Detroit Free Press, MI
April 29 2005
LOCAL COMMENT: Genocide against Armenians can’t be ignored or
forgotten
April 29, 2005
BY DAVID BONIOR
Dachau, Buchenwald, Auschwitz — we recognize these names, these
locations, because they are synonymous with murder, atrocity, and,
yes, genocide. They stand as universal symbols of crimes against
humanity, acknowledged and remembered, so that they will never be
repeated.
Not so recognizable, however, are Kharpert, Shabin Karahisar, and Der
Zor. The first two locations housed once-thriving Armenian
communities that were ethnically cleansed. The third is a desert in
which thousands upon thousands of Armenians perished on death
marches. These are places where the world also witnessed similar
crimes against humanity — yes, genocide.
Before Nazi death camps of World War II brought the horrors of
genocide to international consciousness, the world experienced its
first modern introduction to the crime decades earlier. It was at the
time of World War I, when Ottoman Turkey carried out one of the
largest genocides in world history, murdering and deporting vast
numbers of its minority Armenian population in its stated aim to
eradicate the Armenian presence. This spring marks the 90th
anniversary of that campaign of death.
About 1.5 million Armenians were systematically killed. That number
does not include the hundreds of thousands more who died in
subsequent campaigns in 1918, 1920 and 1923 as the Turkish government
extended the genocide beyond the Ottoman Empire into neighboring
territories.
In some respects, that campaign may have set the stage for similar
programs of genocide in the next war. It’s no secret that Adolf
Hitler felt quite comfortable about pursuing his agenda, recognizing
that the international community had done nothing in terms of direct
action concerning Armenia. Whether it was based on hatred and twisted
ideology, or the greed of a concerted land grab, the result and the
act are one and the same. What happened in Armenia 90 years ago was
genocide.
Despite international outrage and condemnation at the time —
including widespread reports on the massacres by the New York Times
and other top media — Turkey never took responsibility, nor even
acknowledged the true nature of the mass slayings. To this day, the
Turkish government still refuses to recognize and accept its role in
the genocide of the Armenian people.
Adding insult to injury, nation-states such as the United States
today refer to the genocide as merely “alleged.” Falling victim to
alliances and politics — first during the Cold War and now during
the War on Terror — the United States has gone soft on Turkey, and
the truth has become an acceptable casualty of necessity.
But there are those who will not forget or overlook — especially
among Armenians. Remembrance helps to heal the wounds of genocide
because, despite the systematic attempt to erase their culture and
very existence, the Armenian people have survived. In addition to the
Armenian republic established since the fall of the Soviet Union,
Armenian culture and enclaves flourish throughout the world — most
notably, in America.
During the past 90 years, Armenians from throughout the world have
continued to tell their story, in hopes that their pain, suffering
and losses may be recognized, acknowledged and accounted for.
This is why thousands of Armenian-Americans congregated Sunday in New
York City, in an international day of remembrance. Only in this
context can the survival and flourishing of this proud people be
truly understood and appreciated. Only then can those who perpetrate
such heinous crimes realize that there will be a day of reckoning.
>From Ottoman Turkey to Nazi Germany, from Rwanda to Darfur, the
international community must recognize and address genocide at every
corner of this earth — and those responsible must account for their
actions. Official acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide is
important, because acknowledgement and remembrance are the first true
steps towards prevention.
DAVID BONIOR, who was a Michigan congressman for 26 years, serves as
executive director of American Rights at Work, a Washington,
D.C.-based human rights organization. Write to him in care of the
Free Press Editorial Page, 600 W. Fort St., Detroit, MI 48226.