ASBAREZ Online [05-27-2005]

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05/27/2005
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) Socialist International Council in Tel Aviv and Ramallah 2) ANCA Criticizes Turkey's Mockery of Freedom of Expression 3) Groups Ask Belgian Senate to Adopt Strong Language on Genocide Denial 4) Pallone Chides Cancellation of Armenian Genocide Conference in Turkey 5) System Of A Down's 'Mezmerize' Debuts at Number One; First week's worldwide sales top 800,000 6) A War Photographer's South Coast Interlude 7) Youth to Hold Armenian Independence Day Festival 8) University Students in LA Stage Extraordinary Genocide Commemorative Events 9) San Francisco Armenian Film Festival Call for Entries 10) Armenian Contemporary Art at Harvest Gallery 11) Bitter Remembrances of Armenia 12) LETTERS Ed Note: Due to the early holiday deadline, Skeptik Sinikian was unable to write his column; he, instead, opted to travel to the White House for Georgian dance lessons from GW. OUR NEXT POSTING: Due to the Memorial Day holiday, our next issue will be posted on Tuesday, May 31. 1) Socialist International Council in Tel Aviv and Ramallah ARF delegate delivers speech on Mid-East peace (SI)--Tel Aviv and Ramallah were the stage for Socialist International's Council meeting on May 23-24, with the participation of leaders and representatives from its member parties and organizations from around the world. Representatives from the Armenia Revolutionary Federation (ARF), included Bureau member Mario Nalbandian, along with Hagop Sevan, Manuel Hasassian, and Georgette Avakian. Nalbandian was one of the featured speakers at the May 24 session. The Council, which convenes every six months, met in the Middle East on this occasion to underline the SI's commitment to searching for peace in the region and encouraging Israelis and Palestinians to move forward along the path of dialogue and negotiation at a crucial juncture for the region's future. Under the main theme "For a Middle East in peace, with political and economic democracy: the social democratic vision," the Council meeting, hosted by the Israel Labor Party, the Israeli Yachad Party, and the Palestinian Fatah, all members of the International, held two sessions, one in Tel Aviv and the other in Ramallah. The session in Tel Aviv opened on the morning of Monday 23 with contributions from Shimon Peres, Leader of the Labor Party and Deputy Prime Minister of Israel; Imad Shakur, Member of the Palestinian National Council; Yossi Beilin, Leader of the Yachad Party from Israel; and SI President António Guterres. A number of leaders from Socialist International member parties participated in the debate on the main theme. On the afternoon of the first day, the Council received a report from the Chair of the SI Committee on the Economy, Social Cohesion and the Environment, Christoph Zopel (Germany, SPD), and the position papers 'Financial and Economic Issues, The Bretton Woods Institutions and Global Economic Governance' and 'Trade and Social Rights', prepared by the Committee, were approved, as were the following declarations: 'Socialist International's Second Semi-Annual Review on Democratic Governance for Sustainable Development in a Global Society'; 'Millennium Development Goals', and 'World Summit on the Information Society'. A position paper--'Reforming the United Nations for a New Global Agenda'--prepared by a special Working Group established by the last SI Congress was adopted, following a presentation by Maria Joao Rodrigues (Portugal, PS). A resolution on the establishment of a global network of parliamentarians from SI member parties, an area of work mandated to the SI Secretary General, was approved. The President of Israel, Moshe Katsav, delivered a special address to the Council meeting and welcomed the presence of the International, acknowledging a climate of expectation concerning the latest developments in the Middle East. The afternoon session closed with a report of the Secretary General of the Socialist International, Luis Ayala, detailing the activities and the focus of attention of the organization during the last six month period. In the evening, in Ramallah, the delegates to the Council had a special meeting with the President of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, who thanked the International for its continuing involvement in the search for peace in the Middle East. On May 24, the session in Ramallah opened with addresses by Nabil Shaath, Deputy and Acting Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority; Abbas Zaki on behalf of Fatah; Avshalom Vilan, MK, of the Yachad Party; Colette Avital, MK, of the Israel Labour Party; and, SI President António Guterres. Participants continued the discussions of the previous day in Tel Aviv on the main theme. (List of speakers, Tuesday 24 May) At the end of the debates, a Declaration on democracy and peace in the Middle East was introduced by Thorbjorn Jagland (Norway, DNA) on behalf of the SI Middle East Committee which he chairs; it was unanimously adopted. Finally, the Council agreed to recommend the upgrade of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, PUK, Iraq, and the Democratic Party, DP, Serbia, to full membership in the International, and of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan , PDKI, and the Assembly of Democratic Forces, RFD, of Mauritania to consultative status. In accordance with the SI's statutes, the Council elected George Papandreou, Leader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, Pasok, Greece; Mohamed El-Yazghi, First Secretary of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces, USFP, Morocco, and Horacio Serpa of the Liberal Party of Colombia as Vice-Presidents of the Socialist International, to occupy positions that had become vacant since the last Congress. 2) ANCA Criticizes Turkey's Mockery of Freedom of Expression --Discussion of Armenian genocide silenced again WASHINGTON, DC (ANCA)--In yet another move marking a series of Turkish government actions to quash freedom of speech and prevent open discussion about the Armenian genocide, the Turkish Government compelled scholars from three universities in Turkey, on May 24, to indefinitely postpone a conference that would have focused on this crime against humanity. "The Turkish government's actions reflect a long-standing, profoundly troubling, and increasingly aggressive policy of seeking to silence any discussion of the Armenian fenocide--domestically, through coercion and threats of prosecution, and abroad through blackmail and intimidation," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. "In taking these steps, Turkey's leadership has made a mockery of its claims to seek a dialogue with Armenians, compounded international skepticism about its willingness to meet even minimal standards for freedom of expression, and underscored the need for our government and the international community to press Turkey--once and for all--to end its campaign to deny justice for this crime against humanity." The Conference, titled "Ottoman Armenians During the Decline of the Empire: Issues of Scientific Responsibility and Democracy," was jointly organized by the Comparative Literature Department of Bilgi University, the History Department of Bogazici University and the History Program at Sabanci University. Originally set to take place May 25th-27th at Bosphorus University, the schedule was to include over 30 papers by Turkish scholars from Turkey and abroad. In the days leading up to the conference, Turkish Government officials spoke stridently against the conference and its organizers. Turkish Justice Minister Cemil Cicek, in a speech before the Turkish Parliament on Tuesday, went so far as to accuse the academics of "treason." The Minister described the conference as a "a stab in the back to the Turkish nation." Cicek expressed regret that, as Justice Minister, he could not personally prosecute the organizers and participants. Opposition parliament members concurred with the government's views. According to the Agence France Presse, senior Republican People's Party Parliament member and former Turkish Ambassador to the US, Sukru Elekdag, referred to the conference as a "treacherous project." The government crackdown on the conference is the most recent chapter in the Turkish government's 90-year campaign of genocide denial. This effort has intensified in recent years. In 2003, Education Minister Hikmet Cetin issued a decree making student participation in a nation-wide essay contest denying the Armenian Genocide compulsory. The most recent revisions to the Turkish Penal Code criminalizes references to the Armenian Genocide and the removal of troops from Turkish occupied northern Cyprus. World-renowned Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, is the latest to be charged with violation of the Turkish penal code for references to the Armenian Genocide. According to news reports, Pamuk stated, "30,000 Kurds and 1 million Armenians were killed in Turkey. Almost no one dares to speak out this but me, and the nationalists hate me for that." 3) Groups Ask Belgian Senate to Adopt Strong Language on Genocide Denial BRUSSELS--Reminding legislators that "genocide denial is not the expression of an opinion but the continuation of the crime of genocide," several groups, including the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD), have asked the Belgian Senate to adopt concise language that clearly criminalizes denial of the Armenian genocide. In the next few days, the Belgium Senate will examine a draft law that would expand the offense for genocide denial. The draft law approved earlier by the House of Representative is based on a judicial definition of the crime of genocide, and does not specifically penalize the denial of the Armenian genocide. The House version was enacted prior to the establishment of the relevant international jurisdiction. But the issue has come to prominence recently due to numerous instances of Armenian genocide denial in Belgium. As a result, nearly half of the members of the Senate are seeking to consider this law and examine amendments to extend penalties for the denial of those genocides recognized by Belgian federal legislative bodies and by European legislative institutions. "We object to all forms of grading of genocides and therefore to all competition between victims, and we reaffirm that the denial of the Armenian genocide--like the denial of other genocides--repulses in equal measure all groups of victims as well as supporters of humanism," write the groups. They also point to the scholarly works that support beyond all reasonable doubt, the political and concerted nature of the Armenian genocide. Signatories include the Association of Armenian Democrats in Belgium (AADB), The Kurdish Institute of Brussels, The Info-Turk Foundation, The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), The LDH Human Rights Organisation (LDH - Belgium), The Movement against Racism, Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia (MRAX). 4) Pallone Chides Cancellation of Armenian Genocide Conference in Turkey US Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, criticized the cancellation of a conference on the Armenian Genocide in Turkey that was scheduled to begin yesterday. The New Jersey congressman gave the following statement on the House floor on Wednesday. "Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my outrage and great disappointment about a recent development in Turkey. A conference set to begin yesterday in Bogazici University, of Turkish scholars/academics entitled "Ottoman Armenians during the Decline of the Empire: Issues of Scientific Responsibility and Democracy," was indefinitely postponed by the University organizers. According to Agence France-Presse, Turkish Justice Minister Cemil Cicek yesterday accused Conference organizers of committing treason, saying, "We must put an end to this cycle of treason and insult, of spreading propaganda against the [Turkish] nation by people who belong to it." In addition, Turkish officials have demanded copies of all papers submitted to the conference. This development further affirms the speculation that the image that the Turkish government has attempted to create for itself is nothing more than a desperate attempt at creating a facade. Contrary to what Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and other Turkish officials would have us believe, the government of Turkey is not democratic, is not committed to creating a democracy, is not making an effort to create better relations with Armenia and is definitely not ready to join the European Union. Over the last year, we have witnessed the government of Turkey attempt to move towards democratization. However, the manner in which they have chosen to do so is an insult to any truly democratic government. Their attempts have included the adoption of a penal code that in reality represents a dramatic display of the Turkish government's campaign to deny the Armenian genocide. Furthermore, this new criminal code further hindered improved relations between the Republic of Armenia and Turkey. Section 306 of this code punishes individual Turkish citizens or groups that confirm the fact of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey or call for the end of the Turkish occupation of Northern Cyprus--with up to ten years in prison. Far from coming to terms with the Genocide or reaching out to Armenia- Turkey, in adopting Section 306 of its new penal code, hardened its anti-Armenian stance and undermined hopes for a reduction of tensions in the region. This sets the stage for possible legal action against Conference planners and participants. The Turkish government has refused to support rescinding this prohibition against free speech despite international criticism. With the cancellation of this conference, we find that the government of Turkey will go to any length to avoid facing its own bloody past. In just two weeks, Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan will be in the United States for an official visit, proclaiming that his nation is a democracy ready for full membership in the European Community and asking for US support. The sad reality Mr. Speaker is that when it comes to facing the judgment of history about the Armenian Genocide, Turkey, rather than acknowledge truth, has instead chosen to trample on the rights of its citizens to maintain its lies. Hrant Dink, editor of the Armenian weekly Agos in Turkey, stated, "This (decision) strengthens the hand of those outside Turkey who say, 'Turkey has not changed, it is not democratic enough to discuss the Armenian issue.' It shows there is a difference between what the government says and its intentions." Numerous European countries, including Poland, France and Greece, have passed Armenian Genocide resolutions, and have continuously urged Turkey to admit its crime. Just this week, French President Jacques Chirac, urged Turkey to recognize the genocide and said failure to do so could harm Ankara's drive to join the EU. We cannot sit by and allow for any nation that we consider an ally and a nation that is desperately seeking admission into the EU to behave in such a manner. To bring this development into perspective--consider that, according to current law in Turkey, dozens of US Senators and hundreds of Representatives would be punished simply for having voted for Armenian Genocide resolutions, spoken about the lessons of this crime against humanity, or commemorated the victims of this atrocity. So too would the American academic establishment, human rights groups, the mainstream media, and just about everyone else aside from the Turkish Embassy and its paid lobbyists here in DC. Only by being prepared to admit mistakes and make amends can the Turkish government truly be considered a nation governed by the values of democracy. This recent event reveals a vulnerable side of Turkey: one that is still hiding from its history and is incapable of learning from its mistakes so as to ensure that they will not be repeated in the future. The United States prides itself in being the world's leader in spreading democracy and liberty. As an effective leader, it is our duty to recognize that Turkey is not yet a Democratic state, and it will take a sincere effort on the part of Turkey to make the transition from a government that currently advocates censorship and lack of freedom of speech, to one that embraces the principles of democracy in its true meaning." 5) System Of A Down's 'Mezmerize' Debuts at Number One; First week's worldwide sales top 800,000 System of a Down has done it again. The band's fourth album, "Mezmerize" (American Recordings/Columbia Records), enters the Billboard/SoundScan chart in the Number One position, as did their CD "Toxicity" when it was released in September, 2001. Since the release of "Mezmerize" on May 17, the CD has scanned an astounding 453,000 copies domestically. "Mezmerize" is the first disc in a 2-disc set with disc two, "Hypnotize," expected out late this fall. "Mezmerize/Hypnotize" was produced by Rick Rubin and System's Daron Malakian. "Mezmerize" also came in at #1 on numerous music charts around the world including those in Germany, Canada, Austria, France, Sweden, Japan, Switzerland, Colombia, Greece, Brazil, and New Zealand, bringing the first week's worldwide sales in excess of 800,000 copies. "B.Y.O.B.," the first single from "Mezmerize," is a Top 5 track at radio, and the companion promo video has been in high rotation at MTV, MTV2 and the Fuse Network for weeks. "Mezmerize" has also scored big with the press: "A stunning work." --Associated Press "Every track burns with urgency." --USA Today "One of the most inventive, unique albums in years." --Newsday "Insanely good." --Entertainment Weekly "Everything on 'Mezmerize' hits and splits with viciously honed purpose." --Rolling Stone "Some of the smartest music in mainstream rock." --Wired "SOAD's music makes you wish more rock bands would take such brave and impressive risks." --Newsweek "Probably the best record NME has heard all year." --NME System of a Down kicked off a 23-date tour of Europe on Friday, May 27 that will include appearances at major rock festivals in Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Belgium, and Switzerland, as well as a three-night headline stand at London's Brixton Academy. System of a Down will headline a major North American arena tour (with The Mars Volta as special guest) beginning early August. Dates will be announced shortly. For the most current news and information on System Of A Down, log onto 6) A War Photographer's South Coast Interlude By Margo Kline Jonathan Alpeyrie is a serious young man who speaks in low, steady tones as he describes his life, spent flying to the far-and most troubled-corners of the Earth. He has been a bird of passage since starting college at the University of Chicago in 1998, spending summers chasing exotic locales while working as a photojournalist. He landed on the South Coast this spring. Just back from a week's trip to Armenia, Alpeyrie explained in an interview Monday his decision to remain in this area for the summer. It's "because of someone I met here." She is Alissa Anderson, an alumna of UCSB now working as an art dealer. Alpeyrie acknowledged that a career in photojournalism might be somewhat offbeat for someone who majored in medieval history in college and swam competitively while earning his degree. What began with a desire to see exotic places in his time off from classes evolved into a career chasing photos in locations as diverse as the former Soviet Union, Congo and the Ivory Coast in Africa, and Nepal, where Maoist rebels are warring with the royal government. He also finds time to go to the country of his birth, France. His recent trip to Armenia provided material for a less deadline-oriented project, Alpeyrie said. "I've been to ex-Yugoslavia to interview veterans of Bosnia and Croatia who were in World War II," he said. "I wanted people who had fought in foreign armies, mostly mercenaries." The vets he interviewed and photographed, all Slovenians and Croatians, fought for Nazi Germany "because they hated Russia," he said. In researching the project, he found that, suprisingly, Hitler's Wermacht had about 900,000 Muslims, from what is now Bosnia. Alpeyrie, the son of a Spanish mother and a Russian father, spent his first 14 years in Paris. Then he moved to New York with his father and sister. "I guess I call Manhattan home," he said. His father and sister still live there. His mother lives in Mexico, near Puerta Vallarta. He attended the Lycee Francaise in New York City, which he enjoyed thoroughly, he said. "It was a lot of fun. I wasn't very happy to go to college." But the University of Chicago proved to be "a good kick in the butt," he said. He started working as a photojournalist for local papers. In 2001, he took his first trip to Armenia. From there, he journeyed on to Lebanon and Syria. "They have Armenian communities in Lebanon and Syria, like they do now in Glendale," he said. "I like the Armenians. They're very nice." These days, Alpeyrie shoots news photos for Getty and Agence France Presse. At the same time, he pursues larger projects like the Wermacht veterans, with the aim of publishing books. "Went I first went [to Armenia], I had no idea what I would find," he said. "There is a lot of heavy industry in Armenia. The factories were built by the Russians, then the Armenians worked in them. Now, they're selling them for scrap." Traveling the world has led Alpeyrie to some sobering conclusions about geopolitics. For instance, the Armenians are still mindful of the mass killings of their countrymen in the early 20th century by Turks. "Everybody [in Armenia] is very hard about this, most passionate about it. They really dislike the Turks. The Turks want to find an agreement about this that it wasn't genocide. In the west, we argue about what is genocide. I think it was genocide. They [Turks] took whole families, put them in the desert...where they died." Consequently, he is not sympathetic about Turkey joining the European Union. "Poland and France are pretty determined against Turkey in the EU. The Turks want to join because of money, it's not for intellectual reasons. Is Turkey Europe? It's not." His travels in Africa were also an awakening. He went to the Congo but "I didn't get involved with the rebels. I did a photo essay about the Binza, kids accused of being witches. Their families kicked them out, saying they're the reason the families are poor." The ongoing war among the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda "is worse for the kids." The warring factions "really mess each other up." Now, Alpeyrie is pausing for a few months to do freelance photography in California, work on his book projects and enjoy spending time with Alissa Anderson. Both his parents have met the young woman, he said, and found her "impressive. They both like her." She will go to Manhattan in September to attend graduate school at Christie's, the art auctioneers. Alpeyrie will return to New York at the same time, then leave for a month in Nepal. In two previous visits to the Himalayan nation, he was in a group that was ambushed. On one of those trips, he saw a government helicopter strafe a village. Alpeyrie said his routine in such combat situations is always the same: "In the field, I stay with soldiers. They know you're there shooting [photos], that you're there with them. That's what I do every time. I make friends with the lieutenants and captains, the platoon leaders. They lead the men into battle." In the same quiet voice, he added, "I am not afraid." 7) Youth to Hold Armenian Independence Day Festival GLENDALE--The Armenian Youth Federation will celebrate Armenia's May 28 Independence Day with a large-scale picnic-festival on Monday, May 30. Well-known singers and performers, including Nersik Ispirian, Joseph Krikorian, Paul Baghdadlian, Armenchik, Ara Shahbazian, Vatche Hagopian, Sako, and Antoine Bezjian, will entertain the crowd. Singers will be accompanied by the Knar Band. "May 28, 1918 represents one of the most significant turning points in our history," said Shant Baboujian, chairman of the AYF Western Region. "As a free public event in celebration of such a great turning point in our history, we view the picnic-festival as a service to the Armenian community." The picnic-festival, to take place at Glendale High School starting at 11am, will offer food, music, and games. Local businesses and organizations will also have booths through which they will make their products and information available to the public. For more information or details please call (818) 507-1933. The AYF will also commemorate Memorial Day the same morning, with a wreath laying at the Glendale City Hall Veterans Memorial. 8) University Students in LA Stage Extraordinary Genocide Commemorative Events By Tamar Mahshigian LOS ANGELES--As Armenians worldwide commemorated the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, university students at California State University, Northridge and UCLA joined in organizing unique events that honored the memory of the 1.5 million innocent lives brutally taken under Ottoman rule. At Cal State Northridge, the Armenian Student Association and its companion fraternity and sorority groups held a month-long observance that culminated in a candlelight vigil on April 21. The ASA staged an impressive display in the quad with mounds of plastic bones splattered in blood, and 1,500 carnations in the grass (each one representing 1,000 martyrs). In the midst of this seeming graveyard were signs, one for each of the 6 Armenian provinces. The signs displayed the name of the province, its population before and after the Genocide, and the number of people who were slaughtered. Several days before the vigil, Armenian students set up 6 canvases around campus, almost 6 feet high and 4 feet wide, painted with the question: "Who Recognizes the Armenian Genocide?" Thousands of students and faculty signed the canvases, which were displayed at the vigil. The theme of the commemoration was struggle, survival, and rebirth. Newly elected Glendale City Clerk Ardashes Kassakhian, who was the keynote speaker, stressed that the massacre of Armenians was a planned extermination--a genocide--and that Armenians must continue to demand Turkish recognition of the heinous crimes of 90 years ago. Ani Asatryan, vice president of the Armenian Student Association, spoke about the youth not giving up until justice is served. "We can't heal, and we cannot grow as a nation until Turkey says 'I'm sorry,'" she told the crowd of 200 to 300 students, some of them non-Armenians. In addition to the speakers, there was a poetry recitation, a capella singing, and a video display of Ara Oshagan's portraits of Genocide survivors, as well as a special dance performance by Niree Arslanian, who graduated from CSUN last year, and her sister Lori. As impressive as the commemorative activities were, the Armenian Students Association gets credit for having the expenses paid for by the Associated Students of CSUN. The ASA received $6,000 in student government funds for its various commemorative programs. "It was so gratifying that the students were so organized," says Professor Armine Mahseredjian, director of CSUN's Armenian Studies Program and an advisor to the ASA. "They did it all themselves. The students worked together to create a cohesive event that got a lot of attention from non-Armenian students and faculty." At UCLA, the Armenian Students' Association in February co-hosted a panel on "Genocide Denial--today and in the past." "We are living in a world today in which genocide is being committed, specifically in Darfur," said Raffi Kassabian, president of the UCLA Armenian Student Association. "If people continue to turn a blind eye or deny such atrocities the cycle of genocide will continue to turn." On April 21, UCLA Armenian students staged a Silent March through campus holding posters and banners protesting the denial of the Genocide. Many of the students wore black to make a statement about the severity of their sentiment. UCLA's ASA also succeeded in having the university's student government pass a resolution on April 13, to ban the sale of Turkish goods at UCLA until Turkey takes care of its human rights violations. "We are sending the Turkish government a message that UCLA students will not tolerate human rights violations in Turkey," says Kassabian. UCLA also was the site for the 2005 All-ASA Candlelight Vigil on April 14. Each year, the All-Armenian Student Association's Genocide Recognition Committee, a coalition of Armenian collegiate student groups, chooses one or two campuses where all Armenian college students come together to commemorate the Genocide. The UCLA event featured the rapper Knowledge, who belongs to System Of A Down's Serj Tankian's social justice organization Axis of Justice, and UCLA Professor Paul Von Blum, a specialist on media and genocide. 9) San Francisco Armenian Film Festival Call for Entries SAN FRANCISCOContinuing on their outstanding success in San Francisco and New York in 2004, the Armenian Film Festival committee is presenting "San Francisco Armenian Film Festival 2006." The event is scheduled for February 2006 at the Delancey Street Theater. The film festival presents Armenian culture from throughout the world, in all its living diversity, and is committed to screening high quality films and videos produced by or about Armenians in every cultural, linguistic, and geopolitical setting. In seeking to familiarize Armenians and non-Armenians to the multiplicity that forms Armenian communities, the festival supports a large variety of works by Armenian film and video makers--narrative and experimental, documentary and fiction, features and shorts by and/or about Armenians. In addition to US filmmakers, filmmakers from around the world are also encouraged to submit works. Deadline for submissions is June 15, 2005. VHS tape or DVD (NTSC preferred where possible), promotional package, and contact information should be sent to: The SF Armenian Film Festival c/o Film Arts Foundation 145 9th St., #101, San Francisco, CA 94103 Email: [email protected] There is no entry fee for submission of films. The festival does not pay screening fees for selected films and videos. 10) Armenian Contemporary Art at Harvest Gallery May 13 through June 16 LOS ANGELES--An eclectic group exhibition featuring works by contemporary Armenian artists Sarkis Hamalbashian, Rouben Grigorian, Karine Matsakian, Gamo Nigarian, Vahan Rumelian and Arthur Sarkissian will be exhibited at Harvest Gallery through Thursday, June 16. Featuring works spanning the last decade, the exhibit presents over 20 oil-on-canvas contemporary pieces. Harvest Gallery hours are Tuesday Sunday from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm (938 North Brand Blvd., Glendale, CA). For general information about the exhibit, call 818.546.1000 or visit <; Harvest Gallery: 938 North Brand Blvd., Glendale, CA 11) Bitter Remembrances of Armenia The following, published in the Washington Times, is a response to Turkish Ambassador Faruk Logoglu's May 3, 2005 commentary "To reconcile Turks and Armenians," which also appeared in the Washington Times. Last Tuesday's Commentary contribution by Turkish Ambassador O. Faruk Logoglu was a vivid reminder the Turkish government still rigidly clings to its unseemly denial of the Armenian massacres of 1915, the first genocide of the 20th century, even as it seeks admission to the European Union. Moreover, the ambassador seeks sympathy for Turks as if they were equally wronged. It was all a result of wartime diseases and famine and "the Armenian revolt in the Eastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire, in which hundreds of thousands of Turks and Armenians died." And then this, an astonishingly mendacious thing to write: "We should ... acknowledge the grief and sadness felt by present generations of Armenians over the terrible losses suffered by their parents and grandparents. The same compassion must be extended to the Turkish people." Mr. Logoglu certainly knows better. Even the Turkish government archives show how the Ottoman Turkish government planned and carried out the massacres of the Armenians because of their race and Christian religion, "ethnically cleansing" the heavily Armenian provinces in the East and other parts of Turkey, including Istanbul, with the loss of an estimated 1.5 million Armenian lives. The ambassador mentions some Armenian revenge assassinations of Turkish officials in the 1970s and '80s--abominable events, to be sure. He does not mention assassinations of guilty Turkish officials more than a half-century earlier. The story of Soghomon Tehlirian suggests why. He shot and killed the former interior minister and planner of the genocide, Talaat Pasha, in Berlin in 1921. Tehlirian's sisters had been raped and his brother beheaded; his parents had died on a death march that killed tens of thousands of Armenians. Before shooting Talaat, he shouted: "This is to avenge the death of my family." He was exonerated by a German jury that found "the official Turkish documents... proved beyond question that Talaat Pasha and other officials had ordered the wholesale extermination of the Armenians." I wrote about Tehlirian in my California weekly newspaper almost 40 years later. I found him still careful to be as invisible as possible for fear of Turkish reprisal (justified or not), and my story said nothing of where and how he lived. He was buried by the Armenians as a hero. We might have done something similar if an American had assassinated Adolf Hitler. Hitler, by the way, told his top generals as they prepared to invade Poland and the Nazis pressed on with the Holocaust: "Who today, after all, speaks of the annihilation of the Armenians?" Many Americans knew what was happening in 1915 and thereabouts and tried to help, but too late. They included Theodore Roosevelt, who criticized Woodrow Wilson for not sending troops into Turkey to fight to save the Armenians. "The Armenian massacre was the greatest crime of the war," he said, "and failure to act against Turkey is to condone it." That failure, he said, "means that all talk of guaranteeing the future peace of the world is mischievous nonsense." America's failure, he said, showed "our announcement that we meant 'to make the world safe for democracy' was insincere claptrap." Others who spoke out and raised funds for rescue of the Armenians over the next few years included John D. Rockefeller, William Jennings Bryan, Clara Barton, Julia Ward Howe, William Lloyd Garrison Jr., Stephen Crane, H.L. Mencken, Ezra Pound and (despite Roosevelt's words) Woodrow Wilson. They all knew this was genocide. Henry Morgenthau, ambassador to Turkey during the massacres, confronted the Turkish government about its treatment of the Armenians and led our diplomats' valiant efforts to help Armenians escape. He wrote when he left in 1916: "My failure to stop the destruction of the Armenians had made Turkey for me a place of horror." Religious organizations speaking out included the Central Conference of American Rabbis (which earlier appealed to Europe in 1909 to protect the Armenians from barbarism in Turkey), Protestant missionaries (numerous in Turkish Armenia, witnesses to the atrocities and sometimes rescuers and victims) and leading American Catholics. In due time, I hope, Turkey will be a member of the EU and by then will have firmly emplaced democratic government and First Amendment freedoms. But it would be another atrocity if that happens before Turkey accepts, as any European nation should, its responsibility for the massacres. Can we imagine Germany as a EU member if it denied the Holocaust and asked equal sympathy for Germans and Jews because of what happened? America once stood tall in response to the Armenian massacres. The pursuit of oil and influence in the Middle East changed that soon after World War I. It was easier to end the humanitarian clamor. Today some politicians even refuse (though not President Bush) to use the word "genocide" lest they offend Turkey. Americans in general do not even know of these atrocities, although in one of their finest hours Americans had cried out for the Armenians and for holding nations accountable for genocide. Maybe Hitler was right. But I have many Armenian and Turkish friends who do know (the latter silent just now, because of Turkish suppression of the truth). I believe young people in Turkey may change this some day if they have a chance, if they even learn what happened. Ambassador Logoglu believes this stain will just go away. We must make sure lies do not corrupt history as they now corrupt the Turkish government. Reese Cleghorn Washington, D.C. 12) LETTERS: On April 6, 2005, Asbarez Daily published an article by Raffi Arzouhaldjian titled "On the Eve of the 90th, Anti-turkism Should Not Equal Patriotic Armenianism." In this editorial, the author intimates his disapproval of the courageous Armenian students who protested against the pro-Turkish and anti-Armenian opinions of singer Filip Kirkorov. Ultimately, the protests by the Nigol Agbalian Youth Union were successful in the decision to cancel Filip Kirkorov's concert in Armenia, and reiterated that Armenians, as a society, have a low threshold of tolerance for anti-Armenian slander. I came across the editorial by this graduate student of diplomacy at the most inopportune time. On the eve of the ninetieth anniversary of the Armenian genocide, it seemed odd that a self-proclaimed Armenophile would so distastefully denigrate Armenians with his pro-Turkish agenda. Clearly, Mr. Arzouhaldjian, your decision to come out of the closet with your Turkish political proclivity would have been more appropriately timed around Turkish Independence day, rather than April 24th. Given the communal and individual losses that our parents and grandparents suffered under the hands of Turkish atrocities, how can any individual advocate acquiescence to anti-Armenian sentiment among Turks. Weren't the centuries of religious, cultural, and political persecution of Armenians by the Turks enough? Based on your editorial, I suppose that you would advocate Armenian political acquiescence to Turkey for the sake of diplomatic expediency. Although the writer acknowledges the existence of anti-Armenian intolerance in Turkey and Azerbaijan, he seems to distort its prevalence within the context of Armenian history. He presents the issue as if it is a new phenomenon. Anti-Armenian intolerance in occupied Asia Minor has been rampant and public policy since 1064. Throughout our history, Turkish citizens have murdered, raped, kidnapped, and pillaged Armenians. "Ermenileri Kerajaghus" ("We shall slaughter the Armenians") has been part of Turkish lexicon and culture. This intolerance was often uniquely directed at Armenians in a systematic campaign to deny Armenians their intrinsic right to political, cultural, and religious self-determination. Rightfully, the writer also acknowledges anti-Armenian intolerance by Azerbaijan and Turkey that continues to this day. He argues that this casts a dark shadow over regional integration. Although the concept of regional peace is appealing to all parties, Armenians are adamant about maintaining cultural and political sovereignty and resisting the hostile and imperialistic pan Turanic aspirations of its neighbor states. If regional integration is the current state of real politics then why did the international community recognize the state of Armenia after the collapse of the Soviet Union? Mr. Arzouhaldjian, are you proposing to have all the nations that deservingly declared independence from Ottoman Turkey relinquish their independence back to modern Turkey because you seem to advocate a regional integration? Why not take issue with The South integrating linguistically, culturally, and politically from the Union before erasing borders in the Caucasus. The writer also states that the cancellation of Filip Kirkorov's concert plays a disservice to Armenia's fragile democracy. The mere fact that the protests by the Nigol Aghbalian Youth Union were allowed by the fledgling Armenian government, attests to high values Armenians place on American democratic values. You forget that the democratic principles that the Armenian diaspora in America espouses have been instrumental in the establishment of democratic principles in Armenia. Interestingly, the author supports the right of a foreigner with flagrant anti-Armenian views to promulgate an overtly insulting agenda in Armenia, but he condemns the Armenian students for their courageous stand and pride for their Armenian culture. His biased support of Filip Kirkorov is repulsive and damaging to our cultural history and pride. The writer insults Armenians by stating that the Armenian political agenda has been hijacked by ethnic hatred and hollow nationalism. The core of our nationalism has been the struggle to substantiate the sovereignty of our nation. The acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide, Armenian cultural, religious, literary and historical achievements within the context of ethnic, political and national genocide are an important and intangible goal of most Armenians. Interestingly, Mr. Arzouhaldjian disguises his acquiescence to Turkish nationalism and bigotry by claiming that he..."is a strong advocate of Armenian rights." Armenian rights! The vagueness of the statement is comedic. He seems to be more concerned about the Kurds and Alevis as suppressed minorities. Who remembers the Syriac, Chaldean, Nestorians, Greeks and the Assyrians who commemorate 1895/6 and 1915 as their genocides? What rights are Armenians demanding today? Going back throughout recorded history, depopulating Armenia has been an obsession of every empire. If he is advocating the rightful return of Greater and Lesser Armenia, and Cilicia, then he should have proclaimed so in his editorial. However, it seems more likely that he has injected that description of himself in order to obviate any allegations of being an Armenophobe. I don't remember Mr. Arzouhaldjian in the trenches of Sushi! Or for that matter, advocating the rights of any Armenian living today. Why the silence during and after the settlement of the New York Life lawsuit? He also claims that intolerance of a neighbor's culture is borderline racist. To allege that being intolerant of a neighbor's culture is borderline racist misses the point. We as Armenians throughout our history have not only tolerated but tolerated and assimilated into our receptive host countries. This is exemplified by many Armenians throughout the diaspora who have lived, served, and adopted our host country's language, food and culture. We as Armenians are not intolerant of other cultures, but rather intolerant of individuals coming into our country and advocating an anti-Armenian agenda and insulting our cultural pride. This is particularly true around the time of our commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. From the standpoint of Mr. Arzouhaldjian's editorial, we should not pick on an artist that has decided to hold a concert in Yerevan and perform songs in Turkish. Filip Kirkorov, a self-loathing Armenian who doesn't deny his ethnicity ironically behaves as an opportunistic Armenophobe. Perhaps mistakenly, Mr. Arzouhaldjian fails to mention Filip Kirkorov's recent conduct in Baku, Azerbaijian. According to reports in Azbarez Daily, Filip Kirkorov proclaimed that he was "ashamed that Armenian blood flows through his body..." during a concert in that city. This was one of the reasons why the students protested his concert. It is almost analogous to the American public's reaction to comments made by the Dixie Chicks. Why was Mr. Arzouhaldjian so silent when the Dixie Chics were condemned and many of their concerts cancelled? Why didn't he proclaim the United States public undemocratic and reactionary? Why didn't he criticize the country music fans and all the citizens within these United States as borderline racists? One of the most disappointing comments made in the editorial was as follows: "Unlike our grandparents' generation, who could not help but view Turkey from the perspective of individual and communal losses after the genocide, our generation needs a wider and more sophisticated view of Armenian-Turkish relations." Despite the ninety years that have passed since the Armenian genocide, the majority of Armenians are still deeply affected by the tragedies inflicted during that era and for many centuries preceding. The lives of our grandparents and parents, in some cases, were tragically altered in the most brutal ways. How can he even insinuate that we, as the new generation of Armenians, collectively move on and ignore these past crimes. Insulting our grandparent's generation of perceiving Turkey from individual and communal losses after the genocide not only shows the level of his immaturity but his insolence and naiveté. His comments are a desecration of our history. "...The very name of Armenia awakens memories of a tragic chain of broken promises for the fulfillment of which they (allies) have not raised a finger. After all it was a culturally gifted nation, possessing no oil wells or gold mines..." Fridtjof Nansen It seems that his ignorance of Armenian history is evident. Let us not rewrite history, but let me remind him that the Seljuk and later Ottoman Turks instituted a systematic campaign of cultural genocide. Therefore, our feelings towards the Turks have been a result of not only their invasion and usurpation of our lands, but the desecration of our churches, cemeteries, and the kidnapping, raping and murder of our people. These crimes should never be forgotten for the sake of diplomatic expediency. In another statement, the author writes: "We can't imitate the monolithic positions of the establishment in Ankara and its Armenophobic policies. "...First, the ferman (order) for massacres was issued. Then the Turkish and Kurdish plunderers, armed with swords, hatchets, or truncheons, would break into Armenian homes and start the blood bath. When the carnage reached a level considered adequate for that day, the government's town crier would blow the trumpet to signal the paydos (pause). Accustomed to the rules of the game, the crazed populace would suddenly stop, sheathe their swords, and quietly go home..." In Bill O'Reilly's words, this is a "NO SPIN ZONE!" But this writer tries to muddy the water, confuse, and distract the reader by claiming that we as Armenians should distinguish between Ankara and the Turkish people and culture. I have a few comments to make: How many ordinary Turkish citizens ever stood up and apologized to any Armenian during or after any massacre? The ones who did harbor Armenians only harbored them in return for financial incentives. The direct beneficiaries of the massacres weren't the politicians in Constantinople or Ankara, but the ordinary Turk. When Nelson Mandela refused the Ataturk Peace Award, he was called an "insolent African," an "Ugly African." How many Turks protested to Hurriet, Sahah, and Turkiye newspapers? How many Arab countries still maintain any vestiges of Turkish culture? You want us to respect a culture that had actively traded slaves from Africa less than 80 years ago! All this with no recorded apology! Mr. Arzouhaldjian, it is ironic that you claim we should, as a society, practice more tolerance of anti-Armenian and pro-Turkish tendencies among individuals in our free society. You advocate that as a society we should tolerate and respect individuals like Filip Kirkorov's pro-Turkish stance, pro Turkish tendencies and opinions. It is also ironic that by Asbarez Daily publishing your insolent, insensitive and ill-timed editorial, it has demonstrated a tolerance for which you accuse Armenians of lacking. You have SPUN this issue, knowing full well the real reason for the outrage, but you took the opportunity to insult Armenians. Perhaps you haven't realized that your comments may have offended a whole generation of Armenians who have personally been touched by the tragedies during and after the Armenian genocide. Ninety years after the genocide, Armenians have continued to persevere and flourish as a nation and diaspora while still respecting the tragic sacrifices our ancestors made to maintain our culture and identity. We shall never forget these sacrifices for the sake of diplomacy. Mr. Arzouhaldjian, perhaps you should take Henry Kissinger as a role model. He remained committed to American national policy while persevering and respecting his heritage. Hrair Karamanoukian 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. 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