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20150120

The Armenian Genocide as Propaganda (satire)

Armenians inside Turkey have a different opinion on the Armenian Genocide propaganda that the Republic of Armenia PM Kocharian stated in 1998, who said: "The Armenians will never forget the genocide and always try to remind the rest of the world of this tragedy ... The Genocide remains unpunished and the international recognition and reproach are inadequate and insufficient”.

To this, Dikran Kevorkian, Kandilli Armenian Church Pastor, said the following on 7th October 2000 in a television programme named “Nutshell”:

'Genocide and replacement denote two different concepts. The imperialist schemes and the Armenian apolitical dream leaders (media, churches and the clergy) are the causes of this situation. The Patriarch is a spiritual leader and a blunder is committed when his opinions are sought about political matters. What could ASALA and PKK do if there were no political support behind them? There was a German pressure on the Sublime Porte for the replacement, in an attempt to shake the existing order and to secure itself economic benefits through the Berlin-Baghdad railroad.'

For the assimilation claims, Kevorkian stated the following words:
'Today, it is only in Turkey among all countries of the world that the Armenians manage to maintain their own identity. The Armenians in the Diaspora abroad continue their struggle for existence by changing their names because there are efforts there to assimilate the Armenians. The Diaspora knows very well that the Sunday rites in all major American churches are in English and the Armenians are gradually forgetting their own language. When we say these we are criticised. It is for these reasons that we, as the Armenians living in Turkey declare our regrets against these efforts, because an injustice is being committed to the concept of “National Forces” entrusted to us by Atatürk. All this is a stratagem conducted from abroad, including the ASALA, PKK and Kocharian’s declaration. We, as the citizens of Turkey believe that an injustice is perpetrated here. If Armenians are intelligent enough, they should not allow themselves to be used for the interests of others.'

In short, Kevorkian means that Kocharian's declaration is propaganda designed to make the world feel for Armenians what they felt for the Jews as their story of genocide became known in the post-war period.

Later propaganda by parties sympathetic to the Jews led to a reactionary rise of neo-Nazi sentiment that was quickly suppressed until today, where the younger generation in the West pick which side to be behind based on whether the coolness of being a Nazi or backing the underdog is important to them.

Sadly, both sides of that political battle use the either you are for me or against me fallacy to bully disinterested third parties into choosing between Nazism and Zionism.

In the case of the Armenian Genocide, it becomes a case of choosing between Armenia and Turkey with the same type of bullying of third parties.

However, that choice is also based on the same kind of fallacy.

Both sides of the Armenia versus Turkey political propaganda think of themselves as being right. The Turkish side puts up great arguments to refrain from listening to the propaganda.

So I politely refuse to endorse either side, just as I refuse to endorse either side of the Nazism versus Zionism debacle.

My reason for remaining neutral and not choose sides is because if I pick one side, then the other side might have arguments that I may not consider. I present the Turkish side because despite its propaganda (implying that support for Armenia means Turkey fall into a civil war over the Armenian Genocide), it presents a view that I have not read.

I am neutral about Nazism versus Zionism because it is a case of fascism versus reactionary socialism. Neither side is worth defending because both of them are chauvinistic, promoting their political ideology at the expense of the other side.

In both cases, the "us versus them" mentality makes me feel less inclined to pick sides. Even the propaganda from the Turkish side quoted at the beginning of this blog entry makes me wary of the political motive behind it, which was to refute the Armenian diaspora's call for justice.

Please note that I present the Turkish side not because I believe them but because out of all fairness, it needs to be examined too.


Introduction to Armenian Issue: CURRENT SITUATION: http://www.ermenisorunu.gen.tr/english/intro/current.html

Armenian Genocide: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide

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