CORRESPONDENCE 8

Letter 8

Dear Garo,

I need your comments and knowledge on the report written by the first Prime Minister of the 1st Democratic Republic of Armenia, Mr. [Hovhannes] Katchaznouni. This is the critical report about the ARF [General] Congress of 1923.

Nowadays a Turkish Nationalist and historian Mehmet Perinçek promotes this report in order to justify all the events that happened during WWI. He claims that he is the first person who found the real Russian version of the booklet in the Russian archives.

Please note that Perinçek is one of those "ulusalcı" [popular, populist] people, a kind of Neo-Kemalist secular movement (and even anti-religion) regarding religious politics, fascist towards ethnic and social minorities, militarist in foreign policy and socialist in economics. He is a relative of Doğu Perinçek, the ex Maoist, and Neo-Kemalist, the current leader of the Turkish Labor Party.

Regards
Mehmet

Answer to Letter 8

Dear Mehmet:

I have read Katchaznuni's book. There have been rumors since the beginning that he never wrote it. I think he did though. But the problem with Katchaznuni is that he wrote the pamphlet after he was ousted from the ARF. That makes it a biased work. Since if he had written it while still in and was ousted accordingly, it would have been a different issue. Anyway, who didn't make mistakes during an event as big as WWI? It's a point to ponder on!

Best Regards,
Garabet K Moumdjian

Answer back… Letter 9

Dear Garo,

I also took and read the booklet. You are right. He wrote the book after the Bolshevik victory in Armenia. If Tashnaks had still power over country, he would not be so critical. But I think this does not make his report insignificant. His analysis on political games between Armenians, Georgians and Azerbaijanis within the Caucasus Federation [The SAIM] was really good.

By the way, I have another question: What do you think about TGNA [Turkish Grand National Assembly] and its politics towards Armenians during 1920 - 1923. Do you have any proof regarding massacres committed by Turks in this period? I have some bad memories of my maternal grand father regarding this issue. My maternal grand father was a private during the Greco-Turkish wars. As far as my grandfather told me, his father told him that after the Sakarya war, their army leadership ordered them verbally to kill Armenians and also told them that the order was TGNA. Unfortunately, after this order, they shot and killed an Armenian civilian whom they encountered on their path. My grand father told me that that was always an embarrassment for his father and he never forgot this shameful act. I really wonder if there was such an order coming from the TGNA, or was this an arbitrary decision by some undisciplined officers?

Sorry if I am wrong in my memories, but I am really annoyed and disgusted at the idea that the TGNA may have played a role in this tragedy...

Regards,
Mehmet