Author: Kanayan Tamar

Newser
April 12 2015

Furious With Francis, Turkey Yanks Ambassador
After pope labeled Armenian genocide a genocide

By Polly Davis Doig, Newser Staff

(Newser) – Pope Francis today lamented the deaths a century ago of
some 1.5 million Armenians as one of “three massive and unprecedented
tragedies” that struck the last century, reports the BBC, and the AP
adds that Turkey wasted little time in yanking its ambassador to the
Vatican after the pontiff termed the deaths “the first genocide of the
20th century.” Per a statement from Ankara’s foreign ministry,
Francis’ statement is “controversial in every aspect, which is based
on prejudice, which distorts history and reduces the pains suffered in
Anatolia under the conditions of the First World War to members of
just one religion.”

Francis was honoring a 10th century mystic at today’s Mass, and he
seemed to know he was inciting the wrath of Turkey, which fiercely
denies that the World War I-era killings constitute genocide or that
the death toll was that high. “Concealing or denying evil is like
allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it,” said Francis.
He spoke at an Armenian rite in front of Armenian Christian leaders
and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, notes the AP, and he’s not the
first pontiff to label it a genocide; Pope John Paul II also did.
Turkey yanked its US ambassador in 2010 after a House panel passed a
resolution declaring it genocide.

Bangor Daily News, Maine
April 12 2015

Pope ruffles Turkey by calling Armenian massacre genocide

By Steve Scherer, Reuters
Posted April 12, 2015, at 10:29 a.m.
Last modified April 12, 2015, at 2:56 p.m.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis sparked a diplomatic row Sunday by calling
the massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians 100 years ago “the first
genocide of the 20th century,” prompting Turkey to accuse him of
inciting hatred.

Muslim Turkey accepts that many Christian Armenians died in clashes
with Ottoman soldiers beginning in 1915, when Armenia was part of the
empire ruled from Istanbul, but denies hundreds of thousands were
killed and that this amounted to genocide.

At an Armenian rite Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica to mark the 100th
anniversary of the mass killings, Francis became the first head of the
Roman Catholic Church to publicly pronounce the word “genocide” to
describe them.

Some European and South American countries use the term to describe
the killings, but the United States and some others, keen to maintain
good relations with an important ally, avoid doing so.

Turkey was swift to protest. “The pope’s statements, which are far
from historical and judicial facts, cannot be accepted,” Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on his Twitter account.

“Religious offices are not places to incite hatred and revenge with
baseless accusations,” he said.

The foreign ministry called its ambassador to the Holy See back to
Ankara, and summoned the Vatican’s ambassador, saying Francis’ remarks
had caused a “problem of trust” in diplomatic relations.

Pope John Paul II and Armenian Apostolic Church Supreme Patriarch
Kerekin II called the massacre “the first genocide of the 20th
century” in 2001, but that was in a joint written statement.

Francis, who has disregarded many aspects of protocol since becoming
pope two years ago, uttered the phrase during a private meeting at the
Vatican with an Armenian delegation in 2013, prompting a strong
protest from Ankara.

As archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio had already
publicly described the killings as genocide before he was elected
leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics in 2013.

In November, the Argentine-born pontiff made an official visit to
Turkey as part of his efforts to strengthen relations with moderate
Muslim states.

At the start of the commemorative Mass, the pope described the
“senseless slaughter” of 100 years ago as “the first genocide of the
20th century” and noted it was followed by Nazism and Stalinism.

“It is necessary, and indeed a duty, to honor their memory, for
whenever memory fades, it means that evil allows wounds to fester.
Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding
without bandaging it!” he said.

Francis’s comments were also published by Armenian President Serzh
Sarksyan’s office on Sunday.

“We are deeply grateful to His Holiness Pope Francis for the idea of
this unprecedented liturgy … which symbolizes our solidarity with the
people of the Christian world,” Sarksyan said in a speech at a Vatican
dinner on Saturday evening.

The pope said genocide continues today against Christians “who, on
account of their faith in Christ or their ethnic origin, are publicly
and ruthlessly put to death — decapitated, crucified, burned alive —
or forced to leave their homeland.”

Islamic State insurgents have persecuted Shiite Muslims, Christians
and others who do not share their ultra-radical brand of Sunni Islam
as they carved a self-declared caliphate out of swathes of Syria and
Iraq, which share borders with Turkey.

Francis also urged reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia, and
between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Caucasus mountain
region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The appeal came in a letter handed out
during a meeting after the Mass to Sarksyan and the three most
important Armenian church leaders present.

Vatican Radio
April 12 2015

Pope Francis: Divine Mercy Sunday homily

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica
on Sunday morning – the Octave of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday,
sometimes called Quasimodo Sunday after the first word of the entrance
antiphon, which sings of how we are to desire, like newborn babes, the
pure spiritual milk that shall nourish us on our way to salvation –
with the Patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church, His Beatitude
Nerses Bedros XIX, and in the presence of His Holiness Karekin II,
Catholicos of All Armenians, and His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of
the Holy See of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

During the course of the liturgy, the Holy Father declared St. Gregory
of Narek – a 10th century Armenian monk and mystic – Doctor of the
Church.

The Mass is also marking the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the
Medz Yeghern, in which as many as 1.5 million Armenians perished under
the Ottoman Empire. Below, please find the official English
translation of the Holy Father’s prepared homily.

***************

Saint John, who was in the Upper Room with the other disciples on the
evening of the first day after the Sabbath, tells us that Jesus came
and stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you!” and he showed
them his hands and his side (Jn 20:19-20); he showed them his wounds.
And in this way they realized that it was not an apparition: it was
truly him, the Lord, and they were filled with joy.

On the eighth day Jesus came once again into the Upper Room and showed
his wounds to Thomas, so that he could touch them as he had wished to,
in order to believe and thus become himself a witness to the
Resurrection.

To us also, on this Sunday which Saint John Paul II wished to dedicate
to Divine Mercy, the Lord shows us, through the Gospel, his wounds.
They are wounds of mercy. It is true: the wounds of Jesus are wounds
of mercy.

Jesus invites us to behold these wounds, to touch them as Thomas did,
to heal our lack of belief. Above all, he invites us to enter into
the mystery of these wounds, which is the mystery of his merciful
love.

Through these wounds, as in a light-filled opening, we can see the
entire mystery of Christ and of God: his Passion, his earthly life –
filled with compassion for the weak and the sick – his incarnation in
the womb of Mary. And we can retrace the whole history of salvation:
the prophecies – especially about the Servant of the Lord, the Psalms,
the Law and the Covenant; to the liberation from Egypt, to the first
Passover and to the blood of the slaughtered lambs; and again from the
Patriarchs to Abraham, and then all the way back to Abel, whose blood
cried out from the earth. All of this we can see in the wounds of
Jesus, crucified and risen; with Mary, in her Magnificat, we can
perceive that, “His mercy extends from generation to generation” (cf.
Lk 1:50).

Faced with the tragic events of human history we can feel crushed at
times, asking ourselves, “Why?”. Humanity’s evil can appear in the
world like an abyss, a great void: empty of love, empty of goodness,
empty of life. And so we ask: how can we fill this abyss? For us it
is impossible; only God can fill this emptiness that evil brings to
our hearts and to human history. It is Jesus, God made man, who died
on the Cross and who fills the abyss of sin with the depth of his
mercy.

Saint Bernard, in one of his commentaries on the Canticle of Canticles
(Sermon 61, 3-5: Opera Omnia, 2, 150-151), reflects precisely on the
mystery of the Lord’s wounds, using forceful and even bold expressions
which we do well to repeat today. He says that “through these sacred
wounds we can see the secret of [Christ’s] heart, the great mystery of
love, the sincerity of his mercy with which he visited us from on
high”.

Brothers and sisters, behold the way which God has opened for us to
finally go out from our slavery to sin and death, and thus enter into
the land of life and peace. Jesus, crucified and risen, is the way
and his wounds are especially full of mercy.

The saints teach us that the world is changed beginning with the
conversion of one’s own heart, and that this happens through the mercy
of God. And so, whether faced with my own sins or the great tragedies
of the world, “my conscience would be distressed, but it would not be
in turmoil, for I would recall the wounds of the Lord: ‘he was wounded
for our iniquities’ (Is 53:5). What sin is there so deadly that it
cannot be pardoned by the death of Christ?” (ibid.).

Keeping our gaze on the wounds of the Risen Jesus, we can sing with
the Church: “His love endures forever” (Ps 117:2); eternal is his
mercy. And with these words impressed on our hearts, let us go forth
along the paths of history, led by the hand of our Lord and Saviour,
our life and our hope.

Huffington Post UK
April 12 2015

Pope Francis Sparks Diplomatic Incident With Turkey After Calling WWI
Slaughter Of Armenians A ‘Genocide’

Turkey says it is “greatly disappointed” with the Vatican and had lost
trust in relations, after Pope Francis called the slaughter of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks “the first genocide of the 20th century.”

Francis sparked a diplomatic incident on Sunday with his comments at a
Mass marking the centenary of the slaughter from 1915, when the
Ottoman government killed Armenian subjects living in what is now
present-day Turkey.

The event is not recognised as a genocide by some countries, such as
Italy and the United States, who avoid using the word as they are
close allies with Turkey. But Pope Francis, who has close ties to the
Armenian community, urged the international community to recognise the
killings as a genocide.

Turkey – which denies a genocide took place – immediately summoned the
Vatican ambassador and its Foreign Ministry said that it had expressed
“great disappointment and sadness.”

The country said in a statement that the Pope’s message had
contradicted his message of peace and dialogue that had taken place
during a visit to Turkey in November.

The Turkish statement also called the Pope’s message discriminatory,
because he only mentioned the pains suffered by Christian Armenians,
and not Muslims and other religious groups.

Francis, who has close ties to the Armenian community from his days in
Argentina, defended his pronouncement by saying it was his duty to
honour the memory of the innocent men, women and children who were
“senselessly” murdered by Ottoman Turks 100 years ago this month.

“Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding
without bandaging it,” he said at the start of a Mass in the Armenian
Catholic rite in St. Peter’s Basilica honoring the centenary of the
killings.

In a subsequent message directed to all Armenians, Francis called on
all heads of state and international organizations to recognise the
truth of what transpired and oppose such crimes “without ceding to
ambiguity or compromise.”

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks from around 1915, an event widely viewed by scholars as
the first genocide of the 20th century.

Turkey, however, has insisted that the toll has been inflated, and
that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest, not genocide.
It has fiercely lobbied to prevent countries, including the Holy See,
from officially recogniding the Armenian massacre as genocide.

Turkey’s embassy to the Holy See canceled a planned news conference
for Sunday, presumably after learning that the pope would utter the
word “genocide” despite its objections.

But Francis’ willingness to rile Ankara with his words showed once
again that he has few qualms about taking diplomatic risks for issues
close to his heart. He took a similar risk by inviting the Israeli and
Palestinian presidents to pray together for peace at the Vatican – a
summit that was followed by the outbreak of fighting in the Gaza
Strip.

Francis’ words on the Armenian massacre were welcomed by the head of
the Armenian Apostolic Church, Aram I, who thanked thank Francis for
his clear condemnation and recall that “genocide” is a crime against
humanity that requires reparation.

“International law spells out clearly that condemnation, recognition
and reparation of a genocide are closely interconnected,” Aram said in
English at the end of the Mass to applause from the pews.

Aram said the Armenian cause is a cause of justice, and that justice
is a gift of God. “Therefore, the violation of justice is a sin
against God,” he said.

The pope’s declaration prompted mixed reactions in the streets in
Istanbul. Some said they supported it, but others did not agree.

“I don’t support the word genocide being used by a great religious
figure who has many followers,” said Mucahit Yucedal, 25. “Genocide is
a serious allegation.”

Several European countries – including Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland, but not the Westminster government – recognise the massacres
as genocide.

Francis is not the first pope to call the massacre a genocide. In his
remarks, Francis cited a 2001 declaration signed by St. John Paul II
and the Armenian church leader, Karenkin II, which said the deaths
were considered “the first genocide of the 20th century.”

But the context of Francis’ pronunciation was significant: he uttered
the words during an Armenian rite Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica marking
the 100th anniversary of the slaughter, alongside the Armenian
Catholic patriarch, Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, Armenian Christian
church leaders and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, who sat in a
place of honor in the basilica.

The definition of genocide has long been contentious. The United
Nations in 1948 defined genocide as killing and other acts intended to
destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, but many
dispute which mass killings should be called genocide.

In his remarks on Sunday, Francis said the Armenian slaughter was the
first of three “massive and unprecedented” genocides last century that
was followed by the Holocaust and Stalinism. He said other mass
killings had followed, including in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and
Bosnia.

“It seems that the human family has refused to learn from its mistakes
caused by the law of terror, so that today too there are those who
attempt to eliminate others with the help of a few and with the
complicit silence of others who simply stand by,” he said.

Francis has frequently denounced the “complicit silence” of the world
community in the face of the modern-day slaughter of Christians and
other religious minorities by Islamic extremists.

During Sunday’s Mass, Francis also honoured the Armenian community at
the start of the Mass by pronouncing a 10th-century Armenian mystic,
St. Gregory of Narek, a doctor of the church. Only 35 people have been
given the title, which is reserved for those whose writings have
greatly served the universal church.

The Mass was rich in traditional Armenian music, with haunting hymns
sung. Children dressed in traditional costumes presented the gifts at
the altar, which was bathed in a cloud of incense.

Pope recognizes Armenian ‘genocide’ likely straining relationship with Turkey

By ARIEL COHEN
04/12/2015 11:59

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“Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding
without bandaging it!” Francis said.

Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II (L) stands before Pope Francis
leads a mass on 100th anniversary of Armenian mass killings in St.
Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican . (photo credit:REUTERS)

In a statement likely to strain diplomatic ties with Turkey, Pope
Francis referred to the 20th century mass killings of Armenians as the
first genocide of the 20th century during a mass to commemorate the
100th anniversary of the killings.

“In the past century our human family has lived through three massive
and unprecedented tragedies,” Francis said during mass in Saint
Peter’s Basilica on Sunday morning. “The first, which is widely
considered ‘the first genocide of the 20th century’, struck your own
Armenian people,” he said.

Over 1.5 million Armenians perished under the Ottoman Empire during
World War I. Armenians have been fighting for years to receive
recognition that the event was indeed a genocide. Turkey has ardently
insisted that the event was not a genocide, and that the deaths of the
Christian Armenians were merely a part of the partisan fighting.

Francis referred to the tragedy as a “senseless slaughter,” stating
that it is important to keep the memory of the genocide alive.

“It is necessary, and indeed a duty, to honor their memory, for
whenever memory fades, it means that evil allows wounds to fester,”
Francis said. “Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to
keep bleeding without bandaging it.”

The Pope also recalled other mass killings of the 20th century, such
as those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia. “It seems that
humanity is incapable of putting a halt to the shedding of innocent
blood,” he added.

Patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church, His Beatitude Nerses Bedros
XIX, His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, and His
Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia of the Armenian
Apostolic Church were all in attendance during the mass.

Turkey has yet to respond to the statement by Pope Francis, but it is
unlikely they will take kindly to the Vatican referring to the deaths
of the Christian Armenians as a “genocide.”

Worcester Telegram, MA
April 12 2015

Turkey recalls ambassador after pope calls Armenian slaughter genocide

By Nicole Winfield THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Sunday called the slaughter of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks ”the first genocide of the 20th century”
and urged the international community to recognize it as such,
sparking a diplomatic rift with Turkey at a delicate time in
Christian-Muslim relations.

Armenian President Serge Sarkisian, who was on hand to mark the 100th
anniversary of the slaughter at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica,
praised the pope for calling a spade a spade in an interview with The
Associated Press. But Turkey, which has long denied a genocide took
place, recalled its ambassador to the Holy See in protest.

”The pope’s statement, which is far from historic and legal truths,
is unacceptable,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted.
”Religious positions are not places where unfounded claims are made
and hatred is stirred.”

Francis, who has close ties to the Armenian community from his days in
Argentina, defended his pronouncement by saying it was his duty to
honor the memory of the innocent men, women and children who were
”senselessly” murdered by Ottoman Turks.

”Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding
without bandaging it,” he said at the start of a Mass in the Armenian
Catholic rite honoring the centenary.

In a subsequent message directed to all Armenians, Francis called on
all heads of state and international organizations to recognize the
truth of what transpired to prevent such ”horrors” from happening
again, and to oppose such crimes ”without ceding to ambiguity or
compromise.”

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed
by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century.

Turkey, however, has insisted that the toll has been inflated, and
that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest, not genocide.
It has fiercely lobbied to prevent countries, including the Holy See,
from officially recognizing the Armenian massacre as genocide.

Turkey’s embassy to the Holy See canceled a planned news conference
for Sunday, presumably after learning that the pope would utter the
word ”genocide” over its objections. Instead, the Foreign Ministry
in Ankara summoned the Vatican’s envoy, and then announced it was
recalling its own ambassador to the Vatican for consultations.

In a statement, it said the Turkish people would not recognize the
pope’s statement ”which is controversial in every aspect, which is
based on prejudice, which distorts history and reduces the pains
suffered in Anatolia under the conditions of the First World War to
members of just one religion.”

Francis’ words had a more positive effect in St. Peters, where the
head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Aram I thanked Francis for his
clear condemnation and recalled that ”genocide” is a crime against
humanity that requires reparation.

”International law spells out clearly that condemnation, recognition
and reparation of a genocide are closely interconnected,” Aram said
in English at the end of the Mass to applause from the pews, where
many wept.

In an interview with the AP after the Mass, the Armenian president,
Sarkisian, praised Francis for ”calling things by their names.”

He acknowledged the reparation issue, but said ”for our people, the
primary issue is universal recognition of the Armenian genocide,
including recognition by Turkey.”

He dismissed Turkish calls for joint research into what transpired,
saying researchers and commissions have already come to the conclusion
and there is ”no doubt at all that what happened was a genocide.”

Several European countries recognize the massacres as genocide, though
Italy and the United States, for example, have avoided using the term
officially given the importance they place on Turkey as an ally.

The Holy See, too, places great importance in its relationship with
the moderate Muslim nation, especially as it demands Muslim leaders
condemn the slaughter of Christians by Muslim extremists in
neighboring Iraq and Syria.

But Francis’ willingness to rile Ankara with his words showed once
again that he has few qualms about taking diplomatic risks for issues
close to his heart. He took a similar risk by inviting the Israeli and
Palestinian presidents to pray together for peace at the Vatican — a
summit that was followed by the outbreak of fighting in the Gaza
Strip.

Francis is not the first pope to call the massacre a genocide. In his
remarks, Francis cited a 2001 declaration signed by St. John Paul II
and the Armenian church leader, Karenkin II, which said the deaths
were considered ”the first genocide of the 20th century.”

But the context of Francis’ pronunciation was different and
significant: He uttered the words during an Armenian rite Mass in St.
Peter’s marking the 100th anniversary of the slaughter, alongside the
Armenian Catholic patriarch, Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, Armenian
Christian church leaders and Sarkisian, who sat in a place of honor in
the basilica.

The definition of genocide has long been contentious. The United
Nations in 1948 defined genocide as killing and other acts intended to
destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, but many
dispute which mass killings should be called genocide and whether the
terms of the U.N. convention on genocide can be applied retroactively.

Reaction to the pope’s declaration on the streets in Istanbul was
mixed. Some said they supported it, but others did not agree.

”I don’t support the word genocide being used by a great religious
figure who has many followers,” said Mucahit Yucedal, 25. ”Genocide
is a serious allegation.”

Sky News
April 12 2015

Turkey’s Anger Over Pope’s ‘Genocide’ Remarks

The Pope provokes outrage in Turkey by calling the Armenian WW1 mass
killings “the first genocide of the 20th century”.

Turkey has criticised Pope Francis’ use of the word “genocide” to
describe the mass killings of Armenians during the First World War.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the Pope’s comments “inappropriate”.

“To read these sorrows in a one-sided way is inappropriate for the
Pope and the authority that he holds,” he said.

Earlier, foreign minister in Ankara, Mevlut Cavusoglu, called the
Pontiff’s allegations “baseless” and “far from the legal and
historical reality”.

He added that religious authorities were “not the places to incite
resentment and hatred”.

Turkey had earlier summoned the Vatican envoy to Ankara, Archbishop
Antonino Lucibello, to request an explanation over the Pope’s use of
the word “genocide”.

He made the comments during a mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica to mark
the centenary of the Ottoman Turk murders of Armenians.

He said: “In the past century our human family has lived through three
massive and unprecedented tragedies.

“The first, which is widely considered ‘the first genocide of the 20th
century’, struck your own Armenian people.”

The 78-year old head of the Roman Catholic Church had been under
pressure to use the word genocide to describe the bloodshed, despite
the risk of alienating an important ally in the fight against Islamist
militants.

According to a Turkish official speaking to the Reuters news agency,
the Vatican’s ambassador has been told that the remarks have caused a
“problem of trust” – and that Ankara was “deeply sorry and
disappointed” by the comments.

While many historians describe the events between 1915 and 1917 as the
20th century’s first genocide, Turkey strongly denies the accusation.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their people were slaughtered as
the Ottoman Empire fell apart, and have long sought to win
international recognition of the massacres as genocide.

Turkey argues that 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and as many Turks died
in the civil war when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers
and sided with invading Russian troops.

The Pontiff said the other two genocides of the 20th century were
“perpetrated by Nazism and Stalinism”.

He added: “And more recently there have been other mass killings, like
those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia. It seems that humanity
is incapable of putting a halt to the shedding of innocent blood.”

Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan also celebrated the mass, which
included elements of the Armenian Catholic rite.

Francis proclaimed a 10th-century Armenian monk a “Doctor of the
Church” – making Saint Gregory just one of 36 saintly theologians
whose writings are considered to hold key insights into the Catholic
faith.

The Vatican has a long history of support for the Armenians, with John
Paul II using the word genocide in a joint statement signed with the
Armenian patriarch in 2000.

He said: “The Armenian genocide, which began the century, was a
prologue to horrors that would follow.”

But it provoked outrage in Turkey, and a year later during a trip to
Armenia John Paul II avoided using the term, instead choosing the
Armenian expression “Metz Yeghern” – meaning “Great Evil”.

Last week, TV star Kim Kardashian, her husband Kanye West, daughter
North and sister Khloe, visited Armenia to celebrate her family’s
roots and mark the centenary.

Kardashian, whose ancestors emigrated to the US from an area that now
lies in Turkey, is reportedly making a documentary about the Armenian
WW1 killings.

RFi, France
April 12 2015

Armenians welcome Pope’s genocide statement, Turkey protests

By Sarah Elzas

Turkey summoned the Vatican ambassador to Ankara on Sunday after Pope
Francis used the word “genocide” to describe the massacres of
Armenians by Ottoman forces during World War I. In a statement on
Twitter Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused the Pope of
“inciting resentment and hatred with baseless allegations” but
Armenians have welcomed the statement.

In a mass at St Peter’s Cathedral to mark the centenary of massacres
attended by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, the Pope called the
massacre of the Armenians between 1915 and 1917 “the first genocide of
the 20th century”.

This was carefully worded, quoting a statement made in 2001 by Pope
John Paul II and the Armenian Patriarch.

While the Pope did not use his own words, it was the first time the
term “genocide” has been pronounced in connection with Armenia in
Saint Peter’s.

Gaidz Minassian, a political scientist at the University of Paris,
welcomed the statement Sunday.

“It’s very important, not just on a symbolic or moral level, it’s a
political act,” he told RFI.

For Armenians “it’s a psychological victory” and shows there is an
international consensus that Turkey must recognise the concept of the
genocide.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million people were killed between 1915 and
1917 and have pushed for the massacres to be recognised as genocide.

Turkey says 300,000-500,000 Armenians died, along with the same number
of Turks, in an Armenian uprising against the Ottoman rulers.

The Pope described the “immense and senseless slaughter” of the
Armenians and said there was a duty to “honour their memory, for
whenever memory fades, it means that evil allows wounds to fester”.

Minassian says the comments will help Turkish citizens “to do the
right thing” in pushing their government to recognise the genocide,
which he calls “an act of freedom to show people that history belongs
to them and not to the state.”

Pope Francis had been under pressure to use the term “genocide”
publicly, despite a risk of alienating Turkey, which is seen as an
important ally in the fight against radical Islam.

But historian Samim Akgonul says Turkey needs the West, more than the
West needs it.

“Turkey is an important ally and always has been, during the Cold War,
the two Gulf Wars, and today the Middle East issues,” he told RFI. “On
the other hand, Turkey is very isolated.”

The Pope’s comments were widely reported in Turkey.

Akgonul says this is not surprising, as using the word genocide in
connection with Armenians is no longer taboo, as it used to be.

“Twenty years ago, the word could not be pronounced,” he told RFI.
Today there are conferences on the issue, and even a commemoration of
the centenary planned on Istanbul’s Taksim Square on 24 April.

Last year, for the first time, then Turkish prime minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan offered condolences to the descendants of the Armenians
who died in 1915.

A historian at the University of Strasbourg who has been involved in
the movement to get Turkey to recognise the genocide, Akgonul sees
public opinion changing gradually but steadily.

“We are in an era where it is difficult to construct one, single
official history,” he said. “Today people are informed from everywhere
… so it is difficult to construct a dogma on historical facts. The
younger generation, especially, is aware that in the history of Turkey
and its nation-building, there have been tragedies.”

He predicts that that Turkey will change.

“I think that in one decade, Turkey will officially take steps to
repair this historical trauma,” he said.

DECISION TO TRY MURDER CASE IN RUSSIAN COURT IS KREMLIN’S LATEST OUTRAGE AGAINST ARMENIANS

Kyiv Post, Ukraine
April 10 2015

April 10, 2015, 7:02 p.m. | Op-ed — by Armine Sahakyan

Armine Sahakyan

Armine Sahakyan is a human rights activist based in Armenia.

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Associated Press: Intelligence official warns of Islamic State’s
influence in Russia

Russian authorities have decreed that a soldier arrested in the murders
of all seven members of an Armenian family will be tried in a Russian
military court, not in an Armenian court.

The dictate is a slap in the face to the Armenian people.

Thousands of us had demonstrated after the murders in mid-January to
demand that 19-year-old Valeri Permyakov be tried in Armenia. Russian
officials rubbed salt in the wound by declaring that the offense
Permyakov is accused of is a “military crime.”

It is nothing of the sort, many Armenians contend.

The murders were committed off Russia’s military base at Gyumri,
where Permyakov was stationed, and had nothing to do with any military
matter. Russia’s defiance of Armenian popular will in refusing to
hand Permyakov over for trial in Armenia has prompted many of us to
contend that our government’s kowtowing to this powerful neighbor
has gone too far.

One thing the skeptics have asked is why the government handed
Permyakov over to Russia in the first place. Armenian border guards
arrested him the day after the murders as he was trying to slip across
the border into Turkey.

Rather than surrender the soldier to Armenian police, the border
guards gave him to Russian authorities. He is now in confinement on
the base at Gyumri, where Russian authorities said he will be tried.

Critics of Permyakov’s handover to the Russians want to know who in
the Armenian government authorized it. They also fault the government
for not admitting it made a mistake and demanding that the soldier
be returned to Armenian jurisdiction.

Instead, the critics contend, it has tiptoed around the issue of where
Permyakov would be tried out of fear of angering the Kremlin. Moscow
has promised that Permyakov, one of 3,000 soldiers stationed at its
northern Armenian base, will face the full measure of justice.

The solider is accused of the off-base killing of a husband and wife,
their two toddlers — a girl 2 and a boy 6 months — the couple’s
parents and a sister in-law. To try to assuage the anger of Armenia’s
public, Russian officials made conciliatory statements in the weeks
after the murders, although the first ones didn’t come until several
days after the crime.

President Vladimir Putin even apologized about the atrocity in a
phone call to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.

Now it appears that Russian authorities were intent on trying Permyakov
in a Russian court all along, and were just letting Armenians’ anger
simmer down before announcing it.Those who wanted the soldier tried
in Armenia feared that a Russian court would be too lenient with him,
perhaps freeing him after he’d served only a few years.

One reason some Armenians think Russia decided from the start to
try Permyakov in a Russian court is that few major Russian news
organizations covered the murders in the days immediately after
they occurred.

Because those media are closely aligned with the Russian government,
Armenian skeptics think their lack of coverage was a sign the soldier
would be tried in Russia and get off easy.

Another bad sign about what the trial venue would be was that the
Armenian media was timid about covering the story, according to Levon
Barseghyan of the Gyumri-based Asbarez Club of Journalists.Armenian
television networks “with large audiences” were “extremely cautious
in covering the developments,” even though they knew Armenians were
thirsting for news about the story, Barseghyan said.

The reason for the timidity, he alleged, was Armenian officials’
fear of offending Moscow.Not only are many Armenians critical of our
government’s refusal to demand that Permyakov be tried in Armenia,
they are also upset about the government’s heavy-handedness with
those demonstrating about the matter.

Thousands of demonstrators flocked to the Russian Consulate in Gyumri
and marched in the streets in the days after the murders to demand
that Permyakov be handed over to Armenian authorities. Police beat
several of them and arrested dozens more.

Critics see the police as being on Russia’s side rather than the side
of our people, who are legitimately outraged about Permyakov being
tried in a Russian court.The situation shows that the government
is doing the Kremlin’s bidding rather than watching out for its own
people’s interests, they say.

Many Armenians have watched the government agree to Russia’s demand
that Armenia join the Eurasian Economic Union rather than the European
Union, and take other steps that they see as in Moscow’s interest
rather than Armenia’s.

The question of Permyakov’s trial venue doesn’t have the geopolitical
ramifications of joining the European Union or the Eurasian Economic
Union, but it speaks volumes about whether the Armenian government
is standing up for the interests of my fellow citizens or being a
lapdog of Russia.

Armine Sahakyan is a human rights activist based in Armenia.

SYSTEM OF A DOWN TALK ARMENIAN GENOCIDE, POSSIBILITY OF NEW ALBUM + IRON MAIDEN

Loud Wire
April 10 2015

by Chad Childers April 10

Much like Forrest Gump opening a box of chocolates, artists taking
part in a Reddit AMA session are never quite sure what they’re going
to get. System of a Down’s Serj Tankian and John Dolmayan were the
latest to take part in the online question-and-answer session and
fielded questions both serious and silly along the way.

Given that the band were taking part in the session to promote their
“Souls” world tour shining a spotlight on their campaign to have the
Armenian Genocide recognized on its 100th anniversary, there were
quite a few questions dealing with that topic.

When one fan from Turkey spoke of the idea of his country not
recognizing the genocide for fear of reparations made and asked what
would bring justice to the tragedy, drummer John Dolmayan stated,
“More likeminded people like you who seek out the truth and embrace
it regardless of fear of consequence.” Tankian added, “I think you’ve
nailed it on the head with the government of Turkey being afraid of
reparations or restitutions so I guess when the cost of disinformation
and diplomacy becomes larger than that of estimated reparations, we
may see some movement. There is also the issue of how does the gov’t
explain away to the people of Turkey that they have been lied to all
these years? That is also an impediment in Genocide Recognition.”

Another poster asked at what point does the pursuit of having the
genocide recognized become an impediment that holds back the Armenian
people. Tankian responded, “The Genocide and our quest for justice has
now been engrained into the DNA of Armenian culture and has become the
most prevalent characteristic and bond among our people. No culture
wants to be victimized forever. But does that have to take over our
cultural treasures? Isn’t what we’re doing with System Of A Down the
perfect marriage of that? To present our cultural assets while fighting
for justice. One without the other is an irreversible loss I think.”

As for the inevitable question about when the band might release
new music, Tankian humorously responded, “When you’re not looking,”
which led to fans asking everyone to look away. But on a more serious
note, he later added, “We will be getting together to look at what
inspires us today. If that leads to an album, then great, if not,
then that’s fine too.”

The guys also discussed some of their side projects as well. Dolmayan
revealed that there could be a These Grey Men album this year and
he’s working on it as time allows. Meanwhile, Tankian discussed the
possibility of bringing Prometheus Bound to Broadway and staging
other productions around the world.

And finally, when one fan asked what it was like to be in the greatest
band on earth, Dolmayan responded, “I don’t know. Ask Iron Maiden.”

Visit System of a Down’s website to see where the “Souls” tour is
stopping and learn more about how you can help bring awareness to
the #wakeupthesouls campaign here.