Sony-led group in talks to buy MGM for $5bn
By Peter Thal Larsen in New York

FT
April 22 2004 0:20

A group led by Sony, the Japanese electronics giant, is in talks to
buy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in a deal that would value the famed Hollywood
studio at around $5bn.

Sony and two private equity firms, Providence Equity Partners and
Texas Pacific Group, have been examining MGM’s books with a view to
making an offer, people close to the situation said. However a deal –
if one is finalised – is believed to be several weeks away.

The talks represent the latest instalment in the long-running drama of
MGM’s future. It boasts a film library stocked with classics such as
Annie Hall and The Pink Panther but has increasingly become an anomaly
in an industry dominated by integrated media conglomerates.

Kirk Kerkorian, the billionaire investor who controls 75 per cent of
MGM, has in recent years explored a variety of options including a
sale to another studio or a merger with a media rival.

A few years ago he held talks with Sony about a possible deal which
fell apart on a disagreement about price. Last year, an MGM-led
consortium – which included Providence – was one of the losing bidders
in the auction of Vivendi’s US media assets, including Universal
Studios. The deal now under discussion would see Sony and its partners
make an offer for MGM valuing the company’s equity and debt around
$5bn.

Although MGM is debt-free, its management has drawn up a plan to pay
investors a special dividend of about $8 per share.

Any deal with Sony would not be finalised until after the dividend –
which is expected to cost the company around $1.9bn – had been
distributed. MGM shares closed up $2.10 at $19.75. MGM, Sony,
Providence and Texas Pacific all declined to comment.

A deal would allow Sony to merge its film library with MGM’s,
generating big cost savings and giving it more clout in negotiations
with cable operators and DVD retailers.

Bringing in private equity investors would enable Sony, which has
generally been cautious about acquisitions, to spread the cost of the
purchase.

News of the talks may spur other media groups such as Time Warner to
consider a possible offer for MGM, people familiar with the matter
said.

But industry observers warned that MGM executives were notorious for
talking about possible deals without completing them.

“They open up their books every year and say: come buy us,” one
Hollywood insider said. “It’s a rite of spring.” Indeed, Mr Kerkorian
has owned the studio on three separate occasions in the past 35 years.

Although MGM retains its famous logo of a roaring lion, it has faded
since its heyday in the 1930s and 1940s, when Louis B. Mayer made it
Hollywood’s largest studio, producing hits such as Gone with the Wind
and the Wizard of Oz.

In recent years chief executive Alex Yemenidjian has concentrated on
developing cash flow from MGM’s library while limiting its investment
in new movies, aside from proven blockbusters such as the James Bond
films.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Radio Canada
April 22 2004

Motion sur le génocide arménien: la Turquie en colère

La Turquie fustige les parlementaires canadiens, à la suite de
l’adoption d’une motion du Bloc Québécois reconnaissant que la
Turquie avait commis un génocide contre les Arméniens en 1915.

«Nous condamnons vivement le fait que le Parlement fédéral canadien,
en dépit de toutes nos démarches, n’ait servi l’intérêt que de
groupes marginaux», souligne un communiqué du ministère turc des
Affaires étrangères.

Le document indique que les autorités turques ont expliqué à
plusieurs reprises aux autorités canadiennes, les ennuis que devrait
provoquer une telle décision, à leurs yeux erronée.

Dans ce cas, la Turquie pourrait faire usage de rétorsions à
l’encontre du Canada avec lequel elle entretient traditionnellement
de bonnes relations.

Mercredi, une vaste majorité de députés de la Chambre (153 contre
68), dont de nombreux libéraux, ont voté en faveur de cette motion,
déposée par une députée bloquiste, malgré l’avis défavorable du
ministre des Affaires étrangères, Bill Graham. M. Graham souhaitait
éviter de froisser le gouvernement turc, qui n’a jamais admis son
rôle dans le massacre de 1,5 million d’Arméniens.

.
Bill Graham
.
Pour sa part, le ministre Graham a déclaré que le Canada voulait
maintenir les meilleures relations possibles avec Ankara.

Il a souligné que la Turquie était un partenaire important au sein de
l’OTAN et que la politique étrangère du Canada encourage actuellement
le rapprochement entre l’Arménie et la Turquie.

Il a dit espérer que la Turquie comprendrait que ce sont les députés
qui s’expriment inidividuellement sur une question de conscience.

Parmi les députés libéraux qui ont voté en faveur de la motion, on
note plusieurs anciens ministres, dont Martin Cauchon, Stéphane Dion,
Lyle Vanclief, Lawrence MacAulay et Herb Dhaliwal.

Plus d’une vingtaine de pays ainsi que les Nations unies ont reconnu
jusqu’ici le génocide arménien.

En 1996, la Chambre des communes a reconnu la tragédie qui a frappé
les Arméniens à la chute de l’Empire ottoman. Elle a cependant refusé
d’évoquer un génocide.

April 21, 2004 (7:15 p.m. EDT) No. 60

CANADA REITERATES ITS FIRM POSITION ON THE ARMENIAN TRAGEDY

Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham today issued the following
statement concerning the adoption of a private member’s motion by the
House of Commons following a debate on the Armenian tragedy of 1915:

“The Government of Canada’s position on this issue, as stated on June
10, 1999, in the House of Commons, has not changed. We agree with the
members of the House that the events of 1915 to 1923 were tragic. Canada
has condemned the atrocities committed against hundreds of thousands of
Armenians, including massive deportations and massacres. In so doing,
the Canadian government has continued to urge the Armenian and Turkish
communities to seek reconciliation and peace and to look to the future
to contribute to prosperity and stability in an impoverished and
volatile region. The Canadian government also believes that the issue is
essentially for the Armenian and Turkish governments and experts to
resolve.

“Canada has had friendly and cooperative relations with Turkey and
Armenia for many years. The Canadian government is committed to make
these relationships even stronger in the future.”

Debates and votes on private member’s business in the House of Commons
are an integral part of the Canadian democratic process, but private
member’s motions are not binding on the Government of Canada.

– 30 –

For further information, media representatives may contact:

Isabelle Savard
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
(613) 995-1851

Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs Canada and International Trade Canada
(613) 995-1874

ABCNEWS
International
April 22, 2004

Canadian Parliament Recognizes Armenian Genocide

April 21 – By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Canadian Parliament on Wednesday ignored
long-standing government policy and angered Turkey by formally declaring
that Ottoman Turks committed genocide against Armenians in 1915.

The House of Commons voted 153-68 to support a motion declaring the events
of 90 years ago as genocide, despite a plea from Foreign Minister Bill
Graham not to aggravate NATO ally Turkey.

Armenians say some 1.5 million of their people were deliberately slaughtered
by Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1923. Turkey denies the charges of
genocide, saying the Armenians were among the many victims of a partisan war
raging during World War One as the Ottoman Empire collapsed.

Graham quickly issued a statement after the vote stressing the motion would
not alter Ottawa’s official policy, which is that while the events of 1915
were a tragedy, they did not constitute genocide.

Our “position on this issue … has not changed. Canada has had friendly and
cooperative relations with Turkey and Armenia for many years. The Canadian
government is committed to make these relationships even stronger in the
future,” he said.

But the result looked certain to harm ties with Turkey and represented a
sound defeat for the government, which had instructed Cabinet members to
vote “no.”

Before the vote, Graham sent a letter to Liberal lawmakers saying he was
“deeply concerned that it (the motion) could have far-reaching negative
consequences” for Turkey and the region.

“We must recognize we must have good relations with our NATO colleague in
Turkey … (which) is a very important NATO ally that we work with closely
in many areas, including Afghanistan,” he told reporters.

Despite his efforts, no less than 75 Liberal legislators voted for the
resolution. In recent years, parliaments in more than a dozen countries —
including France, Russia and Switzerland — have adopted similar motions.

Ankara has fought hard to block attempts to press for international
recognition of the events as a genocide.

“Certainly, relations with Canada will suffer as the result of adopting such
a motion,” Turkish Embassy counselor Fazli Corman told Reuters, citing the
example of Canadian companies seeking to sign contracts in Turkey.

France’s parliament backed the Armenian case in 2001, prompting Turkey to
freeze official visits to France and temporarily block French companies from
entering lucrative defense contracts.

The U.S. Congress dropped a similar resolution in 2000 after the White House
warned it would harm U.S. security interests in the Middle East. (Additional
reporting by Randall Palmer in Ottawa)

Copyright 2004 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

The Canadian Press, 2004

Commons vote recognizes Armenian genocide as “crime against humanity”
ALEXANDER PANETTA

OTTAWA (CP) – Canada became one of few countries to formally recognize the
genocide of Armenian Turks during the First World War in a strongly worded
motion adopted 153-68 in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Government members were discouraged from voting for the motion, which is
sure to anger a Turkish government that has never recognized the massacre of
1.5 million Armenians starting in 1915.

Following a charged debate at their weekly closed-door caucus meeting,
Liberal backbenchers voted massively in favour while the party’s cabinet
contingent rejected the Bloc Quebecois motion.

Prime Minister Paul Martin was absent during the politically sensitive vote
but Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham defended the government’s
opposition.

The Turkish government has warned that recognizing the genocide could have
economic consequences and Graham said he wanted to maintain good relations
with Turkey.

“Turkey is an important NATO ally in a region where it is a Muslim country
with a moderate government,” he said.

“What we seek to do in our foreign policy is to encourage the forward
dimension, we’re forward-looking. We’d like our Armenian friends and our
Turkish friends to work together to put these issues in the past.”

The motion read: “That this House acknowledges the Armenian genocide of 1915
and condemns this act as a crime against humanity.”

The Turkish government rejects the charge of genocide as unfounded and says
that while 600,000 Armenians died, 2.5 million Muslims perished in a period
of civil unrest.

Unlike the Liberal government most opposition MPs – including Conservative
Leader Stephen Harper – voted in favour of the motion, which places Canada
in a category of only about two dozen countries to have recognized the
Armenian genocide.

The United Nations has also recognized the massacre, and Armenians have been
fighting for decades throughout the world for that sort of acknowledgement.

One opposition critic labelled the prime minister “hypocritical” for
promising more free votes and then forcing ministers to toe the line on such
a matter of deep personal conscience.

“It’s a terrible double standard for Paul Martin to force his ministers to
vote against it and not even show up himself,” said Tory foreign affairs
critic Stockwell Day.

“That is a hypocritical double standard.”

Liberal Hedy Fry supported the motion but said it’s important to note the
atrocities were carried out under the Ottoman empire, which has faded into
history and was long ago replaced by a modern Turkish state.

“I think we need to recognize the past,” she said.

“I think it doesn’t mean we’ve broken ties with the current regime in
Turkey. They are our colleagues, they are our NATO allies. They are a
moderate, Muslim government and I think we need to work with them.

Recognizing what happened in the Ottoman empire shouldn’t affect Canada’s
diplomatic relations with Turkey, she said.

Fry and many other former Liberal cabinet ministers who are now backbenchers
also voted in favour, including Martin Cauchon, Stephane Dion, Maurizio
Bevilacqua, Lyle Vanclief, Lawrence MacAulay, Herb Dhaliwal and David
Kilgour.

© The Canadian Press, 2004

Armenian National Committee of Idaho
2414 Brumback Street
Boise, Idaho 83702
Tel. (208) 484-4363
Email: [email protected]

PRESS RELEASE
April 21, 2004
Contact: Rafael Saakyan
Tel: (208) 484-4363

IDAHO GOVERNOR ISSUES PROCLAMATION COMMEMORATING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

BOISE, ID – Idaho became the 33rd U.S. state to recognize the Armenian
Genocide this week, as Republican Governor Dirk Kempthorne, Chairman
of National Governors Association, issued a proclamation citing April
24th “Idaho Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923,”
reported the Armenian National Committee of Idaho (ANC-Idaho).

The proclamation begins noting that “one and one-half-million
Christian Armenian men, women, and children were the victims of a
brutal genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Turkish Government from
1915-1923.” It goes on to cite the importance of commemorating this
crime against humanity as a way of “guarding against the repetition of
future genocides and educating people about the atrocities connected
to these horrific crimes.” The complete text of the Governor’s
proclamation is provided below.

The gubernatorial proclamation closely follows a resolution
unanimously adopted by the Senate of the Associated Students of Boise
State University (ASBSU) recognizing the Armenian Genocide and
condemning efforts to rewrite history. Senate Resolution 13 states
that the genocide “has resulted in the elimination of the Armenian
people from their historic homeland of over 3000 years through the
criminal loss of property and life.” The resolution “commemorates the
Armenian Genocide and condemns those attempts made by governments as
well as other entities, both public and private, to distort the
historical reality and legal relevance of the Armenian Genocide to the
descendants of its survivors and humanity as a whole.”

Upon hearing the news of the Governor’s proclamation, David Morriss,
President of the ASBSU, commented: “I think it’s fantastic that the
Governor not only recognizes the importance of bringing this
information to light, but also stands behind efforts to educate the
public about the Armenian Genocide”.

Chairman of ANC-Idaho, Rafael Saakyan, commended Governor Kempthorne
on his “commitment to advancing human rights issues in the state of
Idaho and for joining the Armenian community across this great state
in sustaining the flame of remembrance for the victims of the Armenian
Genocide.” Saakyan then urged the Idaho Congressional delegation to
“ensure that their state’s views are well represented through their
support for the adoption of the Genocide resolution in the House and
Senate.”

Rebecca Kun, communications director for ANC-Idaho, worked closely
with the ANC-Idaho team to collect close to 600 signatures for the
proclamation request. “This was a marathon process — we collected 594
signatures in 2 1/2 weeks in order to get our proclamation request
submitted in time to meet the April 24th deadline we set for
ourselves. With this proclamation and the Boise State initiative it
is clear that the Armenian community, working together, can make a
real difference.” Ms. Kun continued, stating “as a first generation
holocaust survivor, I understand the importance of bringing these
events to light. Having this proclamation signed by both the State of
Idaho and Boise State University is the first step to correct the
dissemination of lies that has been perpetuated for the last 89
years.”

Massachusetts State Republican Committee man Bob Semonian of
Watertown, MA helped the ANC-Idaho bring their concerns to the
attention of the Governor’s office. Semonian discussed the importance
of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide with Gov. Kempthorne
directly at the recent National Governor’s Association (NGA) meeting
in Washington, DC.

The Idaho proclamation follows an earlier letter of recognition issued
by Montana’s Republican Governor Judith Martz in late March.
Jamestown North Dakota Mayor Charles Kourajian issued a city
proclamation honoring the victims of the Armenian Genocide last week.

#####

——————————————————————-
Text of the Idaho Proclamation Commemorating the Armenian Genocide
———————————————- ———————

The Office of the Governor
Proclamation

Executive Department
State of Idaho

State Capitol
Boise

WHEREAS, one and one-half-million Christian Armenian men, women, and
children were victims of a brutal genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman
Turkish Government from 1915-1923; and

WHEREAS, the Armenian genocide and massacres of Armenian people have
been recognized as an attempt to eliminate all traces of a thriving
and noble civilization over 3,000 years old; and

WHEREAS, recognition of the eighty-ninth anniversary of this genocide
is crucial to guarding against the repetition of future genocide and
educating people about the atrocities connected to these horrific
events; and

WHEREAS, Armenian-Americans living in Idaho have greatly enriched our
state through their leadership in business, agriculture, academia,
government and the arts;

NOW, THEREFORE I, DIRK KEMPTHORNE, Governor of the State of Idaho, do
hereby proclaim April 24, 2004, to be

IDAHO DAY OF REMEMBRANCE OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE OF 1915-1923

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be
affixed the Great Seal of the State of Idaho at the Capitol in Boise
on this twentieth day of April in the year of our Lord two- thousand
and four and of the Independence of the United States of America the
two hundred twenty-eighth and of the Statehood of Idaho the one
hundred fourteenth.

[signature]
DIRK KEMPTHORNE
GOVERNOR

[signature]
BEN YSURSA
SECRETARY OF STATE

Apr. 22, 2004. 01:00 AM

Armenia genocide did happen: MPs

Toronto Star
GRAHAM FRASER NATIONAL AFFAIRS WRITER

OTTAWA-Parliament rejected a plea by Foreign Affairs Minister Bill
Graham, and voted to acknowledge the Armenian genocide of 1915 and
condemn it as a crime against humanity.

Dozens of Liberal MPs yesterday broke with the government and
supported the motion, which passed 153 to 68 despite a personal
request by Graham to the Liberal caucus to consider the consequences
of the vote.

“Fantastic!” said Liberal MP Sarkis Assadourian (Brampton Centre), who
co-sponsored the motion with Bloc MP Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral (Laval
Centre), Conservative MP Jason Kenney (Calgary Southeast) and NDP MP
Alexa McDonough (Halifax).

Assadourian stressed the vote was not aimed at Turkey, which has
always rejected the label of genocide for the killings of Armenians in
1915.

“This is establishing a historical fact that happened in the Ottoman
Empire,” he said. “We have to work together and build
bridges. … After 89 years, justice has been done. It’s very, very
important that we acknowledge the past, that we condemn it so that we
don’t repeat it.”

Graham issued a statement saying the government was not bound by the
vote, and that its position had not changed.

“We certainly understand the will of the House, but the government’s
position remains that, in respect of Turkey and Armenia, we are
working with them for reconciliation … to try and ensure good
neighbourly relations,” he told reporters.

Liberal MP Stéphane Dion (Saint-Laurent-Cartierville) said very few
MPs did not think a genocide had taken place.

“Why are we afraid of calling a spade a spade?” he asked, arguing that
by issuing the statement, the government was undermining the
importance of Parliament.

“Canada’s position is very confused,” he said.

Aris Babikian of the Armenian National Committee of Canada said he was
elated by the vote, which Armenians in Canada had spent 25 years
waiting for.

“This victory is not only for the victims of the Armenian genocide and
the Armenian people, it is a victory for justice, truth,
reconciliation and healing,” he said. Canada joins a small number of
other countries, including France, Russia, Argentina, Greece and
Uruguay, in describing the events that occurred in Eastern Anatolia
under the Ottoman Empire in 1915-23 as genocide. Turkeyhas furiously
rejected the idea that the deaths and deportation of Armenians at that
time can be described as such.The result followed an appeal by Graham
to Liberal MPs to consider the consequences of the vote.

“I am deeply concerned that it could have far-reaching negative
consequences,” Graham said in a letter to Liberal MPs. “Sensitive
negotiations have begun between the governments of Armenia and Turkey
which will hopefully lead to the normalization of relations and the
opening of the border between the two countries.”

Canadian officials are concerned the vote might have an effect on
several major Canadian contracts in Turkey.

Bombardier has a $335 million contract for work on the Ankara metro,
and there is an additional contract being negotiated worth $1 billion
-with 70 per cent of the work being done in Canada. SNC-Lavalin is
also a contender for another project near Istanbul.

Turkish embassy counsellor Fazli Corman told Reuters that “relations
with Canada will suffer as the result of adopting such a motion.”

In the past, the Liberal government has insisted Liberal MPs vote
against similar motions. But the Martin government, while requiring
members of the cabinet to support the government’s position, allowed a
free vote on the motion.

Additional articles by Graham Fraser

CIS remains most dynamically developing region in world
22.04.2004, 00.39

WASHINGTON, April 22 (Itar-Tass) – The Commonwealth of Independent
States including Russia remains one of the most dynamically developing
regions in the world, said a new report of the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) on the condition and shortest prospects of the world
economy that has been prepared by the spring session of leading bodies
of the IMF and the World Bank.

Under the document the real GDP growth of six percent is expected in
Russia this year and 5.2 percent next year. Azerbaijan (8.1 percent
and 13.2 percent respectively) and Kazakhstan (8.0 percent and 7.5
percent retrospectively) are leading in this figure in the
CIS. According to IMF forecasts Ukraine will have the GDP growth of
six percent this year and four percent in the next few years, Belarus
– 4.8 and 3.5 percent respectively. The lowest growth rate is expected
in Uzbekistan – two percent in 2004 and 2005.

The IMF determines another key macroeconomic index, inflation rate
according to a special method – on average for a year. Under this
method the growth of prices in Russia is expected by approximately
11.2 percent this year and about 9.9 percent next year. The Russian
authorities that use the evaluation method from December to December
promise to keep inflation at the level of 8-10 percent this year.

The highest inflation rate in the CIS is expected in Belarus – 22.7
percent this year and 13.6 percent next year and the lowest rate in
Armenia – three percent a year.

According to IMF specialists, the world economic growth will reach 4.6
percent this year. A more moderate figure of 4.0 percent was named in
the previous report just half a year ago. It shows that the IMF is now
more optimistic about the condition of world economy. A new forecast
for 2005 that was also reviewed for increase envisages 4.4 percent of
global economic growth.

Metro Detroit Armenians remember genocide victims
Weekend events to commemorate 89th anniversary of massacre in Turkey

By Christopher M. Singer / The Detroit News
April 22, 2004

DEARBORN – Metro Detroit’s 40,000-member Armenian communityon Friday
will launch a series of events marking the 89th anniversary of the
20th century’s first genocide.

This year, the commemoration follows news that New York Life Insurance
Co.

last month agreed to place $1.7 million in a fund for what the company
called ` unclaimed or heirless’ life insurance policies from which
Armenian religious groups in the United States will benefit.

Descendants of Armenian genocide victims in 1999 brought a
class-action lawsuit against New York Life to pay on 2,186 policies
purchased by victims. But the lack of Armenian birth certificates or
Turkish death records made it virtually impossible for descendants to
prove victims ever existed.

Lawmakers, including Michigan Democratic Sen. Carl Levin, are pushing
for a commemoration of the genocide. Levin has signed a letter to
President Bush urging him to officially call the deaths from 1915-23
of 1.5 million Armenians a genocide, a press aide said.

Before April 24, 1915, an estimated 3 million Armenians lived in
Armenia and Turkey. By the time Turkey stopped the killing in 1923,
about 1.5 million Armenians still were alive but scattered in places
like the United States, Palestine, Lebanon, France and Brazil, along
with Armenia and Turkey.

The exact number of victims will never be known because Armenian birth
records were destroyed and Turkey kept no records of what Armenians
label`the massacre.’ The Rev. Daron Stepanian, pastor of St. Sarkis
Armenian Apostolic Church in Dearborn recalled the story of what Talat
Pashah had declared when the killing started.

Pashah was the leader of the Young Turks, a group of military officers
who in 1908 staged a coup to overthrow the sultan who ruled the
Ottoman Empire.

`He said they would keep one Armenian in a museum so future
generations would know what an Armenian looked like,’ Stepanian said.

April 24 is marked as `Martyr’s Day’ because 400 Armenian
intellectuals were rounded up and murdered in Istanbul on April 24,
1915.

Turkey, an ally of Germany and an enemy of czarist Russia in World War
I, announced during the war that Armenians had been, for their own
safety, evacuated to strategic hamlets so they wouldn’t be caught
between Turkey and Russia.

In reality, Armenians forcibly were marched into the Syrian
desert. Those who didn’t die of thirst or exposure, starved or died of
disease.

Even today, the modern secular nation of Turkey rigidly denies that a
genocide occurred.

`The world should care,’ an agitated Stepanian demanded.`Hitler
himself said, `Who remembers the Armenians?’ Acknowledgement must
come.’ On Saturday night, Armenians from three different churches
will gather at St. Sarkis to worship and to remember at the khach kar,
or `cross of the stones,’ a peculiarly Armenian art form dating to 301
A.D., when the nation was converted to Christianity.

Worshippers will wear white carnations. Genocide survivors will be
given red carnations. Stepanian fears there soon will be no one to
give red carnations to.

Bruce Russel, professor and chairman of the philosophy department of
Wayne State University, sees meaning and value when attention is
given, whether it’s remembering the genocide during the gathering at
St. Sarkis or a pilgrimageto Auschwitz in his native Poland by Pope
John Paul II.

`There’s some value in acknowledging these things,’Russell said. `You
want to acknowledge that human beings can do awful things. We need to
acknowledge evil because it keeps it in the forefront of our minds,
and we can’t push it to the back.’ Acknowledgement won’t be easy.

Last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul warned his
country’s border with Armenia – closed following the fall of the
Soviet Union’ will not be reopened `unless the Armenian lobby in
the U.S. drops its false claims about the alleged Armenian genocide.’
The issue of Turkey’s denial bothers some Turks.

Fatma Muge Gocek is an associate professor of sociology at the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Born in Turkey, Gocek came to the
United States in 1981 to earn her doctorate in sociology at Princeton.

Gocek is on a sabbatical to write a book on a topic she calls
`Deciphering Denial.’ `I try to understand why the denial occurred,’
she said.`They admit that there were massacres, but they reject the
charge of genocide.’ Gocek said her motivation was simple: As a Turk
herself, she got worn out answering questions about the genocide.

You can reach Christopher M. Singer at (734) 462-2093 or
[email protected].

Students commemorate Genocide

By Van-Anh Tran
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
April 22, 2004
[email protected]

About 50 students marched in silence around the UCLA campus Wednesday
in commemoration of the 89th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide by
the Turkish government – which some countries, including the United
States, do not officially recognize.

Starting on April 24,1915, the Turkish government of the Ottoman
Empire started an ethnic cleansing policy by relocating its Armenian
population toSyria.

Between 600,000 and 1.5 million Armenians are believed to have been
killed, and no consensus number is agreed upon by historians.

There is also debate on whether the killing of Armenians during World
War I by the Turkish government can be called a genocide, but most
Armenian students on campus don’t see it as a debatable issue.

“The Armenian genocide is not a political issue, but a historical
fact,” said Raffi Kassabian, treasurer of the Armenian Student
Association and a third-year political science student. “As a great
civilization, we must learn from the past so we will not repeat what
happened in the future.”

Participants in the silent march were dressed in black and carried
posters with slogans like “Recognition ends repetition” and “We seek
justice.”

One poster bore an American eagle with the message “United We Stand,”
despite the fact the U.S. government has not officially acknowledged
the genocide. The silent march ended with a presentation, including
speeches, poetry readings and music performances at Bruin Plaza.

“We do these events to increase the awareness about the genocide,
because there have been denial in the past on campus about it,” said
Christina Ohanian, cultural director of the Armenian Student
Association and a second-year political science student.

The association sponsored the event with the help of Alpha Epsilon
Omega and Alpha Omega Alpha, UCLA’s Armenian fraternity and sorority,
respectively.

“It is important that Armenian students organize such events, because
one unrecognized genocide tells us it’s OK that it happened and that
we do not need to recognize it,” said Lory Bedikian, a 1994 alumna who
read poetry at the presentation.

Sion Abajian, Bedikian’s grandmother, is an Armenian genocide survivor
who still has nightmares about her experiences crossing the Syrian
desert, Bedikian said. Abajian used to talk a lot about her
experiences and has burning sensations on her feet that doctors
speculate are caused psychologically from her memories, Bedikian said.

Posters and information were displayed on Bruin Plaza throughout the
day to attract students and offer more information about the genocide.

“I believe that if we would have recognized the genocide of 1915, then
it wouldn’t have been repeated in Rwanda and Bosnia,” said Tamar
Nazerin, member of Alpha Omega Alpha and a third-year physical science
student.

The only U.S. president to recognize the killings as a genocide was
Ronald Reagan.

Concerns for U.S.-Turkish relations have often been cited as the main
reason for the United States not formally acknowledging the
genocide. Many nations, including France, Israel, Russia and Canada,
have recognized that the genocide was a crime against humanity.

UCLA’s Undergraduate Students Association Council passed a resolution
Tuesday night acknowledging all the atrocities perpetuated against
humanity, including the Armenian killings.