"Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?" said Adolf Hitler, before ordering storm troopers to kill men, women and children in Poland so Germany could have Lebensraum, or living space.
Darfur cases keep repeating.
Why deny this?
2007-10-11 18:16:07 · 5 answers · asked by sam-daddy 3 in News & Events ➔ Current Events
The genocide in Armenia is too much the original sin of the Turkish Republic (even if it was done by the Ottoman Empire). It would challenge too much of Turkey's self-image to admit it.
It is similar in that way to many of the Japanese atrocities in World War II (which are ignored in Japanese history texts) and slavery in the United States.
2007-10-11 18:33:57 · answer #1 · answered by Tmess2 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Many say the USA actions against the Indians were genocide (even though the evidence shows the opposite was true) and the same is said about our treatment of the Mormons. We disagree because to be official genocide, there has to be organization and direction from the country in question with the intent of totally annihilating a culture. There are many factors that go into it like being shot at, revolt, heightened emotions due to atrocities, civilian actions, etc. The reason that Turkey denies it is because that the government did not have the power to organize a campaign as it was dying and the killings resulted in the lack of government, not by their direction. It was a spontaneous killing - genocide yes - but not directed by the Turkish government and likely to have been stopped if the government had any say in the matter. Hitler also said the Aryans were the master race as well as many other deluded ideas. There is no connection. Different time; different people; different reasons.
Bottom line: who cares, it happened a hundred years ago! Let it rest and stop annoying one of the few friends the USA has in the Muslim world.
2007-10-12 02:12:07 · answer #2 · answered by Caninelegion 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Turkey denies the Armenian Genocide because it knows that admitting its guilt would be the end of Turkey as we know it. The modern day Republic of Turkey was built on the devastation, rape, and pillage of the Armenian people who lived on the lands that are now "Eastern Turkey" for thousands of years. Up until the Armenian Genocide, the Armenians were more wealthy, more educated, and more cultured than the vast majority of Turks living in the Ottoman Empire. The Genocide and the looting of Armenian assets served as the foundation of the modern Turkish republic. Turkey knows well that the Armenians must be paid reparations for their losses in the event that Turkey is forced to recognize the Genocide. Now imagine this: today, someone gets killed and quite often the guilty party is forced to pay a monetary compensation to the victim's family. Even if that monetary compensation is small, say $10,000, image that multiplied by over a million. Turkey would have to pay billions of dollars in compensation for the the property owned by the Armenians that were murdered and pillaged.
2007-10-15 03:09:51 · answer #3 · answered by Ghost of Erzurum 1 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It makes them look bad... And People with a Guilty Conscience- don't like to be reminded... But they SHOULD be... -Because Guilt never dies...-no matter how much time passes...
2007-10-12 02:11:56 · answer #4 · answered by Joseph, II 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because they are not an honest people
2007-10-12 02:21:44 · answer #5 · answered by brainstorm 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋