Another voice for truth
Pope mentions, during his visit to Turkey, the Armenian genocide.
Fresno Bee Editorial
12/04/06
Pope Benedict XVI raised the issue of the Armenian genocide committed by the
former Turkish regime in the latter years of World War I ~W albeit
indirectly ~W on Nov. 30, in the middle of his controversial visit to
Turkey.
The oblique reference came during a meeting with the Armenian Apostolic
Patriarch of Istanbul, Mesrob I, spiritual head of the 50,000 Orthodox
Armenians who remain in Turkey ~W out of a population of millions who lived
there before the massacres and expulsions of 1915-1917 took place.
The pope had already angered many in Turkey and the rest of the Muslim world
in September, when he quoted from an obscure medieval text that recorded a
debate between a Byzantine emperor and a Persian visitor. Benedict recalled
that the emperor had told his adversary: "Show me just what Muhammad brought
that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as
his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
That caused a storm of outrage in the Muslim world, and threatened, for a
time, to derail the pope’s trip to Turkey.
In his conversation with the Orthodox prelate Mesrob, Benedict praised the
Armenian people for remaining faithful even under "truly tragic conditions,
like those experienced in the past century" ~W a clear reference to the
genocide.
Thus the pope adds his voice to the many seeking justice from Turkey ~W or
at least a recognition of an ancient injustice. The current Turkish
government, a successor to the Young Turks who replaced the corrupt and
decaying Ottoman Empire, does not bear responsibility for the massacres, but
it does have a duty to the truth.
The continued refusal of the Turkish government and most of the Turkish
people to even acknowledge that the genocide took place flies in the face of
incontrovertible historical fact.
Some 1.5 million Armenians ~W men, women and children ~W were savagely torn
from their homes, sent on long and deadly marches, or simply killed out of
hand.
Many of the survivors came to this country, and a few ~W along with many
thousands of their descendants ~W can still be found in Fresno and the
Valley. Here they have built good and prosperous lives, and are thoroughly
American. Yet they still remember the horrors of the genocide, and still
thirst for recognition and justice.
It’s a thirst we share, along with many others ~W including, it is clear,
the pope.
Another voice for truth
Pope mentions, during his visit to Turkey, the Armenian genocide.
12/04/06
Pope Benedict XVI raised the issue of the Armenian genocide committed by the
former Turkish regime in the latter years of World War I ~W albeit
indirectly ~W on Nov. 30, in the middle of his controversial visit to
Turkey.
The oblique reference came during a meeting with the Armenian Apostolic
Patriarch of Istanbul, Mesrob I, spiritual head of the 50,000 Orthodox
Armenians who remain in Turkey ~W out of a population of millions who lived
there before the massacres and expulsions of 1915-1917 took place.
The pope had already angered many in Turkey and the rest of the Muslim world
in September, when he quoted from an obscure medieval text that recorded a
debate between a Byzantine emperor and a Persian visitor. Benedict recalled
that the emperor had told his adversary: "Show me just what Muhammad brought
that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as
his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
That caused a storm of outrage in the Muslim world, and threatened, for a
time, to derail the pope’s trip to Turkey.
In his conversation with the Orthodox prelate Mesrob, Benedict praised the
Armenian people for remaining faithful even under "truly tragic conditions,
like those experienced in the past century" ~W a clear reference to the
genocide.
Thus the pope adds his voice to the many seeking justice from Turkey ~W or
at least a recognition of an ancient injustice. The current Turkish
government, a successor to the Young Turks who replaced the corrupt and
decaying Ottoman Empire, does not bear responsibility for the massacres, but
it does have a duty to the truth.
The continued refusal of the Turkish government and most of the Turkish
people to even acknowledge that the genocide took place flies in the face of
incontrovertible historical fact.
Some 1.5 million Armenians ~W men, women and children ~W were savagely torn
from their homes, sent on long and deadly marches, or simply killed out of
hand.
Many of the survivors came to this country, and a few ~W along with many
thousands of their descendants ~W can still be found in Fresno and the
Valley. Here they have built good and prosperous lives, and are thoroughly
American. Yet they still remember the horrors of the genocide, and still
thirst for recognition and justice.
It’s a thirst we share, along with many others ~W including, it is clear,
the pope.
ml