To Les Moonves, President & CEO, CBS Corp.\u00a0 lmoonves@cbs.com<\/p>\n
From: Robert McKay, PhD., P. O. Box 126, Eastford, CT 06242 860-974-0392<\/p>\n
Regarding:\u00a0 Reply to the Bob Simon\/Peter Balakian Story titled \u201cBattle over History\u201d<\/p>\n
Date:\u00a0 February 28, 2010<\/p>\n
Bob Simon\u2019s story being aired Sunday, February 28, 2010, on 60 Minutes with Peter Balakian is causing concerns about CBS by the Turkish community\u2026concerns that I, too, share.<\/p>\n
50 Years ago my wife and I traveled to Turkey.\u00a0 We lived there for 5 years as teachers at the Tarsus American College, Tarsus, Turkey.\u00a0 Finding artifacts going back to 2500 B.C. opened our eyes to aspects of history that never seemed real in a sterile classroom on the rolling hills of eastern Connecticut, University of Connecticut.<\/p>\n
One of the many issues that interested me were the events of 1915 and the actions that surrounded them.<\/p>\n
However if we take 1915 out of context we do not see the relentless, persistent and predictable deaths that the Armenians have inflicted on their neighbors:\u00a0 Jews, Kurds, Turks, Azeries, and all others who might disagree with them.<\/p>\n
A flow of history which shows a uniform and consistent pattern of atrocities by the Armenians would be the 3 periods listed:<\/p>\n
they didn\u2019t like.\u00a0 The FBI credited Armenia with 25% of international terrorism in the USA.<\/p>\n
forces kill 400,000 Azaries leaving 1,000,000 (IDP\u2019s) International Displaced<\/p>\n
Persons in Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s talk about 1915 through WWI.\u00a0 It is well documented that Russia wished the demise of Ottoman Turkey and wanted access to oceans.\u00a0 During this period Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire flocked to join Russian forces attacking the Ottomans from their eastern flank.\u00a0 The Armenian Russian forces and guerilla forces with the Ottoman Empire blow up post offices, cut lines of communication and caused the Ottomans to move up to 400,000 troops from the southern flank to protect the Armenian Russian threat.\u00a0 There were massacres and atrocities of equal magnitude on both sides.\u00a0 Bones found in Turkish soil are both ethnically Turkic and Armenian.\u00a0 However, today after all these years people like Peter Balakian, who never had first hand knowledge of the situation, claim that the Ottoman\u2019s committed a genocide:\u00a0 as a side note the term genocide was never used until it had political importance long after WWII.<\/p>\n
In brief your concern with the topic is appreciated, but telling only the pro-western\/Christian side of the story is not appreciated.\u00a0 In the minds of many scholars, writers and politicians, the Armenian perspective is wrong!\u00a0 There are, in fact, two sides.<\/p>\n
Please note that a preponderance of scholars and politicians do not accept the genocide concept.\u00a0 Interestingly the highest ranking Armenian, Hovhannes Katchaznouni<\/strong>, the first Prime Minister of the new independent Armenian Republic in 1923 did not accept the concept of genocide.<\/p>\n a)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dr. Katchaznouni in his report to the Dashnaq Party\u2019s 1923 Congress clearly accepts Armenian responsibility for the tragedy that befell his country.\u00a0 \u201cWe (Armenians) caused this tragedy.\u00a0 Turks knew what they were doing (and) the (Ottoman Turkish) deportation (of Armenians) was right and necessary\u201d<\/p>\n This report has been hidden from researchers for years, however since being uncovered it has been published in a brief 125 page book titled \u201cDashnagtzoutiun Has Nothing to Do Anymore\u201d, Kaynak Yayinlari (Kaynak Press)\u00a0 pps. 125.<\/p>\n b) The Malta Tribunal, held by England, immediately after WWI and initiated by the Armenian interest could not convict a single Ottoman military officer or politician of<\/p>\n genocide and\/or war crimes.<\/p>\n c) U.S. Admiral Bristol, commander of the Sixth Fleet and later first Ambassador to the new Republic of Turkey (post WWI) traveled the country extensively and reported no genocide.<\/p>\n d) Ambassador Elekdar went to England to intensively study a document produced by the English called the \u201cBlue Book\u201d.\u00a0 The Ambassador has shown that most of the the documents were either fraudulently written or slanted so as to draw England into WWI.<\/p>\n Ambassador Elekdar subjected himself to scholars from around the world on his findings. He has not been refuted.<\/p>\n For brevity it is fair to say that the key scholars and leaders of the early 1900\u2019s did not attribute a genocide to the Ottoman Turks.<\/p>\n During the 1980\u2019s Armenians, who never at any time in the history of the Ottoman Empire had never had sovereignty over even a single square inch of the Anatolian peninsula were beginning to push for land claims and reparation based upon a made up genocide claim.<\/p>\n During this time the Turkish archives were open to scholars.\u00a0 No one has ever found a single note or sentence regarding a government policy of eliminating or getting rid of Armenians.<\/p>\n Armenia would never open its archives.\u00a0 In order to prevent conflicting view the Armenians began a worldwide campaign of assassinating ambassadors and others who disagreed with them.\u00a0 In fact at one point during this period the FBI identified Armenia as being responsible for 25% of international terror casualties in the U.S.A.<\/p>\n In 1992 interest in oil drive an Armenian Russian genocide of Azeris.\u00a0 As in Period I (1915) Armenians are pawns of Russia.<\/p>\n However since the early 1800\u2019s those people of the Transcaucuses:\u00a0 Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been under the control of Russia.\u00a0 The Armenians more that the others, have been willing to be the pawns of Russian geo-political interests.<\/p>\n In the 1990\u2019s Russia had decided that the oil rich region of Nagorno-Karabakh would be an autonomous section of Azerbaijan even though it had a high % of Armenians living there.<\/p>\n The Armenians living in this Nagorno Karabkh region of Azerbaijan began killing any Azari that lived there.\u00a0 In the village of Khojaly (about 7000 people) the Armenians killed every man, woman and child.\u00a0 The Russian 366th<\/sup> Regiment participated.<\/p>\n The result was that by 1992 Armenians were responsible for killing 400,000 people <\/span> and leaving over 1,000,000 International Displaced Persons (IDP\u2019s) in Azerbaijan.\u00a0 Where is the popular media outrage?\u00a0 Where is the political outrage?\u00a0 These events are contemporary.<\/p>\n As background information let\u2019s remember that Armenia today is about the same population as Connecticut, slightly over 3 million.\u00a0 Ten years ago the Armenian population was almost double that of today.\u00a0 For economic reasons, Armenians are relocating around the world, a large percentage to Turkey.<\/p>\n In Conclusion<\/span><\/p>\n (International Red Cross figures state that more than 25% of all ethnic Turks died<\/p>\n as a result of war, massacres, diseases and starvation.)<\/p>\n forces diverted their capabilities to the eastern part of the empire.<\/p>\n gain seaports.\u00a0 Armenia thought part of the Ottoman Empire would be given to<\/p>\n them.<\/p>\n Again Russia gets oil, Armenia expands its borders into Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n Where is the outrage by the media and U.S. politicians.<\/p>\n Personally I was very unhappy to see any program with Peter Balakian associated with it.\u00a0 He is an Armenian nationalist who, as a \u201chistorian\u201d has never attempted to see the truth of both sides.<\/p>\n I could bring a wide range of resources to CBS that would acknowledge the suffering of Armenians and Turks and would like to do so if CBS has any interest in a broader look at history.<\/p>\n Your 60 Minute piece either by plan or coincidence came at a very bad time:\u00a0 the U.S. Congress is considering H. Res. 252 which agrees with the \u201cnon historical based claims of Armenia.\u201d<\/p>\n This resolution will harm U. S. Turkish relations and the Armenian-Turkish normalization process for years to come.\u00a0 It will also harm Islam Christian trust for centuries around the world.\u00a0 Alliances between Muslim and Christian countries will be less likely.\u00a0 Certainly Turkish treaties with American backed Israel will be much<\/p>\n less enthusiastically viewed.<\/p>\n Cordially,<\/p>\n Robert McKay<\/p>\n Cc: The Honorable Namik Tan, Ambassador of Turkey, Washington DC<\/p>\n The Honorable Mehmet Samsar, Turkish Consulate, NewYork, New York<\/p>\n Dr. Kaya Buyukataman, President Turkish Forum<\/p>\n Kaya Boztepe, President Federation of Turkish American Associations, New York<\/p>\n Gunay Evinch, President Assembly Of Turkish American Associations, Washington DC<\/p>\n Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Senator from Connecticut<\/p>\n =================================================================<\/p>\n WHO IS TURKISH BOB<\/p>\nPeriod II<\/h1>\n
Period III<\/h1>\n
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\n “Turkish Bob’s” Love Of Half a Century<\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n \n\n
\n Friday, 15 April 2005<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Ali Cinar – Connecticut
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