Protest as memorial is unveiled- BBC RADIO INTERVIEW WITH LORD DAFYDD AND STEPHEN THOMAS
Click on this link for the excellent BBC Radio interview with Lord Dafydd and Stephen Thomas preceding the unveiling and blessing of the khatchkar that was inspired by and organised by Wales-Armenia Solidarity on Saturday 3rd November 2007:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7070000/newsid_7076600/7076618.stm?bw=bb&mp=rm&news=1
However, look at the "unbiased" way the day is presented on the BBC website!
Protest as memorial is unveiled
Over 150 people protested before the unveiling
Members of the Turkish community protested at the unveiling of a plaque to a genocide they say never happened.
The Armenian genocide of 1915 at the time of the Ottoman Empire has been a source of deep division between Turkish and Armenian communities worldwide.
Armenians say 1.5m were killed, through systematic massacres or starvation, a claim denied by the Turkish community.
Saturday's unveiling at the Temple of Peace in Cardiff events saw feelings running high on both sides.
Welsh assembly Presiding Officer Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas was at the unveiling of the plaque which has been paid for by donations from the Wales Armenia Society.
'Slandered'
Members of the Turkish community insist that erecting the memorial amounted to racism.
Protestor Levent Hassan said: "It's a question of our ancestors being accused of genocide."
"If such a genocide took place, then let's prove it and let all concerned commemorate those horrible events," he added.
"But if there isn't - why should we allow our ancestors to be slandered in such a way."
The monument stands in the gardens of the Temple of Peace on what is said to be the UK's first piece of public land donated for an Armenian memorial.
Ahead of the ceremony, Welsh assembly Presiding Officer Dafydd Elis-Thomas said Wales's relationship with Armenia "went back centuries".
He receive a marble cross, or khatchkar, on behalf of Wales at the unveiling ceremony.
Welsh interest
Lord Elis-Thomas joined members of the Armenian and Christian communities on Saturday.
"The fact that the funds for this fine memorial have been raised entirely by the Armenians who live in Wales and that it will occupy a special place here in the Temple of Peace, reflects the vibrant Welsh interest in the history of Armenia," he said.
The Welsh Centre for International Affairs, which is located at the Temple of Peace, is a forum which seeks to promote human rights and international understanding.
Steven Thomas, its director, sad: "We've held events at the Temple of Peace over the past seven years to note the Armenian genocide, including parts of ceremonies we've held for National Holocaust Remembrance Day in January each year. "
However, he said there had been a "much bigger response" to the monument because the commemoration to the Armenians would literally be set in stone.
1 comment:
In response to: Protestor Levent Hassan
Of course I share the same concerns and I commend his questioning and reasoning too, and as I am an Armenian I respect his thoughts and approach to this question. The whole question of the Armenian Genocide in 1915 is a shock to the Turkish communities through out Turkey and the world. The blame, if there is one, lays on their successive governments who, decade after decade kept the truth from their people, a nation of mislead and misinformed individuals who are proud to be Turkish and up hold Tukishness by abiding to the regime of hardship no human right values and poor out look on women’s rights too.
I have a vision of a very slow but sure uprising of the Turkish nation when educating numbers will rise and voice their own minds, not just the Armenian issue but that of their own fait in a vast and beautiful country like Turkey.
Take heart, there are some radical thinking Turks among you and I for one am proud to call them friend.
Finally, we must renounce those whose resolve is by violence. That is ‘eskie ghaffa – old thinking,’ I love Turkey, it is a part of my ancestry too.
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