Harut Sassounian had published several
articles in various Armenian publication outlets early February discussing the
same old theme with minor variations among them.
The subject is the personal interview
which is claimed to be granted to Aubrey Herbert in 1921 by Talaat Pasha just
before he was assassinated. According to
Sassounian, Talaat Pasha had agreed with
the “Genocide Accusations”, etc…etc..
For the archive-based researchers, the
references given and commentary outlined in the Sassounian articles regarding
Talaat Pasha are full of contradictions.
Mr. Sadi Dinlenc, an activist on the
subject, had written a rather innocent article criticizing the contradictions
in the Sassounian article which was published on February 9, 2016, in his
California Courier newspaper. Mr. Dinlenc’s criticism was based
on the credible Armenian as well as the Western resources and references on the
subject.
The interesting part of this
reciprocating correspondence is not the Sadi Dinlenc’s archival references or Sassounian’s select wording he used in his articles. The affinity of the Turks about the articles
and the propaganda material written in the Western media outlets using select
and specific information about themselves goes back several decades.
This is not the point.
The entertaining and interesting part
of the subject starts with the appearance of Sadi Dinlenc’s response in the Facebook
pages of the “ Armenian
Genocide Resources Center “ where
Sassounian was informed that he could respond to Dinlenc article in his own
Facebook pages. Not wishing to waste a chance, Sassounian declared :
“ I usually don’t dignify genocide denialists with a comment. I did make an exception in the case of Dinlenc and shamed him for lying about the Armenian Genocide which was acknowledged even by Atatürk. “
I have read quite a bit about 10 years ago about the research done on the alleged Emile Hildegrand interview
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| Los Angeles Examiner 1 August 1926 |
But, soon, I realized that Sassounian
had a very limited information about the interview that appeared in his
Facebook pages and that he was not even aware of the book written by Prof. Dr.
Türkkaya Ataöv, containing the in-depth
research of that particular interview.
When reminded about Ataöv’s book, Sassounian claimed that Ataöv, too, was a denialist similar to Sadi Dinlenc and that his
research was comical and suggested that I should not help him gain recognition
by dropping his name around.
 |
| Ataöv Research about Emile Hildebrand |
 |
| Ataöv Reserach about Emile Hilderbrand |
Türkkaya Ataöv
researched in depth the Atatürk
interview with the Swiss artist and reporter Emile Hildegrand, published on
Aug. 1st, 1926 in Los Angeles Examiner newspaper of the Armenian publisher
Nersessian, He contacted the Swiss
Embassy and corresponded with the Hildegrand family in Switzerland, finding out
that there was in fact no newspaper reporter by the name of Emile Hildegrand
during those years, that there was no departure from Switzerland of someone
with name and finally learned from the Turkish archives that there was no newspaper reporter with that
name visiting Turkey at that time. A non-existent artist and newspaper
reporter, left his non-existent country to travel to a country he never went to
conduct an interview which he never did with Atatürk whom he never saw and claimed that Atatürk told him “ CUP leaders allowed
mass-killing of Christians “ which
Atatürk never did.
When all of these details were
reminded, Sassounian made such non-congruous claims as “You (me) were not there at the Embassy when Ataöv made the research, and that
Ataöv did not speak the
German language and that I should rely only on large U.S. newspapers and that
if I do not trust big newspapers and believe Ataöv instead, it would render me senseless and illogical.”
The answer I delivered to these
strange claims and accusations might have driven Sassounian and types like him
wild.
Sassounian, not only has not opened
the cover of Ataöv’s subject book, he is also
unaware of the common knowledge that in addition to German language, French is
also spoken widely in Switzerland. Not
only that, Ataöv has
published in his subject book the letters he wrote and received in French
language to and from the Swiss Embassy.
Equally strange and comical is his demand for believability that I was
not there next to him when Ataöv
was conducting his research. I was not
next to Einstein when he declared his famous Theory of Relativity or I was not under the same apple tree when an
apple fell off the tree branch giving Newton the idea of Law of Gravity. Does
Sassounian know any mathematician who was next to Pythagoras when he found out
the Theory of Pythagoras ?
His particular advice that I should
trust big American newspapers is really heartbreaking.
What and how much news does he know
related with Armenians published in the big
American papers ?.
In all these conversations I conducted with Sassounian in Facebook pages, the important thing was not whether Talaat Pasha’s Atatürk claim was true or not. The importance here was a being methodical researcher. Anyone who is acting as a role model and informing the public-at-large by writing essays and articles and giving conferences in the very debatable subject of Armenian genocide claims must, before anything else, have a sense and obligation of moral responsibility. It is a moral inferiority to claim that Armenian people will have a better and healthy future based on the information fed by improper methodologies. This is true for any nation, including the Turks.
A hundred years ago, killing people
was the way to go in order to gain material or moral victory. Today, it is
killing the minds.
Here we go Harut Sassounian…The biggest American newspaper…
New York Times, August 04, 1907
http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2007/10/2020-evolution-of-armenian-hunchakist.html
Evolution Of The Armenian Hunchakist; Secret Society, Starting in Caucasus Mountains, Said to Bear Close Resemblance to Mafia or Black Hand. Crimes Recently Committed in This Country by an Organization Originally Founded by Patriots. Secret Society in America. The Demand for Money. Paying Toll to Hunchakist.
THE mild-mannered quiet-spoken Armenian has suddenly been thrust into an unwelcomed publicity. He forms such a small unit in the racial patchwork that makes up the population of this big city that his existence is easily overlooked. . .
Everyone is a denialist !
Everyone is a denialist !
Dear Sassounian !
