Please respond by Friday, April 12.
Have a great vacation!.
This blog is intended to enhance your learning experience. We can share thoughts and ideas which, I hope, will expand our perspectives on not only topics related to war, genocide, and peace but also in our everyday lives. Good luck and have fun! PLEASE NOTE - Your responses will be assessed for 1.) responding to the prompt thoroughly, 2.) responding to the thoughts of your classmates, 3.) creativity of response, and 4.) appropriate language and correct writing conventions.
After reading the eyewitness testimony of survivors of the Armenian Genocide and viewing the video in class, please think about the denial of Ambassador Nabi Sensoy (Battle Over History). Who do you believe? Please think about the testimony and look into the eyes of the people in the testimonies. Why are they more credible than a distinguished diplomat? What emotions do you feel as you read these stories? How do the denials impact their lives and their descendants. Please share specific details from the text to support your position.
Please respond by Friday, April 12. Have a great vacation!.
7 Comments
Eryanna B
4/10/2019 19:59:04
It makes absolutely no sense to me how anyone can deny this happened. The testimonies and the sad look and all these peoples' eyes was so heartbreaking. In some wicked way I understand why Turkey keeps trying to deny the genocide happened, because they don't want to face that they did such terrible actions. I completely think the survivors are more credible than some diplomat. It is hard to speak with such clarity about such a terrible event such as this. The look of Sam Kadorian's eyes affected me the most. It seems as though him reliving those memories from his childhood caused him an immense amount of pain and it just pulled on my heartstrings. The saddest quote from his testimony is "I was covered with blood from the other bodies on top of me, but I couldn't cry", no child should ever have to go through something as wicked as that. Just reading that made me believe the survivors even more. One would be lying to oneself to say that this genocide never happened. They had all the intention to get rid of the Armenian people.
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Rafael L
4/11/2019 19:04:44
I don't see why people keep trying to push the Ambassador to say it happened if we all know it happened. It's common sense to not believe the Ambassador, that is giving hints that he knows he is lying, and believe the victims of the actual genocide. Reading their stories fill my heart with pain, as I think all of these are real stories that people went trough. While reading the stories I could almost see this happening while looking at their eyes and expressions. This genocide was a serious matter like all others, but everyone needs to move on eventually.
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Celeste
4/11/2019 19:58:11
I don't see how someone could deny the fact that this happened. There was every intention to get rid of the Armenians, but I don't think that Turkey will ever own up to its horrible actions. It was chilling to read the testimonies of the survivors. One man said that he was rounded up when he was seven and was continuously stabbed at with a bayonette along with other kids his age. That's not accidental. That's intentional. These people are much more credible Ambassador Sensoy. They were alive then and he wasn't. Sensoy was educated by a government where even mentioning the genocide could get you into prison. Ambassador Sensoy didn't see any of this. I don't think Turkey's denial affects the survivors that much, most of them are dead or close to it. Turkey's denial does have an impact on their descendants. Young Armenians deserve to know what happened to their ancestors so that they can educate their kids. When knowledge about these kinds of events is spread, people learn lessons and learn not to repeat the actions of the past. The Armenians shouldn't move on. They should remember what happened, but it's unreasonable to expect to Turkey to take recognition. The US won't either because of how vital Turkey is in the Middle East, but if everyone knows what happened, official recognition has less value.
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Connor
4/11/2019 21:07:47
I believe the Killing of Armenians was a genocide. There is no denial of the casualties that occurred, but the question is was it intentional and without documents to prove there was intent or any camps or gas chambers, the only thing we have as evidence are witnesses and dead bodies. Just based off that I don’t think we can unanimously prove that it was a genocide. The consistency in the answers of the survivors, and the similarities in the way they were tortured just lead me from a personal standpoint to believe that it was intentional. But there is no document or video of the Ottoman Empire planning this “genocide” on the Armenians. We can only be 99.99 percent sure from a personal standpoint, but even though we were given consistent answers, and saw millions of dead bodies, to prove intent we need some sort of documentation or we can’t prove it was a genocide. Even though the answers from all these survivors were consistent there is still a possibility they’re lying, I don’t think they’re lying but we can’t be 100 percent sure. For example, a murderer has 100 witnesses say he did the crime but without DNA evidence or any video evidence you can’t say as an individual that he is 100 percent guilty even though you may believe that. There could even be 1000 witnesses testifying but you still can’t as an individual say he’s 100 percent guilty. That’s why the Armenians should reflect and Improve from this horrific event, but without any documentation they can’t prove it was a genocide and they need to move on.
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Emma D
4/11/2019 21:31:57
It is baffling to me that anyone could truly convince themselves that the Armenian genocide never happened. After watching the Turkish Ambassador deny these events and reading the accounts of the survivors, it seems indisputable as to who is telling the truth. One account that really struck me was that of Sion Abajian. She recalls her struggle and at one point she says, “We used to eat grass. We used to pick grains from animal waste, wash them and then in tin cans fry them to eat.” This to me is not something one could make up or lie about, and especially looking into her eyes I could tell that she had to endure this pain. She looks tired and like she has suffered through more than most people her age ever have or will. Ambassador Nabi Sensoy, on the other hand, has all the motivation to preserve the pride of Turkey and no motivation to accept that this genocide was real. He is full of formulated excuses and you can tell that deep down he knows he is lying. This denial hurts the survivors because it mocks them and their bravery during this horrific event. They should be rewarded for their courage at the hands of the Turkish nation, but instead they are being treated as if they’re being ‘over-dramatic’.
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Kyle Beck
5/21/2019 17:27:57
After seeing the disheartening looks on all the so called alleged victims. I know that this genocide occurred. Turkey much like Germany is trying to hide there crimes whether it be out of shame for what they have done. Or to protect those that committed these atrocities. The look in Sam K. eyes was a look that you cannot make up. It was a look that was reliving a constant nightmare. It was a look of someone who wants justice for crimes committed against him and his people.
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Sam K
5/23/2019 08:01:29
The only reasonable stance is to believe the survivors. Why would anyone make up these horrors, especially on such a large scale? There is plenty of evidence supporting the genocide, and they it is obvious that up to this point they haven’t gotten anything out of claiming a genocide. They keep fighting so that other are aware that genocide will not be forgotten and the victims will demand justice. The descendants keep fighting to honor their ancestors and make sure history does not repeat itself.
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