The letter I wrote to Ray Conlogue

[Guest Fadi]

Dear Ray Conlogue, I am a “Montrealer,” before developing about the subject I am about to write, I would like to apologize since, I am far of mastering the English language, being a French Quebecer, and my goal is not to win a literary prize by this article.

 

Now the reason for what I write this letter is concerning one of your article titled “Bracing for the cinema’s judgment.” I know that this subject is rather difficult to treat, and you will receive many answers. My intention here is not to give a sentimental answer to you, I am an expert of the Armenian question, have studied this topic for more then 3 years, and also have written some still unpublished essays concerning this subject, my latest one is specifically one of the searchers that you refer in your article, Justin McCarthy.

 

Dir Sir, I would like to start by referring to mistakes that have been introduced in your article, I think it is important, since we have seen many times in the past individuals making these types of mistakes etc… And as a hot subject as this one, it is “le devoir” of an editorialist to not have only some knowledge of the subject he or she will write about, but more importantly to verify the accuracy of what he or she will write. This is far more important even more important when we have to deal with a subject such as this one. Now to start with, I would like to refer to some of these inaccuracies that have been, I hope, accidentally introduced in your article. You refer for example that Turks say that half a million Armenians died, while Armenians say 1.5 million represent the number of victims. I have read these allegations many times on other articles written by individuals that if they haven’t done it purposely, have been misguided. This allegation is wrong Sir, and it shocks me as a specialist on the subject to read such baseless claims. Now what is this baseless claim? You will ask me of course. Sir, the number of half a million is not a Turkish claim to the same way that the 1.5 million is not an Armenian one. The official Turkish claim was of 800,000 killed, for the period between 1915 to the end of 1918.

 

The official statistics compiled, for the period between 1915 and the end of 1917(or beginning/mid of 1918), were of 800,000 (this number represents the number of those killed during the deportation.). This number came from Djemal's bureau statistics. The results have been published in the official Ottoman gazette. Takvimi Vekâyi No. 3909, July 21, 1920, pp. 3, 4

 

"during the wartime deportations some 800,000 Armenians were killed."

 

This numbers were found by a commission formed by the interior minister Mustafa Arif. They relied on war reports and statistics, and it took them many months of study (this proves that these numbers are not just vague estimations), and finally in March 14, 1919, the results were made public by Djemal.

 

This number has been mentioned in Rauf Orbay's own memoirs. (It represents, he says, those that were “massacred” during the deportation, and like Djemal's war statistics does not include the ones that perished by starvation and diseases and the Armenian men that were serving in the Ottoman army that were disarmed and killed in mass.) Rauf Orbay is a critical source since he was very highly ranked as a Lieutenant Colonel and well-regarded as one of the closest friends of Ataturk and one of the primary fighter and commander during the Turkish War of Liberation, also being in charge of the navy as its secretary. He was also the one that signed the Mondros Treaty and one of the initiators of the Lausanne Treaty as the first unofficial prime minister of Turkey. As has been reported by the specialist Taner Akçam, this numbers was also announced many times by Ataturk himself, and in fact it was he who reported them to the British. The number of victims of 1.2 million presented during the Turkish after war tribunal probably was an addition to this number, the number of those that perished.

 

However, after the denial started and after the dissolution of the military tribunal, the manipulation of these numbers also appeared to be important. It was evident that the Turkish authorities were starting to try to hide these numbers. Firstly in 1928, the Turkish military published a book that presented the numbers of casualties during the war (published by Lt. Col. Nihat). Now these were no longer the numbers of those massacred and killed during the deportation as the Ottoman reports had concluded but the number of the Armenians that perished. "800,000 Armenians and 200,000 Greeks died as a result of deportations or died in labor brigades." From then on, it was evident that the Turkish government was trying to under-evaluate the numbers of Armenian victims, not only by taking the numbers that represented only those killed (or massacred) during the deportation and presenting them as the total of Armenians that perished but also without adding the Armenians that had perished and been killed after the statistics had been taken (outside Ottoman Armenia and during the Turkish War of Liberation). The Turkish historian, Bayur, presenting this numbers, concluded, "According to our official sources, these numbers are correct" (in his well-known work, Türk Inkilabi Tarihi, Volume III, Section IV, page 787).

 

Since then, the Turkish government has done everything to decrease the number of victims when their previous numbers were matched the official German statistics, that, by being Ottoman allies, had certainly used also the Ottomans' own references. If we add to this the Ottoman statistics of 800,000 killed to the number of Armenians that perished, we find from the Ottomans' own official sources that probably more than a million Armenian perished. (Numbers supported by the Turkish historian, Prof. Fikret Adanir, place the number of Armenian victims as “more than a million.”)

 

So Sir, when you write “Turks say” you should also mention that this “Turks say” is rather what their government “say.”

 

Now, concerning your claim that 1.5 million is what Armenians say, again a myth that should be corrected here Sir. 1.5 million Is not an Armenian claim, this number has been given by Ottoman allies, Germany and Austria. Here few sources. The first one is from a German Secret report concerning the numbers of victims.

 

"by February 1916, 1.5 million Armenians were destroyed ... the first step toward the recovery of the economic predominance in Turkey ...

there was joy in the government circles that the long-desired opportunity finally presented itself...”

 

A.A. Türkei, 134/35, A18613, pp. 1,2,3,4 "Volkswirtschaftliche Studien in der Türkey" report.

 

Here are other German archival records. The German report of October 4, 1916 from Radowitz, the interim German Ambassador, his report say that the victims were numbering 1.5 million deaths (A.A Türkei 183/44. A27493), another report from Germany foreign Office Intelligence Director Erzeberger May 27, 1916, stat that around 1.5 million Armenians perished (A.A. Türkei 182/42 A13959). If these are not enough, I could also refer you to other official statistics. The fact is that 1.5 million is a number that was taken by the Armenians from German records of official war time Intelligentsia statistics(and not Armenian numbers, like you claim) that were the most accurate ones, since the Germans were the only ones that had access to Ottoman official records.

 

Now your second point Sir, is the allegation that the problem is to name this atrocity. I suggest you to read few works concerning “Genocides” the aim of this word as well as its introduction. I know that it is rather difficult to find some works concerning the introduction of this word. But I am glad to help you here, by bringing references and sources, and I hope, that if you need some works that could be suggested, that you will ask me, and it will be my pleasure to help you. To start with, the word genocide was invented by Raphael Lemkin, I’m sure you knew that already, but there is some aspects of the work of Lemkin that is less known. For example, very few know that one of the main reasons why Lemkin became a lawyer was because of what happened to the Armenians. I will refer he to one of his papers, a part of Lemkin unofficial biography, explaining why he became a lawyer and also why he worked in order that Turkey sign the genocide convention.

 

"In 1915 the Germans occupied the city of W. and the entire area. I used this time to read more history, to study and to watch whether national, religious, or racial groups are being destroyed. The truth came out only after the war. In Turkey, more than 1,200,000 Armenians were put to death for no other reason than they were Christians ... After the end of the war, some 150 Turkish war criminals were arrested and interned by the British Government on the island of Malta. The Armenians sent a delegation to the peace conference in Versailles. They were demanding justice. Then one day, the delegation read in the newspapers that all Turkish war criminals were released. I was shocked. A nation was killed and the guilty persons were set free. Why is a man punished when he kills another man? Why is the killing of a million a lesser crime than the killing of a single individual?

 

I identified myself more and more with the sufferings of the victims, whose numbers grew, as I continued my study of history. I understood that the function of memory is not only to register past events, but to stimulate human conscience. Soon contemporary examples of genocide followed, such as the slaughter of the Armenians in 1915. It became clear to me that the diversity of nations, religious groups and races is essential to civilization because every one of those groups has a mission to fulfill and a contribution to make in terms of culture.... I decided to become a lawyer and work for the outlawing of Genocide and for its prevention through the cooperation of nations.

 

A bold plan was formulated in my mind. This consisted [of] obtaining the ratification by Turkey [of the proposed UN Convention on Genocide Ed.] among the first twenty founding nations. This would be an atonement for [the] genocide of the Armenians. But how could this be achieved? . . . The Turks are proud of their republican form of government and of progressive concepts, which helped them in replacing the rule of the Ottoman Empire. The genocide convention must be put within the framework of social and international progress. I knew however that in this conversation both sides will have to avoid speaking about one thing, although it would be constantly in their minds: the Armenians."

 

[From Lemkin papers, With permission of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Division, the New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.]

 

Lemkin in many of his letters to various organizations referred to the Armenian genocide; let’s quote here one example among many.

 

“ This conversation is a matter of conscience and is a test of our personal relationship to evil. I know it is very hot in July and August for our work and planning, but without becoming sentimental or trying to use colorful speech, let us not forget that the heat of this month is less unbearable to us that the heat in the ovens of Auschwitz and Dachau and more lenient than the murderous heat in the desert of Allepo which burned to death the bodies of hundreds of thousands of Christian Armenian victims of genocide in 1915”

 

[Letter from Lemkin to Mrs. Thelma Stevens of the Methodist Women’s council, dated July 26, 1950. Cited also in Israel Charny Genocide encyclopedia.]

 

Now Sir, Lemkin first studies concerning war “crimes against humanity.” H. Yahreas work, The World’s Most Horrible Crime, Colliers, vol. 127, 3 March 1951 The author retrace Lemkin interest about war crimes, extermination etc… In fact, he report the first conversation that Lemkin had about the subject was at Lvov University in 1920, when he engaged in a conversation about his personal research about the Armenian extermination with his Russian Law professor. Rabbi Steven L. Jacobs, Temple B’nai Shalom,Huntsville, Alabama, and Martin Methodist College, Tennessee, who has Researched the papers of Raphael Lemkin, classed these papers concerning the Armenian extermination, and compiled them and published it under the name "Lemkin and the Armenian Genocide." Lemkin also referred to the Armenian case, in his work “Le Crime de Génocide” as an example of extermination. Quoting here from its English version. “history has provided us with other examples of the destruction of entire nations, and ethnic and religious groups. There are, for example, …, and more recently, the massacre of the Armenians.” (By Raphael Lemkin, American Scholar, Volume 15, no. 2 (April 1946),).

 

Lemkin started his works concerning “Crimes against Humanity”( Lets me remind you here, that the word “Crimes against Humanity, was first used to describe what happened to the Armenians), with the Armenian case, this same case was also one of the main reason why he decided to become a lawyer. He also gave as reference the Armenian case in his work “Genocide” that the aim was to describe what a genocide is. Lemkin was the inventor of the word, and he decided what event to call genocide. He has chosen to call the Armenian case genocide. Not you or me, or who ever else could claim to know what a genocide is or not, better then the inventor, because the inventor decided to refer to the Armenian case like the Holocaust as a part of his distinct definition of the word genocide. If for example the inventor of the word television decided to call a television, “a television” someone come and say, nope this is not a television, we would reject his claim, by recognizing that the inventor of this “thing” has the right to call his invention a television. The same goes with the word genocide. Lemkin started his conception even before the Holocaust, he started with this case, and then after the end of WWII, he finalized his work, and published them in a series of essays. He also wrote papers, official and unofficial. In them, he referred to the Armenian case as an integral part of his definition, an “undissociable” element of the word that he just invented.

 

All this, to tell you Sir, that naming this atrocity is not a problem, and has never been, contrary to what you write. It’s not a problem, for the Institute of the Holocaust and genocide studies that constitutes one of foundations of all these researches concerning crimes of genocide. The German word often used for the word genocide, "Völkermord" has been first generally used to describe what happened to the Armenians, even before the introduction of the more official word, “genocide.” An example of the usage of the word "Völkermord" could be found in the work of S. Zurlinden, "Der Weltkrieg, Vol. II (Zürich: Art. Institut Orell Füssli, 1918), p.649.

 

Continuing to read your article, I remarked what was the aim of it, the denial of the genocide. Michael N. Dobkowski and Isidor Wallimann describe as “apologist” in their work “Genocide in Our Time,” in fact; these authors cover an entire chapter concerning the Armenian genocide, and its denial, by classing these deniers by categories. You sound like a denier Sir, by the same way they class these deniers that they call “apologist,” you sound also a denier Sir, by the same way that Irving for example is a denier. Furthermore Sir, I find your article even more offensive when you try to paint a picture of the Armenians, when you write: “Later they insisted the Ottomans had committed a genocide parallel with the Nazi extermination of Europe’s Jews.” Sir, would it be too much asking you, what study you have done in order to suppose like this in one of the most offensive way, that the Armenians later, out of nowhere decided to insist that what happened to them was paralleled with the holocaust? Sir, my specialization about the topic is specifically the comparison of known genocides and also “denialism.” Lets me remind you Sir, that it wasn’t the Armenians that paralleled what happened to them with the destiny of the European Jews. It was the Jews themselves Sir. And of course, I shall include references here again, as usually someone should do when claiming something. Right ? Abba Achimeir was a proponent of the plan to evacuate the Jews from Europe; he wrote in 1936(The Alphabet of Zionism, Hayarden, 10/07/1936):

 

"The Jews who oppose the evacuation plan, are the same ostriches who bury their heads lest they see the approaching hunter.... The opponents of the evacuation plan are unwittingly creating the fate of the Armenians in Turkey for their own people."

 

At that time, Jews were the one comparing happened to them, with what happened to the Armenians. "What the Germans were in the Second World War to the Jews, the Turks were in the First World War to the Armenians. And there the quota was one third of the people, for the Jews as for the Armenians." Genocide, from the Crowning of the Rooster, Amichai, undated, p.139 (in Hebrew). And this article was written in the early 50’s.

 

The Jews, compared their case with the Armenian one, before the Holocaust, during the Holocaust, and also, after the Holocaust. Here I would refer to some among many references from Jewish sources, concerning what happened to the Armenians, and this before the Holocaust. A. Vambery a Jewish Orientalist wrote in his work, 'Zur armenischen Frage', Deutshe Revue (May 1895), 229,230

 

" If we disregrad the destruction of Jerusalem, the history of the Jews pales before the bither struggle and ordeals which the Armenians in the course of their three thousand year history had to undure ... Under such circonstances, is it not remarkable that this people did not entirely perish and that today there are still close to three million Armenians ? "

 

Israel Zangwill, a known Jewish political leader and writer, after he realized the elimination of the Armenians, wrote in his work, "The voice of Jerusalem" (London: William Heinemann, 1920), p. 353

 

"I bow before this higher majesty of sorrow. I take the crown of thorns from Israel's head and I place it upon Armenia's."

 

Nahum Sokolow(a foremost Zionist Diplomat)wrote, in his work "The Armenian and Georgian Alliance" (London: Spottiswood & Ballantyne, 1918), p. 24

"If the Armenians are not ... the majority of the population in their own country, we know why they are not ... We have competed with the Armenians in martyrdom"

 

Luigi Luzatti (Another Jew, has been the prime minister of Italia, 1910-1911)

 

"The unprecedented sufferings and the ruinations which Armenia ... the 'protomartyr' of humanity, suffered before, during and after the war."

 

FO 371/7874/E3162, Rome, 9 March 1922

 

Jewish intelligence operative, Absalom Feinberg, who served as liason for the Jewish espionage Unite Nili.

 

" I have no more teeth left to gnash. Who is going to be the next victim ? On my way to Jerusalem, I have traversed my country on this holiest earth, and I keep asking myself if we are living in the year 1915, or in the times of Titus or Nebuchadnezzar. I, as a Jew, have forgotten that I was Jewish (and it is very difficult to be oblivious to this 'privilege'), and I have asked myself if I had the right to cry solely over the Sorrows of my nation, and if Jeremiah would not have shed tears over the Armenians also ... while a few Turkish hyenas boast of the charnel-house they have created ... Alas ! The The torment of being impotent and without arms. "

 

Report in E. Robsinson, "The Armenians" (London: Frederick, 1918), p. 4 and Private Archive of the Aaronsohn familym Beth Aaronsohn, Zichron Yaakov, Israel.

 

Sarah, Sister of Aaron, part of the Nili group,

 

" How terrible the Turks are ! If we don't succeed in getting free from them in time, they are quite capable of doing to us what they did to the

Armenians. Will the Jews be next ?"

 

Other references from the same Nili group.

 

"... the bodies of hundreds of Armenian men, women and children lying on both sides of the railway. Sometimes Turkish women were seen searching the corpses for anything that might be of value; at other times dogs were observed feeding on bodies. There were hundreds of bleched skeletons. At either Gulek or Osmanieh [on the Baghdad Railway] saw thousands of starving and fever-stricken Armenians ... They were lying about the station, on the sidings, and some on the track itself. Some were jostled on the line when the train arrived, and the engine ran over them to the joy of the engine driver, who shouted to his friends, ' Did you see how I smashed about fifty of these Armenian swine ?' fainted at the sight, and on recovery two Turkish officers, speaking French, remonstrated with [me] on [my] lack of patriotism since the Armenians were enemies."

 

FO 371/2781/253852, Appendix A, p.9, 13 December 1915, R.W. Rown, "The Story of the Secret Service" (New York: Literary Guild, 1937) or also in I. Cown and I. Gunther, "A Spy for Freedom: The story of Sarah Aaronsohn" (New York: Dutton, 1984), L.Y. Schneerson, "Diary of a Man of Nili (Haifa: Renaissance, 1967), in Hebrew.

 

Eitan Belkind 1887 - 1979, "the son of early pioneering founders of Rishon Lezion went to Constantinople on his own initiative at the age of fifteen, to study at the military high school. When the war broke out he was conscripted into the Turkish army as an officer and assigned to the headquarters of Jamal *****."

 

"The Circassian soldiers ordered the Armenians to gather thorns and thistles to pile them into a tall pyramid; afterward they tied all of the Armenians who were there, almost five thousand souls, hand in hand, encircled them like a ring around the pile of thistles and thorns and set it afire in a blaze which rose up to the heavens together with the screams of the wretched people who were burned to death by the fire. I fled from the place, because I could not stand to see this horrifying sight..."

 

The flame of Nili, pp. 111 -15

 

Yahuda Bauer one of the leading figures of the Jerusalem Holocaust and Genocide Institute recognize

 

“The massacre of the Armenian people in Turkish Anatolia parallels the Holocaust . . . the mass destruction of the Armenian people during World War I . . . foreshadows the Holocaust.”

 

Cited in L. S. Dawidowicz, The Holocaust and the Historians (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1986), p. 13.

 

Now who is paralleling the Armenian genocide with the Holocaust Sir? (Yes genocide Sir, even if you put this word in quotation marks) This comparison was first made by the Jews themselves not the Armenians, contrary to what you claim. I can also say that “Jews try to parallel their tragedy with the Armenocide” would this not be considered as offensive? I could also allege that there is no parallel between the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide by referring to the uniqueness of the Armenian concentration camps, that unlike other concentration camps, had only one purposes, the extermination, by referring to one study among many, by Joël Kotek and Pierre Rigoulot, “Le Siècle des Camps” where they dedicate an entire chapter on the Armenian genocide, more particularly, the concentration camps set, that was also referred by Raphael Lemkin himself, comparing them with Auschwitz.

 

Another thing Sir, there is another inaccuracy in your article, you write: “The Turks have never accepted this. They say the Armenians allied with Russia and took up arms against their own government.” This is not right, since the Turks have recognized in the past that Armenians were killed because they were Armenians, not because of a so-called Revolution …

 

The Ottoman Senator Riza recognized this in his memoirs, where he wrote.

 

"I defended the Armenians who, even though they were completely innocent, were murdered simply because they were Armenians. The dictates of justice and the state’s badge required such intervention."

 

Ahmet Refik, from the Turkish military war intelligentsia, in his report book, İki Komite-İki Kıtâl, İstanbul 1919; recognize the exact same thing recognized by the Turkish military tribunal, that there was no such thing as an Armenian revolution, that it was a build up story to justify the elimination of the Armenians.

 

İki Komite-İki Kıtâl, İstanbul 1919; p.40:

 

"In order to justify this enormous crime [of the Armenian genocide] the requisite propaganda material was thoroughly prepared in Istanbul. [it included such statements as:] the Armenians are in league with the enemy. They will launch an uprising in Istanbul, kill off the Ittihadist leaders and will succeed in opening up the straits [to enable the Allied fleets to capture Istanbul]. These vile and malicious incitements [were such, however, that they] could persuade only people who were not even able to feel the pangs of their own hunger."

 

In the same book.

 

"among those Armenians who were atrociously wasted, despite the fact that they were most innocent, guiltless, and who had committed no crime whatsoever, were the Armenians of Bursa, Ankara, Eskiehir, and Konya."

 

On the same work at p. 23 he writes.

 

"The criminal gangs who were released from the prisons, after a week's training at the War Ministry's training grounds, were sent off to the Caucasian front as the brigands of the Special Organization, perpetrating the worst crimes against the Armenians ... . The Ittihadists intended to destroy the Armenians, and thereby to do away with the Question of the Eastern Provinces."

 

Here another eyewitness of the said massacres against the Muslim in Van, the Kaimakam of Mamouret-el-Aziz (Kharpout) Fa'iz El-Ghusein, in the conclusion of his work, explain what he has discovered.(Martyred Armenia by Fa'iz El-Ghusein, Bombay, 1916)

 

"If the Turkish Government were asked the reasons for which the Armenian men, women, and children were killed, and their honor and property placed at any man's mercy, they would reply that this people have murdered Moslems in the Vilayet of Van, and that there have been found in their possession prohibited arms, explosive bombs, and indications of steps towards the formation of an Armenian state, such as flags and the like, all pointing to the fact that this race has not turned from its evil ways, but on the first opportunity will kill the Moslems, rise in revolt, and invoke the help of Russia, the enemy of Turkey, against its rulers. That is what the Turkish government would say. I have followed the matter from its source. I have inquired from inhabitants and officials of Van, who were in Diarbekir, whether any Moslem had been killed by Armenians in the town of Van, or in the district of the Vilayet. They answered in the negative, saying that the Government had ordered the population to quit the town before the arrival of the Russians and before anyone was killed but that the Armenians had been summoned to give up their arms and had done so, dreading an attack by the Kurds, and dreading the government also; the government had further demanded that the principal notables and leading men should be given up to them as hostages, but the Armenians had not complied.

 

All this took place during the approach of the Russians towards the city of Van. As to the adjacent districts, the authorities collected the Armenians and drove them into the interior, where they were all slaughtered, no Government official or private man, Turk or Kurd, having been killed.

 

As regards Diarbekir, you have read the whole story in this book, and no insignificant event took place there, let alone murders or breaches of the peace, which could lead the Turkish Government to deal with the Armenians in this atrocious manner.

 

At Constantinople, we hear of no murder or other unlawful act committed by the Armenians, except the unauthenticated story about the twenty activists to which I have already referred.

 

They have not done the least wrong in the Vilayets of Kharpout, Trebizond, Sivas, Adana, or Bitlis, nor in the province of Moush.

 

I have related the episode at Zeitoun, which was unimportant, and that at Urfa, where they acted in self defense, seeing what had befallen their people, and preferring death to surrender.

 

As to their preparations, the flags, bombs and the like, even assuming there to be some truth in the statement, it does not justify the annihilation of the whole people, men and women, old men and children, in a way which revolts all humanity and more especially Islam and the whole body of Moslems, as those unacquainted with the true facts might impute these deeds to Mohammedan fanaticism."

 

He also talks about the pictures of Muslim mass killings allegedly done by the Armenians.

 

"Photographs of Armenians lying in the road, dressed in turbans, for dispatch to Constantinople. The Turkish Government thought that European nations might get to hear of the destruction of the Armenians and publish the news abroad so as to excite prejudice against the Turks. So after the gendarmes had killed a number of Armenian men, they put on them turbans and brought Kurdish women to weep and lament over them, saying that the Armenians had killed the men. They also brought a photographer to photograph the bodies and the weeping women, so that at a future time they might be able to convince Europe that it was the Armenians who had attacked the Kurds and killed them, that the Kurdish tribes had risen against them in revenge, and that the Turkish Government had had no part in the matter. But the secret of these proceedings was not hidden from men of intelligence, and after all this had been done, the truth became known and was spread abroad in Diarbekir."

 

Rafael de Nogales served as an ottoman soldier in his work "Four Years Beneath the Crescent" he describe what he saw during the said massacres against the Muslim.

 

in chapter V

 

"One hour later we saw numerous gigantic columns of smoke surge up from the opposite shore of the lake, indicating the sites where the cities and hamlets of the provinces of Van were being devoured by flame. Then I understood. The die was cast. The Armenian "revolution" had begun."

 

He concluded this from the reports given to him, about Armenian revolt...

 

Then on the next chapter, he goes there and sees by his own eyes.

 

"April 21. At dawn I was awakened by the noise of shots and volleys. The Armenians had attacked the town. Immediately I mounted my horse and, followed by some armed men, went to see what was happening. Judge of my amazement to discover that the aggressors had not been the Armenians, after ail, but the civil authorities themselves! Supported by the Kurds and the rabble of the vicinity, they were attacking and sacking the Armenian quarter."

 

Now after two people direct accounts, as well as all the reports from German officials about people such as Djever, and Refik own report book, about the construction of an alleged Armenian revolution. Here few other sources.

 

"This attempt of the Armenians to defend themselves against the Turkish attack in Van was promptly misrepresented in a communique' which was sent by Enver ***** and the Turkish Government to Berlin, and thence spread all over the world, as an attack by bands of Armenian insurrectionists who, in the rear of the Turkish army had fallen prey upon the Muhammedan population. Out of 180,000 Moslems in the Vilayet of Van only 30,000 had succeeded in escaping! In a later report issued by the Turkish embassy in Berlin on October 1, 1915, the story was further embellished: "No fewer than 180,000 Moslems had been killed. It was not surprising that the Moslems had taken vengeance for this". Some 18 Turks, answering to the number of Armenians they had killed in Van, had turned into 180,000! This astonishing impudent lie has a kind of foundation. According to statistics there should be 180,000 Moslems, including 30,000 Turks and 150,000 Kurds, in the Vilayet of Van. The Turks fled westwards when the Russian army advanced, while the 150,000 Kurds remained where they were, and were

molested neither by the Russians nor the Armenians"

 

"Armenia and the Near East", Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, 1928, p. 302.

 

"The Turkish ally also furnished German papers with stories of Armenian cruelty to offset the unfavorable publicity directed at the Central Powers for their alliance with the "terrible Turk", the perpetrator of the "Armenian massacres." The Armenians were accused of helping the Russians burn the Moslem quarters in the province of Van, rape the women and girls, kill all the men. According to a later estimate the Russians had burned alive 500 people in one village of Van, and only 30,000 of the 180,000 Moslems in the province had escaped. Germans who read that the Armenians were especially fond of burning Turks to death were not likely to have much sympathy with the Christian minority of Turkey. An intensive anti-Armenian campaign was staged by the official Turkish news agency as late as February and March, 1918. In this group of stories the most refined types of mutilation were included, such as Armenians waylaying Turks, tearing out their lungs and hanging them on the wall"

 

"Atrocity Propaganda 1914-1919", James Morgan Read, Yale University Press, 1941, pp. 118-119

 

The propaganda's meant to hide the eradication plan against the Armenians. And the Turks recognized it themselves, the allegation that there was a general massacre from both sides is not coming from the Turks, but what their government makes them believe. The Turks in that time were bombarded with anti-Armenian propaganda’s, pictures of Armenian victims that were passed as Muslim victims published in Turkish newspapers for their own consumptions(I gave references above), Muslim were relocated in Armenian houses, emptied, where their previous habitant were eradicated. These people now are hardly credible, they won’t accept that the Armenians were murdered, and their homes were given to them (the Muslim immigrants) and why admitting? After all, the news they have read, distributed in large, with pictures of deaths etc…, of Armenian killing Muslim, was a justification for themselves to deny and report what was said to them, when previously they have already recognized the Armenians were murdered. Later in this paper of mine, I will also include real account of Turkish eyewitnesses, of the massacres against the Armenians.

 

Sir, you act exactly like a denier, when you bring Armenian terrorists of the 80’s. What has these events anything to do with what happened in 1915, that Egoyan film is about? Are you not supposed to critic the movie? Have you an idea why these terrorist came to light in the end of the 70’s. The same years that the Turkish government started to create its Chair of Ottoman history around the world, to propagate its dirty denial, its terrorism of history, sending diplomats around the world as one of its major aim, to deny the genocide. Would I talk about the physical threats against Holocaust denier Sir, do you want some example Sir ? Would you relate this also, on the up come, of a film concerning the Holocaust? Pierre Vidal-Naquet write in his book Assassins of Memory, the following.

 

“Let us put ourselves in the position of Armenian minorities throughout the world. Imagine now Faurisson as a minister, Faurisson as a general, an ambassador, or an influential member of the United Nations; imagine Faurisson responding in the press each time it is a question of the genocide of the Jews, in brief, a state-sponsored Faurisson combined with an international Faurisson, and along with it, Talaat-Himmler having his solemn mausoleum in the capital.”

 

Do you know why he refer to “ solemn mausoleum” ? Because believe it or not Sir, Talaat has his solemn mausoleum in the Hill of Liberty, a place where the Hero’s of the republic have their monuments.

 

Jacques Derogy, write in his book about the subject(Armenian vengeance):

 

"Is it a matter of chance that in 1942, Hitlerite Germany restored Talaat's ashes to Kemal Ataturk's successor, who had them transferred to Istanbul with all the pomp reserved for the heroes of the fatherland? The remains of the former leader of the Young Turks, assassinated by Tehlirian in Berlin, have since rested in a mausoleum erected in 1943 on the Hill of Liberty. Each year, on March 21, the president of the [Turkish] Republic pays homage there to commemorate Talaat's 'martyr's death.'"

 

You say, you understand the Turks, but do you understand the Armenians ? You refer to the terrorists killing of the diplomats, do you put these killings, in quotation marks, like you do to name the Armenian genocide? Are you trying to compare a genocide with a killing of diplomats? No Sir, its evident that you do not understand the Armenians, like its evident that you do not understand their anger, when their worst moment in history is denied, and their victims seen as the aggressors, the masterminds of this awful crime, having their monuments and seen as national hero’s. How would the Jews perceive this, if Hitler had his monument and considered as a national hero, like Himmler etc… naming schools by their names, hospitals by their names, streets by their names… do you want examples of dozens of the arch master minds of the Armenian genocide, having their names on monuments, schools etc… ? Now can you understand the Armenians like you understand the Turks? And what about Turkey blocking Armenian frontier illegally, asking Armenia a land locked country already blocked from the East, to redraw their genocide “claim” to consider opening its frontier? Can you understand the Armenians, like you understand the Turks, Sir?

 

Now another inaccuracy has been introduced in your article, and I find this inaccuracy one of the worst of its kind. You allege that resent research supports the Turkish view. First of all, like I wrote above, there is no real Turkish view, the Turkish view is what their government brainwash them to believe. Since many Turkish historians recognize the Armenian genocide, like Dr. Fikret Adanir, Dr. Taner Akçam, etc…, the Turkish human right Organization recognize the Armenian genocide as a historical fact, its co-founder, Dr. Zaracollu, with many others of this organization have been jailed and tortured in Turkey because of their recognition, and Sir, you questioning the Armenian genocide is not only offensive for the Armenians, and humanity, its also offensive for these hundreds of Turks jailed because they confront their government by daring to publish researches about the subject. Zaracollu’s wife that died recently in Turkey, has been tortured and jailed many and many times, because she translated works about the genocide in order that this kind of works be accessible. You are walking on her grave Sir, you are walking on the body of these people tortured and jailed with your inaccurate and offensive article, so you asked to the Turks? And are the Turks able to search any information’s in Turkey, other then their government “history terrorism” articles?

 

Which recent research support Turkish view Sir? You first refer to Lewis, and fairly you write he recognized the genocide before. Have you just an idea why he now deny it Sir? Do you know which university he works for Sir? Do you know that his department has received more then 3 ITS grants from Turkey? Do you know, what ITS grants are? And what for they are generally used? ITS, stands for the Turkish Studies Institute, in Washington D.C., honorary chairman, the Turkish Ambassador to the U.S. The Institute's purpose is to counter Armenian genocide education at the "academic level" and as a pro-Turkey lobbying group. Do you know that in the past similar grants programs were to be established by Holocaust denialists, but have been rejected, and are considered as illegal? Would you refer Sir, to such historians, if these Holocaust denialist grants were given to them? Take a look at the Middle East Studies Association Bulletins, Directory of American Scholars, and the Ottoman Studies Directory. You will see the grants received by Lewis, and also their dates, and you should have a hint, concerning why Lewis “changed” his mind concerning the Armenian genocide, mysteriously after the first series of grants received for his Middle East department. Contrary to what you refer, Lewis do not support “Turkish”(when I say Turkish here, I mean Turkish government, because like I said, there is no distinct Turkish view) view because of new researches. This has been proved by Israel Charny, the director of the Holocaust and Genocide Institute. Israel Charny covered Lewis cases in “A journal of social issues” Vol. 6, Issue 1, “The Psychological Satisfaction of Denials of the Holocaust or Other known Genocides by Non-Extremists or bigots, and even known Scholars.”

 

Here I quote the letter that Israel Charny has written to Lewis, referred in the above reference.

 

“December 27, 1994

Professor Bernard Lewis

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ, U. S. A.

Dear Professor Lewis:

 

I have read with great interest your personal submission to the I7th Court at the Palace of Justice in Pairs dated 21 October, 1994.

 

You emphasize that you as an historian have a right, indeed an obligation to change your views over the years, based on new research evidence.

 

I am asking you to convey to me a specific list of the researches which, according to your remarks, have accumulated over the years as evidence that is contrary to your original observations as an historian in your book, The Emergence of Modern Turkey in 1961, in which you described "the terrible holocaust" of one-and-a-half million Armenians.

 

I am aware of many studies that have appeared in recent years confirming more and more the Armenian Genocide, such as Professor Vahakn Dadrian's work on the Turkish court-martial of the Turkish leaders who were responsible for the genocide; also Professor Dadrian's work on documentation of the Armenian Genocide in Turkish sources, and in German and Austrian sources; a variety of publications reporting statements by American Consuls throughout Turkey describing the ongoing Armenian Genocide; and the recent sterling compilation by Dr. Rouben Adalian of the vast microfiche file of voluminous American government records from that period, these too including the original consular reports previously referred to -- in addition to Ambassador Morgenthau's widely known reports.

 

I am accustomed to professional and scientific controversy and I believe deeply in the legitimacy of dissension and intellectual conflict, and agree that these must be based on the record of verifiable research processes which are conducted and published according to the demanding standards of scholarship. It is in this spirit that I am making the above request to you that you send me, as soon as possible, a compilation of researches on which you base your statement to the court that the evidence about the massacres of the Armenians has changed over the years in the direction of disproving any organized plan and operational program of extermination.

 

I would like to add a brief comment about your statement to the court about Raphael Lemkin, and how he coined the term "genocide" with reference to the "systematic elimination of a mass of a race or a nation" in response to the crimes of World War II. It will be significant to you that in Lemkin's unpublished writings, vast sections of which I have studied at the Archives at the New York Public Library, and much of which I also have on microfiche, Raphael Lemkin himself refers explicitly, and with deep feeling, to the genocidal murder of the Armenian people.

 

Sincerely,

 

Israel W. Charny, Ph.D.

Executive Director”

 

Lewis never was able to answer Israel Charny’s request, no letter until now has been received by Israel Charny, a letter that would prove by the said new researches that there was no genocide. Lewis new researches have been proven to be non-existent, only recycled Turkish historiographies, needed for his departments in order to receive the ITS grants needed for the Ottoman Chair of history in his Middle East history department. Also Yves Ternon has written by the name of all the specialists and intellectuals, asking Lewis to refer to his said new studies, there was also no answer from the part of Lewis. Lewis in fact never proved his views, he only wrote in newspapers and gave interviews, but never was able to support his allegations when asked by such people as the director of the Jerusalem Holocaust and Genocide studies institute.

 

Now you also referred to McCarthy Sir, I have done a research concerning him, that will be available soon, and I ask you at least to read it, since I am ready to send you a copy of that work, that is proof-read btw, by a Turk, since I am a part of an Armenian-Turkish friendship group, that work for the understanding of the genocide amongs the Turks. McCarthy from the same references that I provided for Lewis, about ITS grants, himself not only received ITS grants, but even worst, from these references he also received ARIT grants, that stands for “American Research Institute in Turkey” it’s a direct governmental Institute that has as prime aim to propagate denial in United-State educational institutions by directly granting “searchers,” McCarthy himself admitted to work for what he is pied. His speech has been reported in the Assembly of Turkish American Associations, ATA-USA, Fall 1995 - Winter 1996. p.70

 

"Dr. McCarthy stated that he, Dr. Lowry, Professor Stanford Shaw, and many others have been working to correct the image of Turkey and Turkish History in the United State."

 

This is exactly why they are pied for Sir, McCarthy has no new researches, he is contradicted by many, like the specialist Dr. Panzac, or Frédéric Paulin, developing about the population stable theory, and how it was manipulated by McCarthy, Himler Kaiser, a German specialist also treated about McCarthy, etc… I myself have studied the case, and like I said am ready to send you a copy of my work that will soon be available on the upcoming site, “Armenian Genocide Virtual Research Center” that is the work of an Armenian-Turkish friendship group, the site will also include Turkish works for Native Turkish speakers living in Turkey and that have no non-biased resources.

 

Now to finish with Sir, you wrote about the emails from Turks that talks about what they Grandmother told them. Yes in fact Sir, they will report hearing about this or that, on the other hand, go ask to any Diasporan Armenians Sir, they will not say, their grandmothers also heard of this or that, but will say their grandmother and fathers were survivors of the genocide, unlike the large majority of the answers that you will receive from the Turks, the Armenians will not tell their grandmothers said they heard this or that has been done in their villages, they will rather say, their grandmother or father were survivors, when their brothers and sisters were killed in mass, their parents also, sent in the concentration camps and burned in mass. This is what you will hear from the Armenian side, because the large majority of the Diasporan Armenians are the product of the survivors, they are not people that heard in their villages this or that happened, they are peoples that will say, their mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers were killed and burned, lets to starve, drowned in mass.

 

Now, do you want true account of Turks ? One was published in the New York Times, in May 10, 2000 by the title, “Turkish Region Recalls Massacre of Armenians” by Stephen Kinzer. This article was near of not being published when Turkish officials heard that interviews were been done, but finally the New York Times has ignored the threats and have published the article. Stephen Kinzer visited Eastern Turkey and interviewed Turks there. I will quote from the article some interesting memories from these Turks that are ignored in your article. These interviews have been done in a place among others, Elazig.

 

“’They took the Armenians up there and killed them,’ Ms. Cakirbay said, pointing to a hill above her. ‘ They dug a hole for the bodies. My parents told me.’”

 

"’They don't teach it in school, but if you're interested there are plenty of ways you can find out,’ said Yasemin Orhan, a native of Elazig who graduated from the local university last year. ‘Many Armenians were killed. It's for sure.’"

 

"’Other people don't know because they don't live here,’ Mr. Gonultas said as he sipped tea on a recent evening. … ‘Almost all were killed. It wasn't a war, it was a massacre.’”

 

"’This used to be an Armenian area, but now they're gone,’ said a factory worker named Selhattin Cinar. ‘Dead, killed, chased away. Our government doesn't want to admit it. Why would you want to say, 'My yogurt is sour'?’"

 

Probably these people have been visited by some officials after the government heard such interview was taking place, since many threats have been done against officials of the New York Times as well as the author of the article, in order that this article be not published. One of my Turkish correspondences said to me that if you ask to people living in Nallýhan why the soil is read, they will answer that the soil is red because it was colored by the blood of the Armenians that were killed there… these are stories and believes in these regions that are silenced by their government. And your action Sir, by writing such an article near the release date of Egoyans film, is disgusting, I know I am being hard with you, but I want to tell you that before this article, I had a sympathy for you, your love of French Quebecers culture, to the point that you were called a traitor by many, and your love of their culture to the point of studying our wonderful language (French), I have read your book with great enthusiasm . I know this new subject you decided to cover was a difficult one, but still I think you have made a great mistake, your action even if you had good intentions was offensive to the memory of the victims of a genocide, but this is not all, your action also help those that wants to forget these dark side of our history and deny them.

 

I think you have guessed that I may be an Armenian Canadian, both of us share many similar interest, both of us, you as a native English and me as an Armenian felt in love with Quebecs French culture, that you have written so much about, with a passionate way, and I think that your article will hurt this passion that I had to read you. Because Sir, both sides of my family are the product of the survivors of this genocide, both sides have lost entire families, fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, have been lets to starve, burned, drowned etc… and you can go and ask to any diasporan Armenian in Montreal, unlike the Turks that you have interviewed, you will not hear things such as, “My grandmother heard that in his village” but rather hear that “My grandmother’s mother, father, sisters and brothers have been murdered, she survived in the deportation by hiding etc…” It was because of this, that I decided to study the subject for 3 years now.

 

I hope you have read what I have written, in the same passionate way that I have read for years your articles.

 

And I hope that, like a professional would admit his mistakes, you will apologize for a such irresponsible mistake. And if you do so, you will all my admirations and sympathy, and more then those I had for you, before reading this article

 

Regards

 

[ May 21, 2002, 06:41 AM: Message edited by: Domino ]

[wh00t]

Bravo Domino, un peu longue, n'est-ce que pas?

 

There have been at least 3 letters to the editor about Conlogue's clearly biased articles, including one from Egoyan himself. Here it is, before it's published on Groong:

 

Atrocious act

 

By ATOM EGOYAN

 

Thursday, May 16, 2002 – Print Edition, Page A18

 

Toronto -- Re Bracing For Cinema's Judgment by Ray Conlogue (May 15): I have steadfastly tried to prevent my film Ararat from being made into a political tool. And now, days before its premiere in Cannes, Mr. Conlogue has written an article that is breathtakingly irresponsible and provocative.

 

The denial of genocide is the final stage of this atrocious act. Mr. Conlogue's article is a example of how easy it can be to demonize a victim and rehabilitate the perpetrator. I am saddened that a professional journalist can question the reality of a genocide that Holocaust scholars including Elie Wiesel affirm as an "incontestable fact."

[THOTH]

Domino - an absolutly brilliant post! You must post it on other Armenian forums. The extent of your research and your vision and commitment on this matter continue to impress. We are all in your gratitude for this. And to think that you - a Turkish-Jew (according to Anoush and A.R. & such) are doing so much to help our cause. In their entire lifetimes they will never assemble and articulate anything that even remotely comes close to the importance to which I place this letter for our cause. Brave! Bravo! Brave! and thank you.

[Guest Fadi]

Yes wh00t maybe too long, but still his aricle was not a short one.

 

Do you know the best ? You have not seen the picture that goes with the article. This picture proves that he has visited Van's site about Egoyan and Thornys site about Ararat and the other film, since he presented a picture that Thorny has included in her site that was supposed to present Ararat, but that picture has nothing to do with Egoyans film, Conlogue has done a misrepresentation by including that picture.

 

Anither problem here, I have not sent the email still, I am thinking of a way that will garantee me that he will read it, because many Armenians have sent sentimental emails, that he will compare with those that he recieved by Turks, so my letter could be ignored on these bunch of other emails.

 

What I am thinking of doing is to go in person on the Montreal stationed Globe&mail and sumbit the letter to the direction office of Montreal, as well as one to Conlogue, other then the ones I will send by email.

 

This way I will be sure they will read it.

 

Now about my letter being to small, believe me guys I have tried to write it as short as possible, because I do not know all the things this guy believe but has not writen, this is what his article makes me feel. So I only covered the basic.

 

Now I have a prove that this guy is a pseudo-intellectuals writing only to be different, when I think I have considered him in the past for his protection of the French culture with his book and articles, I wondered if he was honnest, or just wanted to be different, now this article say it all.

 

Are some interested to the content of the article ? If enought want to read it, maybe should I post it ?

 

Ah and posting it on other forums, I do not want that people think I am just doing this for show-off... if I get an answer from the direction or him, be sure everyone that that answer will be posted everywhere... but no one block you guys to post my letter on other forums. Remember ? None of what I write is copyrighted.

[gamavor]

I think you have guessed that I may be an Armenian Canadian, both of us share many similar interest, both of us, you as a native English and me as an Armenian felt in love with Quebecs French culture, that you have written so much about, with a passionate way, and I think that your article will hurt this passion that I had to read you. Because Sir, both sides of my family are the product of the survivors of this genocide, both sides have lost entire families, fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, have been lets to starve, burned, drowned etc… and you can go and ask to any diasporan Armenian in Montreal, unlike the Turks that you have interviewed, you will not hear things such as, “My grandmother heard that in his village” but rather hear that “My grandmother’s mother, father, sisters and brothers have been murdered, she survived in the deportation by hiding etc…” It was because of this, that I decided to study the subject for 3 years now.

 

 

Thoth, have you read the whole letter??? Here, take your time. The only turkish-jew that we all admire is........somebody else.

 

Good job Domino!

[DominO123]

Thoth, have you read the whole letter??? Here, take your time. The only turkish-jew that we all admire is........somebody else.

 

Good job Domino!

Gamavor, I will kick you the next time you do that to me. I hate when people answer my old threads... there is many grammer mistakes on that letter, I'm embarassed.

[gamavor]

Grammar mistakes. That is normal. When you are compassionate about something, or too emotional you do make mistakes. I would even leave them as they are. They reinforce your thought, although sometimes annoying. What matters is the substance not the form. This rule applies virtually to everything except, legal documents and women. Edited March 4, 2004 by gamavor

[phantom]

Domino, I can't believe that that letter is 2 years old. I didn't realize you had done so much research by that time. That means that you have been studying this matter for 5 years now. WOW! That's amazing, no wonder you know so damn much. These people at Turkey.com really have no hope whatsoever of making rational arguments to overcome the barrage of facts that you incorporate into each one of your posts. It's really fun to watch. Every time you post something intelligent and thought-provoking, the response is always a personal attack against you. I have yet to see a single response on the merits or facts. Never a response to the message; always an attack on the messenger's character. It's pathetic. Keep up the good work. What we need to do is clone you.

[Sip]

... What we need to do is clone you.

No please ... not that ... PLEASE.

[Ararat]

Domino - an absolutly brilliant post! You must post it on other Armenian forums. The extent of your research and your vision and commitment on this matter continue to impress. We are all in your gratitude for this. And to think that you - a Turkish-Jew (according to Anoush and A.R. & such) are doing so much to help our cause. In their entire lifetimes they will never assemble and articulate anything that even remotely comes close to the importance to which I place this letter for our cause. Brave! Bravo! Brave! and thank you.

I second to THOTH... Magnificent job.

 

This AR/Anoush business is not worth to talk about it. They do not have even half dozen followers within entire Armenian population.

 

My sincere greetings

[DominO123]

Sorry guys for my absence, I had many things to do as well as building my page regarding Stan, which will be up today or tomorrow.

 

Gamavor I present you Phantom, another lawyer, Phantom i present you Gamavor a lawyer.

 

Oh man, I have everything I need, Turkish translators, 2 lawyers(If I have a problem) bunch of computer geeks(Azat, Sip, Ararat etc...)

 

Once the page is out, I hope everyone will email them to the members of the chambers and to Stan first.

[Azat]

Oh man, I have everything I need, Turkish translators, 2 lawyers(If I have a problem) bunch of computer geeks(Azat, Sip, Ararat etc...)

Please Domino, take me out of the geek category and put me in the cook category. I rather cook for you folks than play with those computer thingys

 

What would you like to eat this evening master Domino?