Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story is free online at Google Books. I recommend it to all.
Morgenthau was there, he described it as deliberate race extermination. He and many thousands of other people with no reason to spread “disinformation.”
The Turkish authorities went about it systematically, first removing the weapons, then the men, then the helpless and defenseless women, children, elderly. They were hanged, raped, slaughtered, marched to death, tortured unspeakably, starved, and drowned in the Black Sea.
There is no plausible or defensible denial of this history. There is no excuse or justification or mitigating circumstances.
Yes, I have read Morgenthau including old newspaper reports from there. No one denies the horror. He is the one that reported the Kurds involvement once the Armenians were forced into what is now northern Iraq IIRC.
The modern secular country of the Republic of Turkey recognizes the horror from what I have read.. the issue is "genocide" and the purpose that word serves.. plus the refusal to recognized the hundreds of thousands of Turkish civilians murdered by Russians, Armenian military, et al during the war. Not the same as the violations of legal Armenian citizens by the Ottoman Empire but dead nevertheless.
I have an interest in this because routinely our government is asked to participate in this matter. Washington, et al are asked to condemn the modern secular Republic of Turkey for the benefit of today's Armenia. This is more than about the crimes from 100 years ago.
We have enough problems. IMO the issue appears to be the word genocide. The two countries are neighbors. They should be dealing with each other directly.
Plus I worked with a number of Turks, lived in Ankara for a time, and I have great respect for the Turkish people.
Our own Ambassador Morgenthau in those years reported the atrocities of the Ottomans against Armenian civilians living in Turkey. There is no doubt about that.
I believe that modern Turkey recognizes the horrific deaths -- and asks about recognizing Turk civilians killed in that W.W.I Ottoman Empire vs. Russian Empire (that included Armenia I believe) conflict as well as post-war conflicts.
According to a wiki source Armenian genocide deaths totaled 600,000 - 1,800,000.
Effect of World War I on Each Country
According to this source the Ottoman Empire Casualties from those years included 4,200,000 civilians.
Total Deaths: 5,000,000 (Rank = 1 / 16)
Total Deaths % of pop.: 23.5% (Rank = 1 / 16)
Troops: 2,850,000 (Rank = 8 / 16)
Troops % of pop.: 13.4% (Rank = 8 / 16)
Military Deaths: 800,000 (Rank = 6 / 16)
Military Deaths % of Troops: 28.1% (Rank = 3 / 16)
Civilian Deaths: 4,200,000 (Rank = 1 / 16)
Civilian Deaths % of pop.: 19.7% (Rank = 1 / 16)
I believe that the modern Republic of Turkey acknowledges the horrific death toll and the roll of the Ottoman Empire but they object to labeling it genocide. That word is factor for reasons mentioned in a link below.
There are those other 2+ million. The Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire that included Armenia were at war. Are those two million the Turkish civilians killed by Russian Empire troops in the fighting? And the fighting after both the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire collapsed but fighting continued between Turks and Armenians?
This is no attempt to mitigate the horror. Even the modern constitutional democratic Republic of Turkey has admitted the horror. But calling it genocide? Again.. here's something on that.
Labeling the atrocities genocide appears to be an attempt to assist in getting resolutions from our government and countries around the world that will bolster Armenia's case against modern Turkey to reclaim land and other assets lost 100 years ago.
[Excerpt ]"The real purpose of the resolution is not recognition of the Armenian Genocide, but a political struggle – the issue of which side has a larger political capital in Washington. . . . [T]he admission of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey is an issue of secondary importance for us. . . . our lands were seized and our 3,000-year-old culture was destroyed. . . . Therefore, our true demand is compensation for this injustice. . . . Now specialists must study the lawyers’ advice and decide which issue should be submitted to which court, as there is the International Court of Justice, European Court of Human Rights, US Federal Courts, etc. This is a most important issue. It must be studied with all seriousness, because, if we lose in court, Turkey will claim that Armenians have no legal demands."
Why don't the Armenians go after the Germans and the Kurds? What about the atrocities committed by the Bolsheviks when they captured Armenia and made it into a "republic" of the U.S.S.R.?
Very important..when using wiki graffiti as a reference be aware that it is constantly being changed; for example my first reference to wiki contains this: This page was last modified on 18 September 2013 at 01:49. My reference to it is what it contained months ago.