Hayots Ashkharh, Armenia
Oct 11 2007

Armenian paper accuses Turkey of blackmailing USA over "genocide"

The Armenian newspaper Hayots Ashkharh has said Turkey will stop at
nothing to try and silence any official international recognition of
mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century. Commenting on a
US Congress resolution recognizing "the genocide of Armenians", the
newspaper accused Turkish leaders of trying to blackmail and threaten
the USA over the issue. The following is the text an article by
Vardan Grigoryan entitled "Tactics of threats and blackmail" and
published in the Armenian newspaper Hayots Ashkharh on 11 October:

As Turkish sultans in the past threatened to beat those who dared to
pronounce the word "Armenia", the same way their successors are
trying to silence any conversation about the genocide of Armenians –
regardless where it comes from.

The only difference is that now they have changed the targets of
their threats; consequently they are, albeit very unsuccessfully,
trying to blackmail countries that have recognized the Armenian
genocide, Turkey now threatens to do the same thing to one of the
global super powers – the United States.

In the recent few days all influential figures of the Turkish state –
its president, prime minister, parliament speaker, foreign minister,
defence minister, chief of the General Staff – have sent their
American colleagues letters of threats, promising that their country
will apply all possible punishment to the US in case the House of
Representatives adopts Resolution 106.

However, Turkey is not trying to prove anything or to convince the
whole world; instead it is attempting to impose silence while trying
to initiate an imitation of a discussion between Turkish and Armenian
historians, with the former ones, if they say something that
contradicts the official opinion of their authorities, to be
immediately placed in jail – on charges of insulting the Turkish
people. Thus, the civilized world is obliged to shut up in the face
of Turkey’s sanctions. According to the Turkish side, the universal
norm of freedom of speech approved by certain decisions of the UN and
other international organizations should have a reservation stating
that it should not cover the definitions of the criminal and the
victim in the events of 1894-1923 that took place in Osman Turkey.

It is not by chance that Turkey considers stopping the process of
recognition of the Armenian genocide as a priority issue in ensuring
its national security. Thus, with regard to this absolute priority,
it does not matter whether it is small Lebanon, the Cyprus parliament
or the US Congress that recognizes Armenian genocide. As Turkey tries
to blackmail even such a powerful country as the USA, it seeks to
prove its formation as a country through Armenian genocide, and
therefore, a refutation of this fact is a matter of life and death
for it, which is worth confrontation even with the USA.

We believe that the condemnation of the slaughter against all
humanity is not only a legal issue, but also an issue of
responsibility for the superpower of the world, which has acquired
the greatest responsibility for humanity’s destiny – the United
States of America.

[translated]