US SHOULD NOT COMPROMISE ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DEBATE
by Aladdin Elaasar

Bay Area Indymedia, CA
Oct 29 2007

Turks should not shy away from that, find excuses, resort to denial,
or get angry about the whole thing. We are not blaiming nowadays
Turks for what their Sultan ordered almost a hundred years ago. But
the problem is that the whole issue has been so politicised.

By Aladdin Elaasar – Turks should not be angry about the US’s Congress
condemning the mass killing of Armenians in 1915 as genocide. Well,
that was during Ottoman times. And the Ottoman times are long
bygone. But for the sake of history, we need to acknowledge that
yes, Armenian were ethnically cleansed and almost a million and
half perished. They were forcefully removed from their villages and
disposessed, and the trauma was carried with them through generations
to follow.

Turks should not shy away from that, find excuses, resort to denial,
or get angry about the whole thing. We are not blaiming nowadays Turks
for what their Sultan ordered almost a hundred years ago. But the
problem is that the whole issue has been so politicised. The military
generals in Ankra have exploited the whole issue and as usual turned
it into a matter of national pride and have been beating the drums of
war with Iraq. Is this what friends and allies do to their patron,
America, in time of war? This is all too familiar. The Generals in
Ankra have always wanted to go into Kurdish territories rich with
oil. Their timing could not be better, or worse for their ally, the US.

The generals have ruled Turkey with an iron fist since the days of
Ataturk, and claim to be the protectors of secularism in Turkey;
a Muslim nation that for centuries ruled many countries under the
banner of Islamic caliphate. As usual, in a military dicatorship,
they maintain a hyper-nationalistic fascist rehtoric to marshall
and control their masses. They do not even allow the millions of
Kurds in Turkey to use their language, have their ethnic schools and
newspapers. The result was the creation of rebel Kurdish movements
who are equally nationalistic about their Kurdish heritage. Every
action has a reaction. Saddam could not Arabicise the Kurds and they
fought him for decades.

But the facts are: Armenians suffered under Ottoman rule, so did the
Greeks, the Arabs, Christians and Muslims, alike. Other people also
did. Most immigrants to America from the Middle East were fleeing the
Ottoman yoke. They fled to America about a hundred and fifty years
ago. The Ottoman’s heavy hand, heavy taxes and compulsory conscription
into the Sultan’s army made them detest the idea of a caliphate and
fought with British against their own co-religionists to overthrow the
Ottomans. The generals in Ankra need to get over the Armenian issue,
accept and tolerate the Kurds as they are, and above all give the
Turkish people true democracy, in order for them to be accepted in
the European Union.

As for America, Congress did the right thing condemning the Armenian
genocide. Many Armenian-Americans were relieved that a part of their
ancestors’ history was not compromised or forgotten. Remember Elia
Kazan’s movie "America, America"? It depicts the plight of the many
under the Ottomans. America Should not Compromise its Values. The
whole world looks up to us as beacon of freedom and democracy. We
should hold a higher moral ground. We should practice and enforce
what we say and not be blackmailed by our so called allies in Ankra.

History should teach us that shaking hands with dictators is not
the right thing to do. Soon they will turn to be a liability than
an asset. Not more than a marriage of convenience. Remember Marcos
in the Philippines, Suharto of Indonesia, the Shah of Iran, Sadat
and Mubarak of Egypt, and Musharaf of Pakistan. These were once
considered strong allies of the US. But these countries are rife with
anti-Americanism! Why? Conspiracy theorists and bashers of America
would cry double standards and hypocrisy: we call for democracy while
we support oppressive militaristic regimes! If congress would retract
its decision, that would send a mixed dangerous message that America
can be blackmailed and does not practice what it preaches.

ALADDIN ELAASAR is an award winning Arab-American journalist and
author of several books including "Silent Victims: The plight of Arabs
and Muslims in Post 9/11 America." He can be reached at omaraladin
[at] aol.com

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