Famous doctor makes an appeal in the 100 anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

Dear Ladies / Sirs,

I would like to appeal to you in the 100 anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

Armenians survived the genocide of 1915-1923 and narrowly escaped total extermination by the Turkish authorities in beginning of the 20th century.

The Turkish authorities have succeeded in sweeping off Turkey from Armenian, Assyrian and Greek population - the country’s native inhabitants, who had lived in that land for thousands of years.

The Turkish authorities have also succeeded in denying their crimes against humanities and continue the cultural genocide after committing the physical genocide. Turkey successfully continuous the destruction of ancient Armenian historical sites and landmarks and falsification of historic origins of ancient Armenians relics. There is absolutely no talk about repatriation of the descendants of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide or compensation. This policy unfortunately continues to this day, due to total impunity of the past committed crimes against humanity.

As early as at the beginning of the 20th century Prof. Raphael Lemkin (1900–1959), a prominent lawyer and a great humanist, warned that namely the impunity of the committed crimes against humanity and the ignorance of such flagrant tragic event by the world community would be an “inspiration” for repetition of such crimes. As an example, having exterminated 1.5 millions Armenians during 1915, the Turkish authorities have never regretted for it; quite the opposite, the impunity and ignorance by the world community instigated the Turkish authorities to continue the Armenian Genocide during the Turkish intervention to Transcaucasia in 1917-1920 and after taking control of Greek territory in West Anatolia following a victory in the Greek-Turkish war 1919-1922. 

Two subsequent major genocides of the 20th century, the Jewish Genocide (Holocaust) in the Nazi controlled European countries and the Tutsi Genocide in Rwanda, are two other classical examples of the lessons unlearned by the world community. Adolf Hitler maliciously pronounced in 1939: ”Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”. This was his “excuse” for his deed of horror on the threshold of the Jewish Genocide.

Deliberate ignorance undoubtedly attributes to the economic and political factors which still often dominate over humanistic ones in the contemporary world... While unwanted regimes have been easily smashed; little has been done to prosecute the real perpetrators of genocides: Pol Pot, the main organizer of the Cambodian Genocide, was never arrested and spent his 20 years quietly after organizing of massacre of the millions of people. Talaat Pasha, Enver Pasha and Djemal Pasha, the main organizers of the Armenian Genocide, were reburied with Turkish state solemnities at the Pantheon of Şişli cemetery in Istanbul.

The denial of the evil is an evil itself. Unfortunately the Turkish authorities still get support in their denial by "the allied powers" which do not follow principles of justice, humanity and common since, but which merely take in consideration economical and political benefits. Fortunately a number of such countries which have not acknowledged the Armenian Genocide thins out. So I still believe that the goodness and common sense will once win on the Earth and the Turkish authorities will acknowledge, condemn and apologize to the Armenian nation for the committed Genocide with all appropriate sequentials.

It is not possible to return millions of innocent martyrs, but it is possible at least to commemorate their memory.

Sincerely,

Airazat M. Kazaryan, MD, PhD

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