WHO EXACTLY ARE THE ARMENIANS, AND WHY DID THE OTTOMANS GENOCIDE THEM?
411mania.com, TX
Oct 18 2007
Madame Speaker Pelosi is pushing a non-binding House resolution to
condemn the 90-year-old slaughter of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire,
and label it a "genocide." Bush opposes the resolution on the grounds
it will damage relations with Turkey. What does this all mean? I have
no idea. Let’s find out together!
So I was playing basketball with a friend recently when he asked
"What do you know about this Armenian Genocide story?" When it comes
to current events, I pride myself on being highly-informed and able
to offer insightful commentary on any topic, but this question left
me nonplussed. I didn’t even know what an Armenian was. I didn’t
remember Armenia from any of the Carmen Sandiego computer games I used
to play. Then my friend said that apparently Nancy Pelosi is pushing
some kind of resolution to condemn the defunct Ottoman Empire (which
has since morphed into the country we know as Turkey) for committing
genocide against these Armenians. And because I never turn down the
opportunity to criticize Nancy Pelosi, I figured I needed to educate
myself on this alleged Armenian Genocide.
As it turns out, this Armenian Genocide is some serious shit. I had
no idea. Why was the truth of the Armenian Genocide kept from me???
This is Bush’s fault somehow.
The story so far…
As it happens, the Republic of Armenia is an actual country. I know,
I’m just as shocked as you at my own pathetic ignorance. Here’s what
Armenia looks like:
Holy crap, these Armenians are smack dab in the hot zone. They’ve got
Iran the Great Satan directly to the south. Are you thinking what I’m
thinking? If the U.S. ever had to bomb the living hell out of Iran,
it would be real helpful if the Republic of Armenia lent us their
airport. You know, just for a few months, we’d pay for it. By the
way, does anyone know if Armenia has any oil? Because "The American
Commonwealth of Armenia" has a spiffy ring to it. Hey, it would work
out for both of us, Armenia. We get your oil, and we launch raids on
Iran from your airport, and you get Xbox 360’s and khaki shorts and
a non-voting delegate in the U.S. House of Representatives. That’s
not so bad, if you want to do it the easy way. Think about it, Armenia.
And one other thing, Armenia – do you ever happen to read those news
stories about the U.S. and our alleged crimes against humanity? Abu
Ghraib, Haditha, Gitmo – apparently the U.S. has a reputation for
inflicting terrible suffering on people who get in our way. Like I
said…think about it, Armenia.
Ha! I kid my Armenian readers, of course. But speaking of terrible
suffering, this is what I’ve recently discovered about this Armenian
Genocide. Picture if you will the decline of the Ottoman Empire
in the 1910’s, as longstanding ethnic/religious hatreds reach a
boiling point between the Turks and the Armenians. Armenians, being
mostly Christian, had typically been second-class citizens in the
Muslim-dominated Ottoman Empire. As a result of this repression, many
Armenians had formed a resistance movement in the late 19th century
in what in now eastern Turkey. This Armenian pride brigade persisted
until World War I, which pitted Turkey against archenemy Russia in
a rematch of the Russo-Turkish war of 1877. It was the worst of times.
During that Russo-Turkish war, nationalist elements of Armenian
resistance had sided with Russia, i.e., they weren’t particularly
patriotic by Ottoman standards. So by the time the Great War rolled
around, the Ottomans saw a chance to give the Armenians a receipt
for their past treason. In 1915, the Ottoman government passed a
law allowing for the forced deportation of Armenians in the name of
national security. And so the Ottomans marched the Armenians into
the Syrian desert, where they had no protection, no shelter, and no
supplies of any kind. You can probably guess what happened next.
And that’s the Armenian Genocide in a nutshell. Armenian sources
put the body count at nearly 1.5 million, while modern-day Turkish
authorities lowball it at 300,000-500,000. The Turks also deny any
organized extermination of the Armenians, chalking up the deaths
to casualties of WWI. To this day, some scholars dispute that there
is conclusive evidence that the Ottomans intended to systematically
exterminate the Armenians. However, the consensus of modern academic
opinion is that these Armenians weren’t merely war casualties, but
victims of genocide at the hands of the fading Ottoman Empire. And
if there’s one thing you can trust, it’s the consensus of modern
academic opinion.
Now, you may be thinking to yourself, "Yes, this a horrible story of
abject cruelty, yet another sinister chapter in mankind’s history
which reveals the depraved heart of darkness that lies within the
unspeakable depths of the human condition. And while I would never
want to minimize the unjust suffering of my fellow human beings, nor
would I make light of the hard work done by historians and scholars
to uncover the truth of this historic atrocity, the fact remains
that the Armenian Genocide happened 90 years ago. It’s within the
domain of the academic realm, not the political. Why is it an issue
of such importance in 2007 that the Nancy Pelosi Congress intends to
pass a resolution condemning the near-century-old massacre?" And if
you were thinking that to yourself, then you are a GODDAMN GENIUS.
I admit, it seems odd that the Dem Congress is so bent on passing this
resolution, especially when you consider how badly it embarrasses our
ally Turkey. This resolution basically says "Shame on you, Turkey. You
are such jerks for killing those Armenians almost one hundred years
ago. Bastards." Naturally, this hurt Turkey’s feelings, since they’ve
been stand up guys and are letting us use one of their bases in
support of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. So Turkey got pissed and
recalled their U.S. ambassador, Nabi Sensoy. Making his final comments
to U.S. media before departing, Sensoy said (paraphrasing), "Hey,
at least we don’t stick our noses in other people’s genocides. Like
the U.S. never committed genocide against Native Americans? Suck it,
hypocrites."
The Armenian Genocide resolution has been pushed by Rep. Adam Schiff,
a Democrat representing California’s 29th district, which has the
highest concentration of Armenian Americans in the U.S. Pelosi herself
has a substantial Armenian American constituency in her district,
so at first blush it appears that these Congresspersons are simply
addressing the concerns of the people they represent. It’s democracy
in action. OR IS IT? After all, a handy consequence of this resolution
is that Turkey is threatening to withdraw logistical support from
the Global War on Terror, which includes helpfully not invading Iraqi
Kurdistan, something the Turks have been keen to do for some time.
THIS JUST IN! On Wednesday, Turkey’s parliament approved incursions
by its military into northern Iraq to pursue Kurdish terrorists. This
is CNN:
The United States has been attempting to use its influence to keep
Turkey from launching an incursion but a U.S. domestic political
dispute involving the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire
around 90 years ago has enflamed passions in Turkey and presented
challenges for American diplomacy.
Nice. And what’s more, the latest news as of this writing is that in
a stunning turnaround this proposed Armenian Genocide resolution is
likely to fail. From the NYT, news that’s fit to print:
Worried about antagonizing Turkish leaders, House members from both
parties have begun to withdraw their support from a resolution backed
by the Democratic leadership that would condemn as genocide the mass
killings of Armenians nearly a century ago.
Terrific. So it looks as if this non-binding resolution may not even
pass, and yet it’s sufficiently angered our NATO buddy Turkey that
they’re invading Iraq. And I HATE it when people invade Iraq for no
good reason. If nothing else, it appears that this resolution has
needlessly complicated the Iraq war just when casualties have taken
a dive and things are looking up. Jesus, Madame Speaker, while we
appreciate your efforts at repairing America’s image through empty
gestures, you’re making a mockery of the separation of powers. Bush
is Commander in Chief, which means that only he gets to screw up the
Iraq war. HE DOESN’T NEED YOUR HELP.
I’d like to believe that Nancy Pelosi didn’t push this resolution just
to hurt the war effort, that she’s just an inept wannabe-diplomat…so
that’s what I’ll believe. You can believe whatever you want. Everyone
else does. In any case, I think we all learned something today. No
need to thank me.
2/Story-Time-with-E-10.18.07:-Who-Exactly-Are-the- Armenians,-and-Why-Did-the-Ottomans-Genocide-Them? .htm