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15.12.10
3189) An 81-Year Old Chevalier: Şükrü Server Aya: A One-man Army Wrestling Armenian Fanatics
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9.6.09
2875) Armenian Rebellion at Van, University of Utah Press, Justin McCarthy, E Arslan, C Taşkiran, and O Turan : Book Review
The fate of the Ottoman Armenians during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has become over the past few decades one of the most controversial chapters in the modern history of the Middle East, and shows every sign of remaining as . .
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15.5.09
2834) Conquerors - Roosevelt, Truman & Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941-1945 & Story of Morgenthaus, Sr., Jr., and IIIrd
The book by Michael Beschloss (called by Newsweek as the leading Presidential historian), the Conquerors - Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941 - 1945, tells a great deal about the Morgenthaus and under the section called "The One Hundred Percent American", Beschloss tells about Henry Morgenthau Sr., who we know as a one thousand percent anti-Turk diplomat.
The Ambassador's son Henry Jr. was a very close friend of President Roosevelt who appointed him as the Secretary of Treasury and was involved in the World War II activities heavily. After dropping out of Cornell and moving to Texas, Henry Jr becomes interested in farming and returns to New York where he establishes the famous Fishkill Farms. This paves the way for Henry Jr. to become friends with the Franklin Roosevelt family who have an estate in Hyde Park. To the surprise of many, including Henry Morgenthau Sr, President Roosevelt appoints Henry Jr. as the Secretary of Treasury which he keeps for 12 years. In the book, a Republican makes a comment that "Roosevelt had managed to find "the only Jew is the world who doesn't know a thing about money." It is interesting to note that Woodrow Wilson appointed Henry Sr. who knew nothing about diplomacy as the US Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, who was not shy to advocate the expulsion of Turks from Europe and even call his host nation "murderers." ((The Murder of a nation - a chapter from his book ''Ambassador Morgenthau's Story, 1918.)
The book states that during a discussion on what to do about the Germans after their defeat, Henry Jr. gives his father's WWI experience and states: "One morning, the Turks woke up and said, "We don't want a Greek in Turkey." They moved one million people out. They said to the Greeks, "You take care of them." The people lived. They got rehabilitated in no time. It seems inhuman. It seems cruel (p.104)"
This of course does not tell the whole story about the population exchange which was due to Greek invasion of Anatolia and agreed to between the two countries, which Henry Jr. does not mention, neither the moving in of five hundred thousand Turks from Greece to Turkey, and the author does not provide a clarification either. Such are the half truths of the Morgenthaus.
Henry Morgenthau Jr. prepares a report for President Roosevelt with a formal title, "Program to Prevent Germany from Starting a World War III", known later as the "Morgenthau Plan." Many people object to the report, including Winston Churchill, some even stating that "you can not indict the whole nation". That's exactly what the Morgenthaus other diplomats and even people in higher positions have done and indicted the whole Turkish nation and no one in the West has objected. When Truman becomes President following Roosevelt's death in office, he reads the Report but is not impressed with it. According to the book, in the years after Morgenthau's departure, Truman privately told cronies that Roosevelt's old friend was a "nut" and a "blockhead" who didn't "know shit from apple butter."
Than there is Henry III, the son of Henry Jr. who served in the US army and was in France during the World War II. Over the years he penned several articles supporting the Armenian genocide issue, including an article in the Boston-Globe, an affiliate of the New York Times and a postscript to the memoir of his grandfather, Henry Sr.
So much for the Morgenthaus but perhaps millions have read and reading his book including the Turkish translation that was released a few years ago.
Again my apologies but we need to study history of all nations not only of the Turks.
Yuksel Oktay
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1.3.09
2762) President Carter's New Book, The Middle East And Turkey
The 39th President of the United States of America, James E. Carter, has written another book about the Middle East, “We can have Peace in the Holy Land – A Plan that Will Work.” . .
The author of 23 books since he left the office, the Nobel Peace Laureate and former President argues that the present time is unique time for achieving peace in the Middle East and offers a plan. He also states that the new President of the United States is facing a major opportunity and responsibility to lead in ending conflict between Israel and its neighbors. However, there is nothing in the 13 chapters of the 228 page on Turkey’s role in bringing peace to the region.
This is all that the former President writes about Turkey.
“There were some informal and indirect peace talks going on between Syria and Israel arranged through Turkey, but Assad was very eager to have the United States involved.” P. 128
“Bush knew, in fact, that Israel was negotiating, through Egypt, with Hamas and that there were indirect Syria-Israel talks being sponsored by Turkey.”’ P. 146
“According to Turkish intermediaries, the United States withdrew its opposition to the Syrian - Israeli negotiations in June 2008, but was still not supportive.” P. 175
The book is dedicated “To people of faith who still trust that God, with our help, will bring peace to the Holy Land.”
With all due respects to the Nobel Laureate, I am afraid there will never be peace in the Holy Land as long as Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital and has no plans to retreat back to the 1967 borders or listen to anyone anymore, let alone President Carter who has been declared a persona non-Grata in Israel.
President Carter has always been known to be a friend of Turkey, especially after his bold action of lifting the American embargo against Turkey after the just intervention of Turkey in Cyprus in 1974, which this year marks the 35th anniversary of the victory against the Greeks and the Greek-Cypriots. When in 1978 my son had asked me for a report that he was writing about America who I thought was the greatest American President, I had not hesitated to tell him it was Carter. He might not have been the greatest president but has done much to help bring peace and houses for a tiny portion of needy around the world through his “Habitat for Humanity Project” after he left the office. While on the subject of who was who, President Woodrow Wilson gave his place as the worst President to Bush who will be remembered as the man who changed the world for the worst. President Carter is probably at the center. All power to President Obama who has promised change in many fields, which should include the way Americans view Turkey. However, President Carter’s book leaves a lot to be desired.
Turkey has been involved in the Middle Eastern affairs for many years which continues today, despite the Davos incident, even though Israelis have been reluctant to take advise from the Turkish officials. May be this might change after the American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Turkey next week, carrying President Obama’s message that Israel heed the UN Resolutions and stop killing innocent Palestinians and that Hamas should get her act together and recognize Israel’s right to existence.
The book begins with a brief review of the history of the region, going back to journey of Abraham from Ur through Harran to Canaan about 2000 BC (that is 4000 years ago), the Israelites' enslavement in Egypt about five hundred years later, the rule of Kings David and Solomon about 1000 BC (that is 3000 years ago), and on to the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the famous Temple about five hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ. President Carter writes that he learned all these plus stories about the other great prophets during Sunday schools. Reciting the story of Jews throughout history, Carter states that Muslims controlled Palestine (and Jerusalem) until the end of World war I. Incredibly, there is no mention of the just rule of the Ottoman Turks.
The second chapter tells the story of Carter’s visit to Israel together with his wife Rosalyn in 1973 and his involvement with Israel. In “Peace at Camp David”, the President tells about his greatest achievement in bringing Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin of Israel in 1979, exactly 30 years ago. Most of the other chapters are listing of events, usually meetings held by Carter with important people. In the last chapter, Carter presents brief summary of the involvement of the countries around Israel (Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Palestine,) but has no room for Turkey. He boldly states that, from his personal experience, the influence of the US Government is limited and goes on to present an agenda for Peace which includes:
-A demilitarized Palestine state
-Mutually acceptable modifications to the 1967 border
-A sharing of Jerusalem, which would be the capital of both states
-The right of Palestinians to return to the West Bank and Gaza
-Reconciliation of the Palestinians and unity between Gaza and the West Bank
- A specific time limit for the consummation of these goals
The book also has a wealth of information on the population estimates, UN Resolution 242 of 1967, Camp David Accords of 1978, Arab Peace Proposal of 2002, Key Points of International Quartet’s Roadmap for peace of 2003 and Israel’s response to it. The most recent population estimates are 5,552,000 Jews and 5,385,00 Arabs in the Holy Land, plus 318,000 other non-Jews. President Carter defines the “Holy Land”, a phrase from Christian tradition, as the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterrenean and includes the holy place claimed by the Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as Haram al-Sharif.
President Obama has been elected with his promise of “Change”, which will undoubtedly include a change in the US perspective in the Middle east and the Holy Lands, which is another tall order.
Yuksel Oktay
1 March 2009,
New Jersey
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19.11.08
2655) Book Review: Serkis Had Loved This Land
Serkis Had Loved This Land
Serkis Bu Topraklari Sevmisdi
By Faruk Bildirici, the Memoirs of Serkis Imas , in Turkish
Dogan Kitap, Istanbul, October 2008
Since 1965, when the 50th Anniversary of 1915 tragic events (unjustly referred to as the Armenian genocide) was first commemorated at the Riverside Church in New York City, which I attended quite by chance, and around the world, hundreds of books have been published on the Armenian issue. Some of these are by the survivors . . or the children or the grandchildren of Armenians who died during the relocation from Anatolia to Syrian lands which were part of the Ottoman Empire at the time.. Almost all of these memoirs begin with a paragraph such as this one:
ʽʼThis is the story of .... who survived or whose grandparent was killed during the Armenian genocide..ʼʼ
However, these books never mention the Armenian rebellions that took place across the eastern Anatolia and the massacre of Turks by the Armenian guerrillas which resulted in the death of Armenians as well and eventually their relocation from the war zones. The Turks suffered just as much and hundreds and thousand of Turks were also killed during the First World War when the Ottoman Empire was attacked by the British, the French, the Italians and the Russians from every side whose armies included Armenian volunteers in the tens of thousands, who were manipulated with the hope of establishing a state of their own on lands where they were never the majority. It is sad and both sides of the conflict must be told. Unfortunately very few Turkish survivors or witnesses wrote about their experiences at the time except a few (1)
The new book that was lent to me by a friend, who knows my interest in the Armenian issue and also hopes that one day the Armenians and Turks who have lived side by side for close to a thousand year will again be friends, is the story of the son of a survivor told to the Turkish writer, Faruk Bildirici, who is known for his historical novels and is different from other books. It is a sad story bu unfortunately, one sided, less so from the others.
ʽʼSerkis Had Loved This Landʼʼ is the story of Serkis Imas who was born in Elazig in 1932. His mother was adopted by a military doctor Sami Bey during the 1915 relocation, who moved to Istanbul and Serkis had a good life where he lived with until 1961, when he moved to Germany for various reasons. During his retirement, Serkis decided to leave something from himself to his two children and their grandchildren and started writing his memoirs which he worked on for many years. For the publication of his memoirs, Serkis contacted Faruk Bildirici and sent him the notebooks that he wrote on. Bildirici never met Serkis but corresponded and published his memoirs. Serkis died last year in Germany at the age of 75, without seeing the realization of his book.
This is written on the cover of the book:
My name is Serkis
I am from Turkey and also from Eastern Anatolia
If you ask me my race, I am Armenian and the son of my people
I am neither rich or famous
I am a bit fat and also short
In the preface, Faruk Bildirici accounts how he received the first letter from Serkis telling hs life story that began in Elazig and ended up in Germany. The letter was followed by manuscripts of Serkisʼs memoirs and Bildirici corresponded with Serkis over the years.
In he first chapter, ''If it wasn't for Dr. Sami bey,ʼʼ Serkis tells the story of his grandfather who was excluded from relocation because he was the only mill operator in the village. His grandmother was taken with the 7 year old Susan and the 3 year old Antranik who are forced to walk to Maden. On the way, the 3 year old boy is taken from the group and drowned by one of the Kurds who appear during the relocation. Why would anyone kill a 3 year old boy is something hard to believe. The same Kurds take the girl Susan to the house of Dr. Sami bey in Konakalmaz village who pays them.. Susan is adopted and lives at Sami Bey's house for 7 years when one day an Armenian sees her and tells her father that she is alive, who is still operating the mill. Her father Asadur goes to Sami bey and asks for her daughter and takes her back to his village.
In the second chapter, ʽʼOur Village was the Land of a Fairy Tale ʽʼ, Serkis tells the story of his early childhood and the death of his brother, named Antranik after his uncle who was killed during the relocation at the age of 3. His sister, Zivart, dies following burns to her body after a the son of his other uncle Armenak lits her dress with a match that he brings to his father. Serkisʼs father never complains to the boys father who caused his daughterʼs death.
In the third chapter, Serkis tells how the Armenians were drafted into the Turkish army and how some of them fled after they were forced to work as laborers in road constructions. Serkis also tells the stoy of the Armenian rebellion in Zeytoon that took place in 1895 which continued with intervals until March1915 (P. 48).
In 1947, members of the large family, including his big brother and uncleʼs children decide to move to Istanbul one after the other and Serkis begins a new life at the age of 14 after a two day train journey to Istanbul.. In 1953 he is drafted into the Turkish army and travels to Erzurum to join his unit. After two years in the military, Serkis returns to Istanbul and witnesses the 6/7 September incident, which is a dark chapter in the Turkish history. His uncle Manukʼs tailor store is among the ones that were destroyed. Like many Rums and Armenians, Manuk goes to the United States with his family.
Serkis first marries an Armenian girl, Annagul and has three daughters from her first one in 1957. On 17 February 1964, Sergis goes to Germany and starts working at a construction site. He tells about the life of the Turkish guest workers, including his own and deteriorating marriage. He brings his family to Germany, followed by his brothers and his father, like many hundreds and thousands of Turks before them. One day he meets a Moslem Turk, Duriye and has a child from her. Although they live apart, he brings the kid to his wife to take care of him. Finally, Annagul leaves him and Serkis marries Duriye. It is a sad story.
In several sections of the book Serkis tells people that the Armenians and Turks lived together for hundreds of years, and states that something happened between them during the war years. Here, Serkis does not tell the fact that the Armenians were educated and took many responsible positions in the Ottoman society and the government but many also rebelled against their own government and massacred the helpless villages. The story should not begin with just stating that they were relocated.. If the Armenians would face this truth, the conflict would probably be solved.
In the last chapter, ''The Final Word'', Serkis writes that he read many books in his life time, more than his weight, primarily to educate himself and to understand different people, stating, ''I knew that, while defending the black, I needed to know the white as well.Therefore, as I wrote about my family I tried to be honest and just as a father has an obligation to point out the wrongs to his children citizens of a nation ought to do the same. As someone who loves this country I tried to point out the issues. The bottom line is that the worthless rulers of the Empire thought that they had brains. I did not see any wrongs of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk a great soldier and statesman of the 20th century. I used to call Ataturk ""the Prophet of his times. Someone who treats a prisoner of war general with dignity and rejects stepping on the Greek flag deserves this."
It is a sad story of someone who until his death called himself an Armenian Turk and never had a feeling of hatred towards the Turks. He visited Turkey many times and the ten pages at the end of the book are full of photographs of his village in Turkey and family, including his children.
I hope this book will be translated into English soon and read by the Diaspora Armenians who perhaps will see the other side of the story.
Yuksel Oktay, PE
17 November 2008
Istanbul
Notes. (1) Among the few the book that tells the story of both sides is ʽʼHacinʼʼ.
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21.8.08
2568) Book Review : The Wrong Republic – 51 Questions and Ataturk and Kemalism by Sevan Nisanyan
Yanlis Cumhuriyet – Ataturk ve Kemalism Uzerine 51 Soru
Sevan Nisanyan, in Turkish by Kirmizi Publishing House, May 2008, Second Printing, July 2008
The author of this book has joined the long list of writers, mostly foreign, who have chosen to attack Ataturk and the Turkish Republic that he founded rather than to make suggestions as to how to understand his principles and improve on the accomplishments to .
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12.5.08
2465) Book Review : Genocide of Truth
Genocide of Truth, By Sukru Server Aya
Istanbul Commerce University Publication N0. 25
January 2008
Armenian genocide is a controversial issue and also a fabrication by many Armenians and their supporters who benefit from it according to those who have studied the events of the end of 19th and the beginning of 20th century with an open mind and without prejudice. Through the efforts of selfish Armenians, the issue have been carried to the legislative organs of 19 countries and 41 States in America, passing Resolutions declaring April 24 as the genocide day. Articles, books, commentaries which support the Armenian claims number in the hundreds of thousands, mostly based on a few books written by Ambassadors and Missionaries as war propaganda and the survivors of the relocation and immigrants to foreign countries. Very few books have been written by Turks and their supporters that show the Armenian genocide is a myth, as best described in a book by Austrian historian, Erich Feigel, “A Myth of Terror” and other books listed below (1). . .
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1.1.08
2260) Book Review: The War of the World, Twentieth Century Conflict and the Descent of the West
Review by Yuksel Oktay
Another Book That Presents A Distorted View Of The Alleged Armenian Genocide And Turkish History And A False Image Of The Turks To The Thousands Of Readers Of This Book
The War of the World, Twentieth Century Conflict and the Descent of the West
Niall Fergusson, 2007, The Penguin Press, England and USA
This is a book about World War II, which has been presented to the world as the West’s greatest triumph, between 1939 and 1945, lasting for six years. Niall Fergusson, however, presents the view that the war was actually the result of fifty-year struggle between rival empires, waged against innocent civilians by their fellow human beings. . . Unfortunately, like many other historians and reporters, the book has a one-sided and a biased treatment of the Ottoman Empire’s final days and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, listed as “Kemal” in the index, never referring to him with his rightful name Ataturk, with much space to the alleged Armenian genocide, although this is outside the scope of the book..
The 808 page book, after a lengthy introduction of close to 40 pages, begins with a look at 9/11, 1901 in the first section of part I, Empires and Races, and makes reference to the Qing and the Ottoman Empires as being the oldest. In table I.1, the territories and the population of 14 empires in 1913 are presented, including Turkey and the United States (US population 91,972,266, excluding territories and Phillippines, Turkey 29,000,000 and total world 1,791,000,000.) The book is presented under four parts and 16 sections with an Appendix, “The War of the World in Historical Perspectives.”
The events in the Ottoman Empire during the early 20th century (1913-1922) are covered under Section 5 of part I, Graves of Nations, making references to the teachings of Ziya Gokalp, claiming that this paved way to the evolution from an empire into a nation state, even before the outbreak of the First World War. No mention of the creation of the Turkish Republic and the heroic efforts of Ismet Inonu to keep Turkey outside of the World War II. There are only three brief references to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, as Kemal (p. 182), where he is mentioned as having played a key role in the defense of Gallipoli against British invasion in 1915. This is followed by the statements that “Kemal master mined the expulsion of the Greeks from Anatolia, and after entering Smyrna (Izmir), Kemal’s army sealed off the Armenian quarter and began systematically butchering 25,000 Armenians, then setting fire to it, incinerating any survivors.” What a fabrication..
There are numerous references to the Armenian genocide, complete with a photograph of supposedly dead Armenian children and a water color painting called “Armenian Horrors.” The author makes reference to Amb. Henry Morgenthau’s reports about what was being done – including the telling statement of Mehmed Talaat pasha, the Interior Minister, “that all the Armenians had to perish because ‘those who were innocent today might be guilty tomorrow’,” which is a fabricated statement. It even makes reference to a statement supposedly made by Rafael de Nogales, a South American Mercenary who served as the Inspector General of the Turkish forces in Armenia, that the Governor-General of the providence had ordered that all Armenian males of twelve years of age and over to be exterminated, which again is a fabricated statement.
The author calls himself a wandering scholar and in the lengthy Acknowledgments section, admits that the book is based largely on secondary sources, perhaps many not so reliable. He also states that he pursued certain issues into the primary sources, spending a lot of time at numerous public and private archives, including the United States Holocaust Museum Library and Archives, Washington, DC. It has taken ten years to complete the book with the assistance of many, including a dozen students, according to the author. There are 645 footnotes in 61 pages, reduced from the original 2,000, according to the author. Among the long list of Sources and Bibliography, there are only two books listed by Turks, Turk Inkilabi Tarihi (1952) by Yusuf Hikmet Bayur and “Turkey in the World War (1930), by Ahmed Emin Yalman. The author promises that a full list of all references will be published in due course on his website www.niallferguson.org.
This is yet another book that presents a distorted view of the alleged Armenian genocide and Turkish history and a false image of the Turks to the thousands of readers of this book. I ran into this book looking for a book about America at a small library in Washington, New Jersey, America 1908 by Jim Rasenberger. I will write to the author and the publisher of this book, pointing out the biased treatment of Turks and never giving credit to Ataturk, the greatest leader of the twentieth century whose statement, “Peace at home, peace in the World” should be the motto for everyone to follow. I hope the readers of this review will take time to write to the author and the publisher and the Library of Congress and point out to the prejudiced treatment of the Turks.
Yuksel Oktay, PE
29 December 2007, Washington NJ
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17.12.07
2249) Hacin By Zebercet Coskun: Book Review
Hacin, a novel by Zebercet Coskun, tells the story of Moslems and Armenians living together for hundreds of years peacefully in a town that dates to the times of the Hittites, than turning against each other during the war . .
years and the re-location of Armenians in 1915. Following World War I, the French forces occupy Hacin along with many towns in the area known as Cilicia, including Adana and Maras and allows the return of the Armenians to their homes. The French occupiers put Armenians in charge of the administration of the town, who commit many atrocities against the moslem population during the take over. During the Turkish War of Independence, the town is liberated by the guerrilla forces on October 18, 1920 and the Armenian population leaves the area with the French occupiers.
The author, Zeber Coskun, born in Gemlik, Izmir, is a graduate of Arnavutkoy American College. In the postcript to the novel, she sates that, in order to attain the freedom of thought, she constantly reads, and to share her experiences gained through traveling and living in different parts of Anatolia, she writes. Ms Coskun sates that she wrote Hacin basing it on many documents, and without taking any sides. However, she emphasizes that she was happy to find out that her own nation was not guilty of any crimes. Her message at the end of the postscript states:
''Nothing, but sorrow will prevail in societies where personal ambitions and animosities take the leading role. Once more, I believe that the key to happiness is not within the system, but in the hearts of the people, in brotherhood and in love.''
Hacin, known as Saimbeyli since 1923 when it was renamed in honor of Saim bey from Hacin, who is also one of the characters in the book, is a picturesque town high on the Tauras mountains, located on a highway between Maras, Kayseri and Adana. The French occupies Hacin and appoints an Armenian, Karabit Calliyan, as the local governor and another Armenian as the head of the Gendarme unit which is made up of all Armenians. Literally, the Armenians rule the town, arrest moslems and put them into jails, the make shift government offices, killing many during interrogations. The Armenians believe that the Molsems in Hacin, those that were left behind, are cooperating with the moslem guerrillas who have taken back many villages near Hacin from the French anda re now approachin Hacin.
The novel begins with the main character, Mursel, going up the stairs to the second floor of his house where he lives with his wife Fatma and three children, Naime, Faik and Suleyman. Mursel is a school teacher and one of most respected member of the Hacin moslems. Mursel is sad, thinking of what will happen when the French take over the city and bring back the Armenians who were forced to leave four years ago. The Armenian family of Mihran Katayan lives in the same house, occupying the lower floor and the two families are very close to each other, providing all kinds of assistance, Mihran even hiding the 12 year old son of Mursel when the Gendarme come to arrest the Moslems living in the house.
Mursel and the town's elit go to the outskirts of Hacin to greet the French forces coming to take over the administration of the town. However, later they are worried that the Armenians returning to Hacin will take revenge. In fact, that is exactly what happens and the gendarme starts arresting Moslems for no reason. As the harassment becomes unbearable, Moslems of Hacin start making plans to escape , even bribing some of the Armenian gendarme in order to leave the town.
When the Armenian gendarmes put Mursel under house arrest, his wife, Fatma, goes to the American High School high on the hill and meets with Miss Cold, the Principal, and re-enrolls her daughter Naime, who becomes one of only two moslem students at the school. Fatma also asks Miss Cold to allow her to stay at the school to escape the constant harassment by the Armenian gendarme who tells her that if she marries him, she will be saved. Miss Cold tells Fatma that she can not stay at the school and that she can not take sides in the conflict.
Than, the Moslem guerrillas enter Hacin after bombarding the castle for several weeks and start evacuating the Armenians from their homes, killing many along the way. Kurt Hasso even attempts to kill Armenian children, because his own children were killed by Armenians, but Suleyman stops him, telling him that the children had nothing to do with the conflict. The town is burned down, most of the houses are demolished and the book ends with Naime and Suleyman leaving Hacin on a horseback, because, there is no one left in the town. It is a very sad story.
The book is 391 pages and ends with a four page poem that tells the sad story of Hacin. Interestingly, a beautiful photograph of a bird adorns the cover of the book, a gift to the author from the world famous photographer Ara Guler, an Armenian Turk like no other.
The book is interesting where each main character tells his or her own story first hand. There are many instances where the Armenians and Turks help each other and together curse those who created the conflict, forcing them to kill each other. The American High School, one of over four hundred across the Ottoman Empire at the time, tries to stay outside the conflict, helping the victims on both sides. The Principal, Miss Cold tells everyone that she has a wireless that she can use to tell America if any harm comes to her school. When the school is taken over, Miss Cold leaves Hacin as the town once again comes under the Ottoman rule.
Kurtis Matbaasi, Istanbul 1975
Review by Yuksel Oktay, PE
October 12, 2006, Istanbul
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6.11.07
2171) Book Review: Memories Of A Boy Named ‘’M.K.’’ During Re-Location–1915 And After
Prepared for Publication by Baskin Oran, Iletisim Yayinlari, Istanbul, 2005
Recorded by Manuel Kirkyasaryan in 1980, at the age of 76 years. He was born in Adana in1906, died in Australia in 1987 at the age of 91. .
This is a different kind of a book book which tells the story of an Armenian with explanations on the events by a Turkish academician, Baskin Oran (1), who ran for the Parliament in 2007 as an independent and lost. Baskin Oran is well known in Turkey through his many books and articles published in several newspapers including Birgun, AGOS and other magazines.
Baskin Oran emphasizes that, despite all the hardship that M.K. faced, he gives no room to hatred in his memoirs, ready to forgive and to love .
The 160 page book begins with an introduction, presenting a chronology of events in M.K.’s life, which takes him from Adana to Cyprus, on to Alepo (Halep) and finally to Australia where he establishes a business of growing apricots and selling dried apricots worldwide. His father was originally from Hacin (Saimbeyli) where Armenians used to live, both before and after the re-location (2). M.K. was 3 years old when the Armenian uprisings begin in Adana in 1909. As a footnote, Baskin Oran presents a summary of the Adana uprising, giving the two versions; one, the riots were started by the Tasnak and Hincak committee members, the other, the Moslems attacked the Armenian quarter to seize their belongings. At the end, Baskin Oran claims that 17,000 Armenians and 1,850 Moslems died during the uprising. Following the trials, many Moslems and Armenians were either sentenced to prison or executed (3).
M.K.’s memoirs begin with the relocation of Armenians in 1915, including M.K. and his family. In the footnote, Baskin Oran briefly explains the reasons fro the forced re-location of Armenians with very little mention of the Armenian uprisings. M.K. tells Baskin Oran that his mother commits suicide during the relocation and one day he finds his father murdered, along with many others. M.K. has four sisters, but they have already gotten married and immigrated to the US or the island of Corfu (the one married to an Armenian from Tarsus), long before the relocation. M.K. manages to flee and go to Cyprus.
In 1924, M.K. goes to Halep, where the memoirs end. M.K.’s story beyond 1924 is told to Baskin Oran by his son Stepan and daughter Misak Basyan. In a footnote, Baskin Oran states that Stepan Kirkyasaryan lives in Australia..
The ‘’Introduction’’, which begins with a comment by M.K. that he believes that the re-location was masterminded by the Germans, gives a brief summary of the First World War and how the Ottoman government got involved. There are several references to the Armenian deputies in the Parliament, one even objecting to German’s involvement in building the Bagdat railway. The remaining five chapters describes M.K.’s life during the relocation and afterwards in the Kurdish and Suryani villages until he reaches the age of 16, than his memoirs on the way to Musul and finally to Halep at the age of 19. The book also has 16 pages of family photographs and copies of documents on M.K.
(1). (oran@politics.ankara.edu.tr)
(2). Hacin, a novel by Zebercet Coskun, tells the story of French occupation of Hacin with Armenians on their side.
(3). For detailed information on the Adana uprisings, please see ‘’The Massacres the Armenians committed in Adana Province and the French-Armenian Relations. KOK series of Social and Strategical Research No. 9, Ankara
(2). Many books by Armenians have been published, both in English and Turkish, on the –relocation of Armenians, ‘’Hilal’in Golgesinde bir Ermeni Kizin Yazgizi’’ among them.
Yuksel Oktay, PE, 3 November 2007, Istanbul
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27.10.07
2130) Book Review: Armenian Doctor in Turkey By Dora Sakayan
"Bir Ermeni Doktorun Yasadiklari - Garabet Haceryan'in Izmir Guncesi"
Belge Yayinlari, Istanbul, 2005
This is yet another book by the grandson of an Ottoman-Armenian, Dora Sakayan, born in Selanik in 1931, who has been living in Montreal since 1975. While going through his grandfather Dr. Garabet Haceryan's belongings in 1992, Sakayan comes across a diary, kept by his grandfather in 1922 (70 years later). He publishes the diary in Armenian in 1995, than in English in 1997, followed by Spanish, French and Greek editions. The diary supposedly tells the story of his grandfather's 15 days between Sept 9-24, 1922, when they face hardship following the victorious entry of the Turkish army to Izmir. The grandfather claims that the great Izmir fire was started by the Turkish soldiers on September 13 in the Armenian quarters following the liberation of Izmir from the Greek occupiers on Sept 9, 1922. This, of course, has been proven to be a lie by many researchers, including Prof. Dr. Turkkaya Ataov, just like many other fabrications by some Armenians, such as the Hitler statement.
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19.8.07
1888) Free E-Book: Red Rugs Of Tarsus A Woman’s Record Of Armenian Massacres Of 1909
Updated With The Full Book View 4 Nov 2011
By Helen Davenport Gibbons
The New York Century Co. 1917
Published, April 1917 . .
The Letters that a young teacher at St. Paul’s College in Tarsus (the predecessor of Tarsus American College) sent to her mother in the United States beginning with her arrival in Tarsus on her 26th birthday on Dec 2, 1908, and published as a book in 1917, is available on the ArmenianHouse.org website. (St. Paul’s Colege was established in 1888 by Col. Elliott Shepard on the persuasion of missionary Dr. Thomas Christie following his stop over in Tarsus on his way to Jerusalem.) For those interested in the early life at Tarsus American College and what happened in Adana and Tarsus in 1909, and how the incidents were made public in the US, this is a very valuable, nostalgic and easy to read book. It is interesting that the 194 page book (short pages) has been dedicated to the ‘’Memory of C.H.M. Doughty-Whlie, V.C., the Major of this book who was killed in action leading a charge on Gallipoli Peninsula, April 29, 1915.’’
The ‘’Book of Letters’’ opens with the young teacher wishing that her mother was with her on her first married birthday in front of the fireplace in her bedroom at St. Paul’s College, twenty years after its founding. Than, the author goes on describing her house and its contents, including a First Aid outfit given to her as a wedding gift. In the next chapter, she writes about her and her husband Herbert’s teaching their classes how to plan and construct an essay and describes the Christmas celebrations at night, referring to her cooking that she learned at Simmins College and Bryn Mawr as having prepared her for the adventure in a country which she refers to as ‘’god forsaken lands.’’
The teacher refers to Dr. Thomas Christie and also Daddy Christie several times, and writes about their Greek helper, Socrates, whose education they sponsor, and their Armenian friends, seldom mentioning Turks in the book, only referring to them as being indifferent to human suffering. There are also references to the activities of Mormon and British missionaries in the area. In pages 27-30, Helen writes about their trip to the Cave of Seven Sleepers, something that a Tarsus graduate also mentioned in his latest ‘’Ashab-i Keyf’’’ story, except Helen states that the seven men that fled from Tarsus slept in the cave for one hundred years rather than three hundred and nine years, and when they wake up, they learn that that the whole world was Christian.
On page 40, Helen writes about her weekend trip to Adana where they visit the family of Chambers who live in the heart of the Armenian quarter and run the Girl’s School of the Mission in Adana, a city of sixty thousand. The family also makes weekend trips to Mersina (present day Mersin) and Helen writes about the Christie’s family and how one day Dr. Christie purchases one hundred chickens with his Civil Was pension when they run out of food.
In her letter dated April 14, 1909, Helen writes about massacres starting in Adana where four Armenian women were killed followed by the hundreds, both Armenians and Turks, and how Armenians in Tarsus start coming to the school, looking for protection, food and shelter. Than, the teacher states: ‘’How would you like to live in a country where you knew your Government not only would not protect you, but would periodically incite your neighbors to rob and kill you with the help of the army.’’ On page 138, she writes about the death of Daniel Miner Rogers, one of the missionaries, in Adana, who was actually killed by a stray bullet, as noted in a recent message form one of our former teachers and Principals, which is not mentioned in the book. Daniel Miner Rogers was the husband of Mrs Mary Christie Rogers Nute, whose grandchildren live in Pennsylvania, I believe.
Helen gives birth to a baby girl and the book ends with the departure of the teacher with her husband and new born baby to Egypt in April, 1909.
The author refers to the Adana incidents as if one day the Ottoman Turks decided to kill all the Armenians, without giving any backround information on the causes and making no reference to the findings of the ‘’Commission’’ that was established by the Ottoman Government following the incidents which included an Armenian Deputy, Hagop Babikian, to determine the causes of the incident. (The Commission Report was prepared but not not presented to the Parliament due to the death of Babikian the night before the scheduled debate, some even claiming that Babikian was murdered by some Armenians since he knew the facts, according to Salahi Sonyel’s book (1).) According to the memoirs of Talat Pasa, the purpose of the incidents was to provoke the people to riot, to attract European attention, and to establish an autonomous Armenian state in Clicia. As presented in Salahi Sonyel’s book , bishop Mousheg was a ‘firebrand’ who was seeking to force the foreign Powers to intervene, with the ultimate aim of declaring himself ‘king of Cilicia’ as confirmed by secret British documents (p.71).
Many books and artciles have been written about the incidents that took place in Adana and vicinity following the proclamation of Second Mesrutiyet in 1908 which provided equality among the different nationalities and allowed anyone in the Ottoman Empire to obtain guns freely. A 240 page book by Yusuf Ziya Bildirici (2) tells in detail the causes and the consequences of the incidents with full of references, documents and photographs. The proclamation gave the Armenian rebels the opportunity to accumulate huge arsenals of weapons and the Armenian bishop Mousheg, whose only aim in life was to be king, organized them in regular fighting forces who started the massacres of the Ottoman Turks, according to Salahi Sonyel. These facts, however, are not mentioned in ‘’The Red Carpets of Tarsus’’, described in many other books, including Guenter Lewy’s ‘’The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey – A disputed Genocide (3).
There are hundreds and thousands of books and articles written by the Armenians and their supporters about the Armenian issue, always referring to it as the ‘’Armenian massacres’’ and ‘’Armenian genocide,’’ when in fact, the issue was started by the Armenians and hundreds of thousands of Ottoman Turks were massacred by the Armenians who rebelled against their own government. In defense, the Ottoman Turks took to arms and killed Armenian rebels. Also, it was not only the Armenians and the Ottomans who were involved, but also the Russians, the British, the French, the Italians, the Armenian Patriach and many organizations which are mentioned very little, although they bear the responsibility for this tragedy which resulted in the death of both the Armenians and the Ottomans.
For those interested, a photograph of Christie House in Camliyayla (Namrun) is given in the Attachment where photographs of Dr. Christie and his wife adorn the walls. Following a visit there two years ago, additional photographs were distributed to Tarsus American Colege alumni group (TAC) together with a suggestion that the House could be turned into a TAC Museum.
It is recommended that who ever reads the ‘’Red Rugs of Tarsus’’ should also look at the books given below and others in order to get a balanced view of the Adana incidents.
Yuksel Oktay, PE
Istanbul, 22 September 2006
Notes:
(1) The Great War and the Tragedy of Anatolia, (Turks and Armenians in the Maelstorm of Major Powers), by Salahi Sonyel. Turk Tarih Kurumu, 2001 (In English)
(2) Adana’da Ermenilerin yaptigi Katliamlar ve Fransiz-Ermeni Iliskileri, by Yusuf Ziya Bildirici, KOK Sosyal ve Stratejik Arastirmalar Serici No. 15, Ankara, 1999. (In Turkish)
(3) The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey – A Disputed Genocide, by Guenter Lewy, The University of Utah Press. 2005.
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6.5.07
1666) Inside Constantinople During The Dardanelles Expedition : Book Review
INSIDE CONSTANTINOPLE DURING THE DARDANELLES EXPEDITION
A Diplomatist’s Diary, April – September 1915
By Lewis Einstein, Former Minister Plenipotentiary United States Diplomatic Service; Late Special Agent at the American Embassy, Constantinople
Published in 1917, London . .
In an article, ‘’Who is justified to Talk About the so-called Armenian Genocide’’(1), Assist. Prof. Dr. Yucel Acer states that ‘’Distortion of the past events is unavoidable in most cases simply because what happened in the past is widely dependent on the writings of some insiders and statesmen, who are themselves directed by feelings and concerns. If historians comment on these writings with further preferences in their minds, the oucoe is inevitably one-sided account of these events. Thus, rather than to explain truthfully the past to illiminate the now and the future of us, the history is sometimes used in the hands of some as a tool of propoganda to manipulate the present and future world affairs for specific interests and purposes.’’
The book by Lewis Einstein is an example of such distortion of what really happened in 1915. The diaries covers 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. However, the author constantly refers to massacres throughout his diaries which he hears about without giving any specifics. The diaries begin on April 23 and this is what he records on April 24, 1915:
April 24 – The Director of the Bon Marche called here this morning at the Embassy. The police entered his premises yesterday and seized some French toy soldiers. To-day, he was asked to sign a paper by which he acknowledged French uniorms, flags, and military emblems had been found in his possession. Word will be sent to Bedri (The Chief of Police) not to allow his men to make themselves ridicilous. When I mentioned it at dinner at the C.’s, Munir Bey flared up and said that it was impossible.
I have just heard that my old Turkish master, G. Bey, is editing their news bulletins of victory. He is strong Committe man now. Once he told me that the Committee and the enemies were ‘’Tous les deux des canalies,’’ and wept at his country’s fortunes.
That is all. No mention of the arrest of Armenian revolutianaries and the agitators by the Government authorities on April 24, which has been selected as the alleged Armenian Genocide commemoration day since 1965. Mr. Einstein spends most of his time at dinner parties, balls and excursions with the staff from various Embassies. He never mentions the US Ambassador Morgenthau, who is famous for his diaries also, which led to the publication of a book, ‘’The Murder of a Nation’’ from one of his chapters by the Armenian organizations.
On April 25, he writes that ‘’word came of the bombardment at the Dardanelles and that the Allies were landing’’. On May 11, Epstein states that ‘’the Allies secured their first landing at Ari Bournu, where a Turk was in command’’. There is no mention of Mustafa Kemal, who fought against the invading Anzacs commanding the 57th Regiment which was lost to the last soldier. This was a turning point not only in the Turkish but also the World history.
In the preface of his book, Mr. Epstein states that he had resided in Istanbul from 1906 to 1909 first as secretary, and later as Councillar and Charge de Affairs at the American Embassy, a powerful poisition with access to all the information in and outside of Constantinople. He was sent there again in 1915 by the Secretary of State as Special Agent to assist the Ambassador. The Dardanelles Expedition, the author claims, propelled him taking daily notes, and later, publishing it as a book. Without any proof, he boldly states that ‘’The policy of murder than carried out was planned in the coldest blood’’.
The author also mentions the expulsion of Jewish families living along the Bosphorous, referring to them as the children of Jews fighting in the Turkish army, which I have not come accross in any other book. Epstein writes about the expulsion of Armenians from Zeitoon (Suleymaniye), a town in southeastern Turkey, but does not mention the Armenian uprisings that caused the expulsions. On the capture of Van by the Russians on April 11, 1915, he mentions the excessives of the Armenian Volunteers in the Russian army, but no mention of the destruction of the Moslem quarters of the city. Than he makes reference to the members of the Committee of Union and Progress interned at Malta.
His main thesis is that if the fatal attack of the Allies on March 18 had never occurred, the massacres of the Armenians might have never taken place. However, Mr. Epstein conveniently ignores the uprisings of the Armenians and the killing of Turks by the Armenians. On the relocation of the Armenians in the central and eastern Anatolia, Mr. Epstein refers to this as ‘’massacres and officially styled deportations, undertaken under the plea of military necessary.’’<(b> The last entry in the book is on September 15 when he departs to Sofia as American Diplomatic representative in charge of British interests, which might have led him to work with Prof. Toynmbee on his infamous ‘’Blue Book’’.
This is a book that has been in print for close to 90 years, read by the thousands and used as reference by the Armenians and their supporters. The diaries are all one sided, never mentioning the nationalistic ambitions of the Armenians and the activities of the revolutinary parties that later sided with the Russians and took over the city of Van, killings thousands of Turks.
The book, which was located at a bookstore of historical books in London, was donated to the Institute of Armenian Research in Ankara, within the ASAM Center for Eurasian Strategic Stdies, which has an extensive library, so it can be made available to interested readers.
Yuksel Oktay
New Jersey, USA
March 1, 2005
(1). Review of Armenian Studies – A Quarterly Journal of History, Politics and International Relations. Vol 2, No 5 2003. Published by the Institute for Armenian Research.
30/01/07
Copyright © 2003-2004 Turkla.com
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1.10.06
1062) Australian Newspaper Insults Ataturk
An Australian newspaper published a cartoon showing Australian Finance Minister Peter Costello pulling Ataturk’s body from his grave.
In the cartoon, Ataturk was holding a paper that read “Armenian genocide.”
A caption under the cartoon read, “He [Castello] raiseth up Ataturk.”
. .
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4.3.06
512) Book Review: The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey, A Disputed Genocide
There could be some mistakes in the history, but it should be more objective to enlighten those mistaken events with the helping of the historians. Guenter Lewy’s book, The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey, A Disputed Genocide, mainly focuses on the massacres in Ottoman Turkey, and he strongly stands on the way of the truths which he finds from the historical documents. After all, he mentions that trustfully the deaths of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey can not be called “genocide”. There were some deaths but they can not be called as genocide. For calling genocide, it is needed to have a look at the definition of genocide which is mostly accepted to intention to annihilation of one group. To use or say genocide for an event it has to involve an intention of annihilation. In the Armenian case the main aim was not based on the intention of Armenian annihilation. The only thing was deporting the Armenians from some places only for security purposes, because the Armenians became a big problem for the Turks during World War I with the rebellions and armed guerillas inside the country.
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19.8.05
385) William Saroyan and his take on the Turks
When noted Armenian-American author William Saroyan wrote — in "Antranik of Armenia," "Inhale and Exhale," 1935 — "The Turk is the brother of the Armenian and (the manipulative powers) know it," you could tell he was not your typical hateful extremist Armenian. I haven't made a study of his views on the genocidal driving force of his people; I don't believe he generally went out of his way to publicly profess love for the Turks, as that would have been one sure way to face ostracism. Nevertheless, this page will feature some clues on how h. .
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