Armenian News @ BBC RADIO 4'S SPECIAL EDITION DEDICATED TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL ... And much more editorials...Read on and give your view on the comments section

07 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

In a special edition of the programme marking the 100th anniversary
of the mass killings of hundreds of thousands of Armenians living
in the Ottoman Empire, BBC Radio 4 Religious Affairs Correspondent,
Caroline Wyatt explores what the events mean for Armenians living
here in Britain.

Twenty-two countries officially recognise the 1915 massacre as
genocide. The Turkish government maintains that while it was a great
tragedy, it was not genocide. We debate the issues with the Armenian
Bishop Vahan Hovhanessian, Geoffrey Robertson QC and Professor
Ayhan Aktar.

We hear the story of journalist Meline Toumani, who grew up an American
Armenian but moved to Istanbul to get to know the country and its
people as a way of understanding what happened to her community.

Bob Walker charts the history of the UK's Armenian community, visiting
the first Armenian Church in Britain, Holy Trinity Armenian Church
of Manchester, which opened its doors on Easter Day in 1870.

Caroline shares a meal with an Armenian family in London to learn
about how the mass killings of Armenians 100 years ago still has an
impact on 3 generations of the same family.

Also in the programme: the new Bishop of Gloucester, Rachel Treweek,
talks to Caroline about what she hopes to bring to the role as the
first woman diocesan Bishop in the Church of England and the first
woman bishop to sit in the House of Lords later this year.

In case you missed the program,
click on
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05pkxz5 [1] 


Previously you received a film that gave a flavour of Armenias 

life in Ottoman Turkey before the genocide. Now see how the 

survivors ended up in the Armenian Refugee Camps,
Aleppo, Syria 1 920-1936 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmBfcIGpVSA&list=UUymsVfB3bOcMDdieyet35Gg&sns=emWorld 


armradio.am 

BBC RADIO WALES REMEMBER THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE 

ON EASTER SUNDAY
07 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

On Easter Sunday, BBC Radio Wales All Things Considered told a
story of hope and resurrection. One hundred years after the start of
the Armenian Genocide, Roy Jenkins reflected on the impact of those
events with the Rev. Canon Dr Patrick Thomas, Vicar of Christ Church,
Carmarthen - an expert on Armenia - and members of the Welsh Armenian
community.

Visiting the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Cardiff's Cathays Park,
the only public memorial to the Genocide on British soil, he also
meets members of the Welsh Armenian community to learn how this event,
a hundred years ago, still resonates for them today. The programme also
includes extracts from eyewitness accounts and sacred Armenian music.

Extracts include 'Der Zor' translated by Verjine Svazlian in The
Armenian Genocide, and Peter Balakian's translation of Gregoris
Balakian's work Armenian Golgotha. 

Clickto listen to program after the news on that day:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05px77z


World Bulletin, Turkey 

April 5 2015
American Turks launch new campaign over 1915 events

The "Let History Decide" campaign in the U.S. will counter Armenian
allegations over the events of 1915 involving the Ottoman Empire
during World War I.

American Turks have launched the "Let History Decide" campaign in the
U.S. to counter Armenian allegations over the events of 1915 involving
the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

The campaign has been organized by the Turkish American Steering
Committee, which consists of 145 Turkish American organizations.
Several events have been planned under the campaign that will take
place in different parts of the U.S., including Washington DC, New
York and Texas.

The main slogan of the campaign is: "Unite us, not divide us."
According to the Turkish American Steering Committee's website, a
peace and solidarity walk is being organized on April 24 in Washington
DC, which will begin in front of the White House and end at the
Turkish Embassy.

After the walk, American Turks and their campaign supporters 

will remain in front of the embassy in response to the Armenian 

groups, who too gather there on April 24 each year to "occupy 

the sidewalk," a committee representative says.

The committee has said it will also launch a Twitter hashtag
#lethistorydecide on April 18.

Turkish citizens at home and abroad feel that smear campaigns
involving the 1915 events have turned into attacks against 

Turkey.

In early March when a group of Congressmen introduced the "Armenian
Genocide Truth and Justice Resolution", Republican Congressman Curt
Clawson called President Barack Obama to form a committee to reconcile
Turkish-Armenian relations and seek support for his resolution in
Congress.

"Turkey and Armenia are very important to the American interests,"
Clawson wrote in a letter to House colleagues. "U.S interests (in the
region) can be advanced by both countries acting to cultivate peace
and understanding."

- 1915 events

The 1915 events took place during World War I when a portion of 

the Armenian population living in the Ottoman Empire sided 

with the invading Russians and revolted against the empire.

A decision by the Ottoman Empire to relocate Armenians in eastern
Anatolia followed the revolts and there were some Armenian 

casualties during the relocation process.  (!!!!!!!)

Armenia has demanded an apology and compensation, while Turkey
officially refutes Armenian allegations over the incidents, saying
that, although Armenians died during relocations, many Turks also lost
their lives in attacks carried out by Armenian gangs in Anatolia.

The debate and differing opinions between present day Turkish
government and the Armenian diaspora, along with the current
administration in Yerevan, still generates political tension between
Turks and Armenians.

- Turkey's position

Ankara acknowledges that past experiences were a great tragedy and
that both parties suffered heavy casualties, including hundreds of
Muslim Turks.

Turkey also agrees that there were certainly Armenian casualties
during World War I.

In January, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent invitation
letters to more than 100 leaders, including Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan, to participate in the commemoration of the Battle of
Canakkale on April 24.

Sargsyan reportedly denounced Erdogan's invitation as a
"short-sighted" attempt to overshadow the 100th anniversary of the
1915 events, according to armenianow.com. 

armeniaweekly.com
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE COMMEMORATION TO TAKE PLACE 

IN DIYARBAKIR
By Rupen Janbazian on April 2, 2015

DIYARBAKIR --An Armenian Genocide commemoration event will take
place in Diyarbakir on April 24. The commemoration will be held at
the Surp Giragos Armenian Church.

The Surp Giragos Church in Diyarbakir/Dikranagerd (Photo by Gulisor
Akkum, The Armenian Weekly)

"Diyarbakir is the location where--one hundred years after the
genocide--the grandchildren of forcefully Islamized Armenians showed
the courage and determination to reveal their true roots. All this
happened after the reconstruction of the Surp Giragos Church, and
was encouraged by the organized Armenian language classes and trips
to Armenia," Raffi Bedrosyan, a Toronto-based civil engineer and a
concert pianist, told the Armenian Weekly. Bedrosyan will perform a
concert of works by Armenian composers at the commemoration event.

"It means a lot to me to celebrate, not commemorate, the rebirth of
these new Armenians with a concert right where the whole movement
started; in the beautiful Surp Giragos Church," said Bedrosyan.

Bedrosyan was also involved in organizing the Surp Giragos Church
reconstruction project, and in promoting the significance of this
historic project worldwide. In September 2012, he gave the first
Armenian piano concert in the Surp Giragos Church since 1915.

"Diyarbakir was one of the bloodiest sites of the Armenian Genocide.

About 97 percent of the Armenian population of the province disappeared
in 1915, so it means a lot to me to be there commemorating the victims
of the genocide with the music of Komitas and [Aram] Khatchaturian,"
said Bedrosyan.

For the past several years, proceeds from Bedrosyan's concerts and two
CDs have been donated to the construction of school, highway, water,
and gas distribution projects in Armenia and Karabagh--projects in
which he has also participated as a volunteer engineer.

The event, which is organized by the Diyarbakir Surp Giragos Armenian
Church  event, which is organized by the Diyarbakir Surp Giragos Armenian

Church Foundation, the Gomidas Institute of London, and Human Rights
Association of Diyarbakir, will include a candle lighting ceremony

to remember the victims of the Armenian Genocide.

Last year, hundreds gathered at the Surp Giragos Armenian Church to
commemorate the Armenian and Assyrian Genocides, with the participation
of Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipality co-mayor Fırat Anlı and
former mayor of Sur Municipality Abdullah DemirbaÅ~_. The first
genocide commemoration event took place in Diyarbakir in 2013.

armradio.am
ROBERT FISK: THE CHRISTIAN TRAGEDY IN THE MIDDLE EAST 

STARTED WITH THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
07 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan
The Christian tragedy in the Middle East did not begin with ISIS,
writes Robert Fisk, The Independent'smultiple award-winning Middle
East correspondent, based in Beirut.

According to him, "hundred years on from the Armenian genocide,
a Christian minority is again suffering."

"The Christian tragedy in the Middle East today needs to be re-thought
- as it will be, of course, when Armenians around the world commemorate
the 100th anniversary of the genocide of their people by Ottoman
Turkey. Perhaps it is time that we acknowledge not only this act of
genocide but come to regard it not as just the murder of a minority
within the Ottoman Empire, but specifically a Christian minority,
killed because they were Armenian but also because they were Christian
(many of whom, unfortunately, rather liked the Orthodox, anti-Ottoman
Tsar)," Robert Fisk writes.

"And their fate bears some uncommon parallels with the Islamic State
murderers of today. The Armenian men were massacred. The women were
gang-raped or forced to convert or left to die of hunger. Babies were
burned alive - after being stacked in piles. Islamic State cruelty is
not new, even if the cult's technology defeats anything its opponents
can achieve," the author continues.


Commentary
Armenians Should Build a Wall of Shame For Those Going to 

Gallipoli on April 24
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier

9 April 2015
     
While Armenians criticize Turkey for genocide denial and other massive
violations of human rights, it is just as important to blame all non-Turks
who conduct business as usual with Turkey, thereby encouraging Turkish
officials to continue their outrageous behavior.

For example, right now, leaders of many countries are shamelessly preparing
to go to Gallipoli on April 24, to commemorate the Turkish victory a
Century ago, knowing full well that they would be participating in a
ceremony on a fake date designed to undermine the commemoration in Yerevan
of the Armenian Genocide Centennial.

Armenians should build a `Wall of Shame' and inscribe on it the names of
all world leaders who are in Gallipoli on April 24! Who is more to blame?
Pres. Erdogan who has shown repeatedly that he has no qualms about
violating human rights, or foreign officials who participate in his
orchestrated charades?

One would think that after Erdogan's objectionable actions, such as
supporting ISIS, money laundering, jailing journalists, ordering the
shooting of peaceful demonstrators in Istanbul's Gezi Park, and myriad
other abuses, he would be considered a pariah and shunned by the
international community!

Unfortunately, there are many foreign leaders who maintain warm relations
with Turkey and are willing to jump in bed with `the devil' in the pursuit
of their misperceived interests. While countless nations have their share
of the blame, most puzzling is the behavior of Israeli leaders toward
Turkey, given Erdogan's virulent anti-Semitic statements and anti-Israeli
actions! Yet, we hardly hear a single word of criticism of the Turkish
leader from Israel's outspoken Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. No one
should be surprised if Netanyahu ends up sending a high-ranking Israeli
official to Gallipoli!

For several decades, Israeli leaders have tolerated racist statements in
the Turkish media and even supported Turkey's denials of the Armenian
Genocide, not wishing to antagonize Turkey and endanger the lives of Jews
in Istanbul. We were told that Israel had to tolerate Turkey's misbehavior
because it allowed Jews escaping from Iran to cross its border, and that
saving the life of a single Jew was more important than acknowledging the
Armenian Genocide. Until a decade ago, Israeli officials were cautious not
to take any steps that would undermine their country's strategic alliance
with Turkey. Now that Turkey has become outright hostile, Israel's
leaders have adopted a completely irrational position: let's not do anything 

that would further damage `the fragile' relationship with Turkey!

Last month, the L.A. Jewish Journal dispatched Simone Wilson to Turkey to
report on the situation of Jews there. She described the hopeless condition
of remnants of the once thriving Jewish community: `Jews and other
ethnic and religious minorities have been subject to waves of severe

discrimination -- in terms of property rights, freedom of language and
education, upward mobility and more.' The Jewish population has decreased
from 500,000 to a mere 17,000, and continues to shrink. In 2003, many Jews
realized that they could no longer remain in Turkey, after terrorists
attacked Istanbul's Neve Shalom and Bet Israel synagogues, killing
27 and injuring hundreds. `Pervasive anti-Semitism in the public sphere also has
played an undeniable role' in Jewish emigration, reported Wilson. According
to a poll commissioned by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), `around 70% of
Turks harbor anti-Semitic attitudes.'

In Turkey, the situation of the Jewish minority is becoming more
intolerable. Last September, `a cellphone store in downtown Istanbul hung
up a sign in its window that read, `The Jew dogs cannot come in here,''
Wilson reported. Mois Gabay, editor of the local Jewish newspaper Salom,
wrote: `We face threats, attacks and harassment every day.' Last July,
Erdogan expressed his utter hatred of Jews by telling the Turkish public
during a campaign stop: `They [Jews] curse Hitler day and night, but they
have surpassed Hitler in barbarism.' Ankara's Mayor, Melih
Gokcek, member of Erdogan's ruling party, praised a Turkish singer who 

had declared: `May God bless Hitler.' During a Holocaust Memorial Day event in Ankara on January 27, Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek was quoted as scolding Israel
for committing a modern Holocaust in Gaza.

The silence of Israel, the United States, and the international community
in the face of such outrageous Turkish behavior has created an out of
control monster. All those who have spoiled Erdogan are obligated to
restrain him before he becomes a true menace to the region and the world.

SYSTEM OF A DOWN KICKS OFF TOUR TO COMMEMORATE 1915 ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Al Jazeera America
April 6 2015
Rock band will play first-ever show in Armenian capital to mark 100th
anniversary of mass killing of Armenians

The American rock band System of a Down kicks off an international
tour on Monday in which it will perform its first concert in Armenia
to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the genocide there, according
to Rolling Stone magazine.

The band, whose four members are of Armenian descent, will perform
on April 23 at Republic Square in Armenia's capital city of Yerevan
as part of its Wake Up Souls tour, the magazine said.

"This is something that transcends the music," said drummer John
Dolmayan during an April 1 conference call with reporters. "This is
more important than a next System of a Down album. This is something
that is far-reaching and even bigger than the Armenian genocide itself
... We want to help prevent what happened to the Armenians happening
to other people."

The band said it hoped to raise awareness of the 1915 genocide in which
Ottoman Empire executed an estimated 1.5 million Armenians, a minority
population living in the borders of what now constitutes Turkey.

April 24 is the day Armenians mark as the beginning of the genocide,
in which the Ottoman Empire arrested hundreds of Armenian intellectuals
and later executed them, according to the New York Times.

Turkey has rejected historians' claims about the genocide, and System
of Down singer Serj Tankian told Rolling Stone that "the denial is
a spit in the face" of Armenians.

"It stays with you," Dolmayan told Rolling Stone. ""It's still with
me today, because of the stories that we did hear [from our families]." 

10 April - London, Wembley Arena
'Wake up the Souls' world tour of System of a Down dedicated to the Armenian Genocide
( http://www.systemofadown.com for video)