Thursday 18 June 2015

Armenian News...A Topalian


[depressing pithy reaction from HMG that does not see reason to 
review its policy even after all the centenary developments in other 
countries and publications within the UK]

House of Lords Oral Question
16 June 2015 

Baroness Cox Crossbench

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to 
recognise the killings of Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians in 1915 
as genocide.

The Earl of Courtown Conservative

My Lords, Her Majesty’s Government recognise the terrible suffering 
inflicted on the Armenian people and other groups living in the Ottoman
 Empire in the early 20th century. While remembering and honouring 
the victims of the past, we believe that the UK ’s priority should be to 
help the peoples and Governments of Turkey and Armenia to face 
their joint history together.

Baroness Cox Crossbench

My Lords, in thanking the Minister for his reply, may I ask whether 
he is aware that over 20 states have recognised the genocide, 
including France, Canada, Poland, Chile and Austria, as well as the 
European Parliament and the Welsh Assembly, on the basis of 
irrefutable evidence of the systematic slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians,
Greeks and Assyrians? As His Holiness Pope Francis has emphasised 
the necessity of genocide recognition for healing, reconciliation and 
moving forward, will Her Majesty’s Government seriously consider 
reviewing their position? 

The Earl of Courtown Conservative

I thank the noble Baroness for her question and pay tribute to the 
many visits that she has made to that part of world. Her Majesty’s 
Government are aware of His Holiness the Pope’s comments during 
the papal mass to commemorate the victims of 1915, which was 
held in Rome. We respect his view and agree that it is important to
 face the lessons of history with courage and do all that we can to 
prevent similar atrocities. Her Majesty’s Government reviewed 
their  position of recognition in 2013 and, at present, we have 
no plans to conduct another review. 

Lord Harrison Labour

My Lords, it is true that it was genocide that was practised on the 
Armenians and other peoples in 1915. Will the Minister reply on the 
necessity of bringing together the Armenians and our colleagues in 
Turkey in order to find reconciliation? Will he also report on the 
conversations that HMG have had with our Armenian colleagues 
about the renewal of their application for closer relations within the 
European Union?

The Earl of Courtown Conservative

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for that question. Lastly he 
mentioned a report on the negotiations and conversations with 
Armenia and the European Union. I am not aware of those at 
present but I shall write to the noble Lord if there is any further 
information that I can give him. He also mentioned how we can 
bring together the two different parties, the Armenians and the 
Turks, and get some kind of reconciliation going. We are trying 
to promote links between Turkey and Armenia in a number of 
ways. We have had a successful exchange of Turkish and 
Armenian Chevening alumni, who have visited each others’ 
countries for the first time. We have also targeted funding on 
projects such as CivilNet TV , which is a media source for 
Turkey-related news in Armenia. 

Baroness Ludford Liberal Democrat

My Lords, given the recent Turkish election results which gave 
encouraging signals about openness and pluralism, including 
the election of three MPs of Armenian-Turkish identity, will the 
Government consider ways in which they can renew the 
encouragement of allies, in both Turkey and Armenia, to set 
up a joint historical commission? Can they offer specific ways 
in which they can support such a commission to look into the 
tragic events of 1915, which affected not only Armenians but 
other minorities and Turks?

The Earl of Courtown Conservative

The noble Baroness is quite right. As she mentioned, it is 
particularly pleasing to see MPs of Armenian background in the 
Turkish Parliament. As to getting the different groups together, our 
priority should be to promote reconciliation between the peoples 
and Governments of Armenia and Turkey and to enable the two 
countries to face their joint history together. 

Lord Singh of Wimbledon Crossbench 

My Lords, is the Government’s response to genocide and human 
rights abuse predicated by who does it and where it occurs? I ask 
the question because when I raised the issue of the mass killing of 
Sikhs in India about a year ago, I was told that that is a matter for 
the Indian Government. 

The Earl of Courtown Conservative

No, I cannot agree with the noble Lord. I am not aware of the 
response that was given concerning the Sikhs in India, and there 
is nothing more I can add.

Lord Flight Conservative

My Lords, while the treatment of the Armenians in 1915 is to be 
condemned absolutely as genocide, might we be able to persuade 
Armenia to withdrawn from those parts of Azerbaijan which it has 
been illegally occupying for some 20 years?

The Earl of Courtown Conservative

Someone has whispered in my ear that I should wish the noble 
Lord a happy birthday, but they did not tell me where to look in the 
folder. Twenty-one years—I hope this is the right answer—have 
now passed since the ceasefire brought the active phase of the 
conflict to an end. For over 20 years the parties have not been able 
to reach a peace settlement. That has also meant over 20 years of 
continued hostility, hatred and suffering. The status quo is certainly 
not sustainable. 


armradio.am 
BRITISH GOVERNMENT HAS NO PLANS TO REVIEW POSITION 
ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
17.06.2015


The UK government recognise the terrible suffering inflicted on the
Armenian people and other groups living in the Ottoman Empire in the
early 20th century, the Earl of Courtown James Stopford said during
the discussions in the House of Lords.

While remembering and honouring the victims of the past, we believe
that the UK's priority should be to help the peoples and Governments
of Turkey and Armenia to face their joint history together, he said.

The oral question on "Recognition of 1915 killings of Armenians,
Greeks and Assyrians as genocide" was raised by Baroness Caroline Cox.

In her speech she recalled that more than 20 countries have recognized
the Armenian Genocide, while His Holiness Pope Francis had emphasised
the necessity of genocide recognition.

In response, the Earl of Courtown admitted that "Her Majesty's
Government are aware of His Holiness the Pope's comments during the
papal mass to commemorate the victims of 1915, which was held in
Rome." However, the government reviewed their position of recognition
in 2013 and, at present, we have no plans to conduct another review.

He added that government's priority should be to promote
reconciliation between the peoples and Governments of Armenia and
Turkey and to enable the two countries to face their joint history
together.

"It is particularly pleasing to see MPs of Armenian background in the
Turkish Parliament," the Earl of Courtown added. 


horizonweekly.ca
AMBERIN ZAMAN: SINCERE APOLOGY AND COMPENSATION 
ARE LONG OVERDUE
June 17, 2015
By Amberin Zaman
Council on Foreign Relations


This article was published on April 22, 2015

Amberin Zaman is an Istanbul-based turkish writer who has covered
Turkey for The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Daily
Telegraph and the Voice of America. A frequent commentator on Turkish
television, she is currently Turkey correspondent for The Economist, a
position she has retained since 1999.

On April 24, millions of Armenians around the world will commemorate
the centenary of the mass destruction of their ancestors by the
Ottoman Turks.

Some will come to my country, Turkey, for the first time to pray for
the souls of their loved ones who perished during what most historians
call the first genocide of the twentieth century. It will be a day of
reflection for me as well, and not just because I am Turkish and have
many Armenian friends. It is also because my great grandfather on my
maternal side may have played a part in covering up this horrible
crime.

Mehmet Emin Kalmuk was the son of Muslim Tatars who fled Crimea during
the 1853-56 Russo-Ottoman war. He became the director of the postal
and telegraph authority during the last days of the Ottoman Empire. I
grew up hearing stories of his valor. He had "burned all the
telegrams" before British warships anchored off the coast of Istanbul,
marking the post-World War I Allied occupation of the city.

Did the messages that my great grandfather destroyed contain the
deportation orders for over a million Armenians who were sent on a
death march to the Syrian desert?

I still don't know. Historians have documented that much evidence was
destroyed in the aftermath of 1915.

What I do know is this: A terrible sin was committed by our forebears.

It went unpunished. Further crimes ensued, albeit on a lesser scale:
Thousands of Alevi Kurds were massacred in the province of Dersim in
1938, there were pogroms against Greeks in the 1950s, and the Turkish
army launched a scorched-earth campaign against Kurdish rebels in the
1990s, during which thousands were tortured and killed. These acts
went unpunished too. And so the cycle continues, not because Turks are
inherently evil, but because of a deeply ingrained culture of
impunity, which we dress up as pride.

The Islamist government that has been in power since 2002 has gone
further than any of its predecessors in addressing some of these
horrors. Beginning last year, it expressed condolences to the
Armenians on the anniversary of the killings. Yet there is a strong
whiff of political expediency about its magnanimity. No matter how we
label the crimes, a formal and sincere apology and, where feasible,
compensation are long overdue. 


armradio.am
TURKISH AMBASSADOR TO INDIA 'HOPES' TO REWRITE THE
PAST OF HIS COUNTRY
17 Jun 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan


Next time the Turkish Ambassador to India is in the City of Joy,
he "hopes to visit" the Armenian community. In fact, he wants to
facilitate their visit to Turkey, according to The Hindu.

Burak Akcapar, an independent scholar of Turkish history, is the first
Turkish envoy to advocate a meeting between the Armenians in the city
and a government representative since India's Independence. Mr.

Akcapar was there to launch his book on the Indian medical mission to
Turkey to treat Ottoman soldiers injured in the Balkan War of 1912-13.

The number of Armenian Christians in Kolkata has dwindled from
thousands to some 500. But many of them still assemble every year
in the 18th century church to pray for their ancestors killed in
the genocide. The Armenian descendants say the Ottoman government
exterminated the minority Armenians in today's eastern Turkey, their
"historic homeland".

Mr. Akcapar did not apologise, but he took a step forward. "I hope to
reach out to the Armenian community here," he said. "I also like them
to go to Turkey to reach out to us. My door is open to the Armenians
of Kolkata and I would be happy to meet them," he told The Hindu
before the launch of his book at Oxford Bookstore.

Later, he tried to find out about the community. "I need to know
about them," he said. "Perhaps, I have not come prepared for this,
and will plan to meet them on my next visit."

He said many Turkish Muslims were also killed during the time. "We
both have suffered and still shared a lot of our past for thousands
of years -- we should both hug and cry," he said.

A city-based historian said the Turkish envoys had never displayed
"any willingness to connect the communities" divided by a 100-year-old
tragedy. 


1915: GENOCIDE OR NOT?
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
June 15 2015
MehveÅ~_ Evin


After the Pope's remarks, the calls from the European Parliament
stating that "1915 is a genocide, Ankara should open its archives and
make peace with Yerevan" received harsh reactions from Turkey. It was
known that remarks like these would come during the 100th anniversary
of 1915, but obviously nobody in Turkey had done their homework. More
precisely, the government chose a simplistic approach of thinking
"we will publish a condolences message with a language that suits us,
and then it is all over."

However, the government's first reactions reflect a guilty 
psychology.

It takes a defensive approach, while claiming responsibility for the
actions of the Committee of Union and Progress (Ittihat and Terakki,
or Young Turks). Some of the reactions are gory. For example, 
President Tayyip Erdogan spoke of deporting Armenians with Turkish 
citizenship, just like deporting Armenians living illegally in this country. 
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, on the other hand, actually accepted
the genocide when he talked about "opening" the archives of Europe's
history too. Isn't reacting to the West's "genocide pressure" by
referring to colonialism and asking "what happened to the 
Aborigines, Indian Americans, and African tribes?" just another 
way of saying that genocide took place in 1915"?

Is someone holding you back?

Anyway, please do question any instance where native people were
massacred. Is someone holding you back?

Of course it is not the same thing. Other countries, by apologizing,
by not preventing criticism of the massacres in their history through
media and cinema, by belatedly recognizing surviving natives' rights,
have faced their ancestors' crimes and their own history. Of course,
it is still not enough and more has to be done.

Specific to 1915, the Republic of Turkey has still not given up its
denial policy. Efforts continue to show that it was "normal" for 
more than one million civilians to be killed by reminding of 
Armenian gangs' crimes and "betrayal." But what about the 
murdered intellectuals, the raped women, the Islamized children 
who were taken away from their parents, the young and old people 
who were put on roads and left to starve to death? Are we going 
to call it "deportation"?

Is it enough to publish a condolences message for "the innocent Ottoman
Armenians who lost their lives," as if the death of a million people
was a natural thing?

Humanity criteria

One hundred years have passed. As some Turkish people and the state
know, 1915 was a heavy humanitarian and war crime. Bulent Arınc
has personally stated: "We didn't carry out genocide knowingly or
purposely. The ones who carried out genocide are obvious."

However, the fact that the United Nations didn't define "genocide"
until 1948 does not mean that genocide was not carried out 
previously.

Are we going to decide according to U.N. criteria? Or according
humanity's criteria?

Calling 1915 "genocide" would not bring sanctions to Turkey. 
Fears of compensation and demand for land are groundless. 
Instead, recognizing it could affect individual lawsuits, many 
of which are currently ongoing.

It may be difficult and controversial for the state to describe
1915 as genocide. But what is truly difficult is living with lies
and denial for years. It is truly difficult to continue observing
how crimes that were carried out or overseen by the state are 
being kneaded with the same culture of denial.
In a new century, this denial means sentencing new generations to
live in the darkness and lies of the past.

How can you share the pain?

- One cannot share pain and be sincere by resorting to the 
blackmail of "you tell your crime first."

- Yes, Armenian gangs killed Turks too. But pain cannot be 
shared unless official history and discourse stops telling a 
single-sided story, as if there is no before and after.

- Putting the burden of responsibility on the causes of World 
War One amounts to justifying the Committee of Union and 
Progress, who collaborated with the Germans, but not sharing 
the pain.
- Describing genocide recognition as hate speech basically 
means not knowing what genocide really means.

- "Greatness" is for those who are sincere about friendship 
and peace, and who are ready to face reality.

This article published in daily Milliyet on April 22, 2015 received
the Global Political Trends (GPoT) Center's 'Turkey-Armenia Journalism'
award. It was translated from Turkish by Muhammed Ammash.

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