{"id":17578,"date":"2010-03-11T08:27:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-11T06:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishforum.com.tr\/en\/content\/?p=17578"},"modified":"2023-04-06T16:06:08","modified_gmt":"2023-04-06T13:06:08","slug":"the-armenian-genocide-a-case-of-selective-memory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2010\/03\/11\/the-armenian-genocide-a-case-of-selective-memory\/","title":{"rendered":"THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: A CASE OF SELECTIVE MEMORY"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dmitry Babich<\/p>\n<p>RIA  Novosti<br \/>\n15:44 09\/03\/2010<br \/>\nMoscow<\/p>\n<p>A resolution on the Armenian  genocide in the Ottoman Empire, passed<br \/>\nby the U.S. House Committee on Foreign  Relations, has raised a real<br \/>\nstorm in international  diplomacy.<\/p>\n<p>Feverish diplomatic activity and apparent hesitations of  the<br \/>\nU.S. administration are a clear sign that Turkey&#8217;s foreign  policy<br \/>\ninfluence has grown.<\/p>\n<p>The committee&#8217;s resolution is non-binding  and it is not clear if it<br \/>\nwill be placed before the whole house, but Turkey  has already recalled<br \/>\nits ambassador to Ankara for consultations, while U.S.  Secretary of<br \/>\nState Hillary Clinton, according to The New York Times, has  asked<br \/>\nthe Congress not to take up this delicate matter now.<\/p>\n<p>When, in  1915, 1.5 million Armenians &#8220;disappeared&#8221; as a result of the<br \/>\naction  undertaken by the Young Turks&#8217; government, Turkey and Armenia<br \/>\nfroze all  contacts with each other. It was only last year that signs<br \/>\nof thawing first  became manifest, and in the fall of 2009 the sides<br \/>\nagreed to establish  diplomatic relations. This was viewed as a success<br \/>\nfor the Turkish  leadership, both the prime minister and the president.<\/p>\n<p>Will now a final  &#8220;thaw&#8221; be postponed again?<\/p>\n<p>That is not likely, although Turkish  politicians are certain to take<br \/>\nadvantage of the situation to improve their  standing.<\/p>\n<p>It is very likely that the current scandal will only boost the  prestige<br \/>\nof Turkey&#8217;s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Not so long  ago,<br \/>\nhe was the first politician in Turkish history to challenge  the<br \/>\nmilitary, saying he uncovered a military plot initially scheduled<br \/>\nfor  2003. Before that, Erdogan made out a successful case for the<br \/>\nPalestinians as  Muslim brothers, harshly criticizing Israel for<br \/>\nits Gaza Strip operation.  During the U.S. Iraqi campaign, Turkey<br \/>\nnever allowed American troops to pass  through its territory, forcing<br \/>\nWashington to invade Iraq only from the  south.<\/p>\n<p>Now the ambiguous position the U.S. has maintained for years on  the<br \/>\nArmenian genocide, which helped Washington to draw Turkey into  NATO,<br \/>\nis beginning to backfire against U.S. interests. This is a  good<br \/>\nlesson for all, and it is not limited to the events of 1915.  There<br \/>\nare other examples. The Western mass media are still keeping  silent<br \/>\nabout anti-Armenian violence in Baku in 1989-1990. Most  reports<br \/>\nmention only that Soviet troops were introduced into the  city.<\/p>\n<p>The reason for such selective memory in American and West  European<br \/>\nmedia is understandable: it is simple to place the blame on  Moscow,<br \/>\nforgetting all about previous events. At that moment, the  troops<br \/>\nsent by Moscow saved the lives of thousands of Armenians and  other<br \/>\n&#8220;Russian speakers&#8221; in Baku. Even many Russian media find the  subject<br \/>\nof the violence in Baku unpopular and almost forbidden. Some say  this<br \/>\ncould lose Russia advertising contracts and lead to conflicts  with<br \/>\ninfluential people.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I do not know what has to be done to get the  mass media throughout<br \/>\nthe world to highlight those events,&#8221; says political  analyst Andronik<br \/>\nMigranyan, a member of Russia&#8217;s Public Chamber. &#8220;Will  Armenia itself<br \/>\nhave to carry out PR campaigns to make things  change?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The point is that the events of 1915 and those of the 1980s in  Armenia<br \/>\nand Azerbaijan do not concern only Armenians; they concern  everyone.<\/p>\n<p>The anti-Armenian violence in Baku came after an inhumane  expulsion<br \/>\nof Azerbaijanians from Nagorny Karabakh, followed by the  Khodzhala<br \/>\ntragedy that shocked the world. People must remember  everything,<br \/>\nbecause destruction of human life cannot be forgotten or  remembered<br \/>\nselectively. Otherwise, diplomatic embarrassments like the  present<br \/>\nU.S.-Turkish spat may become regular.<\/p>\n<p>The opinions expressed  in this article are the author&#8217;s and do not<br \/>\nnecessarily represent those of  RIA Novosti.<\/p>\n<p>=======================================\\<\/p>\n<table width=\"582\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"70%\">Dmitry Babich<\/td>\n<td width=\"30%\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"100%\">\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\"><strong><strong>Dmitry Babich<\/strong><\/strong> graduated from the Journalism Department of Moscow State University. From 1990-1996, he worked as a correspondent and senior parliament correspondent in Komsomolskaya Pravda, which was at the time a respected Russian daily newspaper with a circulation of up to 20 million. He the covered politics for the TV-6 television channel for three years before becoming head of the international department of the weekly newspaper Moscow News. While he was working at Moscow News, Dima won a prize from ITAR-TASS for developing Russian-Ukrainian information exchange following a series of reports from Ukraine. He joined Russia Profile as a staff writer at the beginning of 2004.<\/p>\n<p>======REPONCE FROM ERGUN KIRLIKOVALI ===============================<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-17619\" title=\"ergunk\" src=\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/ergunk.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"120\" height=\"136\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Re:\u00a0 \u201c The Armenian Genocide: A Case Of Selective  Memory\u201d,\u00a0 By Dmitry Babich, RIA Novosti,  Moscow, 9 March 2010, <span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/en.rian.ru\/analysis\/20100309\/158136748.html\"><\/span> (produced below for your convenience &#8211; the undersigned thanks www.TurkishForum.com.tr for bringing  this anti-Turkish, anti-Azeri, andti-Muslim artcile to my atention, giving me a  chance to respond.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>THE BOGUS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: A CASE OF SELECTIVE  MEMORY<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Dear  Editor,<\/p>\n<p>So  this is what Journalism Department of Moscow State University produces:\u00a0  cockeyed look at world events to promote Russian interests at all costs.\u00a0 Here  is a writer who will shamelessly complain about selective memory while  &#8220;practicing&#8221; it.<\/p>\n<p>Did  you read any lines about Azeris killed by Armenians  above?<\/p>\n<p>Did  you see any remorse about Khodjaly exterminations of Azeris (genocide?) by  Armenian thugs using Russian advisors and weapons?<\/p>\n<p>Any  word about the mass killings of Azeris in Karabagh by Armenian soldiers and  paramilitaries under the command of Russian &#8220;advisors&#8221;\u00a0 using Russian tanks?<\/p>\n<p>Azeris  were killed by Armenians toting Russian Mosins in 1893 and Russian Kalashnikovs  in 1993?\u00a0 Both under the leadership of Russian &#8220;advisors&#8221;.\u00a0 What has changed in  the hundred years, other than the model of the murder weapon?<\/p>\n<p>How  about Armenian aggression in the seven rayons (provinces) surrounding Karabagh?\u00a0  Why is he silent about that?\u00a0 Isn&#8217;t that pure aggression and persecution?<\/p>\n<p>Most  dramatic of all, perhaps, is the embarrassing silence of the Russian writer (and  I use the term loosely) about the million or so Azeri refugees bracing, made  homeless by the Armenian thugs toting Russian rifles, bracing for the 18th  scorching summer after 17th freezing winter endured in leaky tents with little  food or medicine.\u00a0 Is this how a Russian &#8220;journalist&#8221; sees events?\u00a0 Through the  prism of selective memory?<\/p>\n<p>Just  like those biased promoters of a bogus genocide who will\u2026<\/p>\n<p>a)  remember Morgenthau&#8217;s falsified reports but not Bristol&#8217;s or Hubbard&#8217;s  eyewitness reports;<\/p>\n<p>b)  remember the long-discredited lie of 1.5 million dead Armenians, but not the  Paris Peace Conference report dated 29 March 1919 declaring the number &#8220;&#8230;more  than 200,000&#8230;&#8221; from which the current lie had originated;<\/p>\n<p>c)\u00a0  remember the Armenian dead (about 200,00 according to Paris Peace Conference of  1919) but not more than 524,000 Muslim, mostly Turkish dead;<\/p>\n<p>d)  remember 24 April as the start of a fake genocide, but not the fact that 24  April was nothing more than the Ottoman Guantanamo when the known Armenian  terrorists, insurgents, and spies and their suspected accomplices, were arrested  for questioning, some of whom were later released;<\/p>\n<p>e)  remember Turkish retaliations but not the Armenian revolts that started them,  the biggest one of all being the Van rebellion of April 1915 which was the 9\/11  of the Ottoman Empire when Armenian killed more than 40,000 of thei Muslim  neighbors and turned the city over to the invading Russian armies;<\/p>\n<p>f)\u00a0  remember Dink, but not Arikan, and 70 other the Armenians killed since 1973;<\/p>\n<p>g)\u00a0  remember Armenia Tereset (temporary resettlement of 1915) but not the facts that  Armenians backstabbed their own country at a time when the motherland was under  brutal foreign invasion in the West (Dardanelles by the French, and Anzacs, in  the East (by Russians and Armenians), in the South (by the British in Sinai,  Palestine, and Mesopotamia);<\/p>\n<p>h)\u00a0  remember Armenians who were resettled because of their treasonous activities and  revolts but not the Crimean Tatars (Turks) who were deported in cattle wagons to  Kazakhstan, or Meshketian Turks to Uzbekiastan, or Koreans or Ukranians or  Chechens or tens of millions of others\u00a0 to\u00a0  distant deserts and barren plains of Central Asia and icy regios of  Siberia, who met worse tragic end, if such a thing is possible, \u00a0at the hands of their brutal Russian  handlers&#8230; and many more (too long to list here)<\/p>\n<p>i)\u00a0 remember to quote the Armenian commentator  Andronik today but not the Armenian terrorist Andranik of last century who  ruthlessly murdered many non-combatant, unarmed Muslims, mostly Turks, after  torturing them in unspeakable manners;\u00a0  or those other Armenian terrorists like Dro, Aram, and thousands of  others who were trained and supported by the Russians all along the way;<\/p>\n<p>Russians  are the last people on earth to talk about selective memory or persecution of  defenseless ethnic people.<\/p>\n<p>Sincerely, \u00a0 Erg\u00fcn KIRLIKOVALI<br \/>\nPresident-Elect, ATAA<br \/>\nergun@cox.net<br \/>\n9741  Irvine Center Drive<br \/>\nIrvine, CA 92618-4324\u00a0, USA<br \/>\nCell:  (949) 878-1186<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dmitry Babich RIA Novosti 15:44 09\/03\/2010 Moscow A resolution on the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire, passed by the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Relations, has raised a real storm in international diplomacy. Feverish diplomatic activity and apparent hesitations of the U.S. administration are a clear sign that Turkey&#8217;s foreign policy influence has grown. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":49758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[145,997,1571,78,1099,151,120,603,204,1153,1018,2129],"class_list":["post-17578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-armenian-question","tag-barack-obama","tag-davos","tag-ahmet-davutoglu","tag-ergenekon","tag-ethocide","tag-genocide","tag-gulen","tag-nabucco","tag-nagorno-karabakh","tag-politics","tag-recep-tayyip-erdogan","tag-turkey-and-armenia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}