New York Times
April 17 2005
Turkey Says 523,000 Were Killed by Armenians Between 1910 and 1922
By SEBNUM ARSU
Published: April 17, 2005
IZMIR, Turkey, April 17 – 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.
Turkey flatly denies that there was any systematic effort at killing
or forcing the Armenians out of eastern Anatolia, where the Armenians
were trying to establish a separate state. with support from the
French, British and Russians. Turkey contends that, instead, hundreds
of thousands of Turks were killed by Armenians as they tried to
establish themselves as the majority population in that region. Prof.
Yusuf Sarinay said.
The list issued today was compiled based on reports by the regional
authorities sent to Ottoman officials in Istanbul, as well as the
written accounts of international observers, said Mr. Sarinay, the
director of the Office of State Archives.
“Europe has used Armenians as a tool in extension of their policies
over Turkey, for which Turks and Armenians suffered,” Mr. Sarinay was
quoted as saying by the Anatolian news agency. “Europe should also
face her own history.”
Hirant Dink, a leading figure among Armenians in Turkey called the
list an official attempt to create an alternate version of an
internationally recognized reality. He said that such documentary
analysis and confirmation of its accuracy should be left in the hands
of international academics.
“Figures and documents should be researched and analyzed,” Mr. Dink
said, “However, talking merely in figures means that Turkey doesn’t
understand the pain of the other side; what is undermined here is the
conscience and human factor behind all.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress