Armenian News 24th April 2012
Thousands of Armenians mark genocide anniversary
By Mariam Harutyunyan (AFP)
By Mariam Harutyunyan (AFP)
24 April 2012
YEREVAN — Thousands of Armenians staged a procession to a hilltop memorial above the capital on Tuesday to mark the 97th anniversary of the genocide of their kin by Ottoman Turks during World War I.
From early morning, crowds of people joined the annual procession, carrying candles and flowers to lay at the eternal flame at the centre of the monument commemorating the mass killings.
"Today we, just as many, many others all over the world, bow to the memory of the innocent victims of the Armenian genocide," President Serzh Sarkisian, who led top officials laying wreaths at the monument, said in a statement.
"This day is one of those moments when the entire nation rallies around the unification of our homeland," he said.
Among the mourners was 75-year-old Tsovinar Tumasian, who said that her father had fought to save women and children from Turkish attacks.
She urged other countries to pressure Turkey to accept that the killings were genocide.
"If they are not forced to do so, they will not recognise the genocide as fact. They think that with time, everyone will forget about it," Tumasian told AFP as her relatives helped her make her way up the hill towards the monument.
The procession was broadcast throughout the day on all Armenia's national television channels, accompanied by sombre music, documentary footage about the massacres and eyewitness accounts from survivors.
The night before the commemoration, more than 8,000 people led by the youth wing of the nationalist Dashnaktsutyun party held a torch-lit march through central Yerevan, where a group of activists staged their now-traditional burning of a Turkish flag.
"Our action is a protest, a cry of indignation," one of the marchers, student Hamayak Serobian, told AFP, demanding that Turks accept "the brutality of their ancestors".
Turkey strongly denies the genocide allegations and the annual commemoration comes after the dispute between the neighbours was reignited by an attempt by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to bring in a law criminalising denial of the mass killings as genocide.
After a diplomatic row with Turkey erupted, France's top court struck down the law in February on the grounds that it infringed freedom of expression.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million people were killed during World War I as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart, a claim supported by several other countries.
Turkey argues 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian troops.
YEREVAN — Thousands of Armenians staged a procession to a hilltop memorial above the capital on Tuesday to mark the 97th anniversary of the genocide of their kin by Ottoman Turks during World War I.
From early morning, crowds of people joined the annual procession, carrying candles and flowers to lay at the eternal flame at the centre of the monument commemorating the mass killings.
"Today we, just as many, many others all over the world, bow to the memory of the innocent victims of the Armenian genocide," President Serzh Sarkisian, who led top officials laying wreaths at the monument, said in a statement.
"This day is one of those moments when the entire nation rallies around the unification of our homeland," he said.
Among the mourners was 75-year-old Tsovinar Tumasian, who said that her father had fought to save women and children from Turkish attacks.
She urged other countries to pressure Turkey to accept that the killings were genocide.
"If they are not forced to do so, they will not recognise the genocide as fact. They think that with time, everyone will forget about it," Tumasian told AFP as her relatives helped her make her way up the hill towards the monument.
The procession was broadcast throughout the day on all Armenia's national television channels, accompanied by sombre music, documentary footage about the massacres and eyewitness accounts from survivors.
The night before the commemoration, more than 8,000 people led by the youth wing of the nationalist Dashnaktsutyun party held a torch-lit march through central Yerevan, where a group of activists staged their now-traditional burning of a Turkish flag.
"Our action is a protest, a cry of indignation," one of the marchers, student Hamayak Serobian, told AFP, demanding that Turks accept "the brutality of their ancestors".
Turkey strongly denies the genocide allegations and the annual commemoration comes after the dispute between the neighbours was reignited by an attempt by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to bring in a law criminalising denial of the mass killings as genocide.
After a diplomatic row with Turkey erupted, France's top court struck down the law in February on the grounds that it infringed freedom of expression.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million people were killed during World War I as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart, a claim supported by several other countries.
Turkey argues 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian troops.
news.am
123 Armenian Genocide survivors live in Armenia
April 24, 2012 | 00:51
123 people, who survived the Armenian Genocide organized in Ottoman Turkey in 1915-1922, are currently living in Armenia, the head of social statistics and National Statistics Service of Armenia Nelly Baghdasaryan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.
As of July 1, 2011, 123 survivors of the Armenian Genocide currently live in Armenia, while as of July 1, 2010, 156 genocide survivors were living in Armenia.
On May 5, 2011, the Armenian Government decided to pay a monthly allowance to those people who survived the Armenian Genocide. According to that decision, Armenians who were born before 1915 in Eastern Armenia or in other parts of the Ottoman Empire and survived the genocide will receive a monthly stipend of AMD 25 thousand ($70).
The world commemorates on April 24 the 97th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the first genocide of the 20th century.
Commemoration actions are held in all states, people remember this monstrous crime against humanity as over one and a half million innocent Armenians were massacred in the Ottoman Empire, while hundreds of thousands were tortured and deported.
The fact of the Armenian Genocide is recognized by many states. It was first recognized in 1965 by Uruguay. In general, the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey has already been recognized by Russia, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Switzerland, Sweden, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Canada, Venezuela, Argentina, and 42 U.S. states.news.am
April 24, 2012 | 00:51
123 people, who survived the Armenian Genocide organized in Ottoman Turkey in 1915-1922, are currently living in Armenia, the head of social statistics and National Statistics Service of Armenia Nelly Baghdasaryan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.
As of July 1, 2011, 123 survivors of the Armenian Genocide currently live in Armenia, while as of July 1, 2010, 156 genocide survivors were living in Armenia.
On May 5, 2011, the Armenian Government decided to pay a monthly allowance to those people who survived the Armenian Genocide. According to that decision, Armenians who were born before 1915 in Eastern Armenia or in other parts of the Ottoman Empire and survived the genocide will receive a monthly stipend of AMD 25 thousand ($70).
The world commemorates on April 24 the 97th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the first genocide of the 20th century.
Commemoration actions are held in all states, people remember this monstrous crime against humanity as over one and a half million innocent Armenians were massacred in the Ottoman Empire, while hundreds of thousands were tortured and deported.
The fact of the Armenian Genocide is recognized by many states. It was first recognized in 1965 by Uruguay. In general, the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey has already been recognized by Russia, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Switzerland, Sweden, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Canada, Venezuela, Argentina, and 42 U.S. states.news.am
Turkey cannot become part of Europe without Armenian Genocide recognition
– German Ambassador
April 24, 2012 | 11:47
YEREVAN.- Turkey cannot become a part of Europe without recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Germany’s Ambassador Hans-Jochen Schmidt said in Tsitsernakaberd.
German Ambassador visited the memorial on Tuesday to honor memory of the Armenian Genocide victims.
“If Turkish government wants to build the future, it must admit its guilt just as Germany did,” he said.
According to him, the present generation of Turks is not guilty of the Armenian Genocide but they must be aware of the events and feel responsible for the actions of their ancestors.
Hitler’s remark “After all, who remembers the Armenian genocide” proves that impunity provokes new crimes, he added.
In the beginning of 20th century 1.5 million Armenians were annihilated in the Ottoman Empire. On April 24 Armenia and the world marks the 97th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the first genocide of the 20th century.
The fact of the Armenian Genocide is recognized by many states. It was first recognized in 1965 by Uruguay. In general, the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey has already been recognizedby Russia, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Switzerland, Sweden, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Canada, Venezuela, Argentina, and 42 U.S. states.
April 24, 2012 | 11:47
YEREVAN.- Turkey cannot become a part of Europe without recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Germany’s Ambassador Hans-Jochen Schmidt said in Tsitsernakaberd.
German Ambassador visited the memorial on Tuesday to honor memory of the Armenian Genocide victims.
“If Turkish government wants to build the future, it must admit its guilt just as Germany did,” he said.
According to him, the present generation of Turks is not guilty of the Armenian Genocide but they must be aware of the events and feel responsible for the actions of their ancestors.
Hitler’s remark “After all, who remembers the Armenian genocide” proves that impunity provokes new crimes, he added.
In the beginning of 20th century 1.5 million Armenians were annihilated in the Ottoman Empire. On April 24 Armenia and the world marks the 97th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the first genocide of the 20th century.
The fact of the Armenian Genocide is recognized by many states. It was first recognized in 1965 by Uruguay. In general, the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey has already been recognizedby Russia, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Switzerland, Sweden, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Canada, Venezuela, Argentina, and 42 U.S. states.
Politician: Armenia must pursue international recognition of Genocide
April 24, 2012 - 11:29 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - If Turkey wants zero problems with its neighbors, it should make some moves, and not nullify its chances for rapprochement, vice-speaker of Armenia’s National Assembly said.
As Eduard Sharmazanov told journalists at Tsitsernakaberd Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, Armenia must first of all “pursue the process of Genocide recognition because its international acknowledgment can prevent further genocides elsewhere.”
“Denial [of genocide] is equal to committing a genocide. Over 2000 cultural monuments have been destroyed and are still being destroyed in Turkey’s territory nowadays. This is yet another genocide,” the official stated.
“While Turkey does not recognize the Armenian Genocide, the European Union faces the threat of a potential member that follows the traditions of the Young Turks and the Ottoman Empire,” he added.
As to the Armenian-Turkish protocols, Armenia will not move until Turkey makes efforts in this direction, Sharmazanov concluded.
armenpress.am
April 24, 2012 - 11:29 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - If Turkey wants zero problems with its neighbors, it should make some moves, and not nullify its chances for rapprochement, vice-speaker of Armenia’s National Assembly said.
As Eduard Sharmazanov told journalists at Tsitsernakaberd Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, Armenia must first of all “pursue the process of Genocide recognition because its international acknowledgment can prevent further genocides elsewhere.”
“Denial [of genocide] is equal to committing a genocide. Over 2000 cultural monuments have been destroyed and are still being destroyed in Turkey’s territory nowadays. This is yet another genocide,” the official stated.
“While Turkey does not recognize the Armenian Genocide, the European Union faces the threat of a potential member that follows the traditions of the Young Turks and the Ottoman Empire,” he added.
As to the Armenian-Turkish protocols, Armenia will not move until Turkey makes efforts in this direction, Sharmazanov concluded.
armenpress.am
United States Ambassador avoided using the term Armenian genocide
12:28, 24 April, 2012
YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS: United States Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern among other heads of accredited diplomatic representations in Armenia visited Cicernakaberd and rose in memory of Armenian genocide innocent victims.
"For Armenians today is a very important day and we are here to appeal to memory of massacres of Armenians in 1915," during the briefing told Heffern, Armenpress reports.
On April 24 Armenians worldwide rise in memory of Armenian genocide implemented by Ottoman Turkey. More than 20 countries, different international organizations, 42 states of USA, many municipalities have recognized and condemned the greatest crime made against humanity in the beginning of 20-th century. Different countries discuss the issue of accepting bill criminalizing denial of Armenian Genocide.
12:28, 24 April, 2012
YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS: United States Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern among other heads of accredited diplomatic representations in Armenia visited Cicernakaberd and rose in memory of Armenian genocide innocent victims.
"For Armenians today is a very important day and we are here to appeal to memory of massacres of Armenians in 1915," during the briefing told Heffern, Armenpress reports.
On April 24 Armenians worldwide rise in memory of Armenian genocide implemented by Ottoman Turkey. More than 20 countries, different international organizations, 42 states of USA, many municipalities have recognized and condemned the greatest crime made against humanity in the beginning of 20-th century. Different countries discuss the issue of accepting bill criminalizing denial of Armenian Genocide.
Turkey warns against 'genocide' maneuvering in US elections
Turkey has warned US politicians against resorting to steps such as using the word "genocide" to refer to the killings of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire during World War I in order to bolster efforts aimed at luring Armenian-American voters ahead of the presidential election.
The genocide debate should not be used to gain political advantage in US internal affairs, an official from the Turkish Foreign Ministry told Today's Zaman on Monday.
US President Barack Obama is in the limelight on the eve of "Armenian Remembrance Day" on April 24, when he will give his annual message remembering the events of 1915.
“As in previous years, Turkey anticipates that Obama will be objective when evaluating the Armenian genocide and to refer to the pains of both Ottoman Turks and Armenians during World War I, as the Armenians were not the only ones suffering from the conditions of war,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The diplomat reiterated the Turkish proposal to establish a joint commission of historians and experts from both Turkey and Armenia to study the evidence for the events of 1915 in the archives of Turkey and Armenia and other relevant countries around the world.
Obama has avoided using the word “genocide” in previous April 24 speeches, although as a presidential candidate he pledged to recognize the Armenian genocide once in office.
Turkish political and academic circles claimed that this year would be different due to the US presidential election in November and that Obama could use the word “genocide” in Tuesday's speech to attract the Armenian vote.
Soli Özel, a senior lecturer in international relations and political science at İstanbul's Kadir Has University, ruled out the claims, saying that Turkey and the US have forged stronger ties during the last couple of years, during a phone interview with Today's Zaman last week.
“Obama would see there is no benefit in cooling relations with Turkey, considering the strong political ties between Turkey and the US,” Özel stated.
Panorama.am
Winston Churchill: This crime was planned, executed for political reasons
Member of Armenian delegation to Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) Hermine Naghdalyan issued a statement in the plenary session on the Armenian Genocide issue.
The statement reads:
“Dear Mr. President,
Dear Colleagues,
Today, numerous states, parliaments and international organizations have recognized and condemned the Genocide committed in 1915 in the Ottoman Empire. We express our gratitude to them for their contribution to the fight against crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, it is logical that the Turkish Republic, the assignee of the Ottoman Empire, should have to be the first to recognize and condemn the genocide.
Dear Colleagues,
Today, numerous states, parliaments and international organizations have recognized and condemned the Genocide committed in 1915 in the Ottoman Empire. We express our gratitude to them for their contribution to the fight against crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, it is logical that the Turkish Republic, the assignee of the Ottoman Empire, should have to be the first to recognize and condemn the genocide.
In 1918, the Turkish Military Court sentenced to death those high-ranking officials, who ordered the massacres. Then Turkey forgot its own history and to such extent that made calls to establish Commission of Historians to inquire these events.
Those, who want to know the opinion of prominent historians, lawyers and politicians I would like to cite some quotations:
First: «In 1915 the Turkish government began and carried out the infamous general massacre and deportation of Armenians. There is no reasonable doubt that this crime was planned and executed for political reasons». The words belong to one of the world’s prominent politicians and historians. His name is Winston Churchill.
First: «In 1915 the Turkish government began and carried out the infamous general massacre and deportation of Armenians. There is no reasonable doubt that this crime was planned and executed for political reasons». The words belong to one of the world’s prominent politicians and historians. His name is Winston Churchill.
Second: in one of his speeches in 1938, he made a rhetoric question “Who after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” And he answered to his question: nobody. With this conviction he implemented the Holocaust of Jews, which was recognized and apologized for by the future leaders of Germany. His name is Adolf Hitler.
Third: Joint Declaration by Britain, France and Russia in May 1915 vowed that all members of the Ottoman Government would be held personally liable for «crime against humanity».
Four: the US government submitted to the International Court of Justice that «the Turkish massacres of Armenians» was one of the «outstanding examples of the crime of genocide».
I would like to draw your attention to a survey made in 2009 by Geoffrey Robertson Queen's Counsel, a British distinguished lawyer, which is a comprehensive and complete analyses of facts and legal documents.
Here are some important conclusions: «Erroneous and illogical arguments are given today to elude truthful answers about the Armenian Genocide and prevent causing discomfort for the Turkish Government. One of them is requesting support of historians for the solution of a legal issue. The issue of Genocide is a matter of court judgment according to the international law and by no means an issue for historians. Historians establish facts, but the lawyers judge whether these facts are violation of international law or not».
Dear Mr. President dear colleagues,
Dear Mr. President dear colleagues,
Being a descendant of Armenians from Igdir, today, when my country is commemorating the day of the genocide I bow my head before millions of victims and believe that my Turkish colleagues will join me in the near future, as it is never late to look into the eyes of your own history. We are looking forward and we are confident that the truth does not look for the truth.”
The Jerusalem Post: material and cultural loss of Armenians was enormous
April 24, 2012 - 11:49 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - While the modern-day Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, eight years after its Ottoman predecessors embarked on a massive and systematic undertaking to rid the empire of its Armenian population, the country today often finds itself in diplomatic spats with various Western nations over its history, an article published by The Jerusalem Post reads.
“Outside the periphery of geopolitics, it would be perplexing to most as to why an event that occurred nearly 100 years ago would impact relations between Turkey and the United States and various European countries. The answer lies in the annals of history,” the author, Harout Harry Semerdjian says.
“During the First World War, while the Islamic Ottoman Empire was fighting the Allied Powers on the side of Germany, its native Christian Armenian population became a target of organized deportations and massacres. Long having suffered from discrimination and second-class citizenship, WWI provided the Young Turk government a cover to reach a “final solution” to the prevailing Armenian question,” he says.
“Starting April 24, 1915, with the arrest and killing of the Armenian intelligentsia, an entire civilization was uprooted from its many-millennia-old homeland and outright massacred or driven to a slow death in the deserts of Syria. The material and cultural loss of the Armenians has also been enormous, with some 3,000 churches destroyed alone. It is estimated that out of a population of two million Armenians, one-and-a-half million were killed while another half a million survived and dispersed to nearly every continent, thus resulting in the creation of a large and dynamic Armenian diaspora,” the author continues.
“This is where global power-politics unfolds. As offspring of survivors of the genocide, Armenians throughout the world developed an ingrown sense of patriotism and strong national identity over the years. With the Cold War over and with a tiny, but nevertheless independent, Republic of Armenia in existence, the past two decades have seen a renewal of the international drive for recognition of the genocide in light of persistent Turkish denial.”
Semerdjian goes on to say: “The Armenian refugees of 1915 who eventually found themselves integrated and well-established into their host societies, and frustrated with a lack of justice for the genocide, often succeeded in bringing their families’ plight to the attention of world leaders and onto the agendas of global parliaments and the US Congress. It is this very Armenian diaspora that is so feared and vilified by the Turkish government, which regrettably fails to comprehend and accept the realities, needs and anguish of these communities spread all across the world. An eerie reminder of the policy of exile still in effect, visiting diaspora scholars who have written on the genocide have also been deported from the country.”
“With the one-hundredth anniversary of the Armenian genocide fast approaching, Turkey increasingly finds itself isolated on this issue and under international pressure to finally recognize the wrongs of its predecessors. Its official policy of denial has been a total failure over the decades. Turkey has long relied on its military strength and geopolitical location to get its way on this and other issues including Cyprus and the Kurdish question; if its leadership wants to seriously advance the country’s democratization and “Europeanization” processes, as well as to set the stage for its rise as a regional power, it ought to think along the lines of peace and reconciliation with its neighbors, starting with an honest acknowledgment of its own history.”
The writer is a PhD candidate at the University of Oxford. He holds advanced graduate degrees from The Fletcher School of Diplomacy at Tufts University and the University of California, Los Angeles.
Genocide Symposium At United Nations Is Greeted by Turkish Diplomatic Corps’ Ire
Posted on April 23, 2012 by Editor
By Florence Avakian
Special to the Mirror-Spectator
UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. — Possibly speaking for all Genocide victims, a survivor of the Armenian Genocide once said, “I am somebody, but I am nobody.”
On Thursday, April 12, a symposium, titled “Toward Preventing Genocide: Nations Acknowledging their Dark History: Psychosocial, Economic and Cultural Perspectives,” took place at the UN, attended by close to 50 diplomatic, educational and Armenian community members.
The event began with a moment of silence for the victims of all genocides and was opened by Armenia’s Ambassador to the United Nations Garen Nazarian, who reminded the audience that this marked the 62nd anniversary of the UN Human Rights Declaration outlawing genocide. He stated that many countries, as well as scholars, including Turkish intellectuals, have already recognized the Genocide of the Armenians by Ottoman Turkey. He paid tribute to the memory and the 160th birthday of the Norwegian humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen, who “gave support to the fragile fragments of the Genocide,” and issued the Nansen Passport for the stateless Armenian survivors.
Before the program even began, two members of the Turkish Mission to the United Nations unsuccessfully tried to disrupt the event with loud protests, an action they again attempted at the conclusion. Chairperson of the event, Dr. Ani Kalayjian, president of the Association for Trauma Outreach and Prevention (ATOP) and the Armenian-American Society for Studies on Stress and Genocide (AASSSG), did not permit the Turkish outburst to continue.
Harrowing Testimonies
The highlight of the event was the screening of the film, “The River Ran Red,” by the late Dr. Michael Hagopian, whose wife and daughter were present. An account of the Armenian Genocide, the documentary is a compilation of harrowing testimonies and archival photos. “We were lying in blood in a forest. By day, we saw the dead,” said one survivor. “The Turks forced children in a Turkish orphanage to dig up the dead Armenian clerics and urinate on them,” said another, adding, “I saw a hundred children thrown into the Euphrates River so the Turks could spare their bullets.” Babies were buried in the desert with only their heads above ground, which were then crushed under the hooves of running horses, recalled another survivor.
In the film, the missionary, Mary Louise Graffam, reported from Malatya that “the valley was full of corpses.” And US Consul Jesse B. Jackson related seeing 500 emaciated women and children from Sivas after they reached Aleppo, Syria, following a 1,000-mile march. In one of the scenes, a Turk who brought fruit to Fr. Krikor Guerguerian (a.k.a Krieger), asked the Armenian priest for forgiveness for killing the priest’s father and three brothers and confiscating the house’s garden.
His nephew, Dr. Edmund Gergerian, has established the annual Krieger monetary Award for high school and college students who write the best essays on “What the Legacy of Genocide Means to Me.” At the symposium, four high school students who read their writing were honored with the award.
Carla Garabedian, director of the Armenian Film Foundation who received the AASSSG’s 2011 Outstanding Achievement Award, spoke about “future legal proceedings concerning monetary compensation” for the Genocide, a subject of fear for Turkey. “But how do you calculate such a figure. The International Criminal Court should decide the amount,” she said and reported that Turkish historian Taner Akçam and other Turkish scholars have already revealed that “Armenian assets were transferred into private and public hands.” Under international law, there is no statute of limitations on suing for stolen goods, she said, adding that Germany, since 1952 has paid Holocaust victims $60 billion. She concluded by noting that Turkey would benefit by freeing itself of Genocide denial, and save millions, which it currently spends on its denial propaganda. “Turks should know and be able to discuss their own history.”
Evolution of Genocide
Prof. Ervin Staub of the University of Massachusetts focused on the evolution of genocide — “a gradual process, which begins with discrimination and some violence, then results in institutional and people changes, which can be reversed but rarely happens. The passivity by the bystanders encourages violence. It is crucial that bystanders actively resist but it must start early,” he said, adding that genocide takes place in economically and psychologically difficult times. “Turks who were called the ‘sick man of Europe’ were already down, plus Armenians were in the way of Pan Turkism.
“Denial becomes part of the identity of both perpetrators and victims. They see the world as dangerous. What is needed is acknowledgment of the pain and reconciliation,” he said, then advised that Armenians should concentrate on the US denial, because constantly pointing out the Turkish denial does not allow Turkey to acknowledge the crime.
Dr. Dennis Papazian, professor emeritus at the University of Michigan, in a report, concentrated on the “Causes and Cures of Genocide,” which involves the “concept of sovereignty” (complete power over life and death). “Thus, until the signing of the Genocide Convention, the killing of one individual was considered murder and thus punishable by the state, while the killing of thousands and even millions by the state had no name and went unpunished.
“State sovereignty must be limited if we are to end genocide. In modern times, nationalism, pre-nationalism and religious exclusiveness have been some of the drivers of genocide, as well as language, and racism,” he said, adding that “by the time of the Armenian Genocide, the concept of ‘us’ and ‘them’ was developing.”
Calling the 19th century the century of imperialism which “was not so much an economic system inspired by the capitalist, as much as an extension of the medieval concept held by the ruling aristocracies that the more territory owned, the greater the prestige and glory. It was in this lethal environment that the Armenian Genocide occurred.” The Ottoman government “looking for an internal scapegoat to deflect attention from their own military ineptness, turned on the unarmed Armenians,” he added.
In conclusion, Papazian stated that it is “humanism, the understanding that we all — black, white, yellow, rich, poor, educated, uneducated, Armenians, Turks and all others — are actually one people with one destiny on this frail earth which holds the key to ending genocide. Thus, intellectual freedom is an absolute necessity for settling issues like the Armenian Genocide and preventing other such atrocities.”
The co-sponsors of the event included the Permanent Mission of Armenia to the United Nations, ATOP, AASSSG, the Armenian General Benevolent Union, Knights and Daughters of Vartan, Meaningfulworld.com, the Tekeyan Cultural Association, the Armenian Constitutional Rights Protective Centre of Armenia and Voices for Freedom.
April 24, 2012 - 11:49 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - While the modern-day Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, eight years after its Ottoman predecessors embarked on a massive and systematic undertaking to rid the empire of its Armenian population, the country today often finds itself in diplomatic spats with various Western nations over its history, an article published by The Jerusalem Post reads.
“Outside the periphery of geopolitics, it would be perplexing to most as to why an event that occurred nearly 100 years ago would impact relations between Turkey and the United States and various European countries. The answer lies in the annals of history,” the author, Harout Harry Semerdjian says.
“During the First World War, while the Islamic Ottoman Empire was fighting the Allied Powers on the side of Germany, its native Christian Armenian population became a target of organized deportations and massacres. Long having suffered from discrimination and second-class citizenship, WWI provided the Young Turk government a cover to reach a “final solution” to the prevailing Armenian question,” he says.
“Starting April 24, 1915, with the arrest and killing of the Armenian intelligentsia, an entire civilization was uprooted from its many-millennia-old homeland and outright massacred or driven to a slow death in the deserts of Syria. The material and cultural loss of the Armenians has also been enormous, with some 3,000 churches destroyed alone. It is estimated that out of a population of two million Armenians, one-and-a-half million were killed while another half a million survived and dispersed to nearly every continent, thus resulting in the creation of a large and dynamic Armenian diaspora,” the author continues.
“This is where global power-politics unfolds. As offspring of survivors of the genocide, Armenians throughout the world developed an ingrown sense of patriotism and strong national identity over the years. With the Cold War over and with a tiny, but nevertheless independent, Republic of Armenia in existence, the past two decades have seen a renewal of the international drive for recognition of the genocide in light of persistent Turkish denial.”
Semerdjian goes on to say: “The Armenian refugees of 1915 who eventually found themselves integrated and well-established into their host societies, and frustrated with a lack of justice for the genocide, often succeeded in bringing their families’ plight to the attention of world leaders and onto the agendas of global parliaments and the US Congress. It is this very Armenian diaspora that is so feared and vilified by the Turkish government, which regrettably fails to comprehend and accept the realities, needs and anguish of these communities spread all across the world. An eerie reminder of the policy of exile still in effect, visiting diaspora scholars who have written on the genocide have also been deported from the country.”
“With the one-hundredth anniversary of the Armenian genocide fast approaching, Turkey increasingly finds itself isolated on this issue and under international pressure to finally recognize the wrongs of its predecessors. Its official policy of denial has been a total failure over the decades. Turkey has long relied on its military strength and geopolitical location to get its way on this and other issues including Cyprus and the Kurdish question; if its leadership wants to seriously advance the country’s democratization and “Europeanization” processes, as well as to set the stage for its rise as a regional power, it ought to think along the lines of peace and reconciliation with its neighbors, starting with an honest acknowledgment of its own history.”
The writer is a PhD candidate at the University of Oxford. He holds advanced graduate degrees from The Fletcher School of Diplomacy at Tufts University and the University of California, Los Angeles.
Genocide Symposium At United Nations Is Greeted by Turkish Diplomatic Corps’ Ire
Posted on April 23, 2012 by Editor
By Florence Avakian
Special to the Mirror-Spectator
UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. — Possibly speaking for all Genocide victims, a survivor of the Armenian Genocide once said, “I am somebody, but I am nobody.”
On Thursday, April 12, a symposium, titled “Toward Preventing Genocide: Nations Acknowledging their Dark History: Psychosocial, Economic and Cultural Perspectives,” took place at the UN, attended by close to 50 diplomatic, educational and Armenian community members.
The event began with a moment of silence for the victims of all genocides and was opened by Armenia’s Ambassador to the United Nations Garen Nazarian, who reminded the audience that this marked the 62nd anniversary of the UN Human Rights Declaration outlawing genocide. He stated that many countries, as well as scholars, including Turkish intellectuals, have already recognized the Genocide of the Armenians by Ottoman Turkey. He paid tribute to the memory and the 160th birthday of the Norwegian humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen, who “gave support to the fragile fragments of the Genocide,” and issued the Nansen Passport for the stateless Armenian survivors.
Before the program even began, two members of the Turkish Mission to the United Nations unsuccessfully tried to disrupt the event with loud protests, an action they again attempted at the conclusion. Chairperson of the event, Dr. Ani Kalayjian, president of the Association for Trauma Outreach and Prevention (ATOP) and the Armenian-American Society for Studies on Stress and Genocide (AASSSG), did not permit the Turkish outburst to continue.
Harrowing Testimonies
The highlight of the event was the screening of the film, “The River Ran Red,” by the late Dr. Michael Hagopian, whose wife and daughter were present. An account of the Armenian Genocide, the documentary is a compilation of harrowing testimonies and archival photos. “We were lying in blood in a forest. By day, we saw the dead,” said one survivor. “The Turks forced children in a Turkish orphanage to dig up the dead Armenian clerics and urinate on them,” said another, adding, “I saw a hundred children thrown into the Euphrates River so the Turks could spare their bullets.” Babies were buried in the desert with only their heads above ground, which were then crushed under the hooves of running horses, recalled another survivor.
In the film, the missionary, Mary Louise Graffam, reported from Malatya that “the valley was full of corpses.” And US Consul Jesse B. Jackson related seeing 500 emaciated women and children from Sivas after they reached Aleppo, Syria, following a 1,000-mile march. In one of the scenes, a Turk who brought fruit to Fr. Krikor Guerguerian (a.k.a Krieger), asked the Armenian priest for forgiveness for killing the priest’s father and three brothers and confiscating the house’s garden.
His nephew, Dr. Edmund Gergerian, has established the annual Krieger monetary Award for high school and college students who write the best essays on “What the Legacy of Genocide Means to Me.” At the symposium, four high school students who read their writing were honored with the award.
Carla Garabedian, director of the Armenian Film Foundation who received the AASSSG’s 2011 Outstanding Achievement Award, spoke about “future legal proceedings concerning monetary compensation” for the Genocide, a subject of fear for Turkey. “But how do you calculate such a figure. The International Criminal Court should decide the amount,” she said and reported that Turkish historian Taner Akçam and other Turkish scholars have already revealed that “Armenian assets were transferred into private and public hands.” Under international law, there is no statute of limitations on suing for stolen goods, she said, adding that Germany, since 1952 has paid Holocaust victims $60 billion. She concluded by noting that Turkey would benefit by freeing itself of Genocide denial, and save millions, which it currently spends on its denial propaganda. “Turks should know and be able to discuss their own history.”
Evolution of Genocide
Prof. Ervin Staub of the University of Massachusetts focused on the evolution of genocide — “a gradual process, which begins with discrimination and some violence, then results in institutional and people changes, which can be reversed but rarely happens. The passivity by the bystanders encourages violence. It is crucial that bystanders actively resist but it must start early,” he said, adding that genocide takes place in economically and psychologically difficult times. “Turks who were called the ‘sick man of Europe’ were already down, plus Armenians were in the way of Pan Turkism.
“Denial becomes part of the identity of both perpetrators and victims. They see the world as dangerous. What is needed is acknowledgment of the pain and reconciliation,” he said, then advised that Armenians should concentrate on the US denial, because constantly pointing out the Turkish denial does not allow Turkey to acknowledge the crime.
Dr. Dennis Papazian, professor emeritus at the University of Michigan, in a report, concentrated on the “Causes and Cures of Genocide,” which involves the “concept of sovereignty” (complete power over life and death). “Thus, until the signing of the Genocide Convention, the killing of one individual was considered murder and thus punishable by the state, while the killing of thousands and even millions by the state had no name and went unpunished.
“State sovereignty must be limited if we are to end genocide. In modern times, nationalism, pre-nationalism and religious exclusiveness have been some of the drivers of genocide, as well as language, and racism,” he said, adding that “by the time of the Armenian Genocide, the concept of ‘us’ and ‘them’ was developing.”
Calling the 19th century the century of imperialism which “was not so much an economic system inspired by the capitalist, as much as an extension of the medieval concept held by the ruling aristocracies that the more territory owned, the greater the prestige and glory. It was in this lethal environment that the Armenian Genocide occurred.” The Ottoman government “looking for an internal scapegoat to deflect attention from their own military ineptness, turned on the unarmed Armenians,” he added.
In conclusion, Papazian stated that it is “humanism, the understanding that we all — black, white, yellow, rich, poor, educated, uneducated, Armenians, Turks and all others — are actually one people with one destiny on this frail earth which holds the key to ending genocide. Thus, intellectual freedom is an absolute necessity for settling issues like the Armenian Genocide and preventing other such atrocities.”
The co-sponsors of the event included the Permanent Mission of Armenia to the United Nations, ATOP, AASSSG, the Armenian General Benevolent Union, Knights and Daughters of Vartan, Meaningfulworld.com, the Tekeyan Cultural Association, the Armenian Constitutional Rights Protective Centre of Armenia and Voices for Freedom.
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