"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win" USA Armenian Life Magazine, April 24, 2006 By Appo K. Jabarian Executive Publisher/Managing Editor Turkey recently shifted its nine-decade long strategy of dealing with the Armenian Genocide from silence to belligerent denial. What's next? "First they ignore you (1920's-early 1970) In an effort to avoid responsibility for the Armenian Genocide, and in order to be able to legally appropriate the lands and treasures of the Armenians, Turkish leader Ataturk in 1923 instituted the policy of "Clean Break" from the past by jettisoning certain Ottomanisms. Soon after, Turkish deniers embarked on a campaign of passive-aggressively not responding to any demands presented by Armenians regarding the issue of Turkish-usurped Western Armenian lands. This campaign of "ignoring" to obstruct justice lasted for 50 years. In 1965 however, this untenable strategy was shattered when the Latin American republic of Uruguay adopted a Parliamentary Resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide. This monumental event however didn't register on the radar of the Turks. The occupiers of Western Armenia went back to sleep in their imperial palaces relocated from Istanbul to Ankara. The Turks remained quiescent even when the Congress of the United States on April 9, 1975 passed the United States House of Representatives Joint Resolution 148, which recognized the fact of the Armenian Genocide. "then they ridicule you ..." (1970's- early 2000's) Soon after the passage of the Joint Resolution 148, Turkish Denialists in Ankara and their cronies in the West stepped up their campaign of ridiculing the victims of the Armenian Genocide and their heirs. The Denialists began to channel the doctrine of their criminal ancestors by ridiculing the victims, by branding them as traitors, and by always adding the qualifier "alleged" anytime any Turk anywhere used the word Genocide. As the number of countries, world leaders and international organizations that officially recognize the Armenian Genocide grew, the political heat finally got to the Turkish Elites. The Denialists quickly allocated large sums, designated official spinners, and hired lobbyists in the USA in order to assert their alternate history, and to derail Armenian claims. "then they fight you ..." (early 2000's-present) Knowing full well that membership in the European Union would solve a number of their entrenched problems, the Denialist leaders of Turkey began to actively seek membership. They thought they would just be able to waltz in by making vague promises and saying whatever was necessary. They were however unpleasantly surprised when the Eu presented them with 30,000 conditions for acceptance - including the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Meanwhile, the emergence of Armenian political power and savvy in the West and around the world began to yield tangible results for the Armenian Cause. In a span of 91 years, 93 countries, world leaders, international organizations, states and cities around the world have recognized the veracity of the Armenian Genocide. The Turkish Denialist establishment facing one political defeat after another, then attempted to defraud Armenians with the false ploy of the "Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission" among several others. The Turkish political ploys also included behind-the-scenes pressure on various world leaders not to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. "then you win" (late 2000's-Future) Why are Turkish Denialists so nervous? Because they know that their shaky "throne" sits uneasily atop the ashes of occupied, martyred Western Armenia. Unlike other empires in contemporary history, the Turkish Ottoman Empire, just like the Soviet Empire, was not a homegrown enterprise. Rather it was imported and imposed upon the local peoples by outsiders. It was the Mongolian Turks who invaded from the Steppes of Central Asia and occupied Armenia, and used it as a seed country or stepping stone. Furthermore, the Mongolian Turkish invaders also embarked on a campaign of forcible Turkification of various peoples of the Caucasus and the Mediterranean basin. The same Mongolian Turks embarked on a futile attempt to forcibly Turkify the Kurds calling them "Mountain Turks". Of course the forcible Turkification plan failed miserably. The ethnic Mongolian Turks also know that the Levantine "Turks", when given the opportunity under a future European Union mandate, would revert to their ancestral roots. Homegrown Empires vs. Imported and Imposed Ones: The Persian Empire had Persia (Iran) as seed country. The Roman Empire had Roma, Italy as a seed country. The Armenian Empire had Armenia as seed country. The Byzantine Empire had the conglomeration of ancient Greek municipalities as a seed. The Russian Empire had Russia; The Assyrian, Assyria; the Austro-Hungarian, Austria and Hungary; the British Empire, England, etc. As you see, each and every former empire except for the Soviet and the Ottoman Turkish Empires was launched from a seed country. A careful analytical look at world history of the last two millennia can surely point only in one direction. Every single empire that originated from a seed country receded back to its original borders. The Soviet Empire was imported from outside the borders of Russia and the rest of the former Soviet republics. Therefore, when time matured, it evaporated into oblivion without a trace. Similarly, the Turkish Ottoman Empire began with the occupation of Armenia and it will end with the complete liberation of Armenia. The Turkish Ottoman Empire did not have a seed country. Its "founders" came from outside of the Caucasus, the Armenian Highlands, and the Mediterranean basin. One can visualize the magnitude and multiplicity of the problems currently faced by the Denialist Turks. Denialist Turks not only inherited the assets of the diminishing Ottoman Turkish Empire, but also all its liabilities. A few of the most notable liabilities are: 1) The inevitability of returning the Turkish-occupied Armenian lands, and the payment of reparations to the heirs of the victims of the Armenian Genocide committed at the hands of their Turkish grandparents' generation (1915-1923); 2) Acknowledging the Kurdish aspirations to an independent homeland; 3) Acknowledging the human rights of its forcibly Turkified citizens to return to their ancestral ethnic Armenian, Greek, Assyrian, Arab, Kurdish, Jewish, Circassian, Georgian, Druze and other Levantine roots. It's in Denialist Turks' interest to see Armenians waste their time and energy as they try to prove the veracity of the Armenian Genocide to wider circles of peoples. Keeping the Armenians occupied with the first stage of "Recognition" would take them away from the task of focusing on phase two, three, and four of the Armenian Case. I am sorry to say that the Denialists were successful in diverting the course of public discussion away from the core issues of: A) Reparations for the immense personal and real property losses inflicted on the Armenians by the genocidal Turkish occupation government of Young Turks in 1915-1923; B) Restoration of Turkish-occupied Armenian ancestral lands to their rightful owners - the Armenians. Now more than ever, Armenian activists and their allies are showing more determination in the pursuit of the restoration and the reparations issues. Many young Armenians are disappointed that their leaders still focus mostly upon the "recognition" phase. The infectious enthusiasm of the younger generation is bringing many intellectuals who had walked away from the Armenian Cause back to the fold. The Armenian Case transcends generational differences. The people are one, the cause is one. One shouldn't be surprised to learn that it's not the "G" word - Genocide - that the Denialists detest most, but the "D' word - the Disintegration of the so-called country of Turkey, the last vestige of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.

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