Cincinnati Post, OH
Oct 19 2007
Armenian controversy unleashes opinions
It was my intention to write my monthly "letters" column today, but
that will have to wait until Monday.
This will, indeed, be a column about letters, but only on one
subject. My piece about the crisis of conscience in the halls of
Congress over declaring the massacre of Armenians 90 years ago a
"genocide" has sparked an avalanche of mail. Much – but not all – of
the mail in support of the resolution came from those whose names
indicate Armenian descent. There are also letters supporting the
opposite position. Here is a sampling:
"You’ll certainly get some response about the numbers murdered;
historians, in fact, put that number at 1.5 million. Nevertheless, a
clear-cut piece." -Maral Habeshian
"Both my grandparents, uncles and many other relatives perished in
the genocide at the hands of the Turks and the Kurds. The Kurds
recognize the fact and apologized many times already. Now, maybe the
time has come for the Turks to do the same." -Sarhadian
"The atrocity should be formally recognized no matter what the
political cost if the U.S. truly wants to take a stand for freedom."
-Catherine Fuller
"Many today say ‘it happened so long ago’ or, ‘it was a different
Turkish government.’ All true, but one can make the same argument for
the Holocaust…. And for the ‘practical’ argument, there was no
Armenian resolution in 2003 when Turkey prevented U.S. (access) to
Iraq across its territory, so I would question the argument of a
‘loyal NATO ally.’ " -Harout Topsacalian
"While I certainly do not want to put our country and our troops in
peril, I think the time is now to speak the truth and in the process
find out who our friends really are." -Ardag Tachian
"Those who perished in what is also known as the Asia Minor genocide
(Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians and others) thank you from the grave.
-Lucine Kasbarian, author
On the other hand, this from Mark Stegeman, associate professor of
economics at the University of Arizona: "Historians have already
spoken, so what new research or insight does Congress add to the
issue? Will our Congressional historians now pass resolutions
condemning numerous other genocides, including the far greater one in
Ukraine in the 1930s, or what could be considered the genocide of
Native Americans in our own country? …
"The job of the Foreign Affairs Committee (one supposes) is to try to
protect U.S. security interests rather than become the rhetorical
tool of every interest group that has a historical ax to grind….
The courageous members of Congress are those who are standing up to a
tiny but energetic Armenian-American minority who have, like many in
the Cuban-American community, long sought to hijack the U.S. foreign
policy apparatus to settle an old score."
And this from Ruthie Carniz: "I am an American woman living in
Turkey. I have close ties with the Turkish community and the Armenian
community here in Istanbul…. To name these events ‘genocide’ is
simply wrong. To give this label to the people of a nation for events
which were admittedly tragic, but which occurred almost 100 years ago
and which occurred prior to the current Republic, is not fair….
Unfortunately, the U.S. does not seem to value its friends, as the
Turkish people have been our friends for centuries…. We have always
been friends."
Reasonable people can disagree reasonably. Professor Stegeman’s
argument is cogent, but overlooks the fact that Congress has often
taken note of national and international errors, from the forced
resettlement of Japanese Americans, to the Holocaust, to Darfur and
others, not always bowing "to every interest group with an ax to
grind."
Ms. Carniz’s letter is personal and heartfelt, but Turkey and the
U.S. have not always been friends. In World War I, we were on
opposite sides and in World War II, Turkey was declared a "hostile
neutral." Fortunately for both sides, we have been friends since
then. Still, if you read the U.N. definition of genocide, Armenia
qualifies. This country should not be in the business of denying the
truth, no matter what short-term advantage we derive.
Nick Clooney writes for The Post every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
E-mails sent to Nick at [email protected] will be forwarded
to him via regular mail.
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