PanARMENIAN.Net
After exterminating the Armenians the Turks were going
to do the same with the Kurds and Arabs
Nazim-Bey: "It is necessary to exterminate the whole
Armenian Nation, not leaving a single Armenian alive.
Even the word "Armenian" must be erased from
everyone’s memory."
25.04.2007 GMT+04:00
The whole story with the recognition of the Armenian Genocide started
right after the world learned about the slaughter. Already in 1916
the governments of the USA and of some European countries called
the Ottoman Turkey to account for the committed. The first American
President, who officially recognized the Armenian Genocide, was Woodrow
Wilson. Unfortunately that was all about it. All the other presidents
of the United States avoid the word "genocide", although such a mass
murder is indeed a massacre, especially being so carefully worked out.
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Young Turks weren’t able to conceal the terror of
the tragedy. It is hard to say what they were hoping for. Perhaps they
hoped that the great powers would shut their eyes to it. Nazim Bey;
the ideologist of the Young Turks had announced before the deportation,
"We must be fast and decisive in our actions. The Armenians are as
dangerous as an ulcer, which at first may seem curable, but which will
bring to death if the doctor doesn’t take the necessary measures on
time. If we are contented with local plans only, like in 1909 in Adana,
we will only spoil everything, because we will arose suspicion among
Arabs and Kurds, who we are going to deal with later. Hence, the danger
will treble and the realization of the plans will become even more
difficult. "It is necessary to exterminate the whole Armenian Nation,
not leaving a single Armenian alive. Even the word "Armenian" must
be erased from our memory." The war gives us a unique opportunity and
we do not have to fear the interference of the Great Powers, neither
do we have to fear of the international press protests. They will
not manage to make a move before everything is already finished. It
will be a mass slaughter and not a single Armenian will survive."
Nevertheless, evidences of the extermination of the Armenian Nation
were brought by the immediate witnesses, mainly by the Red Cross
officials, and reached Europe rather quickly. The image of the tragedy
was horrifying; the Armenians were being killed by special gangs,
mainly consisting of the Kurds and troops of "Teshkilyat Makhsuseh"
("Special Troops") organization. Then they were put in concentration
camps with nothing to eat or drink, so it was practically impossible
to stay alive in these terrible conditions.
The roads of Eastern Anatolia were covered with dead bodies having no
one to bury them. Properties left by the Armenians were immediately
sold by the auction. On September 13, 1915 the Majlis passed "the
provisional law on property, debts and real estate of those having
resettled in other regions" with one main purpose of selling all the
belongings and properties left by the Armenians, after which the few
survivors would have no place to return. As a result, from more than
2 million Armenian population of the Empire 1.5 million people were
exterminated, the rest ran away to Russia and other countries, a large
number of women and children were kidnapped by the Kurds. National,
cultural and economic life of the Armenians from Turkey was put an
end to once and for all. Hundreds of invaluable cultural monuments
were destroyed.
In his book "The Turkish National "I" and the Armenian Question"
historian Taner Akcham writes, "It will be no exaggeration to
come to the conclusion that in the organization and success of the
"liberation war" the Armenian Genocide had its decisive role… the
extermination of a whole nation is the basis of the establishment of
the Turkish Republic. In the light of these facts it becomes clear
why the subject having its irreplaceable role in the foundation and
establishment of our national conscious and education has become a
taboo. The fact that the events of 1915 were mass slaughter was beyond
any discussions. The only issue that was worth being discussed was –
how to punish "the Turks" for exterminating the Armenians. One of
the forms of the punishment was the trial; the allotment of Anatolia
was another form of punishment. In other words, the western powers
were trying to conceal their imperial ambitions under the reality
of mass destruction of the Armenians. Mustafa Qemal and his people
accepted this reality – those who are guilty of the committed had
to be punished, – but they objected to the allotment of Anatolia."
"PanARMENIAN.Net" analytical department
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
