Taipei Times,Taiwan
April 27 2005

Another version of history

By Burak Gursel

Thursday, Apr 28, 2005,Page 8
I must say I was not surprised when I read Charles Tannock’s article
(“Turkey, Armenia and the heavy burden of memories,” April 23, page
9), since it contained the usual one-sided and unfounded allegations
by the Armenians.

After reading the article I felt that the readers of the Taipei Times
had to learn the truth about these allegations.

Armenians were a favored minority in the Ottoman Empire and occupied
the commanding heights of the civil service and the economy.

With the guidance and encouragement from the enemies of the Ottoman
Empire, Armenian extremists hoping to gain independence began a
series of terrorist attacks against Ottoman Muslims in the late
1800s. The terrorism was intended to provoke an over-reaction by the
Ottoman rulers and the intervention of European powers.

So even before World War I commenced, the Armenians declared war
against the empire — a classic case of treason.When the war broke
out and the men were in the battlefield fighting against the invading
countries, Armenians who sided with the enemy attacked the cities and
villages, killing innocent women and children left behind. These
uprisings took place in the eastern region of the country which
consequently facilitated the enemy’s job.

This led the Ottoman authorities to warn the Armenian leaders that
they would be forced to take drastic measures if the situation
continued. Unfortunately these warnings had no effect on the
Armenians, forcing the Turkish authorities in 1915 to call for the
relocation of Armenians living in the war zones away from the front
lines and into other parts of Ottoman territory, certainly not with
the intent to annihilate the Armenians, but because the government
had no other possible choice, since it was engaged in a
life-and-death situation.

Today the Turkish government accepts the fact that many Armenians,
Turks and other civilians died during this time of relocation due to
harsh weather and wartime conditions, as well as diseases. However,
this is by no means an act of genocide. If any genocide was committed
it was by the Armenians themselves, who slaughtered over 500,000
innocent, defenseless women, children and elderly. Today more than
200 mass graves of Turkish civilians killed by the Armenians in the
areas where the uprisings took place have been uncovered and many
more mass graves are waiting to be discovered, proving to the world
the inhumane acts committed by the Armenians.

Today, because the Armenian allegations lack the support of academic
research, the Armenians attempt to legislate their version of history
by lobbying parliaments — where they have influence over the local
politicians — to pass resolutions recognizing their allegations. The
European Parliament is a case in point. Instead of backing their
allegations with credible documents, they choose to harass, threaten
and commit outright attacks against prominent scholars such as
Bernard Lewis and Stanford Shaw of UCLA, who independently and
objectively research these Armenian claims.

Recently, in order to bring an end to these allegations, the Turkish
government once again invited the Armenian authorities to open their
archives, like it has done, and allow historians both from the
Armenian side and the Turkish side to carry out research on these
archives. Historians of both sides coming together to view these
documents and debate the issue would be the best way to solve this
problem. Since history should be left to historians.

Unfortunately, the Armenian authorities have rejected the offer
Turkey has made, an offer which gives them a great chance to prove
such allegations. The Armenian authorities’ refusal to open their
archives and defend their allegations shows that they have no clear
evidence that an act of genocide took place against them.

Burak Gursel
Representative of the Turkish Trade Office in Taipei

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress