Welsh Shepherd Does More for
Armenian Cause than Most Armenians
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
16 Jul7 2009
Incredible, but true! Eilian Williams, a shepherd in Wales, has done more
in support of the Armenian Cause than most Armenians, despite the fact that
he is not related to Armenians by heritage or marriage. For all his good
work, he has received no recognition and no appreciation. Most Armenians, except
for a small circle in London, are neither aware of his existence nor his
selfless efforts.
Incredible, but true! Eilian Williams, a shepherd in Wales, has done more
in support of the Armenian Cause than most Armenians, despite the fact that
he is not related to Armenians by heritage or marriage. For all his good
work, he has received no recognition and no appreciation. Most Armenians, except
for a small circle in London, are neither aware of his existence nor his
selfless efforts.
His first involvement with Armenians began in 1998 when an Armenian
acquaintance asked him to arrange for the Armenian Church Choir to perform in
Eisteddfod, a Welsh Cultural Festival. This prompted him to form the "Wales
Armenia Solidarity" group.
On April 24, 2001, Mr. Williams organized the first Armenian Genocide
commemoration in the Temple of Peace, located in Cardiff, Wales. He then
succeeded in getting the National Assembly for Wales in October 2002 to officially
recognize the Armenian Genocide and organized a special commemorative event
in the National Assembly building, which was attended by Armenia's Ambassador
to the United Kingdom.
Through his persistent efforts, the Gwynedd County Council in March 2004
became the first municipality in the UK to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
In October 2004, Mr. Williams arranged for the Prime Minister of the
Republic of Nagorno Karabagh (Artsakh) to be received by the Presiding Officer
(Speaker) of the National Assembly for Wales, thus boosting the legitimacy of
Artsakh's statehood.
Two years later, Mr. Williams was able to persuade the majority of the
members of the National Assembly for Wales to support the Assyrian/Armenian
Genocide Early Day Motion (EDM).
In January 2007, he organized the Hrant Dink Commemoration in the British
Parliament. He also lobbied for the Armenian Genocide Motion in the House of
Commons which garnered the signatures of 182 Members of Parliament.
On November 3, 2007, at the inauguration of the Armenian Genocide Monument
in Cardiff, which Mr. Williams and John Torosyan helped organize, the
Speaker of the National Assembly for Wales made scathing remarks about Turkey.
Turkish hooligans tried to disrupt the solemn proceedings; several months
later, they desecrated the Genocide Memorial.
Over the years, I had followed with great admiration the unpublicized
activities of this "odar" shepherd of Wales. However, I had no direct contact
with him until last month, when I received from him the text of a new Early Day
Motion that he had submitted to the British House of Commons. The Motion
demands that Turkey return the more than 2,000 Armenian, Assyrian and Syriac
churches and religious monuments confiscated by the Turkish government after
the 1915 Genocide to the jurisdiction of their respective Patriarchates as
"a measure of restitution."
The Motion further asks that the British government recognize the fact that
these minorities were ethnically cleansed in the years following 1915, as
was recently acknowledged by Turkish Prime Minister Rejeb Erdogan. The Motion
has so far gained the support of 23 Members of the British Parliament.
This Motion attracted my attention because in recent months, I have been
advocating such an initiative through my columns and lectures. I was
pleasantly surprised when the Welsh shepherd sent me an e-mail last month informing
that he had decided to take this action after reading my columns and
particularly the remarks I had delivered at the House of Commons on May 7.
Armenian-Americans should follow the good example set by Mr. Williams and
submit a similar resolution to the U.S. Congress. It would be practically
impossible for any Member of Congress to oppose a motion that calls for the
return of Armenian houses of worship to their rightful owner, the Armenian
Patriarchate of Istanbul. Such a resolution would go beyond the mere
acknowledgment of the Genocide, by seeking to restore some of the massive losses
suffered by the Armenians.
European Armenians should go even further by filing a lawsuit in the
European Court of Human Rights, seeking a judgment for the immediate return of the
churches and religious monuments to the Armenian Patriarchate. It is
unconscionable that these Armenian churches -- the ones not yet destroyed -- have
been converted to mosques, warehouses and living quarters, and no one is
contesting this shameful state of affairs! One can imagine the worldwide outcry
if today's German government were still holding on to a single synagogue
that was confiscated by the Nazis during the Holocaust!
My hat off to Eilian Williams! I only wish that Armenians would emulate the
righteous activism of this good shepherd whose efforts deserve proper
recognition by the Republic of Armenia, the Church, and Armenians worldwide!
For Publication
President Aliyev talk during London visit
Yesterday the President of Azerbaijan , Ilham Aliyev , delivered a talk in Chatham House
(one of the most influencial research and political analysis organisations in UK) about
the "Foreign Policies of Azerbaijan and its Challenges ". In the Chair was Sir Brian Fall,
former British Ambassador to Russia and the Caucasus who also moderated the meeting.
Attending were a few former Foreign Ministers of UK , heads of the BP, Scholars and
Political Analysts, a large number of UK resident Azeris, the Azeri Press and the
President`s entourage.
The Chairman reminded us that it was exactly 5 years ago to the day that Mr Aliyev had
delivered his first Address , here in Chatham House , on the 13th of July and that maybe
13 was a good omen for him ; then invited the guest to the podium .
Mr Aliyev talked at great lenght about the healthy economic situation in Azerbaijan and
the improvement of conditions in the life of each Azeri. He described , with pride, to what
" good use" that newly gained wealth was allocated - health, education, social services
and housing of the refugees - and explained that all these changes had been made
possible by the daily production of a million and half barrels of oil, the sale of the enormous
supply of natural Azeri gas to its neighbours and the many contracts drawn for the sell of
these commodities, the latest having been signed , " just this morning" with BP.
This picture of bliss, wealth, good health and "education for all" (he mentioned that each
child in each Azeri school had a personal computer) was so encouraging , optimistic and
rosy that one could not help but wondering why where there so many Azeris living in abject
poverty and why 600.000 Azeri refugees were still living in make-shift tents, even after
18 years of Azeri independence and prosperity?
Mr Aliyev spoke of Azerbaijan`s good and friendly relations with its neighbours Turkey,
Russia and Georgia . He then turmed to Armenia and Karabagh . Of Armenia, he said that
meetings and talks were being held but "always the hindering factor had been the unresolved
dispute in Karabagh " , that " peace was necessary to the region" and that " the international
community (he mentioned the UN, the OSCE and the EU) were in total agreement with the
Azeri authorities ": the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan had to be preserved.
When asked about Azerbaijan`s relations with Turkey, he said that Turkey was their friend,
that he had frequent meetings with Messrs Erdogan and Gul and that he had been given the
reassurance that " the borders with Armenia will never be opened, unless Karabagh is
returned to its rightful owner and Azeri land is evacuated". He also mentioned that the borders
had been closed by Turkey, as a gesture of solidarity with Azerbaijan "when Armenia
invaded Azerbaijan".
Asked " if Azerbaijan will refrain from military action and remove its arsenal from the borders
of Karabagh to achieve peace in the region ", he replied " if we do that , then Armenia will
have no interest or incentive in a peace agreement" .
Then he realised the gaffe he had made! But it was too late: everyone had understood what
President Aliyev had meant : " peace can be achieved only by war".
Replying to the question " shouldn't the Karabagh authorities be also included in the
negotiations " he replied : " it is the duty of the Armenian Authorities to tell us that , and if
that becomes the case, then they ( the Armenians ) should resign and withdraw from the talks".
This statement generated great interest and some perplexity : " if Armenia was to withdraw
from the negotiations , then was Azerbaijan to negotiate with Karabagh itself?
He then said that "the Azeri population of Karabagh must also participate ."
To the quotation by the British-Armenian All-Party Parliamentary Group`s representative that
" the Karabagh dispute is not a Territorial Issue but a Human Rights Issue" the President,
angrily , lined-up all the accusations about Armenian agression and gave an Azeri, self-written
account of the historic events and arguments which place Karabagh within Azerbaijan . He
also said that he was prepared to grant the largest autonomy to Karabagh but ONLY under
Azeri rule .
Asked about his opinion of Iran`s nuclear proliferation and if he had congratulated
Mr Ahmadinejad , he did not reply to the first question but said that yes, he had congratulated
Mr Ahmadinejad after his election .
Replying to the question " is it difficult for you to walk in the steps of your father , the late Heydar
Aliyev" , the President replied that he was proud of what his father had achieved and concluded
by saying that he was implementing the projects created by his father and that in the six years
of his tenure , he had brought prosperity and progress to his people .
Outside Chatham House, protesters were distributing leaflets, asking Mr Aliyev to release
Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade from jail . In their leaflet one can read :
" ........ German Ombudsman for Human Rights , Gunther Nooke says : here ( in Azerbaijan)
victims are turned into perpetrators and that is a typical sign of a working dictatorship.This case
shall have a negative impact on German-Azerbaijani relations .
Nevertheless the contract with BP has been signed.
Odette Bazil
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