Author: Badalian Vardan

TURKISH PM’S ARMENIAN ADVISER STEPS DOWN AFTER GENOCIDE REMARK

i24 News, Israel
April 17 2015

Turkey accused of belittling the centenary of the Armenian genocide
by advancing its Gallipoli commemorations

The first ever member of Turkey’s Armenian community to hold the
post of senior adviser to the Turkish prime minister has retired,
an official said on Thursday, after he described the mass killings
of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as a “genocide.”

The official, who asked not to be named, denied any link between
the departure of Etyen Mahcupyan and the looming 100th anniversary
on April 24 of the start of the 1915 killings of Armenians, which
Yerevan regards as genocide.

Mahcupyan, 65, “has retired on the grounds of age,” the official said,
noting this was the age limit for all Turkish civil servants.

Mahcupyan, who was appointed last year as senior adviser to Ahmet
Davutoglu, infuriated some within the ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP) this week when he qualified the mass killings of Armenians
as a “genocide.”

“If accepting that what happened in Bosnia and Africa were genocides,
it is impossible not to call what happened to Armenians in 1915
genocide too,” Mahcupyan said in an interview published this week.

Turkey, which has always rejected the term genocide, has taken a
defiant line amid growing tensions over the characterization of the
tragedy ahead of the 100th anniversary.

The European Parliament on Wednesday urged Turkey to use the centenary
of Ottoman-era massacres to “recognize the Armenian genocide” and
help promote reconciliation between the two peoples.

The use of the word “genocide” by Pope Francis on Sunday infuriated
Ankara and prompted Davutoglu to accuse the pontiff of “blackmail”
against Turkey.

In an interview with AFP in December, Mahcupyan said 2015 would be a
“tough year” because of the anniversary.

He said the priority for the future should be establishing relations
with Armenia as well as the millions-strong diaspora, many of whom
harbor a deep hatred of Turkey.

Gallipoli commemorations

Meanwhile Turkey has been accused of belittling the upcoming centenary
of the Armenian genocide by advancing its Gallipoli commemorations
to the same day.

The ceremonies, to be marked on April 24, coincide exactly with the
100th anniversary of the mass killings of Armenians at the hands of
the Ottoman Empire.

“This is a very indecent political manoeuvre,” Ohannes Kılıcdagı, a
researcher and writer for Agos, an Armenian weekly, told the Guardian.

“It’s cheap politics to try to dissolve the pressure on Turkey in
the year of the centennial by organizing this event.

“Everybody knows that the two memorials around Gallipoli have been
held on 18 March and 25 April every year.”

Nazar Buyum, an Armenian columnist and writer, said: “It’s not just
Gallipoli…Someone also had the audacity to suggest the organization
of a Gallipoli memorial concert in an Armenian church in Istanbul for
24 April. The government does everything to overshadow the centennial
of the genocide this year.”

Erdogan has invited his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarkisian, to
attend commemoration ceremonies in Turkey.

The Gallipoli campaign was one of the most famous battles of World
War I when Ottoman troops resisted an invading Allied Forceseeking
control of the Gallipoli peninsula on the Dardanelles strait.

The war was also where the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk, made his name as a heroic military leader.

“We fought as a kind together. That’s why we have invited Sarkisian,”
a government official was quoted as saying by local media, referring
to the presence of Armenian minorities alongside Turks and other
peoples in the Ottoman army.

Britain, Australia and New Zealand reportedly want a flamboyant
ceremony to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the landings at
Gallipoli.

Local media said the prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand,
as well as Britain’s Prince Charles, with his sons, are expected to
attend the ceremonies.

An invitation has also been sent to German President Joachim Gauck.

Some 10,500 people from Australia and New Zealand who were selected
after a ballot are due to take part in a dawn service a day later on
April 25, an Australian embassy official told AFP.

War of words as Armenians fight for genocide recognition a century on

Mass killings? Mutual bloodletting? Genocide? The hundreds of thousands
of dead have been silent for a century, but generations on, Armenians
are still battling to get the World War I slaying of their ancestors
recognized as a genocide.As Armenians around the world gear up to
mark 100 years since the start of the slaughter on April 24, the
struggle to get the world — and above all Turkey — to use the term
“genocide” remains deeply divisive.

To Armenians the word represents definitive proof of their ancestors’
horrific suffering at the hands of the Ottoman empire during World
War I, but for Ankara the violence was perpetrated by all sides and
describing the events as “genocide” is a red line it cannot cross.

Trapped somewhere in the middle is an international community, notably
the United States, under pressure from Armenia’s large diaspora but
worried about upsetting a rising Turkey.

“For Armenians the word ‘genocide’ encapsulates what happened to their
forefathers in 1915 and also elevates the Armenian experience to the
level of that of the Holocaust,” said Thomas De Waal, an expert on the
region at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.

“Precisely for the same reason, official Turkey has always rejected
the term, on the grounds that it equates the behaviour of their
grandparents with the Nazis and also out of paranoia that the
application of the word could lead to legal claims against Turkey.”

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were systematically
killed between 1915 and 1917 by Ottoman authorities as their empire —
the precursor to modern Turkey — crumbled.

Turkey rejects the claims, arguing that 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians
and as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians rose up against
their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian troops.

– Rise of a movement –

For some 30 years after the killings no one thought of calling the
massacres of Armenians a genocide — because the term itself did
not exist.

Up until then, Armenians referred to the tragedy simply as the “Great
Catastrophe” — or Medz Yeghern in Armenian.

Coined only in 1944 by Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin, the word
“genocide” became codified in law in the 1948 United Nations Genocide
Convention, which defined it as “acts committed with intent to destroy,
in whole or part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.”

The start of the clamor for recognition came later in 1965 as Armenians
around the world marked the 50th anniversary of the killings.

In Armenia itself — then a republic of the Soviet Union —
discussing any official acceptance of the genocide was a taboo but
an unprecedented protest that saw some 100,000 take to the streets
forced the Kremlin to start reevaluating its position.

“It was like a genie was let out of the bottle,” Rolan Manucharyan,
a physics professor who took part in the 1965 demonstration in downtown
Yerevan, told AFP.

The 1980s then saw an surge in the international movement for
recognition, mainly fuelled by the Armenian community in the US,
with outbursts of violence as radical groups killed Turkish officials.

So far, Armenia says 22 countries — prominently France, with its
large Armenian community — have recognized the genocide.

Last Sunday Pope Francis became the latest international figure to
wade into the controversy as he used the term “genocide” to describe
the killings, sparking a furious reaction from Turkey.

For American presidents the issue has always been a thorny one.

Ronald Reagan used the term in the early 1980s but since then the
commanders-in-chief in Washington have shied away.

Barack Obama — who pledged before he won the presidency to recognize
the genocide — has sidestepped the contentious term by using the
Armenian term Medz Yeghern.

– Return of land? –

The fallout from the massacres still shapes the region with official
ties between Turkey and Armenia frozen.

Part of the fear in Ankara over the push for genocide recognition is
that it could see Armenians lay claim to land in eastern Turkey.

“The term ‘genocide’ is not just an academic concept but also a
legal one. It means that a crime was committed and suggests that
there should be punishment and compensation,” said Ruben Safrastyan,
the director of Yerevan’s Institute of Oriental Studies.

At present Armenia has no official territorial claims against Turkey
but in 2013 prosecutor general Aghvan Hovsepyan sparked fury in Ankara
by saying Armenians should have their “lost territories” returned.

But despite the dreams of some Armenians to reclaim their land,
analysts said few outside the community seriously think there will
be any move to retake the land.

“It would be very difficult for any Armenian political leader to say
that Armenia has no territorial claims to Turkey,” Svante Cornell
from the Washington-based Central Asia-Caucasus Institute told AFP.

“But Western politicians don’t take seriously” the possibility of a
land dispute.

As the 100th anniversary of the killings approaches, the struggle
for official recognition is as intense as ever.

And the burden of what happened — and getting recognition for it —
still weighs heavily over Armenia and Armenians around the world.

“The pain forces us to constantly look back into the past,” said
Armenian author Ruben Hovsepyan, whose mother fled the killings as
a child.

“It does not allow us to fully build our future as we use up so
much national energy and potential on forcing Turkey to recognize
the genocide.”

(AFP)

DIRECTOR OF ‘1915’ ON GROWING UP WITH ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AS FAMILY HISTORY

89.3 KPCC
April 15 2015

by John Rabe

Turkey was on the defensive Wednesday, lashing out at both Pope Francis
and the European Union’s legislature for their descriptions of the
Ottoman-era killing of Armenians as genocide. Turkey’s prime minister
Ahmet Davutoglu said that the pontiff has joined “an evil front”
plotting against Turkey… Later Wednesday, the European Parliament
triggered more Turkish ire by passing a non-binding resolution to
commemorate “the centenary of the Armenian genocide.” In a quick
response, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the resolution was an
attempt to rewrite history and threatens to harm bilateral relations
between the EU and Turkey. — Associated Press, April 15, 2015

This month, most of the world commemorates the 100th anniversary of
the Armenian genocide, in which the Turks killed an estimated 1.5
million Armenians. This weekend marks the opening of a new movie that
tells the story again, but through a production of a play staged at
the historic Los Angeles Theatre in downtown LA.

Alec Mouhibian and Garin Hovannisian’s “1915” opens this weekend in
Southern California and next weekend in New York, and Hovannisian
came to the Off-Ramp studio to talk with host John Rabe about the film.

(Filmmaker Garin Hovannisian at the Mohn Broadcast Center. Credit:
John Rabe)

How did you first learn of the genocide?

“I came from a very special family that was connected directly with the
Armenian genocide. My grandfather, Richard Hovannisian, who has taught
history at UCLA for the past 50 years, and who is one of the founding
scholars of Armenian studies in the United States, made it no option
for me not to know. The way he came to discover it from his own father,
who was a survivor, was very different. His father survived, escaped,
moved to the San Joaquin Valley, and the instinct of many people of
his generation was to forget, to overcome the past. But many nights,
Kaspar, my great-grandfather, could be heard screaming in his sleep.”

How did they describe the genocide to a child?

“There was this mythic land called Armenia, with a wonderful mountain
called Ararat, where the Bible says Noah’s arc landed, a land where
Christianity first proclaimed. But for some reason, that land didn’t
exist, that land was destroyed, it was a land of ruined churches,
it was a ghost land. And so the stories that my father would tell me
deep into the night always began with ‘there was this land called
Armenia.’ To me, it was the place of my dreams. It was the place
that, having been born in Los Angeles, growing up in Los Angeles,
we would return to.”

Tell us about “1915,” your movie.

“This movie follows a mysterious, intense theater director, who on
one day, April 24, 2015, which happens to be the 100th anniversary
of the Armenian genocide, believes that if he brings the right cast
together, and if he stages this play to perfection, he can actually
bring the ghosts of the Armenian genocide back to life. So in an age
when nobody believes in the theater anymore, this one theater director
is on the mission of his life.”

For much more from our interview with Garin Hovannisian, listen to
the audio interview near the top of the screen.

“1915” opens Friday in Hollywood, Glendale, Beverly Hills, Encino,
Pasadena, Santa Ana, Anaheim, Rancho Palos Verdes, and Whittier;
and April 25 at the Moscow Cinema in Yerevan, Armenia.

GYUMRI MURDER CASE: RELATIVES OF SLAIN FAMILY SUSPICIOUS OF RUSSIAN-LED INVESTIGATION

ANALYSIS | 17.04.15 | 11:05

By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent

The Investigative Committee of Armenia has published information about
expert conclusions in the high-profile murder case in Gyumri where a
Russian soldier allegedly gunned down a seven-member Armenian family
in January.

The results of the examinations provided little news. One of the few
remarkable statements is that all bullets found in the house of the
Avetisyans were fired from the submachine-gun belonging to Valery
Permyakov, a 19-year-old conscript at the Russian base stationed in
Gyumri. Also it was established that the submachine-gun allegedly
used by Permyakov had no muffler.

The mass murder appears to be one of the obstacles in the way of
traditionally friendly Armenian-Russian relations. Russia refuses
to transfer the accused to Armenian justice. At the same time, the
Armenian side does not seem to be doing enough – at least as it appears
to the Armenian public – to secure Permyakov’s handover. This situation
is perceived negatively by most members of the Armenian society.

Judging from the actions of the Armenian and Russian sides, there
is some sort of agreement about the maximum possible concealment of
the circumstances of the high-profile crime. Two criminal cases have
been instituted on the same case – by the investigative committees
of Russia and Armenia.

It is remarkable that in the case instituted by the Russian
Investigative Committee the victim is the Republic of Armenia. By
the Armenian case, the victims are the Avetisyan family and their
legal successors.

Armenia’s leading human rights activist Arthur Sakunts finds it
odd that the legal successors of the Avetisyan family do not figure
as a party in the case investigated by the Russian side. Moreover,
it is not known whether there is an accused party in the case being
investigated by the Armenian side, as Armenian investigators have no
possibility to interrogate Permyakov who is kept at the Russian base.

Meanwhile, it is most likely that the real trial will be based on
the criminal case being investigated by the Russian side.

However, as things stand now, it is unlikely that anyone will really
represent the Avetisyan family at the trial by the Russian court and,
accordingly, the victims’ relatives will not have an opportunity
to ask questions to Permyakov even in the court-room. Meanwhile,
there appear to be a lot of questions to be asked. Relatives of the
Avetisyans have long harbored suspicions that Permyakov acted not
alone, but had accomplices and that the investigators hide something.

Lawyers say that the Russian and Armenian side could have some secret
agreement to hide some of the true circumstances of the crime and
“isolate” the relatives and lawyers of the victims’ legal successors
so that they could not ask questions during the trial. Lawyers and
human rights activists argue that even if the Armenian side fails
to get Permyakov’s handover to Armenian justice, it should seek the
involvement of the Avetisyans’ legal successors as a party in the
case being investigated by Russia.

WHY DO THE INFLUENTIAL ESCAPE THE BLAME GAME?

The National, UAE
April 16 2015

Alan Philps

April 16, 2015

In recent days, 100-year-old black-and-white images of women carrying
infants through the desert have flashed up on the screens of news
channels. The images are followed by more recent footage of similar
head-scarfed women fleeing with their babies across the sand. The
first images are shots of the expulsion of Armenians from eastern
Turkey in 1915 during which up to 1.5 million were killed or died of
hunger and thirst. The modern footage is of Yazidi families fleeing
the onslaught of ISIL in Iraq last year.

Is it fair to put these two events side by side on screen, given the
power of images to suggest a continuum of oppression of religious and
ethnic minorities from the First World War to today? The question
will be hard to escape over the next week. Foreshadowing the 100th
anniversary of the start of the Armenian deportations on April 24,
Pope Francis lit the fuse for an explosive debate by describing the
Armenian massacres “the first genocide of the 20th century”.

The pope is used to poking sticks into hornet’s nests. The Vatican
diplomatic service cannot have failed to be aware of the likely
reaction in Turkey, a country recently visited by Francis and one
where the Roman Catholic hierarchy has invested much effort in good
relations. Turkey recalled its ambassador from the Vatican in protest.

On Wednesday, the European Parliament passed a resolution urging Turkey
to recognise the events of 1915 as genocide. The Turkish President,
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, responded angrily: “The stain of genocide on
our nation is out of the question.”

This is not the place to rehearse the arguments on both sides, which
have been aired in these pages, including by the Turkish ambassador
today. Under Mr Erdogan the taboo on discussion of the massacres has
been lifted, and he himself has expressed condolences to the Armenian
victims. But there is adamant refusal to accept the term genocide
even though the term is supported by many scholars.

The issue for the Turks is the context of these terrible events. They
took place during a war that caused industrial scale casualties and
against the background of the decades-long collapse of the Ottoman
Empire during which millions of Muslims died and were forced out of
their homes. The Armenians were far from the only victims.

The list of countries where genocide has been ruled by international
courts to have taken place usually includes Nazi Germany and Rwanda,
and in Bosnia at the hands of the Bosnian Serbs. But the powerful
countries escape. Was not Russia guilty of genocide by deporting the
Circassian Muslims in the 1860s from their homeland in the Caucasus,
land where the Sochi winter Olympics were held? And what about Stalin’s
treatment of the Muslim Chechens, deported en masse from their homes
in 1944 and left to die on the steppes of Kazakhstan? And shouldn’t
the European settlers in America be deemed guilty of genocide for
their destruction of the native peoples?

Americans would argue that this argument is ridiculous. After all,
that was in the past. But when did the past stop and the present
begin? Perhaps the line should be drawn from 1948 when the Convention
on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted
by the UN General Assembly.

No one can deny that battles over other people’s history are deeply
attractive to the media and to legislatures looking for an easy vote.

It is much easier for the European Parliament to approve a motion
on 1915 than to tackle the tragedy unfolding in the Mediterranean,
where thousands – Syrians, Eritreans and others – are likely to
drown in leaky boats over the summer trying to reach Europe from
Africa. There are no easy solutions there.

A visitor from Mars would be shocked that countries are arguing over
events a century ago while a real humanitarian crisis is unfolding
along Turkey’s southern border.

Some 40 to 50 million people around the world have been forced to
leave their homes by war, civil unrest or climate stress. What to do
about these people and the wars that have ruined their lives is the
real issue of our time. Who, for example, has found a way to help the
16,000 remaining residents of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp on
the outskirts of Damascus, besieged and bombed by government forces
and then laid waste by ISIL? The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon,
made a desperate plea for outside intervention, describing Yarmouk
as the “deepest circle of hell”. There was not much response either
from Arab states or the outside powers.

Here lies the answer to why Pope Francis threw caution to the wind
last Sunday. It is not about redress for events 100 years ago. It
is about the future of the Christians in the Middle East at a time
of unprecedented war and dislocation. In the past, the Vatican has
spoken softly in defence of Christians in the region, aware that their
position as integral parts of their communities is undermined if they
appear to have colonial protectors. To put things in context again,
ISIL has killed many more Muslims than Christians or Yazidis.

That policy has not worked. Continuing war in Syria is hastening the
exodus of Christians from the region. If the pope took his gloves
off with Turkey, it is because of Mr Erdogan’s role in the Syrian
conflict, where he has given priority to toppling Bashar Al Assad over
containing the jihadists of ISIL. The Vatican sees things differently –
the triumph of ISIL would be a catastrophe.

Raising the Armenian issue is a stick to beat Mr Erdogan with. But
whether the western world has the right to give morality lessons in a
region where its intervention has caused so much pain and bitterness
is an open question.

Alan Philps is a commentator on global affairs

EU PARLIAMENT CALLS FOR #TURKEY TO RECOGNISE ‘GENOCIDE’

MWC – Media With Conscience
April 16 2015

The European Parliament has called on Turkey to recognise the “Armenian
genocide”, sparking condemnation from Ankara, which says the move is
“inconsistent with international law”.

“Armenia and Turkey should use the centenary of the Armenian genocide
to renew diplomatic relations, open the border and pave the way for
economic integration,” a statement by the EU legislature said on
Wednesday after it adopted a non-binding resolution on the issue.

The Members of the European Parliament (MEP) also called on Turkey
to open its archives and “come to terms with its past”.

The EU institution praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
other officials for “offering condolences and recognising atrocities
against the Ottoman Armenians”.

Ankara agrees that many Armenians died in ethnic fighting and the
deportation process between 1915 and 1917, during World War I,
putting its estimate at 300,000 causalities.

Armenia says 1.5 million died in the whole process, including the
march to Syria, in what they claim to be genocide. The accusation
is denied by Turkey, who says there was no systematic attempt to
destroy Armenians.

The centenary of the 1915 killings is to be commemorated on April 24.

MEPs invited Armenia and Turkey to use examples of successful
reconciliation between European nations by ratifying and implementing,
without preconditions, the protocols on the establishment of diplomatic
relations, opening the border and actively improving their relations.

‘Parliament’s jurisdiction exceeded’

In a statement made right after the resolution was passed, the Turkish
foreign ministry said that the resolution was “inconsistent with
international law” and it “exceeded the institution’s jurisdiction”.

“We don’t take seriously this resolution that slaughters history and
law,” the statement said.

“Through the resolution it passed, the European Parliament has repeated
the mistake it made in the past,” it added.

The European Parliament described the killings as a “genocide” in 1987
and has passed similar resolutions affirming its view in the years
2000, 2002 and 2005, calling on Turkey to recognise it as such too.

Avni Ozgurel, a Turkish political analyst, said: “It is not a
surprising resolution. Armenian diaspora have been effectively
lobbying for such resolutions as the centenary of the 1915 incidents
approached.”

He added: “This resolution is almost the same with the 1987 resolution
in terms of content. It creates no legal responsibilities towards
Turkey. However, it is still an important resolution, which is likely
to push Turkey to take on certain initiatives in the field of public
diplomacy.”

Earlier on Wednesday, President Erdogan said that Ankara did not care
about the European Parliament’s resolution.

“It is not possible for Turkey to accept a such a crime,” he said.

“It is hard for me to understand why our nation or media acts so
defensively on the issue. I don’t have any worries to defend [Turkey]
as the president.”

Pope Francis used the word “genocide” for the 1915 killings on Sunday
in a move that angered Ankara, which called back its Vatican ambassador
for consultations.

Countries such as Russia, Canada, France, and Italy recognise the 1915
incidents as “genocide”. It is a crime to deny the “Armenian genocide”
in Switzerland, Cyprus, Slovakia and Greece.

WHY THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE REALLY MATTERS

The News Hub
April 16 2015

The Armenians are still being denied their rightful recognition of
the atrocities they suffered, and it’s outrageous

Sponsored by Rhea Christopher in International

At midnight on the 23rd of April, Armenians around the world will be
remembering a life-altering moment in their history. But this isn’t
just any year to commemorate the Armenian Genocide, it will be the
centenary of an event that took the lives of over a million people,
the loss of over half a country and pushed a community out of their
homes, forcing them to start again in a new country.

But why is there such a push for awareness of this Genocide? The
world knows of the Holocaust, the Rwandan Genocide, and still today
mass killings of communities are ever present; Syria, Palestine and
Kenya most recently. The answer is simple, we know who ordered these
killings. The Nazis, Civil War. But who ordered the mass murder of the
Armenians? This is what is driving the Armenian communities around
the world to march every year to receive recognition for the deaths
of their ancestors.

This is all they ask for: Recognition. A mere sign of respect to the
lost lives, from the Turkish Government. It was Jevdet Bey, a Governor
of the Ottoman Empire, who on 1915 ordered the siege of the Armenian
town of Van, forcing people out of their homes and the taking of lives.

It was this night that the Armenian Massacres began. Imagine going to
bed one night in fear because of rumours of sieges, because you have
either heard of or witnessed random killings of your fellow country
men, being comforted by your mother, or grandparent, that everything
will be ok, and then suddenly, you are forced out of your beds and
thrown onto the streets, random killings, blood glistening in the
moonlight, and as soon as dawn breaks, you find yourself being shoved
into the Syrian desert to find a new home, knowing that the scorching
heat of the desert and the dry sand in your throat could be the last
thing you ever experience.

Armenians have often been accused of inappropriately using the word
‘Genocide’ on the basis that there isn’t sufficient evidence to support
the claims. Let me ask you this, why is it then that Raphael Lemkin,
the creator of the term ‘Genocide’ stated this, “I became interested
in genocide because it happened so many times. It happened to the
Armenians, then after the Armenians, Hitler took action.”

The man who coined the term himself is said to have been influenced by
the killings of Armenians to put a name to the actions that can now
be found in your own dictionary to define the word ‘Genocide’. And
as we have mentioned Hitler, it was he himself who said “who now
remembers the Armenians”. So, if Hitler wanted to do to the Jewish
community, what we now call a Genocide because of what he saw the
Ottoman Turks doing to the Armenians, then how can we deny these
massacres as Genocide?

One excuse is that these events happened before the word ‘Genocide’
ever existed, but this is a completely narrow-minded argument. All
facts, eye-witness accounts, photographs, articles written around
the time by British and French reporters point to Genocide.

So why is the debate still going on? Most recently, Labour MP Stephen
Pound, representing the Armenian community of London, took the debate
to the House of Commons, and I watched the whole of Parliament TV that
day, patiently waiting. It seemed Parliament was more interested in
discussing issues surrounding broadband and Internet access than a
historical event that shaped a society. Just this month also, Kim
Kardashian, and her family, visited Armenia for the first time to
pay respects to their country and support this battle for Recognition.

Turkey to this day still denies the actions of their ancestors. If
Germany were able to apologise for their previous Government’s actions,
then why can’t Turkey? The Armenian communities around this planet will
not rest till they receive it, not only from notable countries such
as Sunny Ol’ England, but from Turkey herself. With other communities
who also experienced mass murders by the Ottomans, Kurds who still
battle with Turks, and Greeks whose battle began in 1453 during the
fall of Constantinople and 1922 just after the 1915 massacres, it is
fair to say that they are not alone and they have built such strong
communities around the world, that their history will never die.

ITALY PM: TURKEY MUST SHARE EUROPEAN UNION VALUES

13:56, 17.04.2015
Region:World News, Armenia, Turkey
Theme: Politics

The Pope’s statement–on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide–was
absolutely righteous, and if Turkey wants to join the European Union
(EU), it must adopt the European values.

The Prime Minister of Italy, Matteo Renzi, stated the aforesaid at
his talk with the students at Georgetown University in Washington,
D.C., reported La Stampa daily of Italy.

To note, Renzi on Friday will meet with US President Barack Obama.

“I support Turkey’s European integration,” the Italian PM said,
and added: “But Ankara needs to make a decision and accept that it
shares our values.”

Renzi, after a few days of silence, decided to speak clearly and in
simple terms, Tgcom24 noted, for its part.

“The Pope very clearly voiced what had occurred in Armenia, Turkey
reacted to it, and [Italian] Foreign Minister [Paolo] Gentiloni
criticized Ankara’s [respective] statement.

“At this point, Turkey’s [EU] integration process depends on Ankara,”
Matteo Renzi concluded.

GEOFFREY ROBERTSON’S BOOK ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE PRESENTED IN LONDON

14:14, 17 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Well-known lawyer and human rights barrister Geoffrey Robertson’s
“An Inconvenient Genocide: Who now remember the Armenians” book was
presented at London’s prestigious British Academy on April 15. The
event was sponsored by Dr. Armen Sarkissian, Ambassador of the Republic
of Armenia.

Ambassadors and diplomats accredited to London, politicians and public
speakers, leaders of the British-Armenian community, representatives
of British media were in attendance.

Introducing the speaker, Ambassador Sarkissian noted the longstanding
dedication of Geoffrey Robertson to the issue of recognition of the
Armenian Genocide, which resulted in publication of this important
book and its presentation to the international public.

In his presentation the author told the audience about the motives
of the creation of the book and gave professional assessment of
the Armenian Genocide. After the speech Robertson answered numerous
questions of the attendees.

The book of Geoffrey Robertson has been published with the sponsorship
of the British branch of the Armenian National Committee and the
donation from Atom and Sella Tenjukians.

OP-ED: IT’S TIME FOR OBAMA TO RECOGNIZE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

The Patch
April 16 2015

A Bedford Man issued an essay in light of the upcoming centennial
anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

By Barry Thompson

The following op-ed was sent to Bedford Patch by Robert Kalantari,
of 8 Donovan Dr., Bedford:

President Obama, during his 2008 campaign told the world, “My firmly
held conviction that the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a
personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented
fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence.”

“The facts are undeniable. An official policy that calls on diplomats
to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy,” Obama wrote.

“As President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide.”

Armenian People in the United States and around the world are still
waiting for the president to fulfill his promise.

Speaking at the Mass on Sunday April 12, 2015, Pope Francis defined
the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians as “the first genocide of the
20th century,” quoting the statement made by John Paul II. He continued
his speech acknowledging the other genocides of the 20th century.

“The remaining two were perpetrated by Nazism and Stalinism,” Francis
said. “And more recently there have been other mass killings, like
those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia.”

Pope Francis said it was “necessary, and indeed a duty,” to remember
the Armenians killed, “for whenever memory fades, it means that evil
allows wounds to fester. Concealing or denying evil is like allowing
a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it!”

In 1915, leaders of the Turkish government set in motion a plan to
expel and massacre Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire. By the
early 1920’s, when the massacres and deportations finally ended,
some 1.5 million of Turkey’s Armenians were dead, with many more
forcibly removed from the country.

As David Fromkin put it in his widely praised history of World War
I and its aftermath in the text, “A Peace to End All Peace”; “Rape
and beating were commonplace. Those who were not killed at once were
driven through mountains and deserts without food, drink or shelter.

Hundreds of thousands of Armenians eventually succumbed or were
killed.”

The man who invented the word “genocide” Raphael Lemkin, a lawyer of
Polish-Jewish origin was moved to investigate the attempt to eliminate
an entire people by accounts of the massacres of Armenians. He coined
the term “genocide” in 1943, applying it to Nazi Germany and the Jews
in a book published a year later, “Axis Rule in Occupied Europe.”

Today, most historians, including numerous Turkish historians and
scholars call this event genocide. However, the Turkish government
does not acknowledge these mass killings as genocide, and in fact they
have passed a law that criminalizes any mention of Armenian genocide
in Turkey. Sadly enough, our own government has not acknowledged
this crime as genocide, in spite of the fact that over 20 counties,
the Vatican, and 43 out of 50 states have officially recognized this
event and genocide.

In the past 30 years several bills to recognize the Armenian genocide
have been introduced by the congress, but none have passed. A similar
bill was recently introduced in 2009. However, once again, our leader
then and now, President Barack Obama and the Secretary of State,
Hillary Clinton campaigned so hard to prevent the US Congress
acknowledging that the Ottoman Turkish massacre of 1.5 million
Armenians as genocide.

When Hillary Clinton was in the senate, she had cosponsored successive
Armenian Genocide resolutions since 2002. But responding to a
question from a participant of a Town Hall Meeting on January 28,
2012 in CA she said, recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the US
“opens a door that is a very dangerous one to go through.” This is
the same Hillary Clinton who, four years ago, pledged that she would
recognize the Genocide as President of the United States.

The rational for such an irresponsible act by our current and past
leaders, (with the exception of President Ronald Reagan, who did in
his speech mentioned genocide) is that if the U.S. acknowledges the
Armenian genocide, then Turkey, “our ally” will retaliate and not help
the U.S. in the region. Based on the past, we all know that Turkey
has always shown their true colors and have not supported any U.S.

missions in the area.

As we all know, history will repeat itself if crimes are not punished
and acknowledged. Turkey did not punish the perpetrators of this
crime when it happened, and they have not recognized this horrific
crime. An unrecognized crime is a repeated crime.

April 24 is the centennial anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the
first genocide of the 20th century. World leaders, who care about
preventing such crimes, will gather in Armenia to commemorate the
anniversary of this sad, unpunished crime forgotten by some nations.

We hope the 100 year anniversary will open the eyes of those who care
about the human race. We hope that once and for all there will be
acknowledgement and recognition of this crime as genocide and more
importantly for Turkey to accept the evil crime of their past. As
Pope Francis said, “Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a
wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it!”

To find out more about this horrific event, please search the web
about the Armenian Genocide.

KREMLIN: PUTIN, HOLLANDE MAY MEET IN YEREVAN AT COMMEMORATIVE EVENTS

YEREVAN, April 17. /ARKA/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his
French counterpart Francois Hollande may meet in Armenia’s capital at
commemoration events dedicated to the centenary of Armenian Genocide,
Dmitry Peskov, the Russian leader’s spokesman, is quoted by TASS as
saying at a briefing.

“As we understand, Putin and Hollande will visit Yerevan at the same
time. This means their contacts on the field of the program planned
by the Armenian side can’t be ruled out,” Peskov told journalists.

The most of the commemorative events in Armenia will take place on
April 24. —0—-