I want to share with you the following letter that one of our readers sent to the National Review in regards to the Barbara Lerner article �The Turks, too�.
To the Editors:
Barbara Lerner's April 19 article, 'The Turks, too', is an intellectual and moral disgrace to your publication. Moreover, it is an insult to most Jews, who fully recognize the historic significance of the Armenian Genocide as the defining precedent for Hitler and the Holocaust. I strongly recommend that Lerner go back to her history books and do some heavy reading. It would dramatically improve her ability to report on history.
In that regard, I would recommend Dr. Howard M. Sachar's monumental book, 'The Emergence of the Middle East 1914 - 1924', and his chapter, The Armenian Genocide. In it, Sachar refers to Turkey's treatment of the Armenians this way: 'By any standards this was surely the most unprecedented, indeed the most unimaginable racial annihilation, until then, in modern history.'
So, tell me, what on earth is Lerner thinking? Who's agenda is she supporting? She describes Ottoman Turkey's horrific treatment of its Armenian population in terms which are chillingly similar to how Holocaust deniers explain and deny the Holocaust. In defending the Turks and minimizing the truly horrible events perpetrated by them, Lerner sounds very much like the Nazis she despises. How can she knowingly defend the perpetrators, the process and the outcome of such a crime?
In essence, if the Holocaust was a genocide, there is no question that Turkish treatment of its Armenian population from 1915 - 1923 fits the definition as well. Rafael Lemkin, who coined the term in 1933, repeatedly referred to the mass-murder of the Armenians as a basis for his creation of the word 'genocide.'
Let's face some facts. According to both Turkish and Armenian sources, there were an estimated 2.1 million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of WWI. As Sachar states, 'not more than a third of the Armenian population of 1914 remained in Turkey when the war ended.' Indeed, by 1923, fewer than 150,000 Armenians remained in Turkey. Today there are fewer than 100,000 left there, and virtually none left on their historic 3500 year old Anatolian homeland.
Math is not rocket science and neither is use of the 'G'-word. It seems clear that any government, in declaring an all-out war of complete destruction against a defenseless, indigenous minority group, that leaves the largest percentage of them dead and the rest in dispersion around the world, is engaging in a classic and defining case of genocide. I'm not alone in my thinking, Dr. Israel Charny, head of the prestigious Institute for Holocaust Studies in Jerusalem, also agrees and has written volumes on the subject. Maybe Lerner could give him a call and schedule a tutorial session.
With all that in mind, the bottom line is that Barbara Lerner should stop defending those who deny historic truths for political reasons. It's very unbecoming.
Sincerely.
To the Editors:
Barbara Lerner's April 19 article, 'The Turks, too', is an intellectual and moral disgrace to your publication. Moreover, it is an insult to most Jews, who fully recognize the historic significance of the Armenian Genocide as the defining precedent for Hitler and the Holocaust. I strongly recommend that Lerner go back to her history books and do some heavy reading. It would dramatically improve her ability to report on history.
In that regard, I would recommend Dr. Howard M. Sachar's monumental book, 'The Emergence of the Middle East 1914 - 1924', and his chapter, The Armenian Genocide. In it, Sachar refers to Turkey's treatment of the Armenians this way: 'By any standards this was surely the most unprecedented, indeed the most unimaginable racial annihilation, until then, in modern history.'
So, tell me, what on earth is Lerner thinking? Who's agenda is she supporting? She describes Ottoman Turkey's horrific treatment of its Armenian population in terms which are chillingly similar to how Holocaust deniers explain and deny the Holocaust. In defending the Turks and minimizing the truly horrible events perpetrated by them, Lerner sounds very much like the Nazis she despises. How can she knowingly defend the perpetrators, the process and the outcome of such a crime?
In essence, if the Holocaust was a genocide, there is no question that Turkish treatment of its Armenian population from 1915 - 1923 fits the definition as well. Rafael Lemkin, who coined the term in 1933, repeatedly referred to the mass-murder of the Armenians as a basis for his creation of the word 'genocide.'
Let's face some facts. According to both Turkish and Armenian sources, there were an estimated 2.1 million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of WWI. As Sachar states, 'not more than a third of the Armenian population of 1914 remained in Turkey when the war ended.' Indeed, by 1923, fewer than 150,000 Armenians remained in Turkey. Today there are fewer than 100,000 left there, and virtually none left on their historic 3500 year old Anatolian homeland.
Math is not rocket science and neither is use of the 'G'-word. It seems clear that any government, in declaring an all-out war of complete destruction against a defenseless, indigenous minority group, that leaves the largest percentage of them dead and the rest in dispersion around the world, is engaging in a classic and defining case of genocide. I'm not alone in my thinking, Dr. Israel Charny, head of the prestigious Institute for Holocaust Studies in Jerusalem, also agrees and has written volumes on the subject. Maybe Lerner could give him a call and schedule a tutorial session.
With all that in mind, the bottom line is that Barbara Lerner should stop defending those who deny historic truths for political reasons. It's very unbecoming.
Sincerely.
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