TURKISH PROPAGANDA MACHINE CONTINUES EFFORTS TO DENY ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BY LABELLING ARMENIANS THE " REAL AGGRESSORS "

We at Sassna Dzrer believe it's instructive to occasionally refer our readers to what is appearing in the so-called mainstream Turkish press when it comes to efforts undertaken by these "moderate and rational" sources to counter the historical reality of what happened to Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th and early 20th century.

What follows is an article that appeared in the May 27th on-line edition of the Turkish Weekly, entitled: Unarmed Armenians, The Photos Say the Reverse, by Belma Sankaya


Dr. Nilgun Gulcan said "the Armenians committed genocide against the Turks of the Ottoman State and the testimonies, archives and the photos prove it."

Dr. Gulcan continued further:

"The radical Armenians say that the relocated Ottoman Armenians in 1915 were unarmed and innocent people. However the photos and the official documents say the reverse. The New York Times reported that hundreds of thousands Armenians were armed and ready for a war at that time. The following testimony of Russian Lt. Colonel Toverdohleyov also shows the clear fact:


"More than 800 unarmed and defenceless Turks have been killed in Erzincan. Large holes were dug and the defenceless Turks were slaughtered like animals next to the holes. Later, the murdered Turks were thrown into the holes. The Armenian who stood near the hole would say when the hole was filled the corpses: "Seventy dead bodies, well, this hole can take ten more." Thus ten more Turks would be cut into pieces". (Gunter, p. 18-19)."


Mrs. Gulcan also showed a photo to our correspondent about the Ottoman Armenians:
(The photo in question is of a band of ARF fedayees; the year and location of which remains uncertain)

The above Gunter book notation refers of course to one Michael Gunter, a historian of questionable credibility who is a favorite of the forces who wish to bolster their allegations that the Armenian Genocide never took place. The book quoted is entitled, "Pursuing the Just Cause of Their People"; A Study of Contemporary Armenian Terrorism. It was published in 1986