SEMINAR ON TURKISH GENOCIDE OF ASSYRIANS TO BE HELD IN STOCKHOLM

Assyrian International News Agency, AINA
Sept 23 2005

A seminar on the World War One Turkish genocide of Assyrians, Armenians
and Greeks will be held in Stockholm on September 24. The following
is a press release of the Assyrian Youth Federation of Sweden, which
is sponsoring the seminar.

The Armenian researcher Ara Sarafian is invited to give a lecture
during the Seyfo Seminar taking place at the University of Stockholm on
September, 24th. For the majority of us he might be yet an unknown
character who will be visiting us. However, Mr. Sarafian has an
impressive academic past with many years of studies behind him. He
is also a frequently hired lecturer on issues concerning Armenian
history. What sets him definitely apart from the rest of the Armenian
researchers is his knowledge of the Assyrian Genocide. In purpose
of presenting him and his ideas in advance to the seminar, he has
answered five questions for us.

Q: Mr. Sarafian, what view do you have on the Assyrians and their
history?

A: My knowledge about Assyrians is bad. I know about the ancient
Assyrians, but not about Assyrians of the current times. Their name is
mentioned in Armenian books, often rapidly, but Assyrians as a nation
remain invisible. Even today, where there is an Assyrian minority
in Armenia, there is no information on their language, culture or
history in the general Armenian society. One exception of which I
remember is William Saroyan, who wrote about Assyrians in one of his
short stories. And that was the first time I thought of Assyrians as
a modern people. I was touched already as early as then, because they
were like us Armenians, however living under worse conditions.

Q: Why are you one of very few, or maybe the only Armenian genocide
researcher, who mentions that a genocide was committed even against
the Assyrians?

A: I mention the genocide on the Assyrians, because I know that even
they were murdered in large numbers during 1915. But I am ashamed about
not knowing more. I am also ashamed that our elders did not tell us
more about the Assyrians. I believe that it has to do with that a lot
of Armenians still hold on to the assumption that the attention given
to the Assyrian and Greek genocide in the Ottoman Turkey minimizes
the Armenian aspect. It is a little like “the holocaust’s uniqueness
theoreticians” that minimizes the aspect of Roma and other groups in
the Nazi occupied Europe.

Q: Do you think that Armenians and Assyrians should cooperate on the
recognition of the genocide or continue to work separately?

A: I think that there is a big space for cooperation, but for
many Armenians the genocide is nothing they work with. It is more
a confession, and that confession seems to include the conviction
that the destruction of the year 1915 was only pointed against the
Armenians. Assyrians, Armenians, Turks and Kurds can all cooperate,
or work parallel with each other in purpose of lifting up history. I
would like to see that the Assyrians, for example, translate a few
main writings concerning the Assyrian genocide into English – today’s
most dominant academic and political language – in purpose of breaking
the ice. By confronting others with such important writings, they will
receive much more support for their cause. And I know there are such
important writings. I would also like to recommend that the Assyrians
build their own libraries, research centres and academics so that
their voice will be well articulated and heard within the academic
world. I know that such steps are already taken and I hope that I
will be able to take part of the knowledge that will be gathered.

Q: When did your interest in the Armenian genocide start and why?

A: I became an historian during the 1980’s, because I wanted to
find out the truth about the Armenians. I was privileged enough to
make that decisions. At that time I lived in Turkey, where I found
some good friends, and came to realize how close Armenians and Turks
stood to each other. After that I went to the USA and the University
of Michigan where I started to study Ottoman-Turkish and Armenian
history, and that led me unavoidably to the question of the genocide.

My real area of interest was about the internal organisation of the
Armenian people in the late Ottoman empire. I am seldom asked to
lecture about that area even though it interests me a lot. Five years
ago I stepped out of the formal Armenian academic establishment in the
USA, because I found that many of the establishment’s characters were
chauvinists. Just because the Armenians had been victims, it does not
mean they can not be chauvinists. Even today many Armenian historians
have the opinion that “history” is not about seeking the truth, it
is a practise that compromises a necessary element of “adjusting”
the truth for ideological and personal purposes. Maybe the excluding
of the Assyrian question has been a part of this adjustment.

Q: Do you think that Turkey will recognize the genocide against
Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks?

A: I think that Turkey will recognize the genocide and other injustices
that Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds and others have suffered
from, mainly because more and more Turks are becoming interested in
those questions and they do not want to carry the burden from that
time on their shoulders, as little as they want to lie about such
questions. I hope that even we act in a way that invites them to go
through this phase. Establishing individual contacts with the Modern
Turkey and working for a democratisation of that country, will help
this development.

Translated from Swedish by Nahrin Akguc

From: Baghdasarian