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TURKEY'S GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
The Breeze
April 20 2015
Kevan Hulligan | The Breeze The Breeze
Pope Francis and the Eastern Union have enraged the government of
Turkey by simply refusing to deny history.
In a Mass for Armenian Catholics in Vatican City, Pope Francis
referred to the Armenian Genocide, the systematic killing of nearly
1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces during World War I,
as "the first genocide of the 20th century."
The European Parliament passed a resolution in remembrance of the
event last Wednesday.
This year marks the 100-year anniversary of the tragedy, wherein
Armenian men, women and children were slaughtered, starved, raped
and deported. The reason given at the time was that the primarily
Christian Armenians might join forces with Russia to fight the Ottomans
from within.
In response to multiple parties recognizing a historical fact, Turkey
decided to throw a bit of an international hissy fit. It withdrew its
diplomat from Vatican City, announced that it will ignore the EU's
resolution and said that the Pope has become part of "an evil front"
that seeks to degrade Turkey.
As ridiculous as it sounds, Turkey actually used the word "evil" to
describe those wishing to acknowledge what happened in 1915. Last
time I checked, refusing to come to terms with a horrendous war
crime perpetrated against a defenseless group of people because of a
conspiracy theory is pretty close to the definition of evil. In the
Turkish government's mind, much like a spoiled child caught doing
something wrong, asking it to take responsibility for what happened
is the greatest of all possible sins.
Keep in mind, Turkey continues to deny the fact that it was genocide,
despite the fact that the man who created the term "genocide," Raphael
Lemkin, used both this event and the Holocaust in the creation of
the term in the first place.
If Turkey wants to be taken seriously as a country and not isolate
itself, it needs to stop shifting responsibility and denying reality
when it comes to the Armenian genocide. It does itself no good to
keep denying such a disgusting crime and not seek forgiveness for
what transpired.
Masses of historians and scholars agree that what happened to the
Armenians counts as the first genocide in the 20th century. The United
Nations, the International Association of Genocide Scholars and 23
other countries recognize the Armenian genocide.
How long can Turkey's government choose to put its collective head
in the sand regarding what was done to the Armenians?
Why does it continuously choose not to acknowledge what happened
and instead go about throwing a tantrum when anyone asks it to come
to terms with it's past? Sure, Turkey has said in the past that
Armenians were killed, but it continues to try to avoid recognizing
it as genocide.
The United States had a bill in Congress back in 2007 to recognize
the Armenian genocide, but George W. Bush rejected the bill stating
that it would be harmful to NATO ties with Turkey. Turkey and Armenia
still haven't established diplomatic ties because of this.
In his speech, Pope Francis said, "Concealing or denying an evil is
like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it."
I couldn't say it any better myself.
http://www.breezejmu.org/opinion/turkey-s-government-needs-recognize-armenian-genocide/article_bb575a54-e6cb-11e4-99cf-930a4bf6a1c9.html
The Breeze
April 20 2015
Kevan Hulligan | The Breeze The Breeze
Pope Francis and the Eastern Union have enraged the government of
Turkey by simply refusing to deny history.
In a Mass for Armenian Catholics in Vatican City, Pope Francis
referred to the Armenian Genocide, the systematic killing of nearly
1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces during World War I,
as "the first genocide of the 20th century."
The European Parliament passed a resolution in remembrance of the
event last Wednesday.
This year marks the 100-year anniversary of the tragedy, wherein
Armenian men, women and children were slaughtered, starved, raped
and deported. The reason given at the time was that the primarily
Christian Armenians might join forces with Russia to fight the Ottomans
from within.
In response to multiple parties recognizing a historical fact, Turkey
decided to throw a bit of an international hissy fit. It withdrew its
diplomat from Vatican City, announced that it will ignore the EU's
resolution and said that the Pope has become part of "an evil front"
that seeks to degrade Turkey.
As ridiculous as it sounds, Turkey actually used the word "evil" to
describe those wishing to acknowledge what happened in 1915. Last
time I checked, refusing to come to terms with a horrendous war
crime perpetrated against a defenseless group of people because of a
conspiracy theory is pretty close to the definition of evil. In the
Turkish government's mind, much like a spoiled child caught doing
something wrong, asking it to take responsibility for what happened
is the greatest of all possible sins.
Keep in mind, Turkey continues to deny the fact that it was genocide,
despite the fact that the man who created the term "genocide," Raphael
Lemkin, used both this event and the Holocaust in the creation of
the term in the first place.
If Turkey wants to be taken seriously as a country and not isolate
itself, it needs to stop shifting responsibility and denying reality
when it comes to the Armenian genocide. It does itself no good to
keep denying such a disgusting crime and not seek forgiveness for
what transpired.
Masses of historians and scholars agree that what happened to the
Armenians counts as the first genocide in the 20th century. The United
Nations, the International Association of Genocide Scholars and 23
other countries recognize the Armenian genocide.
How long can Turkey's government choose to put its collective head
in the sand regarding what was done to the Armenians?
Why does it continuously choose not to acknowledge what happened
and instead go about throwing a tantrum when anyone asks it to come
to terms with it's past? Sure, Turkey has said in the past that
Armenians were killed, but it continues to try to avoid recognizing
it as genocide.
The United States had a bill in Congress back in 2007 to recognize
the Armenian genocide, but George W. Bush rejected the bill stating
that it would be harmful to NATO ties with Turkey. Turkey and Armenia
still haven't established diplomatic ties because of this.
In his speech, Pope Francis said, "Concealing or denying an evil is
like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it."
I couldn't say it any better myself.
http://www.breezejmu.org/opinion/turkey-s-government-needs-recognize-armenian-genocide/article_bb575a54-e6cb-11e4-99cf-930a4bf6a1c9.html