Letter To The Boston Globe 2

Boston Globe
Oct 22 2009

STEPHEN KINZER’S Oct. 15 op-ed "A new role for Turkey" suggests that
that nation is poised to assume leadership of the Islamic world. He
cites the recent accord signed by Turkey and Armenia as having resolved
the dispute between the two countries. Turkey, in fact, has many
continuing problems to resolve. Internally it tolerates an extreme
right-wing nationalist element that targets both moderate Turkish
and non-Turkish journalists. It continues to persecute its Kurdish
minority despite their being co-religionists. It still denies the
veracity of the Armenian genocide, as it dismantles, stone by stone,
those magnificent monuments that Kinzer envisions Armenians crossing
the border to visit.

Kinzer cites as "bizarre" the protests of diasporan Armenians
against the accord, for which recognition of the genocide was not
a precondition. He is dead wrong in assuming that most Jews would
"accept happily" Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s or anyone else’s proposal
to have "impartial historians" examine the question of whether the
Holocaust actually happened. The Holocaust is not up for questioning,
nor should it be. The same should apply to the Armenian genocide.

In its quest to be a leader and peacemaker in the region, Turkey
indeed has a long way to go. Free speech, minority rights, and finally
accepting the historical fact of the genocide of 1.5 million of its
citizens 94 years ago must come first.