stanbul and discuss them with the Turkish citizens?
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=102831
And if all the historians who do not support the Armenian thesis were people hired by the Turkish government, and if the Turkish government pays historians if and only if they support the Turkish thesis, as claimed by the Armanian diaspora, then how has Fatma Muge Gocek, a Turkish origined scholar who supports the Armenian thesis been able to be a board member of the Institute of Turkish Studies financed by Turkish government in Georgetown University, Columbia (http://www.turkishstudies.org/about.html)? How could she give conferences supporting the Armenian views up till now? She is the second Turkish origined academician the Armenians approve after Taner Akçam http://www.armeniangenocide.com/showthread.php?t=2471 http://www.eraren.org/index.php?Lisan=tr&Page=Makaleler&MakaleNo=3008
(Can you imagine Taner Akçam, who advocated the Armenian claims in Minnesota University up till now and was financed by Zorian Armenian Institute as confirmed by the university authorities, give conferences against the Armenian thesis?)
And as a most important point, Turkish historians, Turkish prime minister and Turkish Assembly several times suggested Armenia to discuss these events together with historians from both sides and historians from other countries. Everybody in Turkey knows very well that those who advocate the Armenian thesis most passionately are the Armenians themselves. Could anybody tell me again if Turkey was a place where Armenian thesis were banned, then why did Turkish prime minister and Turkish Assembly several times call on Armenia to discuss these events with whoever they choose?
Now let us look at the other side of the coin and concentrate on the attitute of the Armenians towards the scholars who do not support their thesis:
The home of American Professor Stanford Shaw of the University of California-Los Angeles was firebombed in retaliation for his academic courage in disputing the Armenian genocide claim, in 1977
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/oct/16/armenian-crime-amnesia/
http://209.232.239.37/gtd1/ViewIncident.aspx?id=56624
Sixty nine academicians who specialized in Turkish, Ottoman and Middle Eastern studies from 44 different American universities and colleges published a declaration in The New York Times on May 19, 1986 and declared:
…….No signatory of this statement wishes to minimize the scope of Armenian suffering. We are likewise cognizant that it cannot be viewed as separate from the suffering experienced by the Muslim inhabitants of the region. The weight of evidence so far uncovered points in the direction of serious inter-communal warfare (perpetrated by Muslim and Christian irregular forces), complicated by disease, famine, suffering and massacres in Anatolia and adjoining areas during the First World War. Indeed, throughout the years in question, the region was the scene of more or less continuous warfare, not unlike the tragedy which has gone on in Lebenon for the past decade. The resulting death toll among both Muslim and Christian communities of the region was immense. But much more remains to be discovered before historians will be able to sort out precisely responsibility between warring and innocent, and to identify the causes for the events which resulted in the death or removal of large numbers of the eastern Anatolian population, Christian and Muslim alike………… the history of the Ottoman-Armenians is much debated among scholars, many of whom do not agree with the historical assumptions embodied in the wording of H.J.Res.192. ….Such a resolution, based on historically questionable assumptions, can only damage the cause of honest historical enquiry, and damage the credibility of the American legistlative process.
The producers of the ‘historical documentary film Sar? Gelin (www.sarigelinbelgeseli.com) suggested to interview some of these academicians. However they were rejected because these academicians and their families were threatened by the Armenians, via telephone calls and letters, in 1986 for signing this declaration. Justin McCarthy’s family had to get police protection. Prof. McCarthy himself was threatened with losing his job if he continued his research. http://turkishweekly.net/comments.php/id2418/top/comments.php?id=594,
http://www.tallarmeniantale.com/69histors-charny.htm,
http://www.tallarmeniantale.com/intimidate.htm
The Armenians sued Bernard Lewis, the French historian famous for his Middle Eastern and Ottoman studies, in France, in 1993 just because he wrote in Le Monde that 'the 1915 events were not ‘genocide’.
American judge Samuel Weems’s life was threatened by the Armenians since he published his book ‘A terrorist State: Armenia’.
In Netherlands, Turkish origined party members who told that they did not agree with the Armenian thesis were discharged from the party, because of the pressure of the Armenian voters of the country.
Additionally, Turkish university students studying in the USA are under threat of Armenian students, just because they reject the Armenian claims. In some universities it reaches to such an extreme point that one young university student needs police escort.
'Oath of Asala' which is a branch of Asala declared that they would spare GAKAVYAN's life in case he abandoned this apology project and disclosed the names of the people who urged him to do so, according to the Armenian newspaper "Azg",
http://www.radikal.com.tr/Radikal.aspx?aType=RadikalHaberDetay&ArticleID=921474&Date=14.02.2009&CategoryID=98.
The petition of Dr. Armen Gavakian from the Macquarie University in Sydney, who is also co-chair of the Turkish-Armenian Dialogue Group would read "I apologize to the Ottomans and Turks for murders committed in the name of the Armenian people and I empathize with the feelings and pain of the Ottomans and Turks."
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/10904739.asp
Recently, French Jack Lang who was one of the strongest supporters of 2001’s Armenian bill in French parliament, and was head of the then Parliamentary Foreign Relations Commission said he had voted against a controversial bill adopted by the French parliament making it a crime to deny recognition of 1915 incidents as “genocide”, because the action was abused for election interests. "The denial bill was passed with the aim of an election investment, not because they understood the pains of Armenians. Accordingly it is dangerous that history is made by politicians," he said. The Armenian diaspora in France directed fierce criticism at Lang over his recently published remarks. Soon afterwards, he declared that he has not changed its position and continues to fight for that worldwide genocide of the Armenian people is recognized, and especially in Turkey.
http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2009/01/2729-armenian-tuggery-intimidation-in.html,
http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2009/02/03/genocide-armenien-le-mea-culpa-de-jack-lang-enflamme-le-net_1150313_3224.html
And at present saying what happened in 1915 is not genocide could be life threatening in Republic of Armenia. Imagine giving a conference with Turkish academicians there. And did you hear any Armenian who attempted to hold a conference advocating that Armenian genocide did not occur, in Armenia? Even Armenian historian Sarafian, the head of the London-based Gomidas Institute, said "Freedom of expression for historians in Armenia is limited and the genocide issue has become a political tool and for historical investigations Armenia is a wrong address
. http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/10426989.asp?scr=1.
And it is a fact that even books written by Armenian leaders and historians which criticize the Armenian Dashnaks like the book of Katchaznouni, the first prime-minister of the Armenian state, Dashnagzoutiun Has Nothing to do Anymore, the book of K.S.Papazian ‘Patrionism Perverted’ are banned in Armenia.
In spite of all these facts, the Armenians and you the Western and biased journalists continuously attack the Turks, claiming that the Armenian thesis can not be discussed in Turkey, since freedom of speech is absent.
Could anybody tell me, if Armenian thesis were banned in Turkey, then how could the Armenians hold a conference completely about their own thesis on April 24, 2010 in Ankara? How could the Armenian historian Ara Sarafyan give a conference on the thesis of Armenian genocide in I.stanbul and discuss them with the Turkish citizens?
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=102831
And if all the historians who do not support the Armenian thesis were people hired by the Turkish government, and if the Turkish government pays historians if and only if they support the Turkish thesis, as claimed by the Armanian diaspora, then how has Fatma Muge Gocek, a Turkish origined scholar who supports the Armenian thesis been able to be a board member of the Institute of Turkish Studies financed by Turkish government in Georgetown University, Columbia
(http://www.turkishstudies.org/about.html)?
How could she give conferences supporting the Armenian views up till now? She is the second Turkish origined academician the Armenians approve after Taner Akçam
http://www.armeniangenocide.com/showthread.php?t=2471 http://www.eraren.org/index.php?Lisan=tr&Page=Makaleler&MakaleNo=3008
(Can you imagine Taner Akçam, who advocated the Armenian claims in Minnesota University up till now and was financed by Zorian Armenian Institute as confirmed by the university authorities, give conferences against the Armenian thesis?)
And as a most important point, Turkish historians, Turkish prime minister and Turkish Assembly several times suggested Armenia to discuss these events together with historians from both sides and historians from other countries. Everybody in Turkey knows very well that those who advocate the Armenian thesis most passionately are the Armenians themselves. Could anybody tell me again if Turkey was a place where Armenian thesis were banned, then why did Turkish prime minister and Turkish Assembly several times call on Armenia to discuss these events with whoever they choose?
No wisdom can overlook this hypocrisy of Western hypocricy.
.
6 comments:
Aya has responded to the Fisk article with his usual forensic research ability and style.
Not to mention the WWI conditions and the aggression by the Armenian terrorist groups in this pleading article by Fisk shows his ignorance and his bias. Surely it does not deserve to be published in the Independent.
I dismiss the recent "Open Letter to the Turkish people" by Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA). Acting under the influence of his Armenian-American constituency, Mr. Schiff is once again peddling a racist accusation of the "Armenian genocide" that was never established in any court.
Contrary to the comparison drawn by Mr. Schiff, the Holocaust recognition
was enshrined in laws after a recognized tribunal - the 1945-46 Nuremberg
Trials. Equating this to an allegation of crime emanating from a
century-old Turkish-Armenian conflict is offending the memory of the
Holocaust victims. No European Jew is known to take up arms and massacre
old neighbors with the aim of carving out an exclusive Jewish homeland in
the middle of Europe. Yet, that is exactly what the Armenian nationalists
have done in the Ottoman Empire with the onset of World War I. To support
the invading Russian army, the Armenian nationalist militants ruthlessly
massacred an estimated 523,955 Turks, Kurds, Circassians, and Azeris in
1914-15. The figure confirmed by many Western historians does not include
those buried in mass graves or killed by Armenians serving in Russian,
Greek and French armies.
According to the pre-WWI census, the entire Armenian population of the
Ottoman Empire was estimated at 1.4 million. Hundreds of thousands moved
across the border to the Russian Caucasus or resettled in the Ottoman
Syria during WWI. So, the allegation that 1.5 million were killed by 1923
is not only false, but given the presence of some 8 million Armenians
today, is an immoral exaggeration.
While charging Turkish nation with a crime without court, Mr. Schiff shall
recall that during WW II, over 110,000 Japanese Americans have been sent
to internment camps following the same resettlement practice. And unlike
the Ottoman Armenian case, these Japanese Americans did not fight against
the U.S. on the side of Japan. That was true even when the Japanese cities
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were obliterated by the first and only use of
nuclear weapons against civilians. Yet, no one today speaks of the U.S.
committing a deliberate act of genocide against Japanese people.
Finally, I shall remind Congressman Schiff, his supporters and
constituents, that in a civilized society, an act of crime must be
established in a court. In contrast, a politically-infused accusation
against a group of people, the kind of which Mr. Schiff entertains,
historically led to war crimes and persecution.
I strongly disagree with Congressman Adam Schiff and his outrageous and fallacious claims made in his letter.
It is now firmly established by the European Court of Human Rights, ECHR on December 17, 2013 that the events of 1915 cannot be proven to be genocide or compared to Jewish Holocaust. What’s more, the verdict said clearly that silencing contra-genocide views is a direct violation of the human rights of the holders of those views. So, anytime an unproven but forceful allegation like genocide is made, like the enemy of Turks here is making, my freedom of thought, expression, and speech are violated.
The Turkish side of the story, long dismissed, ignored, and/or censored out of bias or bigotry, will finally be heard in full. Armenian agitation, propaganda, insurgency, deception, terrorism, treason, revolts, assassinations, murders, bombings, territorial demands, and the resulting Muslim, mostly Turkish, suffering and losses, all meticulously documented with rock solid historical evidence, will be included in the debate for a balanced treatment of the Turkish-Armenian conflict.
Armenian propaganda, hearsay and forgeries have run their course. They no longer work. It is clear now that iIt was a "inter-communal warfare between Christian and Muslim irregulars", as 69 historians and scholars declared in a signed, public statement published in New York Times on May 19, 1985. It was a "civil war within a world war" ... It was wartime tragedy where all sides suffered, not just Armenians... It was a "Turkish-Armenian conflict"... But not genocide, not even close...
Armenians now must face up to their own unspeakable crimes against humanity before any closure can occur. If one is still in doubt, let me refer one to an Armenian source to see photos of Armenian murderers, gun-toting Armenian clergy, their Muslim, mostly Turkish, victims: Houshamatyan of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Centennial, Album-Atlas, Volume I, Epic Battles, 1890-1914 (The Next Day Color Printing, Inc., Glendale, CA, U.S.A., 2006. The incredible photo on page 185 can be seen here:www.ethocide.com .This one will make a believer out of you that Armenians are not telling you the whole truth. They never did.
All this may be good, as it can now be expected to have a civilized dialogue and reasoned debate among parties involved which, in turn, may finally produce closure based on the concepts of “shared responsibility,” “shared pain,” and “fair memory”.
Mr Congressman Adam Schiff,
May I bring the following responsive thoughts of mine to your knowledge:
The younger Turkish generation is fully aware of what had happened in 1915, in the eastern part of the Ottomon Empire where Armenian terrorist Dashnak and Hunchak organisations' criminal acts, killing hundred thousands of Ottoman Muslims of Turkish and Kurdish, even people of Armenian(have you ever learned about this?) origin.
Yet, Turkish school curricula have never been imbued with a racist Armenian hate as has the case been for Armenian schools in and out of Armenia. Armenian young generations are being regretfully educated as future murderers of Turks and the Azerbaijanis.
Frank Viviano of National Geographic, wrote in March 2004 from Stepanakert :”...We visited a classroom(at the central high school) where 15-year-olds in a compulsory military training program demonstrated their speed taking apart and reassembling Kalashnikov assault rifles. They were down to an average of 20 seconds!
Don't you think that such a national education understanding is criminal and inhuman?
Republican Turkish Governments never concealed any chapter of the world history from its younger generations and people: Let me tell you what I have learned in the whole course of my education in Turkey on the “tragic events of 1915”: “ Ottomans were in war in many fronts in 1915 including the Tsarist Russia( wasn't it so?) which started to occupy the Eastern Ottoman lands. Armenian terrorists and their collaborators, together with their civilian collaborators initiated destruction of villages and committed mass killings and all kinds of violence in the area by actively participating in the occupying Russian troops( Bogos Nubar Pasha's words). Hence the Ottoman “Decree of relocation” of many Gregorian Armenian population. The Decree did not initially include the Catholics, Protestants and others who did not take part in the “betrayal”. Wasn't it so? They are documented. Do you really think that my governments concealed the historical facts from me? I don't think so.
My grand parents told me what has happened in 1915: They told me that thousands of innocent peasants were killed by the Armenians during the years of 1915-1923.
They also informed me of how Armenian terrorists, armed and protected by the Tsarist Russian soldiers, wished to annihilate all the Muslims in the area, in the presence of the French and Christian missionaries, who had failed to covert the Ottoman Muslims into Christianity.
Yes, these are the dark chapters of the Armenian history with which they, and you as their advocate, should confront with.
In your open letter to me Mr Congressmen, you used the words, deportation, expropriation, starvation and murder” of Armenians leading me though mistakenly, to think that, after having read and understood well the ECHR judgement on Perincek vs. Switzerland of 16 December 2013 you would wisely avoid using the word "genocide". Regretfully you did reducing yourself and your supporters t levels of valueless populist-political levels contamnated by cheap rhetoric.
Now let me ask you some questions::
- Why have you not mentioned the loss of more than 500 thousand Ottoman and Kurdish people between 1915 and 1923. Is it because you don't consider them as humans?
- Why have you not mentioned regrettably the assassination of 35 Turkish diplomats by Armenian terrorists under the instruction of the Armenian civil organizations (ARA-ANCA etc) still active in the US.
- Why you have not mentioned and condemned the mass killings “in fact undeniable genocides, well fitting into the provisions of the UN Genocide Convention of 1948: ethnic cleansing of American natives, forced annexation of the Mexican Lands, mass killings in Vietnam, more recently Armenian mass killings of the Azerbaijan territory Nagorno-Karabakh, unacceptable American killings and tortures in Iraq etc.
Sincerely!
Ülkü Bassoy- 12.04.2014
BRITISH GOVERNMENT position vis-à-vis Armenian claims
“that the evidence is not sufficiently unequivocal to persuade us that these events should be categorised as Genocide as defined by the 1948 UN Convention on genocide”
Foreign & Commonwealth Office, London - dated the 22nd February, 2006
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
" … in the absence of unequivocal evidence … British Governments have not recognized those events as indications of genocide. Nor do we believe it is the business of Governments of today to review events of over 80 years ago …"
Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale,
British Foreign Office spokesperson, April 14, 1999.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To date, there exists NO legally binding United Nations resolution or International Court judgement to support the Armenian claims. In year 2000, The United Nations stated that they do not recognise -alleged- Armenian genocide. Farhan Haq, 05.10.2000, Spokesman for The UN Secretary General
Outcome of the British Malta Military Trials
on Armenian claims and subsequent acquittal of the 144 Ottoman Officers on alleged Armenian Genocide claims
Quoting from British Ambassador, Sir A Geddes in Washington to Lord Curzon in London.. upon searching for evidence against captive Ottoman officers in American Governmental and private archives – 13th July 1921
" I have the honour to inform Your Lordship that a member of my staff visited the State Department yesterday, the 12th instant, in regard to the Turks who are at present being detained at Malta with a view to a trial... He was permitted to see a selection of reports from United States Consuls on the subject of the atrocities committed in Armenia during the recent war, the reports judged by the State Department to be the most useful for the purposes of His Majesty's Government being chosen from among several hundreds. I regret to inform Your Lordship that there was nothing therein which could be used as evidence against the Turks who are being detained for trial at Malta. The report seems.. made mention of only two names of the Turkish officials in question... and in these cases were confined to personal opinions of those officials on the part of the writer, no concrete facts being given which could constitute satisfactory incriminating evidence. I have the honour to add that officials of the Department of State expressed the wish, in the course of conversation, that no information supplied by them in this connection should be employed in the court of law. Having regard to this stipulation and the fact that the reports in the possession of the Department of State do not appear in any case to contain evidence against these Turks which would be useful even for the purpose of corroborating information already in possession of His Majesty's Government, I fear that nothing is to be hoped from addressing any further enquiries to the United States Government in this matter."
Nor did the British archives offer any tangible evidence, thus the acquittal of the wrongly accused.
2007 – Armenian claims still stand unproven at any International Court or at the United Nations, but machinations leading to unfair propaganda, racist denigration of Turks and backdoor recognition attempts are still alive. Furthermore, these unproven Armenian claims are currently used as a convenient leverage against Turkey by whomever and whenever opportune!
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