Open Letter from a Descendant of Armenian Genocide Survivor: Be Brave Mr. Erdogan

• 03.07.2015, 19:51
•  Region,  World,  Armenia,  Diaspora

2015… The 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide… 100 years passed from the atrocities of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Even after a century the justice is not restored. Turkey denies what their forefathers have done; they deny the fact – the Genocide of 1.5 million Armenians. Even though the Turkish authorities continue their denial policy, the whole world, people from different parts of the world condemn what Ottoman Turkey did 100 years ago. On different levels and from different parts of the world one can hear announcements, calls to recognize the Armenian Genocide. Recently the European People’s Party (EPP) adopted a resolution on the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide. With this resolution the EPP reaffirms its recognition and condemnation of the Genocide and Great National Dispossession of the Armenian people on the eve of its 100th Anniversary on 24 April 2015. It calls Turkey to face history and finally recognize the ever-present reality of the Armenian Genocide. As a member of the Council of Europe, EPP calls Turkey to undertake its commitments.

As a result of the Genocide, Armenians spread to all over the world and formed the Armenian Diaspora. However, so far as the Genocide is not recognized by Turkey, these people cannot live calmly; their wounds are still bleeding… There are a lot of books telling the true stories of the Genocide survivors' descendants, who share what their family has experienced.

Recently a Descendant of the Armenian Genocide survivor Aram Margarian wrote an open letter to the Turkish President, which was published in Ianyan magazine. In the letter addressed to Erdogan, Aram Margarian states that what happened 100 years ago was not a provincial skirmish or an unfortunate death of 1.5 million people. "No, Mr. Erdogan. What then happened was a barbaric attempt by the Ottoman Turkish regime to eviscerate the Armenians. It was a fully orchestrated, fully sanctioned massacre of civilians. It was a genocide and it happened," – the latter says.

To prove that his words are not mere words, Aram Margarian tells the story of his family, a true story. "My maternal grandmother was 14-years-old at the time. When her family was forced to leave their home in Aintab (Gazaintep), she took books with her. She was told they would return in three months. She told me of her excitement at the thought of returning to school one day to resume her education. That day never came. She told me of those terrifying days, Mr. Erdogan. Of how relatives and friends would disappear and never return. Of how others didn’t disappear, but instead perished before her eyes on the side of the road, of how Ottoman soldiers struck people with their weapons because they could, how her family held a secret memorial for her eldest brother and a mysterious cloud of incense filled the makeshift tent, how her pious father never recovered from this loss and died weeks later, how those in her group were forced to rely on instinct to survive and how everyone knew that those shunted towards Deir Zor never stood a chance.

I know it happened Mr. Erdogan because the same stories, often more gruesome, were also told by the grandparents of every other Armenian child of my generation in the Diaspora. There would have been more stories too, had there been more survivors."

In the letter, Margarian calls the Turkish government to take responsibility for the Armenian Genocide indicating that it would have a "huge and lasting impact." According to him the recognition of the Armenian Genocide can only have a positive effect.

The letter addressed to the President of Turkey Erdogan ends in the following way:

"With a few simple words as the President of Turkey, you have the power to do what is right, to change the course of history and to make a real difference.

The choice is yours.

Be brave Mr. President.

Best regards,

Aram Margarian"