EAGLESMITH SECRET TOO WELL KEPT
by Randy Burton, The StarPhoenix
The Star Phoenix (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)
April 25, 2006 Tuesday
Final Edition
Shaunt Parthev is definitely not your typical country music fan.
He’s an Armenian immigrant who has never lived on a farm, a Saskatoon
lawyer who pilots a Jaguar rather than a tractor.
But for reasons he can’t quite explain, Parthev is a “Fredhead,”
one of a small band of intensely loyal fans who attend every Fred
Eaglesmith concert they can and buy all the CDs they can find.
“For some reason, his songs speak to me every time I go to see him,”
says Parthev, who has seen the Canadian singer-songwriter about
12 times.
“My friend keeps laughing about the songs that I listen to. He says
‘you know, when he’s singing about foreclosure and the bank and the
man, you do realize you are the man, not the guy being foreclosed
on.’ ”
That doesn’t matter to Parthev. He keeps a “Fredhead” pin stuck in
the headliner of his car, where his six-CD changer is loaded with
nothing but Eaglesmith. After a year or so, he considers adding a
new one to the mix.
Every time Eaglesmith comes to Saskatoon, Parthev buys eight or 10
tickets and takes a group of friends. Inevitably, the experience
won’t be for everyone. It will leave a couple of people cold and
a few more will thank Parthev politely and move on. But at least a
couple of Parthev’s guests will be hooked and new Fredheads will be
born. They will come under the thrall of the Eaglesmith mystique that
attracts people from miles around.
Like the local fellow who struggled to Saturday’s show at the
Concordia club a day after having his appendix out. (He said it
was done laparascopically, so the sacrifice was manageable.) Or the
Carnduff teacher at one of Eaglesmith’s past shows, who left school
at three in the afternoon and arrived a couple of minutes before
showtime at eight. As soon as the show was over, he turned around
and drove five hours back home, because he had to teach the next day.
They all have their reasons. Each Eaglesmith show is a unique blend
of Canadian roots music, road stories and home-brewed political
philosophy.
The man is part songwriter, part musician, part raconteur and part
comedian. Depending on his mood, he will vary the proportions of
those ingredients.
What doesn’t change is his willingness to tell you exactly what he
thinks. At every show, Eaglesmith offers up his views on a wide variety
of topics, including the state of the music world (rap music will make
you sterile), national politics and our “Canadian president”), child
rearing, gun registration and popular culture, among other things.
His storytelling tends to compete with his singing for air time,
but he’s so damn funny, no one in the audience seems to care.
However, there’s no doubt the real attraction is the songs.
Eaglesmith is easily one of Canada’s best songwriters, but the country
has yet to fully wake up to it.
Other singers have, though. Eaglesmith has been covered by plenty of
artists who know a good thing when they see it, such as The Cowboy
Junkies, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings and Mary Gauthier, among others.
If Bruce Springsteen had been born in the country instead of urban
New Jersey, he might have sounded a bit like this.
Eaglesmith can be hopelessly sentimental, such as when he sings about
an old cowboy dying of cancer brought on by a lifetime of chewing
tobacco, or he can be a real hard-ass (and I mean that in a good way),
such as when he sings that “it’s time to get a gun.”
He writes about snowplows and Indian motorcycles, steel guitars and
broken hearts. You can get a feel for his work from song titles like
Mighty Big Car, 49 Tons and especially, I Ain’t Ever Givin’ In.
Eaglesmith shuns the big record companies and plays no part whatever in
the commercial music industry. His shows are often sparsely advertised,
if at all, but it doesn’t seem to hurt him any.
His popularity is driven by word of mouth and the Internet, where he
sells his records and keeps his fans informed of his punishing tour
schedule. The people who care are plugged in, so much so that they
are bugging local promoter Rob Hodgins for tickets even before they
go on sale.
Eaglesmith is part of the growing indie music scene, one of hundreds
of artists that are making it outside the mainstream. They do it by
putting out their own records, and running their own tours, playing
in small halls and relying on word of mouth to build a following.
Eaglesmith has added a couple of wrinkles of his own, such as a musical
train ride through the Rockies, and a couple of his own “Fredfests”
where he hosts a number of other independent artists.
Northwinds Entertainment’s Hodgins says there are many artists like
Eaglesmith who are making a go of it off the commercial grid.
“These guys can be viable selling 5,000 to 10,000 units, where they
could never be viable in the commercial industry unless they sold
100,000 units. There are just so many more mouths to feed there.”
Even after 25 years in the business, Eaglesmith says he’s perfectly
happy if this is as good as it gets.
The other night at the Concordia club, he talked about driving by
Credit Union Centre on his way into town, where he noticed all the
assorted tour buses and semi-trailers it takes to tour a commercial
country act like Brooks and Dunn.
He pays attention to things like that, he deadpans, because “sometimes
I see those guys on their way down.”

SAFAROV’S RIGHTS PROTECTION FORUM CREATED IN WEB
Author: S. Ilhamgizi
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
April 25 2006
A forum for protection of rights of lifelong-sentenced Azeri military
Ramil Safarov created in the Web, Trendreports quoting Akif Nagi,
chairman of Karabakh Liberation Organization (KLO) and member of
Advisory council for protection of Ramil Safarov’s rights.
The council for protection of Ramil Safarov’s rights opened a forum
at The forum provides information in Azeri, Russian,
English and Hungarian. The information is also sent to Hungarian
mass media and world public agencies. The forum also displays the
conversation with lawyers on Ramil Safarov’s case. One of famous
lawyers is going to visit the Forum at noon of April 26.
KLO considers necessary to hand Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan. “Since
Ramil Safarov’s life in Budapest is in danger, Azeri government must
save him. Moreover, we think his case shall be tried in NATO’s Military
Tribunal. Budapest municipal court has already demonstrated his biased
position and we should seek for justice in a different instance”, –
Nagi said.
KLO chief also said it is unfair to restrict protest actions and
rallies on this matter. Open demonstration of decisive protest against
unjust sentence, brining this protest to attention of Hungarian public
and legal system is in favor of our compatriot, not the contrary.

KURDS AND IRANIAN MONARCHISTS
By Hozan Kapri
Kurdish Media, UK
April 25 2006
Most of the Iranian Television stations that broadcast from California,
U.S.A, are either funded by the Pahlavi family or their supporters.
The hope that one day the former royal family will come back to power
has sustained this people since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. This
people refuse to learn their lesson that the Iranian people kicked
out their beloved regime in a popular national uprising. One of the
presenters on this television is Reza Fazeli, a former actor. In a
February 2003 show Mr. Fazeli was screaming at the top of his lungs
” What do these Kurds want to do in their mountains?”
What Mr. Fazeli meant was very clear. As all of other Persian
chauvinists he believes the Kurds are a primitive people and they
must assimilate. Mr. Repeatedly says that the Kurds are just like
the Mullahs of Iran, because they are fighting everyone in the region.
Mr. Fazeli does not understand that the Kurdish struggle was against
oppressors and Tyrants like his beloved Shah. When Raza Khan became
the new Shah of Iran in 1925, all sorts of Kurdish culture was banned
and people were even forbidden to wear traditional Kurdish clothing.
Many people were tortured and imprisoned and their only offence was
that they were wearing Kurdish clothing. Although these are only a
few examples, Raza Shah was a tyrant and a Persian chauvinist. His
followers today have inherited his Ideology.
Another Journalist from the shah’s time that have a show on one of
this television is a man by the name of sirus or Cyrus Sharafshahi.
Some time ago the Islamic government executed a few Kurdish
decedents. Mr. Sharafshahi was having a discussion regarding separatist
groups of Iran. Mr. Sharafshahi with a smile on his face turned
to the panelist and said, ” The regime just executed a few of this
people.” I was heartbroken upon hearing such words. For this people
were resisting oppression and inequality. But the monarchists do not
refrain in expressing their hatred Mr. Fazeli proudly proclaims that
his mother is of Kurdish descend.
But I wonder why is he than associating himself with anti-Kurdish
groups? Or is that a scheme to attract Kurds towards himself? The
monarchists passionately talk about the brutality of the clerical
regime in Iran, but when one points out to the atrocities and the
crimes of the Pahlavi dynasty, the scream and yell ” Forget the past,
forget the past.” The monarchist denounces the Islamic Republic for
sending money to Palestinians and other Muslim countries while its
own people live in poverty. But when in my own city of Sardahst,
in western Iran, long after the so-called ” White revolution” there
was not a single hospital, not even a simple clinic. Yet when a
caller called and said he was calling from Dubai, Mr. Fazeli said,
” Did you know that when this Arabs were roaming the desert the Shah
came and built a hospital there?” This actions of the Shah, are they
any different than that of the clerics?
Mr. Fazeli repeatedly says that the Iranian Azeri people are not Turks
and that they were turkified. First, if one claims to be a Turk, such
as The Azeri people in Iran, nobody has the right to tell him or her
that she is not a Turk. It is very likely that these monarchists in the
future will make a similar charge against the Kurds and claim that the
Kurds are not really Kurds but they are Persians who have forgotten
their culture. These monarchists say that the Iranian Kurds were the
first Iranian people to live in the country long before the arrival
of the Persians. But when the Kurds talk about self-determination
and press for rights and freedoms they erupt in fury.
In one of their programs, Rafi Khachaturian a comedian of Armenian
origin asked Raza Pahlavi about self-determination for the Azeri
and the Kurdish people. I had almost changed the channel but I did
not. I have always wanted to ask this question myself. I was convinced
that he would give a satisfying answer and somehow ease the tension
between the Kurds and the monarchists. But I was taken completely
by surprise. Mr. Pahlavi said “if any region of the country wants to
spend their taxes they are free to spend it in anyway possible.” Good
for him. At lease “his majesty” is willing to give Kurds as much
rights as a village chief. What does this answer have to do with
Kurdish self-determination? I thank “his majesty” for being honest
enough and reveal his real position on the Kurdish issue. We Kurds
now know what to expect from monarchist.
In the spring of 2004 few Kurds from the Washington DC area were
hosting a show called ” Juanî Kurdistan” on one of the Persian T.V.
station, RANGARANG TV. The monarchists and other racist Persians
would be calling in and swearing and being disrespectful to the host
of the show. They would be calling and say ” be ashamed of yourself.
Shame on you for speaking a language other than Persian.” The
monarchists brought so much pressure on the T.V. station until the
Kurds were forced to close down the show. I would like to ask the
Kurds one question. If this people are treating us like this and can’t
even stand our language, and us what will this people do in tomorrows
“Free Iran.”
I call on all Kurds to unite. We must unite and establish Independent
T.V. stations to counter the attacks of racist and the chauvinists.
These monarchists know very well that Kurds will never accept
monarchy. The Kurds have not forgotten the killings that were carried
out by the Shah of Iran. The monarchist knows that it will be very
difficult to bring resilient Kurds under control in the future. The
Kurds will be a building block against their dream of a future
monarchy. The Kurds will not rest until they get what they are after.
Currently major political parties are asking for a federalist
entity within Iran. But unfortunately after seeing how terribly this
monarchist treat the Kurds, many Kurds are thinking of an independent
state. If Iran does crumble in the future, these monarchists will
probably be the main cause of it. They bring division and sectarian
tension. If the monarchist wants the support of the Kurds, they as
well as the Pahlavi family must apologize to the Kurdish people.
–Boundary_(ID_Vyqe2pZG8dpTYbuhDBkVFQ)–

STUDENT ARRESTED OVER MURDER OF ARMENIAN YOUTH IN MOSCOW
Agence France Presse — English
April 24, 2006 Monday 8:06 AM GMT
A 17-year-old student suspected of having stabbed a young Russian of
Armenian origin in the Moscow metro on Saturday has been arrested,
the prosecutor for the Russian capital said Monday.
A spokesman for the prosecutor told Russian news agency ITAR-TASS
the student had confessed to the murder, which happened Saturday
afternoon in the Pushkinskaya underground station in central Moscow.
A group of six or seven youths got off a train and immediately set upon
another group of around 12 people who were standing on the platform.
The victim, a 17-year-old man of Armenian origin, died on the spot
after he was stabbed in the chest.
The prosecutor is not ruling out a motive of racial hatred, Itar-Tass
reported. The suspect is in his final year of secondary school
in Moscow.
Racist attacks are common in Russia, particularly among young people.
But the Russian authorities, reluctant to use the term, often describe
such crimes as “hooliganism”.
They are often carried out by gangs of skinheads and usually target
Asians, Africans and people from the Caucasus — such as Armenians —
or Central Asia.

SYSTEM OF A DOWN LEAD ARMENIAN RALLY
Online Rock Radio, Greece
April 27 2006
System Of A Down singer Serj Tankian and drummer John Dolmayan
led a rally of more than 1,000 people outside the Turkish embassy
in Washington D.C. on Monday (April 24th), according to Armenian
newspaper Yerkir. The rally was held to urge the Turkish government
to end its denial of the Armenian genocide that the Turks undertook
between 1915 and 1923. The rally began a three-day visit to the U.S.
capitol by the System members, and Dolmayan told us he was pleased
with the results: “It’s been good. There’s been a lot of attention.
We’ve seen a lot of kids out there protesting and being involved,
and we’re seeing a lot more people that are not of Armenian descent
actually coming out, which is very good, and we believe that will
continue until this issue is brought to justice.”
The rally was organized by the Armenian National Committee of America
and the Armenian Youth Federation.
Tankian and Dolmayan capped their trip to Washington last night
(Wednesday, April 26th) with the 11th annual commemoration of the
genocide on Capitol Hill, attended by members of Congress, diplomats,
human rights activists, Armenian-Americans and others.
The System members also hosted a Congressional screening on Tuesday
(April 25th) of Screamers, a new documentary about the band’s ongoing
efforts to foster recognition for the genocide.
Meanwhile, a brand new book called System Of A Down: Right
Here In Hollywood is being published on April 30th. According to
Blabbermouth.net, the book features new interviews with the band and
will be “the first and definitive account of this remarkable act.”
The author, Ben Myers, has previously written books on Green Day,
Muse and John Lydon.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ALIYEV IN WASHINGTON: AN IMPORTANT TEST FOR DEMOCRACY
Christopher Walker
A EurasiaNet Commentary
EurasiaNet, NY
April 27 2006
The rubber hits the road for President George W. Bush’s “Freedom
Agenda,” when he meets with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan at
the White House on April 28. Aliyev sits atop a tightly controlled
system known for its denial of political or economic freedom to those
who aren’t members of the tiny and insular ruling elite.
The agenda for the meeting between the two presidents is likely to
focus on major geopolitical issues now making headlines, including
Iran’s nuclear program, energy security and the global campaign
against terrorism.
While these issues unquestionably deserve high billing, President
Bush should also emphasize Azerbaijan’s lagging performance on
democratic reform. Letting the country’s leadership off the hook for
its resistance to democratization would be a strategic mistake.
Encouraging democratic reforms in Azerbaijan not only would serve
the long-term interests of the West, it would benefit all Azerbaijani
citizens.
Azerbaijan is a Muslim country of roughly 8 million located in the
pivotal trans-Caucasus region. To the east is the Caspian Sea, key to
the region’s energy riches and a pathway to Central Asia. To the north
lies Russia. To the south, Iran. To round out this tough neighborhood,
the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Armenia are to Azerbaijan’s
west. Nagorno-Karabakh, over which Azerbaijan and Armenia remain
embroiled in a territorial dispute, is one of the world’s most bitter
“frozen” conflicts. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Azerbaijan’s oil wealth, poised to balloon in the coming years,
adds another wrinkle. Oil and gas accounted for less than 20 percent
of Azerbaijan’s industrial output a decade and a half ago. Today,
it represents more than 60 percent, as well as more than half of
Azerbaijan’s budget revenue – figures that are both rising.
For countries with sound and independent institutions, such resources
can benefit wider society. In a country where more than 40 percent
of the population now lives below the poverty line, well managed oil
proceeds could help lift Azerbaijan to a level of prosperity unique
to the region. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
In Azerbaijan’s case, however, economic experts worry that the oil
wealth will fuel even more rapacious corruption among the ruling elite,
rather than genuine reform of the country’s closed, Soviet-oriented
institutions. The government is now setting in motion a host of large
scale infrastructure projects underwritten by oil proceeds, projects
that on their face seem sensible enough. However, given the country’s
rampant corruption and weak institutions, there is a great danger
that much of this money will find its way into the corrupt patronage
networks that steer the country’s economic and political activity.
A report issued in December 2005 by the Caspian Development Advisory
Panel, a body established by British Petroleum to study the impact
of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project, said that “in the longer
term, development of the rule of law, transparency and good governance,
including full participation by the public, will be prerequisites
if Azerbaijan is to manage effectively its substantial oil and gas
wealth and avoid the ‘oil curse’.” Right now, given the state of its
institutions, odds are that Azerbaijan will not escape this oil curse.
Azerbaijan’s parliament is little more than a rubber stamp body. The
judiciary likewise is beholden to the executive. The country’s
television media is tightly controlled by President Aliyev’s family
and senior officials. Given the suffocating grip on the news media,
average Azerbaijanis essentially operate in the dark on public policy
issues. Parliamentary elections last November were rife with abuses,
including intimidation of opposition candidates and serious flaws in
vote counting.
Meanwhile, reformers in Azerbaijan are deflated, first due to the weak
Western response to the marred parliamentary elections in November and
now by the invitation of President Aliyev to the White House, which is
seen as an endorsement of the Azerbaijani leader’s repressive policies.
Azeri reformers are not naìve. They do not expect the United States to
ignore its own national security and energy interests. One Baku-based
reformer who has spent time in the West told me in early April:
“we recognize that the US has other interests in our country.
But we want a consistent message to our regime on the need for
democratic reform and a basic adherence to human rights standards –
which has been missing.”
Reformers see neither political will from their own leaders, nor
sufficiently strong commitment from the United States or European
Union to push the country’s authoritarian management style in a more
open direction. Therefore, the meeting between presidents Bush and
Aliyev is a golden opportunity for the United States to send a message
to Azerbaijan’s leadership – that the US is committed to democracy
there, too.
The important issues on which the West needs the cooperation of
Azerbaijan should not crowd out the development of accountable
institutions, as well as the emergence of greater political and
economic pluralism. A democratic Azerbaijan will still have oil,
and will be a more reliable partner to the West.
Editor’s Note: Christopher Walker is Director of Studies at Freedom
House. He is author of the Azerbaijan report in Freedom House’s
forthcoming survey of governance, “Countries at the Crossroads.” He
recently returned from a working visit to Azerbaijan.
–Boundary_(ID_aZHeP9Ksr7h0ItixL8gYWw )–

REMEMBERING ’91 YEARS OF RESILIENCE AND SURVIVAL’
By Melody Hanatani/ Staff Writer
Woburn Advocate, MA
April 27 2006
It was a solemn day at the State House last Friday when local
officials and the Armenian community came together to commemorate
the 91st anniversary of the Armenian genocide.
Generations of Armenians filled the House of Representatives chamber
from top to bottom for the annual ceremony sponsored by the State
House Genocide Commemoration Committee.
Several candidates for the upcoming statewide election, including
gubernatorial hopeful Deval Patrick, were among those in attendance.
State Rep. Rachel Kaprielian of Watertown opened the event by calling
it a commemoration of “91 years of grief … 91 years of resilience
and survival.”
The Rev. Raphael Andonian of Belmont’s Holy Cross Armenian Catholic
Church gave the invocation and the Rev. Antranig Baljian of
St. Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church in Watertown gave a requiem
prayer.
Many speakers called for the Turkish and United States governments
to recognize the atrocities in order to begin healing and to prevent
future genocides.
U.S. Rep Edward Markey demanded that President George W. Bush go on
the record and recognize the killings as genocide.
Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey presented Governor’s Proclamations to four
survivors, three of whom attended the ceremony. The son of Areka
DerKazarian accepted the proclamation on behalf of his mother, who
was unable to attend.
“Our country is richer because of you,” Healey said to the survivors.
Healey was filling in for Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Belmont, who was in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on Friday.
This year’s ceremony honored Dr. Taner Akcam, a visiting professor
at the University of Minnesota, who was one of the first Turkish
scholars to recognize the genocide.
For speaking out, Akcam received a 10-year prison sentence in 1976. He
escaped after serving one year, and has lived in exile since then.
For the past 20 years, Akcam has worked on human rights issues, in
particular the Turkish government’s denial of the genocide. He said
truth and recognition would deter further human rights violations
and abuse.
He called for Turkey and Armenia to work together to deal with their
pasts as part of the democratization process.
Dr. Henry Theriault, the keynote speaker, said an apology alone could
simply be “empty rhetoric.”
Theriault, who is the coordinator for the Center for the Study of
Human Rights at Worcester State College, said recognition must come
in the form of land and reparations.
In his closing remarks, state Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham, talked
about why the Armenian community continues to commemorate the genocide.
He said the commemoration is not about dwelling on the past, but
understanding that the genocide was the first of many that occurred
over the past 100 years.
“We know the events of the past are important today,” he said.
Clara Mandasian of Watertown has lived in Massachusetts for the past
seven years and has attended the commemoration every year. She’s been
to similar ceremonies around the United States.
For Mandasian, the commemoration is a way for her to honor the victims
of past genocides. Her grandmother survived the Armenian genocide.
“It’s very frustrating,” she said of the Turkish government’s denial
of the genocide. “It’s so painful to have a history, to know what
your family endured, and have the perpetrator deny it.”
It was a first-time ceremony for the younger generation of
Armenians. Araxie Poladian of Belmont brought her grandchildren for
the first time.
She hopes her grandchildren can keep the history alive.
“I hope people will tell other people that this shouldn’t happen to
anyone,” she said.

RALLY LINKS GENOCIDES
By Melody Hanatani/ Staff Writer
Woburn Advocate, MA
April 27 2006
A new coalition of diverse local ethnic groups kicked off an
anti-genocide campaign with a rally at the State House last Friday,
following the annual Armenian genocide anniversary commemoration.
The group, called kNOw Genocide, includes 10 organizations such as
Rwanda Outlook, the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association, and the
Jewish Community Relations Council.
On his way from the ceremony to the rally, state Sen. Steven Tolman
talked about why the coalition was formed.
“Today is a reaction of a diverse group to the lawsuit about the
denial of the Turks that this [genocide] even happened,” he said,
referring to a lawsuit seeking to introduce materials denying the
genocide into the statewide curriculum.
In listing the genocides that have occurred over the past 100 years,
such as Armenia, Bosnia and Cambodia, U.S. Rep Edward Markey called
on President George W. Bush to recognize the genocides in Armenia
and Darfur.
“Don’t forget Palestine, Markey,” said one protester. “It’s been too
long for them too.”
The protester was later escorted farther down Beacon Street, where
he continued to yell at the speakers.
Attorney General Tom Reilly, a Watertown resident and gubernatorial
hopeful, said the pending case in Boston is not about limiting free
speech. He said the only way to find a more just and peaceful future
is to face the “ugly truth of our past.”
State Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham, announced new “landmark”
legislation would be filed this week to force the state to divest from
any country where genocide occurs. He said the legislation would be
the first of its kind in the country, and hopes it will be a model
for other states.
Markey said earlier that the legislation would “ratchet up pressure
on the Bush administration to take a firmer stand in Darfur.”
According to some humanitarian groups, about 400,000 people have died
in the Darfur region of Sudan.
Belmont resident Heather Krafian, a teacher at Muraco Elementary School
in Winchester, is a granddaughter of Armenian genocide survivors. She
spoke about the importance of teaching about the genocide in the
schools.
She spoke out against the denial of the genocide, and said it has
become the modus operandi of the Turkish government. She said there
is no doubt among scholars and experts that the Armenian genocide
occurred.
“The thread of lies Turkey has woven for 91 years is slowly beginning
to unravel,” said Krafian. “The fabric of denial has become torn and
tattered. The truth will not be killed, but will prevail.”

HISTORY THAT DARES NOT SPEAK ITS NAME
GetReligion, DC
April 27 2006
It is one of the most controversial events in the history of the 20th
century and hardly anyone in America knows about it.
If a government managed to kill off nearly 80 percent of the members
of a particular ethnic group within its borders, while also striving
to destroy its history and memory, what would you call it?
Genocide? A hoax?
A massacre? A holocaust, even?
What if the victims represented a branch of Eastern Christianity
that few in the West knew about? What if the nation being accused of
committing genocide were a crucial U.S. friend in the Muslim world
and, now, a nation urgently trying to change its image in order
to enter the European Union? And how would you treat this event
in public schools? Would you allow it to be debated by partisans,
pitting those who descended from the survivors against the various
interest groups who want this issue to go away?
We are talking, of course, about the 1915-18 massacre of Armenians by
the Turkish government. A recent Los Angeles Times story by Elizabeth
Mehren offered readers a glimpse into the controversies surrounding
the genocide by focusing on a lawsuit in Massachusetts – backed by
Turks and others – that says students should hear evidence that the
genocide never happened or that it has been blown out of proportion.
Is this a case where free speech is absolute? Or is it somehow similar
to cases involving – prepare for thunderbolts – Holocaust denial?
How emotional is this? How loaded are these debates? Listen to
these voices:
She was only 3 when her family fled their Turkish homeland 91 years
ago. Alice Shnorhokian and her brother were too small to walk the
long road to safety in the Syrian desert, so their parents strapped
them in boxes on the sides of a donkey that carried the family
possessions. . . . Shnorhokian saw fellow Armenians trying to escape
from every village she passed. There was no food, water or shelter,
she said. Babies and old people were dying along the way. Eventually,
about 1.2 million Armenians would perish.
“In Turkey, in genocide times, we Christian Armenians had three
options,” Shnorhokian said. “We paid a heavy tax, became Muslim
or died.”
Then there is high-school senior Ted Griswold, who filed the lawsuit
backed by Tuskish-Americans.
The plaintiffs contend that Department of Education Commissioner
David P. Driscoll and other state officials violated the 1st Amendment
by removing material from a human rights curriculum that questioned
whether the mass killings nearly a century ago constituted genocide.
“It’s a case of academic freedom,” said Griswold, who lent his name to
the suit to show his support for freedom of speech, and who admitted
he knows little about Armenia or the genocide. “A greater perspective
makes the truth easier to find,” he said, adding: “This is nothing
personal about the Armenians. I realize it is an emotional issue
for them.”
This story is just beginning. You can also say that it will never end
(even as the destruction of Armenian churches and history continues).
The question, for me, is whether other newspapers and networks
care enough about foreign news and, yes, religion news to cover this
debate. Why cover religion story on the other side of the planet, even
when the controversy reaches into American courtrooms and classrooms?
Why cover a story that offends so many different groups of people?
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

413,000 ARMENIANS FORCED TO EMIGRATE
By Sezai Kalayci, Istanbul
Zaman Online, Turkey
April 27 2006
The chair of the Turkish History Council, Professor Yusuf Halacoglu
informed that the number of Armenians forced to relocate in 1915
was 413,000.
While claiming that these figures according to “The Secret Note Book of
Talat Pasha” were exaggerated, Halacoglu noted that the information in
the book published by the General Staff also confirmed his assessment.
“The number of Armenians sent to Syria was 413,000, a figure that I
wrote in my book and that the General Staff confirmed. The figure of
924,000 is not the actual number that was sent, but was probably the
planned number,” said Halacoglu.
The idea of forced emigration of Catholic and Protestant Armenians was
abandoned and in some cities, children and women were not relocated.
Halacoglu noted that the information Murat Bardakci, a columnist for
Hurriyet daily, took from the secret notebook of Talat Pasha, lacked
authenticity and what he wrote about as history, was just a story.
Highlighting that the population of Ankara was 44,000 in 1914,
Halacoglu continues: “According to Mr. Bardakci, the number of
Armenians that emigrated from Ankara was 47,000 and the number who
could not emigrate was 12,000. If you add these together it equals
60,000; therefore, refuting the accuracy of his quoted emigration
figures. I think Mr. Bardakci simply wants to remain popular.”
Baskent University faculty member Professor Servet Mutlu said the
notebook, which was supposedly written by Talat Pasha, might have
been written by somebody else. The accuracy of information could be
ascertained if the notebook describing the emigration was examined
at chronology laboratories.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress