Worldwide Armenian Genocide News
PRESS RELEASE
Wales-Armenia Solidarity
Contact: E. Williams
Cardiff, Wales
Tel: 07870267447
Email: eilian@nant.wanadoo.co.uk
Unveiling of a Welsh National Monument to The Armenian Genocide
Armenians from across the UK and further afield will travel to this event on Saturday, November 3rd at the Temple of Peace, Cardiff. The unveiling and consecration of the Khatchkar (a Celtic Cross made with Welsh slate) will take place outside the Temple at 1.00 p.m. with HG Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian and supporting clergy and choir taking part There will be a reception to follow inside the Temple of Peace, with a buffet and Welsh and Armenian music.This stone Cross has been arranged by the Welsh-Armenian community under the leadership of John Torosyan in
appreciation of the Recognition of the Genocide by the elected representatives of our nation
----------------------------------------------------------------
The recognition was achieved in steps as follows
1 First Minister Rhodri Morgan recognised the Genocide on the 24th April 2001 when he laid flowers at the Temple of Peace in memory of the victims of the 1915 genocide
2 The majority (31 out of 60) of the National Assembly of Wales Members had signed a "Statement of Opinion" by the 30th October 2001, recognising the Genocide and calling on the UK and Turkish governments to do the same. (Actually only 45 Assembly Members were eligible to sign so two thirds of eligible Members had signed)
3 Gwynedd County Council became the first County Council in the UK to recognise the Genocide by a vote. This was done in March 2004 by an unanimous vote
4 Cardiff City and County Council recognised the Armenian Genocide publicly on Holocaust Day 2005
5 The Welsh council of free Churches Recognised the Genocide on the 24th April 2005
6 The majority of Welsh Members of Parliament recognised the genocide by signing Early Day Motions in 2006 (Stephen Pound's EDM) and in 2007(Bob Spink's EDM). Once again two thirds of the eligible MPs signed
----------------------------------------------------------------
The full address is:
Temple of Peace,
King Edward 7th Avenue
Cardiff CF10 3AP
The Temple is situated in the Civic Centre, Cardiff (a few hundred yards
north of the City Centre. at the junction of King Edward 7th avenue and
College Road
More information may be obtained from Eilian Williams 07718982732 or
07876561398
eilian@nant.wanadoo.co.uk
If you decide to stay overnight this list of hotels (quite near the city centre)is being forwarded to all
IBIS - Tel 02920649250
Churchill Way, Cardiff CF10 2HA
£60.00 per night
MERCURE - Tel 02920435000
Newport Rd, Cardiff, CF24 0DD
£70.00 per night
ETAP HOTEL - 02920458131
Tyndall Street, Cardiff CF10 4BE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wales-Armenia Solidarity
Contact: E. Williams
Cardiff, Wales
Tel: 07870267447
Email: eilian@nant.wanadoo.co.uk
Unveiling of a Welsh National Monument to The Armenian Genocide
Armenians from across the UK and further afield will travel to this event on Saturday, November 3rd at the Temple of Peace, Cardiff. The unveiling and consecration of the Khatchkar (a Celtic Cross made with Welsh slate) will take place outside the Temple at 1.00 p.m. with HG Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian and supporting clergy and choir taking part There will be a reception to follow inside the Temple of Peace, with a buffet and Welsh and Armenian music.This stone Cross has been arranged by the Welsh-Armenian community under the leadership of John Torosyan in
appreciation of the Recognition of the Genocide by the elected representatives of our nation
----------------------------------------------------------------
The recognition was achieved in steps as follows
1 First Minister Rhodri Morgan recognised the Genocide on the 24th April 2001 when he laid flowers at the Temple of Peace in memory of the victims of the 1915 genocide
2 The majority (31 out of 60) of the National Assembly of Wales Members had signed a "Statement of Opinion" by the 30th October 2001, recognising the Genocide and calling on the UK and Turkish governments to do the same. (Actually only 45 Assembly Members were eligible to sign so two thirds of eligible Members had signed)
3 Gwynedd County Council became the first County Council in the UK to recognise the Genocide by a vote. This was done in March 2004 by an unanimous vote
4 Cardiff City and County Council recognised the Armenian Genocide publicly on Holocaust Day 2005
5 The Welsh council of free Churches Recognised the Genocide on the 24th April 2005
6 The majority of Welsh Members of Parliament recognised the genocide by signing Early Day Motions in 2006 (Stephen Pound's EDM) and in 2007(Bob Spink's EDM). Once again two thirds of the eligible MPs signed
----------------------------------------------------------------
The full address is:
Temple of Peace,
King Edward 7th Avenue
Cardiff CF10 3AP
The Temple is situated in the Civic Centre, Cardiff (a few hundred yards
north of the City Centre. at the junction of King Edward 7th avenue and
College Road
More information may be obtained from Eilian Williams 07718982732 or
07876561398
eilian@nant.wanadoo.co.uk
If you decide to stay overnight this list of hotels (quite near the city centre)is being forwarded to all
IBIS - Tel 02920649250
Churchill Way, Cardiff CF10 2HA
£60.00 per night
MERCURE - Tel 02920435000
Newport Rd, Cardiff, CF24 0DD
£70.00 per night
ETAP HOTEL - 02920458131
Tyndall Street, Cardiff CF10 4BE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PETER BALAKIAN AND DEBORAH LIPSTADT
New York Jewish Week
09/21/2007
USA
Turkey Must Acknowledge Its Past
In the wake of the Turkish government's anger over the Anti-Defamation League's recent decision to acknowledge as genocide the extermination of more than a million Armenians in 1915, crucial issues concerning human rights, historical memory, and ethics have come to light.
Turkey's ambassador to Israel, Namik Tan, told The Jerusalem Post (Aug. 27) that Israel must force the ADL to retract its acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide, that failure to do this would be a stab in the heart of the Turkish people and that the Turkish people do not distinguish between Israeli Jews and Diaspora Jews on this issue. Tan also said that recognizing the Armenian genocide will mean that "my ancestors have done something inconceivable," and it will set off "a campaign against Turkey and the Turkish people." Though he subsequently tempered his language, this was a very harsh attack with overtones of classic views of Jewish power.
Turkey has told Israel and various Jewish organizations that if they favor a congressional resolution acknowledging the genocide it will not bode well for Israel's relationship with Turkey or for Turkish
Jews. It is true that Turkey is the only Muslim nation willing to maintain a close diplomatic relationship with Israel and remains the only Muslim country that allows a small Jewish community to live in relative freedom. We know that Turkey is pressured by internal factions and by other Muslim nations to sever ties with Israel. And it is also clear how fragile and tenuous, despite seeming quite comfortable, Jewish life in Turkey is.
Nevertheless, it is equally crucial that historical denial of genocide be addressed in an uncompromising fashion. While historians are taught to be skeptical, it is absurd to be skeptical or neutral about events of the magnitude of the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust, which
are attested to by reams of documents and material evidence as well as testimonies by victims, perpetrators and bystanders. Neutrality or skepticism in the case of these two tragedies constitutes denial, which is the final stage of genocide in that it seeks to demonize the victims and rehabilitate the perpetrators.
The broad and international record on the Armenian genocide has been created by an international body of dispassionate scholarship for decades, and notably, affirmed by The International Association of Genocide Scholars in repeated statements that note that this history
is not controversial anywhere in the world but in Turkey. Raphael Lemkin, the noted legal scholar who lost 49 members of his family in the Holocaust, invented the concept of genocide, in part, on the basis of what happened to the Armenians in 1915.
The main actor here, however, is Turkey. It is time for Turkey to end its nine-decade campaign to erase the Armenian genocide. It is time to stop bullying and attempting to coerce states and organizations that engage history honestly. Such a campaign is immoral.
By passing the resolution (H.R. 106) before it, Congress must make it clear to Turkey that, even as we welcome its alliance with the United States in so many arenas, the time for this denial is over.
Turkey's calls for a commission of historians to resolve this issue are disingenuous, especially for a country that has a law that makes it a crime to "insult Turkishness," under which scholars and publishers who have spoken about the Armenian genocide have been prosecuted and
even killed. It is wrong and unbecoming for the Jewish community to participate in what can best be described as a charade, i.e. the notion that the jury of historians is "still out" on this issue. Imagine if Germany had taken a similar stance with the Holocaust. While hindsight may be 20/20, it is regrettable that the Jewish community telegraphed a message to Turkey that this is a matter of debate and negotiation.
We understand Turkey's difficulty in acknowledging these dark episodes in its past. However, acknowledging this crime would, rather than spawn a campaign against Turkey, as ambassador Tan claims, prompt applause from the international community. It will be a sign that Turkey can critique its past honestly. The most effective way for a country to resolve its criminal past is to acknowledge the criminal act, try to make some form of recompense and become a force in trying
to prevent the repetition of such events. Germany has, with varying degrees of success, achieved that. It is time for Turkey to do the same with the Armenian genocide. And it is time to stop threatening a small vulnerable Jewish community or the one other parliamentary democracy in the Middle East for acknowledging historical truth.
The time has come for the U.S. Congress to join more than 20 other countries, the Vatican, the European Parliament and other world organizations, in affirming the Armenian genocide. Given that H.R. 106 is a nonbinding resolution with no "teeth in it," the hysteria over the resolution has reached a point of absurdity. It is time for Turkey to acknowledge the moral perspective of other countries, and time to move on.
Peter Balakian is professor of the humanities at Colgate University and the author of "The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response," which won the Raphael Lemkin Prize. Deborah Lipstadt is professor of Holocaust studies at Emory University and author of "History on Trial: My Day in Court with David Irving," which won the National Jewish Book Award.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New York Jewish Week
09/21/2007
USA
Turkey Must Acknowledge Its Past
In the wake of the Turkish government's anger over the Anti-Defamation League's recent decision to acknowledge as genocide the extermination of more than a million Armenians in 1915, crucial issues concerning human rights, historical memory, and ethics have come to light.
Turkey's ambassador to Israel, Namik Tan, told The Jerusalem Post (Aug. 27) that Israel must force the ADL to retract its acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide, that failure to do this would be a stab in the heart of the Turkish people and that the Turkish people do not distinguish between Israeli Jews and Diaspora Jews on this issue. Tan also said that recognizing the Armenian genocide will mean that "my ancestors have done something inconceivable," and it will set off "a campaign against Turkey and the Turkish people." Though he subsequently tempered his language, this was a very harsh attack with overtones of classic views of Jewish power.
Turkey has told Israel and various Jewish organizations that if they favor a congressional resolution acknowledging the genocide it will not bode well for Israel's relationship with Turkey or for Turkish
Jews. It is true that Turkey is the only Muslim nation willing to maintain a close diplomatic relationship with Israel and remains the only Muslim country that allows a small Jewish community to live in relative freedom. We know that Turkey is pressured by internal factions and by other Muslim nations to sever ties with Israel. And it is also clear how fragile and tenuous, despite seeming quite comfortable, Jewish life in Turkey is.
Nevertheless, it is equally crucial that historical denial of genocide be addressed in an uncompromising fashion. While historians are taught to be skeptical, it is absurd to be skeptical or neutral about events of the magnitude of the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust, which
are attested to by reams of documents and material evidence as well as testimonies by victims, perpetrators and bystanders. Neutrality or skepticism in the case of these two tragedies constitutes denial, which is the final stage of genocide in that it seeks to demonize the victims and rehabilitate the perpetrators.
The broad and international record on the Armenian genocide has been created by an international body of dispassionate scholarship for decades, and notably, affirmed by The International Association of Genocide Scholars in repeated statements that note that this history
is not controversial anywhere in the world but in Turkey. Raphael Lemkin, the noted legal scholar who lost 49 members of his family in the Holocaust, invented the concept of genocide, in part, on the basis of what happened to the Armenians in 1915.
The main actor here, however, is Turkey. It is time for Turkey to end its nine-decade campaign to erase the Armenian genocide. It is time to stop bullying and attempting to coerce states and organizations that engage history honestly. Such a campaign is immoral.
By passing the resolution (H.R. 106) before it, Congress must make it clear to Turkey that, even as we welcome its alliance with the United States in so many arenas, the time for this denial is over.
Turkey's calls for a commission of historians to resolve this issue are disingenuous, especially for a country that has a law that makes it a crime to "insult Turkishness," under which scholars and publishers who have spoken about the Armenian genocide have been prosecuted and
even killed. It is wrong and unbecoming for the Jewish community to participate in what can best be described as a charade, i.e. the notion that the jury of historians is "still out" on this issue. Imagine if Germany had taken a similar stance with the Holocaust. While hindsight may be 20/20, it is regrettable that the Jewish community telegraphed a message to Turkey that this is a matter of debate and negotiation.
We understand Turkey's difficulty in acknowledging these dark episodes in its past. However, acknowledging this crime would, rather than spawn a campaign against Turkey, as ambassador Tan claims, prompt applause from the international community. It will be a sign that Turkey can critique its past honestly. The most effective way for a country to resolve its criminal past is to acknowledge the criminal act, try to make some form of recompense and become a force in trying
to prevent the repetition of such events. Germany has, with varying degrees of success, achieved that. It is time for Turkey to do the same with the Armenian genocide. And it is time to stop threatening a small vulnerable Jewish community or the one other parliamentary democracy in the Middle East for acknowledging historical truth.
The time has come for the U.S. Congress to join more than 20 other countries, the Vatican, the European Parliament and other world organizations, in affirming the Armenian genocide. Given that H.R. 106 is a nonbinding resolution with no "teeth in it," the hysteria over the resolution has reached a point of absurdity. It is time for Turkey to acknowledge the moral perspective of other countries, and time to move on.
Peter Balakian is professor of the humanities at Colgate University and the author of "The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response," which won the Raphael Lemkin Prize. Deborah Lipstadt is professor of Holocaust studies at Emory University and author of "History on Trial: My Day in Court with David Irving," which won the National Jewish Book Award.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TURKEY DEMANDS TO UNMOUNT ARMENIAN KHACHKAR IN BRATISLAVA
PanARMENIAN.Net
19.09.2007 16:06 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Turkish Foreign Ministry is constantly sending notes of protests to the Slovakian MFA demanding to unmount the khachkar symbolizing the passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution by the Slovakian parliament last year. At the worst, Ankara requires
to rub off the inscription (the text of the resolution in Slovakian, English and Armenian).
Upon receiving a rejection from the Slovakian MFA, Turkey charged its ambassador with a task to find substantiation for unmouting the khachkar, Bratislava's Petrzalka district prefect Milan Ftacnik said.
"Turkey can nothing but resign itself to the fact that the Slovakian supreme power - the National Council - has recognized the Armenian Genocide," he said.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry, however, attempted to question the legacy of building the monument and was checkmated, for the building process was irreproachable, Yerkir reports.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PanARMENIAN.Net
19.09.2007 16:06 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Turkish Foreign Ministry is constantly sending notes of protests to the Slovakian MFA demanding to unmount the khachkar symbolizing the passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution by the Slovakian parliament last year. At the worst, Ankara requires
to rub off the inscription (the text of the resolution in Slovakian, English and Armenian).
Upon receiving a rejection from the Slovakian MFA, Turkey charged its ambassador with a task to find substantiation for unmouting the khachkar, Bratislava's Petrzalka district prefect Milan Ftacnik said.
"Turkey can nothing but resign itself to the fact that the Slovakian supreme power - the National Council - has recognized the Armenian Genocide," he said.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry, however, attempted to question the legacy of building the monument and was checkmated, for the building process was irreproachable, Yerkir reports.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TURKEY'S OLD CRIMES REFUSE TO STAY BURIED
by Elif Shafak
Telegraph.co.uk
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 20/09/2007
United Kingdom
If Orhan Pamuk and Elif Shafak, the two best-known Turkish novelists in the English-speaking world, have one virtue in common, it is that both have dedicatedly interrogated their country's self-image, contrasting the narrowness of ?Turkism with the cosmopolitanism of the old Ottoman
empire. Both have gone on trial, too, under an infamous article of the Turkish Penal Code, for the crime of 'insulting Turkishness'.
In terms of their viewpoints there is not much to choose between them. Shafak's latest novel, The Bastard of Istanbul, shows her though to be a more attack-minded and less sophisticated novelist than her Nobel Prize-winning contemporary.
The bastard of Istanbul is Asya Kazanci, the illegitimate child of one of four headstrong sisters who live together as one family - the Kazanci men having an unfortunate habit of dying young. Asya does not know who her father is and has been taught not to bother to try and find out; she is similarly indifferent to her country's history.
The single living Kazanci man, Asya's uncle Mustapha, has settled in America and married a divorcee of Armenian descent. When Mustapha's step-daughter, Armanoush, arrives suddenly in Istanbul in search of her family's roots, the Kazanci women are forced to accept the truth that
the novel dramatises, which is that 'the past is anything but bygone'.
Shafak's double-sided narrative demonstrates how the Armenian diaspora and the Turkish people live in different time frames, one still nursing the wounds of old crimes, the other living in a present that accepts no responsibility for the past.
Yet it could be said that Shafak's novel is, on balance, not all that novelistic. Its characters lack true freedom and interiority and can seem mere symbols or meanings fitted into an overarching structure.
Indeed part of the problem, it might be said, rests less with Shafak's theory of character here than with her choice of language.
Shafak is that rarity, a bilingual novelist, and this is her second novelin English. But sentences such as: 'If her passion for books had been one fundamental reason behind her recurring inability to sustain a standard relationship with the opposite sex?...' raise doubts about whether even a novelist as gifted as she is possesses the understanding and intuition to novelise successfully her undeniably powerful ideas in two languages.
by Elif Shafak
Telegraph.co.uk
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 20/09/2007
United Kingdom
If Orhan Pamuk and Elif Shafak, the two best-known Turkish novelists in the English-speaking world, have one virtue in common, it is that both have dedicatedly interrogated their country's self-image, contrasting the narrowness of ?Turkism with the cosmopolitanism of the old Ottoman
empire. Both have gone on trial, too, under an infamous article of the Turkish Penal Code, for the crime of 'insulting Turkishness'.
In terms of their viewpoints there is not much to choose between them. Shafak's latest novel, The Bastard of Istanbul, shows her though to be a more attack-minded and less sophisticated novelist than her Nobel Prize-winning contemporary.
The bastard of Istanbul is Asya Kazanci, the illegitimate child of one of four headstrong sisters who live together as one family - the Kazanci men having an unfortunate habit of dying young. Asya does not know who her father is and has been taught not to bother to try and find out; she is similarly indifferent to her country's history.
The single living Kazanci man, Asya's uncle Mustapha, has settled in America and married a divorcee of Armenian descent. When Mustapha's step-daughter, Armanoush, arrives suddenly in Istanbul in search of her family's roots, the Kazanci women are forced to accept the truth that
the novel dramatises, which is that 'the past is anything but bygone'.
Shafak's double-sided narrative demonstrates how the Armenian diaspora and the Turkish people live in different time frames, one still nursing the wounds of old crimes, the other living in a present that accepts no responsibility for the past.
Yet it could be said that Shafak's novel is, on balance, not all that novelistic. Its characters lack true freedom and interiority and can seem mere symbols or meanings fitted into an overarching structure.
Indeed part of the problem, it might be said, rests less with Shafak's theory of character here than with her choice of language.
Shafak is that rarity, a bilingual novelist, and this is her second novelin English. But sentences such as: 'If her passion for books had been one fundamental reason behind her recurring inability to sustain a standard relationship with the opposite sex?...' raise doubts about whether even a novelist as gifted as she is possesses the understanding and intuition to novelise successfully her undeniably powerful ideas in two languages.
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