After Dersim apology we are moving to 1915 events – Taner Akcam

news.am, Armenia
Nov 26 2011

After Dersim apology we are moving to 1915 events – Taner Akcam

November 26, 2011 | 04:57

YEREVAN.- Turkish government is supposedly preparing a gesture to the
100th anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, Turkish historian,
professor at Clark University in the U.S. Taner Akcam told Armenian
News-NEWS.am.

Commenting on the statement of Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan
regarding Dersim massacres, Akcam noted that many documents are
preserved which assert that the massacres were aimed at the
extermination of a nation.

`It was one of the biggest taboos in Turkey. Many materials are
preserved. Survivors of these events are still alive,’ Akcam said.

The official number of victims of the pogroms makes 13,000, unofficial
estimates reach 40 – 50 thousand. Armenians escaped from the 1915
Genocide and sheltered in Dersim villages, underwent double genocide
in 1938.

It is still unclear whether it is time to review the great fire in
Izmir in 1922, he added.

`We are definitely moving closer to 1915. I suppose that the Turkish
government is preparing a gesture for the 2015 anniversary. I do not
know what it might be, but do not be surprised if something happens,’
he stressed.

As for the number of losses, the historian recalled that the official
date said 800 thousand Armenians were killed, it refers only to
Armenians who died during the First World War.

`There are no exact figures. We can say with confidence that during
the Armenian Genocide about million people were killed,’ he concluded.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS