Written by Nikos Lygeros.
The point of view of Turkey is radically different from the spirit of the United States of America. This is not only due to the fact that in Turkey, the lack of democracy is simply normal but also to the interpretation of some facts. For example, turkish exegesis of the invasion of Cyprus in 1974 is just an intervention even if from this date we still have occupied territories with innocent people who are forced to live in a turkish way and to forget that they are Greeks.
Another example, the government in 2003, did not allow American troops to pass through Turkey to open a northern front against Hussein. They considered at that time that this intervention was in fact an invasion.
The consequences of this choice, due to this interpretation, were the death of many GI’s. And America does not forget this. But the real problem is the difference between Mankind and Barbarity. The Genocide of Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks, is only a detail for Turkey. On the other side many States of America have already recognized this triple genocide as a fact of History.
By the way, it’s the President of U.S.A Woodrow Wilson who created the delimitation between Turkey and Armenia taking into account the presence of the victims even if they were genocided by the turkish government.
The Symbol of USA is the Freedom but the roots of Turkey is the Genocide. U.S.A from the beginning needs memory but Turkey prefers oblivion. And this difference makes the difference.