Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Two Sides of the Same Coin

Prefessor denies Genocide
In Turkish daily Milliyet (June 1st,2009) Professor Kemal Karpat (University of Wisconsin) shows another example of Turkish denials on Genocide. He claims that Armenians were not killed but left Asia Minor with withdrawing Russian armies to the north. Only 100-200 thousand people were forced with migration and they still live in Syria and Lebanon he claims. When pressed by the interviewer that even this number is not sufficient to call it a Genocide he escapes by claiming that "during the war more Turks were cleansed from the Balkans", and he adds that "Turkey never claimed that as a Genocide to prevent extreme nationalistic views in the society". He continues that "we should look at 150 years of history not only 1915. Then we'll see that these actions were normal results of newly founded national states of the times". He also claims that the census results of the times were wrong, there couldn't have been more than 1 million Armenians in the Asia Minor back then.
I am quoting this interview because it is a typical example of Turkish denialism and demagogy.
1. Wake up call #1: When 8000 muslims were killed in "the war" with Serbians in Bosnia, public opinion declared it a Genocide.
2. Wake up call #2: There are still effective muslim minorities everywhere in Balkans from Greece to Bulgaria, from Albania to Bosnia. Though there were several acts of racism throughout the years that were mentioned in the interview, they in fact never reached the scale of a Genocide against the Turks. Their existence in the region is a proof of that. Compare this with the existing Armenian population in Asia Minor, then you'll see Genocide directly looking at your face.
3. Wake up call #3: Ottoman census reports are wrong. Ottoman ruling party (Ittihad and Terakki) communications are wrong. Eye witness records available worldwide are lies. Two generations of hysteria conveyed by a diaspora that almost defines itself as Genocide victims in lieu of Armenians is a make-believe. Every excuse to duck the accusations of a Genocide is valid. Really, get a life!

(to be continued tomorrow.... more on the subject concerning the terror against the Kurds)

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