Allegations and supporting documents

Allegations and supporting documents repudiated by some academicians
Yusuf Selcuk Ateskan

Armenian terrorists bombed UCLA professor Stanford J. Shaw’s house in 1977. Professor Shaw had to go into hiding after other harassment and disruptions of his class at UCLA. Apparently, freedom of speech exists only if one agrees with the Armenians. Shaw was just one of the academicians who were threatened, harassed, assaulted or attacked by Armenians because of his views against the alleged Armenian genocide. Armenian extremists use distortions to offer one-sided misrepresentations of the events that took place between the Turkish and Armenian citizens of the Ottoman Empire during and after World War I. They claim that the Ottoman Empire instigated a policy of genocide against its Armenian citizens, but scholars have proven that these allegations are not based on historical facts but on myths, fake documents and forgeries. Despite the heavy pressure, most American scholars refuse to regard the events as genocide. Sixty-nine American scholars specializing in Turkish, Ottoman and Middle Eastern studies published an open letter to Congress in the New York Times and Washington Post on May 19, 1985, disputing Armenian characterizations of the events of World War I. They concluded that what the Armenians claim to be genocide is in fact inter-communal warfare, perpetrated by Muslim and Christian irregular forces that victimized both sides. Focusing on Armenian suffering alone and dismissing Turkish suffering is simply unscholarly and incorrect. Armenian extremists, who were not capable of proving their case in legitimate ways, resorted to terrorist acts. Armenian terrorists assumed the responsibility of 70 bombings, 39 armed attacks and occupations in 21 countries, including the United States, between 1973 and 1995. Fifteen of the 110 terrorist acts took place in California, the second most Armenian-populated region in the world. The mastermind behind the initiation of these horrible attacks was a Santa Barbara resident of Armenian descent, Gourgen Yanikian. He killed Turkish Consul General Mehmet Baydar and Turkish Consul Bahadir Demir in Santa Barbara in January 1973. While some Armenians did not approve of the killings of Turkish officials, there were many Armenians who did not shy away from expressing their open support for the terrorists. During his trial in Santa Barbara in 1973, Yanikian was regarded as a “hero” by the crowd of Armenians in the courtroom, and funds were raised for his defense. Yanikian was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was released, however, on the order of the then-California governor, George Deukmejian, a few months before his death. Turkish Consul-General Kemal Arikan was shot to death by Armenian terrorists on Wilshire Boulevard when he stopped at a traffic light on Jan. 28, 1982. This was the third attack toward Arikan, whereby previously his house was bombed at two different occasions. Hampig Sassounian was found guilty of murdering Arikan. A campaign to provide funds for his defense raised $250,000 in donations from Armenians throughout the United States. After Sassounian’s prosecution in Los Angeles, some Armenians in Boston announced: “What occurred throughout Hampig’s trial was a mockery of justice, an attempt to stop the Armenian people from actively pursuing their cause.” Armenian terror organizations also committed more than 20 attacks toward many international airline offices, Swiss, French and Canadian companies, and diplomatic missions in several major cities. Armenian terrorists blamed these governments for prosecuting Armenian terrorists. Unfortunately, top Armenian community leaders are also linked with Armenian terrorist activities. According to federal authorities in Ohio, a prominent Armenian-American once used Camp Haiastan in Franklin, as a training ground for terrorism aimed at the Turkish government. Mourad Topalian, the chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America and the director of the youth camp “Haiastan,” was arrested on a five-count indictment charging him with conspiracy, concealing and storing stolen explosives and possession of machine guns and firearms with defaced serial numbers. He was accused of plotting attacks against Turkish targets in the United States and was suspected of links to two 1981 bombings in California and a car bombing that injured three people outside the Turkish mission to the United Nations in New York City in 1980. According to the indictment, Topalian had sent people to Massachusetts and Beirut, Lebanon, for weapons and bomb training. He was sentenced to 37 months in prison. The Topalian case shows how the hatred carried along with the “alleged genocide claims” could simply turn into terrorist activities. Today, the Armenians are counting on people’s scant sense of history. They rely on the wartime propaganda materials long refuted by the United States, the British and the French authorities; and on yellow journalism, fictions as well as add-on stories. They have romanticized their history and embellished the truth. The Armenians obstinately ignore or refuse to believe the preponderance of evidence that shatters their mythical convictions and use threats, harassment and even terrorist acts. They promote hatred toward a whole nation with false allegations. There is no need to go far away for examples of hatred. Outraged Armenian fanatics disrupted the annual Turkish nights at USC twice. For instance, in 2000, officers from the Department of Public Safety and LAPD were needed to ensure the safety of our guests. As Turkish students at USC, we do mourn for both Armenian and Turkish people, who perished during continual warfare before, during and after World War I. However, we do not accept the distortion of the historical facts to promote hatred toward a nation. We hope that the blind hate of extremist Armenians is not transferred to their next generation and that neither community lives through those horrible times again.
Daily Trojan,
22 April 2003