Press & Sun-Bulletin, NY
April 20 2005

Rossie: World still looks away from genocide

“Murder will out.”

DAVID ROSSIE Commentary

— Don Quixote,
Miguel de Cervantes

Cervantes apparently never met an official of the Turkish government.

We are coming up on the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide in
which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered by the
Ottoman Turks.

The official position of Turkish governments ever since has been:
Genocide? What genocide? The Turks were and are like the Bush
administration. If you never admit to a mistake or a wrong-doing,
there’s no need to apologize for it.

For the record, the blood-letting began on April 24, 1915, and
continued through 1923, five years after the end of World War I, in
which the Turks came out losers. By then the Armenians were a
scattered remnant in their native land. Some of the survivors made
their way to America, which is why Binghamton today has a small but
vibrant Armenian community.

And come Saturday, members of that community will hold a
commemorative service recalling the start of the genocide. In years
past, I learned from Dr. Gary Fattal, Armenian community members have
planted trees at the south end of the Washington Street bridge — a
symbolic remembrance of the start of a new life in America.

This year, the group has planned something different, the
installation of a monument at that location. The ceremony will begin
at 11 a.m. on the 23rd, and local dignitaries have been invited to
join members of the Armenian community for the event.

Following the installation, a reception will be held at St. Gregory’s
Armenian Church hall, 12 Corbett Ave., Binghamton.

Elsewhere around the country, Armenian communities will observe the
anniversary on Saturday and Sunday. One of the largest observances
will be in New York City’s Times Square, where thousands are expected
to attend a noon rally. The rally will be followed by an ecumenical
requiem service at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church, 50th Street
and 5th Avenue, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Part of the observance of the genocide’s anniversary is a call for
the Turkish government to acknowledge what was done and apologize for
it. Armenians aren’t seeking reparations, at least not that I know
of, but the Turks, for nearly a century, have stuck to their denials
of responsibility. Perhaps they fear that if they owned up, demands
for reparations would follow.

Almost as shocking as the Turks’ arrogance is the rest of the world’s
indifference. The Wilson administration ignored the Armenians’ pleas
for help, and in what was to become a pattern, the United States and
most of the rest of what is laughingly referred to as the “free
world” pretended not to notice what Nazi Germany was doing to the
Jews, gypsies, homosexuals and assorted others until it was to late
to do anything about it.

The slaughter of a half-million Africans in Rwanda a decade ago
became part of that pattern, and the Clinton administration dithered
and did nothing.

Today, the Sudanese Army and its janjaweed cohort are raping and
killing at will in Darfur, and while the Bush administration has
deplored it and sent material aid to the victims, it has made no
attempt to intervene. And how could it even if it wanted to? With the
Iraqi tar baby firmly in its grasp, it can’t reach out to anyone.

The lesson for oppressive governments over the years? If you’re not
sitting on a billion barrels of oil, you can get away with just about
anything.