So, once again I come to my annual rant about the Armenian Massacres.
I had someone tell me once that it happened over 90 years ago and that I should just get over it. I felt a tinge of shame at that moment not for myself but for him. Here is a man that has his whole family and a link to his past. A feeling of belonging to where he lives and who he is. As an Armenian I really only superficially have that.
I reminded him that my grandparents came here as refugees not immigrants. If it were not for what the Turks did then I may very well be living in the city of Marasch where my family came from.
Now the question comes... well how do we heal from this and get over it?
Easy enough I think. For so long the Turks have refused to admit that 1 million of my people were ever killed. They claim that the Armenians rose up in revolt against them during WWI. My response is why were the women and children killed. In war soldiers fight soldiers, not helpless civilians. There is not honor or proud legacy in what the Turks did. Yet, many of them still brag about the conquests of their people over the Armenians.
Sadly, the United States even refuses to acknowledge that genocide took place. This in an effort to appease their ally in the Middle East. Here in the "land of the free and the home of the brave", the country that considers itself the polar opposite of evil, we refuse to stand up for what is right for the cause of diplomacy.
It was Adolph Hitler himself that said, when asked about his "Final Solution" policy in Germany, "The world will not do anything to help the Jews. Look at the Armenians, no one remembers what happened to them."
I close with this benediction. "May God forgive the Turks, as he has forgiven me"
