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The Armenian Weekly; Volume 73, No. 42; Oct. 20, 2007
Commentary and Analysis:
1. On the Recent Convictions of Serkis Seropyan and Arat Dink
By Fatma Muge Gocek
2. Continuing and Expanding Genocide
By Garen Yegparian
3. ADL is Complicit in Genocide Denial
By Alik Arzoumanian
4. Letters to the Editor
***
1. On the Recent Convictions of Serkis Seropyan and Arat Dink
By Fatma Muge Gocek
Sociologists look for patterns in social behavior. The pattern I observe in
the recent Turkish court decision convicting the owners of the Agos
newspaper Serkis Seropyan and Arat Dink, to a one-year imprisonment in
accordance with the infamous Penal Code 301-for publishing an interview with
Hrant Dink where he discussed the Armenian genocide-is one of blatant
discrimination based on prejudice, just as it had been in the previous
lawsuit against and subsequent sentencing of Hrant Dink. I think this
lawsuit has been brought against Seropyan and Arat Dink and they have been
subsequently sentenced because they are Armenians, that is, because they are
minorities in Turkey.
Why do I think so? Because the interview that Hrant Dink had given and Agos
printed, the one that formed the legal grounds of the decision against
Seropyan and Arat Dink, was also printed in all other Turkish media outlets.
Yet, those other outlets were not targeted by either Turkish public
prosecutors or by Turkish courts. As a consequence, those other Turkish
newspapers and journalists will not be targeted or gagged the way Seropyan
and Arat Dink now are and will be in the future.
Previously, while many of us had talked critically about the Turkish past,
in general, and about 1915, in particular, only Hrant Dink from among us was
singled out and targeted by the Turkish public prosecutor and then by the
Turkish court. Because he was an Armenian. He was a minority member in
Turkey. The rest of us did not go through that entire legal process
culminating in the delivery of a sentence. I think we did not because we
were ethnic Turks, and educated, white Turks to boot. While some of us stood
there watching, while some of us tried to help Hrant Dink by conducting
signature campaigns aimed at Turkish state officials and foolishly thinking
it would make a difference, he went through a grueling trial process, was
found guilty and sentenced.
Hrant Dink was sentenced on what I consider to be trumped-up charges, after
an intentional, willful misreading and misinterpretation of what he had
written. I would contend that not only had Hrant Dink not "insulted
Turkishness" in what he had written, but that anybody holding a college
degree ought to have had the knowledge, intelligence or capacity to have
recognized that. Hence, in my opinion, it was a travesty of justice that a
group that had the alacrity to call themselves "deliverers of justice"
reached what I view as a shameful, illegal decision based on untruth and
prejudice. In my mind’s eye, I shall always continue to see that group as
"deliverers of death" because I think it was as a consequence of the process
they set in motion, the process they sanctified with their legal decision,
that Hrant Dink was assassinated.
Until that decision to sentence Dink was reached in Turkey, I had thought
legal systems were instituted to protect individuals. Yet, the Hrant Dink
decision taught me that the Turkish legal system can also set individuals,
especially minority members, up for destruction by placing them as offers
upon the altar of ethnic nationalism. It would then quietly withdraw and
watch some people gather "in the name of the majority." They would chant
ignorant songs of unity, thus feeling superior against the unprotected. And
they certainly did. Yes, some also stood against them and protested, but
they were so few in comparison…
Now, today, while there were many Turkish newspapers that had also published
or referred to the interview Hrant Dink had given, once again it was only
the Agos newspaper among them that was singled out and targeted by the
Turkish public prosecutor and then by the Turkish court in exactly the same
manner as Hrant Dink had once been-because, once again, the people involved
were Armenians. The rest were not because they were ethnic Turks. Seropyan
and Arat Dink are minority members in Turkey, and I think that is why they
alone were convicted.
What are we going to do now? Are we going to stand by and watch? Or are we
going to conduct media and signature campaigns that will lead us to who
knows where?
At this point, I am certain of only one thing: I am sickened at the
possibility of the pattern of death repeating itself. I am also sickened by
the timing of the Turkish court decision regarding Seropyan and Arat Dink,
given the Genocide bill that has just passed in the U.S. and given how the
Turkish media, society and state are now reacting to it-as always,
emotionally, and, due to lack of knowledge about the past, with vengeance. I
personally think this conviction date was chosen intentionally by the
Turkish court to intersect with the U.S. bill to further foster and justify
Turkish ethnic nationalism. That intentionality further sickens me.
What to do? I look back at those signature campaigns we had conducted for
Hrant Dink all the while thinking it would make a difference, thinking it
would protect him… After all, all of us who signed those pleas of
protection-at least I, personally-believed that there was a state in Turkey
that somehow, somewhat upheld the delivery of justice and the protection of
the rights of all of its citizens among its fundamental principles, that is,
it at least aspired toward such principles, even if it could not reach them.
What on earth was I thinking, given how the Hrant Dink trial was going at
the moment, given how all of his lawyers’ attempts to investigate and
uncover the real instigators and culprits behind his assassination that
reach deep into the Turkish state and the military are being stonewalled!
How could I have been so delusional?
There is only one thing I can think of doing at this moment: If those
Turkish officials who once received our signatures and pleas about
protecting Hrant Dink did nothing back then, if they just put them aside,
did not act upon or investigate them, I now condemn each and every one of
those Turkish officials. For, in collecting those signatures, we might have
deluded ourselves in relation to what the Turkish state might have been
capable of, but at least our intentions were good. Yet, I condemn each and
every one of those Turkish officials who did not uphold the delivery of
justice and the protection of all of its citizens as the fundamental
principles of the Turkish state, and who still do not uphold them today by
enabling a full, open and transparent investigation. I do so because I find
their intentions foul, and their behavior complicit. I think those
particular officials uphold and foster an alternate vision of the Turkish
state that is no different, in my view, from the state that once condemned
hundreds of thousands of its subjects to death by deportation.
I also condemn the naturalized prejudice and the subsequent discrimination
that still perseveres in Turkish society today, as it has ultimately led to
the targeting of minorities in this manner. And I also condemn the falsified
Turkish Republican history taught in school textbooks that has erased all
the violence the Turkish state once committed in the past. Not only has that
violence created the category of minorities in our society to start with,
thereby fostering all this prejudice and discrimination against them, but it
has also been exploited by the same Turkish state and especially by segments
of the Turkish military to create an ethnic Turkish identity, an identity
which was then periodically mobilized against the minorities both to
replenish that hallowed ethnic unity and also to sustain the political
status quo.
As I see the same pattern that eventually led to Hrant Dink’s assassination
unfolding right in front of my eyes in the case of Serkis Seropyan, who
happens to be a very dear friend of mine, and of Arat Dink, who I regard as
a very precious gift entrusted to us all for safekeeping by his slain
father, who we obviously were not able to protect, I end up with a final
condemnation: I condemn and curse myself for my own present state of
helplessness.
———————————– ————————————————– ———-
2. Continuing and Expanding Genocide
By Garen Yegparian
Yes, Turkey is still on track. Not only is it confirming its culpability
for-by continuing its denial of-the genocide of 1915 through its massive
efforts and expenditures against H.Res.106, but it is also expanding its
genocidal policy. And, this in at the last minute, Arat Dink and Serkis
Seropyan were convicted after printing Hrant Dink’s claims that the killing
of Armenians by Ottoman Turks from 1915 was genocide.
As if the roughly 1.5 million Kurds who perished in the 1920s and ’30s weren’t
enough, Turkey demonstrated its murderous policy towards Kurds by using the
"opportunity," presented by the Foreign Affairs Committee’s taking up the
resolution, to attack Kurds outside its borders. Its incursion into Iraq is
unconscionable, illegal, intolerable and, unfortunately, far from the first
time Turkey has done it. Most might not agree, but you see, Turkey had to
"teach" the U.S. a lesson for daring to even discuss the Armenian genocide.
The U.S., even under the current warmongering administration, is opposed to
Turkey attacking so-called PKK "terrorists," i.e. Kurds who won’t tolerate
Turkey’s murderous policies. So, what better opportunity to warn the U.S. of
dire consequences-a full-scale action-if the resolution actually passes the
full House and Senate. Such an incursion could ignite total instability and
even multi-lateral war in the region. This is Turkey’s leverage.
After all this, we’re still supposed to believe Turkey is reforming in
preparation to join the European Union. What a joke. If nothing else,
between the denialist millions they’re spending and their bellicose actions,
Turkish leaders once again are unwittingly demonstrating the old Armenian
saying, "Sokheen caghtsruh chga" (there’s no such thing as a sweet onion),
when it comes to consecutive Turkish governments and their policies.
Who and why else would anyone rope in eight former U.S. secretaries to tout
Turkey’s denialist line? Of course this doesn’t speak highly of the
credibility of these ex-officials. They are of Steven Solarz’s, Bob
Livingston’s and Dick Gephardt’s ilk. Pay them, wine-n-dine ’em, and they’ll
parrot any line you’d like. Disgusting.
But fairness requires also acknowledging Foreign Affairs Committee members,
Representatives Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (D-Samoa),
Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.), Gabrielle Giffords (D-Az.), Ron Klein (D-Fla.),
Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) and Donald Mazullo (R-Ill.), who voted as humans of
conscience even though they were not co-sponsors of the resolution.
Conversely, Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), who replaced, last minute, Joann Davis who
died on Saturday and had been expected to vote with us, is deserving of
calumny for voting against the resolution, given who he replaced. Similarly,
Ruben Hinojosa (D-Texas), a co-sponsor, turned on us. Worst still are
co-sponsors Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Joe Wilson (R- S.C.) who did not vote.
Remember, Ron is running for president! Isn’t there a saying about the
hottest corners of hell being reserved for those who do nothing in the face
of evil?
In light of all that’s gone on-Turkish threats and lobbying, our grass-roots
mobilization, the many ups and downs, previous resolutions passed, Armenian
independent statehood reestablished, more direct pronunciation of our
overall goals-another phenomenon is particularly exasperating. Even some of
our supporters take great pains to explain that this is not about the
current Turkish government, rather its Ottoman predecessor. If anyone had
any doubts that the current Turkish state is the legal heir to the Ottoman
Empire, ergo equally responsible for the latter’s crimes, Turkey’s extreme
efforts to squash any activity regarding the genocide ought to allay them.
What’s worse is when Vartan Oskanian, Armenia’s Foreign Minister, and for a
while reputedly a presidential contender, denies that we have any
territorial claims against Turkey. What’s the matter with these people? That’s
like the sole survivor of a victimized family saying, yeah, I know so-and-so
killed my family kin and stole all our land and possessions, but he shouldn’t
go to jail, and he can keep the property too. How likely is that scenario?
Let’s recognize that this is only a first step. Let’s remember that we’ve
gotten farther than this in the process on previous occasions. Let’s not be
lulled into any false sense of comfort or slack off. There’s a helluvalota
work left to do. But, let’s also not fail to notice just how much effort
Turkey put into this round so early in the process-a sign that their wall of
denial is showing serious signs of stress. Let’s keep plugging on the long
road to resolution passage and beyond.
—————————————— ————————————————– —-
3. ADL is Complicit in Genocide Denial
By Alik Arzoumanian
Alik Arzoumanian of Cambridge, Mass., was one of several individuals present
at the monthly meeting of the Massachusetts Association of Human Rights and
Relations Commissions on Oct. 12 to express her concerns about the
Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) No Place for Hate (NPFH) program. Below is
her statement.
I do not know what horrors my great grandmother went through during the
summer of 1915, because I have been told that every time she tried to tell
what happened, she became sick for three days, so she rarely spoke about it.
All I know is that her first newborn, a baby girl called Angel, died in her
arms in the Syrian desert, and that a kind horseman saved her from drowning
in the Euphrates.
Two days ago, the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee adopted a resolution
that acknowledges what happened to my great grandparents and countless
others as genocide. As Turkey frantically multiplied its threats to
discourage Congress from doing the same, in the face of such shameless
bullying and blatant denial, I thought, for a moment, that I was exhausted
of being Armenian.
I am exhausted of witnessing the denial of my history.
I am exhausted of being denied justice for so long.
And I am frankly exhausted of having to go town to town explaining how
Abraham Foxman and the national ADL are complicit in Turkey’s denial
campaign, and asking Human Rights Commissions to sever their ties with a
human rights organization that has denied us, Armenians, our human rights.
What outrages me most are Mr. Foxman’s repeated calls on Armenians to take
up Turkey’s offers of a commission that will "re-examine the shared past of
both peoples".
On Sept. 27, Turkey’s Prime Minister met with Mr. Foxman-among others-"to
reject allegations the Ottoman Empire committed an act of genocide against
its Armenian citizens in 1915." After the meeting, Mr. Foxman reiterated his
opposition to Congressional affirmation of the Armenian genocide.
He also repeated that Armenians should respond to calls from Turkey for a
joint commission to investigate the past, knowing very well that:
1. The debate on the Armenian genocide has long been over.
2. Turkish historians on such a commission would be on the payroll of the
Turkish state, which not only denies the Armenian genocide but also
suppresses attempts by Turkish intellectuals and human rights activists to
speak the truth.
Just yesterday in Turkey, Arat Dink, the son of Hrant Dink, the journalist
murdered earlier this year because he dared to write about the Armenian
genocide, was convicted of "insulting Turkishness" for republishing his
father’s remarks.
Armenians will only rest when Turkey recognizes the Armenian genocide and
Ottoman Turkey’s role in perpetrating it.
As a human rights organization, the ADL has no right to stand in our way,
alongside with Turkey, as we work to recover our human rights and dignity.
The ADL charter states that its "ultimate purpose is to secure justice and
fair treatment to all citizens alike." As an Armenian-American, I am deeply
offended that the ADL does not deem us worthy of justice and fair treatment.
As human rights commissioners, I am sure you believe, unlike Mr. Foxman and
the national ADL, that Armenians DO deserve justice-like any other people.
Therefore, I respectfully urge you to follow the example of Watertown,
Belmont and Newton, and to withdraw from the ADL-sponsored No Place for Hate
program in your towns until the ADL reverses its position 180 degrees by
unambiguously recognizing the Armenian genocide-without casting any doubt on
its historical truth-by apologizing to the Armenian community for not having
done so earlier, and by expressing support for efforts seeking Congressional
affirmation of the Armenian genocide.
Until then, I think there should be no place for ADL-sponsored human rights
program in any of our towns.
——————————————- ————————————————– –
4. Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor,
The 27-21 vote to pass H.Res.106 in the House Foreign Relations Committee is
a giant step forward for a more perfect democracy here in the United States
of America and in the context of our image in the world both for our allies
and for our adversaries.
This is the greatest gesture of love and respect to the Turkish people. Our
NATO brother-in-arms should know that, like David Kaczynski brought his
brother Theodore John Kaczynski [the Unabomber] to justice, America will not
stand idle for deniers of genocide.
It is a shame that the present administration still opposes this important
human rights achievement.
Kevork Kalayjian
Palisades, N.Y.
***
Dear Editor,
An op ed by Michael G. Mensoian (Armenian Weekly, Oct. 6) quotes Turkey’s
ambassador to Israel as saying, "on some issues, there is no such thing as
Israel cannot deliver." Mr. Mensoian then writes, "This expectation by the
Turkish government is not based on supposition but on a realistic
understanding of the relationship that the Israeli government has with the
Jewish diaspora."
Let me get this straight: the same Turkish government he condemns for
denying the Armenian genocide, he applauds when it reinforces anti-Semitic
canards claiming a lock-step relationship between the Israeli government and
Jews around the world. I’m not too crazy about the tenor of the rest of the
article, either, which refuses to acknowledge the real pain and
soul-searching I have witnessed in my Jewish community about this issue, and
its sincere sympathies with its sister Armenian community.
I prefer the activism of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King taught that
the cause of his people extended to whites, whose humanity was being damaged
by their racism. The people of Turkey are similarly damaged by its
government’s denials of the Armenian genocide. Dr. King spoke and acted with
self-control and unrelenting rationality, thereby becoming the change he
wanted to see in the world. I wish Mr. Mensoian would learn from Dr. King’s
example.
Hysterical rhetoric, conspiracy theories, and buy-in to anti-Semitic lies do
nothing for the cause of genocide denial, regardless of whose genocide is
being denied. I stand with Armenian-Americans on the point that Turkey must
face its history honestly. But, to paraphrase The Beatles, if you go carryin’
pictures of Henry Ford, don’t you know that you can count me out.
Jeri Zeder
Lexingon, Mass.
***
Dear Editor,
His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, is to meet with the President today (Oct. 17),
on the eve of receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor, despite vociferous
objections from China. Last month, the Congress passed a bill condemning the
WWII Japanese campaign of using slave sex-workers to entertain the Imperial
army, again despite protests from Tokyo. So, we can afford to take the moral
high ground against world economic power houses that essentially float our
economy, but we cannot take a moral stand against Turkey?
The Turkish lobby has successfully crafted the image that the U.S. needs
Turkey, whereas it is indeed Turkey that is in need of American military and
political support, especially regarding its EU ascension aspirations. In the
backdrop of Turkey’s refusal to allow the staging of the 2003 Iraq invasion
>From its borders, I think that our military is far wiser than putting all of
its eggs in one basket and counting on Turkey as its only supply route.
Without a doubt, numerous options are ready to be implemented should Turkey
decide to yet again snub and blackmail our government for taking a moral
stand.
Ara Nazarian
Brighton, Mass.
http://www.ar