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I think we should make something clear here:
-We know that terrible things happened during that time.
-We know that many Turks and many many Armenians died.
-We know that Turkish Governments made mistakes by not opening its archives fully and not being open enough in the past.
But what we dont know that
Weather it should be called a genocide or not.
And it is the job for historians. Not for us. I think the subject should be discussed at the possible highest level and should be sorted out once and all.
Otherwise, the subject wont go away for us Turks. And Everybody will be talking about it with their limited historical knowledge. (one will say oh we have the document , your talat pasa -interior minister I think at the time- sent this order 'X', saying 'terminate them all'. Someone will say, but in this document, it says 'relocate them for their protection' . So it will go on and on. That is the reason, I think it is the best, if it is left for historians)
It happened nearly a century ago..Not everything is well documented as it is now(ie we know very well what is happening in Iraq for example, we all know how American daisy cutter bombs work, we know very well why Americans dropped those bombs in japan-though it was not necessary-, we know very well how many civilians got killed in Vietnam -mainly by the napalms- etc etc) .
There was not even a definition for genocide at the time when those things happened in 1915, if I am not wrong.
My conclusion on the subject is that we Turks should not be afraid of opening our archives fully and discussing it where ever possible. Compensation and giving the land is out of question because Turkish Republic was born in 1923.
And for my American friends, supporting what your government is doing now and what you have done in the past to the other nations is a no go from my part.
I dont think you should support your governments 'war crimes' and at the same time saying 'but 1915 was a genocide'.
I cant see the morality in it.
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EVET
