Re: Garo Paylan being a member of the Kurdish party HDP, below is the slightly revised version of my message published in Turkish Forum 2 days ago, for archival purposes, and for Harut Sassounian to respond. I hope Harut will respond shortly.
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Why are the articles of a chief Armenian diaspora propagandist Harut Sassounian being posted in Turkish Forum?
Imagine a Turkish person who disputes the bogus Armenian genocide accusation trying to have his/her articles posted or published in an Armenian website or platform. He/she would be lambasted – or worse – for even trying such “outrageous” attempt! Opinions opposing “Armenian genocide” are not welcome in Armenian websites or platforms. Even if they do – as is the case occasionally with “HyeTert” published in Turkey – the reader is warned that the contents are misleading and/or prejudiced, etc. Surely, what is reported in “HyeTert” is truthful and impartial!
I don’t normally comment – in Turkish or English – on Harut bey’s articles posted in Turkish Forum because my comments do not get posted in the “The California Courier.” So, why waste time?
But on Harut’s latest propaganda piece posted below, I make an exception. His assertion that “Armenian Massacres were discussed and acknowledged by the Ottoman Parliament and Senate in 1918,” does not carry any weight. The Ottoman parliament (Meclis-i Mebûsan), just like the Ottoman military tribunals at that time, were under the watch and command of the occupying foreign forces. The 1919-20 courts martial held under the leadership of Nemrut Mustafa Pasha were “kangaroo courts” held at the instigation of the victorious Allied Powers. These courts issued death sentences to not only the leaders of the “Committee of Unity and Progress,” but also to the leaders of the Nationalist Movement “Kuva-yi Milliye,” including Mustafa Kemal. With no due process, no witnesses, no cross examination, etc., the courts lacked credibility. The Allies considered them travesty of justice, with British High Commissioner Admiral Somerset Arthur Gough-Calthorpe writing to London on August 1, 1919, that these courts were “proving to be a farce and injurious to our own prestige.”
Hence these courts were far from being competent tribunals referred to in the 1948 Genocide Convention. Having witnessed these kangaroo court martials, the British decided to hold the Malta Tribunal. And we know what the results were.
Those that inflicted harm to the Armenian refugees during re-location in 1915 were in fact punished earlier by the 1915-16 Ottoman courts-martial acting under no pressure by foreign powers.
Harut should answer: How many rebellious Armenians that terrorized the countryside, killed Muslim civilians, and helped the invading Russian forces were brought to justice in a court of law? Answer: zero, zilch. Nearly 520,000 civilian Muslims were massacred in cold blood in Anatolia alone by the rebellious Armenian forces during 1914-21. There were also 413,000 Muslim losses in the Transcaucasian region.
And if Harut is seeking legal justification for what he calls “Armenian genocide,” why doesn’t he refer to the decisions of the Malta Tribunal, the 2013/2015 rulings of ECtHR on the Switzerland-Perincek case, and the 1987 ruling of the Constitutional Council of France? As well, from a historical point of view, the views of 69 academicians including eminent historians such as Professors Bernard Lewis and Justin McCarthy, who, in 1985, made a public declaration in U.S.A. that, in their opinion, the 1915 events did not constitute genocide.
While on the subject, Harut should explain why Armenia to date has not taken its case to the European Court of Justice to adjudicate its claims? And likewise, the Armenian lobby, why it has not asked the UN to convene a special tribunal to hear its allegations? He should also ask himself why the British government – certainly very knowledgeable on the 1915 events – to date has not recognized “Armenian genocide.”
Speaking of legal justification for a bogus genocide, Harut should also know that the U.S. Congress, just with some of today’s European parliaments, have no authority to pass judgment on “Armenian genocide.” That is the bailiwick of courts of law. The “Armenian genocide” labels today run on the backbone of Jewish Holocaust – to which it has no resemblance – as well a deep-rooted anti-Muslim, anti-Turkish prejudice in the West, including America. We certainly have heard that Armenians were the “First Christian nation.” A statement that certainly makes a big impact in Christian America.
Lobbying and donations to U.S. politicians – lots of it – of course also make a huge difference.
As for Harut’s reference to the fact that Armenian members of the Turkish Parliament, Selina Doğan and Garo Paylan, had raised the issue of the Armenian Genocide in the Parliament in 2016, such action does not signify the legitimacy of their cause. Garo Paylan is a member of the Kurdish party HDP, which has argued that Turkey should apologize for the 1915 events, https://hdp.org.tr/tr/ermeni-soykirimi-utanciyla-yuzlesin/15358/. The politicians of HDP are apparently totally ignorant on the suffering of Kurdish people during the Armenian revolt in the Ottoman period. Among the civilian Muslims killed by mutinous Armenian terrorists, including those that fell victim during the Van massacre on April 21, 1915, a good percentage of the victims were Kurdish. Also, during the First Republic of Armenia, 1918-20, 98% of the Kurdish population (a figure of nearly 25,000) perished due to deprivations and massacre under a fascist regime. The losses on the Turkish side numbered 200,000. The source of this information is none other than A.A. Lalaian, a Soviet historian of Armenian origin.
The judge involved in the 1919-20 military tribunals, Nemrut Mustafa Pasha, was also Kurdish; he was a traitor, and supported the cause of the occupying Allied forces.
Let us not gloss over the fact that the terrorist Kurdish PKK organization in Turkey also receives some covert help from Armenian elements.
Harut is a prominent member of the Armenian lobby in U.S., including ANCA-WR. Here is a clip from an Armenian-lobby news outlet – one that belongs to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) -regarding the February 6, 2023 earthquake that hit southeastern Turkey and part of northern Syria: https://armenianweekly.com/2023/02/21/amaa-responds-to-earthquake-stricken-community-in-aleppo/. It is mentioned that some deaths occurred in Syria, and more than 350 Armenian families had found shelter in the halls and courtyard of Bethel Church. But not a single word about the massive human losses and material damage in Turkey! On the date the article was published, there were at least 40,000 deaths in Turkey. So much about the humanity of Armenian websites belonging to the diaspora.
Harut personally targeted me in 2017 in his article, https://www.thecaliforniacourier.com/turkish-activist-admits-major-blow-when-texas-recognized-armenian-genocide/, to which I replied:
http://avim.org.tr/Blog/ARMENIAN-LOBBYIST-SELECTIVELY-USES-GENOCIDE-RECOGNITION-ARTICLE-TO-SUIT-OWN-AGENDA. Because he has taken personal interest in me, I now have a personal question to Harut.
Harut is an “expert” on “Armenian genocide,” and he has even written a book on the subject – a book I am sure would have shocked even Hovhannes Katchaznouni had he read it. Harut’s prolific writings on “Armenian genocide” in The California Courier curiously skip the ASALA/JCAG terror that killed 58 Turkish citizens including 31 diplomats between 1973 and 1998. He meticulously avoided commenting on the 2021 release from prison of Hampig Sassounian, the Armenian gunman who assassinated Turkish Consul General Kemal Arıkan in Los Angeles in 1982. His articles also don’t say a word about the Nazi connections of those like General Dro Drastamat Kanayan during WW-2.
Harut worked in Geneva from 1978 to 1982, and claims he was a human rights delegate at the United Nations in Geneva for 10 years. In 1980 there was a terror attempt by ASALA to kill the Turkish Ambassador in Geneva, and in June 1981, an actual terror act whereby Turkish Consulate Secretary, Mehmet Savaş Yergüz, was assassinated by an Armenian gunman. The assassin was caught, tried, and convicted for murder.
Before long, the Swiss authorities received a letter from Armenia; in it a number Armenian organizations and churches were pleading with the Swiss authorities to release the assassin, stating that, if released, they would look after him. A copy of this letter is still in the possession of a Turkish person living in Geneva.
The question to Harut is: Can he comment on the murderous events in Geneva and the letter mentioned above – events that took place while he was in Geneva? He should certainly know.
Ferruh Demirmen