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About Turkish Armenians in Turkey, AlphaF views on the issue.
1. Armenians were a small but smart, honest and trusted minority in Ottoman Empire.
2. History records that many Armenians rose up to high ranks within Ottoman Empire. Most of them felt close and loyal to the Empire as well. Some actually even excelled in Turkish classical music.
They lived, prospered and gained political power as well, under the Ottoman rule.
3. Ottoman Empire was not at its peak in 1915. WWI was lost, Gallipoli was under attack by the peaceful Western Armada and Turks were busy defending the motherland (there were loyal Turkish Armenians, fighting along with Turks too).
4. Western powers had clear intentions to wipe out the Empire, The French and Russians thought it would be a good idea to use Christian Armenians against Muslim Turks. Some of the Armenians in South East Turkey were persuaded to wear French and Russian uniforms and fight as scouts for these countries and also take up to the mountains and hit Turkish villages in guerilla warfare. There were retaliations from Turks and a local civil war was starting. Both sides were familiar with comperative strengths of each other, but Armenians had been prompted by and promised conclusive help by countries they had colleborated with,
without which even the most fanatic Armenian would have thought twice before he wore a foreign uniform against the homeland.
8. Ottomans did what every sovereign state would have done.
8.a) thet tried to evacuate the civil (loyal) Armenian villagers to further South where they would be safer.
8.b) Fought with French, Russians and their Armenian collaborators, all at the same time. At the same time in Gallipoli, the Turks were facing Australians, New Zeallanders and Indian troops, pushed by the Brits and supported by the heaviest war ships of the time (I dont think many of those ships ever returned back).
9. Turks won in Gallipoli, soon afterwards The French and Russians decided to retreat as well, leaving most of their collaborator behind.
10, The Empire was not strong enough to make a success of the evacuation plan . Many innocent Armenians died of hunger on the roads and of general misery. The rebels with weapons were hunted down to the last (Armenians living in other parts of the Empire, loyal to homeland were not harmed). All surrendered or were captured. Many Turks died too: It is a ridicolus Western idea that armed Armenians did not kill a single Turk in all this chaos (The French went back and set up memorials, for the Armenians that they provoked first and later sold out without pity or honor)
11. Ataturk set up the current Republic of Turkey, after a war of indepennce, not only by kicking out all invaders, but also over throwing the Sultan and ending the Ottoman Empire. The Sultan (who carried whatever responsibilty there is on the Turkish side for these unfortunate events) left Istanbul as a guest in a British warship.
12. The net results of this chaos are:
12.a The Armenians (Chirstians) lost land, wealth and also the trust they enjoyed for centuries.
Another ethnic religious group (Jews) gained power and wealth becoming a powerful group at the expense of Armenians,(very similar to what is now happening in USA) though this is not a very openly publisized.
13. Today, keeping this issue alive is way of livelyhood for the Armenian diaspora. Had indigenous Turks and Armenians been left alone, the wounds would have healed of by now. The two neighbor countries would both be better off.
ONE ONLY SUSPECTS THAT THOSE WHO STILL CONTINUE PROVOKING BOTH SIDES ARE THOSE DO NOT WANT PEACE, TRYING TO KEEP THIS PART OF THE WORLD IN TURMOIL,CHAOS AND CONSTANT TENSION. THEY ARE NO FRIENDS TO ARMENIANS NOR TURKS.
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