Turkish-Americans want civilized dialogue, not hostile polarization

*Press Release by Turkish-Americans
April 24, 2022

Contacts:
Mr. E. Kirlikovali: 949-878-1186
Mr. G. Evinch: 202-50-4474
Mrs. O. Bain: 240-888-2860

Turkish-Americans want civilized dialogue, not hostile polarization

The highest court in Europe, the European Court of Human Rights, ruled on December 17, 2013 (Perincek v Switzerland) that the Armenian claim of genocide could not be compared to the Holocaust as it lacked concrete historical facts, clear legal basis, and the existence of “acts had been found by an international court to be clearly established…” (ECHR) doubted that there could be a general consensus “given that historical research was, by definition, open to discussion and a matter of debate, without necessarily giving rise to final conclusions.”

Armenians, disappointed by this ruling and intent on giving the Turks a final blow, on the 100th anniversary of 1915 no less, appealed. This time the Grand Chamber of the ECHR took on the case and, after months of deliberations, ruled on October 15, 2015, that the alleged Armenian genocide is an opinion, not a court-proven fact.
Moreover, since it is an unproven claim, an opinion, it can be criticized and rejected, and all that would be well within one’s right to free speech.

The reason why ECHR decided that genocide was just an opinion, was because the honorable judges realized that the Armenian narrative lacked historical substantiation, as it ignored all Armenian revolts, Armenian terrorism, Armenian treason, Armenian territorial demands, and the Turkish deaths at the hands of Armenian insurgents since 1862 (53 years before 1915.) The Armenian narrative left half the story out and misrepresented the remaining half.

A formidable array of prominent historians, scholars, researchers, and experts in the history of the Ottoman Empire also dispute the Armenian allegations of genocide. Here is what 69 of them said in a public statement that was published in the New York Times and Washington Post on May 19, 1985: “… As for the charge of ‘genocide’, no signatory of this statement wishes to minimize the scope of Armenian suffering. We are likewise cognizant that it cannot be viewed as separate from the suffering experienced by the Muslim inhabitants of the region. The weight of evidence so far uncovered points in the direction of serious inter-communal warfare perpetrated by Muslim and Christian irregular forces, complicated by disease, famine, suffering, and massacres in Anatolia and adjoining areas during the First World War. The resulting death toll among both Muslim and Christian communities of the region was immense. …”

The final ruling by ECHR should have stopped all Armenian claims of genocide, but it did not. Instead, devoid of historical substantiation and rejected by international law, the well-funded Armenian lobby tried to circumvent history and law by using the media and politicians with ill-informed editorials and ill-intentioned resolutions that suffocated free speech.

Playwright David Mamet’s recent comments on Bill Maher’s April 9, 2022, HBO program about free speech were significant: “When people with an opposing view are cancelled, we’re going to end up with a totalitarian state.” He lamented the impact of cancel culture on the future of America with these words: “… (T)he point is we have to have free speech…Without free speech, we have nothing because if one group takes the high road—it doesn’t matter which group it is—if they’re in power long enough, we’re going to have a police state. So…when people who state an opposing view are not disagreed with but are marginalized and canceled, we’re going to end up with a totalitarian state because that’s the way human nature works.”

We, the Americans of Turkish heritage, reject Armenian misrepresentations of 1915 and are ready to engage in a civilized dialogue based on historical facts, not hearsay, forgeries, embellishments, or political propaganda materials. We want peace based on fair memory, shared pain, truth, and honesty