Thread by @magi_jay

It is fundamentally quite irritating that we allow anyone associated with "The Young Turks" lecture us about nation states or genocide. "Oh, I was UNAWARE of what The Young Turks did." If you were, why are you talking about Sykes-Picot & state-building in post-Ottoman lands?

https://twitter.com/magi_jay/status/1989760768297111778

If you were so naïve as to what the Young Turks did, why should we listen to you about Israel or anything else in the post-Ottoman world? Why, in particular, should we be forced to endure your rants about genocide?

You're either a naïf who knows NOTHING about the Young Turks--and therefore literally nothing about genocide--or you actively chose to name your platform after the people who inspired Raphael Lemkin to coin the word "genocide."

Early 20th century scholarship into the systematic elimination of ethnic minorities in rising nation states began with the examination of the Young Turks' actions against Armenians, Greeks + other ethnic minorities (Jews).

You name your entire enterprise after this--The Young Turks--& then lecture us on genocide? Lemkin was studying what had happened to the Armenians and other ethnic minorities in the Ottoman empire LONG before the Holocaust. The term "genocide" comes from what the Young Turks did

If you have chosen to participate in a group in the U.S. named after "The Young Turks"--those who committed the crimes that led to the concept of genocide--WHY are your lecturing everyone on genocide? Or on nation-state building from 1914-1948?

If these guys came out and said, "You know what? We were totally naïve about the fact that the Young Turks literally inspired the term 'genocide' & Armenians fled to British-occupied Palestine Mandate for refuge," maybe we could take them seriously. But have they done that?

Like on a *really fundamental level*, it's insane that we accept any commentary on crimes against humanity from a group that calls itself "The Young Turks." We simply shouldn't accept it. Especially when it's directed towards a particular ethnicity OR nation-state.

I have the infinite forgiveness-capacity of a liberal, so I probably would, in good faith, say: "Ok, I accept that you can now comment on genocide" if they changed their entire affiliation. They don't. The Young Turks were the people who inspired the term "genocide."

If people associated with that network start to talk about genocide, others should ask them: Why do you call yourselves the Young Turks? Are you aware of the role of the Young Turks in the history of 20th century nation-state based genocide?

-Do you realize the term "genocide" was developed by a Jewish scholar after his extensive research on what the Young Turks had done to the Armenians?
-Do you recognize what happened to the Armenians?
-Do you recognize what happened to other ethnic groups (Greeks/Jews)?

Then
-Do you recognize why certain ethnic groups in diaspora within the Ottoman & other empires might try to build their own states?
-Post-Ottoman: Greeks have a state; Armenians have a state; Jews have a state. Why does your obsession with Jewish State persist?

I stopped biting my tongue about this. It is OBSCENE to me that anyone associated with The Young Turks feels free to so openly denigrate the mere existence of an Israeli state.

https://x.com/magi_jay/status/1989760768297111778

Cenk Uygur has, I believe, said he didn't know about the Young Turks association when he named his whole "network" after that (sure). If we give him the benefit of the doubt about that, why is he or any of his associates--including Hassan Piker--qualified to discuss genocide?

And we can & should talk about the Brits, but at the end of the day: British-controlled Palestine was where ethnic minorities fled to escape the Young Turks. It was a "flood zone" of refugees from WWI. Doesn't mean what the Brits did was right. Just: that's where people fled to.

These people have a whole information network named after the "original" genocidaires (in nation-state building) then criticize the British mandates where their victims fled to while also opining about "genocide." It's obscene. People fled Young Turks for British control.

That's not a "defense" of the British system. It's a statement of fact. If it was possible, during the fall of the Ottoman empire, Armenians & others fled to the British controlled territories (Palestine Mandate) for safety. It's a simple historical fact.

Again: If these bozos decided to name themselves "The Young Turks" and entirely removed themselves from any post-Ottoman, Levantine, or Middle Eastern discussion, that's one thing. They chose a bad name. But they ACTIVELY choose to discuss 1) nation-states & 2) ethnicity.

They should at least be asked about it. On a purely objective level. "Hi Hasan, you talk about genocide a lot when it comes to allegations against Israel. You also came from the Young Turks Network, named after the group who inspired the word 'genocide.' Thoughts?"