The Knock at the Door: A Journey Through the Darkness of the Armenian Genocide book review

I just read Margaret Ajemian Ahnert’s book, The Knock at the Door: A Journey Through the Darkness of the Armenian Genocide. I couldn’t put it down. This powerful and poignant book is the true story of Ester Minerajian Ahronian Ajemian, Margaret Ahnert’s mother.

Ms. Ahnert’s book relates Ester’s stories from her childhood in Amasia, Turkey (before 1915), her odyssey as a girl and young woman through the horrors of the genocide committed by the Ottoman Turks, and her ultimate escape to America from Turkey. This book is a fitting portrait of a real-life heroine, reminiscent of Celie in The Color Purple. Ester’s story is inspirational and important—and, The Knock at the Door gives us a window into a time we must never forget.

After sharing this remarkable book with one of my close friends, she had this to say:

“Margaret Ahnert brought flowers to her mother and took away true stories, unbelievable stories, that of the life of a young Armenian girl who had survived the destruction of three-quarters of the Armenian population of Turkey…Knock at the Door pulls the reader into twin realities, the horrors of loss and ongoing abuse, and amazement at the role luck, courage and the kindness of random individuals played in Ester’s survival. The book builds to a crescendo of stories played against two counterpointed refrains: ‘mortseer’ (forget) and remember, bravely carried out by two women, a mother and a daughter: remember, remember, never forget.”

To order the book or to learn more about The Knock at the Door: A Journey Through the Darkness of the Armenian Genocide, visit Margaret Ahnert’s website:

www.margaretahnert.com

State Department is main stumbling block for Armenian Genocide resolution

Congressman: State Department is main stumbling block for Genocide resolution
Scott Garrett, New Jersey Republican, discusses Armenian issues, U.S. policies in interview

Armenian Reporter | January 06, 2010

My Uncle Jack was born to Armenian Genocide survivors

Today I’ll be visiting my uncle Jack. He is in his late 80’s. He was born in Egypt to parents who lost their families in the Armenian Genocide. He came to the US as an infant, with his parents and my grandfather, on one of the many ships bringing Armenians (and other ethnic Christians who were able to survive and flee from Turkey). First stop Ellis Island. The Ellis Island archives contain oral histories of Armenian Genocide survivors. The passenger manifests of ships arriving at Ellis Island list a disproportionate number of Armenian surnames during the years surrounding the massacres of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks (before, during and after 1915). Since the current Turkish Government denies the Armenian Genocide, why do they think so many Armenians left their homes?

Prime Minister Erdogan tells Charlie Rose Armenian Genocide “is completely a lie” (Dec. 2009)

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was interviewed by Charlie Rose on December 8, 2009.

Here is the excerpt from the Charlie Rose interview transcript discussing the Armenian Genocide and relations with Armenia  (You can find this segment of the interview at approximately 39 minutes into the show)

CHARLIE ROSE: Speaking of the Armenian church and that, there is now
an agreement between Turkey and Armenia. What is necessary in order to —
what more evidence does history need with respect to the genocide?

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN: Let me first of all say that you say of
genocide, speak of genocide. I would be sorry to hear you say that. I can
say very clearly that we do not accept genocide. This is completely a lie.

I invite people to prove it. I wrote a letter in 2005, and I said
that this is not up to politicians. It is up to historians to look into
this. We have opened our archives. We have all the documents there. And
in our archives more than one million documents were already looked at.
Today it’s even more than that. And we have opened the archives of the
military.

And I asked the Armenian side to open their archives and let third
countries have documents. We made a call for that too so that people could
look into all of these documents and we could all decide and see what’s
going on.

But it’s — this is not about lobbying and going to politicians and
asking them to take certain decisions. This is not really the way to go.
Something like this is really not possible, and there is no truth to it.

CHARLIE ROSE: Did President Obama bring it up with you? Has he
discussed it with you?

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN: I have spoken with him, yes. Of course, this
most recent normalization process between Turkey and Armenia was important.
This was the context in which we discussed these issues.

And let me say to the normalization process. It was Turkey that
initiated the normalization process. It was Turkey that took upon itself
the risk.

We believe in ourselves. What we would like to see is for this
normalization process to go forward. And in that it’s important that we go
into that and the Karavak issue between Azerbaijan and Armenia be resolved.
There is an occupation. We have to solve that problem.

There are three countries involved — United States, the Russian
Federation, and France. The Minsk (ph) group, why hasn’t it solved the
problem in the last 20 years? The problem has to be solved.

And once that problem is solved then that region will be a region of
peace. Why? Because once the problem between Azerbaijan and Armenia is
solved, that hatred is going to dissipate. There is the decision of the
United Nations Security Council which will be implemented. And the
problems between Turkey and Armenia will definitely be resolved. I believe
in it.

But at the moment, you have the U.S. Congress here, and the U.S.
Congress doesn’t have direct relations with our region. We are there in
that region. We have direct relations. We have direct issues. And it’s
the Turkish parliament who has to make a decision on this agreement between
Turkey and Armenia. They have to approve it.

And of course, the Turkish parliament too is very sensitive about this
issue. And if the positive developments that we would like to see do not
come about, then I do not believe that our parliament will have a positive
result as a result of its deliberations. We will have a secret ballot, but
I don’t believe that without any other positive developments there will be
a positive outcome…

Watch the full interview on charlierose.com (search Erdogan).

The historical memory of the Turkish people 94 years later

From “Cultural genocide A bishops’ pilgrimage to Western Armenia,” published in the Armenian Reporter (www.reporter.am), December 12, 2009:

“Reflecting on those places, which we either passed by or directly visited, I consider it necessary to single out and stress something that surprised us. Every place that had been an Armenian village, despite its name being changed officially, continued to be known not by its Turkish name, but rather by its old Armenian name. The present residents – Turks, Kurds, Arabs, Alavis – all confirm the fact of their villages being Armenian. And even more, hardly anyone renounced or tried to deny the events of 1915 (olaylar) or the truth of the massacres (katliam). Amazingly some even used the expression “genocide” (soy kirimi) to define the great massacres of 1915.”

Please take a moment to read this article:
Cultural genocide A bishops’ pilgrimage to Western Armenia| Armenian Reporter | December 12, 2009

Obama Erdogan Meeting in Washington

Toward the Obama Erdogan Meeting in Washington
Armenian Reporter | December 4, 2009

“A campaign of race extermination is in progress,” 1915 telegram, Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, Sr.

Excerpt from the New York Times (November 16, 2009):

Henry Morgenthau Sr., one of 12 children born into a Jewish family in southern Bavaria, came to New York in 1866. He was appointed to his ambassadorship in 1913, and is today credited with drawing needed attention to the Armenian genocide.

A telegram written in 1915, by which he informed the secretary of state that ‘a campaign of race extermination is in progress,’ is prominently displayed in the exhibition.

A new exhibit, “The Morgenthaus: A Legacy of Service,” opens Monday at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park City, New York. It highlights the lives of three Morgenthaus: Robert, Manhattan District Attorney since 1975; his father, Henry Morgenthau Jr., who was secretary of the Treasury under President Franklin D. Roosevelt; and his grandfather, Henry Morgenthau Sr., who was ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during World War I. The exhibit features objects and historical documents.

Read the New York Times article,  Looking Back at the Morgenthau Legacy.

Write President Obama with your family’s Armenian Genocide history (I did)

President Obama is meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on December 7, 2009.

To send your letter testifying about your family’s Armenian Genocide-related history to President Obama, click this link:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/

This is a copy of my letter to President Obama:

November 12, 2009

Dear President Obama,

Thank you for your leadership and the vision you are putting forth for America. I actually cried with tears of happiness when I voted for you.

My late father always celebrated the anniversary of the day he arrived in America and saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time. He called May 15th, “God Bless America Day.” It was more important to him to celebrate that day, than it was to celebrate his own birthday.

President Obama, I am an Armenian-American. I am writing to you today because I understand you will be meeting with the Prime Minister of Turkey, again, before the end of this year. I am speaking up now on behalf of the memory of my mother’s parents and grandparents, who suffered unthinkable personal tragedies at the hands of the Ottoman Turks during the Armenian Genocide. I still believe you intend to keep your campaign promise to call the systematic mass murder and deportation of Armenians, Greeks and other non-Muslims a “Genocide.”

I truly believe you are the right person to find a way to work through this issue because the world respects you. If a man of your principles and moral courage does not speak up to the Turkish Government, who will? Allowing Turkey to perpetuate a denial campaign, so as not to disturb our national interests, is no different than befriending the playground bully and then not speaking up to his assertions that he never abused anyone. In this comparison, the bully would actually make claims that it was he who was assaulted, and he was merely defending himself.

My grandfather’s family did not assault the Turkish government. In fact, my great great grandfather, Dr. Aboujhon Kuzujian, was a prominent medical doctor from Aintab who migrated to Marash. The family name was officially changed from Kuzujian to Kalpakleoglou or Karnoug (in Armenian) when my great great grandfather received a Kalpak (Persian lamb hat) as an honor from the Sultan of Turkey. Dr. Kuzujian was recognized as a hero for saving the lives of children during an epidemic in Marash that took the lives of many children.

My grandfather was Karnig Kalpakian (Dr. John Karnig) and his father was Dr. Janik Kalpakian. In 1920, they escaped the killings in Marash, Turkey, that claimed the lives of my great grandmother Mary Mesrobian, as well as the lives of my great aunts Anais and Armenouhi. During the Ottoman Turks’ mass deportation of the Armenians, Mary Mesrobian’s entire family, with the exception of her brother Kevork, were deported “to the deserts of Arabia” (this is what my grandfather wrote in his letter to our family, but it was most likely Der Zor).

My grandfather and great grandfather were among the ‘lucky’ victims of the Ottoman Turks. Leaving everything behind, they survived. Starting off in a horse-drawn carriage to Aintab, Janik and Karnig set out on their journey to safer shores in America. From Aintab they traveled to Aleppo (Syria); then to Beirut (Lebanon), then on to Jerusalem, and finally to Alexandria, Egypt, where they waited to immigrate to America. In 1923, Karnig, together with his father, new stepmother and a new baby brother, finally arrived at Ellis Island in New York.

Mr. President, in my heart I believe this issue has broader importance than simply serving as a domestic political gesture to a small constituency. The world community is watching and waiting for our leadership regarding genocide. My mother asked why would I want to get involved in documenting the Armenian Genocide as a response to the recent Armenian-Turkish Protocols, when my efforts won’t change anything. But as Henri Frederic Amiel said, “Truth is not only violated by falsehood; it may be equally outraged by silence.”

Please take my letter under your personal consideration. It would be an honor to share more of my grandfather’s family history, as well as his achievements in, and contributions to, our great country.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Sheri Sona Jordan
New York

My blog address is, https://armeniangenocideblog.wordpress.com

Do you owe your life to a relative who survived the Armenian Genocide?

I do:

My grandfather was Karnig Kalpakian (Dr. John Karnig) and his father was Dr. Janik Kalpakian. In 1920, they escaped the killings in Marash, Turkey, that claimed the lives of my great grandmother Mary Mesrobian, as well as the lives of my great aunts Anais and Armenouhi. During the Ottoman Turks’ mass deportation of the Armenians, Mary Mesrobian’s entire family, with the exception of her brother Kevork, were deported “to the deserts of Arabia” (as my grandfather wrote in his letter to our family).

Janik, a dentist, was the son of Dr. Aboujhon Kuzujian, a prominent medical doctor from Aintab who migrated to Marash. The family name was officially changed from Kuzujian to Kalpakleoglou or Karnoug (in Armenian) when my great-great grandfather received a Kalpak (Persian lamb hat) as an honor from the Sultan of Turkey. Dr. Kuzujian was recognized as a hero for saving the lives of children during an epidemic in Marash that took the lives of many children.

My grandfather and great grandfather were among the ‘lucky’ victims of the Ottoman Turks. Leaving everything behind, they survived. Starting off in a horse-drawn carriage to Aintab, Janik and Karnig set out on their journey to safer shores in America. From Aintab they traveled to Aleppo (Syria); then to Beirut (Lebanon), then on to Jerusalem, and finally to Alexandria, Egypt—where they waited to immigrate to America. In 1923, Karnig, together with his father, new stepmother and a new baby brother, finally arrived at Ellis Island in New York.

I promise to share much more of the details of Karnig’s story, but first I need your help:

Please forward this blog link to all Armenians you know:

https://armeniangenocideblog.wordpress.com

Help us respond to the Armenia-Turkey Protocols call for an investigation into our history. We need your family names, stories, pictures, oral personal histories and video testimonials. We are also seeking translators and research assistants to help us with this worldwide Armenian Genocide documentation effort.

Please enter your comments (through the comment link below) or send an email to: armeniangenocide@ymail.com.

Thank you!

Dafur & Armenian Genocide: PM Erdogan “A Muslim can never commit genocide”

Europe News | November 9, 2009