My mother was told as a small girl, “Eat your dinner. Think of all the starving Armenians.”
The terrible events of 1915 made that big an impact in America, even during the competing drama of World War I—the war that precipitated so much of the madness of the 20th century in Germany and Russia and even now infects the Middle East.
It is appalling, however, that this history of 93 years ago should be exploited for political advantage in the U.S. Congress. It is not just stupid, it is hypocritical. Why, for example, would prominent members of Congress who present themselves as passionate defenders of Israel, want to hurt both the United States and Israel by alienating Turkey, one of the few friends Israel, as well as the U.S., has in the Muslim world?
To compare the Armenian genocide with the Nazi genocide of the Jews doesn’t really provide an explanation. This happened so long ago that there is no one alive who could have been remotely guilty of the crimes involved. There barely is anyone still alive who suffered the persecution then. And there are many current crimes being committed where the guilty are around and prominent and certainly unrepentant, starting with Al Qaeda and other terrorists and terror sponsors. Why do Congressman who press the grievances of a former century happen to be among the same ones who downplay the crimes against humanity in our own time? The Armenians were (and are) Christians. But there is hideous persecution of Christians going on in many lands right now. Why so little interest in them? The topic barely makes the news.
That is what is hypocritical: seeking satisfaction against one generation in Turkey for crimes of their ancestors, while ignoring the crimes taking place before your own eyes!
(Read Mustafa Akyol's fine article on the topic here:
Click here to read Mustafa Akyol's article "An Open Letter to the Aremenian Diaspora" in today's Turkish Daily News.