Turkey's Past And Future -nyt19160103
Turkey's Past and Future
JANUARY 3, 1916
To the Editor of The New York Times:
In the columns of your last Sunday's issue I read a letter by Djevad Eyoub, under the title "New Turkish Power," in which he states that just as Ertogrul, 631 years ago, with his 400 warriors helped the weaker of the two fighting armies and came out victorious, thus causing the rise of the military power of the house of Osman, so a descendant of the same house (Enver Pasha) views this gigantic conflict and decides to throw his lot with what seems the weaker (Tsutonic) side, and this is going to mean not only rise in military power to Turkey, but in Kulture also history repeated itself.
In 1803 a general massacre of the Armenians by the famous descendants of Ertogrul, whom Djevad Eyoub calls the defender of the weak and helpless, sent 250,000 weak and helpless men, women, and children to their graves. Again, in 1908, a carefully planned massacre wiped out in the State of Adana 30,000 weak and helpless Armenians. History repeats itself. And even in 1915 which according to Djevad Eyoub, dates the rise of Turkey in power and Kultur, 950,000 Armenians met their deaths either by massacre or by starvation in the desert.
Is it possible that a nation can rise in power again when that power was secured with the sword alone?
As for her army, Turkey has to thank the Kaiser for it German coin, German brains, German guns and the German submarines are working behind the Turkish forces. Removed all these Germanic factors and the Turkish Army is no more.
S. S. KAISH.
Syracuse University, Dec. 30, 1915
A hard copy of this article or hundreds of others from the time of the Armenian Genocide can be found in The Armenian Genocide: News Accounts From The American Press: 1915-1922