Armenian News - OPEN LETTER BY ASSADOUR GUZELIAN

[It appears that the Gallipoli commemoration in Turkey may still

go ahead in some form or other.

Hopefully, world leaders will note that this has become the subject

of dirty internal Turkish politics, AKP v Gulenists, and stay away from 

the squalid power struggle with its consequent trampling of Turkish

human rights. So far, they have not shown the respect due to the 

tragedy of the Armenians.

In this way, the triumphant occasion planned by their government

will shrivel into an unimpressive  local event. ]


Daily Sabah, Turkey
Feb 22 2015
Presidential sources refute claims by Gülenist daily that Gallipoli
commemorations canceled
DAILY SABAH
ISTANBUL


Presidential and Prime Ministry sources have denied allegations that
were reported Sunday in Today's Zaman, a daily affiliated with the
Gülen Movement, that the Gallipoli commemorations set to take place on
April 24 have been canceled due to low anticipated participation from
the countries invited.

Today's Zaman, a daily known for its articles opposed to the ruling
party and for being linked to the Gülen Movement, which allegedly
orchestrated the Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 operation in an apparent attempt
to topple the government, reported on Sunday that the Gallipoli
commemorations were canceled due to low participation, citing an
anonymous official from the government. However, sources from both the
Presidency and Prime Ministry have refuted the claims that the
commemorations have been canceled, refraining from offering further
details over how many and which countries will participate in the
Gallipoli centennial commemoration.

President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an and Prime Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu sent
letters to 102 countries inviting the leaders of states to attend the
commemoration ceremonies in Turkey marking the 100th anniversary of
the World War I Battle of Gallipoli this year on April 23 and April
24.

The invitation letters were also sent to U.S. President Barack Obama
and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. 
Daily Sabah, Turkey
Feb 22 2015


RFE/RL Report

US congressmen to introduce Armenian genocide bill this week
RAGIP SOYLU

22 February 2015

[please also read the attached open letter]

Four members of Congress in the U.S. last week invited their
colleagues to become an original co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide
Recognition Resolution, which accuses the Ottoman Empire of committing
genocide in 1915 and asking President Barack Obama to pressure the
Turkish government to resolve the issue.

A letter addressed to U.S. congressmen, penned by Robert J. Dold
(Republican from Illinois), David Valado (Republican from California),
Adam B. Schiff (Democrate from California) and Frank Pallone (Democrat
from New Jersey), claims that the Ottoman Empire killed 1.5 million
Armenians between April 24, 1915 and 1923. "Forty-two U.S. states have
recognized the Armenian Genocide, as have 11 of our NATO allies. On
this special year, it is time for the United States government to
officially join with those voices standing against this genocide
denial. We can help bring closure to this longstanding moral issue
that continues to impact U.S. interests," the letter read.

Representatives declared that they would be introducing the resolution
next Tuesday, Feb. 24 and the same language as in House Resolution 227
from the 113th Congress would be used.

House Resolution 227, which last year became obsolete, urged President
Obama to work toward durable Armenian-Turkish relations based upon
Turkey's full acknowledgment of the facts and ongoing consequences of
the "Armenian Genocide."

The draft resolution also cites President Obama's statements before
entering office, saying he held the conviction that the Armenian
genocide is not an allegation but rather a widely documented fact
supported by historical evidence.

Parts of the Turkish-American community was quick to show their
grievances about the initiative.

Ali Çınar, a Turkish-American community leader and also the president
of the Washington-based think tank Global Policy Institute, invited
his followers to pressure congressmen by calling the offices of
representatives and emailing them to make them stop pursuing the
official recognition of genocide. 

armenianweekly.com 

Turkey Denies Report on Cancellation of Gallipoli Commemoration 

Events
By Weekly Staff on February 22, 2015

Sources close to the Turkish government have denied Sunday's Zaman's
report claiming the Gallipoli commemoration events have been canceled,
according to Daily Sabah. "Sources from both the Presidency and Prime
Ministry have refuted the claims that the commemorations have been
canceled, refraining from offering further details over how many and
which countries will participate in the Gallipoli centennial
commemoration," reported Sabah, which highlighted Zaman's link to the
Gulen Movement.

On Feb. 21, Sunday's Zaman reported that the commemoration ceremonies
marking the centennial of the Gallipoli Campaign of World War I were
canceled. The paper said the reason for cancellation was the low
number of heads of states who agreed to attend Ankara for the
ceremonies that were scheduled to take place on April 24--Armenian
Genocide commemoration day.

The paper quoted a government official, who wished to remain
anonymous, as saying, "The Gallipoli celebrations have been canceled.
All preparations have been suspended as the number of RSVPs to the
invitation is not positive. Only five countries have accepted the
invitation and they will not be represented by high-level officials."

Leading up to the Gallipoli commemorations, Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan had sent official invitations to more than 100 world
leaders, including Armenian President Serge Sarkisian, to partake in
the ceremonies. The date designated for these commemoration
events--April 24--created uproar among Armenians worldwide, while
Turkish human rights groups urged world leaders to boycott the
Gallipoli events.

On Jan. 16, Sarkisian responded to Erdogan's invitation to Turkey on
April 24, in a strongly worded letter. "Turkey continues its
conventional denial policy and is perfecting its instrumentation for
distorting history. This time, Turkey is marking the 100th anniversary
of the Battle of Gallipoli on April 24, even though the battle began
on March 18, 1915 and lasted until late January 1916, while the
Allies' operation started on April 25," he wrote, adding, "What is the
purpose [of this] if not to distract the world's attention from the
100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide?"

tert.am
ZHAMANAK: ARMENIAN PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE NOT 

TO VISIT YEREVAN ON APR 24
20.02.15

The Armenian patriarch of Constantinople turns out not to be planning
any visit to Armenia on April 24, the Armenian Genocide centennial
commemoration day.

"I have to serve a holy mass that day," Archbishop Aram Ateshian told
the paper on Thursday.

Asked whether he is going to join the Gallipoli Campaign's 100th
anniversary events (to which Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan was
also invited), the patriarch replied, "I beg your pardon, but I am
not willing to share any idea on any material."


armenianow.com
FORGET-ME-NOT: A SYMBOL OF GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL MAKING 

ITS WAY INTO ARMENIANS' LIFE
20.02.15
Alina Nikoghosyan 

Forget-me-nots, a chosen symbol of commemoration of the Centennial of
the Armenian Genocide, in colors symbolizing the past, the present
and the future, the light and the eternity, have increasingly been
taking a more prominent place in the life of Armenians in Armenia
and around the world in recent days and weeks.

The massacres of Armenians that began in the Ottoman Empire still
in the 19th century peaked in 1915 turning into a state genocidal
campaign, with 1.5 million Armenians slaughtered in the subsequent
few years. In 2015, Armenians in different parts of the world as well
as in Armenia itself will be holding many events to commemorate the
victims of the Genocide on its 100th anniversary.

Under a decision of the State Committee coordinating these events,
the forget-me-not flower has been selected as the official symbol of
the commemorations, while "I Remember and Demand" was chosen as the
motto for the anniversary, because the flower represents the graphic
image of 12 stone slabs of the memorial to the Armenian Genocide
victims at Tsitsernakaberd (Swallow Fortress).

The five petals of the flower symbolize five parts of the world
where Armenians were scattered after the Genocide and created the
Armenian Diaspora.

The flower has four colors - black in the center, symbolizing the
Armenian past, then it is surrounded by yellow which pictures the
light and the eternity in the form of 12 pillars standing in a circle
symbolizing the memorial of Tsitsernakaberd. Light purple is the
present and the prevailing purple - the future.

The small flower that contains much notion in it has already managed
to become widely popular among Armenians. Reporters of many TV stations
appear on screens with a Forget-Me-Not badge.

The idea of the forget-me-not seems to have appealed to the ruling
party as well, as both President Serzh Sargsyan and other senior
Republican Party members appear in public wearing Forget-Me-Not badges.

Schools will not stay apart from the "Forget-me-nots"; among other
events devoted to the Centennial of the Genocide the Armenian Ministry
of Education and Science will organize an event in all public
educational institutions on March 24, when all schoolchildren of
5-12 grades will prepare the symbol of forget-me-nots - 1.5 million
pieces, which later, on April 24, will be handed to visitors of
Tsitsernakaberd.

And although the official website of the Centennial of the Armenian
Genocide says that already in April Forget-Me-Not badges will be
provided for free, it did not avoid "business interests", and those
willing to purchase forget-me-nots earlier are offered a bunch of
Forget-me-nots - not only badges, but also earrings, key-holders, etc.

According to some media reports, a local businessman has produced fake
badges, selling them in his stores for 200 AMD (about 40 cent) a piece.

However, as a symbol the forget-me-not has not unanimously been
accepted and has been criticized by some as well.

According to filmmaker Tigran Khzmlyan, who is also a former member
of the Pre-parliament civil initiative, the forget-me-not is not a
proper symbol for the Genocide Centennial, because according to him,
Armenians have long had their symbolic flower.

"The forget-me-not is understandable in an abstract sense, however,
it is not now that we are searching for cultural symbols for us, and
in our poetry and folklore, in our image system a completely different
flower symbolizes the Armenian pain, it is the poppy. In the image of
the previous generation a poppy symbolized the blood of the diseased,
meaning the beauty of the poor nature of our mountains, it is red,
but has black in its heart," Khzmlyan said.

As for the slogan of the flower - "I Remember and Demand", according
to the film director, it might create a misunderstanding in Turkey.

"If we take a forget-me-not, as a symbol of memory, we appear in a
quite ambiguous situation. The thing is we have nothing to remember,
we are not looking at it from aside and thus we seem to appear in the
Turkish trap. Besides, there is also another unpleasant peculiarity -
the forget-me-not, as it turns out, has numerously been used, it is a
banal and discredited symbol, which we see in many political parties,
religious units and most ridiculously, it is the logo of many trading
companies," Khzmlyan said.

Nevertheless, the symbolic "Forget-me-not" will at least this year be
in the center of Armenian attention, and Europe's biggest pop music
contest, Eurovision, will be no exception.

Armenia has decided to unite around Eurovision 2015 the new generation
of all Armenians who were scattered around the five continents
(Europe, America, Asia, Africa, and Australia) in 1915 and five
singers of Armenian origin are associated with five petals of the
flower. They will be joined by one singer from Armenia who will unite
the petals. The group that will be formed for the contest will be
called The Genealogy - 6 artists, 6 destinies, one story, and the
title of the song is - "Don't Deny".


keghart.com
Crystalizing Armenian Claims
NCWA Edges Towards Final Strategy
1 February 2015 

The National Congress of Western Armenians (NCWA), the non
-ideological, non-partisan Paris-based NGO, since its inception in
2011 has invited Armenians from around the world (including political
parties, religious and compatriotic-- Hayrenagtsagan organizations)
to participate in its pan -Western Armenian initiative to draft demands
from Turkey re the losses suffered by the Armenians as a result of the
Genocide (1915 to 1923).


“Unless the upcoming Armenian Genocide centenary commemoration
is directly linked to the question of reparations and restitution it will
merely be just another memorial commemoration occasion,” said
Souren Seraydarian , chairman of the National Congress of Western
Armenians (NCWA) here at a private gathering on Jan. 31 attended
by close to 50 local Armenians, representing a cross section of the
community’s political, social, and cultural organizations.



Since its inception in 2011, the non-ideological, non-partisan Paris

-based NGO has invited Armenians from around the globe including 

political parties, religious and compatriotic (Hayrenagtsagan) 

organizations to participate in its pan-Western Armenian initiative to 

draft demands from Turkey re the losses suffered by the Armenians 

as a result of the Genocide (1915 to 1923).

Seraydarian, who has been touring Diaspora communities to raise 

awareness of the upcoming and crucial 4 th National Congress of 

Western Armenians, added: “Our second great concern is the absence 

of a political vision and long-term strategy. What do we want to achieve, i

n which time frame? We speak often about restitution without defining 

the restitution of what.”

Restitution may be private property, public property including the 

property of associations and churches. It could also entail restitution of 

territory, said Seraydarian. “The question arises 'which territory?’ 

The Armenians of the Ottoman Empire lived in all parts of the country, 

including in the Five Villayets in the east identified in the unratified 

Treaty of Sevres.” 

Finally, there’s the question, said Seraydarian, of the lands which 

were not part of the Ottoman Empire but were taken from Armenia 

soon after WWI and given to Turkey by the Soviet Union as a result 

of the misguided Kars and Moscow treaties.

The NCWA, which has members in major centres of the Diaspora 

and in Armenia, was formed four years ago to address these existential 

questions. Following years of intensive research by its historians and 

lawyers, input by its members and Armenian leaders in various countries 

and meetings with Turkish and Kurdish organizations which recognize 

the Genocide, the NCWA is in the process of putting the final touches 

to a policy paper which will be sent to different Armenian organizations 

as well as the authorities in Armenia for comments and review. The 

aim of the consultation is to define the NCWA vision for a long term 

strategy. The NCWA will make public the blueprint of its battle plan 

at its upcoming Paris meeting March 28-29. Members will then offer 

their input for the final draft of the NCWA strategy.

The NCWA chairman said there are four issues which could be a

ddressed once its membership approves the final draft. “First, we shall 

request the authorities of the Republic of Turkey to open and provide 

access to the archives of the property (cadastres) of Armenian citizens 

of the Ottoman Empire. This could be done at the national as well as 

the local level—cities and villages,” said Seraydarian.

“We also have to ensure that the Armenian Church claims its property 

consisting of churches, monasteries, cemeteries, land and other mobile 

properties,” said the NCWA chairman and added that to achieve the goal 

there should be close cooperation between the Patriarchate of Istanbul 

and the Catholicosate of Cilicia. The Armenian Catholics and Protestants 

should follow the same path, advised Seraydarian.

The NCWA will request Ankara to protect the Armenian cultural heritage 

in Turkey as required by the Lausanne Treaty ratified by Turkey. The 

protection of the cultural heritage of minorities is a requirement of the 

treaty.

The Armenian NGO will also approach the constitutional court of Turkey 

to review the constitutionality of the laws and decrees adopted by 

succeeding Turkish governments (from the early ‘20s to the early ‘80s) 

on the so-called abandoned properties. If the NCWA request is rejected, 

the NGO will approach the European Court of Human Rights since 

Turkey is a signatory of the European body’s statutes.

The NCWA plans to raise the issue of Western Armenians’ loss of 

citizenship which rendered them stateless, and their deportation in 

violation of international law.

Personal claims for severe human rights deprivation and as a result 

of violations of human rights during the Genocide (1915-1923) will 

also be pursued. This would entail claims for reparation of individual 

[survivors and their descendants], pain, and suffering [survivors], 

wrongful deaths or disappearances [surviving victims and descendants]. 

In this latter instance the plaintiffs could be the Republic of Armenia 

on behalf of its citizens, descendants of Western Armenians. During 

the pan-Armenian project the Republic of Armenia and the NCWA will 

effortlessly supplement each other’s work and any attempt by Ankara 

to split Armenia and the Diaspora initiatives would be doomed to failure. 

The Toronto gathering took place within 48 hours of the Genocide 

Centenary Commission’s meeting in Yerevan which made a landmark 

declaration on behalf of the Armenian people. The commission 

reaffirmed the Armenian government’s and the Diaspora’s intention to 

seek greater international recognition of the Genocide. The commission, 

headed by President Serge Sarkissian, also stated that it will strive to 

“overcome consequences” of the mass killings of Armenians of the 

Ottoman Empire.

Seraydarian’s talk was followed by a lively Q and A. Attendees 

expressed their agreement with the NCWA purely legalistic approach 

to restoring Armenian collective and individual rights. A number of 

attendees said they planned to be at the momentous NCWA Paris 

gathering in March 28-29.

------- 

OPEN LETTER... THIS IS AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AND WHOLEISTIC IN ITS STRUCTURE, BACKED WITH REFERENCES AND DOCUMENTED SUPPORT IN THE STATEMENT.

Assadour Guzelian

45, Exeter House

Putney Heath

London, SW15 3SX

Tel: +44(0)20 8788 3274

E-Mail: aguzelian@btconnect.com

Open letter to;

President of the USA

Mr. Barak Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20

Prime Minister of the UK.

Right Honorable

David Cameron

Prime Minister's Office

10 Downing Street

London SW1A 2AA

Prime Minister of the Israel

His Excellency

Benjamin Netanyahu

Prime Minister's Office
3 Kaplan St. Hakirya

Jerusalem

Dear Sirs,

Subject: Centenary of the Armenian Genocide (1915-2015)

On 24^th April 2015, Armenians all over the world will mark the 100^th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Many governments, international organisations, institutions and individuals worldwide will join them and pay their respect to 1,500,000 men, women and children, who perished as a result of this horrendous crime against humanity, the first Genocide of the 20^th Century, perpetrated by the Young Turkish Government during World War I.

No doubt you are aware that numerous persons of different nationalities and religions, who lived in the Ottoman Empire during the War, sent eyewitness reports to their respective governments, organisations and friends, expressing their horror in the extermination of the Armenians. Some of the eye witness accounts were published by the British Government in 1916 in a book entitled "The Treatment of the Armenians under the Ottoman Empire", better known as "The Blue Book", compiled by Lord James Bryce and the distinguished historian Arnold Toynbee.

It is extraordinary that, in spite of overwhelming and irrefutable evidence, a significant proportion of which has been archived by reputable British, European, American and Jewish intellects, historians and politicians, you refuse to recognise the Armenian Genocide, and in doing so, are contributing to Turkey's efforts to bury the truth about the extermination of the Armenians, which at the time was called by the Entente allies- Britain, France and Russia- “a crime against humanity".

Out of thousands of eye witness accounts, statements and declarations made by persons of integrity, honour and reputation about the Armenian Genocide, I wish to quote but a handful.

"The British Government today refuses to recognise the Armenian Genocide of

1915. ...Yet the British Foreign Office itself published a great deal of evidence as early as 1916. Their refusal to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide today is an affront to the brave witnesses whose testimony was carefully recorded, and the eminent scholars whose analysis is still valid today."

ERIC AVEBURY

Referring to the 3^rd edition of "The Treatment of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire", (House of Lords, November, 2000)

"In the province of Armenia, Abdul Hamid and the Young Turks had deliberately set themselves to the simplification of the Armenian difficulty by deporting and exterminating the whole race, whom they regarded as infidels and traitors."

DAVID LLOYD GEORGE

(British Prime Minister)

“Memoirs of the Peace Conference” (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1939).

"In 1915 the Turkish Government began and ruthlessly carried out the infamous deportation and general massacre of Armenians in Asia Minor. Three or four hundred thousand men, women, and children escaped into Russian territory and others into Persia or Mesopotamia; but the clearance of the race from Asia Minor was about as complete as such an act, on a scale so great, could well be... . There is no reasonable doubt that this crime was planned and executed for political reasons. The opportunity presented itself for clearing Turkish soil of a Christian race!"

(Underlined by AG)

WINSTON CHURCHILL (voted "the greatest Britain")

“The World Crisis, vol. 5, The Aftermath", (New York 1929).

My question to the British Government is, was Churchill telling the truth? If yes, in that case Mr. Cameron, as one of his successors should also have the courage to do the same!

"The Turkish atrocities in the district of Bitlis are indescribable. After having massacred the whole male population of this district, the Turks collected 9,000 women and children from the surrounding villages. Two days later they marched them out to the bank of the Tigris, shot them all, and threw the 9,000 corpses into the river."

ARNOLD J. TOYNBEE

"The Armenian Atrocities, The Murder of a Nation", London,1915.

Geoffrey Robertson QC, an internationally renowned human rights lawyer, published a book in 2014, entitled "An Inconvenient Genocide; who now remembers the Armenians?" I do not need to introduce G. Robertson to you, as, I am sure, you have read his books dedicated to human rights issues. After careful examination of the evidence, the author of the "An Inconvenient Genocide" proves, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the horrific events, which took place in the Ottoman Empire during WWI, constitute a crime against humanity, that is today known as genocide. He condemns the hypocrisy of the governments of the U.K and United States and states.

"...Twenty national parliaments in democratic countries have voted to recognise the genocide, but Britain and USA continue to equivocate for fear of alienating their NATO ally."

GEOFFREY ROBERTSON QC

                                                                                                                                               

"...The final and worst measure used against the Armenians, was the wholesale deportation of the entire population from their homes and their exile to the Desert, with all the accompanying horrors on the way.

"...This massacre of the Armenians, judged both by the numbers involved and the methods used, was the greatest single horror ever perpetrated in the history of humanity".

HENRY MORGENTHAU

U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire (1913-16)

"Ambassador Morgenthau's Story”, (New York, 1919).

Besides Morgenthau, many other American diplomats and eyewitnesses have submitted reports to the Government of the United States of America about the Armenian Genocide, such as J. B, Jackson, J. E. Merril, Robert Lansing, Charles F. Brissel, F. Leslie, James Lyman, Samuel Edelman, Hoffman Philip, H. Bernau etc.

See Ara Sarafian's "United States Official Documents on Armenian Genocide”,

Volume one, (Watertown 1993).

"The Armenian massacre was the greatest crime of the war and the failure to act against Turkey is to condone it..."

THEODORE ROOSEVELT (1918).

I consider it relevant to remind Mr. Obama of the statement he made on 19^th January, 2008, during his election campaign!

"My firmly held conviction that the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact, supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence. The facts are undeniable. As president, I will recognize the Armenian Genocide."

BARAK OBAA

                                                                                                                                               

There were many noble Turks, some holding responsible positions in the Ottoman Government, such as Djelal Bey, Faik Ali Ozansoy, Reshit Pasha, Tahsin Bey, Ferit Bey, Mehmet Cemal Bey, Sabit Bey, Maser Bey, Huseyin Nesimi Bey, governors of Aleppo/Konya, Kutahya, Kastamonu, Erzurum, Basra, Yozgat, Batman, Angora respectively, who refused to carry out orders received from the Central government and as a result were removed from their posts. They were replaced by “more obedient civil servants”, who carried out the task of wiping out the Armenians from the above mentioned locations.

"When you attempt to describe the atrocities committed by those criminals, your pen will shake in your hands, innocent babies unaware of the troubles of the world who need love and care-sleeping in their mother's lap with an angelic smile on their faces, are cruelly snatched from their mothers and struck by the hard blow of an axe, causing blood to pour instead of tears from their eyes and all the while the Turkish butchers hilariously laughing on their acts and also forcing those others waiting death to laugh with them. How can one describe such maddening cruelties without having his whole body and soul from shaking?"

MEVLAN ZADE

A prominent leader of the Young Turk party.

See his memoirs "Turkye Intikabini Ic Yuzi", (Aleppo 1929).

Below is a translated extract from the official transcript of the verdict of the court martial conducted by the Ottoman Turkish government in 5 July, 1919 against the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide. The verdict was first published in the Official Gazette (Takvim-i-Vekayi), No. 3604.

“Minister Talaat Pasha and Minister of War Enver Effendi, now expelled from his military career; Djemal Effendi, Minister of the Navy, likewise expelled from the service; Dr Nazim, Minister of Education, these were the principal criminals (fayili asli) and their guilt has been determined by a unanimous vote. ...In accordance therefore with the above-mentioned paragraphs in the law code, Talaat, Enver, Djemal and Dr Nazim are sentenced to death".

In 1926 a Swiss journalist, Emile Hilderbrand interviewed Kemal, later known as Ataturk, who accused the Young Turks of the massacre of "millions of our Christian subjects ". The interview appeared in the August 1, 1926 issue of the San Francisco Examiner.

It should be mentioned that in 1926 a Turkish group, including a number of Young Turks, attempted to assassinate Ataturk. The attempt failed and the culprits were executed as traitors.  

Ataturk made the following statement to Emile Hilderbrand;

"These left-overs from the former young Turk party, who should have been made to account for the lives of millions of our Christian subjects, who were ruthlessly driven en mass from their homes and massacred, have been restive under the republican rule. They have hitherto lived on plunder, robbery and bribery and become inimical to any idea, or suggestion to enlist in useful labour and earn their living by the honest sweat of their brow"

KEMAL ATATURK

For Ottoman documents on the Armenian Genocide, I refer you to "The Young Turks' Crime against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire".

TANER AKCAM

Princeton University Press, 2013.

                                                                                                                                               

The German Ambassador, Wangenheim on 7 July, 1915 wrote;

"The [Turkish] government is indeed pursuing its goal of exterminating the Armenian race in the Ottoman Empire".

(Wilhelmstrasse archives).

Armin T. Wegner, a German officer, who was assigned to the Turkish Army, managed to take hundreds of photographs of the actual killings with a hidden camera, provided the following shocking picture in an open letter to U.S. President W. Wilson;

"...Here they died-slain by Kurds, robbed by gendarmes, shot, hanged, poisoned, stabbed, strangled, mown down by epidemics, drowned, frozen, parched with thirst, starved, their bodies left to putrefy or to be devoured by jackals. Children wept themselves to death, men dashed themselves against the rocks, mothers threw their babies into brooks and women with child flung themselves singing into the Euphrates. They died all the deaths on earth, the deaths of all the ages."

ARMIN T. WEGNER

Wegner's "Open Letter to President Wilson" appealing for the creation of an independent Armenian state, was published in "Berliner Tageblatt", 23 February, 1919.

Hitler, who had perfected the extermination methods used by Talaat Pasha, applied them to the Jewish Holocaust. Approximately a quarter of century after the Armenian Genocide (22. 8. 1939), on the eve of the German invasion of Poland, he gave the following orders to his "death units".

"I have given orders to my Death Unites to exterminate without mercy or pity men, women and children belonging to the Polish-speaking race. It is only in this manner that we can acquire the vital territory, which we need."

When asked what answer he would give to future generations, Hitler said; "Who today remembers the extermination of the Armenians?"

ADOLF HITLER

For the German original see "Akten zur Deutschen Auswartigen Politik" 1918-1945, Series D, Band VII, (Baden-Baden, 1956).

Had the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide been brought to justice at a Nuremberg style International trial, Hitler would not have dared to make such a cynical statement!

For details of the German involvement in the Armenian Genocide, I refer you to the recently published book  entitled "The Armenian Genocide, Evidence from the German Foreign Office Archives, 1915-16", edited by Wolefgang Guest, (2014 New York- Oxford).

                                                                                                                                               

The two genocides of the 20^th Century were perpetrated against the Armenians and the Jews. It is therefore appropriate that reference be made also to the Israeli Government vis-a-vis the Armenian Genocide.

It is incredible that the Israeli Government, in spite of the enormous pressure and criticism from the Jewish intellectuals, organisations and public at large, has adopted the same attitude to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide as those of the British and American Governments. One would have expected that the Israeli Government would have appreciated the sufferings of the Armenians better than any other nation. The Israeli Government should not forget that the leniency shown by the victors to the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide encouraged Adolf Hitler to plan and execute the Jewish Holocaust and make his infamous statement, "who today remembers the extermination of the Armenians"?

Fortunately there are many Jews both in Israel and worldwide, who are not willing to auction the truth and their integrity for political and economic considerations!

Let us read some extracts from their testimonies:

"I bow before this higher majesty of sorrow. I take the Crown of Thorns from Israel's head and I place it upon Armenia's".

ISRAEL ZANGWILL, famous Jewish writer ("New Armenia", New York, 1917).

"One-and-a-half million people disappeared. It wasn't negligence; it was deliberate, I do not think that the government has to take an official decision on the issue, but we must clarify to the Turks that we cannot accept their political demands to ignore a historical event. An ethical stand cannot be dictated by political needs-these are two separate tracks."

BEILIN

Minister of Justice of Israel

Quoted by Lilly Galili, "A Holocaust by Any Other Name," Ha'aretz, 24 April 2000.

In August 2001, 126 highly distinguished Jews from all over the world, released a statement affirming the Armenian genocide and demonstrating their friendship with the Armenian People.

"We, the undersigned, are scholars, rabbis, teachers, community leaders, and students of Jewish heritage. As Jews, we share many similarities with the Armenian people. We were both victims of genocide during the twentieth century and have survived despite those who would deny us our right to exist. On this year, 2001, which marks the 1700th anniversary of Armenia's adoption of Christianity, we as Jews salute our Armenian friends and their contributions to Western society and culture."

Among the Senators were;

Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Holocaust survivor, Professor Yehuda Bauer, a leader in Israeli Holocaust scholarship, Jay and Leslie Cohen, Professor of Judaic Studies, Emory University, Atlanta, Professor Israel W. Charny, Editor-in- Chief, Encyclopaedia of Genocide, Deborah Dwork, Director Centre for Holocaust Studies Clark University, Professor Sidra DeKoven Ezrahi, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Dr Stephen Feinstein, Director Centre for Holocaust and Genocide Studies University of Minnesota, Stephen M. Goldman, Director Florida Holocaust Museum,

Professor Ephraim Karsh, Head of Mediterranean Studies King's College, University of London, Steven Kepnes, Ph.D. Director of Jewish Studies Colgate University, Robert Jay Lifton, Author of "The Nazi Doctors" Department of Psychiatry Harvard University, John Loftus, President Florida Holocaust Museum, Thane Rosenbaum, Novelist and human rights law professor, Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun, Professor of American Jewish History, Brandeis University, Gerald Sorin, Distinguished University Professor and Director of Jewish Studies, SUNY, New Paltz, Rabbi Lennard R. Thai, Vice President Union of American Hebrew Congregations and Lawrence D. Wasser, Executive Director Florida Holocaust Museum.

Extracts from the letter written by Professor Israel Charny to the Israeli Foreign Ministry in 2002.

"As a Jew and Israeli, I am deeply ashamed of the position taken by our Ambassador and Ministry to deny that the genocide of the Armenian people in 1915 was in fact genocide. This is the equivalent of denials of the Holocaust of our people.

I am enclosing for you a copy of a statement signed by 126 Holocaust scholars in 2000 recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Signators include a leader in Israeli Holocaust scholarship, our Professor Yehuda Bauer; and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Holocaust Survivor, Elie Wiesel.

PROFESSOR ISRAEL W. CHARNY

Editor-in-Chief, Encyclopaedia of Genocide Executive Director, Institute on the Holocaust & Genocide, Jerusalem.

                                                                                                                                               

For your information,  most of my family, grandfather, granduncles, grandaunts, including my four year old sister, together with tens of thousands of other elderly men, women and children from Cilicia, Eastern Turkey, where I was born and where my ancestors lived for over a thousand years, were deported to Der- El-Zor, the Syrian desert and perished. According to my mother, during the deportation, on the way to the desert, my four year old sister could not walk anymore and was bayoneted by a Turkish solder in front of her! My parents survived due to the fact that, they together with other able-bodied young men and women, were sent to Damascus to build roads for the Turkish Army. When the British occupied Syria, they went back home, which was put under French mandate after the war. 

I would also like to refer you to the policy of the present day Turkish Government vis a vis the Armenian Genocide.

Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, first as PM and now as President of Turkey, has constantly been singing the same old song. He is suggesting that a group of historians should examine the evidence to decide if there has been an Armenian Genocide. A well-documented and proven historical event does not require re-confirmation. Erdogan is adding insult to injury. How would the Jewish people feel if Germany had made the same suggestion vis-a-vis the Holocaust? Mr. Erdogan knows full well that the planned death marches and killings of innocent men, women and children by bullet, sword and hunger aimed at exterminating a race, can only be defined as GENOCIDE!

Let us remind Mr. Erdogan that there were over 2,500,000 Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of WWI. At the end of the war there were approximately 100,000 left, most in Istanbul. According to Churchill "three or four hundred thousand men, women, and children escaped into Russian territory and others into Persia or Mesopotamia”. It is estimated that between 150000 to 200000 Armenians, mainly women and children were either forced to convert to Islam or sold as slaves. The question is, what happened to the rest and their properties, their mobile wealth, their bank accounts, their churches, their cultural institutions, their schools etc.?

The recent decision taken by Mr. Erdogan to mark Dardanelle Day on 24 April aims at not only sabotaging events organise to mark Centennial of the Armenian Genocide, but also creates tension between the Armenian and the Turkish people. The President of Turkey knows full well that every year, on April 24, Armenians all over the world mark the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Up until this year, Turkey marked the anniversary of Dardanelle Day on 18 March. All of a sudden, this year, on the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide, Mr. Erdogan decides to mark Dardanelle Day on April 24! Moreover, he invites the world leaders, including the Armenian President to Turkey, to attend Dardanelle Day celebrations!

One would not expect such insensitive and disrespectful behaviour even from Mr. Erdogan at such a time.

It is hoped that you, as well as other heads of governments will condemn Mr. Erdogan for his unacceptable behaviour.

                                                                                                                                               

In conclusion, I would like to point out that the authors of the statements quoted in this letter are considered to be persons of integrity and honour, who were convinced, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the Ottoman Turkish Government planned and executed the extermination of the Armenians during the First World War.

If you consider their verdict to be true, then as heads of three powerful states, who proclaim to defend truth, justice and democratic values, you should recognise the Armenian Genocide. Thank you.

Respectfully yours,

Assadour Guzelian

London

23/02/2015

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