Mccarthy: It Was Not Turks Who Attacked Armenians, It Was Armenians Who Attacked Turks

ISTANBUL (A.A) - 24.04.2002 - Prof. Dr. Justin McCarty from Louisville University in the U.S. said on Wednesday that it was not Turks who attacked Armenians, it was the latter who attacked Turks and Turks defended themselves.
Addressing a conference on Armenian claims in Yeditepe University in Istanbul, Prof. Dr. McCarthy said that those who speak about Armenian claims without studying the issue are hypocritical. He stressed that the historical documents and information show that the Armenian claims saying ''Turks attacked us all of a sudden'' were not real.
''Turks didn't steal the land of Armenians, Armenians stole the land of Turks. Armenians were the aggressor side and Turks defended themselves,'' he stressed.
McCarthy said that the majority of the people living in the place known as Armenia today was composed of Turks before the Russian occupation, adding that Armenians were not in majority in any part of South Caucasus.
Noting that Armenians joined Russians in Turkish-Russian fight and they made cooperation with the enemy against their own state, McCarthy said that Russians took Armenians with them while they were withdrawing from the territories and Russians settled them in Turkish territories.
''Armenians wanted land from the Ottoman Empire and the only way to be in majority in these lands was to kill the majority who was Turks. The Ottomans wanted to protect its people. Ottomans tried to suppress the uprising. Armenians started to kill the people living in villages while withdrawing. It was Armenians who started the killings. It was not Turks who started the bloodshed,'' he said.
Both innocent Turks and innocent Armenians suffered from the fight, McCarthy said and noted that it was the Armenian uprising which started the fight.
Stressing that the genocide claims spoil the image of Turkey, McCarthy said that Armenians who try to make the world accept its genocide claims will later demand land from Turkey, which can't be accepted.
The Ottoman, Russian and Armenian archives have to be examined and a commission has to be set up to investigate the claims of genocide, he said.