Why I don’t blame the Turkish people for their ignorance regarding the Armenian Genocide

When I first got to the University of California- Davis, I realized I was surrounded by a wide array of ethnicities and nationalities, something I did not experience at all in my mostly culturally homogenous and politically uninvolved hometown of Dixon, California.

As an International Relations major and passionate advocate for human rights, I immediately became involved with the human rights department at Davis, where I first I came in contact with Turkish students. Upon historical discussions about the issue I am most passionate about, the fight against the denial of genocide, I found myself face to face with the results of the Turkish government’s refusal to accept it’s bloody past. It was the first time I brought up the Armenian Genocide and somebody said to me that, “It never happened”.

Being one of those guys who reads history books in his spare time, I have always had a profound interest in human interaction across national borders. That coupled with a compassionate heart eventually turned me into a humanitarian, leading me to believe in fighting for humanitarian causes at all costs.

During my time at Davis, I have learned one of the fundamental duties of a humanitarian is to speak for of those who can’t speak for themselves. While not being an Armenian myself, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of genocide recognition.

Without a voice to identify, acknowledge, and understand what a nation went through, the suffering is still in effect. For this reason, it is important to speak on behalf of the victims. Monuments and memoirs alike tell the story of the tragic circumstances undergone by genocide survivors, standing as a symbol of survival.

A genocide accepted is a genocide remembered and when genocide is remembered, the original intent of the perpetrators is never realized. It is for these reasons that humanity must stand in solidarity with the victims in order to ensure that the legacy and historical foundation of a community never acquiesces to the policies intended to rob a people of their existence.

Map noting the dramatic loss of land experienced by the Armenian people as a result of the genocide

History

With World War I approaching, a weakening Turkey was desperate to cling on to any territory it had left. With Turkey joining the side of Germany against Russia in World War I, Armenians found themselves trapped in the crossfire of the Russo-Turkish conflicts. Seeing Armenians as naturally sympathetic to the Russian cause, Turkey saw an opportunity to rid itself of the Armenians getting in the way of their vision for an ethnically pure “Turkey for the Turks”.

On April 24th, 1915, the Turkish government of ordered the arrests of 270 Armenian leaders and intellectuals, starting the systematic campaign to kill off the Armenian people. A series of events thereon after included the murder of all fighting age men, along with the forced death marches of the women, children, and elderly through the deserts of  Syria, leaving 1.5 Million Armenians dead.

Confronting denial

Graphic images of the violence displayed by the UC Davis Armenian Students Association yesterday in the quad

The atrocities are widely documented and the evidence is clear. The crimes against these people are just as disgusting and barbaric as anything Hitler did to the Jews. Whether it was throwing children off of cliffs, crucifying teenage girls, or impaling defiant men, the Armenians suffered a fate just as bad as any in human history. But if the evidence is so clear, why is there such a raging debate? Why is the question of what happened to the Armenians in 1915 even subject to dispute?

The answer is simple. For 101 years, the Turkish government has been preaching a grotesquely nationalistic, ignorant, and jingoistic version of history that asserts that all Turkish actions in and during the events of 1915 were free of any wrongdoing. This version of history has been widely accepted by the bulk of the Turkish populace, who has been kept in the dark about what really happened. This has been made possible by the fact that it is literally illegal to “Insult Turkishness” in Turkey. It is largely for this reason that Turkey boasts the highest rate of journalist incarceration in the world, a list that includes even North Korea. (So much for a U.S. ally).

While this certainly stirs up emotions of anger in anybody with the most remote sense of empathy, I don’t really blame the Turkish people for their denial. In my experiences interacting with Turkish students here on campus, I have found that they are just as warm and friendly as any other group. I hold no anti-Turkish views, and nobody else should either. After searching for the answer to whether or not there is a rational explanation as to why these people deny what happened, I found that there definitely is.

The Turkish people are simply misinformed. They have had the truth withheld from them for over a century and they have been brainwashed into the belief that they are the victims. This narrative has been presented to the Turkish people in an absolute manner, that commands a feeling that if they accept the Armenian claims of genocide, they are traitors to their country. With several discussions on this topic with my Turkish friends, I have experienced this first hand. It’s not that they hold any malicious or sadistic views, its just a matter of their familiarization with history. If I was told that my ancestors did what Hitler did, I wouldn’t be too enthusiastic about accepting it either, especially if I had been told otherwise my entire life.

While it is important to confront genocide denial with facts whenever possible, I also believe it is important to realize what the source of the denial is. I passionately condemn the Turkish government for its refusal to accept the truth of what happened, but I also recognize that in a way, the Turkish people of today are also victims of their government’s ignorance. The ignorance that deprives them of knowledge, disguising it as a matter of national pride.

For this reason, I am not immediately angered when I confront the denial of this subject, as I recognize that my fellow Turkish students are victims of a century of brainwashing. There is no “Turkish side of the story”. There is truth and there is lie.

Commemoration

A group of Armenian Students commemorating the victims of the 1915 massacres

I think it is important to commemorate and understand what happened to the Armenian people as an example of what happens when the warning signs of genocide are ignored for the sake of political gain. As much as I love my country the United States of America, I believe it is hypocritical of us to pledge to defend justice when we allow Turkey to sweep their crimes under the rug just because they’re our ally.

As the future leaders of this country, I call on all college students to comprehend what happened to the Armenians as a lesson for the future. We should not let the Turkish government use its geographic importance to let it do what it pleases. If we continue to let Turkey deny what they did to the Armenians, they will not be held at a standard requiring them to answer to their crimes in the future. This has been seen in the past, before his genocidal attack against Poland, Adolf Hitler famously said “Who, after all, still speaks of the annihilation of the Armenians?”. A quote like this alone brings to light the horrible potential engraved within genocide denial.

While I am not naive, and I realize that world peace will not be easily attained, I reject the notion that it is not possible. One issue at a time, humanity is capable of undoing the divisions that stand between us.