Smyrna 1922: The Destruction of a City (Anniversary of the forgotten genocide)

christianity-books.com ^ | Marjorie Housepian Dobkin

[Dave S]

Well, what do you figure is a reasonable time to forget that and grow up.

Anyone involved in the atrocity is more than a hundred years old. It's doubtful any of them are alive. There is plenty today to be worried about rather than holding grudges from before you were born. It's like the Ireland and Great Britain, the Palestinians and the Israelis, Serbs and Kosovian arabs. Blood lust that moves from generation to generation. Definitely not very Christian.

[Destro]

This is today's news:

http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/news/231348.asp?cp1=1

"August 30 marks the day Turkish troops, under Mustafa Kemal entered the western Aegean city of Smyrna, modern day Izmir in 1922. The day, which also serves to commemorate the Turkish Armed Forces will begin with a ceremony at the tomb of Mustafa Kemal, who later founded the modern Turkish Republic and assumed the title Atatürk - Father of the Turks"

[a_Turk]

August 30, 1922. The day the 3 year occupation of Western Turkey by Greek forces ended..

Long live August 30, 1922.

[Dave S]

September 11, 2001 happened less than two years ago and some people seem to have forgotten.

Turkey is our NATO ally in case you have forgotten. I dont hold any grudges against the Turks. Any attrocities committed were done by people long dead. And why do I need to remember September 11 in relation to the Turks? Not one of the 19 was a Turk. Turkey has a secular government, not an Islamic Theocracy like Iran.

[Admin Moderator]

Use original titles only please.

[going hot]

my grandmother related to me how the turks would place the infant on the mother's lap, then cut the head of the infant off, just to make the mother suffer more, then bayonet the mother.

My mother and father related similar stories to me. I am an immigrant, born in the middle east, because my grandmother and grandfather survived the march through the syrian deserts. I have turkish friends, as well as muslim brothers. I myself am an armenian. However, I will not stand a turk, or a muslim, or anyone else for that matter, that gloats over the atrocities perpetrated by them or their ancestors.

I have, and will continue to smack the $hit out of them, and yes, do jail time, should I catch one doing so. I will not tolerate the celebration of atrocity, and the grinding of fellow man into the dirt with bootheels. If that makes me a juvenile, so be it. I will go to my grave believing this, and hope to teach my offspring, and all those around me, atrocities visited on civilians by murderous heathens, be it the turks to the armenians, the germans to the jews, or the muslims to the twin WTC, simply should not be, and will not be, tolerated.

But you did not answer my question,...how long before you forget and forgive the WTC attack?

[boycott]

Turkey is our NATO ally in case you have forgotten. I dont hold any grudges against the Turks. Any attrocities committed were done by people long dead. And why do I need to remember September 11 in relation to the Turks? Not one of the 19 was a Turk. Turkey has a secular government, not an Islamic Theocracy like Iran.

You're missing the point. It's ISLAM.

[Destro]

There are no "originals"--this is a compliation.

[Dave S]

But you did not answer my question,...how long before you forget and forgive the WTC attack?

Ill ask you a question first. Who am I supposed to hate? Al Qaeda and their supporters, yes. Every Muslim in the World? No way.

Forget, probably not in my lifetime but I dont have to hate every Muslim because of the actions of few nuts. My dad was wounded three times by the Germans in WWII but he doesnt have any animus towards his former foe. I get the distinct impression that you Greeks and Armenians would do to the Turks exactly what they did to your relatives if you could get away with it.

[Dave S]

You're missing the point. It's ISLAM

So the Armenians and Greeks ought to get a little payback. Maybe kill 50,000 to settle the score?

[a_Turk]

I've got lots of Armenian friends in Turkey.

I suppose the most important thing to remember is that two wrongs never make a right..

So keeping that in mind, let me ask you: Did anyone ever tell you of any atrocities committed by Greeks or Armenians? Not that I feel that it would excuse or pardon anything or anyone, just curious..

There were fundamentalists marching in Izmir about six years ago when I was there. A young girl stood in their way and held up a picture of Ataturk. It turned out later that the girl was a Turkish Christian.

Many Armenians I met in the USA fear that they would be harassed if they were to ever go to Turkey. This is just not the case. Like I had mentioned, I have a lot of Armenian friends in Turkey.

And Eastern Turkey is still to some degree a lawless place. Sort of like the wild west..

[Lion in Winter]

You are right....MUSLIMS are definitely NOT VERY CHRISTIAN!!

Those turks were bloody MURDEROUS muslims monsters.

Take off, get outta here.

[boycott]

So the Armenians and Greeks ought to get a little payback. Maybe kill 50,000 to settle the score?

Works for me. :>) Well, I guess you're right. We shouldn't worry about Islamic radicals. They'd never be a threat to us.

[Lion in Winter]

Turkey really helped us out in the Iraq war didn't they....NOT!!

[a_Turk]

>> You are right....MUSLIMS are definitely NOT VERY CHRISTIAN!!

Very true.

Like when we gave all those Jews of the Sepharadim refuge from the Christians in 1492..

Or the way we snatched over a hundred thousand Jews from Hitler's clutches.

Or the way we gave the Ashkenazi passage to Palestine against the wishes of the Brits..

We also didn't have Popes who had sex with their own daughters (!)

Now you take off. You get outta here..

[Dave S]

No, I obviously meant some of you Armenians and Greeks are not very Christian. If I offend you then go back to Armenia.

[FormerLib]

Oh, I'm sorry sorry! I didn't realize that justice had to adapt to your timetable!

[FormerLib]

Any attrocities committed were done by people long dead.

The denials are being committed by people still alive. Get the picture yet?

[going hot]

Forget, probably not in my lifetime but I dont have to hate every Muslim because of the actions of few nuts.

Fair enough, not in your lifetime.
So...what if it was not a few nuts, but rather the whole of a particular state, a government, from the top down, ordered by the head MFWIC, and carried out by the officers down to the lowest private, with glee? And even if you still did not see it in your heart to hate, would you deem it prudent to pass the information, nay, the outrageousnes of the act... to your offspring? What would the limit of your memory be then?

[pepsionice]

I think the fascinating thing about the entire story...is that Attiturk was busy killing various groups in Turkey...and you could probably tally up over 3 or 4 million victums during his reign. Yet, the Turks of today reguard him as the 'George Washington' of their country. Most university students in Turkey have no idea of the Smyrna episode...its not a topic for any history professor within the country to talk about. I would prefer to keep Attiturk in the category of Pol Pot or Adi Amin or Saddam...which I know will infurate any normal Turk.

It would be nice if someone could put up a web site, which featured all of the acts of Attiturk. I'm sure we are simply digging at the surface only...and this gentleman probably has more blood on his hands than we realize. This is another reason to keep Turkey at a arms length.