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[USAK CONFERENCE] BRITAIN'S GREAT WAR ON TURKEY FROM AN IRISH POINT OF VIEW
Agshin Umudov
Journal of Turkish Weekly
Oct 26 2010
On October 26, International Strategic Research Organization (USAK)
organized a 2-hour seminar on "Britain's Great War on Turkey from an
Irish Point of View" which was presented by Dr. Pat Walsh. The aim of
the seminar was to discuss Ottoman Empire during the WWI and the 1915
events. USAK Vice President Mehmet Tiras also attended the conference.
At the beginning of the seminar, moderator, Prof. Guner Ozkan,
introduced Dr. Walsh to the audience. After that Dr. Walsh gave a
presentation that addressed the following questions: Why did Ireland
involve in the "Great War"?; why did Britain make a war on Ottoman
Empire?; what were the Britain's objectives and motivations in war
against Ottoman Empire?; why did Britain produce so much propaganda
against Ottoman Empire?; lastly, what were the positive affects of
the Great War in Turkey? Elaborating on the above listed questions Dr.
Walsh pointed out that Ireland's involvement in the Great War against
Ottoman Empire could be explained by looking at the inner politics
of the Great Britain in the early twentieth century. Apart from that,
he noted that, unfortunately, in Ireland people perceived the "Great
War" as a war of small nations; this in turn enticed many Irish men to
join the war against Turks. He stated that Turkish victory in Gallipoli
substantially decreased the Irish support for the British royal army.
Dr. Walsh also gave the perfect picture of the alliances that were
formed before and during the WWI. He depicted how Britain's traditional
stance towards Ottomans had changed just before the WWI; oftentimes
in the history, particularly in the 19th century, Great Britain was
supporting Ottoman Empire in order to curb the Russian expansion in
Asia, especially down to the Indian Ocean.
Interestingly, Dr. Walsh stressed that most of the ongoing problems
of the Middle East, such as Israel-Palestinian, were sown by the
British Empire. He said that "Britain conquered too much land that
eventually became unable to rule over them".
Lastly, Dr. Walsh depicted how Britain used Armenians as a tool to
create a barbarian image of Turks all over the world. He said that
up to the WWI Turks were known as the "clean fighters"; and Britain
felt that such image of Turks must be impaired in order to make the
conscription easer. To that end, Britain used Armenians to create
"inhuman" image of the Turks. Moreover, small nations within the
Ottoman Empire were also used to cause instability within the Ottoman
Empire.
At the end of the seminar, Vice President and Deputy Director of USAK,
Mr. Mehmet Tiras, presented Dr. Walsh a plaque.
From: A. Papazian
Agshin Umudov
Journal of Turkish Weekly
Oct 26 2010
On October 26, International Strategic Research Organization (USAK)
organized a 2-hour seminar on "Britain's Great War on Turkey from an
Irish Point of View" which was presented by Dr. Pat Walsh. The aim of
the seminar was to discuss Ottoman Empire during the WWI and the 1915
events. USAK Vice President Mehmet Tiras also attended the conference.
At the beginning of the seminar, moderator, Prof. Guner Ozkan,
introduced Dr. Walsh to the audience. After that Dr. Walsh gave a
presentation that addressed the following questions: Why did Ireland
involve in the "Great War"?; why did Britain make a war on Ottoman
Empire?; what were the Britain's objectives and motivations in war
against Ottoman Empire?; why did Britain produce so much propaganda
against Ottoman Empire?; lastly, what were the positive affects of
the Great War in Turkey? Elaborating on the above listed questions Dr.
Walsh pointed out that Ireland's involvement in the Great War against
Ottoman Empire could be explained by looking at the inner politics
of the Great Britain in the early twentieth century. Apart from that,
he noted that, unfortunately, in Ireland people perceived the "Great
War" as a war of small nations; this in turn enticed many Irish men to
join the war against Turks. He stated that Turkish victory in Gallipoli
substantially decreased the Irish support for the British royal army.
Dr. Walsh also gave the perfect picture of the alliances that were
formed before and during the WWI. He depicted how Britain's traditional
stance towards Ottomans had changed just before the WWI; oftentimes
in the history, particularly in the 19th century, Great Britain was
supporting Ottoman Empire in order to curb the Russian expansion in
Asia, especially down to the Indian Ocean.
Interestingly, Dr. Walsh stressed that most of the ongoing problems
of the Middle East, such as Israel-Palestinian, were sown by the
British Empire. He said that "Britain conquered too much land that
eventually became unable to rule over them".
Lastly, Dr. Walsh depicted how Britain used Armenians as a tool to
create a barbarian image of Turks all over the world. He said that
up to the WWI Turks were known as the "clean fighters"; and Britain
felt that such image of Turks must be impaired in order to make the
conscription easer. To that end, Britain used Armenians to create
"inhuman" image of the Turks. Moreover, small nations within the
Ottoman Empire were also used to cause instability within the Ottoman
Empire.
At the end of the seminar, Vice President and Deputy Director of USAK,
Mr. Mehmet Tiras, presented Dr. Walsh a plaque.
From: A. Papazian