Jerry Costello Quotes
This was a tragic event in human history, but by paying tribute to the Armenian community we ensure the lessons of the Armenian genocide are properly understood and acknowledged.
Costello, Jerry F. "Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide." Congressional Record, Government Printing Office, 22 Apr. 2004, p. E624.
Armenian dissidents in Turkey formed military units like Hinchak which during the First World War, attacked unarmed Turkish Muslim Villages behind the front lines. The object of the Armenians was to have turkey lose the war and obtain their own ethnic state afterwards. The atrocities committed by the Armenians were unfortunately matched by the Turks in what is now referred to as the “Armenian Genocide”. The hatred still prevails – see {588211}.
Description of the Berlin Peace conference and its treaty of Berlin 1878
This quotation is typical of the anti-Semitic view of the World that is held by many Islamic fundamentalists. Saudi Arabia promulgates this type of venom throughout the Muslim World. This, along with diatribes like it, are recorded in video and audio tape, and with the permission of the Saudi Arabian government if not with government funds.
Two senior Chinese officials Yuan Ch`ang and Hsu Ching-ch`eng, realizing the implications and the vengeance the Western Powers would take on the Empress and China if the order were carried out, rewrote it to require that all foreigners be “protected.” This version went out to all governors except that of Shansi who had received a previous execution order {612690} . When the Empress discovered the change, Yuan Ch`ang and Hsu Ching-ch`eng were both summarily beheaded. However they saved thousands of Western lives and China from an even greater disaster.
The Christian Armenians, a minority in Turkey and its lands, were discriminated against like other non Muslim minorities in the Ottoman Empire. But during the Turkish War with Russia and WWI, some Armenians defected and served on the Russian side. Many Turkish citizens took revenge on Armenians by means of murder and torture. Soon, the extermination of the Armenians became the official “Young Turk” government policy. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed outright, and about an equal number were “deported” to special areas. Many died of malnutrition along the forced march of Ethnic Cleansing. Others were murdered as they were deported. No one knows exactly how many Armenians were killed with estimates ranging from ½ million to 4 million. This was the first genocide of the 20th century. Modern Turkish leaders however, are in denial about the Armenian deaths. They claim that there was a war and food was scarce; the only Armenians killed, the claimed were proven Russian agents. They further claim that the Armenian behavior was in large part responsible for the forced deportations because of their lack of patriotism and unwillingness to help the Turkish authorities identify the Russian agents. Most Turks today are unaware of the Armenian Genocide as nothing is taught about the massacres in schools or other institutions. It is against the law in Turkey to even have an intellectual study of the Turkish behavior towards the Armenians, much less publish anything about it.
Although nether he or the Sultan had made vigorous efforts to stop the massacres, he had promised the world community that Turkey would see that justice was done (See {620596} ). However, there were a few tried and one governor of a province was hanged and a few others received short jail sentences. Talaat, the worst of The Young Turks regarding the genocide, escaped to Germany. But he was tracked by a surviving Armenian who assassinated Talaat. The assassin was acquitted by a sympathetic German court which ruled that the extermination of the assassin’s family had been so traumatic that temporary insanity relieved the assassin of criminal responsibility.
The Ottoman Turks were slaughtering Armenians; the Russians had pogroms against the Jews, and the Blacks were being tortured or killed if they would not work for the Belgians in the Congo. TR was in favor of interventionism to protect populations and human rights. However, the then President, Woodrow Wilson, was far more timid. See {620612}
While there is often considered to have been only one Holocaust, the headline Another Armenian Holocaust implies there were multiple holocausts in Armenia
Jerry Francis Costello is the former U.S. Representative for Illinois's 12th congressional district. He previously represented Illinois's 21st congressional district and served in the US House from 1988 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party and was the dean of Illinois's 21-member congressional delegation. In October 2011, Costello announced that he would not seek another term in Congress in 2012. He was succeeded by William Enyart. Costello is a member of the Reformers Caucus of Issue One.
