October 14, 2006
Nobel Prize on Armenian Genocide
Turkey’s most famous writer has just been awarded the Nobel Literature Prize for speaking out about the Armenian Genocide. Orhan Pamuk, a Turkish native, questioned his country’s history and the way that the Ottoman Empire forcefully removed 1.5 Million Armenians.
He was charged with embarrassing his country and was in a year long trial for those charges. His books were burned, his pictures shredded and his life was threatened. He was considered a social outcast instead of a best selling novelist. The Turks however deny that the Genocide ever happened. Sarkis Charcasian’s parents were a few of the survivors of the death marches but with a horrible story to tell.
“Before me, she had another child…she gave birth towards early morning. In the morning the gendarmerie came and said to remove the tents. My father came out of the tent and said, ‘Well look, my wife gave birth – could we start a bit later so she can rest?’ He hit my father with a whip and said, ‘We are trying to wipe out your roots! Are you still reproducing?’ He would have been my elder brother, but he died”
It is recognized by most historians and governments around the world, except for Turkey where they have not talked about it in 90 years. The Turkish government thinks that he is trying to twist history and gain attention from the Europe and get nominated for a Nobel Prize. Their official stance is that the Armenians sided with Russia in World War I and they were the enemy and the Armenians killed just as many Turks.
Video About Orhan Pamuk and the Armenian Genocide
