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Armenian Genocide Remembered
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Albuquerque Journal
Copyright 2006 Albuquerque Journal
By Toby Smith
Many Americans of a certain age grew up hearing their parents issue
this dinnertime command to eat up: “Think of all the starving
Armenians!”
The curious expression was actually based on fact. Ninety years ago in
Armenia, starvation was a way of life. So was torture and mass
extermination, according to a new documentary.
On Thursday at 10 p.m., KNME-TV presents “The Armenian Genocide,” a
powerful film that details long-ago horrors.
Starting in 1915, and continuing for eight years, more than 1 million
Armenians died at the hands of Ottoman Turks in what has been, the
documentary reveals, “one of the greatest untold stories of the 20th
century.”
Andrew Goldberg wrote, directed and produced the hourlong
film. Narration is provided by a range of American actors.
Convinced that Turkish-Armenians, most of whom were Christian, were
the cause of problems within the sprawling, Muslim-dominated Ottoman
Empire, the Turks set out on insidious revenge.
There are approximately 150 Armenians in New Mexico and none has been
untouched by the genocide.
“My mother and sisters told me things,” says Vahram “Bill” Knadjian,
who is seated at his desk in the rug shop he opened on Albuquerque’s
Central Avenue more than a half-century ago.
Knadjian (pronounced Ka-nay-jun) is 92 years old, white-haired and
stooped. But his memory is clear enough to cause his eyes to moisten
when he talks of his youth in a ravished land.
“The first 10 years of my life were hell,” he says.
Though he was barely 2 when the Turks began to systematically erase
from the Ottoman Empire all Turkish-Armenians, Knadjian still carries
the horrors around him.
First to go in 1915 was his father, Soghomon Knadjian. The older man
was pulled from the family home in Urfa, Turkey, lined up against a
wall and shot by the Turkish Army.
Next, says Bill Knadjian, the Turks tied his brother, Yervant, 14, by
the ankles and beat the bottoms of his feet until they bled and
cracked.
“Then they poured saltwater into his wounds,” Knadjian says, “and
threatened to hang him each morning. His feet swelled. His feet
finally healed, but his brain never did. I wished they had killed
him.”
In 1916, the Turks sent Bill Knadjian, his mother and his two older
sisters and two younger ones on one of the genocide’s notorious “death
marches.”
The idea was to starve to death women and children by forcing them to
walk long distances without food.
Along the way Knadjian’s two older sisters, then teenagers, were raped
and murdered, he says, by Turkish soldiers.
The march took a year. “We ate every dog and every cat we could find,”
he says. When the family reached the Euphrates River in 1917, it was
red with blood and polluted with bodies, according to Knadjian. Typhus
fever plagued his mother, but somehow she survived.
The hatred Turks had for Armenians had been born years before, says
Knadjian.
“Massacres,” he says. “Constant massacres.”
In 1855, his great-grandfather, he learned, was killed by Turks. In
1895, his grandfather, a minister, was shot in front of his six
children.
The Turkish people almost universally believe that the Armenian
genocide didn’t happen. Wartime tragedies, Turks say. A few atrocities
perhaps, but no more. The term “genocide” or references to it appear
in no history books in Turkey.
On some public broadcasting stations, a half-hour, forumlike debate on
the issue will follow the documentary.
The documentary was to be shown on nearly 350 PBS stations, but almost
a third declined to show the debate.
KNME-TV won’t air the debate, which Chad Davis, the station’s director
of content, called “flawed.”
Emriye Ormaci, vice consul at the Turkish Consulate General in
Houston, agreed the panel wasn’t very strong, “but the documentary
only shows the Armenian side of the issue.”
In 1923, Bill Knadjian left the region for the United States. After a
while he settled in Los Angeles where he learned the rug business. In
1939, he became a U.S. citizen. Fifteen years later, he arrived in
Albuquerque. He still works every day in the showroom he built just
west of the University of New Mexico.
When asked if he has been back to Turkey or Armenia, Knadjian seems
genuinely surprised.
“You want me to go back there? That will never happen. America is my
home. It always will be.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian National Committee
Eastern United States
P.O. Box 1066
New York, NY 10040
Contact: Doug Geogerian
Tel: 917 428 1918
Fax: 718 651 3637
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
New York Times Rebukes Turkey over Armenian Genocide Issue
The Armenian National Committee (ANC) of the Eastern United States commends
The New York Times for pointing out Turkey’s “self-destructive obsession
with denying the Armenian Genocide” in its editorial section today. Noting
Turkey’s inflammatory and intimidating response to governments and
individuals, who speak truthfully about the first genocide of the 20th
century, The Times pointed out three of many deepl troubling examples.
“The Turks pulled out of a NATO exercise this week because the Canadian
prime minister used the term ‘genocide’ in reference to the mass killings of
Armenians in Turkey during and after World War I. Before that, the Turkish
ambassador to France was temporarily recalled to protest a French bill that
would make it illegal to deny that the
Armenian genocide occurred. And before that, a leading Turkish novelist,
Orhan Pamuk, was charged with ‘insulting Turkish identity’ for referring to
the genocide,” stated The Times.
As Turkey attempts to join the European Union, it is coming under increasing
pressure to recognize the genocide, in which 1.5 million Armenians were
systematically exterminated. Turkey faces growing difficulty, and now
editorial reproach from the paper of record, for its ninety-one year
practice of persecuting journalists, government officials and ordinary
citizens who exercise what should be their right to free speech. Publisher
Ragip Zarakolu and journalist Hrant Dink, who recently addressed Armenian
communities in the US, are only two of many brave individuals who have been
prosecuted for informing the Turkish public about the genocide.
“The Armenian National Committee and the Armenian American community are
gratified to see that after changing its policy by allowing its reporters to
describe the events of 1915 as genocide, the New York Times has come to
rebuke Turkey for its sinister and anti-democratic campaign of genocide
denial. Decades of hard, thoughtful work to get the Times and the Boston
Globe to attune their coverage of the issue with historical scholarhsip have
borne valuable fruit,” said Dikran Kaligian, Chairman of the ANC in the
Eastern United States.
The Armenian National Committee (ANC) is dedicated to advancing the concerns
of Armenian-Americans, the foremost of which is achieving recognition of the
Armenian Genocide. In light of the Turkish government’s campaign to have
U.S. media organizations as well government officials deny the genocide, the
ANC strives to oppose
revisionist agendas, which either out of racists or other unscrupulous
motives, defame a people through attempting to negate the historicity of its
mass victimization.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate
6252 Honolulu Avenue
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Tel: (818) 248-7737
Fax: (818) 248-7745
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: <; Oriental Orthodox Churches Joint Divine Liturgy On the morning of Thursday, May 11, 2006, a joint Divine Liturgy took place at the Western Diocese under the auspices of and with the participation of the Prelates of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate, H.E. Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate, H.G. Bishop Serapion of the Coptic Church, and H.E. Archbishop Mor Eugene Kaplan of the Syriac Orthodox Church. Serving at the altar were Very Rev. Fr. Muron Aznikian and Very Rev. Fr. Barthev Gulumian. Participating in the Liturgy were clergy members from each church. With the singing of `Hrashapar' the four Prelates approached the altar. It was touching to see the Prelate's greeting each other during the moment of the `kiss of peace'. Later on, during Holy Communion, clergy members formed four rows to receive Holy Communion from the Prelates. Following Mass, Archbishop Hovnan Derderian welcomed the Prelates and clergy members on this `historic day'. He then invited the Prelates individually to deliver their remarks. Prior to each Prelate's remarks, clergy members of that respective church sang a hymn. The Prelates expressed thanks and gratitude for the special day and express the necessity of such gatherings to become more familiarized with each other and be enriched from each other. They also recognized the four religious leaders of each church, H.H. Aram I, H.H. Karekin II, Pope Shnouda III, and Patriarch Zacha. Following the Prelate's remarks, Very Rev. Fr. Dajad Yardemian delivered the message of the day. After the remarks, a group picture was taken followed by lunch. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian then presented all those in attendance with copies of Garo Bedrossian's `Feasts and Traditions of the Armenian Church' and `Sundays of Great Lent' books. The Prelates also had closed meetings to discuss the possibility of similar events in the future. The gathering then concluded in the same warm atmosphere in which it began.

PRESS RELEASE
Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate
6252 Honolulu Avenue
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Tel: (818) 248-7737
Fax: (818) 248-7745
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: <; Oriental Orthodox Sunday School Bible Competition You are all champions of faith, for you have chosen the path of Christ Declared the Prelate On the morning of Saturday, May 13, a Bible competition took place between Sunday School students of Oriental Orthodox Churches under the direction of H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate, at the `Armenak Der Bedrossian' Hall of St. Mary's Church in Glendale. The event, which was organized by the directors of the Sunday Schools, was held under the auspices of the H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, H.E. Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate, H.G. Bishop Serapion, Prelate of the Coptic Orthodox Church, and H.E. Archbishop Mor Eugene Kaplan, Prelate of the Syriac Orthodox Church. The competition encompassed the first ten chapters of the Gospel of Matthew. Participating were 11 to 15 year old Sunday School students. Prior to the competition, the students, led by the Prelates and accompanied by their directors, gathered inside St. Mary's Church where each Church sang hymns and read prayers in its respective language. On behalf of the organizing committee Very Rev. Fr. Muron Aznikian, co-director of the Prelacy Christian Education Department, delivered encouraging remarks to the students. At the start of the competition the students split into groups, with each group being comprised of students from the various churches. During the competition the preparedness of the students on the subject matter and their eagerness to win first place was apparent. Following the competition the host Prelate Archbishop Mardirossian welcomed the Prelates and clergy members and commended the organizing committee and all the directors and staff of the Sunday Schools. Turning to the students he said, `You all are champions of faith, for you have chosen the path of Christ. Your participation today is evidence of that faith. You are like the man who built his house on a rock and not on sand. That solid rock is Christ. Stand firm on that rock.' Later on the Prelate presented mementos to the guest Prelates, followed by greetings and blessings by the Prelates of the sister churches. At the end of the event, medals were given to all participants and trophies to the winners. There were also t-shirts handed out to all participants with the logos of the churches. Following the closing prayer and `Bahbanich' a group picture was taken in front of the church, after which the students enjoyed lunch. At 3:00 p.m. the students and directors departed with joy and triumph in their hearts.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
05/16/2006
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://WWW.ASBAREZ. COM 1) Turkey Must Recognize Genocide to Become Member of EU 2) Bill Grants Legal Rights to Genocide Survivors and Heirs to Recover Bank Deposits 3) Canadian Prime Minister Reaffirms Recognition of Armenian Genocide 4) Microsoft Opens Office in Armenia 5) Talabani Slams Interference in Iraq by Iran And Turkey 1) Turkey Must Recognize Genocide to Become Member of EU YEREVAN (Yerkir/Armenpress)--Secretary General of the International European Movement Henrik H. Kroner visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial (Dzidzernagapert) on Tuesday to honor the victims of the Armenian genocide. Kroner was accompanied by Victor Yengibarian, head of the organization's mission to Armenia, and Giro Manoyan, director of the ARF Bureau's Hai Tad and Political Affairs Office. While visiting the Genocide Museum, Kroner wrote in the visitor's book: "Let's hope no such genocide will take place again in Europe and world. And the European values are the guarantees of our unification." Speaking to journalists, Kroner said it is a shame that this crime against humanity has not been recognized thus far. He said until Turkey recognizes the Armenian genocide and opens border with Armenia it cannot become member of the European Union. "The European Union has been established to avoid such tragedies in the future. I think Turkey will never become an EU member unless it admits its past," Kroner said. "The process has just begun and will take long years. Ankara will have to admit it in the end." Earlier in the day, Kroner met with ARF Supreme Body of Armenia representative Armen Rustamian at the Simon Vratsian Center in Yerevan. The parties discussed the International European Movement's programs regarding Armenia's integration in Europe. 2) Bill Grants Legal Rights to Genocide Survivors and Heirs to Recover Bank Deposits --California Senate Judiciary Committee Unanimously Passes SB 1524, but Partners Bill with Controversial Legislation SACRAMENTO--Legislation that would grant Armenian genocide victims and their heirs access to California courts to recover bank deposits wrongfully withheld since the Armenian genocide, unanimously passed the California State Senate Judiciary Committee on May 9. The same committee, however, chaired by Senator Joe Dunn of Garden Grove, also voted to accept a hostile amendment that attaches a highly controversial and unrelated bill to the bi-partisan supported Armenian Genocide Bill, which endangers its ability to be signed by the Governor and become law. The "Armenian Genocide Bank and Looted Assets Recovery Act" SB 1524, authored by State Senators Jackie Kanchelian-Speier and Charles "Chuck" Poochigian, and sponsored by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), was presented for consideration in the Senate Judiciary Committee, on May 9. The bill would allow victims and heirs recoverythrough California Courtsof assets looted from commercial entities operating in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey during the Armenian genocide, which have been wrongfully withheld since the Genocide. Speaking in support of the bill, Katia Kermoyan-Khodanian spoke of the dire need for this legislation and recounted the harrowing experience of her relative Markar Kermoyan who had lost his bank deposits and assets during the Armenian genocide without any recourse. Armenian National Committee of America - Western Region (ANCA - WR) Chairman Steven Dadaian, spoke in support of the Bill, informing the committee that California has a public policy interest in protecting the rights of its almost 1,000,000 strong Armenian American community by granting California courts jurisdiction over banks operating in the Ottoman Empire during the Armenian genocide. Dadaian also reminded the Committee that only five years ago the State enacted the "Armenian Genocide Era Insurance Act" based on the same public policy. Lending the Greek community's support was Steven Miles, Executive Director of the American Hellenic Council, who spoke strongly of the deep bond between Greeks and Armenians forged in the common persecution and Genocide their communities faced in Turkey from 1915-1923. Don Engstrom, from the Consumer Attorneys Association of California, also expressed support for the legislation. The hostile amendment, binds SB 1765 to SB 1524 that entitles lawsuits to be filed for wrongfully repatriated Mexican Americans during the 1930s. Speaking strongly in opposition to the binding of these two separate and distinct Bills, the ANCA's Steven Dadaian informed the Committee that while his organization supports the correcting of all historic wrongs, he nevertheless views the effort as an attempt to "hijack the Armenian Bill with legislation that has thrice been vetoed by consecutive administrations. We encourage each bill to be weighed on their own merits separately. It is illogical and unfair to do otherwise." Senator Senator Bill Morrow (Vice-Chair) voted against the hostile amendment, while Senators Joseph Dunn (Chair), Dick Ackerman, Martha Escutia, and Sheila Kuehl supported the move. 3) Canadian Prime Minister Reaffirms Recognition of Armenian Genocide In a meeting with Armenian National Committee (ANC) of Canada representatives during a special reception, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper reaffirmed his country's recognition of the Armenian genocide. ANC Ottawa member Aris Babikian expressed the Canadian Armenian community's gratitude for the Prime Minister's principled stance on the stance on the issue. He also committed to working closely with the Prime Minister's office on behalf of the ANC of Canada. During the meeting, Harper reaffirmed his government's and his party's policy regarding the Genocide. He said that this policy is based on principles and not political or economic considerations. 4) Microsoft Opens Office in Armenia The world's leading computer software manufacturer, Microsoft, opened an official representation to Armenia on Tuesday, demonstrating its interest in the country's growing information technology (IT) sector. Vahe Torossian, Microsoft's vice-president for Central and Eastern Europe, said the company is keen on capitalizing on the "amazing" level of education and skills of local computer specialists. "One thing which amazed me when I started my role here is the amazing quality of high technical, engineering, mathematics, physics, and other skills that we have in the region and especially in Armenia," Torossian told a news conference in Yerevan. "We are here to demonstrate and try to develop a very wealthy and healthy IT system," he said. Microsoft's decision to open an office in Yerevan was welcomed by Prime Minister Andranik Markarian who met Torossian and other top company executives earlier in the day. Markarian, according to his press service, proposed that the Armenian government and Microsoft form a "joint working group" that would deal with concrete ways in which the US giant could contribute to further growth of Armenia's IT industry. Speaking to reporters, the French executive of Armenian descent said Microsoft will boost the sector by commissioning computer programs from local software developers. He said it has already placed orders with five Armenian firms. "It's thoroughly clear that from every dollar that Microsoft will invest in Armenia, every single partner will generate around seven or eight dollars," Torossian said, adding that the company intends to create a "very strong" network of such partners. Armenia's IT industry employs thousands of well-paid specialists and is seen as the most advanced in the region, having expanded substantially over the past decade. The mainly American foreign companies involved in software development and other IT-related activities have been the main driving force behind the growth. IT experts warn, however, that the sector's further expansion could stall unless the Armenian government embarks on a sweeping overhaul of its system of higher education. They say the number and especially the professional level of young people graduating from the IT programs of local universities still leaves much to be desired. Armenian officials hope that Microsoft's plans to release Armenian-language versions of its world-famous products will spur greater computer use in the country. According to Torossian, the company will complete the ongoing translation of its Windows XP operating system into Armenian "before the end of the summer." The Armenian versions of other, more advanced systems will be available next year, he added. Torossian admitted that Microsoft sales in Armenia and virtually all other parts of the former Soviet Union are seriously hampered by poor protection of copyrights. He estimated that as much as 90 percent of software sold in Armenia is pirated. "We have very good laws," said Grigor Barseghian, the newly appointed head of Microsoft's Yerevan office. "They simply need to be enforced. That is the main obstacle to our activities at the moment." A government statement said the problem was also on the agenda of Markarian's meeting with the visiting Microsoft executives, but gave no details. 5) Talabani Slams Interference in Iraq by Iran And Turkey BEIRUT (UPI)--Iraqi President Jalal Talabani lashed out at neighbors Iran and Turkey for interfering in Iraq's domestic affairs, warning that Baghdad could reciprocate. Talabani was quoted as saying Tuesday in the Saudi daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat that "Iraq is not a weak country. [Our] neighbors can create problems for us and we also are capable of causing problems for them." He said, "If Iran allows itself to interfere in Karbala because it is a Shiite city and Turkey feels it can interfere in Kirkuk, that will open the way for very dangerous consequences." "In that case," he added, "Iraq will also have the right to interfere in Khozestan in Iran on the grounds that it has an Arab population and the same applies to Alexandrite in Turkey which has an Arab population." Talabani stressed, however, that Iraq and Iran have had historic relations which were both positive and negative "but there is always room for agreement and also between Iraq and Turkey agreement is possible." He acknowledged that the two countries have plausible reasons to interfere in Iraq since the Kurdistan Labor Party attacks Turkey from Iraq's Kurdish north; a Kurdish group in Iran has done the same, taking refuge in northern Iraq. "Nevertheless, we need to find a solution in order to eliminate all the pretexts used by Iran and Turkey to hit Iraqi territories," he added. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2006 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets.

from the May 17, 2006 edition
-woeu.html
Missteps hobble Turkey-EU waltz
A French proposal to ban any suggestion that Armenians did not suffer
genocide is just one of the sour notes.
By Peter Ford and Yigal Schleifer
PARIS AND ISTANBUL, TURKEY – Barely six months after the European
Union ended years of indecision by starting talks aimed at allowing
Turkey to join the club, doubts about the wisdom of that move are
coming to the fore on both sides of the table.
A series of well-publicized court cases, including one Tuesday,
against Turkish writers has made Europeans wonder anew whether Ankara
really shares their understanding of freedom of speech. Many Turks,
meanwhile, see a double standard over head scarf bans and a proposed
French law that would ban any suggestion that the Armenians did not
suffer genocide in 1915.
The dubious mood clouding the “talks about talks” that Turkish and EU
officials have been holding since the beginning of the year indicates
just how long and bumpy the process of turning Turkey into a
full-fledged European nation will be, say observers on both sides of
the Bosphorus.
“There is a sense that the political will in Ankara is not as strong
as it was, if there’s any left at all, to invest in this process with
Europe,” says one EU diplomat in the Turkish capital, who asked to
remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the issue. “The
commitment … that they are still professing is less convincing
because it is not being reflected by their actions on the ground.”
Especially worrying to the Europeans is the way prosecutors have used
a controversial article of Turkey’s revised penal code against writers
accused of insulting state institutions or Turkish identity. A number
of these cases, such as the one against author Orhan Pamuk, have been
dropped after sharp EU criticism. But Tuesday, the trial began of an
Armenian-Turkish newspaper editor who is charged with “attempting to
influence the judiciary” against the penal code. The editor, Hrant
Dink, was met with shouts of “traitor” as he entered the courtroom.
Rights activists also fear that a planned anti-terror bill, which
would allow the imprisonment of journalists found guilty of
“propagating terrorism,” might be used against anyone expressing
support for Kurdish separatists. A recent upsurge in violence in the
majority-Kurdish southeast of Turkey, meanwhile, could lead the
military to reassert itself in domestic affairs.
The EU last month urged the Turkish authorities “to make sure that the
security forces show the necessary restraint” in the wake of street
clashes that left 16 people dead and 36 children in jail, some facing
24 years in prison.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has brushed aside charges of
“reform fatigue,” insisting recently that “our reform efforts aimed at
raising standards and practices in all areas of life to the highest
contemporary standards will resolutely continue.”
But the approach of elections next year, coupled with a drop in public
support for EU membership to 50 percent from 80 percent two years ago,
means that leaders of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)
“don’t want to take risks,” says Mensur Akgun with the Turkish
Economic and Social Studies Foundation, a think tank in Istanbul.
The government “is focusing on elections and on the mood in the
country, and that mood is very inward-looking,” says the European
diplomat. “Instead of showing the way and leadership, the government
is listening much more to these ghosts that have been haunting Turkey
for decades.”
“There is a rising nationalism in the country,” adds Mr. Akgun, and
the AKP “has a constituency that is rather conservative in a
nationalist sense, and they have to reciprocate to their feelings.”
That nationalism has been fed by two rebuffs from the EU.
Ankara is galled that the Turkish-populated half of the divided
Mediterranean island of Cyprus remains under economic embargo even
though Turkish Cypriots accepted a UN plan to reunite the two sides.
Late last year, religious Turks were upset when a European Court of
Human Rights ruling upheld Turkey’s head scarf ban in public
universities.
Turks have also been angered by a vote next Thursday in the French
Parliament on a bill that would criminalize any statement casting
doubt on the Armenians’ claim that they suffered genocide at Turkish
hands in 1915. The bill would impose jail sentences and a fine on
historians, journalists, or others who challenge Armenians’ version of
events, in the same way French law punished revisionists who deny the
Holocaust.
The bill is unlikely to pass, but it reflects longstanding mistrust of
Turkey in Europe. That mistrust is fed by freedom-of-expression cases
being brought against writers, says Joost Lagendijk, who heads the
European Parliament delegation to the joint EU-Turkey parliamentary
committee.
“The mood in Europe is that nothing has happened in Turkey since
October except setbacks,” warns Mr. Lagendijk.
Quietly, Turkish and EU civil servants have been reviewing the 35
“chapters” of Turkish legislation that will have to be brought into
line with EU law, and have agreed on negotiating points for 19 of
them, officials say. Substantive negotiations on education and science
are due to begin next month.
Nobody expects Turkey to join the EU until 2015, even if things go
well. That, says Lagendijk, is a good thing, since EU citizens are
displaying doubts about the union’s future and purpose.
“We have some time ourselves to solve our own problems before we have
to deal with Turkey,” he says. “In the meantime, the negotiations will
continue behind the scenes.”
| Copyright © 2006 The Christian Science Monitor.
All rights reserved.

Revolutionary Worker Online, IL
May 15 2006
Reading, Promoting, and Discussing Bob Avakian’s Memoir
We received the following correspondences from readers in Los Angeles
who have been reading, promoting, and discussing Bob Avakian’s
memoir, From Ike to Mao and Beyond.
Letter 1
I had a discussion of the Bob Avakian’s memoir with two
Latin-American immigrant proletarians, Tony and Pablo, who consider
themselves supporters of the Party, one much longer than the other.
Both are much more comfortable reading and talking in Spanish, but
both read the book.
The younger of the two, Tony, had raised two years ago, before anyone
knew that a memoir was being prepared, when he first had read a few
issues of the newspaper, `He [Bob Avakian] seems like an important
leader, do you have any kind of book about him?’
Tony said that there were many things that `surprised’ and interested
him in reading the Memoir. One was learning about Bob Avakian’s
father’s family as immigrants from Armenia. He said he had never
heard of Armenia before and said it was striking `how different the
experience of immigrants has been coming from different places’ and
in this case how they fell out around the issue of racism in the
U.S., identifying more as white people, and how Bob Avakian dealt
with this contradiction. He also said he was surprised by Bob’s
account of growing up in a segregated environment in the late 50’s
and then `crossing over’ and sharing his life with Black people.
Pablo said that he was at a disadvantage in this discussion because
he had lent his copy of the Memoir to a Latina immigrant friend (who
finally has a place of her own after being in and out of homeless
shelters and losing all of her possessions including her books) and
so he hadn’t had the opportunity to actually review the Memoir prior
to our discussion. He said, `I read it like a novel. I find
autobiographies/memoirs interesting as a story more than something I
will take notes from’ (like he does with other things he has read by
Avakian). He said that though it wasn’t fresh in his mind, some
things still struck him a year later. He was surprised to learn that
the Chairman had come from what he described as an `upper middle
class’ family and how that affected him. He said that it was
interesting how `he learned a lot about law and politics from his
father,’ while at the same time rebelling and choosing his own path.
He said that it was interesting how at a certain point in his life,
Bob `led a double life,’ one with his family and one at school, and
how `timing’ was important to his development: `The turmoil in the
world affected his thinking.’ Like Tony, Pablo said that there were
surprises in the book that made it interesting; he listed three: 1)
His nearly life-ending illness; 2) His relationship with the people
who would form the Black Panther Party and how that influenced him;
and 3) His first experience `going to the working class’ in Richmond,
California – Pablo said `it seems that he went there with a lot of
illusions about people.’
He said it was interesting how Bob Avakian described his (and
others’) way of seeing life in the late 60’s, `they expected
revolution to happen then.’ He said that there was a theme in the
book of repeatedly `learning from mistakes.’ He found particularly
funny the episode in China of continually being offered snails, a
food that he and others had trouble with, but not wanting to offend
anyone by commenting negatively.
Tony said he was also struck by Bob Avakian’s journey from the middle
class – `how people make that kind of change’ was new to him. He said
it was interesting how Bob Avakian `mixed with people’ and how that
affected him. Overall he said that the Memoir painted a picture of
Bob as `another human being and not some sort of super-hero.’ He was
also struck by how the Chairman’s mother’s concern for basic people
(albeit from a religious standpoint) was something that he learned
from and was influenced by. He described the struggle in the book
involving his sister dating a Black person and said it reminded him
of a situation that he had had working in a Korean-owned store. The
Korean owners tried to keep a distance from the mainly Black and
Latino customers, but one of the sons (around 18-20) worked there and
befriended him, which the owner tolerated but didn’t like, but that
then when the son started to date a Black young woman, the parents
went ballistic.
Tony said he liked the part `Getting Free of Religion.’ He said that
this was very interesting. He said that the journey from religion to
atheism was explained as because `there is no truth to it.’ Tony said
that in his own case he had lost connection with religion in much the
same way, but `I couldn’t be a total atheist until becoming a
communist.’
Pablo said the memoir gave him a picture of Bob as a `regular guy…
someone who liked sports,’ etc. He said he liked (and identified
with) Bob’s description of how his `proudest achievement’ in high
school was being listed as `Teachers’ Trial.’ and how Bob saw himself
as a rebel against `arbitrary authority.’ This means a lot and
concentrates, as Pablo explained, his own contradictory feelings
about promoting leaders. Pablo had grown up in a home where his
father was the tyrannical minister of an evangelical church, and was
lauded as the `great leader’ of that church. He said that this really
angered and alienated him and when he questioned this `arbitrary
authority’ he was literally thrown out of the house when he 14 years
old and lived on the street selling candies etc. on street corners
before leaving his home town in the country he is from. So he says
sometimes he feels uncomfortable with the promotion of Bob Avakian as
a leader, even though he said, `I agree with more than 90% of what
Bob Avakian says and writes.’ At the same time, he said he felt a
great kinship for his rebelliousness and his challenging `arbitrary
authority.’
We also talked with someone who had really liked some portions of the
DVD by Bob Avakian (Revolution: Why It’s Necessary, Why It’s
Possible, What It’s All About), but felt uncomfortable promoting any
one leader. We talked about how to get into these kinds of
issues – taking up the Leadership Resolutions [see `Resolution: On
Leaders and Leadership’ and `Some Points on the Question of
Revolutionary Leadership and Individual Leaders,’ both dated Oct. 1,
1995, available online at ], and also the
part in Michael Slate’s radio interview with the Chairman, that
discusses the question, `Isn’t it dangerous to invest so much in an
individual leader?’ (Bob Avakian’s interview with Slate is available
online at bobavakian.net) I won’t go into all of that here, but what
is most directly connected with the Memoir is how from reading the
Memoir even people with a general `distrust of leaders,’ will `want
to make an exception’ for Bob Avakian once `they get to know him.’
People agreed that reading the Memoir really gives you a sense of Bob
Avakian’s integrity and his deep connection with the people. But
Pablo raised that is not enough. He said, Malcolm X had a lot of
integrity and a deep connection with the people and this comes out in
his autobiography, but `what if he had not been killed, I sometimes
wonder what would have happened with him. I worry that he could have
ended up becoming a Mayor or something.’
This got us into how the Memoir as a whole not only gives `a
humanizing portrait’ of Bob Avakian’s early years, but paints a vivid
picture of his development into how he is described on the back of
the Memoir, as `America’s most radical revolutionary communist.’ This
brought Tony back to the day he first asked if there was a book about
Bob Avakian. He said he had wanted to know `who is this leader, how
did he become that kind of leader.’ He said that as a young person
himself, `I naturally identified a lot with the part on his early
years.’ But he said this whole book is about `his life and our
lives.’
In the previously-mentioned discussion, the person had raised, `you
can’t put so much in one leader – what would you do if he became a
fascist?’ Tony said that the Memoir gave him great confidence that
this wouldn’t happen with Bob Avakian. He turned to the last chapter
of the Memoir and read aloud the concluding passage: `So this is what
my life will continue to be devoted to, and this is what the ongoing
story of my life will be about.’
>From there we got into the significance of Cornel West’s description
of Bob Avakian as `a long distance runner in the freedom struggle
against imperialism, racism and capitalism.’ They felt that having
read the Memoir that they got a deeper sense of why that is in fact
true. Pablo hearkened back to a part of Carl Dix’s interview with Bob
Avakian that had stuck with him – his answer to `What sustains you?’
[`Bob Avakian Speaks Out: On War and Revolution On Being a
Revolutionary and Changing the World, Interviewed by Carl Dix,’ also
available as downloadable audio] He said his answer was very
important. One of them (I forget which) said, `People often say to
you, ‘you are radical now as a youth, but then you will get more
conservative when you get older,’ but Bob Avakian continues to get
more radical.’ Tony raised that another reason he has confidence in
Bob Avakian (in response to our friend’s challenge) is how he will
fight for what’s right even if at times it is very unpopular or even
dangerous to do so, even within the existing movement of the time. He
mentioned in particular the section of Memoir where Bob describes
getting ready to go to the showdown RCP Central Committee meeting on
the coup in China and his wife asks him `Do you think we will win?’
and he answers, `I don’t know if we will win, but we can’t lose.’
———————————————– ———————————
Letter 2
I spoke with a Black college student who grew up in the Valley. She
is not a communist or into socialism, or even revolutionary, but she
is very progressive-minded. She really enjoyed reading the Memoir.
When I went to speak with her, we talked about both her thoughts on
the book and also seeing if she could help and/or had any ideas about
popularizing it at her school. She told me that she was expecting it
to be really different, more like Bob Avakian’s other writings (she’s
read some of his pieces in Revolution newspaper, and also she read
part of his book, The Loss in China and the Revolutionary Legacy of
Mao Tsetung). She thought it was going to be more complex and at
first she didn’t really like that. But she said, `It wasn’t a hard
book at all! It was like having a conversation with someone!’ She
really liked the stories he told.
There were two things in particular she spoke about that really
impacted her. The first was how he lived through the times of
segregation. She said that a lot of people she knows, especially
white people, were really affected in very negative ways from
segregation. She said that a lot of the people she has interacted
with `have this sense of `it’s okay’ or somehow acceptable if you
called people `nigger’ back in those days. They try to excuse
themselves by saying `oh that’s how it was in those days, everyone
was like that,’ but he really lets us know that things weren’t like
that and that not all white folks were racist like that and accepted
that as normal!’ I should say that she is half white, and growing up
with her family that was the gringo side (that’s what she calls it),
was very hard for her. She had to endure a lot of shit from them. So
for her the beginning of the book, and how Bob Avakian looked at
Black people as his brothers and sisters in those days is very
admirable. It gave her a bigger sense of who he really is and his
convictions, and how he became the leader of this Party.
Another part she really enjoyed was when he starts talking about his
involvement with the Black Panther Party. That whole section about
the sixties she really enjoyed. `It’s like a history lesson.’ She
says you really get a feeling of what he went through, and really a
feeling of what youth were going through at the time and the real
struggle. We were tripping out for a while because I have a copy of
the movie, `Berkeley in the 60s’ and we would watch it all the time.
In the book Avakian talks about times he was at different events
which are also documented in the movie. For example the time when the
Mario Savio got arrested at a Free Speech Movement protest and people
surrounded the car, and they had a rally and the stage was on top of
the pig car. She remembered during our conversation that they mention
Bob Avakian in the video at one point (I believe it was during `Stop
the Draft Week’) and she got so excited saying she was going to go
back to the book and read that whole section again.
Another really good conversation I had was when I spoke with a youth
who lives in the projects. He also told me that he really enjoyed the
part from the 60s. He said that in the part on the Civil Rights
Movement, Chairman Avakian really brings it to life for people. It’s
really good for youth to read and they can learn from the history and
grow from that, like how he analyzes the socialist societies of the
past and is advancing our science (of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism) to a
whole other level. We can learn from the movement of those times, and
take it much further this time around. He was saying how this book is
crucial for youth to get their hands on, especially with the
immigrant struggle going on. When I talked to him it was in the
middle of the week of walk-outs, so he was tripping out for a while,
imagining, what if the students had this book in their hands and were
reading it, what difference it would make! He said that the book
really paints the picture of really how much struggle it took to keep
the Civil Rights Movement forward, and how in the wildness of
everything he became a communist.
He also said a really important thing in the book is how he analyzes
the other trends he came across in the past, like the PLP
(Progressive Labor Party) and others, like the Weathermen, and the
Trotskyites. It’s like Marxism-Leninism-Maoism vs. other lines.
People should see that and question these other lines in a way
similar to how people were engaging in it during those days. We
should study what they are really about and where these other lines
will lead you. That is also really important for youth to get into
because sometimes, he said, youth out of spontaneity get sucked into
these other lines, and the wrong line leads people to nowhere good,
so a lot of youth get discouraged and think that all revolutionary
groups and communist groups are the same when its not the case. He
explained to me that he really got a living sense of what the
chairman is like, for example, how he would never run away from
getting into struggle with people, and debating politics even from
his early days as a revolutionary!
Another high school youth from the same housing projects said that it
would be really good to get this memoir into classrooms. It can be a
very good textbook. And also it can help people see what Bob Avakian
is really like and what he’s really about and they’ll get over these
wrong ideas they have of him and of communism. He had some really
good ideas of how to promote this at school and among youth. He
suggested having teachers sell the book in class to the students or
have the students demand that the teacher carry the book in class,
get the book into every library (public and school), get it to stores
so people can more easily buy it, and promote Libros Revolucion
because they carry all his works. But the idea he was most excited
about was making some pamphlets of excerpts of the book, that aren’t
really expensive so youth can read it and they get hooked so they’ll
want to get the whole thing!! I thought this was a really great idea.
—————————————– —————————————
Letter 3
Taking the Chairman’s Memoir to South Central
Note: People have downloaded the audio files of Bob Avakian reading
the Memoir (available at revcom.us and bobavakian.net) and put it on
CDs for distribution in places like the Nickerson Gardens where many
people do not have access to the Internet.
Ester and I have been getting together each week over the past few
weeks listening to the Memoir on CD and taking turns reading it out
loud to each other. One day we got together at Starbucks for a cup of
hot chocolate and some good reading of the Chairman’s Memoir. Ester
loves hot chocolate, and she really liked reading the Memoir. We
laughed and talked about the stories about Bob Avakian’s childhood
growing up. Ester said he was a real `prankster,’ and he’s funny. She
used to listen to a lot of singers he mentions in the book, the
Chantels, Jimmy Reed (one of her favorite blues singers), Chuck
Berry, the buster brown shoes, this was all during her time and she
was reminiscing about it. She loved the corn bread story, she
described how he must have been looking at that cornbread, and how
hungry he must have been. She could understand how he would go after
that cornbread, because the other kid had two pieces and he was
hungry. She just laughs about this story and describes it. Then she
says, he could have got his ass kicked, and then we laughed.
We got so involved in reading the book, even though Ester didn’t have
any glasses and the strain was hurting her eyes she still wanted to
read on. As we read each page in anticipation of what the next
chapter would hold, what new adventure was young Bobby going to get
into. She said to me, his life was exciting all the little chances he
was taking. She went onto say that from reading the book so far `he
is someone who loves people no matter what color they are. He hung
out with kids of all colors no matter what people thought about him.’
She is referring to the part in the book where this one white kid he
knew was questioning why he was hanging out with Black kids. She
quotes Bob’s response. She loves his response to this kid. When we
got to the part about him going to the student dance with a Black
girl during a time when there was segregation in the country and in
his school, Ester was on the edge of her chair anxious to find out
what happened. After reading it later she commented, that was a Big
Kiss, and we both laughed.
She liked how the Chairman hung out with all nationalities and how he
would fight for what he thought was right, even though it might get
his ass kicked or get him in trouble. She thought the prankster stuff
was like kids do and it was funny. She thought he was funny too. She
liked the arbitrary authority chapter too. She said he was right,
`his parents had taught him to stand up for his rights.’
Through the pages of the book and listening to the CD’s Ester is
getting to know Bob Avakian, who he is as a person. She had seen the
DVD, Revolution: Why It’s Necessary – Why It’s Possible – What It’s All
About before and we have had many debates and discussions
particularly over the question of him being white. After reading the
book she is questioning if he is really white. As we read through the
book each week, Ester has been referring back to things he said or
did in the chapters before. Through the pages of the book she is
getting to know who Bob Avakian is. This is just a beginning. Through
the pages of the book the Chairman is becoming more a part of her
life. She knows by heart many of the stories we have read and she
talks about the stories as though it was a story of and old friend or
neighbor. After reading the early years of his life some questions
have come up with her and others who are reading the Memoir or
listening to the CD’s. People want to know more about Armenia (Bob
Avakian’s family is Armenian). Where is Armenia? What happened there?
Why were people massacred by the Turks? How many got killed?
———————————————– ———————————
Mable and I listened to parts of the Memoir on CD and watched part of
the DVD sampler.
She said, when you hear the Memoir on CD it’s like having a
conversation with him. He’s telling you his story and he’s funny. She
said in watching him in the DVD, he’s hard. She grew up in the South
and could identify with and remembers all the stuff he talked about
like about Emmet Till and all what Black people went through. She
liked the DVD and the parts of the Memoir we have listened to on the
CD. She wants to know how old is he? Where is Armenia? She thought it
was awful what happened to the Armenian people with the Turks
massacring a million people. She wants to know more about this and
where Armenia is? She was impressed with the review on the back of
the book from Cornel West and Howard Zinn. She has the book now and
the CDs. I can’t wait to see what all she thinks of the book after
reading it. I have told her and others most of the stories in the
book and how good it is, and how he is such a great revolutionary
communist leader and a real human being – who loves the masses and has
a strategy and plan for how we can get out of this system and build a
whole new one. People are beginning to learn who the Chairman is as a
person.
————————————– ——————————————
Letter 4
A youth in the LA Writers Collective wrote a review of the Memoir
last year while he was a college student. He said the Memoir was a
very important part of him getting to know the Party better. At first
it took struggle to get him to read the book – he asked why people
should be reading books about an individual instead of studying what
the U.S. government is up to in the world and organizing anti-war
demonstrations. Eventually he decided to pick it up because he had
been reading some of Bob Avakian’s works and he wanted to get to get
to get to know the person more.
He said the thing he enjoyed the most about the Memoir is that it’s
so personal and honest. He said that through reading more about how
Bob Avakian became the kind of person that he is – his interaction and
friendships with Black youth, his deep discussions with people on
basketball courts, and the way he dealt with his serious illness – he
gained a deeper appreciation for Bob Avakian. He also gained insight
on why Bob Avakian stayed on the revolutionary road, while many
others from his generation gave up or made peace with the system.
A book like this can move you to see what human beings are capable of
doing even though they are born into a fucked up society like this.
And through this book, he gained new insights into Bob Avakian and
the Party he leads.
He said the Memoir is a reflection of the society we should want to
live in and the kind of communist we should all strive to be like.
—————————————— ————————————–
Letter 5
The following are stories of two people who connected with the
Memoir. The first is about a revolutionary comrade. The second about
someone who died recently.
P’s comments on the Memoir were very heartfelt. He said: `There’s
something special about it. Humor, his life story, the history of the
60’s in the Bay Area and the country – you can see his development and
why he came out to be who he is. There are a lot of political lessons
in the book – like the free speech movement. It shows a lot: the
person, the political, why he is who he is, why he’s so important.
Like the Autobiography of Malcolm X, you get to know this side of Bob
Avakian. One thing I love about the Memoir – when I read it, it feels
like he’s talking to me, telling me stories, I can hear his voice.
There’s an element to personally getting to know this leader – it draws
people closer to him. I didn’t think it would be so humorous and warm
and inviting as it actually is, I thought it would be hard core.’
—————————————– —————————————
D died this past year. He was in his 70s. He was someone I knew from
work – he worked part-time in the copy room. He was really a
character – an artist who would bring his paintings into work to show
everyone – mainly abstract paintings with a lot of brilliant color. He
had a lot of energy and liked to go to raves and parties. Many, many
times he would come into work telling stories about the wild weekends
he’d had – sometimes he even brought pictures. He was bipolar and had
been hospitalized in mental institutions for long periods of time
when he was younger. He was born in France but spent most of his life
in the U.S. and had a lot of patriotism for the U.S. D constantly
checked out all kinds of politics and trends and read newspapers,
magazines, books – he read all the time.
D came to the premiere of the DVD (Revolution: Why It’s Necessary,
Why It’s Possible, What It’s All About) in Santa Monica. He said that
Bob Avakian must be a good speaker because he kept his attention for
the whole two hours – that it was rare he could sit in a theater for
two hours without falling asleep. He bought the Silver Book of
quotations from Bob Avakian at the premiere and stayed up all night
reading it. He came in the next day with the book all underlined and
he wanted to talk about it – particularly what Bob Avakian had to say
about art. He said what struck him about Bob Avakian from the Silver
Book was how honest he is and how funny he is. For Christmas I gave D
a copy of the Memoir. He really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I don’t
know the specifics of what he liked about it. D and I used to have
roaring arguments about Communism – Stalin, the cultural revolution,
sending the intellectuals to the countryside. After reading the
Memoir, D said that he still doesn’t know about Communism, but that
if he had to pick someone to be a leader of society it would be Bob
Avakian. And I know that it was mainly because of those qualities he
first saw in the Silver Book – the honesty and the humor – that made D
feel like this was someone he could trust. I don’t know if D talked
to a lot of other people about the Memoir, but I have a feeling he
did talk to people about Bob Avakian, because he made comments to me
in passing all the time. And Bob Avakian would show up in his art. D
used to do a lot of little sketches about things he was thinking
about. Sometimes they were interesting, a lot of times they were kind
of weird and funny. (He was always trying to be funny – and he loved
puns.) He was really into the Star Wars movies and for a while he was
doing a lot of sketches related to Star Wars. One time he drew a
sketch of himself in a Darth Vader outfit with a caption that he’d
gone to the darth side. Later he drew a sketch of Bob Avakian with
the same caption – he had Bob Avakian in a Darth Vader outfit, holding
an Ayn Rand book. I thought it was pretty funny.
ces.html

COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF RUSSIAN AIR FORCES: PILOTS OF CRASHED A320 DID NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT WEATHER CONDITIONS
Sochi, May 16. ArmInfo. Weather was the reasons of the recent crash
of Airbus A- 320 belonging to Armavia airline, stated Vladimir
Mikhaylov, Commander-in-Chief of Russian Air Forces, Russia Mass
Media report. “It is quite sure that pilots did not take into account
weather conditions as weather was the reason of the crash,” he told
journalists. Russian Air Forces, “specialists of the 13th state
National Research Institution of the RF Defense Ministry are ready to
assist in deciphering the ‘black boxes’ of the plane,” Mikhaylov said.
To note, A320 crashed failed to land at Adler airport on May 3 night
and crashed in the Black Sea killing all 113 on board. Only 51 bodies
were pulled out. Two airborne recorders were found at the depth of
490 meter, data of RF Emergency Situations Ministry say. Deep-sea
robots are currently used to pull out the recorders.

OPPOSITIONAL POLITICIAN: ARMENIA-IRAN COOPERATION IS EXCLUSIVE BY ITS SIGNIFICANCE
Yerevan, May 16. ArmInfo. Armenia has stopped to be a hostile wedge
inside the Islamic world for the first time in its centuries-old
history and it is very important to keep this achievement, the leader
of the “National-Democratic Union” party Vazgen Manukyan told today
to journalists, asked about the possible consequences of the military
operation against Iran for Armenia.
According to Manukyan, such an operation can turn into a catastrophe
for Armenia. One should not rule out a possible military conflict
“in view of the fact that USA administration has become unpredictable
for the last years”. “Armenia must do the best to keep this exclusive
example of successful cooperation with a fundamental Islamic country”,
Manukyan said.

TURKS FUMING OVER GENOCIDE CLAIM
Rick Wallace, Victorian political reporter
The Australian
May 16 2006
,20867,19162502-2702,00.html
A LABOR MP of Greek descent who raised genocide allegations in
the Victorian parliament has sparked an international row with the
Turkish Government.
Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned backbencher Jenny
Mikakos against accusing Turkey of committing a “holocaust” comparable
to Adolf Hitler’s.
“This claim is just the distortion of historical facts,” it said
in a statement issued to The Australian yesterday that is likely to
infuriate the Greek Government and Greeks throughout the world.
“These baseless claims are counter-productive and in contrast with
co-operation and (the) dialogue spirit which we endeavour to develop
between Greece and Turkey.”
Ms Mikakos’s comments also incensed a fellow Labor MP, Michael
Leighton, who is the son of a holocaust survivor whose relatives died
in Hitler’s wartime slaughter of Jewish people.
The row started when Ms Mikakos called on Turkey to apologise for the
alleged killing of more than 350,000 Greeks in the so-called Pontian
genocide between 1916 and 1923.
“Unlike Germany, which has taken responsibility for the Jewish
holocaust, Turkey has never apologised to its victims,” she said.
Ms Mikakos defied Premier Steve Bracks’s efforts to quell the row
yesterday by releasing a statement repeating her accusations of
genocide, although she dropped any mention of the holocaust.
Labor sources said Mr Bracks privately “carpeted” Ms Mikakos for her
comments last week amid fears they would spark race-based bickering
within the party in the lead-up to the November election.
The two Labor MPs of Turkish descent in the parliament, John Eren and
Adem Somyurek, who interjected during her speech on May 4, refused to
fan the row yesterday, despite Ms Mikakos repeating the genocide claim.
“I raised the genocide of Pontic Greeks, Armenians and Assyrians in the
Victorian parliament in the lead-up to this Friday’s commemoration,”
she said.
“I have never vilified any community.”
Her comments relate to incidents during and after World War I,
a period when Turkey and Greece were fighting each other.
“Between 1916 and 1923 over 353,000 Pontic Greeks living in Asia Minor
and in Pontos, which is near the Black Sea, died as a result of the
20th century’s first but less known genocide,” she told parliament.
“Over a million Pontic Greeks were forced into exile. In the preceding
years, 1.5 million Armenians and 750,000 Assyrians in various parts
of Turkey also perished.
“Most victims died from exhaustion or dehydration on forced marches
or work in the so-called labour battalions.”
But the Turkish Government continues to deny that a holocaust involving
Pontian Greeks, Armenians or Assyrian Christians took place. “The
so-called Pontian genocide is devoid of historical basis,” the Foreign
Ministry told The Australian.
“We suggest that the Greek authorities and scholars evaluate the
historical events in an objective manner instead of coming forward
with these kind of allegations which would damage the Turkish-Greek
bilateral relations.”
The two countries have vastly improved their relationship in recent
years with Greece now supporting Turkey’s inclusion in the European
Union.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress