MIGRANT CRISIS
Irish Independent
Aug 29 2015
Mary Fitzgerald
Avenue 24 April 1915 runs through a neighbourhood of my adopted city
of Marseille, where the names on many local businesses betray their
Armenian origins. This district in France's second-largest city is
known affectionately as 'Little Armenia'. The avenue that bisects
it is named after the date when what many historians and a growing
number of countries now call a genocide began in Ottoman Turkey.
An estimated 1.5 million Armenians were subsequently killed against the
backdrop of World War One. The legacy of those mass killings and the
forced deportations that accompanied them - which Turkey still insists
was not genocide - remains a running sore in the region and beyond.
On April 24 this year, Armenia's president Serzh Sargsyan described
the killing of Armenians a century ago as "unprecedented in terms of
volume and ramifications" at that stage in history. "Around 1.5 million
human beings were slaughtered merely for being Armenian," he said.
The 100th anniversary of the killings reopened the debate over whether
what happened that year constituted genocide.
An increasing number of nations have backed Armenia's position that
it was indeed genocide.
Turkey argues that the mass killings were a tragic chapter in a
vicious war, but not a planned genocide.
In an interview with me in 2010, Turkey's then president, Abdullah
Gul, outlined the government's position on the issue, saying Turkey
would support a commission of inquiry composed of historians who
would examine archival and other evidence to see if the atrocities
collectively fitted the definition of genocide.
It's an issue that touches on all kinds of sensitivities, past and
present, in Turkey.
In April this year, Pope Francis sparked a diplomatic row by calling
the massacre "the first genocide of the 20th century", leading Turkey
to accuse him of inciting hatred.
At an Armenian rite Mass in St Peter's Basilica to mark the centenary
of the killings, Francis became the first head of the Catholic Church
to publicly use the word "genocide" to describe them.
The forced exiling that accompanied the massacre in 1915 caused
Armenians to scatter across the world, so becoming one of the world's
largest diasporas, now estimated at up to 10 million people.
The countries where the highest concentrations settled - including
France, which is said to have the world's third-biggest Armenian
population - have tended to be more sympathetic to the call to describe
the mass killings as genocide.
At a memorial speech in the Armenian capital Yerevan in April, French
president Francois Hollande said a law passed in France in 2001,
recognising it as genocide, was "an act of truth" and he argued:
"Denial amounts to the repeat of massacres."
France is one of a dozen EU member states to take this position. The
recent decision by the German parliament to use the word 'genocide'
unsettled Ankara, given that Germany is Turkey's biggest trading
partner in the EU and is home to many ethnic Turks.
The US and others, who are keen to maintain good relations with an
important regional partner like Turkey, have avoided using the term.
US president Barack Obama pledged while running for election in 2008
that he would use the word "genocide" to describe the killings, but
he has failed to do so. Boasting the second-largest military in NATO,
Turkey is a crucial ally for Washington, even if relations have become
somewhat strained in recent years.
Ireland, which has cultivated good links with Turkey in recent years
and is considered by Ankara to be one of the most supportive of its
bid to join the EU, has also baulked at using the word.
In a statement issued during the anniversary in April, the Department
of Foreign Affairs acknowledged the "terrible events which resulted
in the tragic deaths of very large numbers of the Armenian population
in the Ottoman Empire" but did not describe them as genocide, instead
calling for Armenia and Turkey to engage in reconciliation.
Here in Marseille, the memory of that time is preserved in the form
of a stone memorial on Avenue 24 April 1915 and in the lives of the
estimated 80,000 residents of Armenian descent. The city boasts
eight Armenian churches, one cathedral and a bilingual school,
where French-Armenians can study the language, culture and history
of their homeland.
They have established their own heritage centre, which attempts to
document the past.
The Armenian community in Marseille, and France more generally, dates
back to before the killings of 1915, but the majority fled here after
the massacre.
Armenians played a prominent role in the French Resistance during World
War Two and have distinguished themselves in French intellectual life,
particularly as artists, musicians and writers.
As Europe grapples with massive numbers of refugees fleeing violence
and persecution, while xenophobia rises at home, perhaps it would do
well to recall a time when desperate Armenians sought and were given
sanctuary here.
tert.am
GERMANY TO HOST ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CONFERENCE
The event entitled, "1915: Present in Past. 100 Years after the
Armenian Genocide", is set to take place in Berlin on September 5.
Opening speeches will be delivered by the foundation's regional
director, Sergey Lagodinsky and the president of the German-Armenian
Association, Raffi Kantian.
The conference will focus on the Armenian Genocide, survivors'
memories and the great tragedy's perpetrators, as well as the methods
of addressing the problem nowadays and considering ways forward.
German and Turkish participants are expected to deliver speeches at
the event.
horizonweekly.ca
YAIR AURON: GENOCIDE RECOGNITION IS MORALLY PARAMOUNT
August 30, 2015
Israeli historian, scholar and expert specializing on Holocaust and
Genocide, Yair Auron, attended the 12th conference of the International
Association of Genocide Scholars in Yerevan. According to him,
conducting the event in Yerevan was very important. "It was successful
and well-organized. At academic meetings, some things are interesting,
and some are not. But the good thing is that you meet old and new
colleagues. Besides, genocide studies developed significantly," Auron
said, adding that a conference on the Armenian Genocide is scheduled
to be held in November 2015 in Israel, with prominent scholars and
young specialist from all over the world participating. Auron is
currently working his book on the Armenian Genocide.
ArmenianGenocide100.org presents an interview with the scholar:
What do you think is the most important aspect of holding the 12th
conference of the International Association of Genocide Scholars in
Yerevan on the centennial of the Armenian Genocide?
I think it is very important to have this meeting in Yerevan. It was
successful and well-organized. At academic meeting, some things are
interesting, and some are not. But the good thing is that you meet old
and new colleagues. Besides, genocide studies developed significantly.
Turkey continues to deny the fact of genocide of Armenians, Greeks
and Assyrians in the Ottoman Empire by all means, and the majority of
Turkish scholars back this policy. How would you explain and describe
the reasons behind such behavior?
Changes can be observed in the Turkish society nowadays. More and
more people are open for discussions and encourage the recognition.
Even some 5 years ago they could be imprisoned. There was a young
scholar from Turkey at the conference, who addressed the issue openly.
I asked him about his conditions in Turkey, and he said that nobody
insulted him or treated him badly, but he could not find a position
of professor anymore. But I do know Turkish professors, studying the
issue. Taner Akcam, in particular, is one of my oldest friends and a
professor. Leaving Turkey, he lived in Germany for some time, and has
now settled in the United States. He speaks about the Genocide openly,
and people call on him to go back and do the same in Turkey. However,
Akcam was suppressed in Turkey when trying to discuss the Genocide.
I was invited to participate in an academic conference in Turkey in
2008. My Armenian friends advised me not to go there, as they thought
Turks would "utilize" me. But I decided to go anyway, and read the
synopsis for my account of the Armenian Genocide. I encouraged them
to acknowledge the Genocide, although it was a difficult issue to
address. They can never be a democratic society, if they don't face the
history. During the question and answer period following the reports,
I was given some very nasty questions, even accused of being unaware
of the issue I was reporting on. I told them that everything I said,
I am confident is true, and called on them face it.
What would you say about the possibility of Israel's recognition of
the Armenian Genocide? What are the reasons behind non-recognition?
If you asked me this question a month ago, my response would be a
negative one. Now, I do not think the government will recognize the
Genocide, but I do think that the Knesset will. The problem is that
the coalition is very limited: they have extremist views concerning
Palestine, are against the agreement with Iran.
An event on the Armenian Genocide was held at the committee
for education last week, organized by deputies representing all
the parties. Even Parliament Speaker Yuli Edelstein attended the
discussion: he usually does not. All the MPs who spoke at the meeting
were in favor of the recognition. And there was an official decision
of the committee to call the parliament to recognize the Armenian
Genocide. On the other hand, I don't think Netanyahu will let them
do it.
When Israel's relations with Turkey deteriorated, some people, who
were previously against the recognition, encouraged the government
to acknowledge the Genocide. But I was against using such an issue
in politics.
So, to cut a long story short, I do not really know. The President,
Reuven Rivlin, who openly addressed the issue as a parliament
speaker, and the current Knesset leader may recognize the Genocide,
but this will be something symbolic. According to our constitution,
the government takes all decisions. It is much like Germany, where
the President acknowledged the Genocide. Rivlin is a great friend of
Armenians: his parents lived in Jerusalem during the Genocide. And
he remembered his parents' stories and spoke openly about the issue
at a United Nations conference.
How would you assess the society's response to the recognition of
the Armenian Genocide?
President of Civilitas Foundation, Salpi Ghazarian and I had planned
to conduct a survey to find out the society's stance concerning the
issue in several countries, including Israel. We are now conducting
similar researches in our university, but all the people know much
about the Genocide there. So, it would be much more interesting
to conduct the survey among the public. And we need corresponding
resources. If we conducted such a survey this year, we would get
better results, as Genocide was spoken so much about.
As a Jewish scholar, you have always been in favor of the official
recognition of the Armenian Genocide, whereas other Jewish scholars
take no stance on the issue, or consider the Holocaust to be a unique
example of genocide and prefer to ignore the fact of the Armenian
Genocide. What do you think about this?
There are many Jewish scholars abroad, who speak out for the
recognition. In Israel, I know Israel Charny and others who also
struggle for the acknowledgement. The majority of Jewish scholars,
I should say, are not precisely against, but are indifferent to
the issue.
People can side with the perpetrators, as the latter are strong,
confident that they are superior to their future victims. All the
super powers were well aware of what was going on, but nobody told
the perpetrators to stop. This is all about hypocrisy and lack of
attention.
Bernard Lewis, a Jewish-American scholar wrote a classical book, The
Emergence of Modern Turkey, in 1963, describing the 1915 massacres as
"the Armenian Holocaust." In the new edition of the book, however, the
phrase was removed. And when a Parisian Le Monde journalist, unaware
of this change in the book, asked Lewis about his position concerning
the Genocide, he said: "You mean the Armenian version of the story?"
He faced a civil proceeding in a French court for this and was
found guilty.
Finally, a brief note about our last educational endeavor. Several
months ago we began to identify and mark physical sites across Europe
(mainly Catholic churches, convents and monasteries) that served as
shelters for the victims of the Nazi persecution during the dark days
of the Holocaust. This is the `Houses for Life' educational program.
parents that ended-up in concentration camps. Some were lucky enough
to return alive and claim back their children. Others were
murdered. The shelter sites are marked by means of a commemorative
plaque and, thus, tourists, visitors and passers-by will know that
those places gave life to people in danger.
A special team of researchers (mostly volunteers) was set-up and it
started researching the subject. To their great surprise, in a matter
of month, more than 100 sites were properly identified throughout many
European countries and, lately, another 100 convents and monasteries
that gave shelter to Jews were discovered in Rome and its suburbs.
More than 300 Heads of State and Nobel Laureates support our mission.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis, is one of the founding members of
our NGO.
We hope that this information may be of your interest.
Yours faithfully,
Eduardo Eurnekian
Chairman
Baruch Tenembaum
Founder
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