Armenian genocide just as real today
Apr 25, 2007
Visalia Times Delta
Tuesday commemorated a historical event that the U.S. government claims never occurred.
But the 92nd anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian genocide is very real for thousands of people in the San Joaquin Valley whose families were devastated by the systematic extermination of a people.
Commemorating and remembering the Armenian genocide is a act of respect for them, as well as the historic truth. It also acknowledges the diversity of our area and the history of individual groups that helps us all appreciate different cultures.
The event known as the Armenian genocide began on April 24, 1915, at the height of World War I. The Ottoman Empire, now modern-day Turkey, was allied with Austria and Germany against the Western Allies. Part of the empire was the nation of Armenia, and thousands of Armenians lived within Turkey's borders.
Armenians and Turks were antagonists, and Armenia had long chafed under the rule of the Ottomans.
On April 24, the group known as the Young Turks, which was seeking reform of the empire, rounded up Armenian leaders in Constantinople, the capital of Turkey and the empire.
Between the years 1915 and 1918, the Armenians were massacred, tortured and deported. Some were sent into the desert to die of hunger and thirst. Their property and possessions were appropriated. After a couple of years respite after WWI, the genocide continued.
At the beginning of World War I, about 2 million Armenians live in the Ottoman Empire. By 1925, virtually none lived there. Estimates are that as many as 1.5 million were killed. The rest had been scattered.
Many Armenians in the San Joaquin Valley started their lives here as refugees from the genocide.
It is hard to imagine how such a thing could have occurred, but the Turks used the same tactics the Nazis later used to exterminate 6 million Jews in Europe: They started by disarming Armenians, forcing them to register and then rounding them up into ghettos. The began the genocide under cover of a national news blackout under the pretense of the need for security in wartime.
The present-day Republic of Turkey flatly denies that the genocide occurred. Indeed it is not well known as a historical event, even among people in our Valley.
The U.S. government has refused to acknowledge that the Armenian people were the victims of genocide, which is defined as the organized killing of a people with the express intent of putting an end to their collective existence. The United States dares not antagonize the government of Turkey, which occupies strategic military importance in the Middle East, western Asia and the Mediterranean and borders Iran, Syria and Russia.
Many politicians have appealed to the State Department, to a succession of presidents and to Congress insisting that the United States government acknowledge the Armenian genocide. It has become an annual exercise in frustration for U.S. Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa. Apparently the good graces of the Turkish government are more important than the truth.
Remembering the Armenian genocide is just as relevant to our time as awareness of the Holocaust, of slavery of African-Americans and of atrocities against Native Americans. Keeping those events fresh in our consciousness is important so that we don't repeat those awful stains upon history.
It's also important because of the diversity of our Valley, which includes many thousands of people of Armenian descent. To help us live together in a diverse community, we need to appreciate each other's history and culture, including refugees from war and genocide, such as the Southeast Asians and Armenians, immigration to escape deprivation, such as immigrants from Latin America and Asia, and the struggle against racism and bigotry in our own country, such as that suffered by African Americans.
In commemorating the Armenian genocide, we not only acknowledge this injury against the Armenian people, we repeat the refrain that we hope will one day also be common whenever anyone remembers the tragic events 92 years ago: Never again.
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
Visalia Times Delta
Tuesday commemorated a historical event that the U.S. government claims never occurred.
But the 92nd anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian genocide is very real for thousands of people in the San Joaquin Valley whose families were devastated by the systematic extermination of a people.
Commemorating and remembering the Armenian genocide is a act of respect for them, as well as the historic truth. It also acknowledges the diversity of our area and the history of individual groups that helps us all appreciate different cultures.
The event known as the Armenian genocide began on April 24, 1915, at the height of World War I. The Ottoman Empire, now modern-day Turkey, was allied with Austria and Germany against the Western Allies. Part of the empire was the nation of Armenia, and thousands of Armenians lived within Turkey's borders.
Armenians and Turks were antagonists, and Armenia had long chafed under the rule of the Ottomans.
On April 24, the group known as the Young Turks, which was seeking reform of the empire, rounded up Armenian leaders in Constantinople, the capital of Turkey and the empire.
Between the years 1915 and 1918, the Armenians were massacred, tortured and deported. Some were sent into the desert to die of hunger and thirst. Their property and possessions were appropriated. After a couple of years respite after WWI, the genocide continued.
At the beginning of World War I, about 2 million Armenians live in the Ottoman Empire. By 1925, virtually none lived there. Estimates are that as many as 1.5 million were killed. The rest had been scattered.
Many Armenians in the San Joaquin Valley started their lives here as refugees from the genocide.
It is hard to imagine how such a thing could have occurred, but the Turks used the same tactics the Nazis later used to exterminate 6 million Jews in Europe: They started by disarming Armenians, forcing them to register and then rounding them up into ghettos. The began the genocide under cover of a national news blackout under the pretense of the need for security in wartime.
The present-day Republic of Turkey flatly denies that the genocide occurred. Indeed it is not well known as a historical event, even among people in our Valley.
The U.S. government has refused to acknowledge that the Armenian people were the victims of genocide, which is defined as the organized killing of a people with the express intent of putting an end to their collective existence. The United States dares not antagonize the government of Turkey, which occupies strategic military importance in the Middle East, western Asia and the Mediterranean and borders Iran, Syria and Russia.
Many politicians have appealed to the State Department, to a succession of presidents and to Congress insisting that the United States government acknowledge the Armenian genocide. It has become an annual exercise in frustration for U.S. Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa. Apparently the good graces of the Turkish government are more important than the truth.
Remembering the Armenian genocide is just as relevant to our time as awareness of the Holocaust, of slavery of African-Americans and of atrocities against Native Americans. Keeping those events fresh in our consciousness is important so that we don't repeat those awful stains upon history.
It's also important because of the diversity of our Valley, which includes many thousands of people of Armenian descent. To help us live together in a diverse community, we need to appreciate each other's history and culture, including refugees from war and genocide, such as the Southeast Asians and Armenians, immigration to escape deprivation, such as immigrants from Latin America and Asia, and the struggle against racism and bigotry in our own country, such as that suffered by African Americans.
In commemorating the Armenian genocide, we not only acknowledge this injury against the Armenian people, we repeat the refrain that we hope will one day also be common whenever anyone remembers the tragic events 92 years ago: Never again.
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
Labels: Armenian Genocide Remembrance
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 6:59 PM
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