ARMENIAN - Erevangala500

A Personal Foreword
"Have you gone crazy?" - "Are you tired of living?"
These were the comments of friends and acquaintances
when they heard that I was working on a book about the
causes and historical context of Armenian terrorism. Why
should / be the one to take on such a dangerous subject?
. . . Shouldn't it be a matter for the Turks and Armenians
to work out among themselves? All of my friends considered
my project dangerous, even threatening, and I realized
that it must be these concerns, these fears, that have
until now prevented unbiased accounts of the historical
reality behind Armenian terrorism from appearing.
People are obviously afraid of reprisals and therefore
leave the whole issue to the advocates of reckless violence,
who control virtually all the literature on the subject.
In virtually every publication that discusses the
Armenian question or Armenian terrorism, the authors
plead for "understanding" toward terror. This is just as
remarkable as when terrorist organizations claim "responsibility"
after an attack.
With this "responsibility" - or rather with the perversion
of this noble concept - they pretend to have "power" by
creating the illusion o f "justice", and with this legitimation
they play fate, shoot down the reluctant and blackmail
the hesitant.
It is not only human beings who have fates, however, but
films and publications as well. HABENT SUA FATA
LIBELLI, "books have fates", wrote Terentianus Maurus
around 200 A.D., and in the preceeding verse he says resolutely,
"PRO CAPTU LECTORIS", "according to the
grasp of the reader".
I had two key experiences in this connection following
the appearance of the German edition of this book. The
first was with a very high official of the Annenian
Orthodox (Gregorian) Church of Central Europe who, in
the course o f a meeting with the (Catholic) Mekhitarists
(who truly have nothing to do with this statement), said to
my face, "How dare you set the worthless Turks off
against the dead Armenians in your book!" When 1 asked
in honor if I had understood correctly, he repeated even
more vehemently, "Yes, I said the worthless Turks!"
The Armenian view of history is for the most part shared
by the public at large. That is no surprise, and it should
not be taken as a reproach.
While doing the background research for this book and
for my films, I took great pains to collect information
from a broad spectrum o f sources. In so doing, I met
many people to whom I owe the deepest respect: His
Beatitude the Armenian Apostolic Patriarch Snork
Kalutsyan of Istanbul, for example, and the doctors and
nurses of the Armenian hospital in the same city. I mention
these people here in lieu of the many, many noble
Armenians whom I know - from scholars and intellectuals
to the Armenian farmers and their families who live
on Musa Dagh, made famous by Franz Werfel. I did, of
course, also meet other people in the course o f my
research work. I especially recall Dr. Gerard Libari-dian,
the head of the Annenian Zorian Institute. I spent several
hours with Dr. Libaridian in his .office in Cambridge,
Massachusetts and had an extremely interesting conversation
with him. Dr. Libaridian is a brilliant man, bubbling
with vitality, knowledge, talent, and self-confidence.
One could write a very compelling play based on
my conversation with him.
I kept notes of my host's most provocative statements in
this fascinating discussion. Several times he mentioned
the so-called "Andonian papers".
Since it seemed reasonable to assume that Dr. Libaridian
knew that the papers were forgeries, 1 did not want to
waste a single word on the subject. There were so many
other, more interesting things to talk about. But remarkably
enough, he stuck with Aram Andonian's book and its
"documents". Finally, I had to say, "But Doctor Libaridian,
you know as well as I that tbese 'Andonian papers'
are forgeries!"
I will never forget Dr. Libaridian's answer or his facial
expression as he replied simply and briefly to my reproach:
"AND?"
KHOJALI GENOCIDE commited
by Armenia in 26 February 1992.
"AND?"
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