how responsible is Turkey for Ottoman crimes (elder, church, prophet)

[kai]

how responsible can modern day Turkey be for Ottoman crimes ?

its not that remote how far do we go back? for apologies etc

i doubt there is any perpetrators surviving but there may be just possibly be relations still alive grand children great grandchildren etc .

http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/20...ians_rally.php

[Smoke]

Originally Posted by kai

how responsible can modern day Turkey be for Ottoman crimes ?

its not that remote how far do we go back? for apologies etc

i doubt there is any perpetrators surviving but there may be just possibly be relations still alive grand children great grandchildren etc .

http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/20...ians_rally.php

There are still some elderly survivors of the massacres and death marches living.

I think Turkey is still culpable, especially since Turkish authorities still refuse to acknowledge the reality of what happened.

[kai]

Originally Posted by MidnightBlue

There are still some elderly survivors of the massacres and death marches living.

I think Turkey is still culpable, especially since Turkish authorities still refuse to acknowledge the reality of what happened.

i didnt know there were still survivors thanks for the info!

[greatcalgarian]

This is more like comparing present day Germany to the Nazi

or

The current day Japanese government to those responsible for the atrocity committed by the Japanese military during 2nd WW.

[kai]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide

[Smoke]

It should be noted that the Young Turks also waged genocidal campaigns against the Assyrians and the Pontian Greeks.

[James the Persian]

Originally Posted by MidnightBlue

It should be noted that the Young Turks also waged genocidal campaigns against the Assyrians and the Pontian Greeks.

Well said! That's been the one thing that's been winding me up recently. Everyone's been acting as though the Armenian genocide was the only thing that happened, as though Smyrna wasn't burned with all its inhabitants and the Antiochian Church just chose to up sticks and move to Damascus because they liked the air better. Turkey does need to acknowledge its genocide and not just against the Armenians but all three campaigns. Until it does it is not, to my mind, a civilised country and should not be accepted as such (so certainly no EU entry). The genocide of the Armenians has already helped inspire one other genocide (the holocaust, acording to Hitler himself) and we can't let his question (Who remembers the Armenians now?) to be prophetic. We must remember them (and he Greeks and Assyrians) and we must make Turkey do the same.

James

[Terrywoodenpic]

Crimes don't go away just because you deny or don't care to think about them.
Even admitting that you did them,won't make them go away.
but reviewing the past, accepting your guilt and asking pardon; puts a person or a people on the path to changing their attitude and future actions for the better.
Turkey does not seem to be ready for any of these stages yet.

[Trey of Diamonds]

I say leave the past in the past. How can you move forward with anything close to a positive outlook if you are continually apologizing for the crimes of your grandfathers. The past should be remembered so that it is not repeated, not so that it can identify a new victim class.

[Smoke]

Originally Posted by Trey of Diamonds

I say leave the past in the past. How can you move forward with anything close to a positive outlook if you are continually apologizing for the crimes of your grandfathers. The past should be remembered so that it is not repeated, not so that it can identify a new victim class.

You can't move forward at all till you've dealt with the past, and attempting to do so would be foolhardy. A positive outlook is not nearly as important as an accurate perception. Turkey still refuses even to acknowledge the facts of these genocides, and till Turkey faces up to its history, there can be no moving on.