‘Anguish and Policy’ Over Martyrs Day Resolution

Your editorial made some very valid points concerning the Armenian question and we understand it sparked a pressure campaign by the Armenians against The Times. We feel it is quite fair for the American public to hear the other side of a story that is being so actively propagated by Armenian organizations and politicians. It is a fact that many prominent American scholars and historians do not accept the Armenian allegations against Turks as the “historical truth.”

We think opening up the secret Ottoman military archives was a commendable move on the part of the government of Turkey. As more and more documents come out and get published the world will get a clearer picture about the events of 1915. In the meantime there will be debate by the Turks, by the Armenians and by the American press. We do not have any problem with it. We want the truth to come out. The Armenians should not expect the historians and the American public to take their allegations for granted.

I would like to make one point very clear. Nobody is suggesting that Armenian lives were not lost during World War I. The controversy comes when these losses are presented as being the result of a deliberate extermination policy by the Ottomans.

BULENT BASOL

Irvine

Basol wrote this letter in the name of the board of directors of the American-Turkish Assn. of Southern California.