Armenian News - A Topalian... Expelled Deputy Mahinur Ozdemir

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by Prof. Ugur 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhCaPj6kTCM 

MAHINUR OZDEMIR EXPELLED FROM PARTY FOR NOT 

CALLING 1915 EVENTS 'GENOCIDE'
Daily Sabah, Turkey
May 29 2015
EMRE BAÅ~^ARANDemocratic Humanist Centre (CDH) Deputy Mahinur Ozdemir resisted
the pressure from the members of her party and rejected to call 1915
incidents 'genocide'. CDH's "ethical committee" thereupon expelled
heron Friday from the party because of her decision.

The process making Ozdemir an independent deputy of the Belgian
Parliament started upon CDH leader Benoit Lutgen's remarks about the
so-called Armenian genocide allegations in which he said, "Should
there be any genocide denier in our party, then he or she will be
immediately discarded."

After the leader's remarks, Belgian media started a smear campaign
against Ozdemir after she boycotted a moment of silence in the
parliament to mark the so-called genocide.

Ozdemir never gave up and never changed her attitude and decision
about the 1915 incidents. She evoked that there is no court decision
on the Armenian allegations, and further added that Belgian government
and the European Union didn't take a step regarding this issue.

Mahinur Ozdemir said in an interview that CDH secretary-general Eric
Poncin demanded that she sign a document that recognizes the deaths of
Armenians in 1915 as 'genocide' and added that the secretary-general
also said she would be dismissed from the party otherwise. She further
added that she told the secretary-general, "I'm behind my views on
this issue. I'm standing strong and I'm never giving up my freedom
of speech."

In her statement about the expulsion, Ozdemir said "Unfortunately, CDH
has made a decision that conflicts humanism and democracy and proved
that it does not have freedom of speech as a value. My expulsion has
become a black stain in CDH's and Belgian democracy's history. It's
clearly evident that the freedom of expression has to be valid for
1915 incidents. It's a shameful decision for those 'defending' the
freedom of speech by saying 'Je Suis Charlie'."

Saying that she wishes historians shed light on 100-year-old facts
that has been long benighted, and added that she shares the pain of
everyone, especially millions of Muslims that have been slaughtered.

"I condemn those playing politics with historical facts and peoples'
pains. I believe that, having lived together in peace for hundreds of
years, Turks and Armenians can go over this pain by facing the truths.

In this context, I support the opening of all historical archives
and the foundation of a common history commission," the independent
deputy added 

news.am 

Belgium politicians welcome Turkish MP's expulsion over 

Armenian Genocide denial
30.05.2015

[Belgium's] Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH) [party] had no other
decision but to expel the Brussels MP Mahinur Özdemir, Benoît Cerexhe,
CDH party president said, commenting on the expulsion of the Turkish
MP for refusing to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.

According to La Libre, Cerexhe said the expulsion had nothing to do
with how the MP worked: "The fact that not everyone is supporting the
political project of the party brings it into discredit. Hence, there
was no other decision but to expel."

The representatives of other parties also commented on the expulsion
of the MP. Vincent De Wolf, leader of Brussel's Reformational Movement
party, said: "The decision taken by Humanist Democratic Centre party
does credit to this political union. The acknowledgement of the 1915
Genocide against the Armenians and other minorities of the Ottoman
Empire, contributes to the duty to remember, which is the
responsibility of each democrat. The denial of that Genocide offends
the memory of the victims and obviously violates the humanist values,
whose carriers we are. No political party can tolerate the denial or
the shameful silencing of these crimes."

Harsher reaction was given by the Reformation Movement party MP Denis
Ducarme, who announced that this step "confirms the failure of the
selection of the communal approach by the Humanist Democratic Centre
in 2009." Ducarme has repeatedly refused against MP's demonstrational
display of their religious commitments in the parliament.

According to the "Ecolo" party leadership, apart from the decision on
expelling the Brussels MP Mahinur Özdemir, it's important to
simultaneously struggle for the acknowledgement of the Armenian
Genocide and against the communal approach.

Earlier, Belgium's Humanist Democratic Centre expelled the Turkish MP
Mahinur Özdemir for refusing to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. The
party's President Benoît Lutgen said that if there was an Armenian
Genocide denier in the party, they would be immediately expelled. 

Brazil's Recognition of the Armenian Genocide is just a Project 

for now Agencia Prensa Armenia 

A project to recognize the Armenian Genocide was introduced in the
Federal Senate of Brazil on May 26. The Resolution No. 550/2015 was
introduced by senators Aloizio Nunes Fereira Filio and Jose Serra. 

The draft 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 celebrated 

on April 24, 2015."

James Onnig Tamdjian, representative of the Armenian National
Committee of Brazil, said that the project "has a great support from
Senators and hopefully in the near future, the Brazilian Senate will
vote this proposal, which will be historic for all Armenians and their
descendants in Brazil". Onnig Tamdjian also expressed his hope that
"the Senate would continue its support to formalize the decision
soon."

"To honor the victims and recognize the contribution to economic,
social and cultural formation of Brazil of the thousands of Brazilians
descendants of Armenian refugees, we emphasize that no genocide must
not be forgotten so that it does not happen again," reads the text.

The draft highlights the "need for a racial cleansing to make Turkey,
then multiracial, a uniformly Turkish nation." In addition, it
denounces the "systematic denial, pressure and intimidation against
those who try to reconstruct historical events".

"The policy of extermination is so far denied by the Turkish
government," reads the draft resolution, and then cites the cases of
recognition from "a growing number of countries," including
"Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Uruguay and Venezuela" in Latin America,
as well as "European countries," the European Parliament and, more
recently, Germany and Pope Francis.

"It is estimated that at least 100,000 descendants of Armenians live
in Brazil, mostly in Sao Paulo. They are Brazilians whose ancestors
had to leave their homeland to escape the genocide. In Brazilian lands
they could restart their lives, build families and contribute to the
economic, social and cultural development of our country."

"The Brazilian government, unfortunately, has not yet recognized the
Armenian Genocide," although the legislatures of Ceará and Parana
did. "In 2015, the State of Sao Paulo instituted April 24 as the Day
of Recognition and Remembrance of Victims of the Genocide of the
Armenian people," concludes the project., social and cultural
development of our country."

"The Brazilian government, unfortunately, has not yet recognized the
Armenian Genocide," although the legislatures of Ceará and Parana
did. "In 2015, the State of São Paulo instituted April 24 as the Day
of Recognition and Remembrance of Victims of the Genocide of the
Armenian people," concludes the resolution.

tert.am
GLENDALE MAN'S 55-DAY FAST COMMEMORATING ARMENIAN 

GENOCIDE COMES TO AN END
29.05.15 

Agasi Vartanyan climbed out of a wood-and-glass enclosure
Thursday morning, ending his 55-day fast to commemorate the 100th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, in which he lost relatives,
Glendalenewspress.com reports.

As he stepped down a ladder from the enclosure outside St. Leon
Cathedral in Burbank, a couple of men helped him into a wheelchair
as hundreds of supporters watched.

Minutes later, he said through a translator, "I feel well. I have
great satisfaction."

A Glendale resident, Vartanyan weighed 168 pounds on Thursday, 56
fewer pounds than he did when he started his fast 55 days ago with
nothing more than clothes, a television and 55 gallons of water.

He chose to fast for 55 days, in part, because he is 55 years old.

While in the enclosure, he said Armenians around the world learned
of his effort and supported him.

"I believe that in life, you never get anywhere unless you fight for
it, struggle for it," he said.

After leaving the enclosure, someone asked Vartanyan what he planned
to eat now that his fast has ended.

"Whatever I eat will be the most delicious thing in the world,"
he said, jokingly.

The coming years will be dedicated to attaining justice for the 1.5
million lives lost, said Harut Sassounian, president of Crimes Against
Humanity Never Again, an organization which built the enclosure for
Vartanyan and partnered with him in his fast.

He said legal actions in international courts will work to return
land and churches that are now part of Turkey to Armenia.

"The next decade, the next few years, we are not going to pursue
recognition anymore. We are going to pursue justice," Sassounian said. 

RFE/RL Report
Syria's Assad Links Armenian Genocide With ISIS Atrocities
Emil Danielyan
27.05.2015

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday reportedly drew
parallels between the Ottoman Turks who massacred Armenians a century
ago and Islamist militants targeting innocent civilians in their
bloody war against his regime.

Assad, whose own human rights record has been denounced by
international watchdogs, again accused neighboring Turkey of
sponsoring these "terrorists" as he met with Armenia's visiting
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in Damascus.

"President al-Assad noted that the suffering that the Armenian people
experienced throughout their history is being experienced today by the
Syrian people at the hands of the same murderous and terrorist sides,"
reported the official SANA news agency.

Ankara's strong support for Syrian rebels has "brought back the
suffering that the region's people experienced during the times of the
Ottoman Empire," it cited the Syrian strongman as saying.

Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem elaborated on this claim at
a joint news conference with Nalbandian. "If the international
community had imposed necessary punishment on the butchers who
committed the massacres against Armenians in the early 20th century,
then their descendants today in Turkey wouldn't have dared to commit
massacres via their pawns in Syria," Moallem said, according to SANA.

Nalbandian seemed to agree. "Impunity gives rise to new crimes, as
evidenced by brutal atrocities committed by the terrorists now," he
said.

Syria - The Syrian parliament holds a special session dedicated to the
centenary of the Armenian genocide, Damascus, 17Mar2015.
Assad's regime has repeatedly accused Turkey of providing military,
logistical and political support to the Islamic State (ISIS) and the
Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front, the most successful of the Syrian
rebel groups. Ankara denies these claims backed up by Western media
reports.

The ISIS was widely blamed for last year's destruction of an Armenian
church in the eastern Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor. The Saint Martyrs'
Church was part of a memorial complex to some 1.5 million victims of
the 1915 Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey. Many of them were
starved to death in the desert surrounding Deir ez-Zor.

Nalbandian mentioned the church destruction, strongly condemned by the
West, at the Damascus news conference. He also stressed that Syria
became a "second homeland" for tens of thousands of Armenian survivors
of the genocide.

While helping the descendants of those Armenians become a thriving
community in Syria, successive Syrian governments avoided recognizing
the 1915 mass killings as genocide. Assad pointedly declined to visit
the genocide memorial in Yerevan during an official trip to Armenia in
2009. The Syrian leader, who had a warm rapport with then Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the time, instead offered to
mediate more Turkish-Armenian fence-mending negotiations.

The situation changed dramatically after outbreak of the Syrian
conflict in 2011 and ensuing deterioration of Ankara's relations with
the Syrian regime.

In March, Syria's parliament held a special a session to mark the
100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. "We express our solidarity
with the friendly Armenian people, as well as our Syrian Armenian
compatriots, who fell victim to the heinous genocide perpetrated by
the Ottoman authorities," its speaker, Mohammad Jihad al-Laham, said
in a speech.

Laham was among foreign dignitaries who attended the April 24 ceremony
in Yerevan that marked the genocide centennial. 

tert.am
'THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: A COMPLETE HISTORY' RELEASED 

IN TURKISH
28.05.15

The book "The Armenian Genocide: A Complete History" by French
Armenian historian Raymond Haroutioun Kevorkian has been translated
into Turkish.

The Turkish translation of the book has been released by the Ýletiþim
Yayýnlarý (Contact Publications) independent publishing company based
in Istanbul, Turkey, Demokrat Haber has reported.

The Turkish translation was made by Ayþen Taþkent Ekmekci and edited
by Ahmet Ýnsel and Kerem Unuvar.


THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AND TURKEY'S DENIAL
The Daily Star, Bangladesh
May 29 2015

>From 1915 to 1917, the Young Turks regime in the Ottoman Empire
carried out a systematic, premeditated, centrally planned genocide
against the Armenian people. One of the documents authenticated by
Turkish authorities in 1919 is a telegram sent in June 1915 by Dr
Sakir, one of the leaders of the secret organisation that carried out
the planning and execution of the Genocide. He asks the provincial
party official who is responsible for carrying out the deportations
and massacres of Armenians within his district: "Are the Armenians,
who are being dispatched from there, being liquidated? Are those
harmful persons whom you inform us you are exiling and banishing,
being exterminated, or are they being merely dispatched and exiled?

Answer explicitly...."

The evidence of intent is backed also by the outcome of the actions
against the Armenians: it is inconceivable that over a million persons
could have died due to even a badly flawed effort at resettlement.

Moreover, the pattern of destruction was repeated over and over
in different parts of Turkey, many of them far from any war zone;
such repetition could only have come from a central design. Further,
the reward structure was geared toward destruction of the Christian
minority: provincial governors and officials who refused to carry
out orders to annihilate the Armenians were summarily replaced.

More than one million Armenians perished as the result of execution,
starvation, disease, the harsh environment, and physical abuse. A
people who lived in eastern Turkey for nearly 3,000 years lost its
homeland and was profoundly decimated in the first large-scale genocide
of the twentieth century. At the beginning of 1915, there were some
two million Armenians within Turkey; today there are fewer than 60,000.

Despite the vast amount of evidence that points to the historical
reality of the Armenian Genocide, eyewitness accounts, official
archives, photographic evidence, the reports of diplomats, and the
testimony of survivors, denial of the Armenian Genocide by successive
regimes in Turkey has gone on from 1915 to the present.

The basic argument of denial has remained the same -- it never
happened, Turkey is not responsible, the term "genocide" does not
apply. The tactics of denial, however, have shifted over the years.

In the period immediately after World War I, the tactic was to find
scapegoats to blame for what was said to be only a security measure
that had gone awry due to unscrupulous officials, Kurds and common
criminals. This was followed by an attempt to avoid the whole issue,
with silence, diplomatic efforts, and political pressure used wherever
possible. In the 1930s, for example, Turkey pressured the US State
Department into preventing MGM Studios from producing a film based
on Franz Werfel's The Forty Days of Musa Dagh, a book that depicted
aspects of the Genocide in a district located west of Antioch on the
Mediterranean Sea, far from the Russian front.

In the 1960s, prompted by the worldwide commemoration of the
fiftieth anniversary of the Genocide, efforts were made to influence
journalists, teachers, and public officials by telling "the other side
of the story." Foreign scholars were encouraged to revise the record
of genocide, presenting an account largely blaming the Armenians or,
in another version, wartime conditions which claimed the lives of
more Turks than Armenians.

Thereafter, Turkey tried to prohibit any mention of the genocide in a
United Nations report and was successful in its pressure on the Reagan
and the Bush administrations in defeating Congressional resolutions
that would have designated April 24 as a national day of remembrance
of the Armenian Genocide. The Turkish government has also attempted to
exclude any mention of the genocide from American textbooks. Stronger
efforts still have been made to prevent any discussion of the 1915
genocide being formally included in the social studies curriculum as
part of Holocaust and genocide studies.

Finally, in the 1980s the Turkish government supported the
establishment of "institutes", whose apparent purpose was to further
research on Turkish history and culture. At least one of them also
was used to further denial of Turkish genocide and otherwise improve
Turkey's image in the West.

In addition to continuing the denial efforts described in the article
above, presently the Turkish government has hired former Congressmen
to lobby on its behalf. Former Reps. Bob Livingston (R-LA) and Gerald
Solomon (R-NY), who are each paid $700,000 as well as former Rep.

Stephen Solarz (D-NY) who is paid $400,000, are aggressively attempting
to rally Republican and Democratic opposition against official US
recognition of the Armenian Genocide.