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04/21/2005
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) Berlin Urges Turkey to Take Responsibility for Massacres 2) Turkish Army Criticizes US over Kurdish Rebels, Warns about Kirkuk 3) 178 US Representatives Urge President to Properly Characterize the Armenian Genocide 4) Poland's Walesa Condemns 'First Genocide of 20th Century' 1) Berlin Urges Turkey to Take Responsibility for Massacres BERLIN (DPA)--All parties in the German parliament have agreed on key points of a resolution which will tell Turkey to "take historic responsibility" for the 1915 Armenian genocide, a senior member of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats said on Thursday. Gernot Erler, the Social Democratic (SPD) deputy foreign affairs spokesman in the Bundestag, said the resolution due to win final approval in the coming months would have three 'goals.' First, Germany's parliament will recognize a limited German role in the massacre of 1.2 million to 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks during World War One, said Erler in a statement. "Germany was Ottoman Turkey's main ally in document...and partly through approval and through failure to take effective preventive measures there was a German co-responsibility for this genocide." "The (Bundestag) asks the Armenian people for their forgiveness," said Erler's statement. Second, the Berlin parliament will call on Turkey "to halt its up until now overwhelming suppression, to take historic responsibility for the massacre of the Armenians by the Young Turk regime and to ask for forgiveness from the descendants of the victims." Turkey's government has always insisted that there was no Armenian genocide and says a far smaller number of Armenians died during Ottoman deportations which it argues took place under war conditions and were due to an Armenian rebellion. Turkey's ambassador to Germany, Mehmet Ali Irtemcelik, denounced the planned Bundestag resolution as containing "countless factual errors" and being written "in agreement with propaganda efforts of fanatic Armenians." "Its goal is to defame Turkish history...and poison ties between Turkey and the European Union," said the ambassador. Finally, the German parliament's resolution will underline Berlin's efforts to help normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia. Germany, which has about 2.5 million resident Turks, has--up until now-- been wary about addressing the Armenian genocide. A member of the opposition Christian Democratic alliance (CDU/CSU), Erwin Marschewski, said in a statement that the value system of the European Union insisted that countries "shine a spotlight on the dark pages of their history." "Recognition by Turkey of the Armenian genocide of 1915 and 1916 is important," said Marschewski. Turkey is due to start membership negotiations with the EU in October but EU leaders say accession talks--if successful--will take up to 15 years. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is a staunch backer of Turkish EU membership and will visit Ankara and Istanbul for talks with Turkish political and business leaders on May 3 and 4. The draft resolution being debated in Germany's parliament does not use the word 'genocide' but rather refers to the "expulsion and massacres" of Armenians under the Ottoman Turks in 1915 as part of ceremonies marking the 90th anniversary of the killings. "We purposely left out the term genocide," said Christoph Bergner, an opposition Christian Democrat, in a speech to parliament. The declaration says between 1.2 and 1.5 million Christian Armenians died or were killed by the Moslem Turks during "planned" deportations during the First World War. Armenians all over the world will on April 24 mark the 90th anniversary of the start of what most international historians describe as a genocide lasting from 1915 to 1923 which left up to 1.5 million people dead. 2) Turkish Army Criticizes US over Kurdish Rebels, Warns about Kirkuk ISTANBUL (AFP)--The head of the Turkish army criticized the United States Wednesday for failing to curb Turkish Kurdish rebels hiding in northern Iraq and warned that Iraqi Kurdish attempts to take control of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk could throw the entire region into turmoil. General Hilmi Ozkok, the chief of general staff, complained in a yearly evaluation speech that Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was gaining influence in northern Iraq and stepping up attacks across the border on Turkey because of US failure to take action against the rebels. "The terror group has been included in the list of terrorist organizations by the United States and the European Union, but that does not carry a meaning in practice," Ozkok said. "It is thought-provoking that no action has been taken yet against the organization. The PKK must at any rate be deprived of foreign support and have its hope of success crushed," he said. Turkey says about 5,000 PKK militants have found refuge in the mountains of neighboring northern Iraq since 1999, when the group declared a unilateral ceasefire with Ankara in its armed campaign for self-rule in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast. The group called off the truce last year, raising tensions in the region. Ozkok also expressed concern over attempts by Iraqi Kurds to seize the ethnically volatile city of Kirkuk, which, he said, with its large oil resources, should belong to all Iraqis and not just one ethnic group. "That is why it is important for Kirkuk to have a special status," Ozkok said. "We have said several times that Kirkuk is a problem area ready to explode ..and that it would affect the entire region if it explodes." . Turkey suspects Iraqi Kurds of planning to capitalize on their post-war gains to make Kirkuk the capital of an independent Kurdish state. Such a state, Ankara fears, would fuel separatism among the restive Kurds of adjoining southeastern Turkey, sparking regional turmoil. 3) 178 US Representatives Urge President to Properly Characterize the Armenian Genocide --Record Level of Support for Congressional Letter Sends Strong Message to White House WASHINGTON, DC--A record number of US Representatives sent a Congressional letter to President Bush on Wednesday, urging him to reaffirm the US record on the Armenian genocide by properly characterizing the atrocities as "genocide." The letter comes days after a similar Senate initiative, which garnered the support of an unprecedented 32 Senators--a 45% increase over the previous year. The April 20 letter, spearheaded by Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairmen Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), stresses that "by properly recognizing the terrible atrocities committed against the Armenian people as 'genocide' in your statement, you will honor the many Americans who helped launch the unprecedented US diplomatic, political, and humanitarian campaign to end the carnage and protect the survivors." "We were very gratified by the announcement this evening by the Co-Chairman of the Armenian Caucus that a record total of one hundred and seventy-eight US Representatives have joined together in calling on the President to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide in his April 24th remarks," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA, following a special 90th anniversary Armenian genocide observance on Capitol Hill. "Along with the thirty-two Senators who sent a similar letter earlier this week to the White House, this brings to two hundred and ten the total number of US legislators formally calling for the President to speak with historical accuracy and moral clarity about this crime against humanity. We welcome this unprecedented level of Congressional leadership and urge the President to heed their call and honor the pledge he made in February of 2000 to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide." Representatives Pallone and Knollenberg, in a March 3 letter to their House colleagues, encouraged them to lend their voice to the effort noting, that "by properly affirming the Armenian Genocide, we can help ensure the legacy of the Genocide is remembered so this human tragedy will not be repeated." Over the past several weeks, Armenian Americans from across the US have been sending ANCA WebFaxes to their Representatives urging them to co-sign the letter to the President. On April 7, Representative Knollenberg joined with Republican House Members George Radanovich (R-CA), Michael Bilirakis (R-FL), Mark Souder (R-IN) and Mark Foley (R-FL) in urging their party colleagues to encourage Pres. Bush to follow Senator Dole's lead and "simply tell the truth." Members of Congress joining Reps. Pallone and Knollenberg in co-signing the letter included: Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Tom Allen (D-ME), Robert Andrews (D-NJ), Joe Baca (D-CA), Brian Baird (D-WA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Charles Bass (R-NH), Melissa Bean (D-IL), Bob Beauprez (R-CO), Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Howard Berman (D-CA), Michael Bilirakis (R-FL), Sanford Bishop (D-GA), Tim Bishop (D-NY), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), Mary Bono (R-CA), Jeb Bradley (R-NH), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Lois Capps (D-CA), Michael Capuano (D-MA), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Dennis Cardoza (D-CA), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), John Conyers (D-MI), Jim Costa (D-CA), Jerry Costello (D-IL), Christopher Cox (R-CA), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Duke Cunningham (R-CA), Danny Davis (D-IL), Susan Davis (D-CA), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), William Delahunt (D-MA), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL), John Dingell (D-MI), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), John Doolittle (R-CA), Mike Doyle (D-PA), David Dreier (R-CA), Vernon Ehlers (R-MI), Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Lane Evans (D-IL), Sam Farr (D-CA), Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Tom Feeney (R-FL), Mike Ferguson (R-NJ), Bob Filner (D-CA), Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Mark Foley (R-FL), Vito Fossella (R-NY), Barney Frank (D-MA), Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Jim Gerlach (R-PA), Mark Green (R-WI), Gene Green (D-TX), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Tim Holden (D-PA), Rush Holt (D-NJ), Michael Honda (D-CA), Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Steve Israel (D-NY), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Jesse Jackson (D-IL), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Nancy Johnson (R-CT), Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Sue Kelly (R-NY), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Dale Kildee (D-MI), Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), James Langevin (D-RI), John Larson (D-CT), Steven LaTourette (R-OH), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Sander Levin (D-MI), John Lewis (D-GA), Daniel Lipinski (D-IL), Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Dan Lungren (R-CA), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Edward Markey (D-MA), Jim Matheson (D-UT), Doris Matsui (D-CA), Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), Jim McDermott (D-WA), James McGovern (D-MA), John McHugh (R-NY), Mike McIntyre (D-NC), Buck McKeon (R-CA), Michael McNulty (D-NY), Martin Meehan (D-MA), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Michael Michaud (D-ME), George Miller (D-CA), Candice Miller (R-MI), Gwen Moore (D-WI), James Moran (D-VA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Richard Neal (D-MA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Devin Nunes (R-CA), John Olver (D-MA), C. L. "Butch" Otter (R-ID), William Pascrell (D-NJ), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Collin Peterson (D-MN), Richard Pombo (R-CA), Jon Porter (R-NV), George Radanovich (R-CA), Charles Rangel (D-NY), Mike Rogers (R-MI), Mike Ross (D-AR), Steven Rothman (D-NJ), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Edward Royce (R-CA), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Paul Ryan (R-WI), John Salazar (D-CO), Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), H. James Saxton (R-NJ), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), Joe Schwarz (R-MI), E. Clay Shaw (R-FL), Christopher Shays (R-CT), Brad Sherman (D-CA), John Shimkus (R-IL), Rob Simmons (R-CT), Christopher Smith (R-NJ), Hilda Solis (D-CA), Mark Souder (R-IN), Pete Stark (D-CA), John Sweeney (R-NY), Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), Mike Thompson (D-CA), John Tierney (D-MA), Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Mark Udall (D-CO), Christopher Van Hollen (D-MD), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Peter Visclosky (D-IN), James Walsh (R-NY), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Diane Watson (D-CA), Henry Waxman (D-CA), Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Curt Weldon (R-PA), Gerald Weller (R-IL), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Frank Wolf (R-VA), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), David Wu (D-OR), and Albert Wynn (D-MD). 4) Poland's Walesa Condemns 'First Genocide of 20th Century' (RFE/RL)--Lech Walesa, Poland's former president and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, made on Thursday an emotional case for the recognition by Turkey of the 1915 genocide of Armenians, saying it should be a precondition for Ankara's accession to the European Union. Walesa was addressing an international conference devoted the upcoming 90th anniversary of the start of the mass killings and deportations of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey. His visit came just two days after Poland became the ninth EU country to officially describe the slaughter of some 1.5 million Armenians as a genocide. "The massacres of Armenians in Turkey were the first genocide of the 20th century," Walesa declared in a speech in Yerevan. "Armenia is justly demanding that the recognition of the Armenian genocide be a precondition for Turkey's membership in the European Union," he said. "Without a universal acceptance of historical justice, we can not meet the challenges of the contemporary world." "The massacres of Armenians were started by the bloodthirsty [Ottoman] Sultan Abdul Hamid II," Walesa said in his speech. "In 1915, the Turkish government ordered the slaughter of Armenian intellectuals and the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Armenians that either starved to death or were brutally killed by Turkish soldiers and Kurdish bandits." "If I or anyone else forget that crime, then let God forget us," he added. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2005 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets. From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress