Armenian News from Armenag Topalian...Here is what is said about er...DOG...en...DEMENTED!...

[Some Turkish politicians opposing the present government are 

reported to have described President Erdogan as "demented".

I had dismissed this as internal politics but I've now changed 

my mind. Read on;]

news.am

Erdogan: Armenia fixed April 24 ceremonies to coincide with 

Gallipoli events 

30.03.15
President of Turkey said Armenia had fixed April 24 date to coincide 

with the anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli.

In an interview with France 24 television, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 

Turkey is commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli

 Battles and “we are in no position to obtain permission from Armenia”.

“It is a date in history and it has nothing to do with the ceremonies 

in Armenia. Quite on the contrary, they fixed their ceremonies to 

coincide with our date,” Erdogan said.

Speaking about problems between Armenia and Turkey, he said 

it was Ankara that always “took a positive step” and “extended our

 hand in peace”. 

The interview is here. Listen to minutes 17:20 to 19:30 
www.france24.com/en/20150326-exclusive-interview-turkish-president-erdogan-yemen-iran-iraq-syria/ 

REMINDER
BBC Radio 4 this Sunday at 7:10am 

www.armradio.am/en/2015/03/19/bbc-radio-4-to-mark-the-100th-anniversary-of-the-armenian-genocide/ 


From George Jerjian, author 
A Glimpse into what we lost in Western Armenia 
through old photos taken before the genocide started. 

Daylight after a Century
Watch the film about the book then order the book. 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKC3PPrhujU 

W: www.georgejerjian.com 

armradio.am 
RELIGIOUS LEADERS KAREKIN II, ARAM I TO ATTEND 

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE LITURGY IN ROME
31 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan
On 12 April, all Armenian communities will ideally be present in 

St.Peter's Basilica, in Rome, where Pope Francis will celebrate a 

mass for faithful of the Armenian rite to commemorate the Genocide, 

the Vatican Insider reports.

The liturgy will be presided over by Pope Francis on Divine Mercy
Sunday, with the participation of Armenian Catholic patriarch Nerses
Bedros XIX along with Armenian Catholic bishops.

Armenian sources told Vatican Insider that unless there are any last
minute changes, the two highest representatives of the Armenian
Apostolic Church will also be present: Patriarch Karekin II and
Catholicos Aram I who heads the Catholicosate of the Great House 

of Cilicia based in Antelias, Lebanon.

In the context of the church, the commemoration of the 100th
anniversary of the "Great Evil" will culminate in the liturgy for
the canonization of victims of the Armenian Genocide scheduled for
23 April in Yerevan at the Patriarchal see of the Catholicosate of
Etchmiadzin headed by Patriarch Karekin II. 38 Churches, 

ecclesial communities and ecumenical bodies have confirmed 

that a delegation will be present at the canonization rite. That 

same day, at 19:15 - which is symbolic of the year 1915 - all 

Armenian churches around the world - except those on Turkish 

territory - will ring their bells 100 times to commemorate the 

centenary of the Genocide. 

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
March 30 2015
Crisis averted between the Christian world and Turkey
FATÄ°H ÇEKÄ°RGE

Here is a piece of news first: There would have been a very serious
April 24 crisis between Turkey and the Christian world. The crisis 

was averted at the last minute.

Here is what happened: Pope Francis was set to visit Yerevan, 

Armenia, on April 24. After Yerevan, he was to visit Turkey. However, 

with Turkey's initiative, his visit to Yerevan on April 24 has been
cancelled.

The Armenian diaspora transforming this visit into a `genocide
ceremony' has been prevented.

After that a speech was to come at the Vatican on April 24. That has
also been changed by Turkey's initiatives.

Now, the Pope will deliver a speech on April 12. Will he use the word
`genocide' in that speech? The Armenian diaspora's effort to turn this
speech into a `genocide ceremony' is known.

If the Pope had attended a ceremony in Yerevan on April 24, this would
have been hailed as a victory by the diaspora on the centennial of the
`genocide claims.'

And indeed, it would have turned into a major crisis between the
Christian world and Turkey.
Fortunately, this will not happen. 

news.am 
Armenian Genocide centennial: Paris city hall to host exhibition
28.03.2015

An exhibition, entitled "Armenia 2015: Centenary of Genocide," will
open at Hôtel de Ville, the city hall of Paris.

The event will be held from April 29 to July 4, reported the French
Armenian Nouvelles d'Arménie magazine.

The exposition will focus on the mass violence against the civilian
population in the Ottoman Empire at the turn of the 20th century.

A total of 350 photographs and 150 documents will be brought 

from the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in Armenia's capital 

city of Yerevan and the Nubar Library in Paris, to be displayed in 

the French capital city. 

Al-Monitor
March 27 2015
Gallipoli centenary marks another snub for Turkish minorities
Author: Sibel Hurtas

Centenary observations of the Gallipoli campaign that ended with the
Ottoman Empire's victory against the Allies sadly became another
occasion to expose how the non-Muslim minorities in Turkey are
snubbed. Non-Muslim soldiers who lost their lives were not saluted and
their names were removed from the list of martyrs issued by the
Defense Ministry.

The Gallipoli observances were guided by anti-minority narratives and
actions that were enflamed by comparisons between the Gallipoli
centenary and the approaching 100th anniversary of the Armenian
genocide. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, when he was the foreign
minister in 2011, said: "We will inform the whole world about 2015.
Contrary to what some claim and disparage, we will tell the world that
this will not be the anniversary of a genocide but of honorable
resistance of a nation at Gallipoli."

Because of such partisan utterances, Gallipoli observances turned into
ceremonies where nationalist sentiments peaked and non-Muslim
minorities were utterly disregarded. For example, the List of Martyrs
issued by the Ministry of National Defense omitted the names of
non-Muslim martyrs although it had listed them in an earlier
publication. Today if you search for a non-Muslim soldier on the
ministry's official website, you will get the message, "No record
could be found."

In the Canakkale Martyrs Cemetery, where Muslims and non-Muslims are
buried together, a memorial ceremony attended by Davutoglu was held
March 18. Only the Quran was recited -- and there was no mention of
non-Muslim martyrs.

The Jewish community held a separate memorial service for those who
died at Gallipoli in Istanbul's cemetery for Jewish officers killed
while serving the Ottoman army. Addressing the gathering, Harin Niyego
said Jews had contributed significantly to the army in various fronts
of World War I and the War of Independence. "Many of our
co-religionists lost their lives while doing their national duty on
various fronts of the Ottomans," he added.

There was no official representation at the Jewish community's
observance. But the community was more upset with a TV commercial of a
private company. A car tire company ran it on the occasion of the
Gallipoli centennial. In the commercial, you see the hardships
soldiers were experiencing because of lack of tires. The commander
asks two of his soldiers to urgently find tires. The soldiers come to
Istanbul, go to a merchant who resembles a Jewish man with his attire,
speaking broken Turkish. The merchant demands cash payment and doesn't
give the tires. The Jewish merchant is portrayed as a cold-hearted
seller who thinks of money while the nation is fighting for its
survival. From the background you hear the remark, "scheming fox."

Facing criticism, the tire company issued a statement saying its
commercial was based on a factual story.

Historians say 558 non-Muslim soldiers were killed in the Gallipoli
campaign that played a pivotal role in Turkey's independence. Of every
100 soldiers killed in the war, one was a non-Muslim. Some note that
with those who were wounded and got sick during the war and died
later, and with those who went missing, this number could be as high
as 3,000.

One of the non-Muslims fighting in the Ottoman army was Armenian
officer Sarkis Torosyan. He was a capable officer who was awarded with
a citation from the Ottoman government for sinking an enemy ship and
heavily damaging another. While he was fighting on the front, he
learned that his family was massacred in the Armenian genocide and
some of his relatives were deported. He went searching for those
deported and found his sister years later in a Syrian camp.

Torosyan wrote in his memoirs that he believed his family would not
have been massacred if the Allies had successfully crossed the
Dardanelles with their navy. According to professor Ayhan Aktar, who
told the story of Torosyan, if Ottomans had lost at Gallipoli, there
would not have been an Armenian genocide.

It's difficult for Turkey to come to terms with such a claim when we
still pursue a policy of dismissing those pains, even aggravating
them.

While this was the regretful situation this year for March 18
observances in memory of the Gallipoli naval wars, we are confronted
with an even more disturbing situation for the April 25 observances to
mark the land war of the campaign. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
announced that the April 25 observances will be held instead on April
24, the date of the Armenian genocide. It's not hard to guess that the
land war commemoration will also be ignoring the non-Muslim martyrs. 


armradio.am 
JOINT CYPRUS-ARMENIA STAMP COMMEMORATING GENOCIDE 

CENTENNIAL TO BE LAUNCHED NEXT WEEK
31 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

A joint Cyprus-Armenia stamp commemorating 100 years since the Armenian
genocide is to be launched next week as part of a series of events
to mark the anniversary, the postal services said on Tuesday,Cyprus
Mail reports.

The representative of the Armenian Community in the House of
Representatives, Vartkes Mahdessian has organised an event for next
week presenting the stamp in both countries simultaneously.

It will depict the well-known but closed, Armenian educational
institute, the Melkonian in Nicosia. The school originally functioned
as an orphanage for children who survived the genocide and managed
to make it to Cyprus.

The event in Cyprus will also be attended by Armenian Assembly Speaker
Galust Sahakyan who is due to visit Cyprus.

The Armenian genocide is marked every year on April 24. The stamp is
one of a series of actions being taken in Cyprus for the centenary.

Mahdessian told the Cyprus News Agency on Tuesday the goal was
remembrance for the 1.5 million Armenians who died at the hands of
Turkey during the 1915 genocide, and to push for recognition of the
genocide by Turkey.

"At the same time it is an appeal to humanity to prevent similar
tragedies in the future," he said. Armenians everywhere, he added,
were united and would struggle "until the final vindication".

The flower 'forget me not has been chosen as the symbol for the
centenary with the five dark purple petals symbolising the five
continents, where Armenians settled after the genocide, forming the
Armenian diaspora.

The violet color symbolises the Armenian Church and the future. The
five smaller petals symbolise hope and the present. The yellow core
with twelve small parts are a linear representation of the twelve
characteristics pillars of the monument to the Armenian genocide in
Yerevan, Armenia, symbolising the victims, but also the sunlight and
the continuity of life. The black core of the flower symbolises the
horrors of genocide.

Events will include an art exhibitions, theatre, lectures,
documentaries and cultural performances.

A book will also be printed in Greek and English that will include
articles on the genocide that appeared in local newspapers between
1914 and 1923.

In addition, we issued book in Greek and English that includes articles
on the Armenian Genocide, which appeared in the Greek Cypriot press
between 1914 and 1923.