USE YOUR VOTE: Schiff introduces Armenian genocide resolution

March 21, 2009

19 Comments »

The Hill welcomes comment from anyone and will almost always post it whether it is favorable or critical, as long as it is substantive and advances debate.

1. It’s almost morning in Turkey. Is everyone ready for the Turks to start posting up their made up version of history? They’ll be here any moment.

   Comment by Ken — March 21, 2009 @ 10:48 pm

2. HEY ALL,

   PLEASE READ THIS ARTICLE, PUBLISHED IN “THE JERUSALEM POST,” AND TELL ME THAT THERE WAS NOT AN ARMENIAN GENOCIDE.

   THIS IS ONE OF ISRAEL’S MOST POPULAR NEWSPAPERS.

   YES, ALL OF YOU TURKS SHOULD READ THIS.

   NOW ADD 22 COUNTRIES, THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, 42 OF 50 US STATES, AND IF YOU STILL BELIEVE THAT THERE WASN’T AN ARMENIAN GENOCIDE, THEN YOU SHOULD PROBABLY GO TO A DOCTOR AND GET SOME MEDICATION, BECAUSE THAT’S CALLED SERIOUS DELUSION.

   SINCERELY YOURS

   J. ROGERS

   Comment by John R — March 21, 2009 @ 10:49 pm

3. It’s almost morning in Istanbul. The Turks will be here any moment now to enlighten us about their fabricated version of history.

   Comment by Ken — March 21, 2009 @ 10:51 pm

4. Ms. Johnson, in your story the Turkish Foreign Minister is quoted extensively, alluding that the resolution would harm Turkish-Armenian normalization. Wouldn’t it make sense to include statements from the Armenian Foreign Minister as well? Have there been attempts to contact the Armenian side? What are their views?

   Comment by Dany Beylerian — March 22, 2009 @ 12:17 am

5. Obama has been extremely foolish to back the lies he has been fed by the Armenians and paid historians and should not even be talking about the Armenian deportations as “genocide”.
   One of our foreign ministers was right when in a speech in Brussels he said ‘Turkey would not have been the great country it is today had the Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians been allowed to stay” .
   It is right that the US should take note of Turkey, the US needs Turkey much more than Turkey needs America – Turkey is now the leading voice in the middle east.

   Comment by Van der Galien — March 22, 2009 @ 8:26 am

6. Take a moment to read a letter about the Armenian Genocide from the International Association of Genocide Scholars to President Obama-

   Comment by Dee — March 22, 2009 @ 11:43 am

7. In response to Dany Beylerian – Have there been attempts to contact the Armenian side? What are their views?

   The only reported contact between the Armenian administration and the US was a telephone conversation when 18th March Secretary of State Hilary Clinton called President Sargsyan, after her trip to Ankara. Armenian state television proudly reported the event, but the genocide issue gave way to Armenian requests for more US financial assistance.

   In order for the Armenian / Turkish border to be opened, one of Turkey’s continued and repeated demands is that Armenia retracts its claim of genocide and agrees to a longstanding Turkish proposal for a commission of historians to study the matter. The Armenian regime increasingly expresses its confidence that the Armenian / Turkish border will soon be opened, but Armenia’s MFA Eduard Nalbandian has never explained how the genocide issue has been resolved. Moreover, he interestingly states that genocide has never been discussed with Turkey. )

   Genocide recognition is the single most important issue for all self-respecting Armenians. But the Armenian public has no voice in this matter. The Armenian position is negotiated by the Sargsyan regime, and according to the Turkish press he has agreed to sign the document to establish the commission of historians just prior to the 24th April.

   )

   For more details and a chronology of genocide related news events:

   Comment by Bruce Tasker — March 23, 2009 @ 3:46 am

8. Statement of Professor Bernard Lewis
   Princeton University
   Distinguishing Armenian Case from Holocaust

   April 14, 2002

   C-SPAN2
   

   Question: “The British press reported in 1997 that your views on the killing of one million Armenians by the Turks in 1915 did not amount to genocide and in this report in the Independent of London, says that a French court fined you one frank in damages after you said there was no genocide. This obviously triggered a debate in Israel where this quoted article (Moderator cuts in and asks him to ask his question as their running out of time). My question is, sir, have your views changed on this whether the killing of one million Armenians amounts to genocide and your views on this judgment?”

   Bernard Lewis responds: “This is a question of definition and nowadays the word “genocide” is used very loosely even in cases where no bloodshed is involved at all and I can understand the annoyance of those who feel refused. But in this particular case, the point that was being made was that the massacre of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire was the same as what happened to Jews in Nazi Germany and that is a downright falsehood. What happened to the Armenians was the result of a massive Armenian armed rebellion against the Turks, which began even before war broke out, and continued on a larger scale.

   Great numbers of Armenians, including members of the armed forces, deserted, crossed the frontier and joined the Russian forces invading Turkey. Armenian rebels actually seized the city of Van and held it for a while intending to hand it over to the invaders. There was guerilla warfare all over Anatolia. And it is what we nowadays call the National Movement of Armenians Against Turkey. The Turks certainly resorted to very ferocious methods in repelling it.

   There is clear evidence of a decision by the Turkish Government, to deport the Armenian population from the sensitive areas. Which meant naturally the whole of Anatolia. Not including the Arab provinces which were then still part of the Ottoman Empire. There is no evidence of a decision to massacre. On the contrary, there is considerable evidence of attempt to prevent it, which were not very successful. Yes there were tremendous massacres, the numbers are very uncertain but a million nay may well be likely.

   The massacres were carried out by irregulars, by local villagers responding to what had been done to them and in number of other ways. But to make this, a parallel with the holocaust in Germany, you would have to assume the Jews of Germany had been engaged in an armed rebellion against the German state, collaborating with the allies against Germany. That in the deportation order the cities of Hamburg and Berlin were exempted, persons in the employment of state were exempted, and the deportation only applied to the Jews of Germany proper, so that when they got to Poland they were welcomed and sheltered by the Polish Jews. This seems to me a rather absurd parallel.”

   Comment by Jill — March 23, 2009 @ 10:59 am

9. Boghos Nubar Pasha to The Times of London (January 30, 1919)

   Boghos Nubar Pasha was the leader of the Armenian delegation in attendance at the Paris Peace Conference after World War I. In his letter to The Times of London, dated 30 January 1919, he openly acknowledges that it was the Armenian contributions to the allied war effort which led to their mistreatment by the Ottoman authorities.

   To the Editor of the Times,
   Sir, the name of Armenia is not on the list of the nations admitted to the Peace Conference. Our sorrow and our disappointment are deep beyond expression. Armenians naturally expected their demand for admission to the Conference to be conceded, after all they had done for the common cause.
   The unspeakable suffering and the dreadful losses that have befallen the Armenians by reason of their faithfulness to the Allies are now fully known. But I must emphasize the fact unhappily known to few, that ever since the beginning of the war the Armenians fought by the side of the Allies on all fronts. Adding our losses in the field to the greater losses through massacres and deportations, we find that over a million out of a total Armenian population of four million and a half have lost their lives in and through the war. Armenia’s tribute to death is thus undoubtedly heavier in proportion than that of any other belligerent nation. For the Armenians have been belligerents de facto, since they indignantly refused to side with Turkey.
   Our volunteers fought in the French “Legion Entrangere” and covered themselves with glory. In the Legion d’Orient they numbered over 5,000, and made up more than half the French contingent in Syria and Palestine, which took part in the decisive victory of General Allenby.
   In the Caucasus, without mentioning the 150,000 Armenians in the Russian armies, about 50,000 Armenian volunteers under Andranik, Nazarbekoff, and others not only fought for four years for the cause of the Entente, but after the breakdown of Russia they were the only forces in the Caucasus to resist the advance of the Turks, whom they held in check until the armistice was signed. Thus they helped the British forces in Mesopotamia by hindering the Germano-Turks from sending their troops elsewhere.
   These services have been acknowledged by the Allied Governments, as Lord Robert Cecil recognized in the House of Commons.
   In virtue of all these considerations the Armenian National Delegation asked that the Armenian nation should be recognized as a belligerent. Had the recognition been granted, we should now have been admitted, ipso facto, to the Conference, to which even transatlantic States have found access, though having merely broken off diplomatic relations with Germany, without the least sacrifice on their part.
   At the moment when the fate of Armenia is being decided at the Peace Conference, it is my duty, as the head of the National Delegation which has no tribute from which its voice can resound, to state once again, in the columns of The Times, the important part played by the Armenians in this frightful war. I wish strongly to urge that the Armenians, having of their own free will cast their lot with the champions of right and justice, the victory of the Allies over their common enemies has secured to them a right to independence.

   Believe me, sir, yours very truthfully,
   Boghos Nubar

   Comment by Jill — March 23, 2009 @ 11:01 am

10. Enough with this genocide bs. Armenians should stop being cry babies, admit to the crimes they have comitted as well and get a life.

    Comment by Kenny — March 23, 2009 @ 11:30 am

11. UK ‘s position – a very recent statement

    Dear friends,

    This is a very recent statement from the UK government.

    …..NEITHER THIS GOVERNMENT NOR PREVIOUS BRITISH GOVERNMENTS HAVE JUDGED THAT THE EVIDENCE IS SUFFICIENTLY UNEQUIVOCAL TO PERSUADE US THAT THESE EVENTS SHOULD BE CHARACTERISED AS GENOCIDE UNDER THE 1948 UN CONVENTION ON GENOCIDE”

    Events of 1915 – Britain’s position

    Minister Lord Malloch-Brown, responsible for Africa, Asia and United Nations in the Foreign Affairs, issued the following statement, on March 4th, 2008, in response to a question directed to the House of Lords of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, with respect to the events of 1915:

    “Armenia: Genocide

    Baroness Finlay of Llandaff asked Her Majesty’s Government:Whether they recognise the existence of genocide in Armenia in 1915.

    The Minister of State Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown) : The position of the Government on this issue is long-standing. The Government acknowledge the strength of feeling about this terrible episode of history and recognise the massacres of 1915-16 as a tragedy. However neither this Government nor previous Governments have judged that the evidence is sufficiently unequivocal to persuade us that these events should be categorised as genocide as defined by the 1948 UN Convention on Genocide.

    As my right honourable friend the then Minister for Europe (Geoffrey Hoon) said in a debate in Westminster Hall on 7 June 2006 (Official Report col. 137WH) the work of establishing the truth must be conducted as a joint exercise by the parties directly involved if it is to help towards reconciliation. There needs to be a truth and reconciliation process owned by the people of Armenia and Turkey. Outsiders can commend the idea to the parties but they should not try to do the work for them-undertaking this is an important part of the confidence-building and reconciliation process for the parties themselves. The Government will continue to encourage the parties to embark on such a process. In the mean time we should resist the temptation to pre-empt its conclusions.”

    ~~~

    Lord Triesman, Parliamentary Under Secretary in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in response to a question, made the following statement on January the 22nd, 2007:

    OFFICIAL POSITION OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT ON ARMENIAN ALLEGATIONS

    (JANUARY 22, 2007)

    ON BEHALF OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT, DEPUTY MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS FOR PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS, LORD TRIESMAN MADE THE FOLLOWING DECLARATION IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS:

    “….FOR THIS GOVERNMENT, RECOGNITION OF THE SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IS NOT A CONDITION OF TURKEY’S MEMBERSHIP OF THE EU. I WISH TO BE STRAIGHTFORWARD AND CLEAR ABOUT THAT. NEITHER THIS GOVERNMENT NOR PREVIOUS BRITISH GOVERNMENTS HAVE JUDGED THAT THE EVIDENCE IS SUFFICIENTLY UNEQUIVOCAL TO PERSUADE US THAT THESE EVENTS SHOULD BE CHARACTERISED AS GENOCIDE UNDER THE 1948 UN CONVENTION ON GENOCIDE”

    Comment by Cem Tuncoglu — March 23, 2009 @ 11:37 am

12. Armenian story has another side

    By Norman Stone, a historian and the author of “World War I: A Short History”

    October 16, 2007
    All the world knows what the end of an empire looks like: hundreds of thousands of people fleeing down dusty paths, taking what was left of their possessions; crammed refugee trains puffing their way across arid plains; and many, many people dying. For the Ottoman Empire that process began in the Balkans, the Crimea and the Caucasus as Russia and her satellites expanded. Seven million people — we would now call them Turks — had to settle in Anatolia, the territory of modern Turkey.

    In 1914, when World War I began in earnest, Armenians living in what is now Turkey attempted to set up a national state. Armenians revolted against the Ottoman government, began what we would now call “ethnic cleansing” of the local Turks. Their effort failed and caused the government to deport most Armenians from the area of the revolt for security reasons. Their sufferings en route are well-known.

    Today, Armenian interests in America and abroad are well-organized. What keeps them united is the collective memory of their historic grievance. What happened was not in any way their fault, they believe. If the drive to carve out an ethnically pure Armenian state was a failure, they reason, it was only because the Turks exterminated them.

    For years, Armenians have urged the U.S. Congress to recognize their fate as genocide. Many U.S. leaders — including former secretaries of state and defense and current high-ranking Bush administration officials — have urged Congress either not to consider or to vote down the current genocide resolution primarily for strategic purposes: Turkey is a critical ally to the U.S. in both Iraq and Afghanistan and adoption of such a resolution would anger and offend the Turkish population and jeopardize U.S.-Turkish relations.

    Given this strong opposition, why would Congress, upon the advice of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, make itself arbiter of this controversy? What makes the Armenians’ dreadful fate so much worse than the dreadful fates that come with every end of empire? It is here that historians must come in.

    First, allegedly critical evidence of the crime consists of forgeries. The British were in occupation of Istanbul for four years after the war and examined all of the files of the Ottoman government. They found nothing, and therefore could not try the 100-odd supposed Turkish war criminals that they were holding. Then, documents turned up, allegedly telegrams from the interior ministry to the effect that all Armenians should be wiped out. The signatures turned out to be wrong, there were no back-up copies in the archives and the dating system was misunderstood.

    There are many other arguments against a supposed genocide of the Armenians. Their leader was offered a post in the Turkish Cabinet in 1914, and turned it down. When the deportations were under way, the populations of the big cities were exempted — Istanbul, Izmir, Aleppo, where there were huge concentrations of Armenians. There were indeed well-documented and horrible massacres of the deportee columns, and the Turks themselves tried more than 1,300 men for these crimes in 1916, convicted many and executed several. None of this squares with genocide, as we classically understand it. Finally, it is just not true that historians as a whole support the genocide thesis. The people who know the background and the language (Ottoman Turkish is terribly difficult) are divided, and those who do not accept the genocide thesis are weightier. The Armenian lobby contends that these independent and highly esteemed historians are simply “Ottomanists” — a ridiculously arrogant dismissal.

    Unfortunately, the issue has never reached a properly constituted court. If the Armenians were convinced of their own case, they would have taken it to one. Instead, they lobby bewildered or bored parliamentary assemblies to “recognize the genocide.”

    Congress should not take a position, one way or the other, on this affair. Let historians decide. The Turkish government has been saying this for years. It is the Armenians who refuse to take part in a joint historical review, even when organized by impeccably neutral academics. This review is the logical and most sensible path forward. Passage of the resolution by the full House of Representatives would constitute an act of legislative vengeance and would shame well-meaning scholars who want to explore this history from any vantage point other than the one foisted upon the world by ultranationalist Armenians.
    Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune

    Comment by Cem Tuncoglu — March 23, 2009 @ 11:42 am

13. Turkey is saying that the so-called “reproachment” will be hampered by the Armenian Genocide resolution, not-so says the Armenian government representative.

    In a letter sent soon after legistlation recognizing the Armenian Genocide was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the Armenian parliament expresses complete support for the measure and writes: ” I am confident that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the United Stated not only would not hamper, but on the contrary will contribute to the prospects of a thorough dialogue between Turkey and Armenia.”

    March 19, 2009

    The Honorable Howard Berman
    Chairman
    Committee on Foreign Affairs
    U.S. House of Representatives
    Washington, DC 20510

    Dear Chairman Berman:

    I have the pleasure to write to you upon the introduction of legislation recognizing the Armenian Genocide, and to share with you and your colleagues our complete support for the adoption of this measure affirming the commitment of the United States to the
    cause of genocide-prevention. Armenia aspires for the universal recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide, and sees it both as a restoration of an historical justice and as a way to improve the overall situation in the region, while also preventing similar crimes in the future.

    The Armenian people in our homeland, in the United States and around the world, remain grateful for the hard work that you and your colleagues, including, of course Congressmen Adam Schiff and George Radanovich, have devoted over the course of many years to secure U.S. recognition and official commemoration of this crime. I am confident that the proponents of this process are also rightly convinced that the lack of official recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the United States has thus far in fact served to make Turkey’s position in the issue of resolving the Armenian-Turkish relations more uncompromising. We value these efforts and are, this year, particularly encouraged by the clear statements of President Barack Obama and senior members of his Administration in this regard during the elections.

    Please know that I remain available to share with your Congressional colleagues, either in writing or in person, the principled stand of the Republic of Armenia in support of universal recognition of the Armenian Genocide. I am confident that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the United Stated not only would not hamper, but on the contrary will contribute to the prospects of a thorough dialogue between Turkey and Armenia. A clear and principled stance by the U.S. can only assist in developing awareness that the recognition of the Genocide is not at all a demonstration of anti-Turkish sentiments, but a necessity emanating from the need to condemn this crime against humanity. Furthermore, any durable improvement of Armenia-Turkey relations must rest upon a foundation of shared respect for truth and justice.

    Thank you for your friendship with the people and government of the Republic of Armenia and for all your support and assistance over the years.

    Sincerely,
    Armen Rustamyan
    Chairman
    Standing Committee on Foreign Relations
    National Assembly of Armenia

    Comment by Rich — March 23, 2009 @ 11:57 am

14. Here are some excerpts from First Armenian Prime Minister of Republic of Armenia– Hovannes Kachaznouni…

    He explains regretfully for forming bands against Ottoman Turks and fighting them.. Does this sound to you like a one sided genocide of Armenians??

    What’s below is the complete edition of the 1955 booklet released by the Armenian Information Service, offering a record of Hovhannes Katchaznouni’s parting words to the Dashnagtzoutiun, given in the form of an address to the Party congress in 1923 Bucharest.

    ……………
    If the formation of bands was wrong, the root of that error must be sought much further and more deeply. At the present time it is important to register only the evidence that we did participate In that volunteer movement to the largest extent and we did that contrary to the decision and the will of the General Meeting of the Party.

    The Winter of 1914 and the Spring of 1915 were the periods of greatest enthusiasm and hope for all the Armenians in the Caucasus, including, of course, the Dashnagtzoutiun. We had no doubt the war would end with the complete victory of the Allies; Turkey would be defeated and dismembered, and its Armenian population would at last be liberated.

    We had embraced Russia whole-heartedly without any compunction. Without any positive basis of fact we believed that the Tzarist government would grant us a more-or-less broad self-government in the Caucasus and in the Armenian vilayets liberated from Turkey as a reward for our loyalty, our efforts and assistance.

    We had created a dense atmosphere of illusion in our minds. We had implanted our own desires into the minds of others; we had lost our sense of reality and were carried away with our dreams. From mouth to mouth, from ear to ear passed mysterious words purported to have been spoken in the palace of the Viceroy; attention was called to some kind of a letter by Vorontzov-Dashkov to the Catholicos as an important document in our hands to use in the presentation of our rights and claims — a cleverly composed letter with very indefinite sentences and generalities which might be interpreted in any manner, according to one’s desire.

    We overestimated the ability of the Armenian people, its political and military power, and overestimated the extent and importance of the services our people rendered to the Russians. And by overestimating our very modest worth and merit we were naturally exaggerating our hopes and expectations.

    The deportations and mass exiles and massacres which took place during the Summer and Autumn of 1915 were mortal blows to the Armenian Cause. Half of historical Armenia —the same half where the foundations of our independence would be laid according to traditions inherited from the early eighties and as the result of the course adopted by European diplomacy — that half was denuded of Armenians: the Armenian provinces of Turkey were without Armenians. The Turks knew what they were doing and have no reason to regret today. It was the most decisive method of extirpating the Armenian Question from Turkey.

    Again, it would be useless to ask today to what extent the participation of volunteers in the war was a contributory cause of the Armenian calamity. No one can claim that the savage persecutions would not have taken place if our behavior on this side of the frontier was different, as no one can claim the contrary, that the persecutions would have been the same even if we had not shown hostility to the Turks. This is a matter about which it is possible to have many different opinions.

    The proof is, however — and this is essential — that the struggle begun decades ago against the Turkish government brought about the deportation or extermination of the Armenian people in Turkey and the desolation of Turkish Armenia. This was the terrible fact!

    Civilized humanity might very well be shaken with rage in the face of this unspeakable crime. Statesmen might utter menacing words against criminal Turkey. “Blue”, “yellow”, “orange” books and papers might be published condemning them. Divine, punishment against the criminals might be invoked in churches by clergymen of all denominations. The press of all countries might be filled with horrible descriptions and details and the testimony of eye-witnesses. . . . Let them say this or that .. . but the work was already done and words would not revive the corpses fallen in the Arabian deserts, rebuild the ruined hearths, repopulate the country now become desolate. The Turks knew what they ought to do and did it.

    The second half of 1915 and the entire year of 1916 were periods of hopelessness, desperation and mourning for us. The refugees, all those who had survived the holocaust, were filling Russian provinces by tens and hundreds of thousands. They were famished, naked, sick, horrified and desperate floods of humanity, flooding our villages and cities. They had come to a country which was itself ruined and famished. They piled upon each other, before our own eyes, on our thresholds dying of famine and sickness

    And we were unable to save those precious lives. Angered and terrified, we sought the culprits and quickly found them: the deceitful politics of the Russian government. With the politically immature mind peculiar to inconsequential men, we fell from one extreme to another. Just as unfounded was our faith in the Russian government yesterday, our condemnation of them today was equally blind and groundless.

    http://www.tallarmeniantale.com/1923Manifesto-record.htm

    Comment by Cem Tuncoglu — March 23, 2009 @ 12:02 pm

15. Cem Tuncoglu,

    You take an article out of the Chicago Tribune? The Tribune is one of the most corrupt one sided genocide denialist publications of the United States.

    I lived in Chicago half my life, read it’s denialist propoganda spoon fed to them by the Turk’s. I wouldn’t be suprised if you were one of them as well.

    Comment by Rich — March 23, 2009 @ 12:03 pm

16. Hello my Armenian friends!!

    I do not know much about Armenian Genocide because I was born in 1965, but I was around when Armenians were KILLING Turkish Embassy staff all around the world in 70’s.. The newspapers were reporting the killings almost on daily basis. At the time I was living a small town called “Samatya” in Istanbul, Turkey where 20% population were Armenians. We (Turks) never had any problems with them. We lived and worked together for decades. Some of my good friends were armenians. We never bother them when their countryman were killing Turks. They were not responsible for someone else whether they were Armanian or not. We were all equally treated at the school, hospital, shops.. There was no such Genocide claims by Armenians by then, even if so I never heard of it.

    35 years on, they started this talk about so called “Armenian Genocide”. Nobody knew exactly what has happened in 1915. The history says 4 Turks died for each Armenian dead. We know they were in a war, we know they killed each other. I am asking how can you blame today Turks today what may or may not happened 100 years ago in a war. What about all the Turks who were killed by Armenians at the time. Should we go and kill their grandchildren today? Come on guys, its time to behave responsibly. You have no rights to create “hate” between the two neighbouring nations. They should improve the trade between countries. Time for Peace, not War!! Nobody gains if Turkish and Armenian people had bad relationship. There are still many many armenians living and working in Turkey. If you create bad air, they will feel unsecure and unwanted by Turks. This B.S. needs to end foe everyones sake!!! Go and listen some John Lennon songs..

    Comment by Altan Demiray — March 23, 2009 @ 12:27 pm

17. A March 23, 1920, letter of Col. Charles Furlong, an Army
    intelligence officer and U.S. Delegate to the Paris Peace Conference,
    to President Woodrow Wilson elaborated: “We hear much, both truth and
    gross exaggeration of Turkish massacres of Armenians, but little or
    nothing of the Armenian massacres of Turks. … The recent so-called
    Marash massacres [of Armenians] have not been substantiated. In fact,
    in the minds of many who are familiar with the situation, there is a
    grave question whether it was not the Turk who suffered at the hands
    of the Armenian and French armed contingents which were known to be
    occupying that city and vicinity. … Our opportunity to gain the
    esteem and respect of the Muslim world … will depend much on
    whether America hears Turkey’s untrammeled voice and evidence which
    she has never succeeded in placing before the Court of Nations.”

    Capt. Emory Niles and Arthur Sutherland, on an official 1919 U.S.
    mission to eastern Anatolia, reported: “In the entire region from
    Bitlis through Van to Bayezit, we were informed that the damage and
    destruction had been done by the Armenians, who, after the Russians
    retired, remained in occupation of the country and who, when the
    Turkish army advanced, destroyed everything belonging to the
    Musulmans. Moreover, the Armenians are accused of having committed
    murder, rape, arson and horrible atrocities of every description upon
    the Musulman population. At first, we were most incredulous of these
    stories, but we finally came to believe them, since the testimony was
    absolutely unanimous and was corroborated by material evidence. For
    instance, the only quarters left at all intact in the cities of
    Bitlis and Van are Armenian quarters … while the Musulman quarters
    were completely destroyed.”

    Niles and Sutherland were fortified by American and German
    missionaries on the spot in Van. American Clarence Ussher reported
    that Armenians put the Turkish men “to death,” and, for days, “They
    burned and murdered.” A German missionary recalled that, “The memory
    of these entirely helpless Turkish women, defeated and at the mercy
    of the [Armenians] belongs to the saddest recollections from that
    time.”

    Comment by Ismail — March 23, 2009 @ 2:03 pm

18. There was an Armenian Genocide, more than one and one-half millions were slaughtered, tortured, raped, children taken, and more. The bestiality of the treatments brought out mans’ inhumanity to man. Only imagine, horseshoes being hammered into men’s feet and then being asked…. ‘where is your Jesus now’?
    Today, there are Armenians in nearly all the countries on our planet – obviously… the survivors fled to wherever they were able…. The nearest country, Syria, accepted all those who fled the Turks.
    My family’s survivors reached Aleppo,,,, My family is grateful to the Syrian nation for my father and my three uncles…. the only adults I would have in my family. All others, grandparents, relatives, my cousins who were the children, lost, slaughtered, separated and never to find
    each other. And, imagine, all the survivors lived their lives with the memories of Genocide….
    Sadly, today we are told that it is a Genocide occurring in Darfur. And,
    we just sit by while a despot kills, tortures, rapes AGAIN? Oh yes, our
    former president has sent ‘humanitarian aid’ to the people of Darfur.
    Oh yes, all the Genocides of 20th century, and now into the 21st century, thehumanitarian aid is sent. I see this as a means for our leaders to ease their own consciences for their inaction….. sending aid to those who survive the horrors – yet are living a life of hell….. loss of
    families, homes, lands, and left with endless, unforgettable memories.
    I believe that one day, hopefully in the near future, one bright young
    person will ask: WHY WERE GENOCIDES TOLERATED BY THE DEMOCRACIES OF THE WORLD? DID HUMAN LIFE HAVE NOT VALUE?
    WHY WAS KILLINGS OF INNOCENTS BY DESPOTS WITH CHOSEN GOALS
    NOT DIVERTED, NOT HALTED, and THE DESPOT/S CHARGED WITH
    ‘COMMITTING GENOCIDES’ and THEY AND THEIR COHORTS PUBLICLY
    HANGED…… to deter Genocides…..

    All across out planet, in so many countries, there are Armenian communites…..why, because they fled the Armenian Genocide…. why else would they leave their own Christian lands of 3,000 years.
    Today, leaders send humanitarian aid to peoples who have suffered the
    Genocides of the 20th century, and now, Darfur in the 21st century, (this aid eases their consciences for their inaction). The survivors live with the unforgettable memories, loss of families, lands….
    Unless the despots are made to own up, pay for their guilty actions.
    the next despot will step forward – who is to stop them??
    Ottoman Turkey began the Armenian Genocide in 1915-1923, however,
    all the subsequent Turkish governments have been in denials of the
    Genocide of the Armenians from their own lands….. for Turkey shall be only for Turks…… and the Turks believe their own deceptions! Sad, sad.

    Comment by Mary-Aljian Hamparian — March 23, 2009 @ 2:16 pm

19. An Armenian allegation of genocide is monetary scam which has been planed by the New World Occupiers. The fact is London Bankers decided Armenian uprising way before 1915. Yes indeed Turkish genocide has been planned by the imperial war lords. Yes indeed Armenian rebels have been used as private arm forces. Result is 2.7 million Turkish Graves…

    Comment by Gusan Yedic — March 23, 2009 @ 3:44 pm