Hellenic resources Network
Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 04-12-28
At a time when Turkey exerts efforts to pose as model or example for the
neighbouring countries, Turkish professor tries to justify the Armenian
genocide by Ottoman Turks
Ankara Anatolia news agency (27.12.04) reported from Konya that Prof. Dr.
Yusuf Halacoglu, chairman of the Turkish History Society, has stated that
foreign population statistics openly and clearly refute Armenian allegations
that 1.5 million Armenians were massacred by Ottoman Turks.
Participating in a conference, titled ”Armenian Resettlement and
Realities,” at the Selcuk University’s Suleyman Demirel Cultural Centre,
Dr. Halacoglu said that until the 1870s the Turks and Armenians had good
relations.
”However, with the establishment of missionary schools after 1863, things
began to change,” said Halacoglu. ”During these years, many missionary
schools were opened by Americans and minorities. While these schools did not
admit Muslim students until the Ottoman-Russian war, as of the 1877-1878
school year, Muslim students began to be admitted into these schools.
Armenian missionary activities continued after 1881 with parties and
associations. As of 1900s, there were 21 organized parties in the Ottoman
Empire,” remarked Halacoglu.
According to Halacoglu, Armenians had the aim of establishing an independent
Armenian state on Ottoman soil and were heavily supported by the West with
tools such as bomb attacks and assassination attempts.
At the beginning of 1906, Armenians in eastern city of Van and southern city
of Adana were involved in attempts of uprising against the Ottoman rule.
”The uprisings and movements of Armenians in Van and Adana were perceived
by the West as a massacre of Armenians. Such rumours of massacres resulted
in pressure placed on the Ottoman rule by the Westerners. Consequently, the
Ottoman State was forced to sign a document that created an Armenian state
comprised of six cities in eastern Anatolia. With this agreement, Armenians
were able to make the Armenian language the second language of the Ottoman
Empire.”
”Due to the serious uprisings, the Ottoman government decided to resettle a
portion of its Armenian population to a region which is now Syria. Today,
Armenians claim that millions of Armenians were massacred during the
resettlement,” expressed Halacoglu.
Halacoglu added that, according to a research conducted by the Armenian
Patriarchate, the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire in 1913 was
1,915,653. ”In a separate research done by foreigners, the Armenian
population of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 was 1,479,000. The war years
indicate a difference of 400,000 between the two researches. The difference
could be due to casualties caused by illness and poverty. The data collected
by the foreign research openly and clearly disprove the allegation that 1,5
million Armenians were massacred by the Ottoman government,” stated
Halacoglu.
Halacoglu said that the Turkish History Society has made a call to all
international historians to conduct research on the topic of Armenians so
that all nations would respect the outcome of the research. ”To this day,
we have not received any reply from any country,” said Halacoglu.
The conference was attended by dozens of professors and students.