Suppressed truth poisons the suppressor, it also poisons those who are deprived of the knowledge of the truth. Not only that: suppressed truth poisons the entire environment in which both the suppressor and those who are subjected to that suppression live. So it poisons everything. Nearly a century after the genocide of Armenians and Assyrians/Syriacs as
well as other Christian peoples of the Asia Minor, Turkey is still being poisoned by the suppression of the truth. And because the suppressed truth concerns a crime, because the suppressors are those in power, and those deprived of the truth are the whole nation, it is the very future of that nation which is also poisoned.
If you are a ruler suppressing a truth, you have to suppress those who seek the truth as well. The poison feeds you with self-glorification in order to evade guilt, hatred to justify your lying and cruelty to sustain the lie at all costs. Bits of truth may be known to some of the people you rule. So you either have to make them join your self-deception by offering
excuses for the crime you committed to persuade them there was no other choice or declare them traitors and carry on an endless war against those who resist persuasion.
But people tend to be persuaded; so in Turkey the great majority of people sincerely believe that if it is a question of life or death for the “fatherland” the state machinery may rightfully resort to unlawful methods – in other words, that the so-called “national interests” justify all means. This is how the suppressed truth and the methods of that suppression poison minds generation after generation.
So, it is no surprise that for nearly a century Turkey saw no real democracy, no real peace, no real well-being. Violence has always been part of our lives. Military coups followed one another and in the absence of an actual military rule, there has always been sometimes overt, sometimes covert, threat of it. Since the foundation of the Republic, the Kurdish uprisings and their violent repression continued. In the last 30 years the land which was once the homeland of Armenians and Assyrians as well, has been suffering from what the authorities call the “fight against terrorism”. Evacuated villages, forced migration, people under custody going missing and unsolved murders became the characteristics of the
region.
The bloodshed has never stopped since 1915.
It’s not only the violence. Permit me to borrow here what I had written on the occasion of the 91st anniversary of the Genocide, which Khatchig Mouradian quoted in his article published by Znet on April 23, 2006:
“A big curse fell upon this land [in 1915]. The settlements where once artisans, manufacturers, and tradesmen produced and traded goods, where theatres and schools disseminated knowledge and aesthetic fulfillment, where churches and monasteries refined the souls, where beautiful architecture embodied a great, ancient culture; in short, a civilized, lively urban world was turned into a rural area of vast, barren, silent, uninhabited land and settlements marked by buildings without a history and without a personality.”
Nowadays an excavation is going on in Silopi, to investigate the allegations that in the 1990’s the dead bodies of persons
who went missing under custody by security forces had been dumped there. So far some bones, hair and pieces of clothing have been found – what was left after the clean-up operations – and sent to forensic laboratory for analysis.
This is one of the places which has suffered most from the suspension of rule of law in the region for the sake of the so-called “unity of Turkey”.
And it is the same place where, 96 years ago, masses of mostly Assyrians/Syriacs but Armenians as well, though in smaller number, were either massacred outright or driven on foot to the mountains where death was certain as a result of starvation, destitution and exposure to harsh weather conditions without any shelter. This was what happened in many
places to Armenians throughout Asia Minor during that reign of terror.
Now the “death wells” represents the continuation of the bloodshed and suppressed truths. After 96 years there are still unburied dead bodies to be searched for by means of excavations.
Yes, “All suppressed truths become poisonous,” said Nietzsche many, many years ago, but she continued: “- And let everything break up – which can be broken up by our truths! Many a house is still to be built!”
“This is the only way that would bring justice to our lives – I mean recognition of the damage done and making amends,” stated Ayse Günaysu in her report at “Legacy of the 1915 Genocide in the Ottoman Empire”.
