Armenian New ... A Topalian

BREAKING NEWS 

Three ethnic Armenians have been elected to the new Turkish 
Parliament. 

Garo Paylan ran for parliament as the second nominee from the 
HDP’s (Kurdish Party) third election area in Istanbul. 

Markar Esayan, an Armenian-Turkish journalist for the pro-AKP 
daily Yeni Şafak, entered the parliament on an AKP ticket as the 
12th candidate from Istanbul’s second election area. 

Selina Doğan, from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), was 
elected as the first deputy candidate from the second election area 
of the CHP’s Istanbul list. Doğan is a lawyer. 

In addition, Erol Dora, who is a member of Turkey’s Syriac community 
and a lawyer, was the HDP’s third deputy candidate from Mardin, and 
an incumbent in the legislature. 
Reports of widespread fraud cast a pall over the historic June 7 
general election in Turkey. 


news.am
RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO BE PRESENTED
IN HOUSE OF LORDS
03.06.2015 

Recognition of the Armenian Genocide will be presented in the House 
of Lords on June 16, British parliament's website said. 

"Recognition of 1915 killings of Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians as 
genocide" will be presented by Baroness Caroline Cox. 

During the April visit to Yerevan for "Against the Crime of Genocide" 
global forum, Baroness Cox said there are certain changes in UK's 
position on the Armenian Genocide. 


news.am
RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO BE PRESENTED
IN HOUSE OF LORDS
03.06.2015 

Recognition of the Armenian Genocide will be presented in the House 
of Lords on June 16, British parliament's website said. 

"Recognition of 1915 killings of Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians as 
genocide" will be presented by Baroness Caroline Cox. 

During the April visit to Yerevan for "Against the Crime of Genocide" 
global forum, Baroness Cox said there are certain changes in UK's 
position on the Armenian Genocide. 


Baroness Cox will speak with her oral question in the Main Chamber
of the House of Lords at 14:30 on the 16th of June.
We await to see if the government response is the same banal
formulaic set of words delivered by David Liddington in the
House of Commons Adjournment Debate on 23 March 2015.
His speech was a repetition of a position that does not understand
recent political overseas developments, church pronouncement and
in worldwide published books and articles.
Why not come and have a listen? 
Baroness Cox will speak with her oral question in the Main Chamber
of the House of Lords at 14:30 on the 16th of June.
We await to see if the government response is the same banal
formulaic set of words delivered by David Liddington in the
House of Commons Adjournment Debate on 23 March 2015.
His speech was a repetition of a position that does not understand
recent political overseas developments, church pronouncement and
in worldwide published books and articles.
Why not come and have a listen? 


armradio.am
BRAZIL SENATE APPROVES MOTION RECOGNIZING THE
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
03 Jun 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan 

On Tuesday, June 2nd, the Brazilian Senate voted to approve the 
motion recognizing the Armenian Genocide. The decision is posted on 
the Senate's official website. 

Speaking at a joint press conference with visiting OSCE 
Chairman-in-Office Ivica DaÄ~MiÄ~G, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward 
Nalbandian reiterated Armenia's support for the Brazilian Senate's 
decision to recognize the Armenian Genocide. 

"This was yet another important step in favor of the efforts of the 
international community targeted at the prevention of new genocides 
and crimes against humanity," he added. 

The resolution expresses its "solidarity with the Armenian people 
during the course of the centenary of the campaign of extermination 
of its population" and states that "the Senate recognizes the Armenian 
Genocide, whose centenary was marked on April 24, 2015." 

In addition, it denounces the "systematic denial, pressure and 
intimidation against those who try to reconstruct historical events." 


news.am
MAYOR OF NICE: RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IS
EVERYONE'S DUTY
05.06.2015 
Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan, who is on a working trip to France, 
today had a meeting with Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi. 

Welcoming the President, Estrosi said that it's a great honor that 
Armenia is the honorary guest of one of the world's most famous Midem 
international music festival. 

President Sargsyan thanked for the warm reception and noted that 
people in Armenia are familiar with the Mayor's activities and his 
considerate treatment to Armenians. According to Sargsyan, the Armenian 
Genocide Centennial commemoration events held in Nice on April 24, 
2015, sharing the Armenian people's pain and involving others in the 
events all come to witness that treatment. 

The Mayor of Nice said that the recognition of the tragedy suffered 
by the Armenian people, according to him, is everyone's duty. He 
expressed satisfaction with the relations and cooperation established 
between Yerevan and Nice, stressing that Armenia's president is always 
a welcome guest for them. 

Estrosi also said that he is planning to visit Yerevan before the end 
of the year to further enhance the friendly ties between Yerevan and 
Nice, as well as discuss new opportunities of cooperation. 



armradio.am
PLAQUE DEDICATED TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE UNVEILED
IN MARSEILLE
05 Jun 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan 

The plaque reading "1915-2015: 100th anniversary of the Armenian 
Genocide" was solemnly unveiled on the front of "Maison Blanche" 
- the administrative building of the 9-10th district of Marseille on 
June 4. 

The event was attended by Armenian Ambassador to Switzerland 
Charles Aznavour, President of the Urban Community of Marseille 
Provence Métropole Guy Teissier, Head of the 9-10th district of 
Marseille, MP Valerie Boyer, Armenian Consul in Marseille Samvel 
Laylayan, Deputy Mayors, representatives of the local self-government, 
heads of Armenian and French organizations, journalists, 
representatives of the Armenian community. 

The speakers at the event attached importance to the importance of 
commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide for 
Armenians and the international community and hailed Charles 
Aznavour's participation and contribution to the process of international 
recognition of the Genocide. 

Mayor Lionel Royer-Perreaut decorated Charles Aznavour with a 
memorial medal of the honorary citizen of the 9-10th district. Later on 
a plaque reading "Centennial Olive Tree from Charles Aznavour" was 
unveiled in the park of Maison Blanche. 

The event was widely covered in French media. The events dedicated 
to Armenia will continue at the Marseille City Hall for 10 days. 


abovyangroup.org
Abovyan Exclusive: An Interview with Ara Sarafian
Pietro Shakarian / March 31, 2015 

“The possibilities for moving forward remain but we should 
not take matters for granted.” 


In advance of the Centennial of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, The 
Abovyan Group sat down with Ara Sarafian , Director of the Gomidas 
Institute in London, to talk about the Genocide issue, Turkish-Armenian 
relations, the Kurds, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Hrant Dink, William 
Saroyan, and prospects for peace and reconciliation in the region. 

Q : How did you get interested in Armenian studies and the Armenian 
Genocide issue specifically? 

A : I had a general interest in the history of Armenians in the late 
Ottoman period. I had been to Turkey in the early 1980s, spent 
almost a year in Ankara to learn Turkish, and I wanted to learn 
more. 

Q : When was your first trip to Turkey? What was it like? 

A : 1981. It was after the military coup. I was In London and just 
decided to go. Nobody I knew went to Turkey, let alone eastern 
Turkey. It was an adventure. 

Q : Tell us about the Gomidas Institute. How did it start? 

A : The Gomidas Institute was formed by a group of students at 
the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. We wanted to help an 
Armenian, Souren Aprahamian, publish his memoirs. We then 
published more materials, then the journal Armenian Forum , and 
then started to work on different projects. So, the institute evolved 
over time. 

Q : You have faced denial of the Genocide both inside and outside 
of Turkey, most recently with the former head of the Prime Ministry 
Ottoman State Archives, Yusuf Sarinay. How do you confront this 
issue? 

A : Now we are jumping ahead! I am personally interested in 
Armenian history – social and administrative history of Ottoman 
Armenians. However, the Genocide is also a major focus. In recent 
years, I, as well as my colleagues at the Gomidas Institute, decided 
to respond to the denial issue. So far we have picked three substantial 
cases of “genocide denial,” where the focus is a concrete issue that 
could be resolved and the denialist side is a major stake-holder in the 
issue. 

One of these issues concerns Yusuf Sarinay, the former head of Turkish 
archives, who argued that the Armenian intellectuals who were arrested 
in Constantinople on 24 April 1915 were fairly treated. He even took the 
political prisoners as an example and claimed that most of them survived 
until 1918. 

In a nutshell, I checked his presentation – including his citations from 
Ottoman archives – and found them fraudulent. I wrote a detailed 
response, which was published in Agos (in Turkish) to allow him to 
respond. He did not do so – and has not done so to date. You can see 
the English version of my article on our website . 

So, we have showcased Sarinay as a state intellectual, and the argument 
he has presented, to be a case of genocide denial. What, indeed 
happened to the men who were in state custody at Ayash prison in 
1915? There is no evidence that they were alive by 1916; they certainly 
had disappeared by 1918 at the end of the war; and we have credible 
evidence that they were actually killed in the summer of 1915. 

Q : What has changed in Turkey since Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and 
the Justice and Development Party (AKP) have come to power? 
What has been the impact of the party on the Armenian issues? 

A : It is possible to talk about Armenian issues in Turkey now. The 
official denial is still in place. But so far, we have the ability to 
challenge such denial. There is room for dissent in Turkey and that 
is also what we have been doing through the Gomidas Institute 
– while building bridges with Turkish civil society. In fact, even the 
official position of the Turkish state has changed on the Genocide 
issue. They acknowledge that Armenians were treated in an 
inhuman fashion in 1915, but they deny details, mix in some fibs, 
and deny state responsibility. But there is still progress. 

Q : You have done extensive work with the Kurds in eastern Turkey, 
notably in Diyarbakir and Bitlis. Tell us about these initiatives. How 
did this begin? 

We felt a need to respond to positive developments in south-eastern 
Turkey. Diyarbakir was already an Armenian-friendly city when we 
started working there around 2013. Bitlis was an unknown quantity 
and a test for us. We reached out to build bridges in both places and 
have been well received. We recently added Mutki to our list of areas 
of activity. There is a lot to be said about the Kurdish regions of Turkey: 
although many Kurds participated in the Armenian Genocide of 1915, 
their own experiences at the hands of Turkish nationalists has been 
a transformative experience. Another major factor has been the Kurdish 
movement itself: including the emancipation of women, embracing 
religious and ethnic difference as part of their own world view, the 
rejection of national chauvinism, etc. 

Q : What are Kurdish sentiments toward Armenians and the Armenian 
Genocide? Can Armenians and Kurds work together on confronting 
this history? 

A : I am confident that it is possible to develop a language of 
reconciliation with Kurds because of their historical experience in 
Turkey. However, there is need for sensitivity on both sides. For 
example, I would draw attention to the humiliation and brutalisation 
of the Kurds in the Turkish republic, the destruction of thousands 
of villages by the Turkish army in the 1980s and 1990s, people driven 
into the cities as internally displaced people where they have lived 
in abject poverty… The last one hundred years of Kurdish history and 
its legacy are something that Armenians need to understand better. 

Q : In your view, how do Turkish-Kurdish relations impact the Armenian 
issue in Turkey today? 

A : The Kurdish movement has become a catalyst in the democratisation 
of Turkey. The issues Kurds are grappling with, such as equal rights, the 
rule of law, transparency of government, are for the greater good of all 
– including Armenians in Turkey and more broadly. 

Q : You were recently were part of a major effort to name a street in 
Bitlis after the famous Armenian-American writer William Saroyan 
whose family was from this city. Tell us more about this. 

A : That effort started after we made our initial contacts in Bitlis. I 
was surprised how many people knew about William Saroyan and 
took pride in him. When the suggestion was made to rename a street 
after him, as a first step towards rehabilitating the Armenian issue, the 
initiative had a lot of support. There was some initial opposition from 
the state, but that difficulty was overcome, to the credit of the resilience 
of the local municipality and, dare I say, Turkish democracy? We even 
had local members of the AKP supporting the measure – that is, 
cross-party, local support for such a measure. 

Q : Recently, the Sourp Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbakir was 
renovated and restored. Does this set a precedent for the restoration 
and preservation of other historical Armenian churches and 
monuments in Turkey? 

A : Yes, it is a precedent. Though it is not practical to renovate all 
such structures in Turkey. 
Hrant Dink 

Q : Why is it not practical? 

A : One reason concerns the cost of such renovations and their 
upkeep. If these are to be functional churches, then there is the 
question of priests. Who will pay for it? In the case of Sourp Giragos, 
the municipality provided some of the costs of renovation and pays 
for some of the upkeep. The renovation costs have still not been 
paid in full. And the church does not have a priest. But it is important, 
and there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Also, Turkish local 
authorities can not pay for such projects, especially where there is 
no Armenian community – and the local (Muslim) populations have 
their own pressing needs. So, there could be a selective renovation 
of certain churches, on a case by case basis, but not across the 
board. And that is hat is happening, anyway. 

Q : Hrant Dink was a very special figure, both to Armenians and 
Turks. This year marked eight years since his assassination in 
Istanbul. Do you recall when this happened? How did it impact you 
personally? How did this tragedy impact Armenian-Turkish 
relations? 

A : I think Hrant Dink was a peacemaker. And he spoke for the 
voiceless in Turkey – especially provincial Armenians. He was part 
of the positive development of Turkey. He could talk to Turkish 
audiences and touch their hearts. 

However, he was not dear to all. Many Turks did not like him 
– and killed him. Dink’s trial is still going on because there has 
been a cover up – and there still is a cover up. Many Armenians 
also did not like him – and in a sense do not like him. They used 
to talk behind his back, because he stood for peace and reconciliation. 
When he was murdered, they loved him as a “martyr.” Now they use 
his death to undermine his message. 

How often do we hear his voice of reconciliation? 

Q : Last year on 24 April, Erdoğan issued a statement of condolence 
to Armenians for 1915. While not explicitly mentioning the Genocide, 
is this an indication that Turkey is moving closer toward facing its past 
honestly? 

A : Erdoğan has steered Turkey closer to the truth about 1915, but 
not all the way. So, he has shifted the debate closer to the truth. He 
has carried his own supporters with him. And he did what was good 
for Turkey. I do not think he could have done more, even if he wanted 
to. He would have lost the next election. His opponents, the 
nationalists, would have had a field day. 

Q : It has been 100 years since the Genocide took place. What are 
the prospects for Turkish-Armenian rapprochement? Are there signs 
of moving forward? 

A : There are many opportunities for going forward – continuing with 
trust building, developing the language of peace, showing 
understanding, etc. However, it would also be prudent to also state 
that there remain many (possible) pitfalls and possibilities of disaster 
too. Ignorance, prejudice, partisan adventurism… So, the possibilities 
for moving forward remain but we should not take matters for granted.