The Turkish government does not mourn the Allied dead any more than it cares about the victims of its genocides.
April 25 will mark 100 years since the Allies—the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and France—made their ill-fated landing on Turkey’s Gallipoli peninsula during WWI. Having barely gotten off the beaches after months of fighting, the Allies withdrew in defeat, leaving over 44,000 dead and 97,000 wounded.
As in recent years, thousands will flock from the Allied countries and elsewhere to Gallipoli for the Turkish-led April 24-25 commemorations. Numerous world dignitaries, including Australia’s and New Zealand’s prime ministers and Prince Charles, will also attend.
In April, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand hold Gallipoli remembrances on their own soil and elsewhere. And throughout the year, their citizens visit Gallipoli to pay tribute to the UK’s 21,000, Australia and New Zealand’s 11,000, and France’s 10,000 dead. This is proper and honorable.
However, thronging to April’s sham commemoration staged in and by Turkey, a notorious human rights violator? Which had mistreated Allied POWs? Which today abuses its remaining Christians, as well as Alevis, Kurds, and Jews? Which also committed genocide and pillage against millions of indigenous Christian Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek civilians during the Gallipoli battle and for years afterward? And which arrogantly denies having done so?
The UK, Australia, and New Zealand themselves have made the Gallipoli ceremonies in Turkey something less than solemn. Smiling lottery winners receive tickets to the event. Youngsters vie to become Gallipoli “youth ambassadors” and win all-expense paid trips. Is Gallipoli the resting place of valorous Allied troops—or Disneyworld Turkey?
Turkey’s Gallipoli Charade
Westerners often do not understand Turkey. The Turkish government does not mourn the Allied dead any more than it cares about the victims of its genocides and the deliberately unmarked, mass graves in which they lie.
Turkey enjoys the spectacle of defeated foreigners trudging to Gallipoli. Indeed, Turkey holds a huge Gallipoli celebration the month before. This year, it displayed a victory banner 1915 meters long. Meanwhile, Turkey’s Defense Ministry has reportedly removed the names of non-Muslims from the list of its soldiers who died at Gallipoli.
2015’s Gallipoli attendees can anticipate a lecture by Turkey’s egomaniacal President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He just built himself a gaudy 1100-room palace for a reported $615 million. In 2013, Erdoğan killed demonstrators in Gezi Square who were protesting his authoritarian rule, and regularly sues and jails journalists.
Genocide and Denial
The Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek genocides in Turkey were reported extensively at the time in Allied countries’ newspapers. France, Great Britain, and Russia issued Turkey this famous warning in May 1915: “The Allied governments … will hold personally responsible … all members of the Ottoman [Turkish] government and those of their agents who are implicated in such massacres.” Australian and New Zealand (Anzac) POWs, such as Captain Thomas Walter White, witnessed and later wrote about the genocides.
Winston Churchill termed them a “holocaust.” “Race extermination,” declared U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Henry Morgenthau in 1915. It was that extermination which first motivated Raphael Lemkin, the Polish Jewish lawyer who later coined the word “genocide.”
The parliaments of the European Union, Canada, France, Lebanon, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, and many others, as well as a U.N. sub-commission, the Vatican, and the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), have recognized the Armenian genocide. IAGS has also recognized the Assyrian and Greek genocides. In 1951, the U.S. referred to the Armenian “genocide” in a filing with the International Court of Justice (World Court).
But the governments of the UK (except for Scotland and Wales), Australia (except for New South Wales and South Australia), and New Zealand refuse to acknowledge these genocides. They fear Turkey’s reaction. Contrast their gutlessness with the courage of Allied soldiers at Gallipoli.
By ignoring the Armenian genocide, New Zealand and Australia are “tacitly complicit in” genocide denial, says New Zealand writer and businessman Stephen Keys. “Is [Turkey] the sort of government we as New Zealanders are proud to stand alongside on April 25, 2015?” Officially, 2015 is “The Year of Turkey in Australia.” A more apt name: “The Year of Turkish and Australian Genocide Denials.”
France, on the other hand, has acknowledged the Armenian genocide despite Turkish threats. A large French delegation headed by President Hollande will be in Armenia on April 24 for the Genocide Centenary. On that day in 1915, Turkey arrested and murdered hundreds of Armenian intellectuals, doctors, priests, writers, and other community leaders as part of the genocide.
Turkish Bullies
Turkey enjoys bullying others over Gallipoli. Five years ago, it initially refused to issue visas to Australian and New Zealand archeologists who were to map Gallipoli’s battlefields. Turkey was angry that Bonnyrigg, a Sydney suburb, had allowed construction of a monument commemorating the Christian Assyrian genocide.
Two years back, Turkey threatened to ban New South Wales MPs from Gallipoli because NSW had recognized the Armenian genocide.
Afraid of further incurring Turkey’s wrath, earlier this year NSW installed—surreptitiously—a plaque in Sydney’s Hyde Park honoring the Turkish hero of Gallipoli, and later president, Kemal Atatürk. The plaque’s fine words, allegedly penned by him, are undoubtedly insincere and perhaps inauthentic. Moreover, this “hero” continued the evil deeds of his predecessors.
Ataturk, Genocide, and Hitler
Atatürk welcomed veteran genocidists, such as Abdülhalik Renda and Şükrü Kaya, into his new government. From 1919 to 1923, Atatürk’s forces murdered and expelled Christians who had survived the genocides.
In 1937, Atatürk directed the slaughter, sometimes using poison gas, of thousands of Alevi Kurdish civilians, including women and children, in the Dersim region. Among the victims were Armenians who had found shelter there.
Hitler admired Atatürk’s brutality. Atatürk was “the greatest man of the century,” the Führer told Turkey’s Milliyet newspaper in 1933, and “Turkey was our role model.” Indeed, in WWI, some German officers took part in the Armenian genocide.
Visitors to Gallipoli will bow before Atatürk’s statue unaware of his appalling record.
The Dead Speak
The Allies fought WWI gallantly. Armenians from many countries were among them. Armenians even formed a special French Foreign Legion unit that fought with particular distinction. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians also served in Allied armies in WWII, while Turkey remained neutral and cozied up to Nazi Germany.
Beneath Gallipoli’s shores and hills, the courageous Allied dead surely whisper, ‘Please, honor our memories by going elsewhere in April, and shun Turkey’s victory dance on our graves and those of millions of Christian innocents.’
Excellent article. we will never forget the Armenian Genocide!
and no one reads it from 2 comments LOL
Well done!
Yerevan, Armenia
You are right Turks do not care Murderous Arkmenians killed 1000’s of Turks, they got what they deserved, Imagine Mexicans in California started to kill Americans, I assure you there will be no 9 million Mexicans left , and they all be deported and killed even today, so blaME YOUR OWN MURDEROUS GRANDFATHERS they stated to fight , and They lost, stop crying, and wishing for money form Turks, you will never get it, your country is a Russian criminal sattlite runned by 5 organized crime bosses, pay attention to that
You are a Turk, so you are wrong. You are a liar. You are living in someone else’s lands. You aren’t Marcus. “Marcus” would be a complement for you, Turk.
i am married to one, and know what they did to grandfathers here while all the Turks in Gallipoli 1915 fighting the British Empire with French l may add, and some Arkmenians joined in the other side,they try to take the land, I like to see you come and claim it, this time there will not be 1 mil survived as I know Turkish arm forces as l do contracts with them, with Azeri the other side even Russia can not save you, you coward, just in 1990 you massacred 1000,s of Azeri people just like you did the Turks 1915, no wonder why they call you guys like Serbians genocidial race, Turks did a good job, missed a few you came to my country now polluting it here, I have friends in LAPD, they tell me all the crimes going on in Glendale, and l remember billions arkmenians stole from medicare, and identity theft, car theft, date raping American Girls with drugs, Glendale courts full of your criminal race, trying to obtain face documents from your consul general for cash for the criminal armenians to get a visa. yeah, show is over until the next year you pollute the streets again, and no one cares, matter fact they resent you doing this in America, go read the comments what they say, most says to bad Turks missed a few, they all know you and your reputation in America, do not worry,why do you think LAPD do not hire Arkmenians police officers?? ask them. get loost gorilla. are you not suppose to but electric shaver for you women to shave??.
Only an idiot will believe a word of the gibberish you wrote. And this (woman?) you are married to, did (s)he teach you the Turk’s oath? I know, I know, you are a Turk youtself, so (s)he doesn’t need to teach you. That’s why you just read that stupid oath every morning for your entire lives (like, ‘I’m a Turk, I’m right’), and you believe it, and then you just LIE outrageously. Because you, idiots, think that being right is a consequence of being a Turk… You say LAPD don’t hire Armenians? C’mon, there are lots of Armenians at LAPD, and LAPD will definitely not hire you, or your friend (who doesn’t exist, none of you liars are anywhere near LA, anyway). You, Turk, better go and learn some elementary manners before commenting here.
Turks do not care, they can shout as loud as they want, Turks know Arkmenians were the ones should blame their grandfathers for taking up arms and killing all weak left behind while all Strong Turkish man as young as 16 was in Gallipoli fighting British Empire France Greek, Italians and Russians. Britain wanted to open the channels to send arms to Russia open a front for Germany in the east, there are archives Russian general asking 25,000 Guns and million bullets to hand it over the Arkmenian terrorist, they killed 520,000 Turkish civilians burt them alive, some they digged unborn children from mothers, imagine Mexicans taking arms from Russia started to kill Americans in California wants to reclaim it while American soldiers even strong civilians in front fighting the enemy, opening a new front worse kind WITH IN and when American soldiers return home finding their entire families are murdered by these thought friends, what do you think Americans would do to Mexicans? Arkmenians got killed when they were caught bloody red handed killing Turks, and they got what they deserve, they are lucky Ottoman Government asked them to move not be able to grantte their safety, total number of Arkmenins was 1,2 mill one Million was deported, so 200 Thousand was killed or died from cold or hot, so that number is a false like everything else about this is false, most pictures displayed are not Arkmenins, 38 Million died WW1, those pictures can be anyones, no bones ever discovered that large scale, matter fact Arkmeinas never take this issue to International courts knowing they will loose with the evidence they have, it is not like Holocaust was proven in courts,and never let Historians study the evidence they won’t open the archives to be studied . this is been used by the west under the cross as a irritation for the Turks, if it was Muslims killed which was they care less. hypocrisy of some of these western countries and people are shameful, as long as Cross doing the killing hey no problem even today Arkmenians want Turks to pay up, it is not about the word so Called Genocide they want money, I suggest to go back defouding American social programs such as Medicare(Google it “Armenian gang defrauding Medicare) and Arkmenian Los Angeles consul General went to Jail for selling fake documents to them to obtain American Visa mostly criminal from Arkmenia , Ask LAPD why they never hire Arkmenian police officer in Gelndale area, they join in the crimes that is why, Glendale is a cess pool of crimes from Identity theft to car theft, insurance fraud, date rape American girls after drugging them, you can go check all these I am saying and all true,. Arkmenia is a Russian sattlite hosting Russian Bases to attack a NATO country as Turkey, whole country managed by 5 organized crime families, not only that they massacred 1000’s of Azeri people just 15 years ago and occupying Azerbaijanis land against the wishes of UN. so they can yell scream all they want ,Turks will never accept this and never pay the money they dreaming of, any leader in Turkey if they buckle up this pressure to try to sattle they will be over thrown by the Turkish people. Good luck arkmenians , keep holding on to unity by only one common de nominator, Hatred of Turks and you all be drown in your own hatred, have a nice life yeah if you can
More Turkish gibberish that no one believes. Where did I say I hated Turks? I don’t hate them, they don’t deserve my hatred.
yeah gibberish. ?? LOL. l think l covered it pretty good there, there are more but het Americans know whom you are, those marches you do in LA, thank you for the advertisement more and more people visiting Turkey, since they hate you they feel more close to Turks, they go home look up the Google the maps and pictures and they take the first flight to Istanbul. frigging peasants
LAPD do not hire any Arkmenians in Glendale. dork
Then why do they speak Armenian and have Armenian names? Your are a Tork, so you can’t be trusted. Do you know what Tork means? It’s ‘Turk’ in Armenian. Do you know the origin of ‘Tork’? It’s ‘tryk’ or ‘tirk’, depending on what dialect is being used. Do you know what ‘tirk’ means? It’s what becomes of cow (or bull) excreta after it dries. When your nomadic ancestors followed their cattle into other peoples’ lands, then were mostly cattle breeders who lived in tribal tents (or ‘yurts’). They collected ‘tirk’, and used it for fuel. You have no idea of what’s happening in Glendale. You have no right to even type or utter the word. Stay in your Torkey or Axer-bye-jan. Go think about your behavior, Tork.
Than they seen your caw sss and f+ked you real godd did nt they, now that pain in your sss was so bad having that huge Turkish Ckc up there you are still crying for that pain,
funny thing, Arkmenian still using the caw sht for making homes and cooking, have you looked at your country lately? I would say 4th world Russian slave, one country it is population is decreasing, fat ass hollywood whore sluts family called Kardashians is the most shohisticated arkmenians this world ever seen, so you go figure
Armenians have always built their homes from stone. The funny thing is that Torks don’t even have the word for “build” in their language. They are nomads, so they never “built” their homes, they had to sew their tribal tents (“yurts”) instead. Likewise, Turks don’t have a word for “motherland” (they have a phrase like “my mom’s yurt”, and are using an Arab borrowing for Motherland). For Turks, it never existed as a concept: If there was a problem, they would pack up and go elsewhere.
Turks do not care, they can shout as loud as they want, Turks know Arkmenians were the ones should blame their grandfathers for taking up arms and killing all weak left behind while all Strong Turkish man as young as 16 was in Gallipoli fighting British Empire France Greek, Italians and Russians. Britain wanted to open the channels to send arms to Russia open a front for Germany in the east, there are archives Russian general asking 25,000 Guns and million bullets to hand it over the Arkmenian terrorist, they killed 520,000 Turkish civilians burt them alive, some they digged unborn children from mothers, imagine Mexicans taking arms from Russia started to kill Americans in California wants to reclaim it while American soldiers even strong civilians in front fighting the enemy, opening a new front worse kind WITH IN and when American soldiers return home finding their entire families are murdered by these thought friends, what do you think Americans would do to Mexicans? Arkmenians got killed when they were caught bloody red handed killing Turks, and they got what they deserve, they are lucky Ottoman Government asked them to move not be able to grantte their safety, total number of Arkmenins was 1,2 mill one Million was deported, so 200 Thousand was killed or died from cold or hot, so that number is a false like everything else about this is false, most pictures displayed are not Arkmenins, 38 Million died WW1, those pictures can be anyones, no bones ever discovered that large scale, matter fact Arkmeinas never take this issue to International courts knowing they will loose with the evidence they have, it is not like Holocaust was proven in courts,and never let Historians study the evidence they won’t open the archives to be studied . this is been used by the west under the cross as a irritation for the Turks, if it was Muslims killed which was they care less. hypocrisy of some of these western countries and people are shameful, as long as Cross doing the killing hey no problem even today Arkmenians want Turks to pay up, it is not about the word so Called Genocide they want money, I suggest to go back defouding American social programs such as Medicare(Google it “Armenian gang defrauding Medicare) and Arkmenian Los Angeles consul General went to Jail for selling fake documents to them to obtain American Visa mostly criminal from Arkmenia , Ask LAPD why they never hire Arkmenian police officer in Gelndale area, they join in the crimes that is why, Glendale is a cess pool of crimes from Identity theft to car theft, insurance fraud, date rape American girls after drugging them, you can go check all these I am saying and all true,. Arkmenia is a Russian sattlite hosting Russian Bases to attack a NATO country as Turkey, whole country managed by 5 organized crime families, not only that they massacred 1000’s of Azeri people just 15 years ago and occupying Azerbaijanis land against the wishes of UN. so they can yell scream all they want ,Turks will never accept this and never pay the money they dreaming of, any leader in Turkey if they buckle up this pressure to try to sattle they will be over thrown by the Turkish people. Good luck arkmenians , keep holding on to unity by only one common de nominator, Hatred of Turks and you all be drown in your own hatred, have a nice life yeah if you can.. it is a LIE and LIE and LIE,
All this is correct. However, incredibly –for people who aren’t familiar with Turkey– today’s situation marks a definite improvement compared to the recent past. For all the crazy nationalist rhetoric by the Erdogan government, it has definitely improved upon the iron fist of the Kemalist military dictatorship that reigned on the land since 1924. In fact, since 1908, way before even the birth of the Turkish Republic! The Erdogan government has brought definite improvements in the communal life of the ethnic and religious minorities, Kurds, Armenians, Greeks, Circassians, Assyrians, Laz, you name it, reintroducing the freedom to use their language, publish, teach, commemorate etc. Not an unrestricted freedom, of course. Not really something spontaneously originated by the Erdogan government either, but a result of the incredible sacrifice of the Kurds of Turkey, who lost over 35,000 people during their armed resistance of the last 30 years or so. Erdogan may want to take back all these rights, perhaps even kiss and make up with Turkey’s army-party, allied to the official Nazis, but as long as the Kurdish opposition is alive and well (and armed) the situation will be definitely better for the minorities.
You talk like a loser. Still haven’t grasped it. Fought for land, but failed. What christians did in the Balkan wars they couldn’t repeat in Anatolia.
To disguise this failure, a genocide accusation is constructed.