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ANKARA: Armenian Diaspora And The Memory Of 205 Ottoman Turks In Can

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  • ANKARA: Armenian Diaspora And The Memory Of 205 Ottoman Turks In Can

    ARMENIAN DIASPORA AND THE MEMORY OF 205 OTTOMAN TURKS IN CANADA

    Hurriyet Daily news, Turkey
    Feb 4 2014

    by BARCIN YÄ°NANC

    Three years ago I went skiing in Banff National Park in Canada. At
    that time I did not know that Turks who were incarcerated during World
    War I were perhaps among those who helped build Banf National Park!

    I just recently discovered that during First World War, "enemy aliens
    (nationals of Germany and of the Austro - Hungarian and Turkish
    Empires) were subject to internment... Of 8,579 men at 24 camps
    across Canada, 5,954 were of Austro-Hungarian origin, including 5,000
    Ukrainians; 2009 were Germans, 205 were Turks and 99, Bulgarians. All
    endured hunger and forced labor, helping to build some of Canada's
    best-known landmarks such as Banff National Park," according to the
    Canadian Encyclopedia.

    These Turks used to live in Bradford. All 200 or so of them were
    picked up one night and sent to a camp North of Ontario. They spent
    five years there. Some have died there. Others came back to Bradford.

    There is a burial site in the city where the bodies of some of those
    who came back are believed to be.

    This year marks the centenary of the start of World War I. So the
    Turkish Ambassador to Canada, just like his other Italian or German
    colleagues decided to start an initiative to commemorate the Turks
    that suffered under the detention camps. The response of the local
    municipality to the wish to mark the place with a plaque was positive
    in the beginning, yet local authorities appear to be hesitating in
    backing this purely humanitarian initiative. No doubt the Armenian
    community is behind it. They think this is an effort to derail their
    lobbying activities!

    Turkish historian Taner Akcam, who claims World War I mass killings of
    the Armenians under the Ottoman hands to be genocide, talks about a
    "denial industry" in Turkey. I would not contest it, except that the
    same is also true for the Armenian diaspora. Their industry is about
    closing all eyes and ears to anything that can question genocide. But
    this industry goes as far as "obstructing anything Turks do; hating
    anything Turkish." Of course there are moderate Armenians looking for
    dialogue but it seems they are being terrorized by the more radicals.

    What's wrong with commemorating a few hundred Turks who had nothing
    to do with the Armenian tragedy in Anatolia. It would have been much
    wiser to come and attend the ceremony and perhaps give messages or
    letters to the Turkish ambassador asking the Turkish state to show
    the same sensitivity to the thousands of dead Armenians.

    Another example of the Armenian "industry." Apparently whenever
    Turkish representations would donate books reflecting the Turkish
    side of what happened to the local libraries; Armenians would take
    the book, destroy it and then pay compensation.

    The denial industry in Turkey is losing, albeit slowly, its force;
    I wonder when this will be the case with the Armenian diaspora. I
    wonder to what degree they are ready to realize that taboos are being
    broken in Turkey about the Armenian tragedy. More and more people
    are questioning the past. It is imperative that the Armenian diaspora
    realizes this change in Turkey. Yet without any bridges for dialogue,
    how can we blame them for not being aware of current developments on
    the subject.

    In contrast to the past, the Turkish government is very much willing
    to enter into a dialogue with the diaspora; in fact Foreign Minister
    Ahmet Davutoglu had called them the "Anatolian diaspora."

    But in view of the resistance that will emanate from the diaspora,
    countries that are hosting Armenian communities should help initiate
    this dialogue. After all, several countries from Europe to the
    Americas will come under extreme pressure from both Armenians and
    Turks in these two years ahead.

    February/04/2014

    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/armenian-diaspora-and-the-memory-of-205-ottoman-turks-in-canada.aspx?pageID=449&nID=61958&NewsCatID=412



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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