Hayots Ashkharh Daily, Armenia
Oct 11 2007
THREAT AND BLACKMAIL TACTICS
Like the Turkish Sultans who threatened to smash the heads of the
people that dared to pronounce the word `Armenia’, their descendants
are now trying to silence any word about the Armenian Genocide,
wherever they hear it.
The only difference is that the targets of such threats have now
changed; therefore, by making futile efforts to blackmail all the
countries that have recognized the Armenian Genocide, Turkey is
threatening to do the same against the United States, the world’s
number one superpower.
During the recent years, all the influential representatives of
the Turkish state, i.e. the President, the Prime Minister, the
Speaker of Parliament, the Foreign Minister, the Defense Minister,
Head of the chief headquarters, have addressed menacing letters to
their American colleagues, promising that their country will apply
all kinds of possible and impossible punitive measures against the
United States in case the House of Representatives passes Resolution
# 106.
Whereas, there’s no conversation about the decision of organizing
an armed attack against Turkey; the matter is addressed to the
assessment of the Armenian nation’s great tragedy that occurred about
90 years ago and is well-known to the Americans.
If Turkey’s opinion about Resolution # 106 on the Armenian
Genocide and, in general – the tragedy itself was different, no one
prevented it from submitting it to the discussion of the US
legislators and move forward with it through democratic procedures.
That’s to say, to make the House of Representatives adopt another
resolution that would reflect the conceptual approaches of the
Turkish side.
However, instead of proving or persuading something, Turkey is
trying to impose a specific kind of oath upon the world, at the same
time attempting to initiate imitative discussions between the
Armenian and Turkish historians. And in case of making statements
contradicting Turkey’s official viewpoints, the first people among
them may immediately find themselves behind the bars under the
charges of insulting the Turkish nation. It turns out that the
civilized world is obliged to keep its mouth shut not to be subjected
to sanctions by Turkey. And the Turkish side claims reservations to a
universal norm which has been approved by the relevant decisions of
the United Nations and other international organizations and is
binding upon all the countries of the world. The matter is addressed
to freedom of speech, a principle which, according to the Turkish
side, cannot apply to the assessment of the events that took place in
the Ottoman Empire in 1894-1923.
The absurdity which Turkey is trying to advance by blackmailing
the world’s number 1 superpower is actually a challenge not only
against the United States but also – the whole civilized world
professing the principles of justice, truth and responsibility.
Because, if the United States gives way to such a primitive and
unreasoned blackmail, it will turn out that all the crimes against
humanity may be assessed provided the relevant political
administrations and their leaders were arrested and convicted in
time. That’s to say, the crimes that have remained unpunished should
be studied only by historians, and the issue of the holding the
perpetrators accountable should change into a `dialogue’ between the
perpetrator and the victim.
It is not accidental that considering the factor of its national
security, Turkey attaches importance to the suspension of the process
of recognizing the Armenian Genocide. It is from the standpoint of
this absolute priority that it makes absolutely no difference whether
the Armenian Genocide has been recognized by the Parliaments of small
countries like Lebanon and Cyprus or – by the US Congress. By trying
to blackmail a most powerful country like the United States, Turkey
is actually proving that it has built its state by committing the
Armenian Genocide; therefore, the denial of the fact is a
life-and-death issue for the country. Hence, it is allowed to have a
confrontation even with the United States.
We believe that that the necessity to condemn such a heinous crime
against humanity is not only the right but also the responsibility of
the United States, a superpower that has shouldered the greatest
responsibility in terms of determining the future of mankind.
VARDAN GRIGORYAN