Turkey's Henchmen: Mass Media Butcher the Armenian Genocide
Tuesday 13 April 2010
by: David Boyajian, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed
(Photo: Ibán / flickr)
Most reporters and other journalists in the mass media failed to do due diligence and misled their audiences regarding last month's US House Foreign Affairs Committee vote in favor of Resolution 252, which would reaffirm the Armenian genocide of 1915-1923. Nearly all media, prior to and after the vote, falsely said or implied that the House and the federal government had never before recognized the Armenian genocide.
The full House, in fact, passed resolutions in 1975 and 1984 that acknowledged the Armenian genocide as "genocide." Proclamation 4838 by President Reagan in 1981 also affirmed the veracity of the genocide. In 1996, the House limited economic aid to Turkey until it recognized the genocide.
In a brief filed with the International Court of Justice (World Court) at The Hague in 1951, the US government cited just two genocides in modern times: the one committed by Turkey against Armenians and that committed by Nazi Germany.
Even when told of these earlier Armenian genocide acknowledgments, few media reported them. Significantly, after each such genocide reaffirmation, Ankara's threats of retaliation against Washington amounted to nothing and were quickly forgotten. No reporter, it appears, has ever bothered to mention this fact.
For Turkey to complain obsessively about the House committee's vote reaffirming the Armenian genocide makes little sense considering that the US has already recognized that genocide at least five times. Incredibly, it appears that no mainstream journalist has ever asked Turkish leaders for an explanation, not that they could provide a coherent one.
At the same time, the media obligingly volunteered their ideas about how Turkey could (or is it should?) retaliate, such as shutting down a NATO airbase or preventing American troops exiting Iraq to transit Turkey. Nonsensically, journalists implicitly portrayed America as having no leverage against Turkey and as being at its mercy.
Just the opposite is true. Ankara depends heavily on Washington for advanced weaponry, investments and economic aid by US-backed institutions such as the World Bank and IMF, political support to join the European Union and more.
Following the recent House committee vote, former British Ambassador to Armenia David Miller accurately observed that Turkey, like a "bully," will "bluster [and] threaten and in the end nothing will happen."
Nearly all media also "forgot" to mention that Turkey's threats had fallen flat against the nearly 20 countries whose legislative bodies had already acknowledged the Armenian genocide. Indeed, insofar as is known, Turkey's trade with such countries went up substantially, not down, after genocide recognition.
Among the many genocide acknowledgers that the media nearly always forget to mention are Canada, France, Lebanon, Switzerland, Uruguay, as well as a UN sub-commission, World Council of Churches, the Vatican and the European Union Parliament.
Most reporters have also long preferred to depict the genocide issue as a mere he-said-she-said quarrel between Armenians and Turkey. Yet, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, the foremost organization of its kind, has recognized the Armenian genocide several times and roundly criticized Turkey.
Raphael Lemkin, the Polish Jewish scholar who authored the UN Genocide Convention of 1948 and who coined the word genocide, once declared on national television, "I became interested in genocide because it happened to the Armenians." Most journalists choose to forget these facts.
Media also dutifully reported Turkey's opinion that academia, not the US Congress, is the proper place to discuss and recognize genocides. They forgot that one or both houses of Congress have recognized the Holocaust and the Bosnian, Cambodian, Darfurian and Ukrainian genocides. Thus, the public is unfairly led to believe that Armenian Americans are asking Congress to do something unusual. Somehow the media also forgot to report that over 50 American human rights, ethnic and religious organizations support Congressional acknowledgment of the Armenian genocide.
In short, most mass media have done an abysmal, unprofessional job.
If the House, a US president and a federal filing with the World Court have already affirmed and reaffirmed the Armenian genocide. Does Congress really need to pass the present genocide resolution? The current resolution, which is nonbinding, describes the genocide's history and America's traditional support of Armenia in more detail than previously approved ones.
Congressional reaffirmation will help to counter Turkey's unending, immoral denial campaigns and send a necessary signal to the US State Department that genocide denial harms American interests in the region.
For two decades, stability in the oil- and gas-rich Caucasus/Caspian region - undoubtedly the major flashpoint between the US and Russia - has been one of Washington's most cherished goals.
Stability is impossible, however, as long as Turkey refuses to face up to its crimes against Armenians and continues to needlessly blockade Armenia. Turkey, 25 times larger and more populous than Armenia and with 50 times the GDP, truly is a "bully."
The US and other countries recently forced a set of "protocols" onto Armenia that would allegedly "reconcile" it and Turkey. Contrary to Turkish claims, Armenia quite rightfully maintains that it will not let the protocols' proposed joint Turkish-Armenian historical commission question the veracity of the genocide. The genocide issue cannot be wished away by sham US-backed protocols, which, in any case, Turkey presently refuses to ratify.
Without an unequivocal acknowledgment by Turkey of its hyper-violence against Armenians, the region cannot be stabilized - with serious geopolitical consequences for Washington and its allies.
The media and the Obama administration can help to avert this simply by telling the American people the truth about the Armenian genocide. The whole truth.
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Comments
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Thank you, Mr. Boyajian, for
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 15:11 — Harry (not verified)Thank you, Mr. Boyajian, for reporting truthfully on this subject and TruthOut for publishing it. 97% of the news media got it wrong…on purpose…having indeed become the henchmen of Turkey in prolonging delayed justice for the Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks who suffered genocide at the hands of the Turks. We readers should circulate this article to the omboudsmen of the major newspapers, magazines, tv/radio stations who were the main offenders.
Who will hold Armenians
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 15:19 — S. Meral (not verified)Who will hold Armenians accountable for the atrocities (or should I say genocide) they were perpetrating in Turkey just before 1915 ? Armenians are the first ethnic cleansers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Turks today live in a state
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 17:56 — Anonymous (not verified)Turks today live in a state of collective amnesia where anything to do with the fact that modern day Turkey was founded upon the mass murder and theft of the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian peoples is either completely ignored, falsified or prosecuted under article 301. The sick twist is that the Turk take it a step further by claiming that their victims were really perpetrators and actually blames the Armenians for their own demise.
This guy is so far off base
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 19:26 — Anonymous (not verified)This guy is so far off base in his diatribe. The fact that Truthout belies its name and allows this type of misinformation and rant is why I have stopped donating.
Given that many scholars and
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 23:37 — Mavi Gozler (not verified)Given that many scholars and historians question that a genocide was perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenians comparable to the genocide perpetrated against Jews by Nazi Germany--which the diaspora wants you most outrageously and absurdly to believe---I hope that in the coming days that Truthout.org invites the op-ed from a distinguished academician who can offer the opposing view to the hysterical piece of claptrap now polluting the Truthout.org website.
The agenda of the typically violent, nutjob membership of the Armenian diaspora is not merely to get an apology--from those who have no blood on their hands!---or even an acknowledgement of genocide, but rather it is to invite invasion and its own genocide against the Turks living their today. These Armenian swine who want to visit the sins of the fathers upon the children will confess, and probably not with any hesitation, that they would take pleasure in savaging Turks on the street and strangling Turkish infants in their cribs...so apoplectic is their hatred.
Truthout.org should reflect rather strongly on why it is provides a forum to those who are not interested in putting truth into the historical record, but rather provides the means by which the hatred of Turks, Turkey and everything Turkish is promoted.
The sooner the denialists on
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 06:33 — Terrence (not verified)The sooner the denialists on this comment thread start to question their indoctrination and face up to the bitter truth, the better off we will all be. The "scholars and historians" who 'question genocide' are shills for the Turkish government...most, if not all, in their employ. See the following cover story by the Southern Poverty Law Center from which the following is an excerpt:
<<"But as the saying goes, a lie isn't 'the other side of any story.' It's just a lie. "When it comes to the historical reality of the Armenian genocide, there is no 'Armenian' or 'Turkish' side of the question, any more than there is a 'Jewish' or 'German' side of the historical reality of the Holocaust," writes Torben Jorgensen, of the Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. "There is a scientific side and an unscientific side — acknowledgement or denial.">>
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2008/summer/state-of-denial
Thank you Mr. Boyajian for
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 07:27 — Christopher (not verified)Thank you Mr. Boyajian for superbly summarizing the crux of the matter.
For months, media outlets have shamelessly tried to skew and deny the very important facts on the Armenian Genocide (1915-2010) hoping to slow progress on the Armenian Question. They have failed and will continue to fail to do so.
The international community -- including more than 20 Western countries -- has verified time and time again that the Armenian Genocide is an incontestable reality which must finally come to an end. Turkey owes Armenians not only an official apology, but also hundreds of billions of dollars in reparations and hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of Turkish-occupied Armenian lands (Western Armenia and Cilicia).
And, those of you here who are engaging in genocide denial and hate speech, know that your words and actions are criminal, meaning they can land you in jail!
David's insight is fresh and
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 08:06 — Geoff (not verified)David's insight is fresh and a wake up call to all of those who care to know the truth as to why the U.S. media is a propaganda mouthpiece for Turkey and the U.S. global hegemony of Armenian genocide denial.
David exposes the whole hypocrisy of Armenian Genocide denial that profit over people comes first. U.S. and Turkey which laud themselves as defenders of democracy are the exact opposite. When you get thrown in jail for talking, writing, or demonstrating about the Armenian genocide in Turkey there is no freedom of speech or expression a privilege that many people in America take for granted.
Turkey's current diplomacy with Armenia is a harbinger of the Armenian Genocide. Prime Minister Erdogan wants to deport Armenians out of Armenia. That was a practice used by the Young Turks to get rid of many Armenians. Many Armenians living in Turkey live under racism. They are viewed as second class citizens. The government allows them to live there but denies them their right to cultural identity by talking about the genocide. This is what is defined as cultural genocide. When you repress a person's right to have a mind to think about and understand their culture you are oppressing them.
Turkey embarrasses itself
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 13:39 — harry (not verified)Turkey embarrasses itself with this denial of the truth. What could be an honest recognition, Turkey instead has lost its credibility and the respect of many nations. That the US is held hostage to a military base is shameful, and Obama has proven himself weak and dishonest, betraying his own explicit promise.
The present government of
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 14:08 — Anonymous (not verified)The present government of Turkey could do enormous good for the region and it's allies by simply acknowledging past wrongs committed by previous governments. Why is that so hard?
SHAME ON THOSE WHO LIVE A
Thu, 04/15/2010 - 06:08 — VANUHY (not verified)SHAME ON THOSE WHO LIVE A LIE
David Boyad Boyajian you touched our heart ....
Bless you ... America should stand for what
it believes..... Kudos to those who are outspoken
Thank you David. I know it's
Thu, 04/15/2010 - 09:06 — Anonymous (not verified)Thank you David. I know it's frustrating to fight against the powerful denial machine, and the millions of mis-educated Turks blind to the truth. Keep up the good work.
Since David seems to be an
Thu, 04/15/2010 - 15:19 — Anonymous (not verified)Since David seems to be an expert on this subject, perhaps he can tell us how many Turkish, Kurdish, Jewish, Muslim, Ciscassian, Abkhazian, Slavic, Albanian, Bosnian, Georgian, Laz, Turkmen, Karachay, Azeri, Farsi and Arabic citizens of the Ottoman Empire were slaughtered by the goon squads of the Armenian Dashnak and Hunchak terror gangs. Compared to the Armenian terrorists of that era in Ottoman Turkey, today's Osama bin Laden and his hoodlums are mickey-mouse operators.
Why was Raphael Lemkin deaf and blind when Leopold II was butchering 12 million human beings in the Belgian Congo 1890-1910? Had Mr. Lemkin not heard of that mother of all genocides, that of the Native Americans?
By the way, are not the Armenians of Fresno, Glendale and Watertown continuing the last stage of genocide by sitting on lands stolen from the Native Americans and thereby enjoying the fruits of genocide? When are these two-faced Armenians going to get off my land, return it to the rightful owners and pay reparations to the Amerindians?
Jake Threefeathers
When are the Armenians going
Thu, 04/15/2010 - 16:41 — Jake Threefeathers (not verified)When are the Armenians going to acknowledge and make redress for the horrible crimes of the Nazi-employed ARMENIAN BRIGADE? These Armenian goon squads were tasked by the Nazis to hunt down and exterminate Jews in German occupied countries during WW II. The Armenian butchers accomplished their given grisly task with relish and gusto.
And when are the Armenians going to recognize, acknowledge and pay reparations for the participation of French Armenians in France's genocide of Algerians, 1954-1962. Some of the Algerian victims are still alive today, albeit maimed and disfigured due to torture at the hands of the French and French ARMENIANS!
On the one hand, Armenians,
Thu, 04/15/2010 - 18:02 — Jake Threefeathers (not verified)On the one hand, Armenians, the "eternal victims", decry Armenian "genocide denial". With the other hand, Armenia's state university bestows an honorary degree to the most famous Holocaust denier, Pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran.
Anyone see what's wrong with that picture?
After Reading Mr. Boyajian's
Sun, 04/18/2010 - 21:00 — Andrew Kevorkian (not verified)After Reading Mr. Boyajian's report, I had intended writing a simple "Thank you" for a concise recital of the facts regarding the Armenian Genocide and the approach to it by both the American Government and the American Media.
Then, I decided to read the comments.
Why is that those who object to the recital of historic truths and the facts make no attempt at rebuttal with facts and the truth? Why is it that they attack Mr. Boyajian and make wild, unfounded statements? Is it because they know that they are have no grounds for their wild statements and feel that by attacking the messenger they are refuting his message?
Although Mr.Boyjian was not repeating the facts of the Genocide of 1915 and years immediate following, but had confined his remarks to the situation of present-day America, his attackers were trying to deny the history of the past.
There was no Civil War in Ottoman Turkey during World War 1.
By laws passed in 1912 through 1914, all Armenians were disarmed. There are recorded instances of Armenians buying arms from the Turks to turn in to the Turks the arms they bought in order to show that they had no arms! How, then, could an unarmed people kill "innocent" Turks?
But, enough. Allow me to get back to my original intent.
Bravo, Mr, Boyajian for your concise report on the short-comings of the media.
Is there hatred in the story
Mon, 04/19/2010 - 18:19 — Zareh (not verified)Is there hatred in the story of Armenian-Turkish relations? Absolutely. Armenians condemn the diabolical act of committing a genocide against their own peaceful Armenian citizens, they also hate the policy of denial of the Turkish government.
However, Turks today harbour a more deeply rooted hatred towards the Armenians. The manifestation of this hatred comes in many forms; by killing (Hrant Dink, the editor of an Armenian-Turkish newspaper), bombing (The Belge publishing company, that dared to publish in Turkey books on the Armenian Genocide)or, more racist attitude, by dehumanization. This is the reality today in Turkey. In order to discredit the President in Turkey, an opposition member of the Turkish parliament accuses him of having "Armenian roots", what is more insidious is the fact that the President sues the opposition member for insulting him by such accusation.
So much for a portrayal of institutionalized racist hatred in Turkey. Reading the commentaries posted here by Turkish contributors leaves no doubt the length some Turks go to affirm a racist anti-Armenian hatred they so deeply espouse.