Author: Kalashian Nyrie

The New Anatolian
April 30 2005
Turkey’s main opposition party,CHP deputy protests Poland’s
‘genocide’ decision
The New Anatolian / Ankara
Halil Unlutepe, Afyonkarahisar deputy of the Republican People’s
Party (CHP), yesterday resigned from the Turkish-Polish
Interparliamentary Friendship Group as a protest against the Polish
Parliament’s recent decision to recognize the so-called Armenian
genocide.
Unlutepe issued a written statement on the Polish Parliament’s
decision last week labelling events which occurred between Turks and
Armenians in World War I as the `Armenian genocide.’ Continued the
statement: “The Polish Parliament declined our suggestion to wait for
the investigation of Turkish state archives and to wait for an
official conclusion. Instead, it hastily accepted allegations based
on on groundless and distorted documents.”
“Although we have frankly expressed our goodwill to Poland, and the
intention of clarifying the events around the so-called genocide, the
acceptance of such a cruel decision can’t be reconciled with the aim
of the friendship group,” Unlutepe stressed.
The Polish Parliament’s decision has clouded efforts to strengthen
friendly ties between the Turkish and Polish parliaments, Unlutepe
concluded.

PRESS RELEASE
Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apost. Church of America
H.G. Bishop Moushegh Mardirossian
Prelate, Western United States
4401 Russell Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Tel: (323) 663-8273
Fax: (323) 663-0438
E-mail: [email protected]
On the occasion of the election of the new Pope, His Eminence
Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian sent the following congratultion
letter to the Apostolic Nuncio in Washington, His Eminence Archbishop
Gabriel Montalvo and the Prelates of the Roman Catholic Church in Los
Angeles, San Francisco, Riverside County and Denver:
Your Eminence,
On behalf of the Clergy, Religious and Executive Councils and entire
faithful of the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of
America, we greet Your Eminence and congratulate You on the blessed
and joyous occasion of the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who
has become Pope Benedict XVI, the worthy successor of the late Pope
John Paul II.
We also congratulate the faithful of the Roman Catholic Church on this
historic event, praying to Almighty God to lead the mission of His
Holiness as a faithful laborer to serve in the vineyard of our Lord.
On this occasion, we humbly ask Your Eminence to convey our best
wishes and prayers to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. We are confident
that the newly elected Holy Father will further strengthen the
ecumenical relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the
Armenian Apostolic Church, as well as strive for the advancement of
the collaboration between all Christian Churches and other religions
that began during the pontificate of the late Pope.
Yours in Christ,
Prayerfully,
Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate
Western United States of America

Al-Jazeerah.info, GA
April 27 2005

Turkish Premier in Israel to Repair Damaged Relations
By K Gajendra Singh
Al-Jazeerah, April 25, 2005
In 1996, strategic dialogue between Israel and Turkey took their
relations almost to the level of allies with Ankara signing numerous
defence deals with Israeli arms industry and the two countries
carrying out joint military exercises. But the illegal US invasion of
Iraq in 2003 changed the regional strategic balance , with Israel
even interfering last year in Iraqi Kurdistan adjoining Turkey’s
own turbulent Kurdish region.
Ankara withdrew its ambassador and barred El Al flights to Istanbul
and asked for an explanation. It publicly denounced Israel’s policy
of `state terrorism’ in Gaza led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan. Bilateral relations plummeted . Satisfied, Ankara then took
steps to smoothen its relationship with Tel Aviv .After official
visits to iron out differences during the last 6 months, Erdogan
himself would now visit Israel for two days from 1 May. He had
publicly refused an Israeli invite last year .The visit would provide
an opportunity to repair the damaged bilateral relationship. Erdogan
would also visit Palestine to maintain the balance and Turkey’s
self new role as a peace maker in the region.

Fearful of uncertain consequences from Iraq , which could go hay wire
, its own problems for entry into the Europe Union , open ended
position of north Cyprus , which it occupies and the international
outcry about the alleged Armenian genocide at the end of the Ottoman
Empire 90 years ago, Turkey also needs to normalise relations with
Israel .Ankara being its only friend in the region , Tel Aviv had
kept its cool last year. Close relationship between the two countries
in security and defence sectors has survived many vicissitudes over
decades.
Erdogan would be accompanied by Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul and
Trade and Industry Minister Ali Coskun. Gonul would hold talks with
Israeli military officials on the development of joint defense
projects, such as the co-production of Arrow II and Popeye II
missiles. Officials from both sides are scheduled to work out new
counter-terrorism intelligence systems. Nearly a hundred businessmen
would accompany Erdogan to Israel.
Turkey’s relations with Israel involve billions of dollars in joint
projects and strategic cooperation. Israel is currently upgrading 170
Turkish M-60 tanks, 54 F-4 fighter planes, and 48 F-5s under a
multi-billion dollar agreement, which also includes exchange of
visits by defence personnel and joint military exercises .
Abdullah Gul, Turkeys`s suave and soft spoken Foreign Minister
visited Israel at the beginning of January to prepare for Erdogan’s
visit . After his flare ups against Israel, which duly warned Israel
, Erdogan had sent a delegation of three close advisers to Tel Aviv
in September as a good will gesture.
But , at the same time, Turkey relations with its Nato ally USA
,Israel’s umblically linked strategic partner , remain wobbly
.Despite USA’s public disapproval , Turkish President Ahmet Necdet
Sezer recently visited Damascus . It was after the Turkish insistence
on the Damascus visit that Erdogan’s visit was broken in the
Israeli media in the first week of April, to soothe Israel, which has
also not been happy with the visit.
The official announcement was made in Ankara on 18 April after
Erdogan had telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to
exchange ideas about the visit . Sharon reportedly told Erdogan, ”I
see many areas to strengthen our relations and cooperation. We
believe you and Turkey will play an important role in the region, and
will have important contribution to peace and stability in the Middle
East. Thus, we attach importance to Turkey’s taking part in
developments in the Middle East.” In return, Prime Minister Erdogan
said, ”I will be pleased if my country contributes to peace
process.”
Apart from Prime Minister Sharon, Erdogan is expected to meet with
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, President Moshe Katsav.
Turkey signed an agreement with Israel on 19 April to buy spy planes
(drones) costing $183 million. It will include three unmanned aerial
vehicle systems and 10 aircrafts, surveillance equipment and ground
control stations, with the Turkish companies providing sub-systems
and services worth 30 % of the cost
Annual trade between the two countries now amounts to over US$1.4
billion, excluding the defense sector. More than 300,000 Israeli
tourists (8% of the population) visit Turkey annually for vacations
to escape tensions at home as they find Turkey quite safe. There are
other important economic deals in the energy sector .Last year, the
two sides signed an agreement for Turkey to sell to Israel more than
50 million cubic meters of water annually for the next 20 years.
A few days before the visit , the Turkish Union of Chambers and
Commodities Exchanges (TOBB) will host Israeli as well as a
Palestinian businessmen delegations in Ankara. The Israeli delegation
would be headed by Israeli Union of Manufacturers chief Shraga Brosh,
while Ahmet Azzghayar, the head of the Federation of Agriculture,
Commerce and Industry Chambers, will lead the Palestinian delegation.
`As political efforts are continuing to seek a solution to the
region’s problems, business circles must also get closer to each
other,’ said TOBB Chairman Rifat Hisarciklioglu.
Deterioration in Turkish-Israeli relations
When asked by Israel’s Haaretz newspaper in a May 2004 interview ,
shortly after Israel’s assassination of Hamas’ spiritual leader Ahmed
Yassin, if he would define Israel’s actions against the Palestinians
as state terrorism. “How else can you interpret it?” Erdogan had
replied.
In his May 25 meeting with Israeli Infrastructure Minister Yousef
Paritzky, Erdogan asked the Israeli minister: “What is the difference
between terrorists who kill Israeli civilians and Israel, which also
kills civilians?” Erdogan had refused to meet with Israeli Deputy
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who was in Ankara in mid-July to mend
Israel’s deteriorating relations with Turkey. This was the first
high-level contact after Erdogan repeatedly characterized Israel’s
policy in Gaza as “state terrorism”.

But it was an article in New Yorker magazine by veteran US journalist
Seymour Hersh about Israel providing training to peshmarga militias
in northern Iraq and running covert operations in neighboring
countries that revealed the brewing differences between Turkey and
Israel. Soon Kurds in Syria created problems for Damascus. The media
reports of interference were denied by both Israel and the Kurdish
leadership in north Iraq. But Turkey was far from convinced. Israel’s
case was not helped by other reports that it was infiltrating agents
into Iran’s clandestine nuclear-weapons program for information for
possible preemptive strikes by the Israeli air force, believing that
Tehran was about a year away from a breakthrough in that program.

Beirut’s Daily Star wrote on July 17, “It appears that Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul, one of Erdogan’s closest confidants, was
behind the leak on Israeli interference in Kurdistan, to demonstrate
Ankara’s deepening anxiety that Kurdish aspirations of independence
will be fueled by Israeli interference. Indeed, the US debacle in
Iraq is driving neighbors Turkey, Syria and Iran into each other’s
arms as all fear chaos in Iraq in the coming months.” Israel would
like to have a weak Iraq and even an independent north Iraq.
It added: “Erdogan’s government has embarked upon a high-profile
diplomatic effort to bolster relations with the Arab and Muslim
world, which were blighted by Israel’s 1996 military agreements with
Turkey. Ankara has settled its disputes with Syria and is seeking to
normalize its often fraught relations with Iran.”

Strained relations between Turkey and Israel caused serious concern
in the United States , which wee conveyed by President George W Bush
to Erdogan in Ankara prior to the June North Atlantic Treaty
Organization summit in Istanbul. But then US relations with Ankara
have been on a roller coaster with public airing of differences. The
differences came about after the illegal US invasion of Iraq , a
Muslim country generally friendly to Turkey ,which was opposed by a
massive majority of Turkish population. When Erdogan publicly
criticized Sharon’s policies , members of his Justice and
Development party (AKP),which has Islamic roots , were even harsher,
lambasting US policies in Iraq as well. AKP must cater to its own
constituency at home.

The Turkish-Israeli relationship reached a low point when Erdogan
publicly turned down an invitation to visit Israel. Ankara
temporarily withdrew its ambassador and consul general from Israel.
Relations took a turn for the worse when the Israeli airline El Al
had to suspend for two weeks six weekly flights to Turkey from June
24 in a row over security at Istanbul airport.

Turkey’s Kurdish problems;

Turkey has serious problems with its own Kurds, who form 20% of the
population. The Kurdish rebellion since 1984 against the Turkish
state, led by Abdullah Ocalan of the Marxist Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK), has cost more than 37,000 lives, including 5,000 soldiers. The
economy of the Kurdish region in south east was shattered. The cost
of countering the insurgency at its height amounted to between $6
billion and $8 billion a year. Whenever there has been chaos and
instability in north Iraq, as during the Iraq-Iran War in the 1980s
or after the 1991 Gulf War, PKK activity has perked up in Turkey.
The rebellion died down after the arrest and trial of Ocalan in 1999,
when a ceasefire was declared by the PKK and a Turkish court commuted
to life imprisonment the death sentence passed on Ocalan. The Turkish
Parliament also granted rights for the use of the Kurdish language
and took other steps ,thus removing some of the root causes of the
Kurdish rebellion. But the PKK shifted most of its 4,000 cadres to
northern Iraq where they stay put . The United States has not
disarmed them despite promises to Turkey . US wants to reward Iraqi
Kurds, who have remained loyal and peaceful. Iraqi Kurds have been
ambivalent toward the PKK, often helping them . They remain a card to
be used in the region.

US Turkish Relationship ;

Turkish Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Ali Tuygan went to
Washington to discuss US Turkish relations to discuss bilateral and
other matters including President Sezer’s visit to Damascus . In
his speech at Washington’s Near East Institute, Tuygan expressed
Turkey’s hopes for better relations. It is hoped that Washington
would finalise a date for Erdogan’s visit soon .Turkey believes that
to improve Turkish-U.S. relations and counter increasing
anti-American sentiment in Turkey a summit in Washington is necessary
.Turkey is a major power in the region. Ankara remains worried about
US plans to have Iraqi Kurds as new “strategic partner” in the
region.

Turkey has been quite helpful on Afghanistan , where the current ISAF
Commander is Gen. Ethem Karadagli ,a Turk . Hikmet Cetin , a former
Turkish Foreign Minister and Speaker, is NATO `s Senior Civilian
Representative .Erdogan made a second visit to Kabul a few days ago
.He expressed satisfaction at the Turkish military’s success in the
face of difficult conditions and investments by Turkish businessmen
in Afghanistan. He added that the country still needed significant
international help for its reconstruction.

Problem of Armenian Genocide;

The alleged killing of between three quarters to one and half million
Armenians in eastern Turkey at the time of the firstworld war between
1915 and 1920 by Turks has become a major international embarrassment
and even a problem for Ankara. It has adversely affected its
relations with many countries and used by some as a lever against
Turkey.

Many Turks feel that `If Turkey accepts the Armenian allegations,
Diaspora Armenians will benefit from this, but Republic of Armenia
will pay for it.’ First they expect legal compensation with some
Diaspora organizations expecting billions of dollars. They also
expect right of resettlement in Eastern Turkey. But more than that it
keeps the Diaspora united in its hate of Turkey and revenge .The
author knew many Turkish diplomats who were assassinated by secret
Armenian organizations over decades .

Turks and Turkish historians maintain that more than 500,000 Muslims
were also killed around 1915 by the Armenian armed groups , who had
joined with the invading Russian forces during the first world war.
While accepting it as a tragedy, for which Turkish politicians have
said that they were sorry, they add that many Ottoman officers were
sentenced for their mistakes during the 1915 Resettlement ; some of
them were even executed. They feel that the number of Armenians
killed is intentionally exaggerated by the Armenian Diaspora. Many
died due to the diseases and famine. Many were attacked by the armed
bandits. The Ottoman Government could be criticized for its
Resettlement decision but not accused of genocide.

One example of the affect is that the Turkish Government’s gave a
year’s extension on the use of Incirlik Airbase by allied forces
under a United Nations resolution on the eve of April 24, the
so-called `Armenian genocide day.’ The Armenian lobby in USA
recently stepped up pressure on President Bush on a proposed
congressional resolution urging him to use the term `genocide’ in
his remarks on that day. But Ankara believes that despite the
Armenian lobby Congress would not pass a resolution recognizing the
alleged genocide. Gul said that the US Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice had told him said that the US stood with Ankara on the alleged
genocide question.

This agreement grants the US a number of restricted rights for using
the airbase. Ankara has thus side stepped US demand for use of
greater facilities at the base. Gul said that this decision was not a
new development, but just `regulating’ the matter. He added that
the military would work with US officials on technical aspects of the
issue.
The discussions in the Parliament for long pending US request for
greater use of the base could have aroused anti-US statements. The
Parliament had rejected on 1 March, 2003 a government motion to allow
USA use of Turkish territory in south east to open a second front
against Iraq .Since then there has been a roller coaster decline in
bilateral relations.
Despite Turkish efforts the Polish Parliament has recognized the
alleged Armenian genocide .Gul expressed his disappointment but added
that Polish Foreign Minister Rotfield had informed him that the
decision was a result of the political stance of some deputies and
that the Parliament was caught unprepared. He assured Gul that the
Polish government `didn’t share the same view concerning the
genocide and that that it always supported Ankara.’
The Russian state Duma (Parliament ) passed a resolution on 22 April
denouncing the 1915 genocide following a unanimous vote just ahead of
the start of the 90th anniversary of the massacres in Turkey and
western Armenia on 24 April , when the alleged massacres began.
`The deputies of the State Duma fully denounce the act genocide and
believe that the entire international community should commemorate
the 90th anniversary,’ the Interfax news agency quoted from the
resolution.
The deputies described it one the most `tragic’ and `cruel’
events of the 20th century. Russia was among the first to recognize
the genocide and remains among a handful of countries that do so .
In 2001 , Parliament in France ,which has an Armenian community of
nearly four hundred thousand , officially recognized the killings as
genocide .It strained ties between Paris and Ankara. Last year,
President Jacque Chirac asked Turkey to recognize the mass killings
otherwise French would keep Turkey out of EU in a referendum. On 22
April the French and Armenian Presidents laid a wreath at a Paris
monument commemorating the genocide.
Erdogan has offered to establish a joint commission consisting of
historians from Turkey and Armenia to look into the question of the
genocide. Armenian President Robert Kocharian welcomed Erdogan’s
offer but added that `if Turkey wants to discuss the issue,
Armenia prefers that it be done at the highest level and in the
largest scope possible.’ Landlocked Armenia wants to have normal
trade and other relations with Turkey but Ankara is not keen because
of its close relations with Azerbaijan. Armenia occupies Azeri
enclave Nagorno Karabakh and some of its territory .
The United States does not recognize the genocide, although the
Congress has pressed for recognition several times. USA and many
other countries, such as Israel, are reluctant to do so because it
would strain relations with Turkey, which is a NATO member and
influential player in the region.

Conclusion

Erdogan’s Justice and Development party (AKP) emerged from the ashes
of four Islamic parties, banned earlier by the secular establishment
led by the armed forces, but it now feels more secure. The AKP
unexpectedly won 2/3 seats in the November 2002 Parliamentary
elections but with only 34% of votes cast. It has consolidated its
hold further based on clean government compared with bribe ridden
asymmetrical coalition governments earlier.

Taking advantage of the European Union requirement to harmonize
Turkey’s system to Copenhagen criteria, the AKP has successfully
sidelined the military, which had exercised power through its
domination of the top policy making body, the National Security
Council (NSC ), now reduced to an advisory role. The reduction of
Military role saw clear erosion in the strategic relationship between
Turkey and Israel. Turkish negotiations to enter EU have overall
strengthened Erdogan and his party

Turkey’s geographical location gives it many advantages but also
brings in many problems .It has succeeded in reaching an accord with
EU to begin final talks in October , but the problem of north Cyprus
under Turkish military control remains , with Cyprus (Greek) having
been admitted to EU last year . The latter is now creating obstacles
for Turkey’s entry into EU .Last year in an April referendum it
rejected a US sponsored solution , which the Turkish side accepted .

Turkey is trying to seek the support of Israel, Russia and the U.S.
to bring north Cyprus out of the limbo like situation in which it
remains isolated .Erdogan had obtained some support from Russian
President Vladimir Putin during the Ankara visit and his own visit
to Moscow later. In his scheduled visit to Moscow on May 10, Erdogan
would solicit further support from Russia even though Putin considers
Cyprus an “internal matter of the EU.”

Many times when Turkey expressed desire to buy arms from Europe , it
was denied because of its Kurdish problem or human rights violations
.So Ankara depends on US arms for its major military needs. With
twists and turns and US unpredictability, Turkey wants to continue
its close defence cooperation with Israel , which can often overlook
US pressure.
After 1996, when a strategic dialogue between Israel and Turkey began
and relations reached almost to the level of allies , Ankara signed
numerous deals with the Israeli arms industry . Turkey also looks at
Israel as its partner in this part of the world and, therefore, where
security and economic interests are concerned, the cooperation would
continue.

Yes, the Iraq war and the chaos in and around Iraq have brought about
a rapprochement between Turkey and Iran and Turkey and Syria, in
spite of US opposition. Turkey also pursues a strategy of
strengthening its ties with countries in the east.

But the developments in Iraq would be determined by the growing
insurgency now blossoming into full-fledged resistance against US
occupation .The incipient civil war between Shiites and Sunnis ,
with new President of Iraq Jalal Talbani offering to use Kurdish
peshmargas against mainly Sunni resistance bodes ill for Iraq .Its
breakup would have unforeseen consequences, even beyond the region.

Pepe Escobar wrote on 21 April in Asia Times ; ‘The White
House/Pentagon/Green Zone axis wants “shock therapy”, deregulation,
wide-ranging privatization, control of Iraqi natural resources, Iraq
reduced to a deregulated capitalist colony with all or most
government properties and services controlled by American
multinationals and all assets held by the foreign lending
institutions that own the majority shares of the Iraqi National Bank.
People who disagree may hit the streets and scream. So much for Iraqi
“democracy”. Long live the shadow Iraqi government.’

The quisling Iraqi government will keep on pushing for full
privatization of the Iraqi oil industry , the reason why US invaded
Iraq. Washington also wants 14 military bases to control the region
and its resources .Some fear that SCIRI of Prime Minster designate
Jaafri might have agreed with Washington to give full control of oil
industry to USA in exchange for political power in Iraq. In any case
Bremer laws , which have already done so need ¾ votes in the
Parliament to be undone .The Shiite masses voted for US with drawl
from Iraq ,but its leaders are now soft pedaling on that electoral
promise. But there is Moqtda As- Sadr on the sidelines calling for
exit of US troops. The situation does not look pretty.

But with a stock of nuclear bombs, Egypt shackled and thus
neutralized, Israel a major player in the region would like to have
Turkey on its side. Chaos suits it . Despite universal and legal
opinion against its `Berlin wall – which is taking in more of
the Palestinian territory , it is going ahead with the project .
During his recent visit to Washington , Sharon coolly ignored George
W.Bush’s advice against expanding the settlements on Palestinian
land , which have never really ceased .Sharon will make a great show
of evacuating the Gaza strip , which in any case is proving costly
to hold on to. Then it would hang on to as much of West Bank
territory as possible .

(K Gajendra Singh, served as Indian Ambassador to Turkey and
Azerbaijan in1992 -96. Prior to that, he served as ambassador to
Jordan (during the1990 – 91Gulf war), Romania and Senegal. He is
currently chairman of the Foundation for Indo-Turkic Studies. The
views expressed here are his own.- [email protected])

Ethnic leader lambastes Armenian authorities for failure to issue
visas to Kurds
Arminfo
26 Apr 05
YEREVAN
“At the time when the Belgium-based Kurdish satellite channel Media TV
broadcast for three days programmes devoted to the Armenian genocide,
including unique pictures which even the Armenian side does not have,
the Armenian authorities denied visas to members of the Kurdish
intelligentsia in Europe, thus foiling an Armenian-Kurdish scientific
conference on genocide in Ottoman Turkey,” the chairman of the
Kurdistan committee in Armenia, Charkaz Mstoyan, told an Arminfo
correspondent today.
Mstoyan stressed that the Armenian authorities’ refused to grant visas
to the Kurds, while they accepted Turks. “At the moment, while we are
speaking, blood is being shed in the vicinity of the Armenian-Turkish
border, the Turkish army is carrying out large-scale military
operations against Kurdish militiamen,” he noted, adding that “20m
Turkish Kurds, who are shedding their blood, deserve a better
attitude”.
He stressed that this was not the first time the Armenian authorities
refused to receive foreign Kurds. He said that this policy of the
Armenian authorities would backlash since “any action leads to
counter-action and causes the Kurdish community to stay alert”.
An associated professor of Yerevan State University’s department of
Armenian literature, Charkaz Mstoyan, considers that “the Kurds
residing on the area stretching from Kars to the Persian Gulf must be
a priority in the Armenian foreign policy”, especially as the Kurds
now have their own state – de facto independent Iraqi Kurdistan.

Common ground
A group of historians wants to reconsider the 1915 Armenian genocide – and
prove that Turkish and Armenian scholars really can get along
By Meline Toumani
The Boston Globe
April 24, 2005
FIVE YEARS AGO, Ronald Grigor Suny, a professor of political science at the
University of Chicago, sat in a tiny room on campus and waited nervously for
a group of colleagues to arrive. ”What have we done?” he asked his wife.
”What if these people choke each other to death?”
The conflict that Suny feared was no arcane ivory tower dispute. It was the
first meeting of the Workshop for Armenian-Turkish Scholarship, and most of
the participants were of Armenian or Turkish descent. In other words, in
addition to being historians, sociologists, and political scientists, they
were members of ethnic groups that – particularly in the diaspora – view one
another as sworn enemies.
Animosity between the groups stems from events in 1915 in Ottoman Turkey
that Armenians – along with most prominent historians worldwide – call the
”Armenian genocide,” and that many Turks call the ”so-called genocide”
or the ”Armenian allegations,” if they don’t use the phrase employed by
Turkey’s foreign minister, Abdullah Gul, at a press conference last month:
”unacceptable claims by the [Armenian] diaspora to continue its
existence.” The Turkish government promulgates a view that the number of
Armenians who died is much lower than Armenians claim – around 500,000
instead of 1.5 million – and that their deaths were the consequence of their
collusion with Russian forces in World War I, not preplanned extermination.
A revision to the Turkish penal code proposed last year would impose a
prison sentence of up to 10 years for use of the term ”genocide” to
describe the events of 1915.
For decades, Armenian groups, particularly those in the diaspora, have
lobbied governments, news organizations, and academic institutions to
officially label the events of 1915 as genocide, observing April 24 as the
date the massacres began. (The Boston area is home to one of the largest
communities of Armenian-Americans whose families were dispersed from Turkey
following the genocide.) And while Turkey is a long way from such
recognition, public discussion of the issue has reached unprecedented levels
there in recent months, following recommendations from many European Union
leaders that Turkey take steps to resolve the issue before becoming an EU
member.
When the Workshop for Armenian-Turkish Scholarship held its fourth meeting
last weekend in Salzburg, Austria, Turkish journalists were invited for the
first time. Workshop members would like to see their work influence
Armenian-Turkish relations, but they are adamant that scholarship and
politics are separate enterprises. They also know from personal experience
just how psychologically difficult it is for either side to take a neutral
look at either history or current developments.
. .
For Suny, an Armenian-American, the idea of working with Turkish scholars
was inspired by a visit to Istanbul’s Koç University in 1998. Suny lectured
about the genocide, and although several people walked out during his talk,
others received him with curiosity and respect.
But following his visit, the New Jersey-based newspaper Armenian Reporter
published a series of articles that accused Suny of being an agent of the
Turkish state and questioned the intentions of Turkish and Armenian scholars
who chose to work together. Suny replied with a blistering letter to the
editor. ”What a colossal intellectual and political mistake it would be,”
he wrote, ”for Armenians to slam the door in the face of those Turks who
want to open a dialogue, who are prepared to take risks and suffer the
consequences from their own government by proposing a fresh discussion of
the events of 1915.”
One of those Turks was Fatma Muge Gocek, a sociologist at the University of
Michigan who co-founded the workshop with Suny in 2000. When Gocek came to
the United States from Turkey in 1981, she quickly learned that to be a Turk
among Armenian-Americans was to stand accused of crimes committed almost a
century ago.
In 1998, at a Michigan conference marking the 75th anniversary of the
Turkish Republic, an audience filled with Armenians drilled her and other
speakers with questions about genocide denial. An elderly Armenian woman
stood up and said, with great emotion, that her parents died in the
massacres. Gocek was deeply moved. ”I don’t have to be Armenian to feel
terrible for you,” she recalls saying. ”I can see that you’re a person in
pain, and I’m in pain with you.”
Her reply left the woman speechless. ”I had never realized, until that
moment, the trauma that is created by a lack of acknowledgment,” Gocek
says.
Taner Akcam, another Turkish-born scholar in the workshop, is more
accustomed to speaking out against mainstream Turkish views. Now an
associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Akcam was imprisoned in
Ankara in 1976 for publishing an article stating that there were Kurds
living in Turkey. (The legal term was ”mountain Turks,” and even today the
government does not recognize Kurds as an official minority, though they
constitute 20 percent of the population.) Instead of serving his 10-year
sentence, AkÁam dug his way out of jail – literally – and escaped to
Germany. There, he became a researcher at the Hamburg Institute for Social
Research, working alongside German scholars who were studying the Holocaust.
Akcam is often credited with being the first Turkish historian to label the
events of 1915 as ”genocide,” but even he admits this did not come easily.
”It was a certain psychological process to use the word genocide,”’ he
says. ”That’s why I can understand my Turkish scholar friends who are ready
to talk about it openly, but never use that word.”
Suny welcomed colleagues to that first workshop at the University of Chicago
by calling it ”a small, humble, and historic meeting” inspired by
”tolerance of difference on the basis of equality and respect, rather than
exclusivist and insular nationalism.” The meeting was not without tension.
Many Armenian scholars refused to attend, and some insisted (unsuccessfully)
that participants sign a document stating that they recognized the genocide.
In the end, some used ”the G-word,” others didn’t. But the goal, Suny
says, was no longer to decide whether it did or it didn’t happen. ”We say,
It happened,”’ he explains. ”Now we have to find out: Why did it happen?
How did it happen?”’ADVERTISEMENT
Simply asking these questions challenges not just Turkish orthodoxies but
the mainstream Armenian attitude, which has been defined for many years by
the quest for acknowledgment – for ”the G-word” – above all. Suny says
this is not enough. ”If you don’t seek an explanation of why it occurred,
it becomes a kind of racism,” he says. ”Then the explanation implied is
that Turks are a pathological group of people who simply do these things.”
Suny, whose great-grandparents died in the 1915 massacres in Yozgat and
Diyarbakir, says he himself didn’t use the term genocide until he’d done
enough research on the subject. And he has questioned the view, held by many
Armenian scholars, that the genocide was planned well in advance, arguing
instead that even the deliberate massacre of a specific ethnic group could
have been an emergency strategy, not a long-term plot. The point does not
sit well with those who fear it bolsters Turkey’s claim that the massacres
were not genocide at all, but consequences of war.
. .
In Turkey, meanwhile, discussion of this once-taboo subject continues to
develop. Last week, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, backed by
opposition leader Deniz Baykal, called for an international investigation
into the events of 1915. (Armenian president Robert Kocharian rejected the
proposal, pointing out that many such efforts have already been completed.)
And last Sunday the Turkish state archives released a list of more than
523,000 Turks allegedly killed by Armenians in Turkey between 1910 and
1922 – a move that added to suspicion that Erdogan’s initiative was a bid to
appease EU pressure, not a sincere reconsideration.
Yet some who would like to see Turkey officially recognize the genocide
believe that it should not be tied to EU membership. If genocide recognition
is imposed from the top down – just as genocide denial was – it may please
Armenians in the short term, but it could be counterproductive by creating
more hostility among Turks. Better, they say, to allow open discussion and
study of the genocide to percolate from the bottom up.
Perhaps members of the Workshop for Armenian-Turkish Scholarship will get a
warmer reception from their own communities. In a near-comic example of
mistrust, both sides have accused Gocek of being an Armenian posing as a
Turk. Never one to rest easy on assumptions, Gocek reconstructed generations
of family history to confirm that her ancestors were, in fact, ”Sunni
Muslims to the core.”
But what, after all, does ethnic identity mean for someone who spends so
much energy resisting the lure of nationalism?
A lot, it turns out. ”I love my country!” declares Akcam, quoting the
climactic line from a poem that Nazim Hikmet, Turkey’s most famous
dissident, wrote in an Istanbul prison in 1939.
Suny, too, is unequivocal. ”No one can take being Armenian away from me,”
he says. ”My grandmother always told me that I am Armenian and we are the
most wonderful people in the world.”
Meline Toumani is a writer living in Brooklyn.

Armenpress
CZECH SENATOR TO PREPARE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL
PRAGUE, APRIL 26, ARMENPRESS: Czech news agencies reported that Senator
Jaromir Stetina announced during a church service that he was prepared to
draft a motion for parliament demanding recognition of the Armenian
genocide.
“I am ashamed that the Czech Republic has not passed such a resolution
until now. I ask the Armenian community to offer me its support,’ he said.
Stetina explained that his intention became stronger after the parliament
of neighboring Poland passed a resolution recognizing and condemning the
Armenian genocide.
“Modern Turkey, the successor of the Ottoman empire, that wants to join
the EU, must review its past,’ he said.

UNION GENERALE ARMENIENNE DE BIENFAISANCE
ARMENIAN GENERAL BENEVOLENT UNION
Communiqué de l’UGAB France
11, square Alboni, 75016 France
Tél. : 01 45 24 72 75
Fax : 01 40 50 88 09
Email : [email protected]
_____
L’Etat Turc continue de nier le génocide Arménien. pourquoi ?
Conférence au Mémorial de la Shoah dans le cadre du 90ème anniversaire
du génocide arménien
Trois historiens de renom ont cherché hier à expliquer le génocide
arménien et sa négation à l’occasion d’une conférence remarquée à
l’auditorium Edmond Safra du Mémorial de la Shoah, à Paris. La
conférence était organisée par le Mémorial en partenariat avec l’UGAB
à l’occasion du 90ème anniversaire du génocide des Arméniens de
l’Empire ottoman, en 1915.
Organisée au lendemain de la diffusion du documentaire d’Arte
“Génocide arménien”, la conférence a attiré un public si nombreux
-environ 150 personnes- qu’en plus du grand auditorium Edmond Safra,
les organisateurs ont dû ouvrir une deuxième salle d’où l’on a pu la
suivre par écran vidéo interposé.
Les débats étaient présidés par Yves Ternon, historien, spécialiste
des génocides et docteur en histoire à l’Université de Paris
IV-Sorbonne, Raymond Kevorkian, historien, directeur de recherches et
conservateur de la bibliothèque Nubar, et Hans Lukas Kieser,
historien, enseignant à l’Université de Zurich.
Dans la grande salle située sous le “Mur des Noms” consacré à la
mémoire des victimes de l’Holocauste, ils se sont attachés à analyser
l’idéologie qui a inspiré le génocide, les mécanismes de la décision
ainsi que la démarche de la négation.
Selon Hans Lukas Kiezer, ce n’est pas seulement l’ethno-nationalisme
-le turquisme- qui inspire les dirigeants turcs de 1915, mais aussi le
social-darwinisme qui oppose les “races” dans une lutte pour la
survie, ainsi que le culte de la raison d’Etat, dont la préservation
justifie l’extermination de ceux qui sont perçus comme une menace pour
sa survie.
Au-delà de l’idéologie des meurtriers se pose la question du passage à
l’acte : comment et quand fut-il décidé d’exterminer les Arméniens ?
Pour Raymond Kevorkian, la décision ne s’est pas prise en une fois,
mais, en gros, en trois étapes. Il fut d’abord décidé, début 1914, de
déporter les Arméniens. Ce n’est qu’après l’effondrement de l’armée
turque du Caucase face aux Russes, principalement dû au froid et aux
épidémies, à l’hiver 1914-1915, que la décision fut prise de les
éliminer. C’est enfin vers le milieu de 1916 que le gouvernement de
l’époque prend de nouvelles mesures pour compléter la tâche et
supprimer la plupart des 500 000 Arméniens survivant encore en
Syrie. C’est à cette époque aussi que l’on dissout le Patriarcat
arménien de Constantinople, sous prétexte qu’il n’y a désormais plus
d’Arméniens en Turquie.
“Il n’y a pas de génocide sans négationnisme” : Yves Ternon démontre
que la théorie du complot et la perception d’une menace vitale se
retrouvent dans tous les génocides et, particulièrement, dans le cas
arménien. La spécificité de la négation du génocide des Arméniens
réside dans le fait que c’est un Etat qui en est le principal auteur,
et qu’il déploie ses ressources au service de cette cause, y compris
celles de l’ordre judiciaire ou de l’enseignement. Au niveau de
l’argumentation, les autorités turques recourent principalement au
renversement de la culpabilité (“ce sont les Arméniens qui ont
massacré les Turcs”), renvoient face à face la “thèse arménienne” et
la “thèse turque”, ou encore recourent à l'”hypercriticisme”, qui
consiste à reculer sans cesse l’administration de la preuve, et à
d’autres procédés dilatoires. Un procédé en vogue consiste enfin à
gagner du temps par des offres de dialogue sur l’interprétation
historique- dialogue qui donne l’apparence de la bonne
volonté. “Imaginez, déclare Yves Ternon au public du Mémorial, que
l’Allemagne propose à Israël un dialogue pour discuter s’il y a eu ou
non un génocide pendant la deuxième guerre mondiale=85”
Si tous les orateurs conviennent qu’une véritable démocratisation de
la Turquie passera inévitablement par une remise en cause fondamentale
du “tabou arménien”, ils ne sont pas tous optimistes quant aux
perspectives de changement dans la position du gouvernment turc. Hans
Lukas Kiezer souhaite que les “amis de la Turquie” utilisent les
opportunités qu’offre le processus actuel d’adhésion de la Turquie à
l’UE pour y faire avancer le débat et met en garde contre
l’instrumentalisation du génocide arménien à des fins politiques. Mais
Yves Ternon, “n’a pas confiance”. Il ne croit guère à une remise en
cause spontanée, issue d’un débat en Turquie même.
————————————————————
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RALLY IN FRONT OF TURKISH EMBASSY IN MOSCOW
MOSCOW, APRIL 25. ARMINFO. A traditional April rally of the Armenian
community in front of the Turkish Embassy in Moscow this year exceeded
all the previous rallies as to its scales. The Moscow authorities
allowed gathering of 300 people and not 100 as it was during the
previous years.
According to ARMINFO’s special correspondent to Moscow, this time
Chairman of the Russian-Armenian Commonwealth organization Yuri
Navoyan led the rally. In his words, this year the community managed
not only to achieve permission for more number of participants in the
rally, but also to block the street in front of the Embassy. The
police officers inspected the rally-participants at special
checkpoints. As soon as 300 people had passed the checkpoint, the
access to the rally was closed. The participants occupied the whole
square approaching the building of the Embassy. To note, the Armenian
community has not been allowed to approach the Embassy before.
All the Armenian organizations in Moscow – Russian Armenian
Commonwealth, the Union of Armenians of Russia, Moscow Armenian
Community, the Club of Armenian Culture Ararat, and the National Club
“Miabanutyun” participated in the rally. Youth organization –
Association of Armenian Students “Mitk,” UAR Youth Organization,
Students Organization of Armenian Apostolic Church Diocese were
especially active. Among the flags of Armenia and the Armenian
organizations in Moscow, were also flags of Russia and Germany. A
group of German volunteers also participated in the rally as well as
the organization Young Lawyers of Russia who bore with them silk
posters condemning the vicious crime in Ottoman Turkey against the
Armenian people and the whole humanity.
According to preliminary calculations, if allowed, the rally
participants would number 1,000 people. They observed the demand of
the police in the course of the rally and displayed civil
consciousness.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pan Armenian News
NATO DID NOT DECIDE ON DEPLOYING FORCES IN SOUTH CAUCASUS
25.04.2005 03:57
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ NATO did not decide on deploying its forces on the
territory of either of the South Caucasian states, Special Representative
for the Caucasus and Central Asia Robert Simmons stated in Tbilisi. `NATO is
not going to commit troops in South Caucasus for the defense of a gas
pipeline or any other economic objects. However I do not rule out that the
issue may be discussed in future’, he stated in response to the reports of
some media on the alleged decision by NATO to deploy forces in Azerbaijan
for the defense of the Azeri sector of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline.

Pan Armenian News
CANADIAN MISSION IN ARMENIA TO GIVE NEW IMPULSE TO COOPERATION
25.04.2005 04:57
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian President Robert Kocharian met with the
delegation of Canadian parliamentarians and representatives of the Armenian
community of Canada, RA President’s press service reported. During the
meeting the parties discussed the Armenian-Canadian relations and noted that
with establishing of Canadian diplomatic mission in Yerevan the economic
cooperation between the two states will considerably activate. According to
the representatives of the Armenian community of Canada, even though they
call on the historic homeland rather frequently they every time witness
changes, which testify of Armenia’s progress. They assured that the Armenian
community of Canada is ready to develop cooperation with Armenia. The
parties also touched upon the international recognition of the Armenian
Genocide.