100 Years of Silence

Of the 2.6 million Greeks of Ottoman Turkey in 1914, over 700,000 additional Thracian and Anatolian Greeks were slaughtered, bringing the total Greek deaths to over one million.

Related: The Armenian Genocide

by Thea Halo, Author of Not Even My Name, and A Lid for Every Pot, painter, former WBAI news correspondent.
Huffington Post � May 20, 2015
h/t AINA

In the struggle between denial and silence, silence wins hands down. That is, silence wins out over denial if the genocide of a people is to be complete. For almost 100 years, Pontic Greeks have mourned the loss of the 353,000 fathers, mothers, grandparents, children, friends and community members who were slaughtered outright, or who died agonizing deaths on long death marches to expulsion from 1916 to 1923. My mother was among them. Of the 2.6 million Greeks of Ottoman Turkey in 1914, over 700,000 additional Thracian and Anatolian Greeks were slaughtered, bringing the total Greek deaths to over one million.

Although the Pontic Greeks had settled on the southern shores and in the mountains along the Black Sea since 875 B.C., and other Greeks had settled in Anatolia since 1200 B.C., over 2,000 years before the first Turkish tribes invaded, today it's difficult to find anyone who has heard of the Pontians or Anatolian Greeks, as if they never existed? Ditto for the Assyrians who had settlements in Asia minor dating back four thousand years before the genocide that took the lives of at least 275,000 Assyrians, more than half their population. As with the Pontic Greeks, until recently, it was rare to find anyone who knew Assyrians still existed in the modern world.


Armenian scholars rightfully criticize the Turkish government for the denial of the Armenian Genocide that took place 100 years ago. However, it's rarely mentioned that the first target of what, for many, has become know exclusively as The Armenian Genocide, began against the Greeks under Ottoman rule in Thrace in the spring of 1913, before the commencement of WWI, and then in the summer of 1914 against the Anatolian Greeks who lived along the western coast of Turkey. Boycotts against Greek shops and goods, massacres of Greeks in towns and villages -instigated by Young Turk propaganda - and conscription of Greek men into the dreaded labor battalions, where they were worked and starved to death, was responsible for hundreds of thousands of Greek deaths.

How did the Young Turks incite hatred against former neighbors? US Consul General George Horton, who was stationed at Smyrna from 1911 to 1917 and again from May 1919 to September 1922, reported that in the spring of 1914, the Aegean Coast Greeks were demonized to induce the Turkish population to destroy them. Horton wrote:

[V]iolent and inflammatory articles in the Turkish newspapers appeared unexpectedly and without any cause ... so evidently "inspired" by the authorities ... Cheap lithographs ... executed in the clumsiest and most primitive manner ... represented Greeks cutting up Turkish babies or ripping open pregnant Moslem women, and various purely imaginary scenes, founded on no actual events or even accusations elsewhere made. These were hung in the mosques and schools. ... and set the Turk to killing...

The sequence of events is noteworthy. U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau Sr., reported at the time that the Young Turks were so successful against the Greeks, that they decided to go after the other "races" as well... the Assyrians and Armenians. Just as Kristallnacht in Nazi Germany signaled the beginning of a full-blown genocide of the Jews, the pogroms against the Thracian and Anatolian Greeks signaled the beginning of a full-blown genocide of the Christians under Ottoman rule, Greeks, Assyrians, and Armenians.

In October 1914, the Assyrians were the next Christian people to be targeted through displacement, without care for their survival. In 1915, both Armenians and Assyrians were subjected to massacres and death marches to expulsion. In 1916, the Pontic Greeks along the Black Sea coast were targeted. Some Pontians were locked in churches and burned alive.

In June 1918, four months before the end of the Great War, the Chicago Daily Tribune reported that at least 1,000,000 Greek men, women, and children had perished as a result of organized massacres and deportations by "the Turco-Teutons" in Asiatic Turkey. On October 30, 1918, the Armistice of Mudros was signed, officially bringing Ottoman participation in the war to an end, but the massacres, death marches, and labor camp conscriptions continued. A New York Times Article dated December 8, 1918, affirms that:

(...) the Turkish authorities, despite Turkey's defeat, are pursuing a brutal attitude towards the Christian populations of the empire and are inciting the Ottoman people to fanatical outrages against the non-Moslems. (...) Many signs of organizing among the Turks for new massacres of Christians, and particularly Greeks, are noted.

While it's true that denial of this crime is unconscionable, denial has at least kept the memory of the Armenians in the minds, and hopefully the hearts, of the general public. However, where news and diplomatic reports were numerous at the time, today there is usually silence. Silence surrounding the Christian Genocide by the Ottoman and Kemalist regimes between 1913 and 1923 have, until now, rendered the genocide of the Greeks and Assyrians complete. In fact, for the general public, silence over the last 100 years has effectively erased all memory of Pontic Greeks and Assyrians, co-victims of the Armenians, as if they never existed.

Consul General of Greece, George Iliopoulos said at this year's May 19th Pontian Commemoration Ceremony at Bowling Green in NYC, "an atrocity can be forgiven, but should not be forgotten. Remorse is painful and demonstrates spiritual superiority. Forgetting... shows an inability to comprehend and accept history's lessons and demonstrates disrespect for the victims. It is also a form of complicity. We need not allow the world or Turkey to forget."

Senator Leonidas Raptakis joined with other Rhode Island senators to declare May 19th a day of solemn remembrance of the Pontian Genocide, and reminded the gathering at Bowling Green, that "it is vital and proper to those who lost their lives in the Pontian Genocide, and it is paramount that people of all nations look at this horrific event in our world's not-so-distant history as a way to learn a valuable lesson, so that such atrocities are not tolerated and are never committed again."

We could start with a U.S. Resolution that recognizes the genocide, not only of the Armenians, but of the 3 million Christians under Ottoman and Kemalist rule, Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks who were slaughtered by various means between 1913 and 1923, which brought four millennia of Christian presence in Turkey to a cruel and bitter end in a matter of 10 short years.

In 2007 the international Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), consisting of hundreds of genocide scholars, affirmed the Greek, Assyrian, and Armenian Genocides (AINA 2007-12-15), as did Sweden (2010) and the Netherlands (2015). The IAGS Resolution reads as follows:

WHEREAS the denial of genocide is widely recognized as the final stage of genocide,enshrining impunity for the perpetrators of genocide, and demonstrably paving the way for future genocides;

WHEREAS the Ottoman genocide against minority populations during and following the First World War is usually depicted as a genocide against Armenians alone, with little recognition of the qualitatively similar genocides against other Christian minorities of the Ottoman Empire;

BE IT RESOLVED that it is the conviction of the International Association of Genocide Scholars that the Ottoman campaign against Christian minorities of the Empire between 1914 and 1923 constituted a genocide against Armenians, Assyrians, and Pontian and Anatolian Greeks.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Association calls upon the government of Turkey to acknowledge the genocides against these populations, to issue a formal apology, and to take prompt and meaningful steps toward restitution.

For a personal account of the genocide of all three Christian peoples, see Not Even My Name.

Armenian Muslims Living in Turkey are Returning to Christianity

�Descendants of the Armenians who were forcibly converted to the faith of Prophet Muhammad have started realizing the significance of their nation�s history, and now they are returning by the dozens to their ancestral faith in Christ the Savior.�

Pravoslavie � May 21, 2015

(Istanbul, May 19, 2015)   

Armenians living in Turkey � descendants of the Christians who embraced Islam � are returning to the faith of their fathers in great numbers, reports the Linga news portal.

According to the famous Agos Armenian weekly newspaper published in Istanbul, the cases of conversion of Armenian Muslims to Christianity, which are becoming more frequent, indicate that they (Armenians) have preserved their ancestors� faith deep in their memory.

Specifically, it has been reported that on Saturday, May 9, clergy of the Turkish Church of St. Stephen baptized twelve Dersim Armenians. The latter, having learned about their true origin, accepted the Gospel message at once. Also most of the newly-baptized who joined the Armenian Church have decided to bless their family life by the sacrament of a Church wedding.

In the experts� view, this event is just one example of a large number of conversions of Turkish Armenians� descendants from Islam to Christianity: thus, Dr. Georgette Avakian in her interview with the portal noted that �descendants of the Armenians who were forcibly converted to the faith of Prophet Muhammad have started realizing the significance of their nation�s history, and now they are returning by the dozens to their ancestral faith in Christ the Savior�.

�There are many such examples. One case of particular resonance recently took place in Jerusalem, when a group of Turkish Muslims of Armenian origin came to the Holy Land in order to be baptized there in the Metropolis of the Armenian Apostolic Church. And that they fearlessly announced this in public is already extremely significant,� Avakian said in conclusion.

Metropolitan Hilarion: Terrorism And Extremism in the Middle East Continue Growing And Spreading Like a Plague

An illuminating discussion of the deadly threat of Islam to Christians and the civilized world, without ever specifically mentioning Islam. 

Highlights include:

• "If the whole world now fails to unite against this new terrible epidemic, the consequences may be irretrievable..."
• "Each country should be concerned by it because sooner or later it will come to its borders too."
• "Russia is a country which will cope... But Western Europe is not at all ready for it. People are too well-off there, too relaxed."

Pravmir � May 16, 2015

On May 2, 2015, Metropolitan Hilarion as presenter of the Church and the World TV program had as his guest the chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society Sergey Stepashin.

Metropolitan Hilarion: Good afternoon, dear brothers and sisters. Christ is Risen! In these Paschal days, the mental eyes of many Orthodox faithful are directed to the Holy Land, the places where our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ lived on earth. Today we will speak about the Holy Land, the Middle East and Palestine with the chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society Sergey Stepashin. Good afternoon, Sergey Vadimovich.

S. Stepashin: Good afternoon, Your Eminence.

Metropolitan Hilarion: Christ is risen!

S. Stepashin: He is truly risen!

Among the main tasks of the Imperial Palestine Society is a serious, thorough and sometimes very dangerous work in the Middle East. I may start with Syria as the most problematic region today, as this country is very close to us in its Christian traditions. Today all the peoples in Syria are going through a very difficult period and Christians have proved to be in the most terrible situation.

Recently we have marked the centenary of the Armenian genocide. You know that the Armenian Church has canonized over a million citizens who were killed in the genocide. I believe today we have a full right to say that what is happening in the Middle East, too, is a Christian genocide.

The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society is doing everything possible for it to give humanitarian aid to all the victims of this terrible tragedy. We have already sent some 12 cargoes to Syria. It is free aid; we have collected it throughout our Russian world. People gave out whatever they could. I would like to thank the Emergency Ministry and the Syrian Airlines for the assistance they gave.

Another important point is that the world community has at last begun speaking about the problems of the Middle East. Especially important today are statements made at international forums including in the UN about the discrimination and persecution against Christians In spite of the fact that international organizations have different attitudes to Russia, we have been heard for the first time and not only on the Geneva and New York platforms. For the first time in the history of the UN Security Council it was on our initiative jointly with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov that the problem of the protection of Christianity and the situation of Christians in the Middle East was raised at a meeting of the UN Security Council.

Metropolitan Hilarion: We have been working together with you in this area for many years now. Only a few years ago when we spoke out loud on behalf of our Church about what was happening to Christians in the Middle East, the West preferred not to hear us. I remember speaking at a meeting of the UN Third Committee in New York in which about 150 countries were represented. I cited statistics and facts but got full silence in response and a very clear impression that the Western world did not wish to hear about the tragedy of Christians unfolding before our eyes.

Yes, something has begun really changing of late, and if before only Islamophobia and anti-Semitism were discussed and resolutions only this issue were adopted at international platforms, now the persecution against Christians is discussed for the first time. But it began only after in several Middle East countries the so-called �Arab Spring�, inspired not from within but from outside the Arab world, led in fact to the extermination of Christianity.

Only a little over ten years ago in Iraq there were about one million and a half Christians. Now nobody knows exactly how many of them are left there. Various estimates are given from one to four hundred thousand. Most of the Iraqi Christian were either killed or had to leave their homeland. There are almost no Christians left in Libya, where there used to be about one hundred thousand. Tragic events took place for several years in Egypt. Now we can see what has been going in Syria for already several years, where the so-called opposition (actually uncontrolled bands of militants) with the support of Western countries have systematically wiped out the Christian population and the Christian heritage.

All this is taking place before the eyes of the civilized world. And only after videos of mass executions appeared in the Internet, the persecution against Christians began to be voiced at last in Europe and generally in the West. By that time however, dozens and hundreds of people had been already killed and millions had become roofless. And we can no longer wait and limit ourselves only to talks, for resolute actions are needed here and now.

The humanitarian aid given by the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society in the Middle East to people who have found themselves in the situation of humanitarian disaster. And the 12 humanitarian convoys sent to Syria at the Society�s initiative have helped many people, not only Christians but Muslims as well.

S. Stepashin: There is still another task before us, which, to be frank, is seriously complicated by the war situation. You know that the decision was made to build a Russian school in Damascus, the first one after 1914. There is an agreement with the leaders of the country and there are resources, but we will see how the situation will develop.

I should say that last year the Syrian leaders decided (as was announced during a meeting with President Assad) to introduce the compulsory study of the Russian language for all the Syrian schoolchildren. I believe such support is very important too. Today we are engaged in broadening the possibilities for Syrian young people to study in our universities. Immediately upon my arrival from Syria, I had meetings with both the minister of education and leaders of major universities including the rector of Moscow University. I believe it is very important.

I would like to once again emphasize however that it is important that we are heard now. It is important that our voice should be increasingly heard at international arenas in the UN, Geneva, New York, Moscow and in the Middle East. In this respect, I would like to thank our Russian Orthodox Church, with which our Society is inseparable, and the Patriarch of Antioch, a courageous man whose brother was captured by bandits and whose fate is still unknown.

It is high time for us all, not only Orthodox people, not only Christians, but all who love their land, who love peace and respect people, to think over these problems.

Metropolitan Hilarion: A few years ago I was asked to receive a delegation of the so-called Syrian opposition, though it is not the Church�s business of course to interfere in political conflicts. I met with these people and had a talk with them. But for a whole hour I could not see who they actually represent and what they can influence. During a single talk I heard various names and the names of various organizations. Now they said they were not linked with the army in any way, now they were a political wing of the so-called Syrian Liberation Army. All in all, it was difficult to understand.

It seems to me that now in the West there is an understanding that it is too risky to stake on little-controllable people. Actually, what is the result of the support that was given to extremist forces in the Middle East? The result is that terrorism and extremist continue growing and spreading in the Middle East like a plague. And the Western world no longer knows what to do.

Not long ago a resolution was adopted concerning exactly the situation of Christians. It was initiated by Russia, the Vatican and Lebanon. It is a timely resolution but it is time to move from words to deeds. We cannot simply limit ourselves to resolutions and a statement of the fact that it is really a Christian genocide. It is one thing to reflect on centenary-old events and it is quite another thing to see a tragedy unfolding before our own eyes. It is difficult to believe that Western powers, who posses powerful arms and a powerful system of surveillance and intelligence, have not enough resources to stop this �black plague�.

S. Stepashin: An example from another plane. This year we mark the 70th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War. Let us remember who it were who led Hitler to power � the same West, the same North American states. Until the Nazi infection had struck the whole Europe, the efforts to unite failed, but eventually they succeeded.

What is going on in Saudi Arabia and Yemen? I do not at all welcome their actions from the point of view of a possible result, but as soon a tight situation developed at the border they immediately united and now have the full support including financial from the USA.

You are quite right � we should work together, first of all, the European countries � France, Germany, Italy, who are the destination of an enormous number of refugees including from Ethiopia. The situation has already spread to it. The military component should be put in action at some time, for sure under a resolution of the UN Security Council, but the most important thing is to stop the support, as it is evident indeed where money, arms and military specialists come from. I have an experience of the first Chechen campaign. I fought in it, and we know who supported it � the same people who, later in 2001, hit the towers in New York.

I would like to stress once again that today we in our focus on Ukraine � our pain, our common disaster because ours are there too � should not ignore the terrible tragedy, the plague that can sweep over the whole world in the 21st century. It is really a satanic plague, I fully agree with you.

Metropolitan Hilarion: That is why the consolidated action of the whole civilized world is so important today.

S. Stepashin: Yes, you met with the Pope of Rome, and our Society�s leader made an official visit to Rome. The Pope supported us both officially and publicly. It is also a good precedent.

Metropolitan Hilarion: The stand taken by the Holy See on such international problems as Ukraine and the Middle East is very close to ours. And here we have no differences in essence.

We are well aware that if the whole world now fails to unite against this new terrible epidemic, the consequences may be irretrievable. First, no Christians may be left in the Middle East. And this will be a real civilizational geopolitical tragedy because the Middle East is the cradle of Christianity, the place where Christians have lived for two thousand years. Secondly, it will open a further access to the whole world for the forces which have already manifested their aggressiveness. I believe each country should be concerned by it because sooner or later it will come to its borders too.

S. Stepashin: Quite right. Perhaps some will disagree with me but Russia is a country which will cope. We are accustomed to cope. We have endured the Caucasus tragedy and held out. But Western Europe is not at all ready for it. People are too well-off there, too relaxed.

I think the awareness of it is coming. First of all in France, where there is now a fairly large number of people who have escaped from other countries, who live and work there and who hold views quite different from Christian ones � just civilized people. You are absolutely right.

We should always seek points of contact rather than division.

Metropolitan Hilarion: Quite right.

S. Stepashin: It is exactly what can bring us seriously together at this stage. It is not accidental that the theme of today�s program in these Paschal days is a serious problem in our world which should be resolved.

Metropolitan Hilarion: Thank you very much, Sergey Vadimovich, for all that you do in the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society to relieve the situation of those who have found themselves in a critical situation, in the situation of humanitarian disaster in the Middle East.

What is an Armenian Christian?

An introduction to the First Nation to adopt Christianity, in 301 A.D.

See also: 

• Armenian Genocide Resource Page
• What is an Assyrian Christian?

What is an Armenian Christian?

by Anton C. Vrame, Ph.D.

Director, Department of Religious Education

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

April 25, 2015

The Armenian Genocide Memorial and Museum

On April 24, 1915, Ottoman authorities arrested 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople. They were sent to Chankri and Ayash (cities in central Anatolia), where they were later slain. For this reason, April 24 marks the beginning of the Armenian Genocide, where it is estimated between 1 and 1.5 million people were killed (http://www.armenian-genocide.org/). Many American cities, especially those with sizeable Armenian populations such as Boston, will be marking the 100th anniversary with prayer and vigil, but also the continued effort to have these mass killings recognized around the world as the first genocide of the 20^th century (http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/04/22/centennial-genocide-sharpens-grief-for-local-armenians/wDHsRDW0LPfGJco5vBBPiO/story.html). 

Today (April 24, 2015) in Yerevan, Armenia, the Armenian Church canonized the victims as saints.

The Ottomans also singled out other minority communities at this time, including the Greek Orthodox and Assyrian Christian. Many Greek Orthodox readers of this article may trace their roots to Anatolia and the population exchanges in the 1920s between Greece and Turkey.

Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity, in 301 AD, but Tradition holds that St. Thaddeus, one of the twelve Apostles of Christ, preached there in the first century. The Armenian Church did not accept the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon, 451, (the Fourth Ecumenical Council) and subsequent councils. This early schism in Christianity has yet to be reconciled, although great progress has been made in the last fifty years.

What do Armenian Christians believe? Space prohibits a detailed examination, but some brief statements (From Welcome to the Armenian Church, published by St. Vartan Press of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, Eastern), we find the following:

• The faith, doctrine, and dogma of the Armenian Church are based on the Apostolic teachings, Holy Tradition, and the written Word of God.

• The prime doctrinal dogma of the Holy Trinity defines God as One in three persons.

• The Nicene Creed is the main statement of faith.

• Only three church councils are accepted as ecumenical (Nicaea 325, Constantinople, 381, and Ephesus 431).

• There are seven sacraments: Baptism; Chrismation; Eucharist; Confession; Marriage; Holy Orders; and Anointing of the Sick.

• The Virgin Mary is venerated as the Mother of God.

• Armenian and non-Armenian saints are commemorated throughout the year.

• In the liturgical year, there are five major feasts: Nativity and Theophany (Jan 6), Easter, Transfiguration, Assumption of Mary, and Exaltation of the Holy Cross. These are the oldest of Christian liturgical feasts. For example, celebrating Nativity in December did not emerge in Christianity until the late fourth century in the Roman Empire. The Armenians, not being part of the Roman Empire, had no reason to adopt the holiday.

• In the Divine Liturgy (the Badarak), the Church believes that the bread and wine truly become the Body and Blood of Christ. People receiving Holy Communion will fast before. The liturgy itself traces its origins to the 4^th century and is attributed to St. Gregory Nazianzus. 

As can be seen from these statements, there is a very close affinity between the Eastern (Greek, Russian, Antiochian, etc.) Orthodox and the Armenian Church (which is considered one of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, along with Coptic, Ethiopian and others). Since the 1960s, representatives of the two families of Orthodox Churches have been meeting regularly to heal the schism from the fifth century. In 1997, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said about this relationship, 

�So often, we have seen that we hold the greater part of the theological tradition of our two Churches in common. That which unites us, is greater than that which divides us. Indeed, those things that divide us can be said to be external historical and human factors, which have hindered the rapprochement of our Churches. Certainly, difference of faith over even one teaching makes union impossible, but we hope that the correct and true acceptance of all the teachings of the undivided Church will be one day established.�

Raymond Ibrahim: 'The Islamic Genocide of Christians: Past and Present'

"There is no denying that religion � or in this context, the age-old specter of Muslim persecution of Christian minorities � was fundamental to the genocide of Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians... This is daily demonstrated throughout the Islamic world today, where Muslim governments, mobs, and jihadis persecute Christian minorities � minorities who share the same ethnicity, language, and culture as Muslims, but not religion."

by Raymond Ibrahim � April 26, 2015

Last Friday, April 24, we remembered how exactly 100 years ago the last historic Muslim caliphate, the Ottoman Empire, tried to cleanse its empire of Christian minorities � Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks � even as we stand by watching as the new caliphate, the Islamic State, resumes the genocide.

And in both cases, the atrocities were and are being committed in the name of Islam.

In November, 1914, during WWI, the Ottoman caliphate issued a fatwa, or Islamic decree, proclaiming it a �sacred duty� for all Muslims to �massacre� infidels � specifically naming the �Christian men� of the Triple Entente, �the enemies of Islam� � with promises of great rewards in the afterlife.

The same Koran verses that the Islamic State and other jihadi outfits regularly quote permeated the Ottoman fatwa, including:  �Slay the idolaters wherever you find them � seize them, besiege them, and be ready to ambush them� (9:5) and �O you who have believed! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are but friends of each other; and whoever among you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them� (5:51) � and several other verses that form the Islamic doctrine of Loyalty and Enmity.

Many Muslims still invoke this doctrine; it commands Muslims to befriend and aid fellow Muslims, while having enmity for all non-Muslims (one Islamic cleric even teaches that Muslim husbands must hate their non-Muslim wives, while enjoying them sexually).

As happens to this very day, the Muslims of the Ottoman caliphate, not able to reach or defeat the stronger infidel � the �Christian men� of Britain, France, and Russia � satiated their bloodlust on their Christian subjects.  And they justified the genocide by projecting the Islamic doctrine of Loyalty and Enmity onto Christians � saying that, because Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks were Christian, they were naturally aiding the other �Christian men� of the West.

As happens to this day under the new caliphate � the Islamic State � the Ottoman caliphate crucified, beheaded, tortured, mutilated, raped, enslaved, and otherwise massacred countless �infidel� Christians.  The official number of Armenians killed in the genocide is 1.5 million; hundreds of thousands of Greeks and Assyrians each were also systematically slaughtered (see this document for statistics).

[See also The Orthodox Christian Holocaust, 1894-Present, with data compiled by Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes.]

(Although people often speak of the �Armenian Genocide,� often forgotten is that Assyrians and Greeks were also targeted for cleansing by the Ottoman caliphate.   The only thing that distinguished Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek subjects of the caliphate from Turkish subjects was that the three former were Christian.  As one Armenian studies professor asks, �If it [the Armenian Genocide] was a feud between Turks and Armenians, what explains the genocide carried out by Turkey against the Christian Assyrians at the same time?�)

Henry Morgenthau, the U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire and personal witness of the atrocities, attested that �I am confident that the whole history of the human race contains no such horrible episode as this.�   He added that what the Turks were doing was �a carefully planned scheme to thoroughly extinguish the Armenian race.�  In 1918, Morgenthau wrote in Red Cross Magazine:

Will the outrageous terrorizing, the cruel torturing, the driving of women into the harems, the debauchery of innocent girls, the sale of many of them at eighty cents each [today the Islamic State sells enslaved Christians and  Yazidis for as little as $43], the murdering of hundreds of thousands and the deportation to, and starvation in, the deserts of other hundreds of thousands, the destruction of hundreds of villages and cities, will the willful execution of this whole devilish scheme to annihilate the Armenian, Greek and Syrian [or Assyrian] Christians of Turkey  �  will all this go unpunished?

Because this genocide of Christians is usually articulated through a singularly secular paradigm � one that recognizes only those factors deemed intelligible from a modern Western point of view, one that never uses the words �Christian� and �Muslim� but rather �Armenian� and �Turk� � few are able to connect these events from a century ago to today.

War, of course, is another factor that clouds the true face of the genocide.  Because it occurred during WWI, so the argument goes, it is ultimately a reflection of just that � war, in all its chaos and destruction, and nothing more.  This has been the stance of all successive Turkish governments. Turkish President Erdogan, who staunchly denies that his ancestors committed genocide against Christians by arguing that they were just wartime casualties, also absurdly accused China of committing �genocide� in 2009, when less than 100 Muslim Uighurs were killed in clashes with Chinese security.

War was � and, as shall be seen, still is � a pretext to sate jihadi barbarity.  Winston Churchill, who described the genocide as an �administrative holocaust,� correctly observed that �the opportunity [of World War I] presented itself for clearing Turkish soil of a Christian race.�  Talaat Pasha, one of the Ottoman Empire�s �dictatorial triumvirate� during WWI, pointed out that �Turkey is taking advantage of the war in order to thoroughly liquidate its internal foes, i.e., the indigenous Christians, without being thereby disturbed by foreign intervention.�

A century later, consider how Christian minorities today are still being systematically decapitated, crucified, tortured, raped, and enslaved � also under the pretext of war.  In every Arab nation the U.S. has helped oust (secular) autocrats � Iraq, Libya, Syria � indigenous Christian minorities have been massacred by the jihadi elements that were once contained by Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, and Bashar Assad (read here for details).

The Islamic State�s recent slaughter of some 30 Christian Ethiopians in Libya � and two months earlier, 21 Christian Egyptians � is merely the latest serving of Christian persecution in post �Arab Spring� Libya.

Nor is this limited to the Arab world.  In Muslim-majority northern Nigeria, Muslims, spearheaded by the Islamic organization Boko Haram, are waging a savage jihad on the Christian minorities in their midst.  Boko Haram�s stated goal is to cleanse northern Nigeria of all Christians � a goal that should be reminiscent by now.

But even in non-war-torn nations, from Indonesia in the east to Morocco in the west, from Central Asia in the north, to sub-Sahara Africa � in lands of different races, colors, languages, politics and economics, in lands that share only a Muslim majority � Christians are, to varying degrees, being eradicated.  Indeed, in Turkey today, even indigenous Turks who convert to Christianity are regularly persecuted and sometimes slaughtered in the name of Islam. See my book, Crucified Again: Exposing Islam�s New War on Christians, for a comprehensive account of what may eventually culminate into the Genocide of the 21st century.

There is no denying that religion � or in this context, the age-old specter of Muslim persecution of Christian minorities � was fundamental to the genocide of Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians.  Even the most cited factor, ethnic identity conflict, while legitimate, must be understood in light of the fact that, historically, religion sometimes accounted more for a person�s identity than language or heritage � certainly it did for Muslims, in context of Loyalty and Enmity.   This is daily demonstrated throughout the Islamic world today, where Muslim governments, mobs, and jihadis persecute Christian minorities � minorities who share the same ethnicity, language, and culture as Muslims, but not religion � often in retaliation to the West (just as the Ottomans, as seen, were also �retaliating� to the Triple Entente).

Finally, to understand how the Ottoman Genocide of Christians is representative of the modern-day plight of Christians under Islam in general, the Islamic State in particular, one need only read the following words written in 1918 by President Theodore Roosevelt � but read �Armenian� as �Christian� and �Turkish� as �Islamic�:

The Armenian [Christian] massacre was the greatest crime of the war, and the failure to act against Turkey [the Islamic world] is to condone it� the failure to deal radically with the Turkish [Islamic] horror means that all talk of guaranteeing the future peace of the world is mischievous nonsense.

Indeed, if we �fail to deal radically� with the �horror� currently being visited upon millions of Christians around the Islamic world � which in some areas has reached genocidal proportions according to the United Nations � we �condone it� and had better cease talking �mischievous nonsense� of a utopian world of peace and tolerance.

Put differently, silence is always the ally of those who would commit genocide.  In 1939, on the eve of World WWII, Hitler rationalized his genocidal plans against the Jews, when he reportedly asked: �Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?�

And who speaks today of the ongoing annihilation of Christians under Islam?

Pictures from the Ceremony held at the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex

Courtesy of OCP Media, April 24, 2015

Many more photos and links to additional sources at OCP Media.

'Sacrificing and Sacrificed for the Faith' � Martyrdom a Hundred Years Ago and Today

"...The history of the Christians in the Middle East is a story whose roots go back to creation, to the account in the Book of Genesis about the first crime committed in history, Cain�s murder of his brother Abel..."

Here is a striking theological look at Islam's unending war against Christians. It is clear that symbolically, Righteous Abel represents the humble, pious and forgiving Christians, who offer "a more excellent sacrifice" than the degenerate Cain, who represents Islam and Muslims, who "attack true worship and brotherhood." In Metropolitan Siluan's words,

"Cain irremediably attacks both existential dimensions of his life, the vertical and horizontal when he attacks true worship and brotherhood. On the other hand, in his person Abel saves, �offering up and offered by faith,� true worship and sacrifice to God. Furthermore, God accepts Abel�s offering and receives him as a sacrifice."

Related:

• Centennial of the Armenian Genocide � Special Resource Page
• The Orthodox Christian Holocaust: 1894 to the Present
• Second Anniversary of the Kidnapping of Archbishops Paul and John
• Armenian Church canonizes victims of Ottoman genocide

by Metropolitan Siluan of Buenos Aires and All Argentina
Notes on Arab Orthodoxy via Pravmir � April 26, 2015

�By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.� (Hebrews 11:4)

The Christian East continues in the footsteps of its Master, sacrificing and in turn being sacrificed upon the altar of martyrdom, �A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master� (Matthew 10:24). This offering-martyrdom is the cup from which many of our brothers have drank and currently drink, confirming the words of the Lord to James and John on the threshold of His passion, �You will indeed drink My cup� (Matthew 20:23).

It is clear that the history of the Christians in the Middle East is at once painful and glorious. It is painful on account of the great pain and suffering that they experience on earth and glorious on account of the dignity and grace that they receive in heaven. It is a story whose roots go back to creation, to the account in the Book of Genesis about the first crime committed in history, Cain�s murder of his brother Abel (Genesis 4:8). From his point of view, Cain sacrifices on the altar of his degeneracy God and his brother. Thus, Cain irremediably attacks both existential dimensions of his life, the vertical and horizontal when he attacks true worship and brotherhood. 

On the other hand, in his person Abel saves, �offering up and offered by faith�, true worship and sacrifice to God. Furthermore, God accepts Abel�s offering and receives him as a sacrifice. Later, when he recalls this episode, the Apostle Paul highlights Abel�s faith and its impact even until today: �By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.� (Hebrews 11:4)

Today the voice of Abel echoes loudly as the Christians of the East in general and the Middle East in particular commemorate the atrocities perpetrated against their communities at the end of the Ottoman Empire, from 1915 onward. According to historians, a policy of methodical extermination, without precedent in history, was carried out at the hands of the Turks, causing the martyrdom of some five million Christians � Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Armenians and Orthodox: men, women and children. 

Thus this week the Armenian Church and the Syriac Orthodox Church are celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and the Sayfo on April 24 and April 19, respectively. While our Patriarchate has not declared a hundredth anniversary� although doing so would be justified by the more than two million Orthodox martyrs (Syrians, Lebanese and Greeks)� we stand united with all Christians in this expression of faith and memory, as it is the same scenario that is repeating itself and occurring today to the Christians in the Middle East.

For these reasons, our Patriarch His Beatitude John X of Antioch along with his brothers His Beatitude Ephrem II, patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church; His Beatitude Theodoros II, patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church; and His Beatitude Cardinal Bishara Rai, patriarch of the Maronite Church; among others, are participating in the commemorations being held in Armenia to mark the hundredth anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

We are convinced that, without recognition of what happened in 1915 and its traits which continue until today, and without a clear, concrete and genuine commitment on the part of the great and regional powers, to prioritize and adopt the voice of Abel over that of Cain and to work effectively in this direction, it is impossible to prevent the altar of Cain from once more being filled with other sacrifices. No one is convinced by this abomination of humanity or the absence at the global level of political ability and determination to put an end to this disastrous, inhuman escalation that goes against all reason and logic, as well as against basic human rights.

Therefore, today the 22nd of April, the point between both anniversaries, the date on which we remember the two archbishops of Aleppo, His Eminence Archbishop Youhanna (Ibrahim) and His Eminence Paul (Yazigi), who were kidnapped in Syria on April 22, 2013, we struggle so that such atrocities will never happen again because we are seriously worried by the silent and progressive extermination of the Christian presence in the Middle East, an act accompanied by political indifference, hypocracy [sic] and a complicit international silence.

In the light of the Paschal season that we are experiencing, we understand that in all of this the attitude of everyone is critical: �And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God� (John 3:19-21).

Therefore, we raise our prayer for peace and for peaceful and harmonious coexistence between all who have lived in that land for centuries, praying that the Lord will illumine the conscience and actions of all those who can bring a light of His resurrection to this frenzied situation in order to put a stop to it and to restore all for the benefit of humanity above any interest or material benefit.

Churches in Turkey on the Verge of Extinction

"Turkey... has largely succeeded in destroying the entire Christian cultural heritage of Asia Minor."

Related: 

• Qur�an read inside Hagia Sophia for the first time in 85 years
• Ninth Hagia Sophia Church converted into mosque
• Muslim Prayers at Hagia Sophia: A Sign Calling Us to Repent

by Uzay Bulut

Gatestone Institute via Raymond Ibrahim � April 21, 2015

While Eastern Orthodox Christians recently celebrated their Easter holy week, a historic church in Istanbul � the once magnificent Christian city of Constantinople � is witnessing yet another abuse at the hands of its current authorities.

�The historic Istanbul cathedral and museum, Hagia Sophia, witnessed its first Quran recitation under its roof after 85 years Saturday,� reported the state-run Anatolian News Agency of Turkey. �The Religious Affairs Directorate launched the exhibition �Love of Prophet,� as part of commemorations of the birth of Islamic Prophet Muhammad.�

Even though Christians are a tiny minority in Turkey today, Christianity has a long history in Asia Minor, the birthplace of many Christian Apostles and Saints, including Paul of Tarsus, Timothy, Nicholas of Myra, and Polycarp of Smyrna.

All of the first seven Ecumenical Councils were held in what is today Turkey. Two out of the five centers (Patriarchates) of the ancient Pentarchy � Constantinople (Istanbul) and Antioch (Antakya) � are also situated there. Antioch was the place where, for the first time, the followers of Jesus were called �Christians.�

Turkey is also home to the Seven Churches of Asia, where were sent the Revelations to John. During the centuries that followed, countless churches were established throughout the region.

One of them, Hagia Sophia, was once the grandest cathedral in the Christian world � until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans on May 29, 1453, followed by a three days of unbridled pillage.[1]

Hagia Sophia was not exempt. Pillagers made their way to the Hagia Sophia and battered down its doors. Trapped in the church, congregants and refugees became spoils to be divided among the Ottoman invaders.

The historian Steven Runciman writes in The Fall of Constantinople, 1453:

�They slew everyone that they met in the streets, men, women and children without discrimination. The blood ran in rivers down the steep streets from the heights of Petra towards the Golden Horn. But soon the lust for slaughter was assuaged. The soldiers realized that captives and precious objects would bring them greater profit.�[2]

After the fall of the city, the Hagia Sophia Church was converted into a mosque.

A mosque with the name Hagia Sophia (in Greek ???a S?f?a, �Holy Wisdom�) is possible if the church is brought under the control of an Islamic theocracy. It is like having a mosque called �the Armenian Mosque of the Holy Cross�.

In the 1930s, the Turkish government made it into a museum. But turning a church into a museum is also not a trait of a truly democratic state. One of the common features of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey seems to be their intolerance of churches.

In 2013, Turkey�s Deputy Prime Minister, Bulent Arinc, expressed his hope to see the Hagia Sophia Museum be used as a mosque, and even referred to it as the �Hagia Sophia Mosque.�

�Turkey is not converting churches into mosques because there is a need for more mosques, and Turkey does not have the resources to build them,� wrote Constantine Tzanos. �The message conveyed by those in Turkey who have achieved the conversion of Christian churches into mosques and demand the conversion of Hagia Sofia is that Turkey is an Islamic state and no other religion is tolerated.�

In November 2014, Pope Francis paid the fourth ever visit of a Pope to Turkey. Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Tanju Bilgic told reporters that during the trip, the issue of an �alliance of civilizations, dialogue between cultures, xenophobia, the fight against racism and political developments in the region� would be on the agenda.

The agenda of Pope Francis should actually have included the churches of Turkey that have been destroyed, damaged or converted into many things, including stables � like the historical Armenian Gregoryan Church in the province of Izmir (Smyrna). �Some citizens put their cows and horses inside the church, while the inhabitants of the neighborhood complain that the church has been turned into a site of drug addicts and alcoholics,� reported the newspaper Milliyet.

Another victim of Turkey�s intolerance of churches, the Agios Theodoros Byzantine Church in Istanbul, was first converted into a mosque during the rule of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II; it was named after Mollah Gurani, the fourth Sheikh-ul-Islam (the authority that governed religious affairs of the Muslims in the Ottoman Empire).

It was reported in March 2014 that the entrance area of the former church-mosque has become a �house,� and its upper story turned into a �flat.� A shanty has been built inside its garden. The priest�s room is now a toilet.

Centuries later, the habits of Ottoman Turks seem not to have changed.

Today, Turkey has less Christians as a percentage of its population than any of its neighbors � less than Syria, Iraq and Iran. The greatest cause of this was the Assyrian, Armenian and Greek slaughters or genocides between 1915 and 1923.

At least 2.5 million indigenous Christians of Asia Minor were killed � either massacred outright, or victims of deportations, slave labor or death marches. Many of them died in concentration camps of diseases or starvation.

Many Greeks who survived the slaughter were driven from their homes in Asia Minor in the 1923 forcible population exchange between Turkey and Greece.

The physical devastation was followed by a cultural devastation. Throughout the history of the Turkish Republic, countless Christian churches and schools have been destroyed or turned into mosques, storehouses and stables, among other things.

The columnist Raffi Bedrosyan reported in the Armenian Weekly that

�There are only 34 churches and 18 schools left in Turkey today, mostly in Istanbul, with about less than 3,000 students in these schools.� [�]

�Recent research pegs the number of Armenian churches in Turkey before 1915 at around 2,300. The number of schools before 1915 is estimated at nearly 700, with 82,000 students. These numbers are only for churches and schools under the jurisdiction of the Istanbul Armenian Patriarchate and the Apostolic Church, and therefore do not include the numerous churches and schools belonging to the Protestant and Catholic Armenian parishes.�

Walter Flick, a scholar with the International Society for Human Rights in Germany, says that the Christian minority in Turkey does not enjoy the same rights as the Muslim majority.

�Turkey has almost 80 million inhabitants,� he said. �There are only around 120,000 Christians, which is less than 1 percent of the population. Christians are certainly seen as second-class citizens. A real citizen is Muslim, and those who aren�t Muslim are seen as suspicious.�

According to a 2014 survey, 89% of the Turkish population said that what defines a nation is belonging to a certain religion. Among the 38 countries that participated in the question of if belonging to a specific religion [Islam] is important in defining the concept of a nation, Turkey, with 89% of its population agreeing, ranked number one in the world. [3]

�In some ways, Ankara�s policies against Turkey�s Christian citizens have added a modern veneer and sophisticated brutality to Ottoman norms and practices,� wrote political scientist Dr. Elizabeth H. Prodromou and historian Dr. Alexandros K. Kyrou. �In the words of an anonymous Church hierarch in Turkey fearful for the life of his flock, Christians in Turkey are an endangered species.�

On April 4, 1949, the signers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Washington D.C. announced: �The Parties to this Treaty reaffirm their faith in the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and their desire to live in peace with all peoples and all governments. They are determined to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilisation of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law. They seek to promote stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area. They are resolved to unite their efforts for collective defence and for the preservation of peace and security.�

Being part of the European Union and NATO requires respecting the Jewish, Christian, Hellenic and secular humanist values that have characterized Western Civilization, and contributed to civil rights, democracy, philosophy and science, from which everyone can benefit.

Sadly, Turkey, a NATO member since 1952 and reportedly a candidate for membership in the European Union, has largely succeeded in destroying the entire Christian cultural heritage of Asia Minor. 

All this is reminiscent of what ISIS and other jihadist armies have been doing in the Middle East. In Turkey, the remaining Christian population, the grandchildren of genocide survivors, are still exposed to discrimination. The old habits of Ottoman Turks do not seem to die.

Uzay Bulut, born a Muslim, is a Turkish journalist based in Ankara.

_______

NOTES:

[1] Runciman, Steven (1965). The Fall of Constantinople, 1453. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[2] Ibid.

[3] In 2014, Professor Ersin Kalaycioglu of Sabanci University and Professor Ali ?Carkoglu of Koc University conducted a survey, �Nationalism in Turkey and ?in the world,� based on interviews with Turkish citizens ?above the age of 18 in 64 cities across Turkey. �So according to [Turkish] citizens in the streets, a Turk is the one who is a Muslim,� said Prof. Carkoglu.

Pictures of Armenian Genocide Centennial Rallies Throughout the World

Photographic coverage of global commemorations of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

Visit our special Armenian Genocide Resource Page...

Flags of the victims of the genocide:

Armenian, Assyrian, Greek (L to R)

AINA � April 25, 2015

"We have made a clean sweep of the Armenians and Assyrians of Azerbaijan" -- Those were the words of Djevdet Bey, the governor of Van Province in Ottoman Turkey, who on April 24, 1915 lead 20,000 Turkish soldiers and 10,000 Kurdish irregulars in the opening act of the genocide of Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks.

Between 1915 and 1918 750,000 Assyrians (75%), 500,000 Greeks and 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks and Kurds in a genocide that aimed at and nearly succeeded in destroying the Christian communities in the Ottoman Empire.

One of numerous photos from the huge rally in Chicago...

Today is the centennial anniversary of the genocide. Rallies were held in dozens of cities throughout the world by Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks.

More than two dozen countries have recognized the genocide, but Turkey continues to deny it, claiming that the victims were "casualties of war."

AINA has many more photos here.

See Assyrian Genocide 100 for more coverage of the centennial anniversary of the genocide.

My favorite, the enormous rally in Beirut, Lebanon.

Kurds acknowledge the Armenian Genocide and their role in it

Obama sides with the Turks who "have been trying to erase the genocide from history, shortly after they gave up trying to erase the Armenians from history."

Visit our special Armenian Genocide Resource Page...

by John Hayward, Breitbart News � April 24, 2015

Mourners at the Armenian Genocide Memorial Museum (REUTERS)

The hundredth anniversary of the Armenian genocide caused many world leaders to blink, notably President Barack Obama, who abandoned his old campaign promises�and fiery criticism of the Bush administration�by refusing to acknowledge it. Much of this moral cowardice emanates from Western politicians who wish to curry favor with the Turkish government. The Turks have been trying to erase the genocide from history, shortly after they gave up trying to erase the Armenians from history.

Kurdish leaders, however, have been frank in acknowledging the genocide, and the role their own people played as soldiers of the Ottoman Empire. Turkish journalist Uzay Bulut took a long look at the Kurdish recognition, and the desire of Turkish writers to break ranks with their government and acknowledge the past, for International Business Times.

Bulut lays out the background of the Kurds living under Ottoman rule and serving in its military. �During the 1915 genocide, some Kurdish tribes were also exploited and encouraged by the Turkish Ottoman regime to attack the deportation caravans of Armenians,� she writes. �However, it should be noted that there were many cases where Kurds refused to attack the Armenians and rescued them from certain death.�

Kurdish leaders are not soft-pedaling the former to emphasize the latter. �Without hesitation, I recognize the Armenian genocide,� said Selahattin Demirtas, co-chair of the Peoples� Democrat Party.

Demirtas added that �everybody, including the Kurds� was involved, but responsibility lies with those who gave the orders, meaning the Ottoman regime. He rejected the official Turkish history that treats the genocide as nothing worse than a severe battlefield defeat for the Armenians�or, worse, an auto-genocide�and noted that since the current Turkish government is eager to claim the Ottoman legacy in other contexts, they should acknowledge the genocide, as well. �As long as such problems are not resolved in Turkey, democracy will never prevail in this country,� he warned.

Totalitarians of every stripe are keen on controlling historical memory; they seek to shape the future by rearranging the foundation of the past. The amount of thought control and speech suppression required to replace memory with official �history� is incompatible with democracy. Bulut illustrates that point at the end of her article by noting that the Turkish penal code is often invoked to silence dissidents under the aegis of avenging �insults� to Turkey or its current government. These laws have been used to crush honest discussion of the Armenian genocide in the past.

The Kurds, to put it delicately, are not always worried about raising the blood pressure of the Turkish government. They will be accused of harping on the Armenian genocide as a means of sticking it to the Turks, something they have not always done metaphorically.

Kurdish recognition of the Armenian plight has been heartfelt, and often self-critical, however. Bulut also relates the Kurdish restoration of the largest Armenian Christian church in the Middle East, Kurdish leaders paying respects at Armenian genocide memorials, and the inclusion of the Armenians in their own monument to the victims of genocide.

Bulut gives Kurdish leaders and activists great credit for learning that �recognition of the genocide, respecting the rights of its victims and extending your hand in remorse, humility and penance to the grandchildren of the survivors� is the right way to deal with the memory of such a monstrous deed.

A cynic�particularly a Turkish cynic�might observe that the Kurds are relentlessly on message when it comes to laying ultimate responsibility for the genocide at the feet of the Ottoman regime. Even the stirring speech delivered by a Kurdish mayor at the dedication of the genocide monument mentioned above took pains to mention the true culprits: �Despite the sovereigns that put us through all these sufferings, we will live together. We will not make one another suffer any more.�

But they are not wrong about who was calling the shots in 1915 or what those leaders sought to accomplish. They are not wrong to believe that the centenary is the best time for people around the world, concerned with such momentous calendar dates as we are, to come fully to terms with what happened to the Armenians, to understand how their fate has been echoed in subsequent horrors, and to admit that dreams of �solving� racial problems through genocide did not die with the passing of the twentieth century.

Metropolitan Tikhon: The Kingdom of Heaven is attained by living the difficult and sacrificial way of the Cross

Here is a powerful and challenging 'word' on the centennial of the Armenian Genocide from His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon of the OCA. His Beatitude's message reminds me of the famous quote from Alexandr Solzhenitsyn:

"It was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart, and through all human hearts...  Even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained; and even in the best of all hearts, there remains a small corner of evil. 

� If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?�

For a related article, please see 'Let Us Forgive All, By The Resurrection'

Visit our special Armenian Genocide Resource Page...

_______

Metropolitan Tikhon addresses Global Forum on Armenian Genocide

OCA, Syosset NY � April 23, 2015

On Wednesday, April 22, 2015, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, addressed the participants in the Global Forum on the Armenian Genocide in Yerevan, the Armenian capital. The text of his address appears below.

ADDRESS OF HIS BEATITUDE, METROPOLITAN TIKHON
GLOBAL FORUM ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Yerevan, Armenia
April 22, 2015

Metropolitan Tikhon at far right.

Your Holinesses, Your Eminences, Your Graces, Reverend Fathers and Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

On behalf of the Holy Synod of Bishops, the clergy and the faithful of the Orthodox Church in America, I wish to thank His Holiness, Patriarch Karekin II, for his kind invitation to participate in today�s Global Forum and tomorrow�s Canonization of the Victims of the Armenian Genocide. It is a blessing to be with so many brothers and sisters from diverse Churches and organizations for this important commemoration, which touches the hearts of all who would consider themselves human beings.

I would like to preface my brief words in order to mention that I represent a Church whose geographical territory includes the United States and Canada, one of whose governments has formally acknowledged the Armenian Genocide and the other who has not, to date, done so. This is a further illustration of the geopolitical tensions surrounding this issue that were spoken of in this morning�s Global Forum session. Nevertheless, I bring to you the support and prayers of the many North American faithful who have roots in Armenia and all other regions of the world where persecution and other acts of violence against humanity have been, and continue to be perpetrated.

The Holy Apostle Paul reminds us of one of the foundations of the Christian life when he writes to Timothy: Everyone who desires to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (II Timothy 3:12). Our Lord offered the only response a Christian can make in the face of persecution: You have heard that it was said, �You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.� But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:43-44).

We are not here today to lament the suffering and pain inflicted by others. Instead, we proclaim the power of a godly life in Christ that enables us to endure great tribulation for His sake. Hence, today we honor the lives of those Armenians martyrs who so glorified God through their sufferings.

And we are not here today merely to speak about justice but to bear witness to the truth that there can be no peace without justice. We are adamant that the suffering of the victims and descendants of the Armenian Genocide should be recognized. At the same time, we share the profound conviction that the Kingdom of heaven is not attained through war, mass murder, genocide or holocaust, but by living the difficult and sacrificial way of the Cross�by delighting in the resurrection and the love that renders all adversaries powerless.

How can we contribute to this?

Some inspiration might be drawn from Saint Gregor Narekatsi, the tenth century Armenian saint who lived at the Monastery on Lake Van in what is today Southeastern Turkey�where 100 years ago 55,000 Armenians were massacred. In an article written in 1916 by a member of the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief, we read how fish drawn from that lake could not be eaten because of the multitude of floating corpses. This, certainly, is inhuman. But Saint Gregory reminds us that we are all inhuman. He writes:

We are all inhuman.
How can I call myself human,
When I have earned a place among the inhuman?
How can I be named a thinking being,
When I indulge in brutish ways?
How can I be called a seeing being,
When I have snuffed out my inner light?
How can I be known as cognizant
When I have slammed the door on wisdom?
How can I aspire to incorruptible grace,
When with my own hand I have slain my soul?

As Christians, we can begin reconciliation by recognizing�even in our enemies�our common humanity and inhumanity. By recognizing our own inhumanity, as Saint Gregory does, we may provoke the humanity of our enemies by the grace of God. Truly, this is a hard saying and a heavy cross. No one can pick up someone else�s cross. Yet, 100 years after the genocide, it is this cross of reconciliation that the descendants of the new martyrs can indeed pick up and carry, as yet another sign of resurrection and, ultimately, divine love.

Your Holiness, may the risen Saviour give you and us the courage to accomplish this.