Author: Kanayan Tamar

THE NEW YORK TIMES DECLINES TO RUN TURKISH AD ON 1915

By MassisPost
Updated: April 23, 2015

New York Times has refused to run a pro-peace and reconciliation
advertisement over the 1915 Armenian atrocities because it did not
recognize the Armenian Genocide, an e-mail correspondence between the
newspaper’s advertising department and the Turkish-American Steering
Committee revealed yesterday, according to Daily Sabah.

The ad, which was published by the Washington Post today instead,
is written as an open letter addressing President Barack Obama and
members of Congress, informing them that the Turkish-American community
would march through downtown D.C. on April 24, beginning at the White
House and ending in front of the Turkish Embassy to commemorate the
100th anniversary of the 1915 atrocities. “Our most sincere hope is
that Armenian Americans will join us on this walk. We will walk to
pay our respects to the lives lost from all ethnicities and creeds,
and to kindle a spark for what we believe should be our shared future”
the letter reads.

However the e-mails obtained by Daily Sabah revealed that The New
York Times asked the Steering Committee that represents over 145
Turkish-American associations to remove three out of five paragraphs of
the letter, which depicts the 1915 incidents as a civilian tragedy that
cost the lives of millions of Ottoman citizens including Armenians,
Turks, Kurds and Arabs. The targeted paragraphs underline the fact
that there is no academic consensus on the incidents by referencing
substantial number of international scholars who declined to label
the atrocities as genocide.

The targeted paragraphs underline the fact that there is no academic
consensus on the incidents by referencing substantial number of
international scholars who declined to label the atrocities as
genocide. “My legal team crossed out the first three paragraphs that do
not pass acceptability,” wrote Michael Hayden, the officer responsible
for Advocacy Advertising at The New York Times. Hayden also said in the
email that the legal team had wanted to exclude the slogan “Unite Us,
Not Divide us,” and this sentence in the fifth paragraph: “One hundred
years ago, a brutal war started neither by Turks nor Armenians cost the
Ottoman Armenians, the Ottoman Turks and many other groups so dearly.”

The newspaper made it clear that the letter must be changed before it
could be published. Subsequently, emails from the Steering Committee
asking for an explanation, Mr. Hayden had explained that as a matter
of policy, they do not accept ads that deny great historical events
that are generally accepted as facts, including the Armenian Genocide,
the Holocaust, and the World Trade Center bombing.

PAIN NEVER SHARED: TURKEY OFFERS CONDOLENCES TO ARMENIANS WITHOUT SINCERITY

APRIL 24TH, 2015

Instead of condoling, Davutoglu could have offered his sincere
apologies to the handful of survivors, like Aaron Manoukian

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permanently

By Aram Ananyan

AARON Manoukian, one of two dozen Armenian genocide survivors living
in Armenia, celebrated his 101st birthday on March 20, a month before
Davutoglu’s statement offering condolences to the grandchildren of the
Ottoman Armenians, who survived systematic murders and death marches
a century ago. Aaron’s eyes reveal the qualities of his character,
as a look at his hands tells a lifelong story full of turbulence
and hardships. Aaron’s passport indicates Turkey as his birthplace,
but what he calls home was the American orphanage in Armenia.

Turkey’s prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu, following his boss Erdogan,
with almost a year’s interval, made quite a predictable statement ahead
of the Genocide Remembrance day, and on April 20 offered condolences
to the descendants of the Ottoman Armenians, who had suffered all the
horrors of the Armenian genocide in 1915. These condolences come right
after Pope Francis boldly called the 1915 massacres a ‘genocide’,
the European parliament called Turkey to face its troubled history,
and Germany and Austria, once World War I allies of Turkey, moved
closer to the full recognition of this crime against humanity.

In reality, it is a misleading indication of Ankara’s readiness for
dialogue, and for those who are well aware of this issue, Turkey’s
statement runs as another attempt to swap the necessity of recognition
of the Armenian genocide from the most important historical, political
and legal domains to a debate based on emotional manipulations.

In around 450 words, Davutoglu advocates to follow his lead, “to
relieve the pain of the past century and rebuild our humanitarian
bond”. Furthermore, Turkey’s chief diplomat proclaims, that this
year, on April 24 a divine liturgy will be organised by the Armenian
Patriarchate of Istanbul, to commemorate the tragic events. He fails
to mention that this is the first time ever that Armenians in Turkey
will do so – fast enough, since the corpses of hundreds of thousands
Armenians were left unburied in Asia Minor and the Syrian deserts
100 years ago. In this regard, Turkey’s condolences lacked sincerity
and honesty, and were aimed at trivialising the crime to an own
interpretation of history. In fact, when talking about the Armenian
genocide, Turkey uses an interchangeable vocabulary, depending on
the consumers and the occasion. For instance, on one day Turkish
officials threaten the Pope and on the next day they talk about the
human duties of remembrance.

Davutoglu recaps what Erdogan said a year ago, that it could be
meaningful for Turkey and Armenia to commemorate the events. What he
avoids to mention is the following: Erdogan received an invitation
to be in Armenia on April 24, along with the other heads of state,
to commemorate together, but instead, on the exact Remembrance day,
he preferred to orchestrate a pompous celebration of the Gallipoli
battle on that date.

The cause is always more important than the effect and reconciliation
in the future takes much bigger effort rather than manipulating with
the consequences. Davutoglu offers not to politicise the history,
but does the opposite, by supporting the century-long denial of Turkey.

Genocide scholars agree that the Armenian genocide was a masterminded
act to solve a number of issues. The Ottoman leadership exterminated
the Armenian political, economic and intellectual elites; deported
the Armenians from their ancestral homeland, with a reason not only
to avoid implementing Ottoman international obligations, but also
the comprehensive political and social reforms to protect universal
and core human rights and values that Christian minorities were
undelivered but deserved in the Ottoman Empire; and, eradicated the
Armenian issue by annihilating the Armenian people.

Instead of condoling, Davutoglu could have offered more reasonable
steps, first of all sincere apologies to the handful of survivors,
like Aaron Manoukian, who felt the inhumane atrocities right on their
skin. And there is the dark side of the reality that the Prime Minister
of Turkey wants to avoid when he refers to pain that has never been
shared by the absolute majority of the Turkish elite. In moral terms,
this approach seems rather cynical, because it equates the suffered
pain of the victim with the un-suffered of the perpetrator.

The author, Aram Ananyan, is a historian and Director General of
Armenpress News Agency

CHURCH BELLS RINGING 100 TIMES IN CHURCHES OF ARMENIA AND WORLDWIDE

19:18, 23 April, 2015

YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Church bells are ringing 100 times in
the Armenian Apostolic Churches of the Republic of Armenia and the
Diaspora communities on April 23 at 19:15 o’clock. The sister churches
have also joined the Armenian Apostolic Church on this occasion. The
ringing will be followed by a minute of silence.

Prior to the ringing of church bells, the ceremony of canonization
of the Armenian Genocide victims was held at the Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin. The church bells are ringing 100 times from churches in
Buenos Aires to Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.

STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA TO THE ARMENIAN-CANADIAN COMMUNITY

April 23, 2015

On this day we remember the terrible loss of life during the demise of
the Ottoman Empire in 1915, and in particular the horrific suffering
endured by the Armenian people one hundred years ago.

Both the Senate of Canada and the House of Commons have adopted
resolutions referring to these events as genocide.

This is a day we acknowledge solemnly, not to cast blame back into
the distant past, but to guide us towards a better future. It reminds
us all why we must remain committed to ensuring that today’s world
is one where respect for human rights and democratic freedom prevails.

Today, Canadians of Armenian and Turkish origin live together, sharing
our values of tolerance and openness. In this spirit, we encourage
Armenia and Turkey to resume discussion of normalization protocols,
to seek a path towards reconciliation including an open border,
the establishment of diplomatic relations and the implementation
of a dialogue on the events of 1915. On this day of remembrance, we
praise individuals in both countries who are courageously examining
the historical record to seek to achieve a common understanding with
honesty and in a spirit of goodwill.

Now one hundred years later, I join all Canadians, especially those
of Armenian descent, in remembering the past and in sharing hope for
a future based on peace and mutual respect.

Sincerely,

The Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P.

Prime Minister of Canada

ARMENIAN CHURCH CANONISES ‘1.5M GENOCIDE VICTIMS’

20 minutes ago
23/04/14
>From the section Europe

Hundreds gathered for the ceremony near the capital

The Armenian Church has held a ceremony near Yerevan to canonise 1.5
million Armenians it says were killed in massacres and deportations
by Ottoman Turks during World War One.

The church says the aim of the ceremony was to proclaim the martyrdom
of those killed for their faith and homeland.

On Friday commemorations will mark the 100th anniversary of the
killings.

Turkey disputes the term “genocide”, arguing that there were many
deaths on both sides during the conflict.

After the ceremony, bells tolled in Armenian churches around the world.

The beatification at the Echmiadzin Cathedral did not give the specific
number of victims or their names.

It is the first time in 400 years that the Armenian Church has used
the rite of canonisation.

The use of the word “genocide” to describe the killings is
controversial. Pope Francis was rebuked recently weeks by Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for describing it as the “first genocide
of the 20th Century”.

Bells tolled at the symbolic time of 19:15 local time to mark the
centenary of the killings

On Friday, a memorial service will be held in Turkey and its prime
minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, has said the country will “share the pain”
of Armenians.

However, he reiterated Turkey’s stance that the killings were not
genocide.

“To reduce everything to a single word, to put responsibility through
generalisations on the Turkish nation alone… is legally and morally
problematic,” he said.

Mr Davutoglu did acknowledge the deportations, saying: “We once again
respectfully remember and share the pain of grandchildren and children
of Ottoman Armenians who lost their lives during deportation in 1915.”

What happened in 1915?

Hundreds of thousands of Armenians died in 1915 at the hands of the
Ottoman Turks, whose empire was disintegrating.

Many of the victims were civilians deported to barren desert regions
where they died of starvation and thirst. Thousands also died in
massacres.

Armenia says up to 1.5 million people were killed. Turkey says the
number of deaths was much smaller.

Most non-Turkish scholars of the events regard them as genocide – as
do more than 20 states, including France, Germany, Canada and Russia,
and various international bodies including the European Parliament.

Turkey rejects the term genocide, maintaining that many of the dead
were killed in clashes during World War One, and that many ethnic
Turks also suffered in the conflict.

PRESS RELEASE
Date: April 23, 2015

ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA
Contact: Taniel Koushakjian
Telephone: (202) 393-3434
Email: [email protected]
Web:

ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA RESPONDS TO PRESIDENT OBAMA’S APRIL 24 STATEMENT

WASHINGTON, DC – President Obama today issued a statement which failed to
characterize the systemic massacres and ethnic cleansing committed against
Armenians 100 years ago as genocide, despite his personally stated view
that Armenians suffered a genocide. Instead, he again used the Armenian
language term Meds Yeghern for the Armenian Genocide. While the Assembly
recognizes that President Obama this year has gone farther than any
President since Ronald Reagan in 1981, who acknowledged the genocide of the
Armenians, he again stopped short of fulfilling his promise and reaffirming
the US record.

President Obama used a dictionary definition of the Armenian Genocide
noting `the Armenian people of the Ottoman empire were deported, massacred,
and marched to their deaths… one and a half million Armenians perished.’ He
also referenced Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term genocide and cited what
happened to the Armenians and what happened to the Jews as prototypes of
genocide, as well as the courageous leadership of U.S. Ambassador Henry
Morgenthau who alerted the world that a `campaign of race extermination’
was under way and America’s response and humanitarian intervention. The
absence of leadership on something as simple as condemning genocide is
becoming too familiar to the American people.

On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian
Genocide, Bryan Ardouny, Executive Director of the Armenian Assembly of
America, issued the following statement:

`President Obama’s exercise in linguistic gymnastics on the Armenian
Genocide is unbecoming of the standard he himself set and that of a world
leader today. One hundred years ago, a crime without a name took place. The
definition of that shameful act can be found in the statement just released
by the White House. When America stands apart from the European Parliament,
Pope Francis, Germany, Austria, and the International Association of
Genocide Scholars, we should pause and think about where we are as a
nation. The world should know that while our President bowed to Turkish
denial, Armenian Americans and other people of good conscience will never
allow our history to be swept under the rug. In that spirit, the Assembly
is recommitted to educating our neighbors, friends, and our communities
through the launch of the Armenian Genocide Museum of America. This
state-of-the-art online museum () is
dedicated to educating the public about the continuing consequences of the
Armenian Genocide and its denial. The interactive site invites visitors to
explore the story of the Armenian people and its fateful experience in
1915, and it will serve on the frontlines against genocide denial. Genocide
prevention is our obligation and we look forward to the day when the
President joins us.’

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest
Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and
awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3)
tax-exempt membership organization.

###

NR: # 2015-029

Available online at:

BRITAIN SIDESTEPS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION A CENTURY AFTER KILLINGS

Foreign Office documents show a need to emphasise suffering in 1915
massacres but to continue policy of avoiding the G-word to avoid
angering Turkey

Banner depicting “Tools of Genocide” forming the shape of “1915”,
in reference to the year of the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks, in Yerevan. Photograph: David Mdzinarishvili/REUTERS

Ian Black

@ian_black

Thursday 23 April 2015 15.52 BST

Armenia and its tragic history has had an intensive blast of media
coverage in the run-up to the April 24 centenary of what is now widely
– though not universally – referred to as the genocide of 1915.

Presidents Vladimir Putin and Francois Hollande will be in Yerevan
representing Russia and France, the two most important countries
to have risked Turkey’s wrath and use the G-word with reference to
the mass deportations and killings in the final days of the Ottoman
Empire. The US, which also does not use it, is sending the Treasury
Secretary, Jack Lew. Britain will be represented by John Whittingdale,
the Conservative chairman of the all party committee on Armenia.

Analysis The Armenian genocide – the Guardian briefing

Turkey has never accepted the term genocide, even though historians
have demolished its denial of responsibility for up to 1.5 million
deaths

No disrespect intended to Whittingdale, to the UK ambassador to Armenia
or to the Bishop of London, who will also be there. But the level
of UK representation is far below that of the three other permanent
members of the UN security council. Another point of comparison
is that the Prince of Wales is leading the UK delegation to the
Gallipoli centenary commemoration on the same day. And the date for
that, Armenians believe, was chosen deliberately by the Turks – long
loyal Nato allies – to overshadow their own event at the Genocide
Memorial in Yerevan.

Britain’s position on genocide recognition is not new. But documents
released under the freedom of information act – though heavily redacted
– shed light on an internal government debate 18 months ago about
whether its policy should change. The outcome of the discussion –
apparently between the embassy in Yerevan and the minister for Europe
in London – was to continue the policy while taking a “forward-leaning”
stance on participation in commemoration events.

“But we should ensure that this is not mis-read as lack of recognition
(in the wider sense) of the appalling events of 1915-16,” the anonymous
official commented. “It would be right to participate more actively
in 2015 centenary events, as well as continue efforts to promote
reconciliation.” The foreign office declined to say whether the
presence of Whittingdale and co. indeed represented more active
involvement.

Ironically, back in May 1915, when the horrors of Armenian suffering
in wartime eastern Anatolia were being extensively reported, Britain,
with its French and Russian allies, condemned what they called a
“crime against humanity” – then a novel phrase. The modern position,
however, is that it is not up to governments to decide what constitutes
genocide. “The UK recognises as genocide only those events that have
been found so by international courts (eg, Holocaust, Srebrenica,
Rwanda) and this needs to dictate our approach on recognition,” the
document notes. That view has been robustly challenged by Geoffrey
Robertson, QC, whose arguments apparently galvanised the FCO into
this internal discussion.

Another option was considered in 2013: to follow Russia, France and
others and recognise the Armenian massacres as genocide – given the
May 1915 statement and the preamble to the 1948 UN convention on
genocide. That would “be received positively by both the Armenian
government and the UK diaspora,” the document noted. It added:
“However, this would be a significant and far-reaching change in
HMG policy.” Tantalisingly, the next sentence has been redacted. So
bizarrely, there is no mention of Turkey at all. Another FCO document
on the issue, which reports on the decision of the Swedish parliament
to adopt the G-word in 2010, refers to the “drastic effect” on
relations between Stockholm and Ankara, including the cancellation
of a visit by the then Turkish prime minister and now, president, Recep

US CONGRESSWOMAN: WE WILL COMMEMORATE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF GENOCIDE

21:45, 23.04.2015
Region:World News, Armenia, Turkey
Theme: Politics

Congresswoman Jackie Speier has arrived in Yerevan as a member of
the presidential delegation to participate in the events marking
centennial of the Armenian Genocide.

In her message on Facebook Congresswoman said:

“I have just landed with a presidential delegation to my ancestors’
home in Armenia. Our party from the United States will join officials
in Yerevan to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of Red Sunday,
the day the Ottoman Turkish government set in motion a systematic
plan aimed at “solving the Armenian problem.”

On that day, they began by rounding up all the Armenian intellectuals
in Turkey for slaughter. Then they went for the able-bodied laborers.

Then they went for the women and children and families. They drove
them into the desert, starving them, raping them, and splitting their
heads open with axes.

We will never forget this horrendous crime. And I will speak the
truth wherever I go: I will never decline to call it genocide.

As one of two Armenian-American members of Congress, I count my
ancestors among those who died. From an early age, my mother instilled
in me the importance of recognizing the genocide and the anguish the
Armenian people feel about the need to acknowledge it.

In Yerevan, I will wear a purple poppy, the symbol of genocide
remembrance, a flower that is also known as a “forget me not.”

We will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the genocide for all
those who died, and all who are yet unborn. We must remember so that
we can spare the vulnerable from future genocides.”

RUSSIAN STATE DUMA VICE SPEAKER: “RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT WILL ADOPT A STATEMENT ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL ON APRIL 24”

Thursday, April 23, 13:58

Genocide cannot be erased from history of humanity, Nikolai Levichev,
Russian State Duma Speaker said at the Public and Political Global
Forum Against the Crime of Genocide in Yerevan on April 23.

“We feel the pain of the fraternal people of Armenia. Our peoples
have common religion, history and culture. In Moscow and other towns
in Russia the people are holding events to commemorate Genocide – the
crime against humanity. The people learned nothing from the tragedy of
Armenia. We have no right to remain silent about that crime,” he said.

Levichev said the aggression against the Christians in the Middle East
has grown into a systematic genocide, which is also a result of the
unrecognized genocides of the past. The State Duma will adopt a special
statement on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, he said.

GENOCIDE ARMENIEN : LA BELGIQUE NE TRANCHE PAS VRAIMENT

REVUE DE PRESSE

Les Armeniens de Belgique commemoreront le vendredi 24 avril le
centenaire des massacres qui ont coûte la vie a 1,5 million de leurs
ancetres en 1915. Lors d’une manifestation a Bruxelles, les membres de
la communaute demanderont aux autorites belges de penaliser la negation
de ce “genocide”, terme qui reste polemique notamment parce que la
Turquie nie la campagne d’elimination perpetree par l’Empire Ottoman
lors de la Première Guerre mondiale. La position de la Belgique reste
ambiguë sur le sujet. Chez nous, la communaute armenienne represente
20.000 a 30.000 personnes, selon Christian Vrouyr, le president
du Comite des Armeniens de Belgique. Ses membres commemoreront les
victimes du genocide de 1915 vendredi matin lors d’une messe suivie
d’un requiem en l’Eglise Apostolique Armenienne Sainte Marie-Madeleine
a Bruxelles. Ensuite, vers midi, il y aura une marche silencieuse vers
le Monument commemoratif du genocide des Armeniens au square Michaux,
où se deroulera la ceremonie officielle de recueillement. Christian
Vrouyr s’y exprimera en presence de mandataires publics comme les
bourgmestres d’Ixelles, de Molenbeek-Saint-Jean ou l’ambassadeur
d’Armenie en Belgique.

L’après-midi, un cortège de manifestants partira de la gare centrale
a Bruxelles pour rallier le Parlement europeen, en passant devant
l’Ambassade de Turquie. “Nous allons demander la reconnaissance et la
reparation du genocide armenien”, explique Peter Petrossian, membre du
comite organisateur et president du Comite de defense de la cause des
Armeniens de Belgique. “En tant que Belges armeniens, nous avons le
droit de demander que la Belgique fasse pression sur le gouvernement
turc pour reconnaître le genocide”, explique-t-il. “Nous allons aussi
demander la penalisation en Belgique du negationnisme de ce genocide
“, comme c’est deja le cas dans la legislation francaise par exemple.

“La majorite des Armeniens seraient rassures par une loi”, precise M.

Vrouyr. Des associations assyriennes, yezidies, syriaques mais
aussi kurdes et turques devraient participer a ce meeting politique
et s’associer au slogan de la manifestation “100 ans de deni, ca
suffit !”.

Si une vingtaine de pays reconnaissent le genocide armenien, dont
la France, l’Italie ou la Russie, la position de la Belgique reste
toutefois plus ambiguë. Le senat belge a bien reconnu, dès 1998, le
massacre armenien en tant que “genocide” dans une resolution invitant
le gouvernement turc a emboîter le pas. Cependant, la position du
gouvernement belge n’est pas liee par une resolution parlementaire.

“Le terme ‘genocide’ a une signification juridique specifique
et il appartient a des tribunaux (nationaux ou internationaux)
de se prononcer en la matière”, explique Hendrik Van de Velde,
le porte-parole de la diplomatie belge. “Il ne nous paraît
pas opportun que d’autres instances se substituent au pouvoir
judiciaire”, conclut-il. Á ce jour, la Belgique se contente donc
d’encourager l’Armenie et la Turquie a poursuivre leurs efforts pour
la normalisation de leurs relations bilaterales.

Le ministre des Affaires etrangères, Didier Reynders, pourrait
s’exprimer a ce sujet le lundi 27 avril lors de son deplacement en
Armenie dans le cadre de la presidence belge du Comite des ministres
du Conseil de l’Europe.

La Belgique sera en outre representee par l’ambassadeur belge a Moscou
aux commemorations du genocide a Erevan, le vendredi 24 avril. les
presidents russe, Vladimir Poutine, et francais, Francois Hollande,
devraient aussi participer a la ceremonie au Memorial dedie aux
victimes du genocide armenien.

jeudi 23 avril 2015, Stephane (c)armenews.com