Sisowath Sirik Matak

Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak (January 22 1914 — April 21 1975) was born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and was a prince of the Cambodian royal family.

Involvement in Politics in Cambodia

In 1941, Prince Sirik Matak was one of the possible contenders to the throne. However, the French colonial authorities selected his cousin Norodom Sihanouk to be King. As many other members of the Royal Family, he served as a minister in the government of his cousin, under a Constitutional Monarchy regime.

In 1955, Sihanouk abdicated in favor of his father in order to be elected as Prime Minister. Upon his father's death in 1960, Sihanouk resumed his position as head of state. As the Vietnam War progressed, Sihanouk adopted what he called a policy of neutrality. However, he allowed the Viet Minh and FNL to move the Ho Chi Minh trail within Cambodian borders. In addition, the port of Sihanoukville served as a shipment point for FNL weapons.

Cambodian coup of 1970

The United States President's (Richard Nixon) administration secretly contacted Prime Minister Lon Nol and Prince Sirik Matak and inquired whether they would be interested in proclaiming a Republic in Cambodia. In exchange, the new government would receive economic and military aid to quash the growing Khmer Rouge. Moreover, the new republic would allow for American and South Vietnamese forces to conduct a series of military operations, called the "Cambodian Incursion", aimed at destroying North Vietnamese supply routes in Cambodia.

On March 18, 1970, while Norodom Sihanouk was on a trip abroad in Beijing, China, Prince Sirik Matak assisted Prime Minister Lon Nol in organizing a vote of the National Assembly to depose Norodom Sihanouk as head of state. The measure passed easily in parliament and they declared a new government named the Khmer Republic. Norodom Sihanouk had been previously aligned with the North Vietnamese and Chinese communist forces in Cambodia, but eventually aligned with the Khmer Rouge forces, who were slowly gaining territory in the remote mountain regions.

The emergence of the Khmer Rouge communists can be attributed to several factors. While some have pointed fingers at Norodom Sihanouk's anti-Lon Nol alliance with the Khmer Rouge, some scholars will allege that the US bombing of Cambodia pushed an impoverished population towards the communist rebellion. [http://www.yale.edu/cgp/us.html]

The Fall of Phnom Penh

The Khmer Rouge communists initiated their dry-season offensive to capture the beleaguered Cambodian capital on January 1, 1975. Their troops controlled the banks of the Mekong River, and they were able to rig mines to sink convoys bringing relief supplies of food, fuel, and ammunition to the slowly starving city. After the river was effectively blocked in early February, the United States began airlifts of supplies. This was extremely risky because of Khmer Rouge rockets. The communists also fired rockets and shells into the city, causing many civilian deaths. Doomed units of republican soldiers dug in around the capital; many of them had run out of ammunition, and they were overrun as the Khmer Rouge advanced. American observers, who generally had little esteem for the Khmer National Armed Forces (FANK) officer corps, were impressed by the determination of the enlisted men to fight to the end to protect the capital of Phnom Penh from the Khmer Rouge to capture the city and take over the Khmer Republic government.

On April 1, 1975, President Lon Nol resigned and fled the country into exile in Hawaii because the Khmer Rouge with the approval of King Norodom Sihanouk, had published a death list with his name at the top and their forces had surrounded the capital of Phnom Penh.

On April 12, 1975, United States's Ambassador to Cambodia John Gunther Dean, offered high officials of the Khmer Republic political asylum in the United States, but Sirik Matak, Long Boret, Lon Non (Lon Nol's brother), and most members of Lon Nol's cabinet declined, thinking that the Khmer Rouge were genuine in their claim that they would not execute former government officials. Sirik Matak and Lon Non, Long Boret and other Khmer Republic officials whose names were not published on the death list chose to stay behind.

When the U.S. ambassador offered asylum, Prime Minister Prince Sirik Matak's written response to him stated, "I cannot, alas, leave in such a cowardly fashion," Matak told Ambassador Dean. "I never believed for a moment that you would have this sentiment of abandoning a people which has chosen liberty. I have committed this mistake of believing in you, the Americans." So Sirik Matak stayed in Phnom Penh and a month later was killed by the Khmer Rouge, along with about 2 million other people.

Prince Sirik Matak and the officials that remained along with him, were executed by the Khmer Rouge communists on April 21, 1975, in Phnom Penh. [http://www.edwebproject.org/sideshow/history/end.html]

Quotes

*"When you support a regime not supported by the people you help the communists"

*Letter to US Ambassador to Cambodia John Gunther Dean: "Dear Excellency and Friend, I thank you very sincerely for your letter and your offer to transport me towards freedom. I cannot, alas, leave in such a cowardly fashion. As for you, and in particular for your great country, I never believed for a moment that you would have this sentiment of abandoning a people, which has chosen liberty. You have refused us your protection, and we can do nothing about it. You leave, and my wish is that you and your country will find happiness under this sky. But, mark it well, that if I shall die here on the spot and in my country that I love, it is too bad, because we are all born and must die one day. I have committed this mistake of believing in you, the Americans. Please accept, Excellency, my dear friend, my faithful and friendly sentiments. Prince Sirik Matak." [http://www.edwebproject.org/sideshow/history/end.html]

Author of book

* Prince Sirik Matak's letter to United States's Ambassador to Cambodia John Gunther Dean was reproduced and added to the book Autrefois, Maison Privée.

External links

* [http://www.edwebproject.org/sideshow/history/coup.html Before the Holocaust: The Coup ]