History comes back to bite the hand that feeds it ... kind of ...

If History repeats itself, is there such a word as 'prepeats'?

A few nights ago I stayed up way too late, finishing Birds Without Wings, a novel by Louis de Bernieres about World War I, the end of the Ottoman Empire, and the establishment of the modern state of Turkey.

The next day I came across this article on the Internet:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7050439.ece

about the Turkish atrocities committed during WWI.

"Birds" tells the story of a small village in the boondocks of the Ottoman Empire before, during, and after World War I. Mr. de Bernieres takes over 400 pages to detail the lives of many of the villagers. The first part of the novel shows what life is like in the idyllic setting where Christians and Moslems live so closely together that they often wander into each other's worship services, and regularly ask each other to pray for them. Intermarriage is no big deal. The basic point is that even though there are two faiths, the people are all of one nation.

When the Ottoman Empire dissolves, breaks apart, and goes down in flames, the outside world begins forcing its own viewpoint on the hapless citizens, which means Christians in this corner, Moslems in that one. Friends turn against friends, then regret it. In the end, love not only doesn't conquer all, but it leads with its glass chin.

An interesting quote from the news article is one of the Turkish leaders saying that Turkey is not the Ottoman Empire, and so has nothing to apologize for. However, even if the national identities are not equivalent, what about the individuals who carried over from one regime to the next? If Germany and Japan both felt the need to own up to the atrocities committed in the name of nationalism during World War II, why doesn't Turkey? Then again, how culpable is Attaturk, the leader of the new country? Did his fight against the former rulers absolve him of any shortcomings? Did the independence for which he fought assuage all guilt? Are all losers guilty? Are all winners right? And anyway, whose point of view is so pristine as to set the standard?