Armenian News...Canonisation of Genocide Victims
panorama.am
CANONIZATION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS DUE
ON APRIL 23
03/02/2015
After an interval of about 400 years, for the first time, the Armenian
Apostolic Church will conduct a canonization ceremony on April 23,
2015, in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, for the victims of the
Armenian Genocide, Director of the Office for Conceptual Issues of
the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Bishop Bagrat Galstanyan, told
reporters on Tuesday.
He said that it will be collective canonization. Special rites have
been developed for the ceremony.
The ceremony will start at 4:30 pm or 5:00 pm and will end at 7:15
pm, symbolizing the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Bells
will ring one hundred times in all Armenian churches all across the
world, and the attendees will observe one minute's silence for the
Genocide victims.
Invitations have been sent to various churches throughout the world.
WE MUST NOT FORGET ARMENIA'S SUFFERING
Catholic Herald Online, UK
Feb 4 2015
by Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith
Armenia has arguably produced more martyrs than anywhere else, given
that the victims of the genocide were killed in hatred of the Faith
Early February is a good time, liturgically speaking. On Monday we
celebrated the lovely feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the
Temple, when candles were blessed, marking the fortieth day since
Christmas, and on Tuesday we celebrated St Blaise, when throats
were blessed.
St Blaise is one of those saints of which we know very little, even
though his is a famous cult. As is the case with so many early martyrs,
legends sprang up and accounts were written down many centuries later,
which have no historical value. But we can be sure that Blaise was a
bishop and a martyr and lived in what is now called Sivas in Turkey,
but in which those days was called Sebastea in Armenia.
Once Armenia covered much more territory than that presently covered
by the former Soviet Republic in the Caucasus. A look at a map places
Sivas in the middle of modern Turkey, but up to a hundred years
ago the town still had a flourishing Armenian and Greek Christian
population. Then came the fateful day: April 24 1915. It was on this
day that the Ottoman government began to arrest and deport Armenians
who had been living in Anatolia from time immemorial. This organised
campaign of arrest, deportation, massacre and extermination led to the
deaths of between one million and one and a half million Armenians. It
is for this reason that visitors to Turkey today will find plenty of
Armenian history but no actual Armenian people, or at least very few.
The Armenian genocide is commemorated all over the world, but not in
Turkey and not much in Britain, which studiously avoids mentioning
the genocide in order not to jeopardise relations with Turkey. This
is a pity, to put it mildly, as it is hard to see how any nations -
ours or the Turks - can flourish when we deny truth.
St Blaise, ever popular throughout the Catholic Church, is the
only Armenian saint in the Universal Calendar. He is the solitary
representative of his culture, but what a culture! The nation of St
Blaise is the oldest Christian nation, having been converted to Christ
by St Gregory the Illuminator in 301, before the time of Constantine.
Moreover, Armenia has arguably produced more martyrs than anywhere
else, given that the victims of the genocide were killed in odium
of the Christian faith. Right now we are rightly concerned by ISIS's
cruelty; let us not forget the Armenians of 100 years ago.
Adolf Hitler's view of the Armenian genocide is worth recalling,
and his reference to it, made in August 1939, worth quoting:
Our strength is our quickness and our brutality. Genghis Khan had
millions of women and children hunted down and killed, deliberately
and with a gay heart. History sees in him only the great founder of
States. What the weak Western European civilization alleges about
me does not matter. I have given the order - and will have everyone
shot who utters but one word of criticism - that the aim of this war
does not consist in reaching certain designated [geographical] lines,
but in the enemies' physical elimination. Thus, for the time being
only in the east, I put ready my Death's Head units, with the order to
kill without pity or mercy all men, women, and children of the Polish
race or language. Only thus will we gain the living space that we
need. Who still talks nowadays of the extermination of the Armenians?
Who indeed? That is why we need to talk about Armenia and remember
them this April. Put the date of that hundredth anniversary in your
diary now.
Catholic Herald Online, UK
Feb 4 2015
by Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith
Armenia has arguably produced more martyrs than anywhere else, given
that the victims of the genocide were killed in hatred of the Faith
Early February is a good time, liturgically speaking. On Monday we
celebrated the lovely feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the
Temple, when candles were blessed, marking the fortieth day since
Christmas, and on Tuesday we celebrated St Blaise, when throats
were blessed.
St Blaise is one of those saints of which we know very little, even
though his is a famous cult. As is the case with so many early martyrs,
legends sprang up and accounts were written down many centuries later,
which have no historical value. But we can be sure that Blaise was a
bishop and a martyr and lived in what is now called Sivas in Turkey,
but in which those days was called Sebastea in Armenia.
Once Armenia covered much more territory than that presently covered
by the former Soviet Republic in the Caucasus. A look at a map places
Sivas in the middle of modern Turkey, but up to a hundred years
ago the town still had a flourishing Armenian and Greek Christian
population. Then came the fateful day: April 24 1915. It was on this
day that the Ottoman government began to arrest and deport Armenians
who had been living in Anatolia from time immemorial. This organised
campaign of arrest, deportation, massacre and extermination led to the
deaths of between one million and one and a half million Armenians. It
is for this reason that visitors to Turkey today will find plenty of
Armenian history but no actual Armenian people, or at least very few.
The Armenian genocide is commemorated all over the world, but not in
Turkey and not much in Britain, which studiously avoids mentioning
the genocide in order not to jeopardise relations with Turkey. This
is a pity, to put it mildly, as it is hard to see how any nations -
ours or the Turks - can flourish when we deny truth.
St Blaise, ever popular throughout the Catholic Church, is the
only Armenian saint in the Universal Calendar. He is the solitary
representative of his culture, but what a culture! The nation of St
Blaise is the oldest Christian nation, having been converted to Christ
by St Gregory the Illuminator in 301, before the time of Constantine.
Moreover, Armenia has arguably produced more martyrs than anywhere
else, given that the victims of the genocide were killed in odium
of the Christian faith. Right now we are rightly concerned by ISIS's
cruelty; let us not forget the Armenians of 100 years ago.
Adolf Hitler's view of the Armenian genocide is worth recalling,
and his reference to it, made in August 1939, worth quoting:
Our strength is our quickness and our brutality. Genghis Khan had
millions of women and children hunted down and killed, deliberately
and with a gay heart. History sees in him only the great founder of
States. What the weak Western European civilization alleges about
me does not matter. I have given the order - and will have everyone
shot who utters but one word of criticism - that the aim of this war
does not consist in reaching certain designated [geographical] lines,
but in the enemies' physical elimination. Thus, for the time being
only in the east, I put ready my Death's Head units, with the order to
kill without pity or mercy all men, women, and children of the Polish
race or language. Only thus will we gain the living space that we
need. Who still talks nowadays of the extermination of the Armenians?
Who indeed? That is why we need to talk about Armenia and remember
them this April. Put the date of that hundredth anniversary in your
diary now.
WALES' ARMENIANS: STILL CAMPAIGNING FOR RECOGNITION
OF THE GENOCIDE SUFFERED BY THEIR PEOPLE IN 1915
February 3, 2015
By Martin Shipton
Genocide is a highly emotive term - so much so that when a cross
commemorating the Armenian "genocide" was placed outside the
February 3, 2015
By Martin Shipton
Genocide is a highly emotive term - so much so that when a cross
commemorating the Armenian "genocide" was placed outside the
Temple of Peace in Cardiff a few years ago, it was soon smashed
up.
In Turkey it remains a crime to use the term when describing the
events of 1915 that saw nearly 1.5m ethnic Armenians murdered.
Among many others, the Turkish Nobel Prize-winning novelist Orhan
Pamuk has faced prosecution after telling his country to admit to
what happened. But so far there is little sign of Turkey doing so.
In Wales, where there is a small but thriving Armenian community,
preparations are under way to mark the centenary. But community
members are disappointed by the lack of support shown for their
cause by the Welsh Government.
Historians have described what happened in Turkey 100 years ago
Historians have described what happened in Turkey 100 years ago
as the first full-scale ethnic cleansing of the 20th century.
Armenians were uprooted from their homes by the thousand, deported
to remote locations within Turkey and murdered.
The political scientist RJ Rummell has written: "Turkish leaders
decided to exterminate every Armenian in the country, whether a
front-line soldier or pregnant woman, famous professor or high
Armenians were uprooted from their homes by the thousand, deported
to remote locations within Turkey and murdered.
The political scientist RJ Rummell has written: "Turkish leaders
decided to exterminate every Armenian in the country, whether a
front-line soldier or pregnant woman, famous professor or high
bishop, important businessman or ardent patriot. All two million of
them.
Rummell has used the term "democide" to describe "the murder of
Rummell has used the term "democide" to describe "the murder of
any person or people by their government, including genocide,
politicide and mass murder".
Of the Armenian massacres he wrote: "Democide had preceded the
Of the Armenian massacres he wrote: "Democide had preceded the
Young Turks' rule and with their collapse at the end of World War I, the
successor Nationalist government carried out its own democide against
the Greeks and remaining or returning Armenians. From 1900 to 1923,
various Turkish regimes killed from 3.5 million to over 4.3m Armenians,
Greeks, Nestorians and other Christians."
Based on all the available evidence, Rummell estimates that the
Turks murdered between 300,000 and 2,686,000 Armenians - probably
1.4 million.
A report in the New York Times from November 1915 reported the
testimony of an American committee set up to investigate the
atrocities. It quotes an unnamed official representative of the
committee who went to a camp occupied by displaced Armenians
successor Nationalist government carried out its own democide against
the Greeks and remaining or returning Armenians. From 1900 to 1923,
various Turkish regimes killed from 3.5 million to over 4.3m Armenians,
Greeks, Nestorians and other Christians."
Based on all the available evidence, Rummell estimates that the
Turks murdered between 300,000 and 2,686,000 Armenians - probably
1.4 million.
A report in the New York Times from November 1915 reported the
testimony of an American committee set up to investigate the
atrocities. It quotes an unnamed official representative of the
committee who went to a camp occupied by displaced Armenians
saying:
"I have visited their encampment and a more pitiable site cannot be
imagined. They are, almost without exception, ragged, hungry and sick.
This is not surprising in view of the fact that they have been on the
road for nearly two months, with no change of clothing, no chance to
bathe, no shelter and little to eat. "I watched them one time when
their food was brought. Wild animals could not be worse. They rushed
upon the guards who carried the food and the guards beat them back
with clubs hitting hard enough to kill sometimes."
"To watch them one could hardly believe these people to be human
beings. As one walks through the camp, mothers offer their children
and beg you to take them. In fact, the Turks have been taking their
choice of these children and girls for slaves or worse. There are very
few men among them, as most of the men were killed on the road.
"I have visited their encampment and a more pitiable site cannot be
imagined. They are, almost without exception, ragged, hungry and sick.
This is not surprising in view of the fact that they have been on the
road for nearly two months, with no change of clothing, no chance to
bathe, no shelter and little to eat. "I watched them one time when
their food was brought. Wild animals could not be worse. They rushed
upon the guards who carried the food and the guards beat them back
with clubs hitting hard enough to kill sometimes."
"To watch them one could hardly believe these people to be human
beings. As one walks through the camp, mothers offer their children
and beg you to take them. In fact, the Turks have been taking their
choice of these children and girls for slaves or worse. There are very
few men among them, as most of the men were killed on the road.
Women and children were also killed. The entire movement seems
to be the most thoroughly organised and effective massacre this country
has ever seen."
Many relatives of Cardiff businessman John Torosyan, a leading
member of the Welsh Armenian community, were murdered, including his
grandfather's twin.
He said: "More than 75% of Armenians were killed. At the time Britain
was at the forefront of calls for justice for this genocide. The word
'genocide' was in fact coined by a Jew, Raphael Lemkin, with the
Armenians uppermost in his mind.
"One hundred years on and how things have changed. The UK
Government's position is clear - they do not want to use the word
genocide because it would upset Turkey, a Nato ally.
"Nevertheless, 22 other countries have accepted the Armenian genocide
as fact, some of them being in Nato with no diplomatic or trade issues
with Turkey.
"Neither Israel nor Jewry in the UK including such commendable
organisations as the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust acknowledge the
Armenian genocide." Progress in Wales towards getting official
recognition of the genocide
Mr Torosyan said there had been progress in Wales towards getting
official recognition of the genocide: in 2004 a vote was taken by
Gwynedd council to recognise it, and last year a plaque was erected
at the council's offices in Caernarfon.
He said: "Prior to 2006 the Armenian community participated in the
Holocaust Memorial Day events in Cardiff. It was then a hit and miss
affair, where we were remembered in some years but not in others.
"Nevertheless, 22 other countries have accepted the Armenian genocide
as fact, some of them being in Nato with no diplomatic or trade issues
with Turkey.
"Neither Israel nor Jewry in the UK including such commendable
organisations as the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust acknowledge the
Armenian genocide." Progress in Wales towards getting official
recognition of the genocide
Mr Torosyan said there had been progress in Wales towards getting
official recognition of the genocide: in 2004 a vote was taken by
Gwynedd council to recognise it, and last year a plaque was erected
at the council's offices in Caernarfon.
He said: "Prior to 2006 the Armenian community participated in the
Holocaust Memorial Day events in Cardiff. It was then a hit and miss
affair, where we were remembered in some years but not in others.
The last even we participated in actively was in 2010.
"In 2007 the National Assembly gave us some land at the Temple of
Peace and allowed the word 'genocide' to be used on the memorial.
"In 2007 the National Assembly gave us some land at the Temple of
Peace and allowed the word 'genocide' to be used on the memorial.
The then Presiding Officer conducted the opening ceremony.
"We had two statements of opinion where a majority of AMs accepted
"We had two statements of opinion where a majority of AMs accepted
the reality of the Armenian genocide. The Church in Wales voted
unanimously to recognise April 24 as Armenian Genocide Day and
special prayers were written in Welsh and English.
"We currently have three memorials in Wales - at the Temple of Peace,
in Caernarfon and at St Deiniol's Church at Hawarden, Flintshire,
where Armenians gave a silver chalice, a silver Bible and a stained
glass window in recognition of help given by Britain at the time of
the first Armenian genocide in 1896.
"Soon we will be erecting a statue at St Davids Cathedral, the
spiritual centre of Welsh Christianity.
"Unfortunately we feel that with the exception of the Church in
"We currently have three memorials in Wales - at the Temple of Peace,
in Caernarfon and at St Deiniol's Church at Hawarden, Flintshire,
where Armenians gave a silver chalice, a silver Bible and a stained
glass window in recognition of help given by Britain at the time of
the first Armenian genocide in 1896.
"Soon we will be erecting a statue at St Davids Cathedral, the
spiritual centre of Welsh Christianity.
"Unfortunately we feel that with the exception of the Church in
Wales, the country's official institutions are now completely
sidestepping the Armenians' cause. The Welsh Government deems
it a foreign policy matter and not within the remit of a devolved
administration. This is a very convenient and easy solution, but
it ignores the Armenian community in Wales.
"We wrote to the First Minister last year, but only received an
acknowledgement. Our appeals for nine months that Holocaust
"We wrote to the First Minister last year, but only received an
acknowledgement. Our appeals for nine months that Holocaust
Memorial Day events this year should just mention the Armenian
victims fell on deaf ears. Unfortunately Cardiff is toeing the Foreign
Office line."
Geoffrey Robertson QC, one of Britain's most distinguished human
rights lawyers, wrote a lengthy legal opinion six years ago condemning
the UK Government's unwillingness to describe the events of 1915 as
genocide. His conclusion said: "The truth is that throughout the life
of the present Labour Government and - so the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (FCO) admits - throughout previous governments, there has been
no proper or candid appraisal of 1915 events condemned by Her Majesty's
Government (HMG) at the time and immediately afterwards in terms that
anticipate the modern definition of genocide and which were referred
to by the drafters of the Genocide Convention as a prime example of the
kind of atrocity that would be covered by this new international crime.
"HMG has consistently ... wrongly maintained both that the decision
is one for historians and that historians are divided on the subject,
ignoring the fact that the decision is one for legal judgement and
no reputable historian could possibly deny the central facts of the
deportations and the racial and religious motivations behind the
deaths of a significant proportion of the Armenian people."
Mr Robertson states that the "inevitable" conclusion is that the
treatment of the Armenians in 1915 answers to the description of
genocide. "Foreign policy is a matter reserved to the UK Government"
A Welsh Government spokesman said First Minister Carwyn Jones had
written a letter to Mr Torosyan dated September 1 last year, which
said: "I am writing in response to your letter of July 17 on behalf
of the Armenian community in Wales.
"Foreign policy is a matter reserved to the UK Government and one for
which the Welsh Government has no remit. However, the UK Government
has acknowledged the terrible suffering that was inflicted on the
Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th Century. The
crimes committed were rightly and robustly condemned by the British
Government of the day.
"While we remember the victims of the past, our priority today must
be to promote reconciliation between the peoples and governments of
Turkey and Armenia."
The spokesman issued a slightly amended statement to us, which said:
"Foreign policy is not devolved, but we condemn any persecution and
mass loss of life.
"The UK Government has acknowledged the terrible suffering that
was inflicted on the Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire in the
early 20th century and the crimes committed were rightly and robustly
condemned by the British Government of the day.
"The First Minister has paid homage to Armenian victims during
Holocaust Memorial commemorations in the past and there are a number
of memorials in place around Wales including one in the capital. But
while we remember the victims of the past, the priority today must
be to promote reconciliation between the peoples and governments of
Turkey and Armenia."
RFE/RL Report
`Pan-Armenian Declaration' Calls For Genocide Recognition
Declaration on the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide,
Geoffrey Robertson QC, one of Britain's most distinguished human
rights lawyers, wrote a lengthy legal opinion six years ago condemning
the UK Government's unwillingness to describe the events of 1915 as
genocide. His conclusion said: "The truth is that throughout the life
of the present Labour Government and - so the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (FCO) admits - throughout previous governments, there has been
no proper or candid appraisal of 1915 events condemned by Her Majesty's
Government (HMG) at the time and immediately afterwards in terms that
anticipate the modern definition of genocide and which were referred
to by the drafters of the Genocide Convention as a prime example of the
kind of atrocity that would be covered by this new international crime.
"HMG has consistently ... wrongly maintained both that the decision
is one for historians and that historians are divided on the subject,
ignoring the fact that the decision is one for legal judgement and
no reputable historian could possibly deny the central facts of the
deportations and the racial and religious motivations behind the
deaths of a significant proportion of the Armenian people."
Mr Robertson states that the "inevitable" conclusion is that the
treatment of the Armenians in 1915 answers to the description of
genocide. "Foreign policy is a matter reserved to the UK Government"
A Welsh Government spokesman said First Minister Carwyn Jones had
written a letter to Mr Torosyan dated September 1 last year, which
said: "I am writing in response to your letter of July 17 on behalf
of the Armenian community in Wales.
"Foreign policy is a matter reserved to the UK Government and one for
which the Welsh Government has no remit. However, the UK Government
has acknowledged the terrible suffering that was inflicted on the
Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th Century. The
crimes committed were rightly and robustly condemned by the British
Government of the day.
"While we remember the victims of the past, our priority today must
be to promote reconciliation between the peoples and governments of
Turkey and Armenia."
The spokesman issued a slightly amended statement to us, which said:
"Foreign policy is not devolved, but we condemn any persecution and
mass loss of life.
"The UK Government has acknowledged the terrible suffering that
was inflicted on the Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire in the
early 20th century and the crimes committed were rightly and robustly
condemned by the British Government of the day.
"The First Minister has paid homage to Armenian victims during
Holocaust Memorial commemorations in the past and there are a number
of memorials in place around Wales including one in the capital. But
while we remember the victims of the past, the priority today must
be to promote reconciliation between the peoples and governments of
Turkey and Armenia."
RFE/RL Report
`Pan-Armenian Declaration' Calls For Genocide Recognition
Declaration on the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide,
Yerevan
29Jan2014
President Serzh Sarkisian and leaders of the worldwide Armenia
Diaspora urged Turkey on Thursday to recognize the 1915 Armenian
genocide in the Ottoman Empire after discussing upcoming events that
will mark its centenary.
In what it called a "pan-Armenian declaration," a high-level
commission headed by Sarkisian described the approaching 100th
anniversary as an "important milestone" in the decades-long Armenian
campaign for a broader international recognition of the genocide.
The commission comprising senior Armenian state officials, the top
clerics of the Armenian Apostolic Church and Diaspora leaders met in
Yerevan to discuss final preparations for the anniversary
commemorations. Sarkisian read out the declaration adopted by them at
the genocide memorial on the city's Tsitsernakabert hill later in the
day.
The document makes clear that Armenia and its Diaspora will strive to
not only get more countries to condemn the slaughter of 1.5 million
Ottoman Armenians but also "overcome consequences of the genocide." To
that end, it says, the commission is working on a "package of legal
demands" to be addressed to modern-day Turkey, suggesting that they
will include not only recognition but also material compensation.
The declaration calls on the Turkish state to "face up to its own
history and past" by ending its long-running denial of the
genocide. It also praises a growing number of Turks acknowledging the
genocidal character of the 1915 mass killings and deportations of
Armenians.
horizonweekly.ca
ERDOGAN, OTTOMAN ARCHIVES, AND THE ARMENIAN
President Serzh Sarkisian and leaders of the worldwide Armenia
Diaspora urged Turkey on Thursday to recognize the 1915 Armenian
genocide in the Ottoman Empire after discussing upcoming events that
will mark its centenary.
In what it called a "pan-Armenian declaration," a high-level
commission headed by Sarkisian described the approaching 100th
anniversary as an "important milestone" in the decades-long Armenian
campaign for a broader international recognition of the genocide.
The commission comprising senior Armenian state officials, the top
clerics of the Armenian Apostolic Church and Diaspora leaders met in
Yerevan to discuss final preparations for the anniversary
commemorations. Sarkisian read out the declaration adopted by them at
the genocide memorial on the city's Tsitsernakabert hill later in the
day.
The document makes clear that Armenia and its Diaspora will strive to
not only get more countries to condemn the slaughter of 1.5 million
Ottoman Armenians but also "overcome consequences of the genocide." To
that end, it says, the commission is working on a "package of legal
demands" to be addressed to modern-day Turkey, suggesting that they
will include not only recognition but also material compensation.
The declaration calls on the Turkish state to "face up to its own
history and past" by ending its long-running denial of the
genocide. It also praises a growing number of Turks acknowledging the
genocidal character of the 1915 mass killings and deportations of
Armenians.
horizonweekly.ca
ERDOGAN, OTTOMAN ARCHIVES, AND THE ARMENIAN
GENOCIDE
February 1, 2015
By Ara Sarafian
President Erdogan just commented on the Armenian Genocide during
February 1, 2015
By Ara Sarafian
President Erdogan just commented on the Armenian Genocide during
a live TRT interview and stressed the need for critical debates. I would
not dismiss Erdogan's words out of hand. There is a lot of rhetoric in
what he said, but it is possible to respond to him in a fruitful manner.
I tried to create an opportunity for a critical debate with Turkish
colleagues, on a public platform, in 2007. Speaking through Turkish
journalists, I offered a case study on the treatment of Armenians in
Kharpert (Harput) and its plain in 1915.
Since Armenians in the Kharpert region were deported without passing
through war zones, and since deportation laws specified how the
names of deportees had to be recorded at the time of their removal
and resettlement, I asked to see such records related to Kharpert in
Ottoman archives. I also proposed presenting my own sources which,
according to my understanding, suggested that the people in question
were killed.
While my offer was addressed to any historian who had potential
access to Ottoman records, Yusuf Halacoglu, the head of the Turkish
Historical Society, responded. I believe Halacoglu agreed to enter
such a debate because he was asked to do so by Turkish journalists.
Our expected encounter drew some headlines.
However, Halacoglu pulled out of the agreed project. He stated on
a CNN Turk programme that the deportation records I had asked to
examine did not exist.
According to "Talaat Pasha's Report on the Armenian Genocide" - a
handwritten report that was found in Talaat's possession - of 70,000
Armenians in the Kharpert area in 1914 (official Ottoman figures),
just over 2,000 could be counted in the deportation zones three years
later. These statistics were based on an Ottoman survey of Armenians
carried out in 1917. There were practically no Armenians in Der Zor,
the ostensible destination of most deportees.
I should point out that, when I proposed the case study on Kharpert,
I was helped by several people in the Turkish press who gave the
proposal due prominence. I was flattered when the late Mehmet Ali
Birand expressed his disappointment when Halacoglu pulled out. The
headline of his newspaper column was "Ermenilerden gol yedik" -
"The Armenians scored a goal against us."
Ironically, my main disappointment was on the Armenian side, where
there was practically no reaction to the proposed case study. I
presume the lack of response was because I was not affiliated with
the Armenian Government, political parties, or lobbying organisations.
Presiden Erdogan's latest comments raise the same issues again,
and I would restate once more: we do not need official commissions
to examine the Armenian Genocide. All we need is for the Turkish
government, which is in charge of crucial evidence, to produce the
deportation and any resettlement records which, according to the
deportation decrees, had to be filed in local and central archives
during the period in question.
Meanwhile, historians will continue to use the key records outside
Turkey for their understanding of the events of 1915.
horizonweekly.ca
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE QUOTES
January 30, 2015
Anatole France
French author, 1916
Armenia is dying, but it will survive. The little blood that is left
is precious blood that will give birth to a heroic generation. A
nation that does not want to die, does not die.
Fritdjof Nansen
Norwegian public figure, 1915
The massacres that started in 1915 have nothing to compare with the
history of mankind. The massacres by Abdul Hamid are minor in
comparison to what today's Turks have done
Jacques de Morgan
French scientist, 1917
The deportations of Western Armenians are nothing but concealed race
extermination. There is no language rich enough to describe the
horrors of it
Valeri Brusov
Russian poet, 1917
Turks continued their previous policy. They would not stop commit
massive and most awful massacres that even Leng Timur would not dare
do
Fayer el Husein
Arab publicist, 1917
Who can describe the feelings that an eyewitness experiences when he
thinks of this heroic and unfortunate nation. Its courage and spirit
surprise the world. A nation that yesterday was one of the most
energetic and progressive nations of the Ottoman Empire is becoming a
memory
Joseph Markwart
German scientist, 1916
Even after proclamation of the Constitution, the main slogan of the
Turkish policy has been 'Without Armenians there will be no Armenian
problem
Henry Morgenthau Sr.
U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire Ambassador,
I tried to create an opportunity for a critical debate with Turkish
colleagues, on a public platform, in 2007. Speaking through Turkish
journalists, I offered a case study on the treatment of Armenians in
Kharpert (Harput) and its plain in 1915.
Since Armenians in the Kharpert region were deported without passing
through war zones, and since deportation laws specified how the
names of deportees had to be recorded at the time of their removal
and resettlement, I asked to see such records related to Kharpert in
Ottoman archives. I also proposed presenting my own sources which,
according to my understanding, suggested that the people in question
were killed.
While my offer was addressed to any historian who had potential
access to Ottoman records, Yusuf Halacoglu, the head of the Turkish
Historical Society, responded. I believe Halacoglu agreed to enter
such a debate because he was asked to do so by Turkish journalists.
Our expected encounter drew some headlines.
However, Halacoglu pulled out of the agreed project. He stated on
a CNN Turk programme that the deportation records I had asked to
examine did not exist.
According to "Talaat Pasha's Report on the Armenian Genocide" - a
handwritten report that was found in Talaat's possession - of 70,000
Armenians in the Kharpert area in 1914 (official Ottoman figures),
just over 2,000 could be counted in the deportation zones three years
later. These statistics were based on an Ottoman survey of Armenians
carried out in 1917. There were practically no Armenians in Der Zor,
the ostensible destination of most deportees.
I should point out that, when I proposed the case study on Kharpert,
I was helped by several people in the Turkish press who gave the
proposal due prominence. I was flattered when the late Mehmet Ali
Birand expressed his disappointment when Halacoglu pulled out. The
headline of his newspaper column was "Ermenilerden gol yedik" -
"The Armenians scored a goal against us."
Ironically, my main disappointment was on the Armenian side, where
there was practically no reaction to the proposed case study. I
presume the lack of response was because I was not affiliated with
the Armenian Government, political parties, or lobbying organisations.
Presiden Erdogan's latest comments raise the same issues again,
and I would restate once more: we do not need official commissions
to examine the Armenian Genocide. All we need is for the Turkish
government, which is in charge of crucial evidence, to produce the
deportation and any resettlement records which, according to the
deportation decrees, had to be filed in local and central archives
during the period in question.
Meanwhile, historians will continue to use the key records outside
Turkey for their understanding of the events of 1915.
horizonweekly.ca
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE QUOTES
January 30, 2015
Anatole France
French author, 1916
Armenia is dying, but it will survive. The little blood that is left
is precious blood that will give birth to a heroic generation. A
nation that does not want to die, does not die.
Fritdjof Nansen
Norwegian public figure, 1915
The massacres that started in 1915 have nothing to compare with the
history of mankind. The massacres by Abdul Hamid are minor in
comparison to what today's Turks have done
Jacques de Morgan
French scientist, 1917
The deportations of Western Armenians are nothing but concealed race
extermination. There is no language rich enough to describe the
horrors of it
Valeri Brusov
Russian poet, 1917
Turks continued their previous policy. They would not stop commit
massive and most awful massacres that even Leng Timur would not dare
do
Fayer el Husein
Arab publicist, 1917
Who can describe the feelings that an eyewitness experiences when he
thinks of this heroic and unfortunate nation. Its courage and spirit
surprise the world. A nation that yesterday was one of the most
energetic and progressive nations of the Ottoman Empire is becoming a
memory
Joseph Markwart
German scientist, 1916
Even after proclamation of the Constitution, the main slogan of the
Turkish policy has been 'Without Armenians there will be no Armenian
problem
Henry Morgenthau Sr.
U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire Ambassador,
Morgenthau's Story, 1919
When the Turkish authorities gave the orders for these deportations,
they were merely giving the death warrant to a whole race; they
understood this well, and, in their conversations with me, they made
no particular attempt to conceal the fact. . . . I am confident that
the whole history of the human race contains no such horrible episode
as this. The great massacres and persecutions of the past seem almost
insignificant when compared to the sufferings of the Armenian race in
1915.
James Bryce
British Viscount October 6, 1915, speech
The massacres are the result of a policy which, as far as can be
ascertained, has been entertained for some considerable time by the
gang of unscrupulous adventurers who are now in possession of the
Government of the Turkish Empire. They hesitated to put it in practice
until they thought the favorable moment had come, and that moment
seems to have arrived about the month of April. House of Lords,
Hansard (5th series), Vol. XIX, 6 October 1915. Cols? I am sorry to
say that such information has reached me from many quarters goes to
show that the figure of 800,000 which the noble earl thought
incredible as a possible total for those who have been destroyed since
May last is, unfortunately, quite a possible number. That is because
the proceedings taken have been so absolutely premeditated and
systematic.
Count Wolff-Metternich
German Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire July 10, 1916, cable to the
German Chancellor
In its attempt to carry out its purpose to resolve the Armenian
question by the destruction of the Armenian race, the Turkish
government has refused to be deterred neither by our representations,
nor by those of the American Embassy, nor by the delegate of the Pope,
nor by the threats of the Allied Powers, nor in deference to the
public opinion of the West representing one-half of the world.
Theodore Roosevelt
US President, May 11, 1918, letter to Cleveland Hoadley Dodge
...the Armenian massacre was the greatest crime of the war, and the
failure to act against Turkey is to condone it ... the failure to deal
radically with the Turkish horror means that all talk of guaranteeing
the future peace of the world is mischievous nonsense.
Herbert Hoover
US President, The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover, 1952
The association of Mount Ararat and Noah, the staunch Christians who
were massacred periodically by the Mohammedan Turks, and the Sunday
School collections over fifty years for alleviating their miseries--all
cumulate to impress the name Armenia on the front of the American
mind.
Jimmy Carter
US President, May 16, 1978, White House ceremony
It is generally not known in the world that, in the years preceding
1916, there was a concerted effort made to eliminate all the Armenian
people, probably one of the greatest tragedies that ever befell any
group. And there weren't any Nuremberg trials.
Ronald Reagan
US President, April 22, 1981, proclamation
Like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the
Cambodians which followed it, ... the lessons of the Holocaust must
never be forgotten.
George Bush Sr.
US President, April 20, 1990, speech in Orlando, Florida
[We join] Armenians around the world [as we remember] the terrible
massacres suffered in 1915-1923 at the hands of the rulers of the
Ottoman Empire. The United States responded to this crime against
humanity by leading diplomatic and private relief efforts.
John Evans
US ambassador to Armenia said to American Armenians
When the Turkish authorities gave the orders for these deportations,
they were merely giving the death warrant to a whole race; they
understood this well, and, in their conversations with me, they made
no particular attempt to conceal the fact. . . . I am confident that
the whole history of the human race contains no such horrible episode
as this. The great massacres and persecutions of the past seem almost
insignificant when compared to the sufferings of the Armenian race in
1915.
James Bryce
British Viscount October 6, 1915, speech
The massacres are the result of a policy which, as far as can be
ascertained, has been entertained for some considerable time by the
gang of unscrupulous adventurers who are now in possession of the
Government of the Turkish Empire. They hesitated to put it in practice
until they thought the favorable moment had come, and that moment
seems to have arrived about the month of April. House of Lords,
Hansard (5th series), Vol. XIX, 6 October 1915. Cols? I am sorry to
say that such information has reached me from many quarters goes to
show that the figure of 800,000 which the noble earl thought
incredible as a possible total for those who have been destroyed since
May last is, unfortunately, quite a possible number. That is because
the proceedings taken have been so absolutely premeditated and
systematic.
Count Wolff-Metternich
German Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire July 10, 1916, cable to the
German Chancellor
In its attempt to carry out its purpose to resolve the Armenian
question by the destruction of the Armenian race, the Turkish
government has refused to be deterred neither by our representations,
nor by those of the American Embassy, nor by the delegate of the Pope,
nor by the threats of the Allied Powers, nor in deference to the
public opinion of the West representing one-half of the world.
Theodore Roosevelt
US President, May 11, 1918, letter to Cleveland Hoadley Dodge
...the Armenian massacre was the greatest crime of the war, and the
failure to act against Turkey is to condone it ... the failure to deal
radically with the Turkish horror means that all talk of guaranteeing
the future peace of the world is mischievous nonsense.
Herbert Hoover
US President, The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover, 1952
The association of Mount Ararat and Noah, the staunch Christians who
were massacred periodically by the Mohammedan Turks, and the Sunday
School collections over fifty years for alleviating their miseries--all
cumulate to impress the name Armenia on the front of the American
mind.
Jimmy Carter
US President, May 16, 1978, White House ceremony
It is generally not known in the world that, in the years preceding
1916, there was a concerted effort made to eliminate all the Armenian
people, probably one of the greatest tragedies that ever befell any
group. And there weren't any Nuremberg trials.
Ronald Reagan
US President, April 22, 1981, proclamation
Like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the
Cambodians which followed it, ... the lessons of the Holocaust must
never be forgotten.
George Bush Sr.
US President, April 20, 1990, speech in Orlando, Florida
[We join] Armenians around the world [as we remember] the terrible
massacres suffered in 1915-1923 at the hands of the rulers of the
Ottoman Empire. The United States responded to this crime against
humanity by leading diplomatic and private relief efforts.
John Evans
US ambassador to Armenia said to American Armenians
on February 19, 2005
Today I shall call this Armenian genocide". "I think that we, the US
government, owe you, our fellow citizens, a more straightforward and
honest discussion of this problem. I can tell you as a person who has
studied this problem - I have no doubts about what happened." "I think
that it is inappropriate for us, the Americans, to play with words in
this case". "I believe that we must call a spade a spade.
businesspost.ie
THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE OF A FORGOTTEN GENOCIDE
Sunday Business Post, Ireland
February 1, 2015
What is it to be in exile, questions Irish photographer Helen Sheehan.
What, doesn't she know? For Sheehan has been in exile of sorts - four
years, self-imposed exile as she completed a startling photography
project on the displaced Armenian people of the old Ottoman empire.
Forced exile, a forgotten diaspora and a hidden genocide are at the
root of the question Sheehan seeks to answer.
This year, 2015, marks the centenary of a genocide which took place
during the fall of the Ottoman empire. According to reports from the
period, up to one million Armenian people are believed to have been
disappeared or displaced during this time. Thousands of people were
brutally murdered, intellectuals and leaders of society were beheaded,
thousands more families were marched across deserts to their death.
With no offer of food or shelter, their path was littered with corpses.
Yet in modern-day Turkey - which comprises the Armenian territories
where the genocide took place - the act remains unrecognised.
Sheehan is haunted by diaspora narratives. During the 1990s she
photographed the break-up of three formerly multi-ethnic towns and
cities in the former Yugoslavia - Sarajevo, Vukovar and Mostar.
Her interest in Armenia and its diaspora, she says, was triggered
while teaching English on the Armenian island of St Lazzaro in Venice
in the 1990s.
A decade later, in 2009, work photographing an oil pipeline in eastern
Turkey brought the ruined Armenian homes and churches into sharp
relief. Sheehan began to seek out descendants of Armenian exiles
where they had settled in Paris and London, forge relationships and
begin to reawaken their history.
In January of this year, she presented the photographic answer to
her questions in an acclaimed exhibition in Istanbul, titled Armenian
Family Stories and Lost Landscapes. Finally, she says, Turkey and the
world is lifting the blindfold placed over the events of a century ago.
My starting point was the question that interests every photographer:
what would you take with you if you had to leave? says Sheehan as
she prepares to leave Turkey for the last time.
I photographed objects kept by the survivors in exile - a woman's veil,
a man's robe. It was similar to the Holocaust in that families could
take the odd thing with them if they got out before the massacre. So
anything that was brought out was treasured.
The Armenian culture, she says, is a hugely interesting one. They were
the first nation in the world to adopt Christianity. They are a very
talented people with a strong intellectual side. They contributed some
of the world's greatest architects and artisans at that time. When
the tide turned against them, it destroyed the artisan world.
Sheehan's work photographing the homes and spaces the Armenians
left behind is a testament to these talents. One hundred years on,
the houses and churches retain a crumbling grandeur, with flashes of
an intricate workmanship borne of love.
I wanted to go through people's family histories. Over four years,
I got to know families in Paris and London and Syria and hear their
stories, then I searched for the places their families came from. Even
when they try to disappear everything, traces of people remain.
I discovered these ruins and old houses - which are completely
beautiful - and I thought, 'This is incredible, this memory, and
the people can't go back there because what happened to them hasn't
been recognised'.
Piecing together the lives people had left behind, she says, was
fascinating: I was a conduit of their memories.
A small Armenian diaspora exists in both Dublin and Belfast, with
larger communities in London and Paris, and over one million Armenians
in the US.
Of those that remained in Turkey, the men were just taken out and
killed and the women were forcibly converted. Up to seven million
Turkish people are estimated to have had an Armenian grandmother ,
says Sheehan.
In some areas of Turkey, Sheehan says, she encountered hostility
when photographing Armenian spaces. In others, the areas have been
populated by displaced Kurdish people, who are working to restore
the Armenian churches.
Within the civil society, there is some recognition of what happened
, says Sheehan. But it's not just a problem in Turkey. While France,
Italy, Greece, Scotland and the North have officially recognised the
genocide, Britain and the US have not. Obama promised to recognise
the genocide before he came into power. He recognised it in the
Armenian language but not in English. Everyone is afraid of Turkey
on the world market, says Sheehan.
On the day that we speak, Armenians are marching in Istanbul over
the death of an Armenian in 2007, whom they say was shot because
he spoke out about the genocide. A lot of people within the civil
society in Turkey are working on this history. My exhibition was
packed with people, I was on national television, CNN, there were
non-stop interviews, says Sheehan.
The exhibition, which was funded by Culture Ireland and Portugal's
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, now moves to Brussels and then London
and possibly Ireland .
There is still a lot of fear, even though these acts took place
100 years ago. There is a lot of anger, the feeling of cultural
destruction. I can see parallels with the Irish Famine. Imagine what
it was like for the Irish back then?
With a strong commitment to human rights, Sheehan was angered that
there was no 'travail de memoire' being done on behalf of the Armenian
people. She would bring her slide projector on her travels and project
images of the houses' original owners onto the crumbling stonework,
photographing the effect. Groups of people would form around me and
wonder. It's been a labour of love.
Throughout the four years of searching and research, photography,
Sheehan says, drove her on. The photographs kept getting more
interesting. The Armenian families themselves, they were so warm. They
took me into their houses. I was touched by them as a people. Also,
when I was photographing in eastern Turkey, I found the homeless
Kurds who now inhabit the Armenian houses to be so hospitable.
There's a duality in the exiled people filling the homes of exiles.
It's tough on the spirit, says Sheehan, who affirms that her next
project will be as far away from the political as possible.
One old Armenian man who came to the exhibition said he now felt less
alone in his suffering. It makes it all worthwhile, says Sheehan.
Today I shall call this Armenian genocide". "I think that we, the US
government, owe you, our fellow citizens, a more straightforward and
honest discussion of this problem. I can tell you as a person who has
studied this problem - I have no doubts about what happened." "I think
that it is inappropriate for us, the Americans, to play with words in
this case". "I believe that we must call a spade a spade.
businesspost.ie
THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE OF A FORGOTTEN GENOCIDE
Sunday Business Post, Ireland
February 1, 2015
What is it to be in exile, questions Irish photographer Helen Sheehan.
What, doesn't she know? For Sheehan has been in exile of sorts - four
years, self-imposed exile as she completed a startling photography
project on the displaced Armenian people of the old Ottoman empire.
Forced exile, a forgotten diaspora and a hidden genocide are at the
root of the question Sheehan seeks to answer.
This year, 2015, marks the centenary of a genocide which took place
during the fall of the Ottoman empire. According to reports from the
period, up to one million Armenian people are believed to have been
disappeared or displaced during this time. Thousands of people were
brutally murdered, intellectuals and leaders of society were beheaded,
thousands more families were marched across deserts to their death.
With no offer of food or shelter, their path was littered with corpses.
Yet in modern-day Turkey - which comprises the Armenian territories
where the genocide took place - the act remains unrecognised.
Sheehan is haunted by diaspora narratives. During the 1990s she
photographed the break-up of three formerly multi-ethnic towns and
cities in the former Yugoslavia - Sarajevo, Vukovar and Mostar.
Her interest in Armenia and its diaspora, she says, was triggered
while teaching English on the Armenian island of St Lazzaro in Venice
in the 1990s.
A decade later, in 2009, work photographing an oil pipeline in eastern
Turkey brought the ruined Armenian homes and churches into sharp
relief. Sheehan began to seek out descendants of Armenian exiles
where they had settled in Paris and London, forge relationships and
begin to reawaken their history.
In January of this year, she presented the photographic answer to
her questions in an acclaimed exhibition in Istanbul, titled Armenian
Family Stories and Lost Landscapes. Finally, she says, Turkey and the
world is lifting the blindfold placed over the events of a century ago.
My starting point was the question that interests every photographer:
what would you take with you if you had to leave? says Sheehan as
she prepares to leave Turkey for the last time.
I photographed objects kept by the survivors in exile - a woman's veil,
a man's robe. It was similar to the Holocaust in that families could
take the odd thing with them if they got out before the massacre. So
anything that was brought out was treasured.
The Armenian culture, she says, is a hugely interesting one. They were
the first nation in the world to adopt Christianity. They are a very
talented people with a strong intellectual side. They contributed some
of the world's greatest architects and artisans at that time. When
the tide turned against them, it destroyed the artisan world.
Sheehan's work photographing the homes and spaces the Armenians
left behind is a testament to these talents. One hundred years on,
the houses and churches retain a crumbling grandeur, with flashes of
an intricate workmanship borne of love.
I wanted to go through people's family histories. Over four years,
I got to know families in Paris and London and Syria and hear their
stories, then I searched for the places their families came from. Even
when they try to disappear everything, traces of people remain.
I discovered these ruins and old houses - which are completely
beautiful - and I thought, 'This is incredible, this memory, and
the people can't go back there because what happened to them hasn't
been recognised'.
Piecing together the lives people had left behind, she says, was
fascinating: I was a conduit of their memories.
A small Armenian diaspora exists in both Dublin and Belfast, with
larger communities in London and Paris, and over one million Armenians
in the US.
Of those that remained in Turkey, the men were just taken out and
killed and the women were forcibly converted. Up to seven million
Turkish people are estimated to have had an Armenian grandmother ,
says Sheehan.
In some areas of Turkey, Sheehan says, she encountered hostility
when photographing Armenian spaces. In others, the areas have been
populated by displaced Kurdish people, who are working to restore
the Armenian churches.
Within the civil society, there is some recognition of what happened
, says Sheehan. But it's not just a problem in Turkey. While France,
Italy, Greece, Scotland and the North have officially recognised the
genocide, Britain and the US have not. Obama promised to recognise
the genocide before he came into power. He recognised it in the
Armenian language but not in English. Everyone is afraid of Turkey
on the world market, says Sheehan.
On the day that we speak, Armenians are marching in Istanbul over
the death of an Armenian in 2007, whom they say was shot because
he spoke out about the genocide. A lot of people within the civil
society in Turkey are working on this history. My exhibition was
packed with people, I was on national television, CNN, there were
non-stop interviews, says Sheehan.
The exhibition, which was funded by Culture Ireland and Portugal's
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, now moves to Brussels and then London
and possibly Ireland .
There is still a lot of fear, even though these acts took place
100 years ago. There is a lot of anger, the feeling of cultural
destruction. I can see parallels with the Irish Famine. Imagine what
it was like for the Irish back then?
With a strong commitment to human rights, Sheehan was angered that
there was no 'travail de memoire' being done on behalf of the Armenian
people. She would bring her slide projector on her travels and project
images of the houses' original owners onto the crumbling stonework,
photographing the effect. Groups of people would form around me and
wonder. It's been a labour of love.
Throughout the four years of searching and research, photography,
Sheehan says, drove her on. The photographs kept getting more
interesting. The Armenian families themselves, they were so warm. They
took me into their houses. I was touched by them as a people. Also,
when I was photographing in eastern Turkey, I found the homeless
Kurds who now inhabit the Armenian houses to be so hospitable.
There's a duality in the exiled people filling the homes of exiles.
It's tough on the spirit, says Sheehan, who affirms that her next
project will be as far away from the political as possible.
One old Armenian man who came to the exhibition said he now felt less
alone in his suffering. It makes it all worthwhile, says Sheehan.
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