Erkin Baker, 16 February 2009

on: A Feeling of Powerlessness, by Günter Seufert

I was amazed at the lack of objectivity and the one-sided reporting of your article about the Armenians living in Turkey. Are they perhaps at unease because they have a guilty feeling, such as knowing that their brothers in Armenia show Mount Ararat (Agri Dag) on their flag? (How would Germans like to see Munich's emblem, the Monk, on the Austrian flag, for example?)

How would Germans feel if another country wanted land from Germany? You must be aware that the Armenians, whether they live in Armenia or elsewhere, are seeking land and compensation, as well as an official apology, from the Turks. Now, you can tell me that the Germans did give the Jews lots of money - in the form of "wiedergutmachung" and that they also accepted that they committed a genocide on the Jews during World War II. Of course, there were the Nuremberg Trials that proved that there was a genocide.

And, of course, the Germans paid the reparations. But then, the similarities between what happened to the Jews versus the Armenians end when one realizes that the Jews did not have an army; they did not attack German towns and villages, and they did not become a fifth column to the occupying forces.

Where is the verdict of an International court on what happened to the Armenians? A war-crimes tribunal was indeed held on the island of Malta after WW I, organized by the British Crown. !44 Turks were held on the island for about two years, during which time the Allies tried to find evidence that the Turks intended to exterminate the Armenians living in the Ottoman lands. No such evidence could be found, and the Turks were released.

Your article does not mention that the Turkish Government has opened its archives and offered to participate in a historical and judicial forum along with the Armenians and other interested participants. but the Armenians have thus far refused to open their archives in Yerevan, Lebanon, and Boston.

While the Turks deplored the murder of Hrant Dink, the Armenians tried to justify the killings of the Turks and were collecting money to defend the murderers of the dozens of Turkish diplomats around the world in the 1970's and 1980's.

Is this perhaps another reason as to why the Armenians are not at ease in Turkey?

Mrs. Erkin Baker
St. Louis - U.S.A.