One hundred years of shameless silence – El Tiempo on Armenian Genocide

Sergio Munoz Bata, a syndicated Latin American columnist whose articles appear in 18 papers in 11 countries, has published an analysis on the Armenian Genocide in El Tiempo, sharing thoughts on the possibility of its international recognition against the developments on the current international platform.

His article, with abridgements, is presented below:

"More than 100 people marched in Los Angeles streets in a procession urging the Turkish Government to undertake the historical responsibility for recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

"Processions were held also in Barcelona, Beirut, Jerusalem, Tehran, Moscow, Paris, Damascus and scores of other cities around the world. Less than twenty countries had the boldness to recognize the Genocide as did Pope Francis. Unfortunately, [US] President [Barack] Obama lacked the courage to repeat what he had said as a presidential hopeful back in 2008: ‘The Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence.’ Unfortunately, for Obama, geopolitics stands above the truth.

"For the Armenians, Turkey’s denial is an insult to the innocent victims' memory. Though Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls for ‘acknowledging the pain inflicted on the victims’, he keeps denying the fact that the deportation and massacres of the Armenians amounted to genocide. It isn’t easy to modify the lie spread officially. When Orhan Pamuk, an Istanbul-based chronologist and a Nobel Prize laureate, tried to do that, he faced a prosecution, charged with inseminating an anti-Turkish attitude. ”

"The other fraud the deniers resorted to was diverting the people’s attention from the historical reality. Erdogan decided to hold the Gallipoli celebrations on April 24 instead of March 18, the date they traditionally marked the victory.

"Instead of arguing that the countries which had been bold enough to call things by their names hatch a conspiracy against Turkey, Erdogan must admit that the truth is the way leading to reconciliation with the Armenians and the entire world.   What happened in 1915 is genocide."