Armenian genocide- Maggie

Submitted by Ianus (Poland), Dec 15, 2005 at 13:04

Dear Maggie ,

You wrote once :
"However, I have read about the Turkish genocide against the Armenians at least from the Armenian point of view. On the other hand you are saying that you fought a war that you eventually won.

The first reliable sources that stated what was going on in Eastern Anatolia starting from around April 1915 were the reports of German consuls and soldiers serving in Turkey. Germany was Turkey's ally, so the Germans had free access to the territories where the worst slaughters were taking place. They had no interest to damage the image of their war ally. And yet it is horrifying to read those reports which were soon fully confirmed by American and other neutral consuls and representatives in the region. You don't have to take recourse to the 'allegedly' biased Armenian witnesses to reconstruct the Armenian horrors and their magnitude.

And they didn't stop with the extermination of the Armenians in Eastern Anatolia . In Cilicia , or what the Armenians called Great Armenia , there were still sizeable Armenian communities after the main phase of the genocide. Mustafa Kemal had them all
annihilated. In his state there was no room for anyone except the Turks. And no memory (let alone pity) of them should be preserved.

In Turkey it is impossible to state the facts openly. If you suggest the genocide wasn't a myth invented by the British propaganda or if you don't play it cunningly down as you're taught at school, you may face from 6 months up to 10 years in prison according to article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. In this context you must see Sultan's comments.

As to the war Turkey was then conducting, so many countries were doing the same and yet no one except the Turks had the brilliant idea of a wholesale slaughter (mass murder or genocide) as a means to win the war or get rid of an internal opponent.
The Turks not only did this. They proved it paid off ! Soon others shall follow their path.

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