Author: Kajoyan Gevork

ERDOGAN THE AESTHETE
by Veli Sirin

Gatestone Institute

April 24 2012

The monument [symbolizing reconciliation between Armenians and Turks],
Erdogan said, was “monstrous;” he issued a categorical order for its
demolition. The minister of culture and tourism tried to calm the
resulting uproar. But Erdogan shut him up, repeating, “Yes, I said
the monument is monstrous and the responsible mayor should make sure
it disappears as quickly as possible.”

Early in 2011, while visiting the Turkish city of Kars, less than
20 miles (30 kilometres) from the Armenian frontier. the country’s
neo-fundamentalist prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the Justice
and Development Party (known by its local initials as AKP), discovered
a memorial to the Armenian victims of Turkish massacres in 1915.

The stone sculpture, 115 feet (35 metres) high, entitled “A Statue
of Humanity,” represented a human body severed from top to bottom,
with the two halves facing each other. It was intended to include a
hand reaching between the separated forms.

Its creator, artist Mehmet Aksoy, believed the art installation
would symbolize relations between Armenians and Turks, and their
reconciliation. The former mayor of Kars, Naif Alibeyoglu, had
commissioned the art piece in 2006, when Turkish-Armenian relations
were, as so often before, at a low point, so it would be visible
across the border.

Armenians and their supporters have long called on Turkey to recognize
the mass slayings and deadly deportations of Armenians to the Syrian
desert during the first world war as a genocide; and, as the legal
successor to the Ottoman empire, to accept responsibility for these
crimes.

In recent years, attitudes have changed in Turkey. It is no longer
taboo to discuss the tragedy inflicted on the Armenians. Politicians
have shifted position: in 2009 a plan was adopted to establish
diplomatic relations with Armenia and open the borders between the
two countries. But such a normalization has been delayed.

When Erdogan saw the Kars memorial, however, he professed shock. The
monument, he said, was “monstrous;” he issued a categorical order
for its demolition to the Kars mayor, Nevzat Bozkus, a member of
Erdogan’s AKP. The minister of culture and tourism, Ertugrul Gunay,
who accompanied Erdogan on his excursion in the eastern districts,
tried to calm the resulting uproar, noting that the creator of the
piece, Aksoy, is his friend. But Erdogan shut him up, repeating,
“Yes, I said the monument is monstrous and the responsible mayor
should make sure it disappears as quickly as possible.”

Erdogan argued that the memorial overshadowed the tomb of a spiritual
Sufi, Ebul Hasan Harakani, who lived in the 10th century CE, and a
mosque associated with him, both rebuilt in 1996.

The artist Aksoy replied that when he selected the location the
authorities responsible for preservation of historic buildings and
monuments had approved the proposal without problems.

Aksoy also had recourse to the legal system. He obtained a court order
against the razing of his work, but the decision was ignored. The Kars
town council continued with its vandalism. Hundreds of supporters
of the artist held a protest in Kars. Aksoy compared Erdogan to a
totalitarian dictator and declared that most citizens of Kars opposed
wrecking the monument.

For many opponents of Erdogan and the AKP, the disagreement about a
sculpture revealed several negative aspects of the prime minister’s
personality. Erdogan has been accused repeatedly of autocratic and
increasingly dictatorial traits. He is held responsible for the arrests
of Turkish journalists under the AKP administration, whether he did or
did not order the detentions. In addition, the Turkish secular elite
point to the removal of the Kars memorial as evidence that members of
the new, Islamist governing class that Erdogan placed in power lacks
education and culture. Removal of the Kars statue is further seen as a
vindictive act against ex-mayor Alibeyoglu, who left the AKP and joined
the secularist opposition in the Republican People’s Party (CHP).

The painter Bedri Baykam, a leading exponent for secularist artists
in Turkey, had demonstrated years before against the Islamist trend of
the Erdogan regime. During the debate over Aksoy’s statue, a year ago,
Baykam joined a meeting in Istanbul defending the Kars memorial. After
the event, Baykam and art gallery director Tugba Kurtulmus, who was
with him, were stabbed by Mehmet Celikel, a mental patient who said
he “disliked people of that kind.” Celikel had been imprisoned for
stabbing two other people in 1998. Both Baykam and Kurtulmus survived.

Erdogan claimed his criticism involved aesthetics, not human rights.

According to him, the memorial was “monstrous.” But can any monument
to the victims of terrible atrocities be uglier than the incidents
they commemorate?

The expulsion of the Armenians, in death marches running here and
there across Turkey, was a precedent for the Holocaust of European
Jews. In Germany, historians are committed permanently to research
about the involvement of the military, other state institutions,
and ordinary people in the horrors of the second world war.

But in Turkey, the prime minister is terrified at the sight of stones
erected one upon another. The stones themselves neither declare
Turkish guilt nor refer to the suffering of Armenians explicitly. But
the monument is gone, and some part of collective memory will have
vanished with it. Erdogan’s action was wrong: it just illustrates
his preference for demolition over reconciliation.

THE KARDASHIANS: KEEPING UP WITH THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Huffington Post

April 24 2012

Anoosh Chakelian.Freelance journalist

Today is international Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, but is one
Los Angeles family of it-girls driving the remembrance single-handedly
this year?

Ever heard of a period during the First World War in which an
estimated 1.5 million Armenians were annihilated by the Ottoman
Turkish authorities, in events today’s Turkish government continues
to deny constituted genocide?

And ever heard it referred to as a “big-time incident”?

Because this is the bizarre euphemism used by Brother Kardashian
(whose name begins with ‘R’, the maverick) that will have come to your
attention if you were one of 2.1 million viewers who watched the March
11 episode of that diamante-studded homage to banality ‘Kloe & Lamar’,
titled ‘No Turkey For Khloe’. In which case, I doubt you’d admit it.

You may even be one of many who consequently took a fleeting, 21st
Century interest and contributed to making ‘Armenian Genocide’ the
10th most-searched term on Google the day the episode was aired on the
American E! Network (which broadcasts such televisual triumphs as The
Simple Life, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, and, um, Bridalplasty).

Another quasi-reality offering kourtesy of the Kardashians, the
series generally sees Gratuitous Acute Accent Kardashian, Khloe – you
know, the one without the sex-tape? Labelled first and foremost as an
“American businesswoman” on Wikipedia, if that helps? – tumbling into
all kinds of scandalous scrapes with her NBA superstar husband Lamar
Odom, such as half-heartedly arguing. And driving around sometimes.

But this episode was different. Yes, there was still the obligatory
drivel about believing in your dreams, and trusting those you love,
etc, but the main focus was on the events and political ramifications
of the Armenian Genocide debate.

Khloe was distressed by Lamar’s proposed posting to play basketball in
Turkey. Anxious that her Armenian fan base would find it disrespectful
of her to go off to Turkey and cheer on her man, who had become
frustrated by the NBA’s lockout and wished to get back to doing what
he loves – slam-dunkin’ and shootin’ some hoops, or whatever it was
they didn’t say in the ’90s, her rallying cry was: “I don’t wanna
piss off my culture.”

Floating faded photographs panned across the screen picturing
harrowing scenes accompanied by a commentary explaining what the
Armenian Genocide was, careful to acknowledge it as “genocide” rather
than sticking to customary tentative American rhetoric on the issue:
“atrocities”. It then gave the Turkish viewpoint, that it was a war
on both sides, and summed up the current political conflict for its
viewers by informing us that “it’s never been recognised.”

Perhaps even without having witnessed this heavily-edited half hour
of trauma in Khloe’s life, you may have an inkling of this contentious
subject, the remembrance day of which is today, 24 April.

It is, after all, the history of humanitarian failings’ worst-kept
secret, despite every subsequent Turkish regime’s best efforts, and has
been recognised officially in France, Russia, Canada, Italy, and Greece
among many others, as well as by a smattering of US presidents in the
past. Nicolas Sarkozy recently pushed for a bill officially prohibiting
its denial in France, as is the case there with the Jewish Holocaust.

But its events are relatively unknown – particularly in Britain
where it continues to be unrecognised officially as “genocide”
and the government prefers to prevaricate over pastry-wrapped
politicking – compared to the Kardashian family’s twenty-four hour
frolicking. You surely must have been hiding under a boulder somewhere
extra-terrestrial, or perhaps watching too much ‘Bridalplasty’, not
to have heard of this Californian glam-clan of cacophonous society
gurlz and their tabloid teasing antics.

So they are bringing an otherwise fairly obscure topic to an
international audience of millions tuning into their antics. Lamar
even argues that his wife should be “an ambassador for the Armenian
community, to make peace.” But is this a good thing?

Should it be that the mouthpiece for such a sensitive issue, still
boiling in the hearts of most Armenians across the Ddiaspora, are these
vaguely pointless women who have globally-broadcasted arguments about
borrowing handbags and mocking each other’s “fat asses” in public?

Flagship Kardashian, Kim, who lashed out at Turkish Cosmo this time
last year for putting her on the cover in the month of genocide
remembrance, advises her sister to “be careful, because you’re
Armenian.” Indeed, last year she wrote a blog post on the matter,
emphasising her strong connection to her background:

“My family and I are incredibly proud of our heritage. My dad taught
me a lot about Armenian culture, and I have a strong connection with
my roots. Every year, I honor the memory of the martyrs who were
killed during the 1915 Armenian Genocide.”

She then tweeted “it’s time to recognise the Armenian Genocide” to
7.2 million fans. She now has more than double those followers. It’s
doubtful the Armenian government, or many activist groups, can boast
such a dedicated fan base. At least not with as much petrifying
lipgloss to hand, anyway.

So despite how highbrow we believe ourselves to be, or how snobby
we really are, no publicity is bad publicity. The fact that the
Kardashians have found the time in their busy brash-splash-cash
scheduling to expose the often stifled subject to a far wider audience
than ever before is commendable. Sorry, kommendable.

Follow Anoosh Chakelian on Twitter:

ARMENIANS COMMEMORATE 97TH ANNIVERSARY OF GENOCIDE
By Palash R. Ghosh

International Business Times

April 24 2012

Armenians around the world are observing the 97th anniversary of the
genocide of their people that took place in Ottoman Turkey during
World War I.

According to historical accounts, on April 24, 1915, the ruling party
of the Ottoman Empire, the Young Turks, ordered the murder of Armenian
intellectuals, leaders, artists and businessmen living in the empire.

That order led to the deportation and killings of untold numbers of
Armenians and others.

Between 1.5 million and 2 million Armenians are believed to have
been massacred in 1915-1918 amidst the chaos and disintegration of
the Ottoman Empire. Armenian Christians were suspected of being loyal
to Russia instead of Muslim Turkey.

If these numbers are accurate, about half of the total Armenian
population was wiped out in just three years.

The massacres may have also helped Adolf Hitler believe he could get
away with exterminating the Jews and others during the Holocaust
during the following world war. Prior to invading Poland in 1939,
Hitler reportedly declared: “Who, after all, speaks today of the
annihilation of the Armenians?”

The Turkish government has always denied that the murders were a
state-sanctioned genocide and claimed that the actual number of deaths
was far less — perhaps between 300,000 and 500,000. The Turks claim
that Armenians who perished were simply the victims of war.

Yerevan Remembers Those Lost

In Yerevan, the capital of the modern state of Armenia, thousands
marked the tragedy in a procession, carrying candles and laying
flowers at an eternal flame in the middle of a genocide monument.

“Today we, just as many, many others all over the world, bow to
the memory of the innocent victims of the Armenian genocide,” said
President Serzh Sarkisian, who laid wreaths at the monument.

“This day is one of those moments when the entire nation rallies
around the unification of our homeland.”

An elderly mourner, 75-year-old Tsovinar Tumasian, told Agence
France-Presse that Turkey must take responsibility for the mass
murders of Armenians.

“If they are not forced to do so, they will not recognize the genocide
as fact. They think that with time, everyone will forget about it,”
she said.

The night before the commemoration, 8,000 members of the youth brigade
of the nationalist Dashnaktsutyun party staged a march in Yerevan
which culminated with the burning of a Turkish flag.

“Our action is a protest, a cry of indignation,” a student named
Hamayak Serobian told AFP, adding that the Turks must acknowledge
“the brutality of their ancestors.”

PROSPEROUS ARMENIA PARTY TO SPLIT

Vestnik Kavkaza
April 25 2012
Russia

Prosperous Armenia will split into two wings. One of them will be
headed by Gagik Tsarukyan and will stress on peaceful strategy
according to the rules proposed by the ruling Republican Party,
News.am reports.

The other wing will be under leadership of Ex-President Robert
Kocharyan, a more radical organization. Vardan Oskanyan is among its
members and some want him to become the party’s leader.

Oskanyan is considered an authoritative figure, capable of improving
the party’s rating.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT ORDERS PREVENTION OF ELECTORAL BRIBES

Vestnik Kavkaza
April 25 2012
Russia

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has met Prosecutor General Agvan
Ovsepyan today and discussed prevention of bribery during agitation
campaigns for parliamentary polls on May 6, Interfax reports.

Sargsyan noted that additional measures are needed, despite efficient
law mechanisms preventing corruption. People who received bribes will
not be punished if they warn the police and assist in solving the case.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DEBATE PROMPTS HEATED ARGUMENT IN PARLIAMENT
By Salome Modebadze

The Messenger
April 25 2012
Georgia

Parliamentary Speaker Davit Bakradze has asked MPs not to play a game
that “can benefit Georgia’s enemies”, in reference to a suggestion
made by the leader of Georgian Troupe, Jondi Bagaturia, who demanded
recognition of the Armenian genocide.

Saying that he was against the recognition of Chechen genocide,
Bagaturia wondered what the government would tell the Armenian people
“working and fighting” with Georgians if Parliament does not recognize
their history. Armenians living in Georgia have asked him to support
the recognition of genocide. “So it’s your responsibility,” Bagaturia
told MPs.

Georgia’s Armenian community appeals to the Parliament requesting
recognition of the massacre of Armenians in Ottoman Empire as genocide
almost every year in April, but the issue remains unheeded by the
lawmakers.

Ethnically Azeri MP Azer Suleimanov was irritated with Bagaturia’s
speech, and called him by an Armenian name, “Bagaturiani”, and tried to
throw a glass at him. “I will deal with you when I leave the tribune,”
Bagaturia said, in an attempt to continue his speech.

Suleimanov recalled the events of 1918, saying that over 60 000 Azeris
were killed by Armenians in different parts of the country. Their
verbal confrontation grew into a five minute struggle. An
ethnically-Armenian MP wanted to reply to Suleimanov, but was asked
to refrain from comment on the issue to avoid further confrontation.

Having returned to the session, MPs criticized “provocative” statements
on an ethnic basis. The Parliamentary Speaker encouraged MPs to refrain
from discussing issues of ethnicity, as Armenia and Azerbaijan share
“the tragic history” with Georgia. He said every person living in
Georgia is a citizen of this country despite his or her origin.

“Jondi Bagaturia is a classic example of a provoker who tries
everything to cause problems for Georgia with its friends,” United
National Movement member Akaki Bobokhidze said, confident that
Parliament would manage to overcome this problem.

National Democratic Movement member Guram Chakhvadze called Bagaturia’s
statement a “provocative step” against Georgian statehood and its
national interests.

Giorgi Targamadze, leader of the Christian Democratic Movement, also
emphasized the “sensitivity” of the topic, saying that this Parliament
is an example of how Georgians, Armenians and Azeris cooperate with
one another and are friendly, despite party allegiance.

Parliamentary discussions around ethnicity also irritated Azeri
students who protested against Bagaturia in front of Parliament after
viewing television footage of the debate.

LOCAL ARMENIANS MARK ANNIVERSARY OF GENOCIDE

Sun Apr 22 20124

CAMBRIDGE – April 24 needs to be marked not only by Armenians,
but by all people who want to stand up against genocide in the past
and future.

On that day in 1915, Ottoman Turkish forces began the roundup and
mass killings of Armenians. An estimated 1.5 million Armenians died
in what is now widely viewed as the first genocide of the 20th century.

“It happened to everyone and it has the potential to happen to anyone,”
said J.P. Assadourian, chair of the Armenian National Committee’s
southwestern Ontario chapter.

The local chapter commemorated the 97th anniversary of the genocide
on Sunday at the Armenian Community Centre in Cambridge. A wreath in
honour of the hundreds of thousands who died.

April 24 is marked by Armenian communities around the world with
ceremonies and peaceful demonstrations in a decades-long fight to
get the Turkish government to acknowledge the killings.

“We will never stop,” Assadourian said.

He said that dark chapter in history must be talked about openly for
both the sake of Armenians and also the Turkish people, who have the
right to know about the nation’s past.

“They have been denied the facts of what has happened in their
history,” Assadourian said.

Holding nations accountable for genocide is also a warning to others
that the systematic extermination of a people will not be overlooked
or forgotten, he said.

The Turkish government does not recognize the First World War-era
genocide, saying the figure is inflated and the deaths occurred in
the civil unrest during the Ottoman Empire’s collapse.

“The Armenian nation will never forget the genocide and the Turkish
nation is reluctant to admit it happened,” said keynote speaker Hayg
Oshagan, a professor in the communication department at Wayne State
University in Michigan.

But he said it’s essential for the neighbouring nations to come to
an agreement about that time, regardless of how difficult it may be
to make reparations for the immeasurable loss.

“Nations are really reluctant to admit this sort of thing about their
past,” Oshagan said.

Despite the denials by the Turkish government, he said, the truth is
apparent through the eyewitness reports, photographs and records of
assets seized from Armenians as they were forced out of Turkey and
marched into the desert.

“It’s uncontested the genocide occurred,” Oshagan said. “There’s tons
of documentation on what has happened.”

Canada’s Parliament in 2004 backed a resolution condemning the actions
of the Ottoman Turkish forces, calling it unequivocally a genocide
and crime against humanity. The move was denounced by Turkey, accusing
Canadian legislators for blindly following those with marginal views.

Oshagan believes the Turks will eventually have to come to terms
with what happened. Until then, he said the fight will continue
among Armenians scattered around the globe even as almost 100 years
have passed.

“It’s our duty to our ancestors and our nation.”

DAVUTOGLU: TURKEY’S PRINCIPLE OF “ZERO PROBLEMS WITH NEIGHBORS” IS SHOWING POSITIVE RESULTS

Vestnik Kavkaza
April 23 2012
Russia

Turkish foreign policy, based on the principle of “zero problems
with neighbors” is producing positive results. Foreign Minister
Ahmed Davutoglu said that Ankara has very good relations with its
neighbors except for three countries, Trend reports, referring to
the Milliyet newspaper.

Davutoglu highlighted the development of relations with Azerbaijan,
Georgia, Russia and Ukraine. He added that Armenia, Israel and Syria
are the three countries with which it is difficult to negotiate.

GREEK POLICE USES TEAR GAS AGAINST ARMENIANS AT GENOCIDE RALLY

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 24, 2012 – 18:11 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Late on April 22, Athens hosted a march commemorating
97th anniversary of Armenian Genocide; the event was organized by
ARF Dashnaktsutyun youth wing, Azad Or daily reported.

The rally participants marched through the central cities of Athens
stopping at Azeri embassy. Demonstrators chanted mottos ~SKarabakh
is ours~T and ~SKarabakh belongs to Armenians.~T

Further, the demonstrators proceeded to Turkish embassy; however,
policemen blocked their way. While attempting to break through a
police cordon, the demonstrators were stopped by a cloud of tear gas.

The demonstrators then marched to Greek parliament, where they voiced
a loud protest against Turkish pressure on Greek authorities.

Hay Dat issued a statement condemning Greek government over its
treatment of Armenians~R peaceful rally.

YEZIDI LEADER: WORLD WILL “FORCE” TURKEY INTO GENOCIDE RECOGNITION

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 24, 2012 – 12:35 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Today Turkey is turning a “worse face” to the world
because it does not recognize the Armenian Genocide, head of World
Yezidi National Union said in Yerevan.

Visiting the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial to the Genocide victims on April
24, Yezidi leader Aziz Tamoyan told journalists that the world will
“force” Turkey to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, and it will
recognize it officially.

In this regard, Tamoyan particularly emphasized that over 750 000
Yezidis inhabited Western Armenia before 1915, while now they account
for only 5000 due to migration to Eastern Armenia.

“Armenians accepted them gladly, and we are grateful for that,”
Yezidi Union leader stated adding that Turks should realize that
“Armenian Genocide was not committed by a single person”.