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  • It Will not happen to me. Guess What? It Will! Chapter 8

    It Will not happen to me. Guess What? It Will! Chapter 8

    It Will Not Happen to Me! Guess What? It Wll !!!

    Chapter 8

    We as concerned citizens must rescue our governments from the privileged few or we will find ourselves as their slaves. Freedom of religion and Bilingualism: Please remember that these chapters are being written because the solutions written in Part One have not been implemented, or worse yet the world economies have collapsed. We are now in the 21st century and moving very fast as far as the standard of living has progressed. The problem is that we citizens must also change to survive. We must welcome change in order to improve on our freedoms. The shock of changing our life styles will be minor versus revisiting the dark ages. Even though those who are able are already dependent upon government assistance and suffer. Rebellion in various ways, individually and as motley groups, should be discouraged. The United States has been a good example of Freedom of Religion until the US Supreme Court banned the use of the word GOD and public prayer in schools. A better example is Turkey after WW II, which had as its First President, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who is now recognized as on the great men of the 20th century. Turkey has always allowed freedom of religion and many historical events and places are there. One of the main reasons Turkey is a noble and superb nation today is because of this man his freedoms. Just compare Turkey with its neighbors to the south. Another one of the major reasons for Turkey’s success as a nation is the separation of church and state. Arrafat’s statement “anyone wearing a fez tomorrow will lose their head.” The very next day one was wearing a fez. Religions that prophesy harmony and love should be respected. Ones that use force should not be. An individual has the right to choose one’s own beliefs. A Persian Rug made in Turkey has an “error” or mistake woven in it. They believe only God is perfect, so they purposely sew an error in it. If you cannot find an error, it probably was not made in Turkey. There is a lesson for the whole world to learn from Turkey. A nation must unite under one banner that allows freedom of expressions and feelings of the individual of his own rights. Bilingualism is another problem. Right now the United States is facing this problem. It had a similar problem with the South after the civil war and right into the 1930’s with the southern accent. Radio and television stopped that game. When a person came on national television and started speaking he became the butt of jokes. No one likes being laughed at and it soon changed to the normal language. A more serious problem is with the Spanish speaking population. Almost everything has become bi lingual. You make a telephone call to a business and the operator tells you to press one for Spanish. This slows a country’s growth down because a certain percentage of the population will refuse to learn the other’s language and barriers are built, both socially and economically. This is a self-defeatist attitude that can cause long-term problems. When I was a kid in the 1940’s and 50’s I had friends that were German, French, Greek, Italian, and Polish. When I was in their homes they would speak in their native tongue, especially when they were scolding my friend. I could tell by the look on his face or the tone of their voice. In public everyone spoke excellent English! A perfect example how bilingualism can slow down a nation is the Province of Quebec in Canada. It is a beautiful province with all kinds of natural resources. The Bank of Montreal was a major bank nationally. The Montreal Stock Exchange was a major exchange for the whole nation. The Quebec Hydro provided cheap power and they had people. In Canada people are important, for the farther north one goes the less people. The United States and Canadian border has to be the friendliest one in the world. Underneath all this prosperity the French citizens were simmering with anger. They felt they were probably being treated as second-class citizens. In some cases this was true because many of the schools were French only. In a major English speaking country this paved a road to poverty. If your education is not in the main stream of the nation that you live in then ones earning power becomes limited. Outside influences tend to be shunned and the power of wage earnings slips by. Exchange of ideas is of the uppermost importance for a thriving community. At first they wanted to secede and become a separate country. To make their point they started bombing mailboxes. The net result of this was that the wealthy middle and upper classes of society moved out of the province. The Bank of Montreal is just a regular bank and the Montreal exchange has been overpowered by the Toronto exchange. Statistically it rated 2nd behind the province of Ontario where the State Capital is located, but other provinces are growing faster. Who would want to locate a business in a province that spoke French when the rest of the nation is English speaking? A sad fact and tale was when Charles De Gaulle was president of France he saw an opportunity to come to Canada and promote France. He came to Montreal to speak and over a million Frenchman came to hear their legendary person. The problem was there was not a Frenchman around that understood a word he was saying. He was speaking proper French while over decades their slang French and become a language of its own. So Turkey is a positive example for nations to follow while Quebec is a sad example. Here is an example when one portion of society closes its cultural barriers to outsiders, or worse yet, refuses to blend in. If 10 percent speaks a foreign language in the nation it resides in, then it misses the opportunities that the 90 percent have or enjoy. Economically it is like swimming upstream just before the waterfall. The survivors that are able to grab a branch of freedom will soon meld into the “common good” of the nation. That majority that succumbs or tries to please the minority will find itself standing on a pile of cow manure. A nation should have a common language. Computers today can translate easily. A segment of a population that demands dual languages is hurting itself by not being able to exchange ideas freely. The free exchange of ideas is very important. While Adolf Hitler held book-burning celebrations in Nazi Germany, he could not kill the ideas gotten from those books. Even today in some parts of the world, the Bible has been memorized whereby services are held for worship. A STRONG NATION WILL LISTEN TO THE MINORITY, AND THE MINORITY WILL APPRECIATE THAT IT WAS HEARD, BUT THE MAJORITY MUST RULE FOR THE COMMON GOOD FOR ALL. This means that as in the case of the United States, it became the melting pot for all citizens to enjoy the fruits of everyone’s labor. This is what Senator Arthur Vandenberg did 1945 for the good of the country and the world. He backed the President of the United States on foreign policy while he was a member of the minority party. William O’Neil, ‘INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY’ Chairman and founder, wrote an article for the Paper on April 25, 2012 on page B5 on ‘How to Find & Own America’s Greatest Opportunities’. He is referring to stock investments, but his opening paragraphs are a superb summary for this chapter. “ We live in the greatest country in the world. How did it evolve? The U.S. system, that is how. It’s your freedom of speech, religion and the press. You are free to own property and keep arms. Every citizen over 18 is free to vote in elections every two and four years, and replace weak or failed leaders. You are free to work, learn, create, innovate and invent because of our way of life. We are a nation of innovators because of these freedoms. Our GDP per person is larger than any other country. That is why millions of people continue to come here to participate in our exceptional freedom and opportunity. Nothing can hold you back except your own attitude or level of determination.” Those three freedoms are most important. Freedom of speech, religion and the press go along way in building a healthy nation.

  • Armenian ‘G’ claims: A matter of balance and due process

    Armenian ‘G’ claims: A matter of balance and due process

    Hurriyet Daily News, April 28, 2012

    ferruh demirmen

    FERRUH DEMİRMEN

    We have just passed April 24, when Armenians of various walks of life commemorate the anniversary of the arrest of the Armenian intellectuals in Istanbul 97 years ago, alleged to have been the beginning of “Armenian genocide.” So the pundits chastise, woefully, Turkey for “denying” genocide, and demand that Turkey extend an apology and offer restitution (meaning money and land) to the Armenians.

    This is no place to dwell on history to explain why such demands lack rational basis, e.g., if the Ottoman Turks had intent to exterminate the Armenian minority, why they gave Armenian citizens high positions in the government, why they waited for more than 6 centuries – when they were in much better position – to deliberately target Armenians.

    Nor is this the proper place to elaborate why some critical pieces of “evidence” e.g., the Andonian files, that the proponents of genocide cite to support their thesis, were forgeries, or that the orders issued by the Ottoman central government to relocate Armenians proscribed that all measures were to be taken to ensure the safety of the deportees and meet their needs during and after relocation.

    But there are two aspects the proponents of genocide conveniently ignore, that call for special attention: balance and due process.

    Regarding balance, no one denies that Armenians suffered during relocation, and some lost their lives, in a time of war when chaos, lawlessness and depravation prevailed. Surely we must mourn the sufferings and loss of life. But do we ever hear about the sufferings and loss of lives of non-Armenians? During that tragic period more than half a million Muslims – and some Jews – perished at the hands of armed, marauding Armenian gangs that terrorized the countryside and helped invading enemy armies.

    Do the lost lives of Muslims not matter?

    If we are to recall history, do Armenians carry any sense of guilt and culpability for aiding the enemy and terrorizing the local civil population?

    And why do we not hear, one must ask, any remorse on the part of Armenians for the killings by the ASALA organization of more than 40 Turkish diplomats in the 1970’s and ‘80’s?

    As for due process, it must be emphasized that “genocide” is a special crime, and the term should not be used lightly. To quote the 1948 UN Resolution on the Prevention of Genocide, determination on genocide can only be made “by a competent tribunal of the State in the territory of which the act was committed, or by such international penal tribunal as may have jurisdiction.” In the case of the alleged Armenian genocide, there has been no such determination. No court verdict; none, period. The U.N. resolution also makes no attribution to “Armenian genocide.”

    A parliamentary body, often beholden to special interests, and acting as both the prosecutor and judge, is no substitute for a duly authorized court of law.

    So, one must ask, without a court verdict, how can the Turks be accused of the “g” crime? Where is the respect for due process?

    In fact, the only judicial proceeding that comes close to being an international tribunal on the Armenian case is the Malta Tribunal, held by the victorious British after WWI. The proceedings, investigating charges against 144 high-ranking Ottoman officials accused of harming Armenians, failed to bring about a single conviction. Even searching through the U.S. State Department files in Washington D.C. failed to produce any incriminating evidence. Off went the dispatch from the British Embassy to Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon in London: “I regret to inform Your Lordship that there was nothing therein which could be used as evidence against the Turks who are being detained for trial at Malta.” All the detainees were set free and returned to Turkish soil.

    Armenian genocide allegations, apart from being legally unsustainable, create discord and animosity in society. Nearly a century has passed, and it is time to move on toward greater inter-communal harmony.

    Will the Armenian Diaspora take note?

    ferruh@demirmen.com

     

  • Armenian ‘G’ claims: A matter of balance and due process

    Armenian ‘G’ claims: A matter of balance and due process

    Hurriyet Daily News, April 28, 2012

    ferruh demirmen

    FERRUH DEMİRMEN

    We have just passed April 24, when Armenians of various walks of life commemorate the anniversary of the arrest of the Armenian intellectuals in Istanbul 97 years ago, alleged to have been the beginning of “Armenian genocide.” So the pundits chastise, woefully, Turkey for “denying” genocide, and demand that Turkey extend an apology and offer restitution (meaning money and land) to the Armenians.

    This is no place to dwell on history to explain why such demands lack rational basis, e.g., if the Ottoman Turks had intent to exterminate the Armenian minority, why they gave Armenian citizens high positions in the government, why they waited for more than 6 centuries – when they were in much better position – to deliberately target Armenians.

    Nor is this the proper place to elaborate why some critical pieces of “evidence” e.g., the Andonian files, that the proponents of genocide cite to support their thesis, were forgeries, or that the orders issued by the Ottoman central government to relocate Armenians proscribed that all measures were to be taken to ensure the safety of the deportees and meet their needs during and after relocation.

    But there are two aspects the proponents of genocide conveniently ignore, that call for special attention: balance and due process.

    Regarding balance, no one denies that Armenians suffered during relocation, and some lost their lives, in a time of war when chaos, lawlessness and depravation prevailed. Surely we must mourn the sufferings and loss of life. But do we ever hear about the sufferings and loss of lives of non-Armenians? During that tragic period more than half a million Muslims – and some Jews – perished at the hands of armed, marauding Armenian gangs that terrorized the countryside and helped invading enemy armies.

    Do the lost lives of Muslims not matter?

    If we are to recall history, do Armenians carry any sense of guilt and culpability for aiding the enemy and terrorizing the local civil population?

    And why do we not hear, one must ask, any remorse on the part of Armenians for the killings by the ASALA organization of more than 40 Turkish diplomats in the 1970’s and ‘80’s?

    As for due process, it must be emphasized that “genocide” is a special crime, and the term should not be used lightly. To quote the 1948 UN Resolution on the Prevention of Genocide, determination on genocide can only be made “by a competent tribunal of the State in the territory of which the act was committed, or by such international penal tribunal as may have jurisdiction.” In the case of the alleged Armenian genocide, there has been no such determination. No court verdict; none, period. The U.N. resolution also makes no attribution to “Armenian genocide.”

    A parliamentary body, often beholden to special interests, and acting as both the prosecutor and judge, is no substitute for a duly authorized court of law.

    So, one must ask, without a court verdict, how can the Turks be accused of the “g” crime? Where is the respect for due process?

    In fact, the only judicial proceeding that comes close to being an international tribunal on the Armenian case is the Malta Tribunal, held by the victorious British after WWI. The proceedings, investigating charges against 144 high-ranking Ottoman officials accused of harming Armenians, failed to bring about a single conviction. Even searching through the U.S. State Department files in Washington D.C. failed to produce any incriminating evidence. Off went the dispatch from the British Embassy to Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon in London: “I regret to inform Your Lordship that there was nothing therein which could be used as evidence against the Turks who are being detained for trial at Malta.” All the detainees were set free and returned to Turkish soil.

    Armenian genocide allegations, apart from being legally unsustainable, create discord and animosity in society. Nearly a century has passed, and it is time to move on toward greater inter-communal harmony.

    Will the Armenian Diaspora take note?

    ferruh@demirmen.com

     

    April/28/2012

  • Armenian-Americans Preparing Special Welcome for Pres. Aliyev in New York

    Armenian-Americans Preparing Special Welcome for Pres. Aliyev in New York

    sassounian35

     
     
    How could the warmongering President of Azerbaijan be permitted to chair the UN Security Council, the august body that is supposed to promote peace and security in the world? Unfortunately, such an outrage is possible simply because it is Azerbaijan’s turn to take over the rotating chairmanship of the Security Council in the month of May.
     
    Given Ilham Aliyev’s persistent anti-Armenian rhetoric, no one should be surprised when he transforms the UN podium into a battlefield. Fortunately, his military has neither the training nor the motivation to use its highly sophisticated weapons, including those purchased recently from Israel for $1.6 billion. Given Azerbaijan’s inability to unleash an actual war against Artsakh (Karabagh), and fearing that such a confrontation may end with the loss of more territory and devastate his country’s petroleum industry and oil pipelines, Aliyev is trying to distract his destitute people’s attention by issuing threats and launching a war of words against Armenians!
     
    The problem is that Azeris at home won’t be the only ones listening to Aliyev’s hostile statements. The countries bordering Azerbaijan — Iran, Turkey and Russia, will be taking special note of his saber-rattling at the UN. These neighboring states are alarmed by Azerbaijan acting as a surrogate for Israel in their backyard. Should Israel attack Iran by using Azerbaijan’s air bases, Iran may retaliate by annexing Azerbaijan, since there are many more Azeris in Northern Iran than in all of Azerbaijan.
     
    Aliyev’s UN diatribe will probably include some of the same hostile words that he has used recently in Baku. He called Armenians “fascists” and described them as Azerbaijan’s chief adversary. He then blamed “the Armenian lobby” for being his “number one enemy.” Using language borrowed from anti-Semites, and substituting “Armenians” for “Jews,” Aliyev made the following racist accusation: “The scope of their influence is quite broad. They [Armenians] are represented in the leading print media outlets of various countries. Sometimes they go under different names and hide their ethnic origin.” Aliyev’s on-going hateful speeches provide the best evidence as to why Artsakh Armenians can never again live under his despotic regime.
     
    The Azeri President also objected to Armenians calling Azerbaijan “backward and undemocratic,” which accurately describe his country’s dismal human rights record. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the European Parliament, the State Department, and the Western media have repeatedly criticized Azerbaijan for violating the rights of countless journalists, bloggers, dissidents, opposition members, and common citizens!
     
    Eduard Sharmazanov, Deputy Speaker of Armenia’s Parliament, gave an fitting response to Aliyev last week, when he bragged that “the day will come when the Azerbaijani flag will fly in Khankendi [Stepanakert] and Shusha [Shushi].” Sharmazanov quipped that the Azeri flag can fly in Azerbaijan’s embassy in Artsakh, only after Baku recognizes the independence of the Republic of Artsakh and establishes diplomatic relations with it.
     
    To counter Aliyev’s war of words, Armenian-Americans, along with human rights activists and Azeri dissidents, will certainly raise their voices in protest in front of the UN headquarters in early May, as Azerbaijan’s President begins spewing his usual anti-Armenian venom.
     
    Unfortunately, Aliyev has no plans to come to the West Coast where the large Armenian community would have surely welcomed him with massive protests against his Armenophobic speeches and activities. However, the California Armenian community could take advantage of Aliyev’s US visit by urging the State legislature to adopt Assembly Concurrent Resolution 96 that commemorates the massacres of Armenians in the Azeri cities of Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku.
     
    Violating US laws and established diplomatic protocol, the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles sent a lengthy letter to all members of the California State Assembly urging them not to support this resolution. The letter, signed by Ramil Gurbanov, Acting Consul General of Azerbaijan, is obviously drafted by one of its lobbying firms. This piece of propaganda contains many ridiculous statements, but that is not the concern of the “hired guns,” which will do anything to keep their Azeri paymasters happy, as long as they are compensated handsomely for their dirty work.
     
    West Coast Armenian-Americans should contact their State legislators, in particular, the co-authors of Resolution 96 — Assemblymen Felipe Fuentes, Katcho Achadjian, and Mike Gatto, and urge them to bring this bill to a vote while Pres. Aliyev is still on US soil. Meanwhile, East Coast Armenian-Americans should turn out in large numbers in front of the UN headquarters in early May to protest Pres. Aliyev’s racist remarks as “Chairman” of the UN Security Council!
     
    Furthermore, the Armenian community should complain to Federal and State authorities about the Azerbaijani Consulate’s illegal interference in internal US affairs and demand expulsion of Ramil Gurbanov from the United States as “persona non grata.”
  • FOLLOW FOX TV ON APRIL 24TH – COMMENT ON ARMENIAN ISSUE

    FOLLOW FOX TV ON APRIL 24TH – COMMENT ON ARMENIAN ISSUE

     

    Dr. Israel Charny and Harut Sassounian to appear on Fox TV on April 24.

     ancalogo1

    Dr. Israel Charny, invited by the United Armenian Council to speak at this year’s commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in Montebello, and Harut Sassounian, a member of the UAC, will appear for around 5 minutes on Fox TV’s evening news hour on Tuesday, April 24, to speak about the Armenian Genocide.

     

    The interview will be aired as follows (West Coast time):

     

    1) KTTV Channel 11 (10-11 p.m., on April 24). It will be repeated later that night, 1-2 a.m.

     

    2) The interview will be repeated again on Channel 13 (11-11:30 p.m., on April 24).

  • Oztarsu: US relations with Turkey are at a critical juncture

    Oztarsu: US relations with Turkey are at a critical juncture

    obama gwordUS President Barack Obama will not use the word “genocide” when describing the alleged Armenian genocide during his annual Armenian Remembrance Day speech on April 24, 2012, Turkish political analysts have claimed. Specialists in Caucasian and US politics say it would not be timely for Obama to undermine Turkey’s stance on the issue, given the rising importance of Turkey’s partnership with the US in handling political crises in the Middle East. (more…)