Viewpoints differ on genocide vs. massacre

Re “It was genocide,” editorial, March 22

Your unambiguous restatement of the historical fact of the Armenian genocide was a resounding slap of truth on the shamefully pandering face of official complicity.

At a time when the value and role of newspapers in the digital age is under debate, The Times has shown us with clarity and courage that integrity remains the defining essence of journalism.

JOHN SHAHABIAN

Sacramento

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It’s astonishing that Turks point to treason, as many Armenians sided with Russia at the outbreak of World War I while Turkey sided with Germany. Turkey also maintained warm relations with Germany during World War II and only switched sides at the end of the war. Regardless, it is absurd to reason genocide, even if some Armenians had indeed sided with Russia.

BERGE JOLOLIAN

Cambridge, Mass.

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Your editorial not only accepts a one-sided perspective of history, it maligns those who hold a different point of view. Many scholars and historians expert in the region’s history disagree on how these events should be viewed.

Turkey has pursued the facts surrounding this period through collaborative efforts, opening its Ottoman archives to researchers. Turkish scholars have tried to work with their Armenian counterparts to seek a common understanding of the period. And in 2005, Turkey’s prime minister issued an unprecedented proposal to Armenia’s president for an impartial study of the matter by Turkish and Armenian historians, the results of which will be shared with the international community.

A. ENGIN ANSAY

Consul General of Turkey

Los Angeles

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With respect to the tragic events of 1915, one should consider the backdrop of World War I and a crumbling, multiethnic Ottoman Empire. It was a tumultuous time, during which communities committed unspeakable massacres toward each other. The missing point in allegations of genocide by the Armenians and friends is the key element for such massacres to be qualified as genocide: the intent.

The intention of the Ottoman state to annihilate the Armenians in the relocations has never been proved. Armenians desperately produced forged documents attributed to the Ottoman authorities. Armenians were a political group because they revolted and joined arms with the invading Russians.

Maybe next time you could be less partisan and more objective and give a line or two to the other side of the story.

UFUK GEZER

Ankara, Turkey

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We need to rightly consider the massacre of the Armenians by the Turks as the first holocaust of the 20th century. As the merchant class of the Ottoman Empire, the Armenians were not only dispossessed of their wealth, businesses and lands, but thousands of Armenian men were taken away and executed while women and children were sold into bondage and slavery.

There may not have been any cameras to record these terrible events, but in the little killing field of Margada and the riverbeds of towns like Mus, mass graves are yielding up their dark secrets.

It is time for Turkey to come clean.

SAEEDA WALI MOHAMMED

Los Angeles