April 17, 2005
NO HEROES:
Turkey Says 523,000 Were Killed by Armenians Between 1910 and 1922 (SEBNUM ARSU, 4/17/05 NY Times)
The Turkish State Archive issued today a list of more than 523,000 Turks whom it said were killed by Armenians in Turkey between 1910 and 1922.The move appeared intended to counter longstanding Armenian contentions that Turkish Ottoman officials committed genocide during a period of mass deportations of Armenians that began in 1915.
Turkey fears that the 90th anniversary of the start of the violence, which Armenians and their supporters plan to mark on April 24, will cause widespread anti-Turkish feeling. It is also concerned that the issue could interfere with its plans to start talks with the European Union in October for possible membership. There have been growing calls from other countries for Turkey to acknowledge its role with regard to the Armenians.
Last week, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish Parliament called for an international study of the events of that period, but senior Armenia officials turned down the proposal.
It's revealing that Armenians don't want events studied too closely. Posted by Orrin Judd at April 17, 2005 7:07 PM
The 'genocide' of the Armenians was the result of Tsarist agents provocateurs stirring up revolt among the restive Armenian population of the Empire. Because the Turks needed the regular army to fight the Triple Entente, they relied on mostly Kurdish irregulars to handle the problem, and their response was indeed excessive. The notion that there was some attempt on the part of the Ottomans to wipe out the Armenians as a people is not supported by history.
Posted by: bart at April 17, 2005 10:07 PMThey bear no responsibility for their own actions?
Posted by: oj at April 17, 2005 11:02 PM