Author: Kajoyan Gevork

FILM SERIES EXPLORES THE LEGACY OF GENOCIDE

18:38, 07 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Three films will be showing throughout the month of April, looking at
past recognized and unrecognized genocides in the world. The films
will screen at Portland State and in the surrounding area, Portland
State Vanduard reports.

The films’ focus will be on mass atrocities committed against Armenians
100 years ago, which are not legally recognized by the current Turkish
government as genocide.

“These movies bring up really important questions that we want to
ask the PSU community,” said Tavi Gupta, director of the Holocaust
and Genocide Studies Project at PSU. “The Armenian Genocide is a
hinge-point for all three movies we are playing this year.”

After each film there will be a discussion with the audience about
the issues brought up. The first movie, Screamers, will play on April
9 in Smith Memorial Student Union.

Screamers is a 2007 documentary that follows the band System of a
Down while they spread information about modern genocides and how
the Armenian genocide, begun in 1915, has influenced the way current
genocide can be defined or ignored.

The second movie, and most acclaimed of the three, Watchers of the Sky,
won two 2014 Sundance Film Festival awards, a Monadnock International
Film Festival award and Best Documentary at the Jerusalem Film
Festival.

It will show April 14 at the NW Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium.

Watchers of the Sky follows the life of Raphael Lemkin–a Polish Jew
who lost many friends and family in the Holocaust–on his journey to
find legal recognition of those crimes and others like them. Lemkin
eventually coined the word genocide.

“Raphael Lemkin created the word genocide in part because of the
Armenian genocide, which of course wasn’t called that then,” said
Amelia Green-Dove, producer of Watchers of the Sky.

By giving these mass atrocities a name, Lemkin, in effect, gave a
way to recognize them.

“How does the word genocide impact the way we look at mass atrocity?”

Gupta said. “And how has language shifted the way we legally and
socially address these events?”

These are issues the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Project would
like to address with these screenings.

The third film, AGHET: Ein Volkermord, will be showing on April 23
in SMSU.

AGHET: Ein Volkermord is a 2010 documentary specifically about the
Armenian genocide with never-before-seen footage and documents on the
historic telling of the mass atrocity, and of the current Turkish
government’s refusal, since World War I to classify the events as
genocide.

“Currently, 22 countries and 43 states within the USA recognize the
Armenian genocide,” Gupta said.

The Holocaust and Genocide Studies Project is a PSU program started
in 2012 and is funded through private donations to the Portland Center
for Public Humanities.

The program seeks to engage students, faculty and the Portland
community members in the study of the Holocaust and other genocides.

It works with survivors, local organizations and the community
to educate about both the local and global effects of genocide,
according to the group’s MYPSU profile.

“Students and community members are welcome to email and connect
with ideas and thoughts at our email, Facebook page…or Twitter,”
Gupta said. “We welcome anyone who wants to be involved.”

Years ago Raphael Lemkin asked: “Why is the killing of a million
people a lesser crime than the killing of a single individual?”

“Lemkin would spend his entire life trying to address this,”
Green-Dove said.

TURKEY’S MAIN OPPOSITION NAMES ARMENIAN CANDIDATE FOR FIRST PLACE

16:39, 07 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has named
an Armenian candidate in the first place on their final candidate
list for the upcoming elections on June 7 in a move to prioritize
candidates with different backgrounds, according to the media reports.

Lawyer Selina Ozuzun Dogan has been named by the CHP in the first
place for Istanbul’s second region in the June 7 elections, the
Hurriyet Daily News reports.

Born in 1977, Ozuzun is a graduate of Notre Dame De Sion French High
School and studied law at Galatasaray University. She also has a
master’s degree from Istanbul’s Bilgi University. She speaks Armenian,
French and English.

CHP head Kemal Kılıcdaroglu had previously declared he would reserve
the first places of important cities like Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir
for female candidates.

All political parties are to submit their candidate lists to the
Supreme Election Board (YSK) on April 7.

CALIFORNIA LAWMAKERS LAUNCH ARMENIAN CAUCUS

Sacramento Bee, CA
April 6 2015

By Alexei Koseff

Latino, Asian, black, gay, Jewish and women legislators all have
specialty caucuses, and now you can add Armenians to the list.

The California Armenian Legislative Caucus launches tonight with a
fundraiser at Mayahuel featuring Armenian brandy tasting and dozens
of lawmakers. Tickets range from $500 to $5,000.

The caucus is “a platform for Armenian-American voices at the statewide
level,” said Natalie Bruton-Yenovkian, a founder and board member. Its
focus this year will be on seeking recognition at the Capitol for
the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

Armenian Assemblymen Katcho Achadjian, R-San Luis Obispo, and Adrin
Nazarian, D-Sherman Oaks, are both members, as is Assemblyman Scott
Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, whose wife is Armenian.

“We’ve made him an honorary Armenian,” Bruton-Yenovkian siad. “We
call him Armenian by choice.”

The caucus is one of the few open to both Democrats and Republicans,
and it will also accept non-Armenian legislators who want to learn
about the community’s issues. Bruton-Yenovkian said Assembly members
Ian Calderon, D-Whittier, and Cheryl Brown, D-San Bernardino, have
already expressed interest.

BACK TO THE FUTURE: Want to see Assembly Republican Leader Kristin
Olsen ride an electric skateboard? The Riverbank lawmaker is reviving
her bill to allow the motorized boards in bike lanes and on sidewalks,
2 p.m. on the west steps of the Capitol. This year, the legislation
has a number of co-sponsors who plan to attend – including Assembly
members Catharine Baker, R-Dublin; Calderon; Cristina Garcia, D-Bell
Gardens; Eric Linder, R-Corona; Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore;
Mark Stone, D-Scotts Valley; and Marie Waldron, R-Escondido – so you
might even catch a whole squad of lawmakers on wheels.

TWIN CITIES TO ‘REMEMBER THE ARMENIANS’

The Sun Current, MN
April 6 2015

By Sun Current
April 6, 2015 at 9:00 am

This spring, Armenians in Minnesota and around the world solemnly
recall the crime against humanity known as the Armenian Genocide.

Beginning on April 24, 1915, more than 1.5 million Armenians – 75
percent of the entire population of Armenians in the world at that
time – were massacred by the Ottoman Turks in a state-sponsored policy
of extermination.

Despite copious documentation, scholarly consensus and international
recognition, the Armenian Genocide is still actively denied by the
present-day Republic of Turkey.

Minnesotans took part in national efforts to provide life-saving
humanitarian assistance to survivors of the Armenian Genocide. Some
found safe haven in Minnesota, where their descendants continue to
play a vital, productive role in community life.

One of the free public events in the Twin Cities that will honor
‘Remember the Armenians’ is in Edina. “Days of Remembrance: From the
Armenians to the Holocaust,” is scheduled for 1-3:30 p.m. Sunday,
April 19, at Edina City Hall.

The event will feature lectures by World Without Genocide Executive
Director Ellen Kennedy and Holocaust survivor Dora Zaidenweber,
followed by a play, “Upstanders: Saving Armenians and Jews.”

PATRICK FIORI : “JE SUIS UN RESCAPE DU GENOCIDE ARMENIEN”

Non Stop People
6 avril 2015

Patrick Fiori est revenu sur les souvenirs de son enfance, ce lundi,
dans l’emission >

Ce lundi, Patrick Fiori etait l’invite de

RABBIT BOOM THREATENS HOLY CROSS ARMENIAN CHURCH

13:26 06/04/2015 ” SOCIETY

Akdamar Island in eastern Turkey’s Lake Van is under threat of a
boom in the rabbit population. A significant rise in the number of
rabbits poses a danger to the eponymous church, the sole structure
on the small island, Daily Sabah reports.

Turkish authorities have resorted to setting up traps to capture them
alive to curb the population rise which is damaging both vegetation
and the walls of the church.

Rabbits, dropped on the unpopulated island years ago, quickly
propagated. A delegation of academics, environmental activists
and animal activists, as well as local officials have examined the
situation and prepared a report, citing that the boom is a risk for
the island. The report also points out the need to diversify the local
almond tree population and reparation of fences to prevent human
access to local birds’ breeding grounds to protect the environment
on the island.

“We decided to decrease the number of rabbits and bring balance to the
ecosystem. It will be through mechanical means, by setting up traps.

It is difficult to tackle such a rise and we expect that our efforts
will continue throughout summer,” Associate Professor Lokman Aslan
from Van’s Yuzuncu Yıl University, who was a member of the delegation,
said.

Akdamar is home to Church of the Holy Cross, a 10th century Armenian
church, which was reopened after restoration in 2007. It hosts an
annual mass every year with participation of the Armenian Orthodox
community of Turkey and Orthodox Armenians from other countries.

The church is a popular destination for Turkish and foreign tourists
especially in the summer. Local authorities recently announced that
the work has begun to improve landscaping of the island and a new
pier was constructed on the island.

LA PARTICIPATION DE MILITAIRES TURCS LORS D’ATTAQUES DES POSITIONS ARMENIENNES PAR LES AZERIS EST CONFIRMEE LA TURQUIE SERAIT ENGAGEE MILITAIREMENT DERRIERE LES ATTAQUES AZERIES AU HAUT KARABAGH

HAUT KARABAGH

Dans une interview au site armenien >, Movses Hagopian le
ministre de la Defense de la Republique du Haut Karabagh confirme la
presence de militaires Turcs au sein de l’armee azerie, notamment lors
des attaques des positions armeniennes dans la ligne de contact entre
le Haut Karabagh et l’Azerbaïdjan. A la question de l’activation des
attaques azeries a la veille du 100ème anniversaire du genocide des
Armeniens, Movses Hagopian affirme >

TURKEY BLOCKS SOCIAL MEDIA OVER PHOTOS OF SLAIN PROSECUTOR

Published time: April 06, 2015 11:37
Edited time: April 06, 2015 13:16

Reuters/Umit Bektas

Turkish authorities blocked access to Twitter, YouTube and briefly
to Facebook over the publication of photos of the prosecutor taken
hostage and killed by militants in Istanbul last week.

Turkey’s presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said a prosecutor sought
the ban on social media after the photos’ release.

“This has to do with the publishing of the prosecutor’s picture. What
happened in the aftermath (of the prosecutor’s killing) is as grim
as the incident itself,” he said, Reuters reports.

“The demand from the prosecutor’s office is that this image not be
used anywhere in electronic platforms,” Kalin told a news conference
in Ankara.

The ban was implemented by a number of the country’s leading ISPs
on Monday afternoon, the Internet Service Providers Union (ESB)
Secretary General Bulent Kent told the Hurriyet Daily News.

All service providers are expected to implement the ban soon, he said.

However the ban on Facebook was later lifted after it rapidly
complied with the court ruling, Tayfun Acarer, head of the
Information and Communications Technologies Authority (BTK), told
daily Hurriyet.Sources in Turkey confirmed to RT that access to
Facebook has been restored.

A total of 166 websites that published the slain prosecutor’s pictures
will be blocked, according to a recent court ruling seen by the
Hurriyet Daily News.

The wife and children of Kiraz were “deeply upset,” a senior Turkish
official told Reuters, adding “the images are everywhere.”

“A request has been made to both Twitter and YouTube for the removal
of the images and posts, but they have not accepted it and no response
has been given. That’s why this decision has been taken through a
court in Istanbul.”

Prominent Turkish prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz was taken hostage by
the far-left Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP/C)
last Tuesday. He suffered five gunshot wounds and died in hospital,
after a gunfight during the storming of an Istanbul court. His captors
were also killed during the operation.

Read moreIstanbul hostage standoff: Captors killed in police op,
rescued prosecutor dies in hospital

The official was leading the case of Berkin Elvan, a 15-year-old
protester, who died from injuries sustained during the anti-government
demonstrations of 2013. Elvan was in a coma for nine months and died
in March last year. He subsequently became a symbolic figure for the
street protest movement.

This is not the first time Turkish authorities have blocked social
media platforms. In March 2014, the country blocked Twitter hours after
the country’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to close
it down ahead of a key election. The move came after audio recordings
alleging corruption among his associates were posted on the site.

Later the same month, Ankara pulled the plug on YouTube after a
controversial leak of audiotapes that appeared to show ministers
talking about provoking military intervention in Syria. The leaked
audio recording, which reportedly led to the ban, appears to show
top government officials discussing a potential attack on the tomb
of Suleyman Shah, the grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire.

ARTSAKH DEFENSE MINISTER: TURKISH SOLDIERS PARTICIPATING IN AZERBAIJANI CROSS BORDER RAIDS

Edik Baghdasaryan

00:25, April 6, 2015

Artsakh Minister of Defense Movses Hakobyan responds to Hetq.

Recently, the Azerbaijani military has become active again by
constantly striking different sections of the border. In your opinion,
is this related to the upcoming centennial of the Genocide?

The situation on the ground hasn’t intensified of late. We were in
this situation of no war and no peace in 2013 and 2014. The enemy is
always violating [the ceasefire]. The final point and target of all
these actions is the Armenian as a nation.

At any event organized by our people, the enemy uses all his resources
in order to disrupt such events organized in our republic. I believe
we can list events related to the 100th anniversary of the Genocide
as such. Especially since Turkey is joining in such action and is
giving various instructions to Azerbaijan not to let our people
organize such events by keeping the situation tense.

When talking to officers, one said that they are convinced that there
are Turkish military personnel alongside the Azerbaijanis during
their assaults. Is there any information on this?

We have such information that they [Turks] are participating but not
permanently. The possibility is great. We have proof regarding two
cases only. The odds are great that the unit which operated against
us was trained in Turkey. Azerbaijan has invested huge amounts to
prepare these units. Until the final surrender of this unit the odds
are great that Turks will also participate in their activities.

>From talking to officers it’s also clear that the attacks by
the enemy haven’t gone unanswered but that this isn’t mentioned in
official defense ministry statements. Why isn’t there any mention of
our actions in response?

First, I’ll tell you why we do not speak of these things in our
statements. Any military operation is extremely secret; not just secret
but highly secret and those operations are not subject to publication.

Based on this, we do not publicize them. I believe that if the press
in Azerbaijan was a bit freer their society would be better informed.

The army, in wartime, is obligated to respond in kind. If you don’t,
you’ll wind up as the loser.

I believe that the operations of our army today are of equal weight
and that they are keeping Azerbaijan in check so that it doesn’t
start widespread military operations.

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF LAKE FOREST TO COMMEMORATE THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

19:20, 06 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest to Commemorate the 100th
Anniversary of Armenian Genocide on April 10, Chicago Tribune reports.

Last year, First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest’s senior pastor,
Rev. Dr. Christine Chakoian, was a key advocate for a resolution
honoring the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide at the 2014
meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in
Detroit. The General Assembly unanimously endorsed the resolution-the
first of its kind to be adopted by a major American church body-that:

* urges member congregations to recognize the Armenian genocide;

* designates April 24 as the day of remembrance for the victims of
the first genocide of the 20th century; and

* honors the provisions of American and international law to prevent
the recurrence of similar mass killings, atrocities and population
removals and bringing the perpetrators of any such crimes to justice.

“I pray that as American Christians recognize the Armenian genocide,
it will engender a deeper understanding of and compassion for the
heavy price our forebears paid for their faith,” Rev. Dr. Chakoian
says. “I also hope that this remembrance will prompt us as American
Christians to be aware of those who are suffering gross injustices
around the world.”