Turkish Forum

Author: Aylin D. Miller

  • What is Tseghakronism? – fascist doctrine of Garegin Nzhdeh

    What is Tseghakronism? – fascist doctrine of Garegin Nzhdeh

    njdeTseghakron – was formed by combination of two Armenian words – “ցեղ” (race) and “կրոն” (religion). The movement founded by Garegin Nzhdeh (Garegin Ter-Harutyunyan) is called Tseghakron and his ideological doctrine – Tseghakronutyun (Tseghakronism).

    The Republic of Armenia determines its state policy based on this doctrine. The Republican Party of Armenia, led by President Serzh Sargsyan, sees Nzhdeh as their ideological leader. This person, who was not inferior to Andranik for cruelty, shed rivers of blood. Having moved from Tabriz to Sofia in 1922, Nzhdeh began to publish his first anti-Turkic and anti-Muslim articles. For example, “Heroic Battle of Lernhayastan Nagorno-Karabakh)” (Bucharest 1923), “Some Pages from my Diary” (Cairo 1924), “The Struggle of Sons against Fathers” (Thessaloniki 1927), etc. were widely covered in magazines and newspapers such as “Hayastan” (Plovdiv), “Araks” (Sofia), “Azatamart” (Paris) published by Dashnaks. All articles hadone target – Turks and Turkey, and had one goal – to create hatred in Armenians abroad against Turks and Turkey. After leaving Bulgaria for the US, Nzhdeh began to spread the doctrine there. Through this “theory”, Armenians approached racist Tseghakron to fascism.

    Armenian-Nazi collaboration

    The ideological foundation of the collaboration between the Nazis and Dashnaks began to be laid in the 1930s. A leading Nazi party ideologist Alfred Rosenberg assigned Artashes Abegian (Head of the Institute for Oriental Studies 1926-136) the task of setting up a committee to study the anthropology and history of the Armenians. Of course, Armenians assessed this opportunity greatly. A report was issued that they come from the same race with Germans. Five months after the committee was set up in 1934, Rosenberg submitted a report to Hitler indicating that the Armenians were of the same race as Germans.

    Meanwhile, Armenians began to create fascist youth organizations and combat groups in Bulgaria and Romania comprised of members of the Armenian nationalist organization “Tseghakron”, who called on all Armenians worldwide to collaborate with the Nazis during World War II.

    General Drastamat Kanayan (Dro), who fought against Turkey during and after World War I and dealt harsh with the Muslim population, established the Armenian National Committee on 15 December 1942 in order to represent the Armenians of Europe under the German government. This committee, during World War II, became an anti-USSR and pro-German center of propaganda. In February 1944, the United Armenian Headquarters was established on the order of Rosenberg.  At the end of April 1943, the group assumed an independent status. The assistant to the head of the group (Dro) was Kuro (Nikolai Tarhanian) and the chief of staff was Tigran Bagdasarian. Misak Torlakian assumed the responsibility of intelligence and sabotage activities. The spy team of AG-114 was comprised of members of Dashnak Armenia’s (1918-20) military.

    One of the major services rendered by the Dashnaks to the Nazis in World War II was their propaganda activity behind Soviet lines and in occupied territories. One of these teams was lead by the SS Officer Nikolai Gevorkian (Dr. Sikorsky Gevorkov), son of the famous Dashnak leader Seto Djelalian. They placed their agents among the Armenian population in occupied areas for counterintelligence activities. The Dashnaks did not neglect to run those prisoners of war who agreed to join their special units through some tests, to weed out Jews pretending to be Armenian. They had the prisoners who surrendered read the Bible they had with them in Armenian, to verify their true nationality.

    Alongside general Dro, he also participated in forming Armenian armed units under Vermakht in 1942.

    On 15 December 1942, Garegin Nzhdeh became one of seven members of the Armenian National Council established by Germans and deputy editor of “Independent Armenia” newspaper. Armenian paramilitary groups led by Dro and Nzhdeh were actively involved in operations to capture Crimea and attacks on Caucasus.

    Germany’s leadership was going to use the Armenians in Caucasus and Turkey for raising a revolt in these countries, but the failures on the frontline forced them to abandon these plans.

    As the Soviet Army entered Bulgaria, Nzhdeh wrote to the commander of the Third Ukrainian Front, Fyodor Tolbukhin, making himself available to the USSR in case of a possible attack against Turkey. However, the General was arrested and died in his cell in 1955.

    The book “Garegin Nzhdeh’s doctrine”, published by the ruling Republican Party of Armenia in 2004 (“Garegin Njde i eqo uçeniya” İzdatel, Respublikanskaya Partiya Armenii, Yerevan-2004) has become a handbook for each Armenian.

    The film about “national hero” Garegin Nzhdeh was the highest-budget film (at a cost of USD 7 million) produced by Armenia since independence.

    According to Nzhdeh’s doctrine of Tseghakron, every Armenian lifelong must strive for the liberation of the so-called Western Armenia from the control of Turks.

    Professor Gafar Chakhmagli

  • How the Turkish Government Cancels The Passports of Critics

    How the Turkish Government Cancels The Passports of Critics

    Huff POST da Turkiye vatandaslarinin Pasaportlarini iptal ediyormus bu isi de Polis Isthibarat ile MIT yapiyormus diye kocaman bir makale yazmislar…3-4 kisi ye de misal olark kotmuslar Turk gazetelerinde hicbir haber yok
    Umit Bayulken
    Aydoğan Vatandaş
    Aydoğan Vatandaş Journalist, writer and politic

    Imagine that you have enough money and a passport to travel abroad. You may be a businessman to follow your meetings or just a tourist hoping to practice new things during your trip in another country.

    If you are a Turkish citizen, you should think twice.

    It is not a secret that after Erdogan consolidated his power, Turkey has already turned into a dictatorship.

    The sources now reveal that Turkish Government has started another unlawful activity against his citizens. The Turkish Government cancels the passports of some journalists, businessmen and NGO representatives through some fabricated applications.

    The first step of this conspiracy engineered by the Turkish Government is to fabricate ‘a loss notice’ in a newspaper on behalf of the targeted individual. Once the loss notice appears in a paper, the Government cancels the passport. The people find out this illegal cancelation only when they are about to go abroad at the airport venue. The police seize their passports and don’t let them go out. But it may also happen when you are out of Turkey. Many people who are already out of Turkey face similar difficulties during the security check at the Customs. They are told that their passports are seen ‘lost’ in their system and advised to visit their Embassies or Consulates to solve the problem. However, when the people go to their Embassies, their passports are being seized without any explanation.

    Some aggrieved has already started legal term by means of their counselors. Those who face this conspiracy while they are abroad apply to Interpol and inform that their passports are not lost.

    According to the claims, hundreds of Turkish businessmen, journalists, teachers, and bureaucrats were recorded by a team established by Police Intelligence Department and the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). Information about the names on the list prepared by these organizations are sent to the Passport Department. And the Passport units cancel the passports of the persons, whose names appear on the list.

    The illegal practice was revealed when S. A., a person involved in business in Ankara applied to Ankara Directorate of Security, in order to extend the validity of his passport. The businessman went to the Passport department last month. He stated that he wants to extend the validity of his visa, because he wants to go abroad. But the personnel at the passport department told him that his passport was cancelled through a ‘loss’ notice, and that he might find the detailed information at Police Passport Department. Thereupon the businessman went to the Passport Department’s campus in Ankara, he repeated again that he didn’t issue such any loss notice for his passport. The officials rejected to provide any detailed information.

    A teacher working abroad also faced a similar problem. The teacher who went to the airport to go back to the country he worked after his vacation in Turkey found out at that his passport was cancelled at the passage. Even though the teacher never issued such a loss notice for his passport, the justification was the same.

    The last aggrieved of the passport conspiracy was Mrs. Nevin İpek, the wife of Mr. Akın İpek, the President of Koza İpek Holding which was taken over by President Erdogan last year. İpek applied to Embassy of Turkey in London last week, to extend the validity of her passport. The Embassy officials seized İpek’s passport, stating that there is a ‘loss notice’ for her passport. İpek told them that she never issued any loss notice on a newspaper in or abroad. Yet, she could not persuade the Embassy officials.

    Mr. Nazif Apak, a columnist for Turkish Yeni Hayat Daily, who first drew attention on the passport conspiracy of the Turkish Government in his article titled ‘Who plays with the passport?’ on April 23, wrote that a businessman, whose family has done trade for three generations faced a similar incident, too. He wrote that, when the businessman reacted ‘How come! I came to your land with this passport and want to go to that country from here,’ then the officials said that his passport is seen ‘lost’ in their system. When the businessman carries the case to Interpol, the respond was this: ‘Unfortunately Turkey is forging on the documents and declares passports of many people lost,’ Apak wrote.

    Issuing a loss notice is under the authority of only the bearers of passports and ID cards. Even should a loss notice be issued, when the passport is found later, it is legally valid and the police officials are not appointed or authorized to follow the loss notices.

    As long as there exists no ban to travel abroad forwarded to a person by the Court, one may travel to anywhere. This is a universal right and under the protection of freedom of travel. The passports of persons may not become invalid due to loss notices, and detention of people from going abroad by such means is a Government fraud and only happens in a dictatorship.

    al analyst

     

  • Enough is enough – the medal will be returned

    Enough is enough – the medal will be returned

    Over a decade ago the then foreign minister Abdullah Gül awarded me the “Medal of High Distinction” of the Republic of Turkey. I received the award, consisting of a diploma and a gigantic gold medal, during a festive ceremony at the Turkish embassy in The Hague. The reason I was deemed worthy of the medal was that in the preceding years I had actively tried to inform the Dutch politicians, and the public in general, about Turkey and to combat prejudices.

    By Erik-Jan Zürcher

    In the years 2002-2004 the attempts of Turkey to become a member of the European Union, which even then were forty years old, had picked up speed. The new Turkish government of the Party of Justice and Development of prime minister Tayyip Erdoğan, was democratising Turkey at breakneck speed. In the first two years of the new regime over three hundred laws were passed, the vast majority of which aimed to dismantle the authoritarian state that was a legacy of the 1980 military coup and that was still dominated by the army. In recognition of this, the EU in October 2003 agreed to start membership negotiations with Turkey as soon as some final requirements had been met. In December 2004, during a summit in The Hague, the decision to go ahead was taken.

    My small contribution in those years was to argue (in a report for the Scientific Council for Government Policy WRR among others) that Turkey could indeed be a part of the EU, because it shared a history with Europe (after all the centre of gravity of the Ottoman Empire had lain in southeastern Europe for centuries); and that the fact that 98 percent of the citizens of Turkey were Muslims should not stand in the way of Turkey’s entry, because Islam too was part of European history and because after eighty years secularism had struck deep roots in Turkey, at least as deep as in – for instance – a country like Poland. I advocated Turkey’s entry into the EU because I thought that Europe could effectively defend its interests in the Middle East and the Caucasus region only with Turkey on board.

    These arguments are still valid today. What I got completely wrong was my expectation – and prediction – that the accession process would strengthen the democratic forces in Turkey and that it would make the development of the rule of law irrevocable. I ignored warnings from secularist Turkish friends that Erdoğan was only using the EU and the accession process to destroy his internal enemies and gradually to increase the role of Islam in society, seeing them as short-sighted fear mongering. I was wrong, however, and they were right.

    Look where we are now after 14 years and more than ten election victories for Tayyip Erdoğan and his party:
    – Because he thought it would win him the election, Erdoğan consciously wrecked the peace process with Kurds and reignited the internal war against the PKK.
    – Because he wanted new elections when those of June 2015 did not yield the result he looked for, he sabotaged the formation of a coalition government, which could have counteracted polarisation.
    – Academics who distanced themselves from the renewed war against the PKK and demanded a resumption of the peace process, are being persecuted and sometimes have been fired by their universities.
    – The media have been emasculated . They either function as mouthpiece of the regime or adopt self-censorship.
    – Social media are tightly controlled and often shut down.
    – Journalists and editors who report on secret arms deliveries of the Turkish secret service to Syrian Jihadists are convicted to five years in prison for divulging state secrets (so the story was true!)
    – The constitutional court of the republic is threatened by the president, who openly states he does not respect it.
    – A prime minster who advocates a somewhat softer (though by no means liberal) line is brought down by the president.
    – Thousands of Turkish citizens are being prosecuted for “defamation of the president.”
    – European citizens who speak critically about Erdoğan, like Dutch publicist Ebru Umar, are prosecuted and held in Turkey.
    – In the mean time the party uses its power monopoly to make islamic norms and values ever more dominant in the public space – in most places finding a prayer room is now a lot easier than a seller of alcoholic beverages.

    All of this has convinced me that the Turkey of Tayyip Erdoğan cannot and should not become a member of the European Union – ever. A country where politics, the legal system, the media, universities and individuals (even if they live in Europe) have become playthings for a de-facto dictator and his clique of sycophants; where the fundamental freedoms and the rule of law have ceased to function, cannot be a European country. Many of these characteristics are valid for Hungary as well – an EU member – but Hungary is small and for the EU as a whole no more than a nuisance. Turkey’s population is eight times as large and – this is crucial – half of that population staunchly supports the policies of Erdoğan and even more: venerates him as the architect and symbol of the “new Turkey.” A Europe in which the successive crises surrounding the Euro, Greece and the Syrian refugees have shown that it is only partially built on shared values as it is, could never tame this Turkey once it is in, it would be destroyed by its accession.

    Of course the EU, and the Netherlands, have to deal with Turkey. We are not alone in this world and the part of the world that respects human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, is unfortunately limited and getting smaller. We do business – economically as well as politically – with other countries that are increasingly in the grip of nationalist dictators (China, Russia, Egypt) but the point is that, thanks to Erdoğan, Turkey now fits into that list and not the list of candidate members of the EU.

    That is why the medal will now be carefully packed and sent back to the embassy. I have hesitated for a long time, not because I had illusions left about Erdoğan and his ilk, but because such a demonstrative act might damage others besides myself, notably the dozens of MA and Ph.D. students that I have supervised over the years, many of whom have returned to Turkey. My signature is on their diplomas. I feel I have no choice, however. I have to do this precisely because, as professor of Turkish studies, I am seen as an authority on Turkey. I have to do it as a sign of protest against the dictatorial misrule of Erdoğan in Turkey but also in recognition of the fact that I was wrong twelve years ago: Turkey has not come closer to Europe (as it seemed in the now far-off years of 2002-2006, but since 2007 it has moved away. So far away that membership is no longer a realistic option. Our political leaders should say so loud and clear. Enough is enough.

    • middle eastern studies
    • turkish history
    • turkish studies
  • Turkey Historian returns Medal of High Distinction due to “dictatorial” rule

    Turkey Historian returns Medal of High Distinction due to “dictatorial” rule

    May 10, 2016, 11:47

     

    Famous Dutch Turkologist Erik-Jan Zürcher has returned his Medal of High Distinction to Turkey in a protest against the “dictatorial” rule of President Erdoğan.

    World renowned Turkey historian, Dutch Erik-Jan Zürcher, decided to return his Turkish “Medal of High Distinction” presented to him by then Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül because of the “dictatorial” rule in Turkey.

    On Tuesday (May 10), the professor from Leiden University published an article on nrc.nl explaining why he wanted to send his medal back. Zürcher said he was awarded the medal in 2005 thanks to his contribution to Turkey’s European Union (EU) bid. He argued that Turkey has a shared history with Europe, and Turkey’s Muslim majority should not be an obstacle to accession as Islam is a part of Europe, and Turkey has been a secular country for almost a century. He also said it was beneficial for Europe as it could defend its interests in Middle East and Caucasia.

    In his article, Zürcher said “these arguments are still valid”, but then he admits he was wrong about Recep Tayipp Erdoğan and his intentions. Erdoğan’s party, Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), came to power in 2002 with a majority government and EU reforms were accelerated in the first few years, which gave many Europeans the idea of admitting Turkey to the club.

    He said his disappointments with Erdogan’s administration came from the following issues: the ending of the peace process with Kurds, “sabotaging” the possibility of a coalition government after June 7, 2105 election, persecuting the academics for peace petition, suppression and censorship of the media and social media, “threatening” the constitutional court and not respecting it, the taking down of a “softer” Prime Minister (meaning Ahmet Davutoğlu), too many defamation of the president charges, persecuting Europeans who are critical of Erdogan, and using their influence to dominate Islamic norms and values in public spaces.

    He continued, “All of these convinced me that the Turkey of Tayyip Erdoğan cannot and should not become a member of the European Union – ever. A country where politics, the legal system, the media, universities and individuals (even if they live in Europe) have become playthings for a de facto dictator and his clique of sycophants; where the fundamental freedoms and the rule of law have ceased to function, cannot be a European country”.

    He said this is why he is giving his medal back, as a “sign of protest against the dictatorial misrule of Erdoğan,” admitting he had been wrong 12 years ago when he supported ERdoğan. Zürcher also warned European leaders not to consider Turkey’s EU membership, saying they need to say “enough is enough”.

  • ARMENIA?

    ARMENIA?

    From: Yahoo [[email protected]]
    I did some research on Armenia

    IN GOD WE TRUST !!!
    Richard C De Graff

     

    ARMENIA?

    I am getting sick and tired hearing about the so called Armenia genocide by the Turks of the crumbling Ottoman Empire in 1915.

    First, dear reader, I am an American through and through. My family escaped from the French Huguenots and migrated to Holland. After being in Holland for several decades they migrated to the Americas and Jeremiah, Isaac and Frederick De Graff founded Amsterdam NY. In1630.  My son David has the deed signed by King George of England declaring “all the land they could protect”.

    Secondly I never heard of Armenia until after 1975. I thought it was something one added to their garden salad until I had dinner at my secretary’s home with her husband and they told about the “Genocide by the Turks”.

    Strange, why was I hearing about it after 50 odd years after it supposedly happened?

    General Dwight David Eisenhower has film taken of Nazi Germany’s concentration camps “so some dumb bastard could not say it never happened 50 years from now.”

    Well some not so clever Armenians saw how Jewish Germans survived WW ll and could prove the NAZI’s stole their property- the received repatriation in German Marks.

    So these Armenians tried to tie up the Republic of Turkey. They got a lot of publicity for their nefarious efforts, but the history is all wrong.

    I have done research on this subject.  The first book was written in 1982 and published in 1983.

    It is THE ARMENIAN FILE The Myth of Innocence Exposed by Kamuran Gurun. This is a heavy duty book written for Turkish people who have a keen interest in their rightful history. It is like Robert Caro’s books on Lyndon Baines Johnson a former President of the United States; it is also heavy duty reading for a foreigner.

    The other book is a shocker of the surprised truth. Hovhannes Katchaznouni (The First Prime Minister of the Independent Armenian Republic) DASHNAGTZZOUTIUN HAS NOTHING TO DO ANYMORE (Report Submitted to the 1923 Party Convention)

    Katchaznouni became a member of the Armenian National Council in 1917 and was the Gashnag representative until 1018.He served on the Armenian committee conducting peace talks with the Turks in Trabzon and Batoun. He then became the first prime-minister of the independent Armenian State in 1918. He held that position until August 1919. He was arrested after the Bolsheviks came into power in 1920. He left the country after the counter-revolutionary revolt against the Bolsheviks rule was extinguished in 1921.

    OTTOMAN EMPIRE

    1299-1923

    The Ottoman Empire was unique to say the least. It covered Asia minor with Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, the Ottoman Empire was at the center of interactions between the Eastern and Western worlds for six centuries. Following a long period of military setbacks against European powers, the Ottoman Empire gradually declined into the late nineteenth century. The empire allied with Germany in the early 20th century, with the imperial ambition of recovering its lost territories, but it collapsed and was dissolved by the Allied Powers in the aftermath of World War I. [i]

    They had some basic rules that apply to Armenia problem.

    Religion was a basic tenant of the empire. They had freedom of religion as long as you obeyed their laws. Turkey is rich with religious history. The first seven churches that the apostle John wrote about are in Turkey. The Muslims are Sunni and Jesus mother retired there too. When the Holy Roman Empire broke up the Greek Orthodox Church was headquartered in Constantinople.

    Missionaries were enthusiastically welcomed from all kinds of religious sects.

    The Trojan War took there.

    By 1914 there were Turkish Armenians living in Turkey as Turkish citizens.

    Question? Why would Turkey commit genocide on the Armenians when 6.9% of their population is Armenian? Something is fishy here.

    WW l

    Now here is the problem. The Ottoman Empire is in its death throes and it takes side with Germany. It seems a natural because Germany is strong, Russia weak and the Allies are causing them a bundle of problems.

    The Tsar of Russia has just recently annexed Georgia in 1801to its sphere of influence. (A stepping stone towards the Black Sea?) What Russia wanted was a warm water ports for its Navy and has its eyes on Constantinople straights and easy entry into the Mediterranean Sea. (It still does.)  The areas if influences in Turkey in 1914-15 are Russia, Germany, France, Italy, USA, and the British!

    So the Armenians side up to Tsarist Russia basically because the Ottomans are in shambles.

    This is one of worst decisions world history. The Russian Revolution broke out in 1917 and the Bolsheviks took over.

    Off with their heads. The Tsarist dynasty is no more. History has now shown us that communist dictators liquidate the opposition. Russia did such a good job that when Hitler started to take on Russia, the only competent General officer was General Zhukov from Vladivostok which is the farthest western city in Russia.( It borders China and North Korea.) He was so far away that Stalin probably thought he was harmless. He is now considered one of Russia’s greatest generals.

    I make this point because Tsarist Russia or the Communist had no use for the Armenians so the smart ones were disposed of. (Modern day language calls it the “brain drain”) I can imagine how eager the communist were dreaming of straights of the Dardanelles and Constantinople were part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic.

    The dates are important here. The Armenian File was published in 1983. So what happened in the 1920s?

    But the Tip-off is Katchaznouni’s Report made in 1923. The Russians suppressed the report and it was not until April 2006 that the first edition of the COMPLETE report was published. There is now a third printing.

    I believe the genocide is a major con job just to gain funds by politicians who have failed to bring prosperity to their constituents.

    On May 19, 1919 Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) landed in Samsun and the National Struggle started and would not end until 1923 after he had defeated all countries that want to break up Turkey. His defeat of the British and his leadership role of modern Turkey make him one of the greatest world leaders of the 20th century.

     

    [i]Wikipedia-Ottoman Empire

     

  • Turkish Denialist Helps Publicize Truth about the Armenian Genocide

    Turkish Denialist Helps Publicize Truth about the Armenian Genocide

    Ergun Kirlikovali, a resident of Orange County, California, and former president of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations, has carried out a life-long Don Quixotic battle against recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Unfortunately for him, the more he denies the Genocide, the more he helps publicize it.

    Here is the latest episode of Kirli’s ‘heroic’ actions which once again backfired on him and his obsessive denialism.

    On April 24, as 60,000 protestors gathered in front of the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles, Kirli showed up with a handful of his denialist compatriots trying to cover up the tarnished image of their homeland! The Turks’ presence at the protest attracted the attention of the local news media, generating more publicity for the 101st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

    To take credit for his anti-Armenian protest, Kirli had a cohort videotape his interview with KABC-TV, during which he once again denied the Armenian Genocide. Shockingly, in the midst of the interview, the KABC cameraman made derogatory remarks about Armenians, calling them “thug-like idiots.”

     

    In its news coverage of the April 24 protest, KABC used a sound bite from Kirli’s 8-minute rant. However, no one would have known about the cameraman’s prejudicial comments, if it were not for Kirli posting the raw footage of his interview on Facebook, which got the anti-Armenian cameraman in hot water.

     

    In response to complaints from the public, KABC promptly issued a statement apologizing for its freelance cameraman’s remarks and announcing the termination of his services with the TV station. However, KABC insisted that its story was “fair and accurate.” Many viewers disagreed, citing the inclusion of Kirli’s denialist views in the broadcast. In a phone conversation with KABC’s General Manager last week, I discussed the pitfalls of providing airtime to a denialist and the positive steps the TV station could initiate to educate viewers about the Armenian Genocide. Upset by the station’s conciliatory statement, Kirli posted on Facebook his “disappointment” with KABC’s apology and dismissal of the cameraman after complaints from “Armenian pressure groups.”

     

    The Armenian National Committee of America — Western Region (ANCA) and Armenian Youth Federation — Western US (AYF) issued a joint statement contesting KABC’s decision to provide a platform to a notorious genocide denier and asked for a meeting with the TV station’s management. They justifiably contended that KABC would never interview a neo-Nazi while covering a Holocaust commemorative event.

     

    Subsequently, KABC’s management agreed to meet with representatives of ANCA, AYF, and the Armenian Bar Association, and removed from the TV station’s website Kirli’s offensive words along with the questionable news story! After the meeting, Cheryl Kunin Fair, President and General Manager of KABC-TV, issued the following highly principled statement on May 2:

     

    “ABC7 regrets what happened and apologizes for the pain this incident caused the Armenian community, especially on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. The actions of the cameraman in question, who no longer works for the station, and the resulting story that aired that day, were not an accurate reflection of ABC7′ s commitment to the Armenian community. While the cameraman’s comments did not air, we regret the inclusion in our story of a short bite from the interview denying the existence of the Genocide on historical grounds, which is counter to the position of a majority of historians today who do call it a Genocide, and see the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians as a premeditated and systematic campaign to exterminate an entire people. Efforts are underway in partnership with the ANCA, AYF, Armenian Bar Association and others to provide opportunities for public dialogue, internal education, and meaningful stories about and for the Armenian community and their efforts for Genocide recognition and education. We are committed to moving forward with these initiatives and we thank the ANCA and its partner organizations for their leadership in this dialogue and willingness to listen.”

     

    KABC-TV should be commended for issuing such a reassuring statement, apologizing for the offense caused to the Armenian community, promising not to use the services of the bigoted cameraman, expressing regret for interviewing a genocide denialist, reaffirming the truth of the Armenian Genocide, and pledging to work with community organizations to educate the public on this critical issue. Without Kirli’s persistent denialist endeavors, none of these constructive steps would have been possible!