Peace-Loving Armenians By Areni Haroutunian

Peace-Loving Armenians

By Areni Haroutunian, AMAA 2021 James G. Jameson Essay Contest Winner, High School Level

What does it mean to forgive? When people choose to forgive, should they brush aside all feelings of sorrow, pain, regret and mourning? The Armenian race's ancient history is riddled with centuries of pain and sorrow and death, most recently inflicted by the Turks and Azeris. When Armenians choose to forgive them, all must take heed not to belittle the losses and betray the millions of innocent lives who wanted nothing more than to enjoy the fruits of life on this green earth. Armenians have tried to resolve their tragic past in order to achieve peace and contentment, in which, finally, they are not constantly haunted by ghosts of their heartbreaking past. Within that context, they must not allow the murderous deaths of millions of Armenians at the hands of the Turks to be in vain. The Turks' contemptuous and unapologetic actions have bred complacency among many Armenians to overlook the murders without realizing that certain steps must be taken to make the Turks and Azeris answer for their crimes. Horrifically shocking criminal atrocities, such as the Armenian massacres, that are prematurely forgiven obstruct truth and justice and the ability to process grief and sorrow. Murder of the innocent leaves a cold, ruthless, cavalier emptiness in the mind and heart and soul and a message of injustice that never leaves. What does it mean when one immediately and easily forgives a shameful crime? Armenians must properly grieve the destruction of lives, nation and culture, while ensuring that the Turks answer for what they have done by way of reparations for war crimes and national decimation committed against an ancient and peace-loving race as the Armenians. Furthermore, when Turks and Azeris fails to express apology after all this time and continue to slaughter Armenians, they not only prevent Armenians meaningful closure, but amplify their past monstrosities. Christians are urged to love and pray for their enemies. Sometimes we are urged to pray more for our enemies than we do for our loved ones. However, every Armenian must realize that the authors of the Genocide and their blood-hungry allies—the Azeriz—will seize any opportunity to spill more Armenian blood. They will continue to murder and pillage with reckless abandon while Armenian families weep in sorrow. This is precisely why Armenians must take every action to make the blood-thirsty Turks and Azeris accountable for their atrocities.

Lately, overly eager Armenian-Turkish reconcilement has been a cause for concern. There has been a pervasive movement to conduct meetings between Armenian and Turkish intellectuals and students to launch a non-existent friendship between Armenians and Turks. To this end, there have been attempts to produce films and to issue joint publications toward achieving peace. Both sides should, in theory, forgive each other and open new pages of accord. The last thing Armenians would want, however, is to return to their Homeland only to find it invaded and overrun by Turks and Azeris.

Additionally, genocide denial may serve a bigger political agenda for some world powers. Certain nations at times fear that recognizing the Armenian Genocide would get them on the "bad side" of Turkey. Turkey conducts a lot of trade with many nations in the world. In order to appease the Turkish regime, some governments have been very slow to recognize the Genocide as a historical fact. These nations of appeasement can erode truth and give way to the erasure of Armenian rights from the minds of future generations. We should emphasize the fact that there are certain unpatriotic Armenian Christians who have already penetrated the borders of the Armenian Republic, as well as various communities of the Armenian Diaspora. The unpatriotic Armenians are trying to pursue dark political purposes by expending large amounts of a campaign for personal gain. By agreeing to label the Genocide not as a genocide but just as the "Armenian Question" or "Armenian Issue," in one of their insidious devices to push toward premature forgiveness of the Turks and to enable payouts from Turkish politicians and rich nationalists.

Ultimately, the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide is presented to the Armenian public as the first step for the solution of Armenia's problems as they relate to receiving reparations from Turkey. Foreign world powers have extended their reach into matters concerning the liberation of the Armenianoccupied lands. What do Armenians understand by the term "Armenian Cause"? For many Armenians, the term is understood