Turkish Forum

Category: Armenian Question

“The great Turk is governing in peace twenty nations from different religions. Turks have taught to Christians how to be moderate in peace and gentle in victory.”Voltaire’s Philosophical Dictionary

  • Islamicized Armenians

    Islamicized Armenians

    Sabiha-GLet’s Welcome Islamicized Armenians

    By Raffi Bedrosyan, Toronto, 15 November 2013

                                                                 The conference organized by the Hrant Dink Foundation about ‘Islamicized (Forcibly Islamized) Armenians’ at the Istanbul Bosphorus University in early November broke one more taboo in Turkey. A hidden reality, a secret known by many but which couldn’t be revealed to anyone, whispered behind closed doors but also filed in government intelligence offices, finally broke open into the public.

    The late Hrant Dink would be elated to see this conference become a reality, eight years after the first conference about ‘Armenians during the late Ottoman Empire era and the 1915 events’ held at Istanbul Bilgi University, when protesters hurled insults at the conference participants and government ministers labelled them “traitors stabbing Turks in the back”. That conference had also broken a taboo, but Hrant was already a marked man for revealing the identity of the most famous ‘Islamicized Armenian’, Sabiha Gokcen, Ataturk’s adopted daughter and first female Turkish combat pilot, to be in fact an Armenian orphan of 1915 by the name of Hatun Sebilciyan.

    It is a known fact that in 1915 tens of thousands of Armenian orphans were forcibly Islamicized and Turkified, tens of thousands of Armenian girls and young women were captured by Kurds and Turks as slaves, maids or wives, tens of thousands Armenians converted to Islam to escape deportations and massacres, and tens of thousands of Armenians found shelter in friendly Kurdish and Alevi villages but lost their identity. What happened to these survivors, or living victims of the 1915 Genocide? Hrant was obsessed with them: “We keep talking about the ones ‘gone’ in 1915, let us start talking about the ones who ‘remained’.”

    These remaining people survived, but mostly in living hell. And what’s remarkable, their children and grandchildren are now ‘coming out’, no more hiding their Armenian roots. One of the first was the famous Turkish lawyer Fethiye Çetin, who revealed that her grandmother was Armenian, in her book ‘My Grandmother’. This was followed by another book edited by Aysegul Altinay and Fethiye Çetin, ‘The Grandchildren’, about dozens of Turkish/Kurdish people describing their Armenian roots, without revealing their real identities. Then came the reconstruction of the Surp Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbakir, which became a destination for many hidden Armenians in Eastern Anatolia to come out. On average, over a hundred people visit the church daily, most of them hidden Armenians. Some come to pray, get baptized or married, but most just visit to feel Armenian, without converting back to Christianity. This has created a new identity of Moslem Armenians, in addition to the historical and traditional identity of Christian Armenians. In a country where only Moslem Turks can work for the government, where being non-Moslem is sufficient excuse for persecution, harassment and attacks, where the word Armenian is used as the biggest insult, it takes courage for someone to reveal that he is now an Armenian and no longer a Turk/Kurd/Moslem. People can easily lose their jobs, livelihood or even lives for changing their identity. Just to give an example of the level of racism and discrimination, an ultra nationalist opposition member of parliament accused the Turkish President Abdullah Gul for having Armenian roots in his Kayseri family. Gul sued her for defamation for being labeled an Armenian; the courts sided with him ordering her to pay compensation for such an insult.

    It is difficult to estimate the number of Islamicized Armenians, and even more difficult to predict what proportion of them are aware of their Armenian roots, or how many are willing to regain their Armenian identity. Based on independent studies of the 1915 events, one can conclude that more than 100,000 orphans were forcibly Islamicized/Turkified, and that another 200,000 Armenians survived by converting to Islam or by finding shelter in friendly Kurdish and Alevi regions. It is therefore conceivable that 300,000 souls survived as Moslems. The population of Turkey has increased seven-fold since then. Using the same multiple, one can extrapolate that there may exist 2 million people with Armenian roots in Turkey today, originating from the 1915 survivors. There were even more widespread conversions to Islam during the 1894-1896 massacres, when entire villages were forcibly Islamicized. A couple centuries previously, Hamshen Armenians were Islamicized in northeast Anatolia. The Moslem Hamshentsis, numbering about 500,000, speak a dialect based on Armenian, but never identified themselves as Armenian–until recently. Adding all these forced conversions prior to and during 1915, one can conclude that the number of people with Armenian roots in present Turkey reaches several million; numbers are difficult to accurately estimate, but in any case, easily exceed the present population of Armenia.

    The reality is that the secrets of Armenianness whispered for three or four generations after 1915, are now becoming loud revelations of new identities. As evidenced in the recent conference, even Hamshen Armenians have started exploring and reclaiming their long lost roots. During the reconstruction of the Surp Giragos Church and in my travels in eastern and southeastern Anatolia, one out of every three Kurds that I met had an Armenian grandmother in the family. This fact, hidden until recently, is now revealed openly, often leading young generations to reclaim Armenian identities, but without giving up Islam. One interesting observation is that the hidden Armenians were aware of other hidden ones and all attempted to intermarry, resulting in many couples who ended up having Armenian roots from both parents.

    The conference attracted numerous academicians, historians and journalists from within and outside Turkey, as well as dozens of presenters of oral history. One of the most dramatic presentations was about Sara, a 15-year-old Armenian girl from Urfa Viranshehir, who was captured by the Turkish strongman of the region, Eyup Aga. Eyup wanted to take Sara as his third wife. When Sara refused, Eyup killed her mother. When Sara refused again, Eyup killed her father. When Eyup threatened to kill Sara’s little brother, Sara couldn’t resist any more, and married the killer of her parents, on condition that her brother would be spared and she would keep her name. But her brother was also eventually killed. As she resisted Eyup’s advances, she was repeatedly raped and was pregnant 15 times, giving birth to 15 babies, who all died prematurely. Eyup constantly tortured her, even marking a cross on her body with a knife. The family also mistreated her as an outcast, and she had a hellish life to the end. At the end of the story, the presenter, a Turkish academician, revealed that Eyup and the family who committed these crimes against Sara were her own family. Her final statement was even more dramatic than the story: “We always hear stories told by the victims, it is now time for the perpetrators to start talking about and owning their crimes”.

    There are new revelations about how the Turkish government kept tabs on Islamicized Armenians. Apparently, the government kept records of every Armenian village or large Armenian clan which was forcibly Islamicized in 1915. It was recently discovered that the identification cards of hidden or known Armenians had a special numbering system to identify them secretly. There are anecdotes that a few Turkish candidates for air force pilot positions were turned away even though they qualified after rigorous tests, when government records revealed that they come from Islamicized Armenian families.

    It is of greater concern to us how the Islamicized Armenians are being dealt with by Armenians. It seems that the Istanbul Armenian community and more critically, the Istanbul Armenian Patriarchate are unable or unwilling to accept the hidden Armenians coming out as Armenians, unless these people accept Christianity, get baptized and speak Armenian. But it is unrealistic to expect the new Armenians to comply with these requirements. Since Armenians in Turkey are all defined as belonging to the Armenian Church, if the newcomers are rejected by the patriarchate, they become double outcasts, not only from their previous Moslem Turkish/Kurdish community, but also outcasts from the Armenian community, cannot get married, baptized or buried by the Church and cannot send their children to Armenian schools. If they have made a conscious decision to identify themselves as Armenian, a risky and dangerous initiative under the present circumstances, they should be readily accepted as Armenians, regardless whether they stay Moslem or atheist or anything else. Relationships get even more complicated as there are now many families with one branch carrying on life as Moslem Turk/Kurd, another branch as Moslem Armenian and a third branch as Christian Armenian. The Echmiadzin Church is more tolerant. It has issued the following statement: “Common ethnicity, land, language, history, cultural heritage and religion are general measures in defining a nation. Even if one or more of these measures can be missing due to historic reasons, such as inability to speak the language, or practise the religion, or lack of knowledge of cultural and historic heritage, should not be used to exclude one’s Armenian identity”. But Charles Aznavour’s approach is the most welcoming when he states: “Armenia should embrace the Islamicized Armenians and open its doors to them”.

    After Armenia, Karabagh and the Diaspora, there is now an emerging fourth Armenian world, the Islamicized Armenians of Turkey. Accepting this new reality will help both Turks and Armenians understand better the realities and consequences of 1915.

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    Sabiha Gokcen & Dersim Massacres

    Submitted by Aren on Sun, 2013-12-08 23:01.
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    It’s rumored that Sabiha Gokcen, as a pilot, was sent with a squadron to bombard Dersim in late 1930s. However, she returned without dropping a bomb. Dersim was known to harbor Armenians.

    It is speculated that Sabiha knew who she was, the daughter of an Armenian,  and because of it she refrained from completing the task.

    Is this a made up story following Hrant Dink’s “discovery” of  Sabiha’s identity? Are there any documents verifying whether she indeed was in the squadron, and she “refused” to participate in the bombardment?

    Could any reader shed some light on this matter?

    Thankfully,

    Aren

    Understanding their Plight

    Submitted by Vahe on Thu, 2013-11-21 09:34.
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    I raise this issue to better understand the plight of Islamized Armenians in Turkey and I invite the knowledgeable to comment.

    For all I know the “Millet” (community) system that prevailed in the Ottoman Empire, and may still be a basis for community representation in Turkey, was based on religious affiliation, not ethnic grouping.

    Up the to the schisms that came about in the Armenian Apostolic Church that gave birth to the Armenian Catholic and Evangelical communities, the Apostolic Church represented all the Armenians for until then one was not an Armenian if she or he was not baptized in the Armenian Apostolic Church and anointed with Holy Muron. Let us be mindful that by the order of the King Trdat all his subjects were baptized Christians without exception. Since then, being Armenian and being Christian (albeit Apostolic for most of the time) became one and the same. In Kessabtsi dialect that may be the last remnant of naturally evolved Armenian dialect, Armenian Apostolic adherents are referred to “Armana’ for Armenian, while Armenian Catholics are called Catoula, and Armenian Evangelicals are called Pourtoustan meaning Protestants.

    The Patriarchate in Istanbul, for centuries, overshadowed the twin Catholicosates for it represented the Armenians at the Sultan’s Sublime Porte and the majority of the Armenians fell under its jurisdiction. It is there that our National Constitution came about. It may still be that it represents only the Armenian Apostolic adherents by law or by deep-rooted customs. I am not sure which.  In the United States, out of Church rules certainly, the Armenian Apostolic Church would not marry until the odar (non-Armenian) groom is anointed with Holy Muron before hand.

    I am not sure whether Sunni Muslims, irrespective whether they are Kurds or Turks or Islamized Armenians, constitute a separate “Millet”, so to speak; or whether in their case there is more than religious affiliation. It behooves us to know so as to have a better understanding of the plight of the Islamized Armenians and, of course, I am not referring to their social stigmatization that no laws can correct.

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    Welcoming Islamized Armenians

    Submitted by Serj on Wed, 2013-11-20 14:44.
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    That is a possibility but only if they renounce Islam. Just saying that they are Armenians is not enough. We all know the fanaticism of the average Muslim. Do we need among us people who believe Islam’s anti-Christian tenets?

    I do not see any advantages in accepting Muslim Armenians among us. Is it to increase our numbers? Old adage says: “Quality, not quantity”.

    For many years we have discussed who is an Armenian. Well…basically those who say they are Armenian and follow Armenian traditions. To do this is to renounce Islam. How many of them are willing to give up Islam and follow our traditions?

    I am reminded of California painter Kero Antoyan. When he found out that his brother’s children lived in Anatolia he went there to find them. He was welcomed as a long-lost hero. He took them to Istanbul to the “Badriarkaran”. When they saw the cross on the door, they turned back and run away saying: “We do not want to become Gavurs.” But you may send us money. WOW. This might be the attitude of most Islamized Armenians.

    How about the Hemshen Armenians? They are Muslim. How many have accepted that they were Armenians before, despite the fact that they speak an Armenian patois?

  • Major International Court Finds the Ottoman Armenian Controversy Not Settled History and Not Like the Holocaust

    Major International Court Finds the Ottoman Armenian Controversy Not Settled History and Not Like the Holocaust

     

    perincek
     
    ECHR Reverses Criminal Conviction of Turkish Politician Who had Questioned the Genocide Label

    On December 17, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) reversed the criminal conviction by a Swiss court of Dogu Percinek, a Turkish politician who publicly challenged that Armenians were subject to genocide in the final years of the Ottoman Empire nearly 100 years ago.

    The ECHR is an international court whose decisions are binding in 47 countries, including all of the European Union and every NATO member state except the U.S. and Iceland. Some 800 million people are subject to its jurisdiction. It has rendered judgment in more than 10,000 cases since its founding in 1959.

    Perincek had claimed at various academic conferences in Switzerland that the use of the genocide label to describe the fate of the Ottoman Armenians during World War I was incorrect. A criminal complaint was then filed against him by an ethnic advocacy group called “Switzerland-Armenia” in July 2005. In March 2007, a local Swiss court found Perincek guilty of “racial discrimination” under the Swiss Criminal Code. Perincek’s subsequent appeals were denied, which allowed him finally to bring his case to the ECHR. Perincek v. Switzerland (application no. 27510/08, filed June 10, 2008).

    The essential ground for Perincek’s conviction by the Swiss courts was the supposed existence of a general consensus, particularly within academic circles, concerning the characterization of the Armenian case as one of genocide. However, even the Swiss Federal Court itself admitted that there was no unanimity in the academic community concerning the matter. The ECHR’s analysis demonstrated exactly the same. The ECHR further noted that the notion of ‘genocide’ was a precisely defined legal concept and was, moreover, not easy to substantiate.

    In conjunction with this, the ECHR also clearly distinguished the Armenian case from the Holocaust. In cases alleging Holocaust denial, the court noted, the applicants had denied concrete historical facts, crimes perpetrated by the Nazi regime that were easily proscribed in clear legal terms, and acts that had been clearly established by an international court. The court diligently contradicted claims by Armenian groups that so-called genocide recognition was globally widespread, indicating that in reality, of the 190 nations of the world only about 20 governments have taken this step, and even then these often were in the form of parliamentary resolutions or a simple vote of a single chamber.

    The ECHR thus upheld that freedom of expression protected minority viewpoints capable of contributing to debate on issues that were not fully settled. The Court also underlined that the right to openly discuss questions of a sensitive and controversial nature, such as the Ottoman-Armenian tragedy, was fundamental and distinguished a tolerant and pluralistic democratic society from a totalitarian or dictatorial regime.

    This is important for the United States. First, the ECHR applied a statute, the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, whose key provisions mirror the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Second, the ECHR proved the folly of U.S. legislators stating with absolute certainty that they know the historical facts and legal conclusion of the ongoing, hotly debated controversy concerning the Ottoman Armenians. Third, by emphasizing the fundamental right to openly discuss and debate historical controversies, the court took a stand against what is often seen in the U.S. – threats, intimidation and boycotting of any scholar who may research this controversy from any viewpoint other than that acceptable to Armenian pressure groups.
  • Turkey Must Apologize to Armenians before Centennial, Says Hasan Cemal

    Turkey Must Apologize to Armenians before Centennial, Says Hasan Cemal

    ISTANBUL (Armenpress)—Turkey must understands the pain felt by Armenians in the aftermath of 1915, Turkish journalist and publicist Hasan Cemal wrote in an article published Wednesday in Turkey’s T24 online newspaper, Armenpress reports.

    hasan_cemal

    In his piece, Cemal says Turkey must share that pain and present the tragedy to society at large, ahead of the forthcoming centennial of the genocide.

    “Armenians are a people from Anatolia. Their roots and their motherland is in Anatolia. Armenians, like the Kurdish people, had lived in Anatolia before the Turkish appeared there. The truth is that Turkey has not yet accepted the fact that the Armenians were cut off from their historical roots and their motherland in 1915,” writes Hasan Cemal.

    “The border between Armenia and Turkey should be opened. Diplomatic relations should be established between the two countries. These two steps should be made without any preconditions. Turkey, as a state, should apologize to the Armenians,” adds Cemal.

    Hasan Cemal is a Turkish journalist, writer, and a grandson of Jemal Pasha, one of the leading perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide. He was the editor of Turkish newspapers including Cumhuriyet from 1981 to 1992 and Sabah from 1992 to 1998. In 2013 he resigned from the Milliyet newspaper after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized his article supporting Milliyets publication of minutes of a parliamentary visit to Öcalan. Milliyet subsequently suspended him and refused to publish his regular column.

    He is best known for acknowledging and apologizing for the Armenian Genocide, a crime in which his grandfather played a leading role. His 2012 book on the subject, written partly in response to the 2007 assassination of his friend Hrant Dink, is titled 1915: Ermeni Soykirimi (1915: The Armenian Genocide).

    The book went on to be a bestseller in Turkey. Cemal remarked in his book, “To deny the Genocide would mean to be an accomplice in this crime against humanity.”

    The book was written following a visit by Cemal to Armenia. The book highlights Cemal’s “personal transformation” and his experiences in Armenia. While Cemal was in Armenia, he had an opportunity to meet and have lunch with Armen Gevorkyan, the grandson of the man who assassinated his grandfather Jemal Pasha in 1922.

    via Turkey Must Apologize to Armenians before Centennial, Says Hasan Cemal | Asbarez Armenian News.

  • Letter to Mr. Sassounian from Kufi Seydali, our Advisory Board Member

    Letter to Mr. Sassounian from Kufi Seydali, our Advisory Board Member

    Land of the Rising Sun: Fertile Ground for Armenians

    https://www.turkishnews.com/en/content/2013/11/07/land-of-the-rising-sun-fertile-ground-for-armenians/

    150621_136705656485445_258174371_nMr. Sassounian!

    I must say, you continue to surprise and shock me at the same time!

    You are fossil, or better said, a living sample of a rare germ against which no Japanese mask would help. You continue to spread the disease of hate and death.

    When I first read the title of your essay and the entering paragraphs, I thought; look here, the old Sassounian is filling a gap in his general knowledge by visiting Japan, instead of constantly attacking the Turks.

    However, my joy was short lived as I read about the true purpose of your visit!

    I bet, your Japanese hosts were too polite to tell you the truth, but I guess they didn’t believe a word about the bit regarding “peaceful- conflict- resolution”.

    You, Sir, who after 100 years, are still looking for more blood and laying the foundations of future conflict and war, have no right to lecture on peaceful resolution of conflicts. How did you justify the illegal occupation of Karabag? How did you explain the continued suffering Armenian forces together with the Russian army have inflicted upon the Azeris? Hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced!

    Indeed I was amused by your claim to have met Japanese CEOs in order to discuss business and investments in Armenia! I am sure the Armenian Ambassador was equally amused.

    The only positive lesson to be derived from your report, is that both the Turks of Turkey and Azerbaijan will need to take your damaging activities much more seriously. Thank you Mr. Sassounian for your valuable lesson.

    Regards

    Kufi Seydali

    Kent, UK.

  • A fight over the word ‘genocide’ is no way to end the aboriginal crisis

    A fight over the word ‘genocide’ is no way to end the aboriginal crisis

    Doug Saunders

    The Globe and Mail

    Published

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    141 comments

    Imagine if the Turkish Prime Minister issued this statement: “The Canadian aboriginal people experienced terrible suffering and loss of life. Our parliament has adopted a motion that acknowledges the native Canadian genocide and condemns this act as a crime against humanity. My party and I supported this resolution, and continue to recognize it today. We must never forget the lessons of history.”

    Ottawa would reject it, and many Canadians would be outraged to see their country put in the same column as Nazi Germany. Many would point out the hypocrisy of such a statement coming from the Turks.

    Some Canadians would cheer it. This past year has, for First Nations, been something like what 1963 was for African-Americans, and as part of that awakening, the word “genocide” has risen in popularity. In this view, the mistreatment and suffering that native and Inuit people suffered must be seen as a deliberate attempt to exterminate an entire people, and should be recognized as such internationally.

    This week, when the United Nations Envoy on Aboriginal Affairs paid a study visit to Canada, prominent native and Jewish figures sent him a letter asking that Canada’s treatment of aboriginals be recognized as a genocide, encouraging him to make a statement like the one at the top of this column.

    Of course, those words were not uttered by the Turkish Prime Minister. Rather, they come from a statement made last year by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, with “native Canadian” substituted for “Armenian.”

    The persecution and mass expulsion of Armenians by Ottoman forces in 1915 involved truly grotesque crimes against humanity, a string of atrocities that deserve condemnation. Many people, especially Armenians, consider it a genocide, although this definition is controversial.

    Mr. Harper’s Conservatives have officially applied the “G” word to the Armenian experience at least four times. This has not gone over well in Turkey, even among those who are pressing for an atonement and full apology to Armenians. Because of campaigns like Canada’s, the word “genocide” has become a fixation among both Armenians and Turks – one that many feel has stood in the way of actual reconciliation.

    Canada may soon face the same tension. Was our history genocidal?

    The UN Genocide Convention, which Canada ratified more than six decades ago and has applied against other countries, defines the crime as including “any of” a list of acts committed against an identifiable group, including not just mass killing and mass physical or mental harm but also “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or part,” “imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group,” and “forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.” You can find sustained examples of many of these in Canadian history, plus acts of cultural destruction such as forcing thousands of Inuit to replace their names with metal number plates.

    Were those acts, as the genocide convention requires, committed with “intent to destroy, in whole or in part” the group’s population? In both the Turkish and Canadian examples, this is an open question. The Beothuk people of Newfoundland were literally exterminated, in part through deliberate acts. Some Ottoman and Canadian officials did appear to want all Armenians and natives gone. You could make a strong case, but not a completely waterproof one: Crimes against humanity, even awful ones, are not all genocidal.

    It feels petty and mean to tell people whose family histories have been defined by cruelty and loss that the atrocities they suffered weren’t quite up to the definition of genocide. On the other hand, it’s an injustice to truly unambiguous genocides, such as the near-successful mechanized slaughter of Europe’s entire Jewish population or Rwanda’s mass slaughter of Tutsis, to attempt to apply the term to every mass atrocity.

    Nobody wants to be labelled genocidal. Modern Turks live in a state that was created in the 1920s in opposition to the Ottomans who committed the Armenian atrocities. Post-1967 Canadians tend to see indigenous mistreatment as the act of less tolerant Dominion-era Canadians.

    And yet Canada’s impoverished, racially segregated aboriginal communities are still a source of shame. Progress won’t happen without full and honest atonement. In both countries, it may be better to avoid a generation-long fight over the “G” word, and instead to speak officially of “crimes against humanity that some consider genocidal.” If we want to end the accusations, that’s the kind of compromise that is needed.

    Topics:

    • Stephen Harper
    • Canada
  • NEWS FROM ARMENIAN FRONT

    NEWS FROM ARMENIAN FRONT

    ANCA

    VECIHI ACUN REPORTING

    From: armenianweekly@hairenik.com

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    Wednesday, May 22, 2013

     

    Recent Articles from the Armenian Weekly…

    • ANC-Illinois Hosts International Conference on Ottoman Genocides
    • Cicilline Calls for Recognition, Apology
    • Sassounian: House Resolution Goes Beyond Recognition Seeking Truth and Justice
    • CYSCA Hosts Young NGO Leaders from Armenia
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    • Armenian Genocide Truth and Justice Act Introduced in U.S. House of Representatives
    • Knights and Daughters of Vartan Host Shengavit Director
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    ANC-Illinois Hosts International Conference on Ottoman Genocides

     

    SKOKIE, Ill.—The largest academic conference ever held focusing on the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek genocides concluded on Sat., May 11, after two days of presentations by more than a dozen scholars from Armenia, Australia, England, and across North America.
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    Cicilline Calls for Recognition, Apology

     

    WASHINGTON—On May 16, U.S. Congressman David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in a statement called on Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was visiting the United States, to formally acknowledge and apologize for the Armenian Genocide.
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    Sassounian: House Resolution Goes Beyond Recognition Seeking Truth and Justice

     

    In a welcome move, four members of the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced a resolution that advocates a new approach for the pursuit of Armenian rights in Congress, going beyond genocide recognition.
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    CYSCA Hosts Young NGO Leaders from Armenia

     

    CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—The Cambridge-Yerevan Sister City Association (CYSCA) hosted a delegation of young NGO professionals from Armenia this spring, sponsored by the Open World exchange program of the U.S. Congress. Five young women and a male facilitator took part in a whirlwind week of meetings and site visits in the Boston area on topics covering NGO management, civic participation, the U.S. legislative process, and civil society.
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    Greek, Armenian Communities Call for Conditions on Turkey Trade Deal

     

    WASHINGTON—As Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan continued his visit to Washington, D.C., the leaders of the Greek-American and Armenian-American communities joined together in formally calling upon the White House to set strict legal conditions on any new trade agreements involving Turkey.

    ANCA turkey trade deal 300x259 Greek, Armenian Communities Call for Conditions on Turkey Trade Deal

    Leaders of the Greek-American and Armenian-American communities have joined together in formally calling upon the White House to set strict legal conditions on any new trade agreements involving Turkey.

    The Turkish government has, in the months leading up to this week’s Obama-Erdogan summit, aggressively pushed for Turkey’s inclusion in a far-ranging Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the U.S. and the European Union, as well as for its own bilateral free trade agreement with the United States. The American Hellenic Institute (AHI), the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC), and the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), in testimony submitted to…

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    Dr. Paul Haidostian on Haigazian’s Success

     

    It’s always a thrill to learn about Armenian successes, and Dr. Paul Haidostian, the affable president of Haigazian University in Beirut, on May 7 provided interesting information to diasporans about his liberal arts school of higher learning during his talk at the Armenian Congregational Church, including insights into the Syrian situation.
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    ANCA Desk: Spring’s the Season for Renewed Energy for the Armenian Cause

     

    Spring has sprung, and not just in the weather. With a fresh season comes a fresh outlook on everything, from work projects to family time and everything in between. That includes a renewed sense of purpose and energy for the Armenian cause.
    We are already a few months into a new political cycle, but it’s never too late to start building ties at every level of government. With the 113th U.S. Congress well underway and the loss of several “friends to Armenian Americans” to election or retirement, the ANCA and its activists can’t afford to sit idly by and not foster new relationships.
    Our local ANC chapters in the Eastern Region do a great job of cultivating the political relationships we’ve long had, and they have the power to reach out to potential friends too. But a local ANC can only do so much if it doesn’t have the connections someone new or experienced can bring to the table.
    So I write this not just to our current ANCA activists, but also to our future friends: The…

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    Save the Date: Philadelphia to Host 2013 ANCA-ER Banquet

     

    PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—More than 300 supporters of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) are expected to attend the 2013 ANCA Eastern Region Banquet on Sat., October 12, at the Hilton Doubletree Philadelphia hotel.
    The ANCA Eastern Region will once again honor an individual with its prestigious Freedom Award for making outstanding contributions toward the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and for pursuing other issues of importance to the Armenian-American community. Past honorees have included former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans, Senator Robert Menendez, Senators Robert and Elizabeth Dole, and most recently, Baroness Caroline Cox.
    The Vahan Cardashian Award will be presented to an Armenian-American activist who has exemplified the ideals and dedication of the founder of the Hai Tahd movement. The recipients of both awards will be announced in the coming months.
    According to the event co-chairs, James Kzirian and Lorig Baronian, the purpose of this event, now in…

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    Armenian Genocide Truth and Justice Act Introduced in U.S. House of Representatives

     

    WASHINGTON– As Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Erdogan continues his official U.S. state visit, a bipartisan group of U.S. Representatives introduced the Armenian Genocide Truth and Justice Act, a new measure calling upon the President to build upon the U.S. record of having recognized the Armenian Genocide by working toward improved Armenian-Turkish relations based upon the Republic of Turkey’s full acknowledgement of the facts and ongoing consequences of the Armenian Genocide, and a fair, just, and comprehensive international resolution of this crime, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
    “We welcome today’s introduction of the Armenian Genocide Truth and Justice Act,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA.  “This innovative bipartisan initiative, building upon the U.S. record of having recognized the Armenian Genocide, calls for a new U.S. approach to Armenian-Turkish ties that reflects our America values and recognizes…

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    Knights and Daughters of Vartan Host Shengavit Director

     

    WORCESTER, Mass.—On Monday evening, April 29, Vladimir Tshagharyan, the director of the Shengavit Historical and Archaeological Culture Preserve in Yerevan, was hosted at a joint dinner meeting of the Knights of Vartan Arshavir Lodge No.2 and the Daughters of Vartan Santoukht Otyag No. 5. About 100 people attended the illustrated talk at the Armenian Church of Our Saviour in Worcester. Dr. Tigran Dolukhanyan translated Tshagharyan’s comments from Armenian.

    KOV Fig3 lecture P1040778 300x225 Knights and Daughters of Vartan Host Shengavit Director

    A scene from the event.

    Prior to the talk, Worcester’s mayor, Joseph Petty, presented Tshagharyan with the key to the city and praised his efforts to preserve Armenia’s historical heritage and cultural legacy. In return, Tshagharyan presented the mayor with a book on Yerevan, together with a desktop Armenian flag and a flag with Yerevan’s insignia. He invited the mayor to visit Yerevan as his guest.
    The oldest layer of the Shengavit archaeological site is a Neolithic (late Stone Age) settlement with the remains of…

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