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MASSACRE REMAINS TURKISH SHAME
by Stewart Duncan
Kamloops Daily News (British Columbia)
December 22, 2011 Thursday
Final Edition
The French parliament today is debating a bill that would make it
illegal to deny that Turkey massacred 1.5 million Armenians during
and after the Great War.
France recognized 10 years ago that the "ethnic cleansing" (a term
that almost always must be in quotes) qualified as genocide.
This next step -- passing the bill -- it will make Armenian-holocaust
denials equal to Jewish-Holocaust denials.
That means anyone who deliberately falsifies the historical record
could be fined 45,000 euros, which is close to $60,000 Canadian. Along
with that could be a year in Le Bastille -- and pardon my Frenchified
metaphor for The Big House.
Turkey reacted as usual: denial followed by attenuation ("It wasn't
THAT bad"), indignation and redirection, pointing at France's own dirty
secrets. (And France has some, including its enthusiastic round up and
deportation of French citizens of Jewish descent to Nazi death camps.)
But every country has skeletons in its closets; the world only gets
upset enough to take action when it has nothing else really pressing.
Turkey's massacre of Armenians was certainly one of the worst that
can be historically verified. In the very worst genocides, of course,
no one lives to tell.
Turkey, as expected, pulled its ambassador from France, just as it
had with Canada in 2004.
Canada sutured that diplomatic laceration by saying that our attention
to the matter was only an acknowledgement of history, and not a
condemnation of modern Turkey, which, of course, implies that modern
Turkey would never do such a nasty thing. It didn't heal the rift
completely, but it was a good spin.
Unfortunately, this particular Turkish massacre of Armenians is only
one of many Turkish campaigns of murder and genocide, which typically
included torture, rape, brutality, starvation, thirst, drownings,
poisonings, etc.
In fact, if any modern country has defined diversification in mass
murder, it's Turkey. For about 400 years, Turks had systematically
tried to wipe out Armenians, Kurds, Greeks, Christians, non-ethnic
Turks and anyone who wasn't an avowed supporter of whoever held
the sword.
Nor did Turkey change its ways after the disintegration of the Ottoman
Empire, which was behind the Armenian genocide.
In 1922, the Young Turks (the government at the time) swept through
the peaceful, prosperous, cosmopolitan city of Smyrna. Americans,
Britons, French, Russian, Austrian, German, Japanese and many more
who were living in Smyrna and operating legitimate businesses were
forced to flee for their lives.
The lucky ones escaped. The rest -- including entire families --
were intentionally drowned at sea, burned in the buildings in which
they sought refuge, or left in bloody pieces in the streets.
So the fact that France is willing to deal with the Armenian massacre
now is a big step internationally and historically.
In doing so, the often-morally ambivalent nation takes a more
courageous stance than Canada, Switzerland, Russia and a score of
countries that are on record as recognizing Turkey's ethnic cleansing
of that period, but which haven't made denying the genocide illegal.
Notably, Britain and the U.S. are not on that important list, though
they know right well that it is true. Britain and the U.S. have
stronger economic ties to Turkey than Canada or France; they also have
more Turkish immigrants and citizens of Turkish descent. And they have
a great, ongoing military need for Turkey's strategic location. Chalk
up another for pragmatism.
And bravo, France.
Stewart Duncan is an associate editor with The Daily News.
by Stewart Duncan
Kamloops Daily News (British Columbia)
December 22, 2011 Thursday
Final Edition
The French parliament today is debating a bill that would make it
illegal to deny that Turkey massacred 1.5 million Armenians during
and after the Great War.
France recognized 10 years ago that the "ethnic cleansing" (a term
that almost always must be in quotes) qualified as genocide.
This next step -- passing the bill -- it will make Armenian-holocaust
denials equal to Jewish-Holocaust denials.
That means anyone who deliberately falsifies the historical record
could be fined 45,000 euros, which is close to $60,000 Canadian. Along
with that could be a year in Le Bastille -- and pardon my Frenchified
metaphor for The Big House.
Turkey reacted as usual: denial followed by attenuation ("It wasn't
THAT bad"), indignation and redirection, pointing at France's own dirty
secrets. (And France has some, including its enthusiastic round up and
deportation of French citizens of Jewish descent to Nazi death camps.)
But every country has skeletons in its closets; the world only gets
upset enough to take action when it has nothing else really pressing.
Turkey's massacre of Armenians was certainly one of the worst that
can be historically verified. In the very worst genocides, of course,
no one lives to tell.
Turkey, as expected, pulled its ambassador from France, just as it
had with Canada in 2004.
Canada sutured that diplomatic laceration by saying that our attention
to the matter was only an acknowledgement of history, and not a
condemnation of modern Turkey, which, of course, implies that modern
Turkey would never do such a nasty thing. It didn't heal the rift
completely, but it was a good spin.
Unfortunately, this particular Turkish massacre of Armenians is only
one of many Turkish campaigns of murder and genocide, which typically
included torture, rape, brutality, starvation, thirst, drownings,
poisonings, etc.
In fact, if any modern country has defined diversification in mass
murder, it's Turkey. For about 400 years, Turks had systematically
tried to wipe out Armenians, Kurds, Greeks, Christians, non-ethnic
Turks and anyone who wasn't an avowed supporter of whoever held
the sword.
Nor did Turkey change its ways after the disintegration of the Ottoman
Empire, which was behind the Armenian genocide.
In 1922, the Young Turks (the government at the time) swept through
the peaceful, prosperous, cosmopolitan city of Smyrna. Americans,
Britons, French, Russian, Austrian, German, Japanese and many more
who were living in Smyrna and operating legitimate businesses were
forced to flee for their lives.
The lucky ones escaped. The rest -- including entire families --
were intentionally drowned at sea, burned in the buildings in which
they sought refuge, or left in bloody pieces in the streets.
So the fact that France is willing to deal with the Armenian massacre
now is a big step internationally and historically.
In doing so, the often-morally ambivalent nation takes a more
courageous stance than Canada, Switzerland, Russia and a score of
countries that are on record as recognizing Turkey's ethnic cleansing
of that period, but which haven't made denying the genocide illegal.
Notably, Britain and the U.S. are not on that important list, though
they know right well that it is true. Britain and the U.S. have
stronger economic ties to Turkey than Canada or France; they also have
more Turkish immigrants and citizens of Turkish descent. And they have
a great, ongoing military need for Turkey's strategic location. Chalk
up another for pragmatism.
And bravo, France.
Stewart Duncan is an associate editor with The Daily News.