By: Xebat Baran
Oct 1, 2000
The Kurdistan Observer

The 20th century was the bloodiest century of mankind.  The blood started to shed with
Armenian Genocide, followed by WWI, WWII, Holocaust, Kurdistan, Rwanda and East
Timor.   The term "genocide" was invented in 1944 by Raphael Lemkin to describe the
systematic destruction of an entire people.  Mr. Lemkin illustrated the term by saying it was
"the sort of thing Hitler did to the Jews and the Turks did to the Armenians."

I was born in Turkish Kurdistan.  The village I was born did not have TV and other
luxurious items that our kids enjoy in the states today.   So, we grow up by  listening stories
from our grandparents.   My grandparents were two most influential people in my life.  They
used to tell us stories about their former neighbors, the Armenians.  They used to tell us how
they celebrated their Christian Armenian neighbors’ religious holidays  and their neighbors
celebrated their Muslim holidays.  They could still speak some Armenian words when I
remembered to talking to them in the late 1970s and early 1980s, about 65 years after their
neighbors perished.

Among the stories that I will never forget was the one about saving their Armenian neighbor.
When my grandparents heard that the soldiers were in the village to take away the Armenian
population, they struggled to find a way to save their neighbors.  The only idea they came
out with was to kill their horse and take the internal parts of the horse and give to dogs.
Then, they hid their neighbors in the horse’s body until soldiers left the village.

If the world opinion had taken serious steps with what Turks did to Armenian population at
the beginning of the century, there might not be Holocaust and other massacres.  Today,
Turks have committed similar crimes against Kurdish people.   For last two decades, about 4
million Kurds have became refugees internally because their villages and towns were burned
by our Cobra helicopters.  These refugees are twice the population of Kosova and four times
population of East Timor.  Tens of thousands of Kurds have been disappeared while in
detention or by state sponsored death squads.   Despite all the destruction of Turkish
Kurdistan by the Turkish military, another sale of 145 cobra helicopters is being discussed
currently.   Had Turkey been condemned with Armenian Genocide,  would she be able to get
American weapons to conduct another massacre against Kurds?  I do not believe so.

The Genocide of Armenian and the massacre of Kurds by the Turks have been dismissed on
the grounds that Turkey is our important strategic ally.  It is true that Turkey is a very
important friend in a troubled part of the world.
 
However, we should be consistent when we deal with genocide whether it is in Turkey or
Rwanda.

It is our moral obligation as the sole super power, to close the bloodiest century with all its
good and bads.  This chapter of our history can not be closed without recognizing the
massacre of Armenians at the beginning of the 20th century.  Therefore, the House
Resolution 398, the Armenian Genocide Resolution, which is currently in the International
Operations and Human Rights subcommittee of the House International Relations
Committee should be accepted to close this chapter of our history.

Sincerely,

Xebat Baran
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The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com

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