“They killed us, that’s why we killed them.”

Following is an article by a Turkish writer questioning the logic behind Turkey's continued denial of the Ottoman empire's murders of its Christian citizens whom he identifies only as Armenians. Although the killing of the Armenians because of their greater population attracted the attention of the outside world, smaller minorities such as Assyrians and the Greek were also massacred indiscriminately at that time. Assyrians lost 2/3 of their population between 1914 to 1919 because of the Ottoman's state sponsored mass killing.

The follwoing three articles are examples of what happened to the Assyrians.

Death March --The last Assyrians in Urmia -- The Forgotten Tragedy in Helwa

“They killed us, that’s why we killed them.”

ESNA, 2007-02-01

Ahmet Altan
Source: www.gazetem.net

1915 - 2007

It seems like nothing has changed. They were murdered in 1915… They are being murdered also in 2007…

What did people use to say about the mass murder at the turn of the century?

“They killed us, that’s why we killed them.” But what should we say about the murder of Hrant?

Hrant killed us, and we have killed Hrant? That’s not what we say now, is it?

“Those who killed Hrant are traitors” we say. It is not ”us” who murdered Hrant, the murderers are not ”us”.

Why do we identify ”us” with those who ruthlessly killed all, regardless of if they were children, young, old, women or foetuses, 90 years ago, and now we claim that it wasn’t “us” who killed Hrant?

What is the difference?
The difference is that we have witnessed the murder, and we have opinions about underlying reasons and what the aim of the murder is. This time no one has “told” us, we have by ourselves witnessed the murder.

If the persons who wrote the history of what happened in 1915 would have the opportunity to write about the Hrant Dink murder, the children in this country, 50 years, would read that: "Hrant killed us therefore we killed him." The truth would have been altered by a liars.

It is not us who killed Hrant Dink.

It is most probable that those who are part of the established in the state apparatus ordered the murder of Hrant Dink.

Their objective is to turn the world opinion against Turkey, which will boost nationalism as a counter-reaction to completely break our relations with Europe.

No! Not either in 1915 did “we” kill the Armenians.

Those poor people were killed by the ”persons who had established themselves in the state apparatus”, it was the state itself that killed them.

'Ittihat Terakki', the party that was in power organized these big mass murders.

The Armenians that were killed were Ottoman citizens. They were part of the nation. A part of the nation has been annihilated by the state.

“We” are the people.

Those who were murdered were part of “us”. But every Turk who lives in this country does not see himself as a part of the “nation”, but as a part of the “State”, which is why he defends every crime and massacre that the State has commited.

We say that “they have killed and we have killed them”.

This is a lie.

The Ottoman state, which was ruled by the 'Ittihat party', [i.e. the Party of Unity] used an organization called 'Teþkilat-ý Mahsusa' (special organization) to carry out “the annihilation of a part of us” in a well planned manner.

The Armenians belonged to “us”. Therefore, it’s our obligation to demand responsibility for this crime.

”We” must turn ourselves to this state and ask: ”Are you the heir of the Ottoman state?” Why do you defend a crime that has been committed by the ottoman state, whose fall and dissolution you caused? Why don’t you demand responsibility from the state that has annihilated a part of the people/nation, but leave it to others to demand it, this we have to ask the state.

It is because ”we” have not demanded responsibility, that Hrant Dink, one of ”us”, is dead now.

Although Hrant Dink mourned his ancestors, he didn’t want to squeeze the entire debate into one single word – genocide. He wanted it to be debated on a large scale, in order to give Turkey the chance to develop against democracy and to unite with the rest of the world.

He was proclaimed as “anti-Turk”. Hrant was nobody’s enemy. He wasn’t a person that felt hatred and hostility. He was a friend.

He was a friend with everybody.

Why is everyone, who thinks ”murders and mass murders” is alright, accepted as a Turk in this country, while those who speak about friendship, peace and rule of law are declared hostile.

Why is everyone who tries to make the word ”Turk” synonymous with ”death”, being accepted as a ”Turk”? Are those those who want to stamp this entire nation as ”murderers” pro-Turkish?

The Turkish people do not understood that they are a ”nation/people”, and therefore they defend every crime, the new or the old ”state” has committed. Therefore we imply that ”we” identify ourselves with the murderers
.
For me it was very difficult and sad to include the death of hundreds of thousands of people and the bloody, brutal tragedy in only one sad word - genocide. But it is because we have not been able to get over this word, that people like Hrant Dink are being killed today.

As citizens, it is our obligation to prevent new murders and to prevent the country from ending up in a deadend. Therefore, we are obliged to come over this word - genocide.

The Ottoman state has killed several hundred thousand people only because they were ”Armenians”. The invisible forces even today killed Hrant Dink because ”he was Armenian”. How do we explain it when a human is being killed only because of his ethnicity and religion? It is our obligation as citizens to demand responsibility for the murdered people.

Hrants death has tormented us all. You would have also been tormented if you had witnessed what happened in 1915. And you would no be sauing that ”they have killed us and that’s why we have killed them”. You would have been ashamed instead. Just as you demand now that Hrants murderers must be arrested, you would have also demanded that those who murdered the Armenians would be arrested.

With his death Hrant has reminded us that we are one people and will not identify ourselves with the murderers.

Now as people/citizens we must do what we should. We must ask: Who killed Hrant? Who killed the Armenians in 1915?

Those who are responsible shall not be put to trial by “others”, but should be answerable to “us”. Because we were the ones who died. It was a part of us that was killed.

Denna artikel har lästs 46 gånger.

Tillbaka