Author: Kajoyan Gevork

LIVRE
Confiscation and Destruction : The Young Turk Seizure of Armenian Property

C’est la première grande étude de la séquestration de masse par le
régime jeune-turc des biens des Arméniens pendant le génocide arménien
de 1915. Elle détaille l’émergence du nationalisme économique turque,
offre un aperçu des ramifications économiques du processus
génocidaire, et décrit comment le pillage a été organisée sur le
terrain.

S’appuyant sur des dossiers secrets et des dossiers non examinés, les
auteurs démontrent que, bien que les Arméniens aient subi le pillage
et la destruction systématiques, les Turcs ordinaires ont reçu une
gamme de biens pour leur progrès.

dimanche 19 avril 2015,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

Ukraine Crisis Kills Dream of Russian-German Alliance – MacDonald

(c) Sputnik/ Sergey Guneev
OPINION
20:15 19.04.2015Get short URL

The dream of united Europe “from Dublin to Vladivostok,” voiced by
Jean-Francois Thiriart in 1960s, has been finally crushed by Ukraine’s
crisis, Bryan MacDonald noted.

The Ukrainian crisis has dealt a mortal blow to Jean-Francois
Thiriart’s idea of united Europe from Dublin to Vladivostok, adopted
in the 2000s by policy makers in Moscow and Berlin, Bryan MacDonald,
an Irish writer and commentator noted in his Op-Ed, published by RT.

“A detente between Moscow and Berlin to counterbalance the USA and the
emerging Chinese superpower. This dream has been on life support for
years and it’s fair to say that the Ukraine crisis finally killed it.”

(c) AP PHOTO/ MARKUS SCHREIBER
Merkel Says Free Trade Zone Between Germany, Russia Possible

The Kremlin is evidently disappointed with the fact that leading
European nations are following diktats from Washington, instead of
pursuing an independent foreign policy course.

Thus far, the chill in relations between Moscow and Europe is regarded
as one of the central motivations for Sino-Russian rapprochement,
according to Mr. MacDonald.

“Nevertheless, my bet is that Russian policy makers will continue to
hope for a European policy shift. The EU is unstable, if it were to
split there’s a strong chance that Germany could try to salvage a
‘core Europe’ gathered around its powerful economy.”

Bryan MacDonald believes that a “sizable and influential wing in
Berlin” will finally pressure the leadership of the country into
adopting an independent political course, free from Washington’s
dictate.

(c) REUTERS/ CHARLES PLATIAU
German Economy Minister Urges to Restore Trade Relations With Russia

The writer referred to the doctrine, promoted by British General
Hastings Lionel “Pug” Ismay, the first Secretary General of NATO from
1952 to 1957 – “to keep the Americans in, the Russians out, and the
Germans down,” stressing that Russian and German political elite
strongly oppose this approach.

However, there is little doubt that such leading countries as Germany,
Japan, Italy and France would prefer Russia “to place a foot back into
the Western tent” and return to the G8.

Alas, the rapprochement between the West and Russia is still highly
unlikely, Mr. MacDonald noted, predicting that the Russophobia trend
in America will gain a second wind during the forthcoming 2016
Presidential campaign.

Standard Bulletin
April 18 2015

Armenian Genocide, America&#x2019s helping hand remembered in Los
Angeles exhibit

The kids have been just about lost to the desert.

They had left their villages under death threats. They saw their
fathers killed by swords, watched mothers, grandmothers and aunties
die of starvation on the death marches to Syria.

But from thousands of miles away, Americans discovered them.

Through telegrams, news articles and film reels, the story of how
youngsters became orphans of the Armenian Genocide reached
America&#x2019s shores in 1915. An organization known as Close to East
Relief was founded and a national movement rose. Silent movie stars
such as Irene Rich and Jackie Coogan held sandwich boards asking for
donations and cans of milk. Churches and community groups raised funds
and sent clothing when President Calvin Coolidge named for Golden Rule
Sunday, when Americans ate modest meals to bear in mind &#x201cthe
starving Armenians.&#x201d

&#x201cBack then, there was a groundswell of a response,&#x201d stated
Ani Boyadjian, research and unique collections manager at the Los
Angeles Public Library. &#x201cThey had been hearing that persons had
been becoming slaughtered.&#x201d

The American reaction to the wants of the orphans and these who
survived the Armenian Genocide is the theme of a traveling exhibit now
on show at the Los Angeles&#x2019 Central Library. Named &#x201cThey
Will Not Perish: The Story of Near East Relief,&#x201d the exhibit
contains 26 panels that show photographs of orphans as nicely as
posters utilised at the time to raise funds. But at its heart, the
complete exhibit is meant to show America&#x2019s generosity in the
aftermath of the Armenian Genocide, Boyadjian mentioned.

The display is there to say &#x201cAmerica, we thank you,&#x201d she added.

&#x201cMany of us are direct descendents of these orphans and
survivors helped by Near East Relief,&#x201d Boyadjian mentioned.
&#x201cTheir response is an untold story of American
philanthropy.&#x201d

Now referred to as Close to East Foundation, the nonsectarian, New
York-based non-profit organization is also celebrating its centennial
this year. It was founded following U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Henry
Morgenthau sent telegrams about what was taking place in the Ottoman
Empire.

&#x201cAt that time communication had been revolutionized by the
telegram,&#x201d mentioned Molly Sullivan, director and curator of the
Close to East Relief Historical Society. &#x201cIt was the initially
time that communication could move more rapidly than the quickest
runner, quickest ship and quickest horse. It meant that the
perpetrators of the genocide made use of the very same
technology.&#x201d

With the enable of President Woodrow Wilson, the smaller-scale relief
operation went on to raise much more than $117 million &#x2014
today&#x2019s equivalent of about $two billion &#x2014 to help
Armenians in the aftermath of the genocide. That revenue helped save
132,000 orphans, according to the Near East Foundation.

Any orphan of any religion was welcomed, Sullivan mentioned. And the
organization nonetheless operates now to enable displaced people today
in the Middle East and Africa. With the ranks of the Islamic State
swelling, thousands of Assyrians, Syriacs, Chaldeans and Armenians
whose families fled to Syria and Iraq for safety through the genocide
are now being displaced and killed. Sullivan stated the American
response is various now, again, for the reason that of technologies.

&#x201cTechnology has produced outstanding adjustments in the last 100
years,&#x201d she stated. &#x201cWe have so a great deal facts about
the news that it&#x2019s attainable that persons have come to be
overwhelmed and they don&#x2019t know how to support. With particular
aspects of the news, they&#x2019re extremely concerned but they are
also fatigued.&#x201d

On Friday, Armenians worldwide will observe the 100th anniversary of
the begin of the genocide. They will collect at memorials to don’t
forget the 1.5 million Armenians who were killed by the Ottoman Turks
as part of what scholars and historians say was a systematic cleansing
of their identity. And they will march in cities to protest the
ongoing denial by the Turkish government, which has mentioned the
deaths and deportations of Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks have
been element of wars and unrest in the then-collapsing Ottoman Empire.

Many countries and states have recognized the events of 1914 to 1923
as genocide. Last Sunday, Pope Francis even defined the slaughter of
Armenians as the first genocide of the 20th century. But Armenians
stay disappointed more than President Obama&#x2019s silence. Though a
resolution was introduced by 40 congressional members which includes
U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, to contact on the president to
stress Turkey to completely acknowledge the genocide, the United
States has so far resisted.

The pope mentioned subsequent atrocities such as the Holocaust, the
Pol Pot massacres and these in Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur could have
been avoided if the Ottoman Turks had been held accountable.

Jen Portillo and Marleni Segovia, regional visitors to the exhibit,
looked over the photographs of orphans and stated they believed they
were photos of Holocaust victims of Globe War II.

&#x201cI knew nothing about the Armenian Genocide,&#x201d Portillo
stated. &#x201cWe had the very same wars, the same killings in El
Salvador. It&#x2019s like so quite a few cultures have gone by means
of so much.&#x201d

&#x201cIt shows we&#x2019re all human, that we all go by way of
struggles,&#x201d Segovia added.

Boyadjian mentioned many non-Armenians have been able to relate to the
photographs of the young children.

&#x201cLos Angeles is a city of refugees,&#x201d she said.

The exhibit, made feasible by the American National Committee of
America, is a personal a single for Boyadjian. Her paternal
grandparents had been two of the orphans who were saved by the perform
of Close to East Relief. Her grandmother&#x2019s whole household
except a sister have been killed. Her grandfather lost all of his
loved ones members. The two orphans have been brought to Lebanon where
they ended up in the very same orphanage, and they married as soon as
they came of age, she stated.

&#x201cI can nevertheless really feel their story on my skin,&#x201d she said.

Boyadjian said she will be a single of those attending a March for
Justice occasion on Friday that starts in Small Armenia, in east
Hollywood. More than 200,000 individuals of Armenian descent call Los
Angeles County dwelling. It is the biggest Armenian diaspora outside
of the Republic of Armenia.

Boyadjian said she knows men and women will be upset that streets will
be closed, and other individuals will say the genocide happened 100
years ago, that it&#x2019s time to move on. But she said she will
march to say thank you.

&#x201cIf it wasn&#x2019t for America&#x2019s response, my
grandparents would not have survived,&#x201d she said. &#x201cI would
not have been born.&#x201d

Our editors found this article on this site using Google and
regenerated it for our readers.

Al-Ahram Weekly
April 16, 2015

Acknowledging the Armenian Genocide

Just as we must pay heed to the cries of victims wherever they are and
whenever they raise their voices, Armenians deserve our solidarity and
attention, writes James Zogby

In less than two weeks we will commemorate the centenary of the
Armenian genocide. Armenian Remembrance Day, 24 April, recalls the
horrific events that resulted in the deaths of more than one million
Armenians and the forced expulsion and ethnic cleansing of many more
from their ancestral homeland at the hands of Turkish nationalists.

It is an event that has defined Armenian history. And it has left an
open wound that must be acknowledged and addressed if there is to be
closure for both peoples.

For Armenians, the beginning of the healing process requires that the
events of 100 years ago be called what they were, a genocide.

Six years ago, Armenian Americans were deeply disappointed by the
Remembrance Day statement issued by the White House because the
president did not use the term “genocide” to refer to the horrors of
1915.

They had great hopes that President Obama would do so. During the 2008
presidential campaign, Obama had been forceful not only in declaring
that the events of 1915 were, in fact, genocide, but in criticising
those who would not use that word.

In a statement issued on 19 January 2008, Obama said: “As a US
senator, I have stood with the Armenian American community in calling
for Turkey’s acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide …

“The Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a
point of view, but rather a widely documented fact … An official
policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an
untenable policy … As president I will recognise the Armenian
Genocide.”

Armenians were further encouraged in early April 2009 when the
president urged the Turks to deal with this blot on their history in
his address to the Turkish parliament. By beginning with a lesson
learned from US history, he sought to prod his hosts into dealing with
their past.

Said Obama: “The United States is still working through some of our
own darker periods in our own history … Our country still struggles
with the legacies of slavery and segregation, the past treatment of
Native Americans … History is often tragic, but unresolved it can be
a heavy weight.

“Each country must work through its past. And reckoning with the past
can help us seize a better future. I know there are strong views in
this chamber about the terrible events of 1915. And while there’s been
a good deal of commentary about my views, it’s really about how the
Turkish and Armenian people deal with the past. And the best way
forward for the Turkish and Armenian people is a process that works
through the past in a way that is honest, open and constructive.”
To be fair, the president’s statement on Remembrance Day 2009 was more
forceful than those made by his predecessors. His hesitation to use
the term “genocide” was most likely prompted by the fact that just two
days before 24 April, the Turkish and Armenian governments had agreed
to a “roadmap” for normalising relations and he was concerned that he
not disrupt this process by provoking a hostile Turkish response.

Thus, the statement the White House issued on 24 April 2009 read, in
part: “Ninety-four years ago, one of the great atrocities of the 20th
century began. Each year, we pause to remember the 1.5 million
Armenians who were subsequently massacred or marched to their death in
the final days of the Ottoman Empire.

“The Meds Yeghern must live on in our memories, just as it lives on in
the hearts of the Armenian people … I have consistently stated my
own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view of that history has not
changed. My interest remains the achievement of a full, frank and just
acknowledgment of the facts …

“The best way to advance that goal right now is for the Armenian and
Turkish people to address the facts of the past as a part of their
efforts to move forward … To that end, there has been courageous and
important dialogue among Armenians and Turks, and within Turkey
itself.

“I also strongly support the efforts by Turkey and Armenia to
normalise their bilateral relations … The two governments have
agreed on a framework and roadmap for normalisation. I commend this
progress, and urge them to fulfil its promise.”

In the end, both Turks and Armenians were left angry. The Turks
because of the strong language the president did use, and the
Armenians because he had failed to deliver on his promise to call the
horrors of 1915 “genocide”.

Six years later, Armenians are still waiting for recognition of their
national tragedy so that their healing process can begin. And the
Turkish government has remained intransigent, still not coming to
grips with its past.

The White House is not in an enviable position. They are engaged in a
battle against the Islamic State and have been pushing the Turks to
“step up their game” as part of the international coalition fighting
this evil movement.

I must admit that although I understand the demands of politics and
diplomacy, I am also acutely aware of the demands of history that
still cry out for recognition. On a personal note, I was struck how
this past week Deir Yassin Day passed unnoticed. That day, 9 April,
marks the 1948 massacre of over 200 Palestinian civilians in the small
village of Deir Yassin.

They were slaughtered, with many of the dead thrown into a well and
left to rot. It was one of the many horrors that accompanied the Nakba
— the name given to the programme of ethnic cleansing that left
thousands of Palestinians dead, and forced hundreds of thousands more
into exile.

It is wrong to just say “Get over it” to victim nations. For there to
be reconciliation there must be acknowledgment and justice. Just as we
demand that Israel acknowledge and make recompense for its “original
sin”, we can want no less for the Armenian people.

The writer is president of the Arab American Institute.

The Times (London)
April 17, 2015 Friday

Turkish church may become mosque in row with Vatican

by Tom Coghlan

The ancient cathedral of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul could be reopened as
a mosque after controversial remarks by the Pope on the century-old
massacres of Armenians, a senior government cleric said yesterday.

The Grand Mufti of Ankara, Professor Mefail Hizli, warned of
repercussions from remarks on Sunday by Francis, who has become the
first pope to label the killings of Ottoman Armenians in 1915 a
“genocide”.

“Frankly, I believe that the Pope’s remarks will only accelerate the
process for Hagia Sophia to be reopened for [Muslim] worship,”
Professor Hizli said in a written statement.

He added that the Pope’s coments were a “modern reflection of the
crusader wars launched in these lands for centuries”, adding that
Turkey’s position as a “standard bearer” for the Muslim world invited
attack from outsiders. The Pope’s words, days before the April 24
centenary of the first killings of what became the Armenian genocide,
caused fury in Turkey. Ankara withdrew its ambassador to the Vatican
and President Erdogan responded: “The stain of genocide on our nation
is out of the question.”

The remarks from the mufti, a government employee, raised speculation
in the Turkish press that the authorities plan to convert the world
famous museum of Hagia Sophia to a mosque. Analysts said that the
Turkish reaction reflected both the sensitivity over the Armenian
genocide issue, and posturing from the nationalist Islamist government
before forthcoming elections. Turkey has always rejected claims that
the killings of about 1.5 million Christian Armenians amounted to a
government policy of extermination. It has said they were instead a
product of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

The Turkish government said yesterday that a senior Turkish-Armenian
adviser to the Turkish prime minister had “retired on grounds of age”,
days after he too referred to an “Armenian genocide”. Etyen Mahçupyan,
65, said that the Pope’s comments had released a “100-year-old
psychological burden” for the country’s small but still prominent
Turkish-Armenian community. He insisted that his retirement was age
related.

Unlike many European and South American states, the US government has
so far withheld from using the term genocide. The European parliament
voted on Wednesday to use the term “genocide” to describe the Armenian
massacres. Draft legislation is also before Congress, backed by the
powerful Armenian diaspora in the United States.

A campaign to open Hagia Sophia as a mosque has won support among
Turkish Islamists in recent years. The original church was founded in
AD360 by the Byzantines and ceased to be a Christian place of worship
after the Ottoman invasion of 1453. It was then a mosque until 1931,
when the secular Turkish government reopened it as a museum.

Turkey Rights Groups Demand Apology, Compensation, and Restitution for Genocide

By Contributor on April 19, 2015 in Headline, News //

Human rights organizations in Turkey’under the umbrella group `100th
Year ` Stop Denialism” have issued the following statement:

An indelible, massive crime was committed in these lands, 100 years
ago’a crime that will remain irreversible, irremediable, and
unforgivable. During the genocide of 1915, Armenians and other
Christian peoples of Asia Minor, among them Assyrians and Rums, were
targeted by a systematic politics of extermination, and destroyed
along with their social organizations, economy, arts and crafts, and
historical, and cultural heritage.

Our initiative, `100th Year ` Stop Denialism’ was established to
commemorate the genocide on April 24, in Istanbul and Diyarbakır. The
initiative brings together (in alphabetical order): Anatolian Cultures
and Research Association (Aka-Der), Human Rights Association `
Committee against Racism and Discrimination, Nor Zartonk, Platform for
Confronting History, Turabdin Assyrians Platform, and Zan Foundation
for Social, Political, and Economic Research. Our initiative is also
supported by the Gomidas Institute (London), the Armenian Council of
Europe, and Collectif Van (Paris), whose representatives will be
joining us.

Shame and responsibility are the basis of the `100th Year ` Stop
Denialism Initiative’s’ conceptualization of the commemoration. We
believe that any commemoration of the crime of genocide on these lands
will have to express the responsibility of genocide denial itself, and
the shame felt by the descendants of the peoples who have had the
opportunity for growth, development, and enrichment in the absence
of“due to the absence of“the peoples who fell victim to genocide.

While this understanding constitutes the ethical core of our acts of
commemoration on April 24, our concrete demands are for recognition,
apology, compensation, and restitution.

Our initiative’s commemorations begin at 11 a.m. on April 24, in front
of the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts on Sultanahmet Square, where
we will hold a moment of silence in memory of the victims. This
building was known as the central prison in 1915; individuals from the
Istanbul Armenian community, including intellectual leaders, were
arrested in their homes, detained here, and then sent off to the
HaydarpaÃ…?a train station.

After the moment of silence, we will begin our `Genocide March,’
walking in silence from Sultanahmet to Eminönü, and then crossing over
to HaydarpaÃ…?a by sea. The detainees of April 24, 1915 were deported
from HaydarpaÃ…?a to the depths of the country’in actual fact, to their
deaths. Here, our `Genocide March’ will end with another
commemoration.

>From HaydarpaÃ…?a, we will proceed to the Ã…?iÃ…?li Armenian Cemetery to
commemorate Sevag Å?ahin Balıkçı, who fell victim to ethnic-hate murder
on April 24, 2011 while on mandatory military duty in Batman, and
express our support to the Balıkçı family in their pursuit of justice.

Before and after the events of the `100th Year ` Stop Denialism
Initiative,’ the constituents of the initiative will participate in
two other events. Representatives of the Armenian Council of Europe,
who were invited to Istanbul by the Human Rights Association `
Committee Against Racism and Discrimination, will hold a commemoration
on Beyazıt Square at 10 a.m. on the same day, April 24. Members of the
HRA Committee Against Racism and Discrimination, human rights
defenders, and activists against genocide denial will participate in
the commemoration of 20 Henchak Party leaders and members who were
executed by hanging on June 15, 1915“yet another mass execution, of
symbolic import, during the period of the Armenian Genocide.

A protest march organized by Nor Zartonk will start out at 6:30 p.m.,
from Galatasaray Lycée and head toward Taksim Square, followed by a
100th year commemoration event led by the Platform for Commemorating
the Armenian Genocide, at 7:15 p.m., at the Taksim end of Istiklal
Street.

Concurrently, in Diyarbakır, the Human Rights Association Diyarbakır
branch and the Gomidas Institute are jointly organizing a
commemoration of Armenian and Assyrian victims in the ruins of Surp
Sarkis Church, at noon on April 24, with support from the Diyarbakır
Bar Association and the Zan Foundation.

The struggle for genocide recognition and against denialism will end
neither on April 24, 2015, nor on Dec. 31, 2015. Until the state of
the Republic of Turkey and the majority following official ideology
recognize the crime and take steps toward compensation for the
irreversible and irremediable losses, we will persevere in our pursuit
of justice for the genocide victims of Asia Minor and for their
descendants, who are dispersed around the world or who continue to
live under the conditions of genocide perpetuated by denial.

100th Year ` Stop Denialism Initiative

Polish General Refuses to Back Ukraine Due to Glorification of Nationalism

(c) AP Photo/ Sergei Chuzavkov
EUROPE
18:28 19.04.2015(updated 18:30 19.04.2015) Get short URL

Retired General and former deputy Defense Minister of Poland Waldemar
Skrzypczak expressed outrage following the recently adopted law by the
Ukrainian Parliament.

Retired General and former deputy Defense Minister of Poland Waldemar
Skrzypczak said that he has abandoned the idea of supporting Ukraine,
Polish media reported.

(c) AFP 2015/ GENYA SAVILOV
Finally Admitted: Poland Concerned Over Rising Ukrainian Nationalism

Skrzypczak expressed outrage following the recently adopted law by the
Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament). After the Polish President
Bronislaw Komorowski expressed support for Ukraine, the parliament
voted for the bill, which benefits the soldiers of the Ukrainian
Insurgent Army (UPA).

On April 9, the Verkhovna Rada recognized the OUN, UPA and similar
gangs as freedom fighters, thus glorifying Nazism in the process.

The UPA is responsible for the deaths of many Polish citizens during
1943-1944, stressed Skrzypczak.

“I gather that Ukraine does not respect the Polish people. I am
talking about the Volyn massacre, when 100,000 Poles were killed,” he
said.

He further expressed concern about Ukraine’s future, as it is being
built on the foundation of ‘blood thirsty nationalists.’

(c) FLICKR/ DVIDSHUB
Kremlin Slams Western Military in Ukraine for Destabilizing Situation

Earlier Skrzypczak avidly supported the idea of supplying Ukraine with
heavy weapons. However, his recent comments show that he radically
changed his stance towards cooperation with Kiev.

He said that the Polish government should assess the newly adopted
Ukrainian law from a legal point of view. If Ukraine does not abandon
the nationalist ideology, its cooperation with Poland would hardly be
possible.

At the same time, Skrzypczak said that some of the politicians are
still disillusioned and will not criticize Ukraine, just to avoid
disputes.

The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) was formed in 1942 as a military
wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and
collaborated with Hitler’s troops, waging war against the Soviet Army.
Until the 1960s, the group, using extremist methods, killed officials,
intelligentsia and party members.

Our Windsor, Canada
April 19 2015

Armenian Genocide: The untold spy thriller

Actor/writer Eric Bogosian uncovers a little-known story about a group
of Armenians who took revenge on Young Turk leaders who planned the
mass killings

OurWindsor.Ca
By Olivia Ward

Eric Bogosian always knew something terrible had happened to Armenians
in Turkey. As an American of Armenian descent he grew up hearing
stories of the genocide.

But when he delved into Armenian history, the award-winning playwright,
actor and novelist was startled to discover a spy thriller-like plot
involving a little-known group of Armenian men who took revenge on the
core Young Turk leaders who planned and executed the mass killings.

The result was his book Operation Nemesis, a seven-year plunge into
the dark archives of the genocide, yielding the forgotten history of
the secret assassination plot conceived by the exiled Armenian
Revolutionary Federation and planned by an inconspicuous gaggle of
expats based in Boston. When it ended, more than six top Turkish
officials were dead.

The targets of the killings were actually condemned to death by an
Ottoman military tribunal at the end of the First World War, showing
that they recognized the enormity of the crime against the Armenians.
But the perpetrators were never executed.

They actually hanged one or two people. But there was a major backlash
against the sentences because the Turks were very offended by the way
they were treated by the West. In the 1920s there was an erasure of
history, the tribunal records were lost, then carefully pieced back
together. They were very intense and detailed. But we also have to
realize that there were people in Turkey who were moderate, and not
behind these terrible acts.

How were the hit men chosen?

First there was an apparatus set up to finance the plan with
charitable money. Then they chose men who were experienced with arms —
volunteers who were with the Russians, assassins and gun runners. Some
were very good at planning, others bold and willing to charge into (a
crowd) and shoot. And some didn’t work out.

Their targets had settled in Berlin, Rome, Georgia and Tajikistan. How
did they track them down and kill them?

They worked with a network of spies in different cities. In Berlin,
there was one agent who pretended to be a Turk. He played the role of
playboy with the Young Turks there. He took a Turkish name, Mehmed
Ali, was fluent in Turkish and was so close to their inner circle that
he even acted as a pallbearer for the first man killed, Djemal Azmi,
the former governor of Trebizond.

Amazingly, most of the assassins escaped and led long lives in exile.
Soghomon Tehlirian, who was caught, was let off, although he was
arrested at the scene in Berlin after killing Talat Pasha, one of the
top Turkish leaders.

Tehlirian had a very sweet, civilized quality. At his trial he was
taken at face value. He told a story about seeing all his family
massacred, and how he dreamed of his mother wanting justice. He said
he decided suddenly to kill Talat, when he found he was in Berlin (at
the same time) but hadn’t planned it. The court believed he had been
irretrievably damaged by the traumatic experience, and was not
responsible for his actions.

How did Turkey react to the killings?

They knew there were Armenian assassins involved. In Tehlirian’s case
they sent agents into Serbia where he ended up (after the trial). He
lived in a Christian area where there was no love lost for the Turks,
so he was safe. Eventually he went to the U.S.

There’s a hall in the Military Museum (in Istanbul) called the Truth
About the Armenians. It has photos of atrocities that Armenians may or
may not have committed against Turks. The shirt that Talat wore the
day he was killed is there. Even though he’s considered a war
criminal, his remains were brought back, and he has a tomb.

There were originally 200 people on the “black list” for
assassination. How did the operation end?

It was very sudden. The killers weren’t caught and wanted to keep on
going. The leadership lost their enthusiasm for assassination. They
asked “where is all this leading?” They knew that if somebody was
caught it wouldn’t look good for them. So they insisted it stop (in
1922) after the killing of Jemal Pasha (known as the Butcher). They
pulled back the funding.

What did Operation Nemesis accomplish?

They wanted to avenge the genocide even though the killings aren’t
equal to the enormity of it. The assassinations also had an
existential aspect: we exist, we have agency, and we aren’t going to
lie down and take it.

It eradicated the leaders of the genocide and left the door open to
(first Turkish president Mustafa) Kemal Ataturk, who negotiated a
relationship with the West that the others couldn’t. It led to a
position for Turkey in NATO, as recipient of vast amount of arms, etc.

But the most important thing was for the spirit of the Armenian
people. The killers weren’t thinking of what God wants, but of a moral
justice that is required of us. In some way the assassinations were an
attempt to bring balance back into the world.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

EU Reporter
April 16 2015

Sajjad Karim welcomes European Parliament’s recognition of Armenian genocide

EU Reporter Correspondent |

MEP Sajjad Karim MEP (pictured), who chairs the European Parliament
Delegation to the European Parliament/Armenia Parliamentary
Co-operation Committee, today (16 April) welcomed the adoption by the
European Parliament Plenary of a Joint Resolution on the 100th
Anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

MEPs paid tribute to the memory of the 1.5 million innocent Armenian
victims who perished in 1915-1917. While these tragic events took
place in the times of the Ottoman Empire, the European Parliament has
reiterated its formal position, adopted as early as 1987, that
genocide did in fact take place, as defined by the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948.

This resolution follows both the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly and
the European Parliament/Armenia Parliamentary Co-operation Committee
adopting similar texts in mid-March. The joint European
Parliament/Armenia PCC statement, in particular, had strongly hoped
that the legacy of the past could be overcome by the normalization of
Turkey-Armenia relations, without any preconditions.

The European Parliament Plenary, in turn, encourages both countries to
focus on an agenda that puts cooperation between both their people
first, believing this will contribute to historical reconciliation.
As chairman of the PCC, Dr Karim said: “While it is legitimate for
the European Parliament to be taking a particular viewpoint on the
issue, we also want to encourage both Turkey and Armenia to move in a
direction which allows them to come to terms with this particular
aspect of their shared history, and to start to take steps towards
much closer, neighbourly relations.”

Turkish city Mayor honors memory of Armenian Genocide victims

00:04, 18.04.2015
Region:Armenia, Turkey
Theme: Politics

During the Municipality Assembly session of the Turkish Van city, the
attendees honored the memory of the victims of Armenian Genocide and
Anfal campaign (slaughter of Kurds in Iraq).

At the beginning of the 3rd Municipality Assembly session, the
Assembly Deputy Chairman Cahit Bozbay and press-secretary of
Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Ramazan Alver made a statement on
Armenian Genocide and Anfal campaign, Van city municipality official
website reports.

Cahit Bozbay, the Van city Municipality Assembly Deputy Chairman,
stated that they condemn the Armenian Genocide and Anfal campaign and
honor the memory of the victims. In his remarks, Bozbay noted that the
society should confront the past genocides and massacres. In his turn,
Ramazan Alver stated that what happened to Armenians in 1915 is a
human tragedy, which lies at the core of genocide. He said that DBP
recognized the 1915 events as genocide, noting that the Pope’s
statement was the precise definition of the events. “Although 100
years have passed, this human tragedy is still fresh, and the
government is trying to paper it over,” the Democratic Regions Party
press-secretary noted.