FEYM GRUBU MESAJI -Avustralya Başbakanı Sayın Scott Morrison’a Mektup
Son günlerde Avustralya Ermeni, Rum ve Süryani toplumu, Başbakanları üzerinde Hükümetin sözde soykırımı tanıması için büyük bir baskı yaratmaya çalışıyor. Bu gelişmeler üzerine Başbakan, Dışişleri Bakanı ve Parlamento üyelerine gönderdiğimiz mektubu bilginiz için aşağıda saygı ile sunuyorum.
O. Tan
Your Honorable Scott Morrison June 23, 2021 Ankara Prime Minister, Australia,
Dear Prime Minister,
I would like to provide you with some brief information on an important subject and hope that this would add to the continuation of the warm and friendly relations between Australia and Turkey.
I am a retired Major General and the President of a Turkish Civil Society organisation called “FEYM”. This group is concerned with raising issues regarding the unjust and baseless accusations against the Turkish Nation.
I am incredibly sad and disappointed about the news from Armenian, Greek and Asuri minorities of your country. I am aware that the activists from these minority groups put immense pressures on you to recognize the so-called Armenian genocide.
We believe that the Leaders and Parliamentarians who declared the so-called genocide have been sorely mistaken. Their decisions are neither legal, moral, and just, nor in line with the historical facts. I am sure you will recall that the Chancellor Merkel and President Biden have openly admitted that their decisions were political. In other words, they, other political leaders, and parliamentarians were quite happy to politicize the judgment which should have been considered legally. Mr Prime Minister, do you not think that blaming a nation unjustly, moreover, ignoring her right to defend itself in a court of law is surely an unacceptable behaviour from a just and mature statesmen and women?
I would like to inform you briefly why Turkey could not and should not recognise the false claims made by Armenians. We know that upto now not even a one page of scholarly or legally valid document conforms to the UN’s definition of genocide. There are already a number of verdicts which refute genocide claims such as the ones delivered by the “European Court of Justice, T-346/03, Dec17, 2003 Par.18; European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Case 370, 17.12.2013 and finally the verdict of Oct.15, 2015. The UN 1948 Convention stipulates that the decision of genocide should be given by competent courts. At the same time, responding to the Application- 2710/08; “No parliament (not even the UN General Assembly) or body has the authority to use the ‘term genocide’ other than “an international tribunal authorized for this purpose” was the case. The UN since 2004 has an office (http://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/ ) where all applications of this kind should be submitted to but nobody seems to dare do this because there is NO EVIDENCE for any plan or instruction carried under the order of Ottoman Government. However, we do have plenty of documents, proving evidence for the horrible savageries committed by the Revolutionary Armenians.
I would like to point out to you the title of the French historian Prof. Yves Benard’s book; “Génocide Arménien – Et si on nous avait menti ?… Armenian Genocide – And what if they had lied to us?
Yes, Turkey naturally refuses to admit the Armenian genocide claims because there was no genocide but accepts that sadly Armenian deaths occurred in the mist of a major war as Turkey was fighting on many fronts. As any nation fighting a major war would do, Turkey had to resort to forced re-location to defend itself. This action has been taken by many nations in history. What seems to be so unfair is the fact that atrocities by Armenians occurred and many Ottoman Turks died in the hands of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation fighters who supported the Russian and French invasion forces against their own country! Based on Armenian confessions and on the research of the expert historian and demographer Prof. Justin McCarthy, we know that 1,189,332 Muslims lost their lives in Anatolia during those years, mainly in the hands of rebellious Ottoman Armenian Citizens. Considering Johanness Lepsius’ pre-WWI population numbers and numerous archival reports showing the number of Armenians surviving the war, we are aware that around 83,000 Armenians lost their lives during the forced relocations of 1915. In accordance with the ECHR decision, forced relocations can not be considered a genocide. According to the findings of Prof. McCarthy, apart from the human casualties they caused, the Armenian insurgents also destroyed all 3,400 buildings belonging to the Muslims, except for 3, only in the province of Van. As the League of Nations Official Gazette dated 21.9.1929 quotes; “The Allied Western Powers had said to the Armenians: “If you fight with us against the Turks, and if the war ends successfully for us, we promise to give a national home, liberty and independence”. The Armenians fought for the Allied Powers. Two hundred thousand volunteer Armenians sacrificed their lives for the cause of the Entente; but when the Armistice was signed and peace concluded, the promise given to the Armenians was forgotten. Hovhannes Katchaznouni, the first Prime Minister of Armenia, similarly said the following at the general assembly meeting of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation in Bucharest in 1923; ”We did nothing to avoid the war. We were sure of victory. We did not accept the offer of the Turks to negotiate. This was a great murder. We thought that we would gain the support of foreign states by causing events in the Ottoman state and putting the blame on the Turks. However, we could not find this support. We would have gained a lot if we had agreed with the Turks instead of the Treaty of Sevres.”
There is a deep love and friendship between Australian and Turkish nations that has been passed down to us from the Gallipoli War. I sincerely believe that you will refrain from hurting these sentiments. Therefore I would like to end my message with the words of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk for your martyrs; “Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives … You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore, rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”
Lastly, I would like to remind you what General Willian Birdwood Commander of the ANZAC Corp conveyed, particularly after the following touching statement written by a fellow soldier to the Turks; “The Turkish soldiers will give life for their country without any hesitation. They are very brave soldiers. But when a cease fire is called, they are gentle and humane. They will bandage the wound of their enemy and carry him on his back to save his life. Such soldiers haven’t been seen before on this earth.” Would not it be sensible to think that neither army nor national genocide can come from within such a soldier or nation?
Respectfully,
Orhan Tan Major General, TU Army (Rtd) Chairman, FEYM Group
PS; CC to Minister for Foreign Affairs the Hon. Marise Payne and Members of Parliament
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