Wednesday, April 19, 2006
GENOCIDE
My grandmother (Auntie Gram) is Armenian, and her mother (we'll call her GG for great grandmother) came to the US from Armenia many years ago after the the Armenian genocide in 1915 perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks. GG passed away a few years ago, and I vividly remember her decline.
She would often scream out for my Auntie Gram because she had flashbacks to the war...and she always sounded terrified. GG had knife scars in her back from the Turk brutality and family members and friends were taken and killed. She never talked about the war, although we all knew it had happened. In fact, many older Armenians do not speak about it. To them, it is still fresh in their mind.
I was young at the time and I didn't know anything about genocide or the war, or really about what GG had been through, or how the effects of that genocide continue to haunt people today. I am also embarrassed to admit that it was never taught in any of my history classes. I know much about the Holocaust, but I know very little about a genocide that directly affected my family.
My Auntie Gram told me about a program on PBS last night on the genocide. I watched it and cried through the entire thing. People in my family had been through this. It was shocking. There were mass exterminations, rapes, and brutality. Like the Jews in the holocaust, Armenians were often rounded up like cattle and put on a train. They were told they were being deported to other cities, when in fact they were being taken to be executed. To add to this cruelty, they were made to pay for their own train tickets. Young girls were forced to be part of Harems, young children were raped. All told, over 1.5 million Armenians were killed.
To this day, the Turkish government refuses to acknowledge that it was genocide. They do acknowledge the death toll, but insist the deaths were due to inter-ethnic strife, disease and famine due to World War I. In the program, they interviewed many Turkish people, all of whom have been expressedly told and taught that this genocide never happened and denied it's legitimacy. Some Turks who spoke out about the genocide were attacked: bombing of their houses, taken to court, fires, etc. And those are recent attacks. To this day, the Turkish government keeps strict watch over what people say and do about that period of history.
Twenty-four countries officially acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. Still, Turkey takes no steps to heal with the Armenian people. How can a whole group of people heal when the slaughtering deaths of their family and friends goes unacknowledged? What's fascinating to me is that even in THIS country, their pain and suffering continues to go unacknowledged. This is a huge portion of history missing from our education. Why is it not discussed? Why do a large number of students know very little about this?
I spoke to my Auntie Gram today about the program and she was very emotional. She told me more stories about her parents and also some of the people in her church who were affected by the genocide. It's heartbreaking. To hear her talk about it is heartbreaking. And to know that 90 years later Turkey still denies the genocide accusation is atrocious. The Armenians deserve acknowledgement. There can never be open relations between Turkey and Armenia and open borders between the two countries until the genocide is fully recognized.
April 24th marks the day of the massacres began, and it is commemorated worldwide each year as the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Many Armenians will gather at the state house here in Boston for speeches, performances, and general recognition. As my Auntie Gram says, it's a small step towards recognition and healing.
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There is no longer a country known as Armenia.
Map of present day Armenia:
http://www.thegutsygourmet.net/asiaminor.gif
Asia minor, look between Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.
Good to check facts, no? :)
Armenia;
Population:
2,976,372 (July 2006 est.)
But of course, beyond the FACTS and instead TO THE POINT, how about a valid response(read: conscience) as regards the CONTENT rather than bitchy, offpoint nit-picking? Oh yeah, that would require a having a SOUL that respects FEELINGS instead of a festering blackhole.