Letter to Harut Sassounian
By: Kufi Seydali
07.04.2014.
Dear Mr. Sassounian! I have read your article “What Should Armenians Learn From Prime Minister Erdogan?” dtd. 25.03.2014, and I must say it sounded like the cacophony of your broken record, you keep playing on your hand-cranked, old scratchy gramophone!
Amazing how an experienced journalist like yourself, allow your feelings of hate to misguide you so much that you indulged in such childish repetition of words like; bold, boldy and bolder! “Why don’t Armenian leaders- in Armenia and Diaspora – act more boldly, similar to Erdogan, especially when the survival of Armenians is at stake”. You then go on to say; “Armenians should wake up from their collective coma and take bold action”. You are calling for bolder action by the Armenian Mouse”. The Armenian “Mouse” should roar more often!
The Syrian civil war, has already cost 145.000 Lives in addition to nearly 2 Million refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan! No where, I believe, has anyone asked the refugees about their ethnic origin: Neither was a classification of the dead on ethnical grounds made!
War is a terrible thing, and bullets do not differentiate between ethnic identity. All casualties are Syrians and all part of the tragedy. The claim that Syrians of Armenian ethnic background have been targeted selectively is a fabrication and a product of your fantasy.
The homes of Millions have been destroyed, and you are talking of the fate of 3 old women, who have been brought to safety, against their will, you claim!
One may have ones opinion of Erdogan and his government, however, I think that in the past 10 years more has been done for creating an atmosphere conducive to peaceful coexistence and cooperation than in the 90 years before.
Your own definition of Armenia as a “mouse” says it all really! So, what do you expect that will happen when the little mouse roars like a lion? Do you know the story of the fox who tried to copy the lion? History books are full of such actions which all ended in disaster! The Armenian Diaspora has made a habit of jumping up and down in the politics of the United States and France but your message here, Mr Sassounian; is deceptive, dishonest and racist. Your claims (exterminate Armenians in Syria) are factually, historically, and legally incorrect. You have chosen to adopt a dogmatic political approach to underline the tragic nature of incidents so that they can make your bogus genocide claims more easily acceptable by the public.
Mr. Sassounian, I have written to you time and again that; the “genocide” is a legal term which describes a crime specifically defined by the 1948 Genocide Convention and must be addressed accordingly. Please note that Turkey does not qualify the tragic events of 1915-1916 as genocide. The Turkish-Armenian conflict is one of inter-communal warfare fought by muslim and christian irregular forces against a backdrop of world war I.This issue cannot be explained without acknowledging the Armenian propaganda, terrorism, raids, rebellions, treason, territorial demands, and Turkish suffering and losses caused by these factors.