In 1915, the Ottoman Empire conducted a mass genocide of Armenians under its control. The Turks killed roughly 1.5 million Armenians at the time. That means that in the years from 1915 to 1917, roughly half the Armenian population of Turkey was systematically killed by the government. Until World War II when the Nazis mechanized extermination in concentration camps, this was one of the largest (if not the largest) genocide in terms of numbers killed in history.
At the end of World War I, the Ottoman Empire was dismantled. The heartland of that empire became modern day Turkey. Today's Turks, however, deny that there was any genocide directed at the Armenians. The Turkish government says that there was no systematic slaughter of Armenian citizens. I guess the Turks would tell the world that half of the Armenian residents of that time just happened to die in unison. In other words, the Turks practice the equivalent of Holocaust denial on a smaller scale.
I was reminded of this today when I saw a threat that a Turkish government official had made being reported in a Middle Eastern newspaper. The deputy prime minister of Turkey warned Israel that it had better not recognize the Armenian slaughter as a genocide or such action would "harm" Israel. It seemed an odd message coming from a country that had just broken ties with the Israelis. Can it really be that the modern Turks are so worried about what their ancestors did over 100 years ago? No one is still alive who remembers the events that took place then. How can the Turks be so concerned that they are threatening other countries that might recognize what had happened so long ago?
History should not change at the whims of those who retell it. The Turks should recognize what happened and move on. Denial won't change anything.
At the end of World War I, the Ottoman Empire was dismantled. The heartland of that empire became modern day Turkey. Today's Turks, however, deny that there was any genocide directed at the Armenians. The Turkish government says that there was no systematic slaughter of Armenian citizens. I guess the Turks would tell the world that half of the Armenian residents of that time just happened to die in unison. In other words, the Turks practice the equivalent of Holocaust denial on a smaller scale.
I was reminded of this today when I saw a threat that a Turkish government official had made being reported in a Middle Eastern newspaper. The deputy prime minister of Turkey warned Israel that it had better not recognize the Armenian slaughter as a genocide or such action would "harm" Israel. It seemed an odd message coming from a country that had just broken ties with the Israelis. Can it really be that the modern Turks are so worried about what their ancestors did over 100 years ago? No one is still alive who remembers the events that took place then. How can the Turks be so concerned that they are threatening other countries that might recognize what had happened so long ago?
History should not change at the whims of those who retell it. The Turks should recognize what happened and move on. Denial won't change anything.
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