Choose Truth Over Propaganda...

3 
What happened to the people of Ottoman ruled Anatolia in and around 1915 was truly tragic. Many Ottomans, both Christian and Muslim died tragic deaths. Many died of famine, disease and ethnic violence.  
 
It is my observation that The Government of the Republic of Turkey has not taught it’s children the total extent of the tragedies that befell their forefathers, who were then citizens of the Ottoman Empire. Not because they have something to hide, but rather because they do not want to fill the hearts of their future generations with the pain endured by their ancestors. Because they do not want to fill the minds of their future generations with information which may lead them to be angry at the people who caused their ancestors such pain. They do not want to fill the souls of their future generations with such pain and anger, as this may lead future generations to hate the initial perpetrators of that pain and anger. They do not want this pain and anger because they do not want any more bloodshed. In this regard, the government of The Republic of Turkey, since 1915, has tried hard to hold onto it’s motto, first stated by Ataturk, ‘Peace at Home, Peace in the World’. 
 
This general attitude of peace towards previous enemies can particularly be seen in the relations of Turks with the ANZACS. It is generally accepted that during the battle of Gallipoli, there were over 100,000 Turkish deaths with 250,000 Turkish casualties. Regardless of this, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder and first president of the Turkish Republic and also a military officer who fought alongside his soldiers at Gallipoli, in a speech he gave in 1934, wholeheartedly said:  
 
"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours...  
 
"You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well. " 
 
As noble as this attitude the Turks have of not holding on to past animosities is, in the case of the Armenians, it appears to be working against them. It is because the Turks of present day Turkey do not fully know their own history, that the Armenian diaspora have so far had a free reign on voicing their ALLEGATIONS of an Armenian genocide on such a large scale with very limited arguments to the contrary.

Guest