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  • Babacan Warns Obama Against Recognizing Genocide

    Babacan Warns Obama Against Recognizing Genocide

    Home / News, Top Story / Babacan Warns Obama Against Recognizing Genocide

    By WeeklyStaff • on March 8, 2009 •

    ANKARA, Turkey (A.W.)-On March 8, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said in an interview to the Haber 7 Turkish television channel NTV that there is a risk President Barack Obama would recognize the Armenian Genocide. He also warned against such a move, noting it would affect the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia.

    “I still see a risk,” he said. “Mr. Obama made the promise five times in a row.” However, he added, “The new American administration understands Turkey’s sensibilities better today.”

    According to Babacan,”It would not be rational for a third country to take a position on this topic. A bad step by the United States would only worsen the process” of reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey.

    According to the Anatolian News Agency, during a joint news conference after meeting with Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Alejandro Hamed Franco on March 8, Babacan said the genocide issue was on the agenda during U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Turkey.

    Obama to Visit Turkey in a Month

    On March 7, before meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Clinton announced that Obama would visit Turkey in a month.

    “President Obama will be visiting Turkey within the next month or so. The exact date will be announced shortly,” she said during a joint press conference with Babacan.

    According to Clinton, Obama’s visit will be “a reflection of the value we place on our friendship with Turkey.”

    A senior official from the Obama Administration confirmed recently that Turkey will be the first Muslim country Obama visits since being elected.

    Clinton, who is in Ankara to hold talks with high-ranking Turkish officials, said her trip aims at emphasizing the work the U.S. and Turkey must do “on behalf of peace, prosperity, and progress.” According to the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News, “Diplomatic sources said the efforts to have the U.S. Congress recognize the Armenian claims regarding the 1915 incidents were not discussed in the meeting.”

    Also on March 7, the State Department issued a joint statement signed by Clinton and Babacan reaffirming the importance of U.S.-Turkey ties.

    According to a BBC correspondent, Turkey will try to ensure Obama does not refer to the mass killing of Armenians in 1915 as “genocide” in his statement on April 24.

    On Jan. 19, in a statement on the importance of relations between the U.S. and Armenia, Obama said, “As a senator, I strongly support passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106 and S.Res.106), and as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide.”

    Although there is a wide consensus among Armenian Genocide and Holocaust scholars that the genocide took place, the Turkish state continues to vehemently deny that a state-sponsored campaign took the lives of approximately 1.5 million Armenians during World War I. The Armenians, the official Turkish argument goes, were the victims of ethnic strife, or war and starvation, just like many Muslims living in the Ottoman Empire. Turkey invests millions of dollars in the United States to lobby against resolutions recognizing the genocide and to produce denialist literature. Moreover, many Turkish intellectual who have spoken against the denial have been charged for “insulting Turkishness” under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.

    Related Entries

    • Armenians May Benefit from Obama Befriending Turkey
    • Obameter Keeps Track of President’s Campaign Promise on Genocide
    • Using ‘Normalization’ to Fight Genocide Recognition
    • Akcam to Deliver Lecture on Genocide, National Security
    • ANC Alerts Hampshire College to Its Association with Genocide Denier
  • Turkish-American “Strategic Partnership”: On the Way to Rejuvenation?

    Turkish-American “Strategic Partnership”: On the Way to Rejuvenation?

    Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 6 Issue: 45 March 9, 2009 01:42 PM Age: 3 hrs Category: Eurasia Daily Monitor, Foreign Policy, Turkey, Home Page, Featured By: Saban Kardas

    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (left) greets Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan (Photo: EPA)

    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Ankara on Saturday, the highest-level direct contact between the administration of President Barack Obama and the Turkish government so far, highlighted the value each side places on sustaining the Turkish-American partnership. In addition to her meetings with President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Clinton met with Foreign Minister Ali Babacan after which the two held a press briefing and made a joint statement about strengthening the bilateral relationship. Clinton also visited Ataturk’s mausoleum in Ankara and appeared on a popular show on the private NTV channel.

    The joint declaration stated that the parties “reaffirmed the strong bonds of alliance, solidarity, and strategic partnership…as well as the commitment of both countries to the principles of peace, democracy, freedom, and prosperity enshrined in the Shared Vision and Structured Dialogue document agreed to in July 2006” (www.turkey.usembassy.gov, March 7).

    Clinton had a chance to discuss a wide range of issues with Turkish officials including the Middle East peace process, Iraq, Afghanistan, energy security, the global financial crisis, terrorism, developments in the Balkans and the Caucasus, Turkey’s EU membership process, and the Cyprus problem. The continuing discussions on using Turkish territory as a possible route for US troops leaving Iraq reportedly occupied the major part of Clinton’s agenda during her private discussions with Erdogan and other Turkish officials (ANKA, March 8). In response to a question about Turkey’s possible role in the U.S. withdrawal plans, Clinton noted that the process was still in its initial phases and Washington would maintain discussions with Turkey on the subject. Babacan repeated his earlier remarks on the issue, emphasizing that talks at the technical level were already underway and that Turkey had a constructive approach to the subject (Anatolian News Agency, March 7).

    Another major item discussed was Turkey’s contributions to resolving conflicts in the region. Clinton reiterated American appreciation of Turkey’s role with regard to the Palestine issue and the indirect talks between Syria and Israel. Both sides said that they would work together to achieve a comprehensive and sustainable peace in the region. Likewise, Clinton expressed her country’s support for the process of reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia that Ankara initiated. Clinton also noted that Washington found Gul’s visit to Iran this week important (Sabah, March 8). Although some Turkish sources speculated that Gul might have carried messages from Washington to Tehran (Hurriyet, March 9), this has yet to be confirmed officially.

    Overall, statements from both sides stress that the two parties had useful discussions and found mutual ground on issues of common concern, which might herald a new era in Turkish-American relations. Achieving consensus on strategic matters aside, a major roadblock in Turkish-American relations has been the public animosity toward the United States and how to reverse the anti-Americanism that became strongly engrained in the Turkish body politic during the Bush years. Cognizant of these challenges, the American side did its best to appeal to the Turkish people, as reflected in Clinton’s appearance on a TV show targeting female viewers (EDM, March; www.ntvmsnbc.com, March 7).

    Likewise, Clinton capitalized on Obama’s vision of change to emphasize that Turkish-American relations were entering a new phase. She announced that Obama would visit Turkey in a month. A White House official said that Obama’s trip “will be an important opportunity to visit a NATO ally and discuss shared challenges,” adding, “It will also provide an opportunity to continue the president’s dialogue with the Muslim world” (www.cnn.com, March 7). It is not yet known, however, whether the speech Obama had promised to deliver in a Muslim capital during his first 100 days in office will be given in Ankara or in the capital of another Muslim country. Given the positive feelings of the Turkish people toward Obama’s election as president (EDM, November 7), the visit might indeed help improve the deteriorating American image in Turkey.

    A similar move in public diplomacy concerns attempts to diversify bilateral relations on the societal level. The joint statement announced that a new program called “Young Turkey/Young America: A New Relationship for a New Age” would be launched. It would establish ties between emerging young leaders from both countries “to develop initiatives that will positively impact people’s lives and invest in future ties between the leadership of [the] two countries” (www.turkey.usembassy.gov, March 7).

    The Turkish side was apparently satisfied with the trip. Speaking on the private NTV channel, Babacan said, “Turkish-American relations have entered a new phase … Our foreign policy priorities are completely in line with each other. In the new phase, the focus is on consultation and cooperation.” Underlining Turkey’s willingness to work together with the United States as partners, Babacan added, “Clinton emphasized Turkey as a strategic partner. She accentuated this more powerfully than the previous administration, and the new administration is aware of Turkey’s importance.” Nonetheless, Babacan debunked the overly optimistic expectations that Clinton’s visit indicated that Obama might not use the word “genocide’ in his Armenian Memorial Day address in April, This possibility was not completely off the table, he said (www.ntvmsnbc.com, March 8).

    In the 1990s, under the Bill Clinton presidency, the Turkish-American relationship flourished in many areas and came to be called a strategic partnership. The Iraq War and ensuing developments turned “strategic partnership” into an oxymoron to describe Turkish-American relations. Despite efforts to save the relationship from further deterioration, disagreements between Ankara and Washington were difficult to bridge. The 2006 Shared Vision document, which the Babacan-Clinton joint statement referred to, for example, outlined a framework of close cooperation and structured dialogue to regulate bilateral relations. It was not put into practice, however, and relations hit a low point in 2007, when Washington criticized the Turkish government for its silence on anti-Americanism in the country and Ankara censured Washington’s inactivity toward PKK terrorism. This time, there appears to be a more solid basis for rejuvenating the partnership: strong references to the 2006 document after a long break are coupled with both sides’ carefully worded statements, which take each other’s sensitivities into account, and a determination to address problems through dialogue without playing blame games. With political will on both sides, it is not be wrong to assume that finally they may not only “talk the talk” but also “walk the walk.”

    https://jamestown.org/program/turkish-american-strategic-partnership-on-the-way-to-rejuvenation/

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  • AMERICAN ARMENIANS OPENLY ATTACKS TO JEWISH AMERICANS

    AMERICAN ARMENIANS OPENLY ATTACKS TO JEWISH AMERICANS

    ANC Alerts Hampshire College to Its

    Association with (ADL) Genocide Denier

    By Contributor • on March 5, 2009 •

    Decries Anti-Defamation League’s invitation to ensure campus tolerance

    WATERTOWN, Mass.-The Armenian National Committee (ANC) of Massachusetts has alerted Hampshire College president Ralph Hexter that the school’s relationship with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) would associate Hampshire College with genocide denial.

    The invitation to the ADL to visit the campus “to ensure that all students feel welcome and safe” follows reports, disputed by college officials, that Hampshire College had divested in companies that profit from Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

    “The Anti-Defamation League is an organization that actively engages in genocide denial, which is the highest form of hate speech and the final stage of genocide,” wrote the ANC-MA. “Hampshire College’s inclusion of the ADL in campus discussions on tolerance is an affront to all those fighting for genocide prevention and human rights.”

    The ANC-MA pointed out that as recently as last month, ADL national director Abraham Foxman told the New York Times that the “ADL will continue to oppose a Congressional resolution on the Armenian Genocide because ‘there’s too much at stake in the [Israeli-Turkish] relationship.’”

    “It is highly hypocritical for the ADL to present itself as an organization that secures the rights of all people while it actively perpetrates the worst form of hatred against Armenians,” the ANC-MA declared. “The Anti-Defamation League is most assuredly not the group upon which Hampshire College should call to ensure an atmosphere of respect and safety for all members of its community.”

    “Hampshire College, widely known for its progressive values and mandate, must not sanction the ADL’s unethical actions by allowing it to define the terms of tolerance. By partnering with the ADL, Hampshire College will become indelibly associated with genocide denial,” the letter concluded.

    ***0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

    TURKISH FORUM INSERT TO THE MIDDLE OF THE ARTICLE

    THIS IS TO REMIND OUR FRIENDS FROM ISRAEL ABOUT DASHNAK ARMENIANS AND THEIR NAZI BRIGADE DURING SECOND WORLD WAR – AND – THE JEWISH PEOPLE KILLED BY THEM DURING FIRST PART OF 20TH CENTURY IN EASTERN ANADOLIA...

    The article of Derounian about Dashnak-Nazi collaboration:   http://www.tallarmeniantale.com/derounian-dashnak-dominat.htm The photo of the demonstration of young Dashnaks in Erevan, April 23, 2003:

    See also:

    http://www.tallarmeniantale.com/Nazi-Collaboration.htm

    0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

    Below is the full text of the March 4 ANC-MA letter to Hampshire College.

    Ralph Hexter, President
    Hampshire College
    893 West Street
    Amherst, MA 01002

    Dear Mr. Hexter,

    We are appalled to note that Hampshire College has invited officials from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) “to visit the campus, in order to work together to ensure that all students feel welcome and safe on campus,” according to the “Statement from Anti-Defamation League” posted on your website.

    The ADL is an organization that actively engages in genocide denial, which is the highest form of hate speech and the final stage of genocide.  Hampshire College’s inclusion of the ADL in campus discussions on tolerance is an affront to all those fighting for genocide prevention and human rights.

    The ADL does not possess the moral authority to lecture anyone on tolerance, having abandoned its mission “to secure justice and fair treatment to all” by lobbying for the Turkish government against recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

    By choosing to prioritize narrow geopolitical interests-Israel’s military/strategic alliance with Turkey-over universal human rights, the ADL simply has no credibility in the area of human and civil rights.

    On Feb. 5, 2009, ADL national director Abraham Foxman told the New York Times that the ADL will continue to oppose a Congressional resolution on the Armenian Genocide because “there’s too much at stake in the [Israeli-Turkish] relationship.”

    And according to the Feb. 4, 2009 issue of The Forward, “The strong Jewish opposition to Congressional recognition of the Armenian Genocide has been waning, but some Jewish groups, led by the Anti-Defamation League, are actively opposing any move in Congress.  ‘Right now we have no intention of changing our position from last year,’ said Jess Hordes, who heads the ADL’s Washington office.”

    This ADL support for the denialist Turkish government is abhorrent, particularly for an organization that vigorously combats Holocaust denial.  Israel Charny, executive director of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem, explains the destructiveness of genocide denial: “Denials of known events of genocide must be treated as acts of bitter and malevolent psychological aggression, certainly against the victims, but really against all of human society, for such denials literally celebrate genocidal violence and in the process suggestively calls for renewed massacres-of the same people or of others. Such denials also madden, insult and humiliate the survivors, the relatives of the dead, and the entire people of the victims.”

    It is highly hypocritical for the ADL to present itself as an organization that secures the rights of all people while it actively perpetrates the worst form of hatred against Armenians.  The Anti-Defamation League is most assuredly not the group upon which Hampshire College should call to ensure an atmosphere of respect and safety for all members of its community.

    Perhaps you are unaware that the ADL refuses to unequivocally acknowledge as genocide the massacres by the Turkish government of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923, and that it actively engages in genocide denial by lobbying for Turkey to prevent passage of a United States Congressional resolution affirming the Armenian Genocide.

    Additionally, the ADL has repeatedly endorsed Turkey’s call for an investigation of the genocide, a standard tactic employed by genocide deniers to raise doubts about settled history. The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) has condemned this proposal by writing that it “would only serve the interests of Turkish genocide deniers…  There is no more ‘other side’ to the truth about the Armenian Genocide than there is about the Holocaust.”
    Due to the ADL’s unethical position on the Armenian Genocide, 13 Massachusetts communities, including Northampton, withdrew from the ADL’s “No Place for Hate” (NPFH) program in 2007 and 2008.

    In its Sept. 28, 2007 letter to Abraham Foxman informing the ADL of its unanimous decision to withdraw from NPFH, the Northampton Human Rights Commission wrote: “We cannot in conscience continue a relationship with an organization that claims to stand for full accountability for genocide, yet stops short of endorsing a Congressional resolution acknowledging the Armenian Genocide.  We cannot endorse selective recognition of hate by an organization that claims leadership in creating a world where there is no place for hate…  Acknowledging the truth about the Armenian Genocide not only has an impact on survivors and their families, it also has an impact on our ability to address other acts of hate.”

    On April 8, 2008, the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) ended its sponsorship of NPFH, declaring: “The Board believes that unequivocal recognition of the Armenian Genocide is both a matter of basic justice to its victims as well as essential to efforts to prevent future genocides…  The inconsistency between the National ADL’s position on the Armenian Genocide and the human rights principles underlying NPFH is a matter of great concern to MMA Board members and the municipalities they represent…it is imperative to speak with absolute clarity on genocide.”

    Human rights advocates, both here and abroad, have condemned the ADL’s position on the Armenian Genocide; the media is replete with articles denouncing its stance.  In January, Eric Alterman wrote in The Nation: “Foxman’s moral compass has gotten so twisted, he has the ADL working to undermine Congressional resolutions condemning genocide-specifically, that committed by Turks against the Armenians…  In light of the desire of so many anti-Semites to treat the Holocaust in a similar fashion, Foxman’s position strikes this Jew at least as one too many ironies to be tolerated.”

    Genocide denial is not merely reprehensible, it is dangerous.  According to the IAGS, “The single best predictor of future genocide is denial of a past genocide coupled with impunity for its perpetrators.”

    Over 25 Armenian political, cultural, religious, athletic, youth, media, and social welfare organizations in Massachusetts have united to combat the ADL’s denial of the Armenian Genocide.  For additional information on this movement, please visit noplacefordenial.com.

    Hampshire College, widely known for its progressive values and mandate, must not sanction the ADL’s unethical actions by allowing it to define the terms of tolerance.  By partnering with the ADL, Hampshire College will become indelibly associated with genocide denial.

    Sincerely,
    Sharistan Melkonian
    Chairperson

  • Taste of Anti-Armenian Policies

    Taste of Anti-Armenian Policies

    By Appo Jabarian

    Executive Publisher / Managing Editor

    USA Armenian Life Magazine

    Friday,  March 6, 2009

    The London Times published on Feb. 28 a news report covering an unprecedented legal and political development in Turkey. Serdar Kaya, a Turkish father, a doctor by profession, is suing the Turkish Education Ministry for forcing his 11-year-old daughter to watch a “racist” and “disturbing” film denying that Ottoman Turks committed genocide against Armenians in 1915 with graphic allegations of Armenian “atrocities against Turks.”

    “My daughter was very disturbed and frightened by the documentary and kept asking me if the Armenians had cut us up,” said Dr. Kaya who is suing the ministry and the child’s school for “inciting racial hatred.”

    “There are many mass graves, bones and skulls in the DVD. They have interviewed old granddads who inspire confidence and compassion. When they say things like ‘They cut off his head’ and ‘they used it instead of firewood’, that is bound to stay with the children,” Serdar Degirmencioglu, a psychologist, told the Armenian newspaper Agos when news first broke that the documentary was being shown to primary school children – including ethnic Armenians in Turkey.

    “You go and kill more than a million Armenians, wipe the traces of Armenians from Anatolia, grab their property, and then show children videos about ‘What the Armenians did to us’ … We are cutting these children off from the rest of the world,” said Ahmet Altan, editor of the independent newspaper Taraf. Altan is one of Turkey’s brightest writers. He has published several novels and essays which brought him fame and independence.

    Back in 2001, speaking of Turkey’s shaky foundation as a state, Altan said to The Middle East magazine that “‘three corporations are betraying their vocation: the journalists, the historians and the men of law’. If they did not behave the way they did, Turkey would be in a different situation. Why the historians? ‘The State is founded on an initial lie: We are told lies on the foundation of the Republic, on Mustafa Kemal, on the Turks, the Kurds, the Armenians. It is forbidden in Turkey to debate on these matters.’ And what about the journalists? ‘They lied too much, and they continue,’ answered Altan. ‘I have been in this job for 27 years, I started from the bottom and climbed to the top. I can say that the Turkish press is coward: it comes out to hide the truth.’ And what about the men of law? ‘The judges and the lawyers should have rebelled and told the people the truth: the Turkish law is full of articles which go against the international law. The Turkish law considers the man as an enemy’ concluded Altan.”

    The Education Ministry alleges that it has stopped the distribution of the documentary, Sari Gelin (Blonde Bride), named after an Armenian folk song. But it has apparently not recalled it and critics say that it remains part of the curriculum.

    This is the same DVD that caused Turkey an embarrassing international defeat and fiasco back in June 2005. An initial insertion of 500,000 of the same Turkish DVD’s in TIME Europe was financed by Ankara Chamber of Commerce. Later, the TIME editors acknowledged that they were duped into thinking that the Turkish DVD was intended to promote tourism in Turkey. But it turned out to be a propaganda ploy to deny the facts of the Armenian Genocide. In February 2007 TIME was compelled to spend the monies received from Turkey to correct its mistakes. TIME Europe apologized to Armenians and paid to duplicate and insert 550,000 DVD’s of “The Armenian Genocide” documentary produced by a French company. TIME affixed these DVD’s on a full-page announcement, all, courtesy of TIME Magazine.

    Do you remember then Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul being shocked to see the TIME DVD on his flight? In March 2007 Harut Sassounian, The Publisher of The California Courier, wrote: “Several Turkish newspapers reported on Feb. 26 (2007) that Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul was shocked when he saw an Armenian Genocide DVD in a copy of the TIME magazine on his plane. Gul and members of his delegation were returning to Turkey on February 11, after spending several days in Washington, D.C., lobbying against the pending Congressional Resolution on the Armenian Genocide. On their Lufthansa Airline flight, they discovered that the TIME magazine issue handed to them included a DVD as well as a full-page announcement on the Armenian Genocide. Gul was reportedly very upset that Armenians were carrying out propaganda activities even on his plane. He said he would conduct an investigation.”

    And now, at last, Ankara is subjected to a far-reaching legal action by an ethnic Turkish father against his own government’s denialist propaganda at home. Turkey’s militarist policy of brainwashing its schoolchildren to the point of racist paranoia has finally backfired on the Turkish “Deep State.”

    After many decades of attempting to force a gag rule on the Armenian Genocide issue in foreign capitals, Turkey is finally getting a taste of its own poisonous anti-Armenian policies.

    **********************************************************************

    —————-  YORUM BY SUKRUNSERVER AYA —————-

    Turkey Gets Taste of its

    Poisonous Anti-Armenian Policies

    By Appo Jabarian

    Executive Publisher / Managing Editor READER’S REPLY COMMENTS!

    USA Armenian Life Magazine

    Friday,  March 6, 2009

    The London Times published on Feb. 28 a news report covering an unprecedented legal and political development in Turkey. Serdar Kaya, a Turkish father, a doctor by profession, is suing the Turkish Education Ministry for forcing his 11-year-old daughter to watch a “racist” and “disturbing” film denying that Ottoman Turks committed genocide against Armenians in 1915 with graphic allegations of Armenian “atrocities against Turks.”

    What kind of explanation or Armenian reaction can you show for the Armenian schools boys girls in the same age dressed in soldier uniforms being taught how to kill Turks?

    https://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2007/04/1637-media-scanner-readers-letters-to.html Can you give me a reciprocal objection from any Armenian? Can you ?

    “My daughter was very disturbed and frightened by the documentary and kept asking me if the Armenians had cut us up,” said Dr. Kaya who is suing the ministry and the child’s school for “inciting racial hatred.”

    “There are many mass graves, bones and skulls in the DVD. They have interviewed old granddads who inspire confidence and compassion. When they say things like ‘They cut off his head’ and ‘they used it instead of firewood’, that is bound to stay with the children,” Serdar Degirmencioglu, a psychologist, told the Armenian newspaper Agos when news first broke that the documentary was being shown to primary school children – including ethnic Armenians in Turkey.

    “You go and kill more than a million Armenians, wipe the traces of Armenians from Anatolia, grab their property, and then show children videos about ‘What the Armenians did to us’ … We are cutting these children off from the rest of the world,” said Ahmet Altan, editor of the independent newspaper Taraf. Altan is one of Turkey’s brightest writers. He has published several novels and essays which brought him fame and independence.

    Rather than depending on what Messrs. Altan “blow” without reading even Armenian historians, why don’t you elaborate on what your own Armenian historians have written in black and white, on your revolutionary, treason, killings and similar barbarities? Before you address the public, read Akaby Nassibian, A.A. Lalaian, Garekin Pastermadjian, Hovannes Katchaznuni, your memorandum to Paris Conference in 1919, bylaws of ARF etc?

    You can reach my book plus many genuine documents at below link! Or were the old heroes or Armenian book writers also “denialist” or “paid agents” because what they wrote contradicts your claims?

    Back in 2001, speaking of Turkey’s shaky foundation as a state, Altan said to The Middle East magazine that “’three corporations are betraying their vocation: the journalists, the historians and the men of law’. If they did not behave the way they did, Turkey would be in a different situation. Why the historians? ‘The State is founded on an initial lie: We are told lies on the foundation of the Republic, on Mustafa Kemal, on the Turks, the Kurds, the Armenians. It is forbidden in Turkey to debate on these matters.’ And what about the journalists? ‘They lied too much, and they continue,’ answered Altan. ‘I have been in this job for 27 years, I started from the bottom and climbed to the top. I can say that the Turkish press is coward: it comes out to hide the truth.’ And what about the men of law? ‘The judges and the lawyers should have rebelled and told the people the truth: the Turkish law is full of articles which go against the international law. The Turkish law considers the man as an enemy’ concluded Altan.”

    Mr. Altan is a shallow writer or big mouth, abusing the liberty he has been given by attacking his countrymen and, propagating slanders or lies or words that he has “never proved to be scholarly valid and true”.

    The Education Ministry alleges that it has stopped the distribution of the documentary, Sari Gelin (Blonde Bride), named after an Armenian folk song. But it has apparently not recalled it and critics say that it remains part of the curriculum.

    This is the same DVD that caused Turkey an embarrassing international defeat and fiasco back in June 2005. An initial insertion of 500,000 of the same Turkish DVD’s in TIME Europe was financed by Ankara Chamber of Commerce. Later, the TIME editors acknowledged that they were duped into thinking that the Turkish DVD was intended to promote tourism in Turkey. But it turned out to be a propaganda ploy to deny the facts of the Armenian Genocide. In February 2007 TIME was compelled to spend the monies received from Turkey to correct its mistakes. TIME Europe apologized to Armenians and paid to duplicate and insert 550,000 DVD’s of “The Armenian Genocide” documentary produced by a French company. TIME affixed these DVD’s on a full-page announcement, all, courtesy of TIME Magazine.

    And what reciprocal action has ANCA or Diaspora or Armenia has ever exhibited, other than making too many films continuously, based on mythological allegations or grand-ma stories?

    Do you remember then Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul being shocked to see the TIME DVD on his flight? In March 2007 Harut Sassounian, The Publisher of The California Courier, wrote: “Several Turkish newspapers reported on Feb. 26 (2007) that Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul was shocked when he saw an Armenian Genocide DVD in a copy of the TIME magazine on his plane. Gul and members of his delegation were returning to Turkey on February 11, after spending several days in Washington, D.C., lobbying against the pending Congressional Resolution on the Armenian Genocide. On their Lufthansa Airline flight, they discovered that the TIME magazine issue handed to them included a DVD as well as a full-page announcement on the Armenian Genocide. Gul was reportedly very upset that Armenians were carrying out propaganda activities even on his plane. He said he would conduct an investigation.”

    And now, at last, Ankara is subjected to a far-reaching legal action by an ethnic Turkish father against his own government’s denialist propaganda at home. Turkey’s militarist policy of brainwashing its schoolchildren to the point of racist paranoia has finally backfired on the Turkish “Deep State.”

    Why Ankara concerns you so much but you keep silent about the abuses and lack of freedom in Armenia?

    After many decades of attempting to force a gag rule on the Armenian Genocide issue in foreign capitals, Turkey is finally getting a taste of its own poisonous anti-Armenian policies.

    Your comments are full with venom already. There was never, any legally or even logically discussed or proven genocide, other than an excuse for your inflaming the diaspora and making continuous collections by selling grudge and hatred. That product is not endorsed, asked or supported by the Turkish Armenians living equally in Turkey, or some 50.000 illegal Armenians earning their livings in Turkey or the rest of Armenians in Armenia, who get your bragging excuses, instead of jobs, self-sufficiency and peace of mind with neighbors! You have deprived Armenia from taking part in the important projects of the area… The Protestant and Catholic Armenians do not even share their church with Gregorian Armenians of Turkey.

    March 9, 09

    Sukru S. Aya

    _____________________________________________


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  • BORDERS WITH ARMENIA CAN BE OPENED

    BORDERS WITH ARMENIA CAN BE OPENED

    TURKISH PARLIAMENTARIANS VISITING US: THE BORDERS WITH ARMENIA CAN BE OPENED AFTER NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT IS SOLVED
    APA

    Members of Turkish parliament Shukru Elekdag (CHP), Murat Merjan (AKP), Nursuna Memejan (AKP) and Mithat Melen (MHP) met with experts on Turkey and journalists in the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, APA’s US bureau reports. CSIS director for Turkey Bulent Alirza chaired the discussions.

    The discussions focused on the issues causing tension between the two countries.
    Chairman of Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee Murat Merjan said during Obama’s presidency the U.S. policy aimed at holding dialogue, not creating tension. The parliamentarian said Turkey pursued multiple-vector foreign policy after the collapse of the Soviet Union and noted that it was connected with four big conflicts around the country. He said the philosophy of Turkey’s foreign policy consisted of “zero problem” item, integrating into Europe and using its political influence.
    “This political influence was seen in the Balkans, Syria and in the recent war between Georgia and Russia. Turkey is a pro-western country and bears responsibility for the ongoing processes in the region,” he said.
    Touching on the country’s policy with regard to Armenia, the parliamentarian said their aim was not only to establish relations with official Yerevan, but also to serve establishment of peace in the Caucasus.
    Parliamentarian from CHP Shukru Elekdag Turkey was concerned over the so-called Armenian genocide, PKK terrorist organization in the north of Iraq and Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Former Turkish ambassador to the U.S. said:
    “The borders with Armenia should not be opened”.
    He said it can be done after Nagorno Karabakh conflict is solved.
    MP touching upon PKK issue stated that they were supported by the Republic of North Iraq and noted that Barack Obama would not recognize developments in 1915 as genocide during his traditional message on April 24, 2009. Elekdag stated that relations between Israel and Turkey on military, economy, and tourism were at high level and both of countries are strategic partners.
    MP Mithat Melen from MHP touching upon developments in 1915 said that the problems is not linked with Armenia, but Armenian Diaspora. The poor Armenia is not interested in adoption of resolution by the US on so-called genocide. He mentioned that 80.000 Armenians worked in Istanbul. Melen noted that we should not forget the interests of Azerbaijan on Nagorno Karabakh conflict while establishing business relations with Armenia. He added that Turkey needed the energy resources transmitted via Azerbaijan and business done with North Iraq. To him, if there are not business relations, there wil not the development of the region.
    After the assembly Shukru Elekdag gave an interview to APA U.S bureau and commented on restoration of Armenia-Turkey relations.
    “Turkey should not open the border with Armenia without solution to Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Turkey can loose Azerbaijan in such kind of situation. What will be the fate of the word” one nation, two states”? How early have we forgotten it? We are not against the restoration of the relations with Armenia. We should do it after solution to the conflict. If the borders open, we will leave Azerbaijan alone and the power of Azerbaijan will decrease in negotiation process,” he said.
    Elekdag commented on the fact that three subjects – Nagorno Karabakh conflict, so-called Armenian genocide, opening of borders with Armenia were debated during Turkey-Armenia negotiations.
    “If these three issues are solved at the same time, there will not be any problem. The borders between the two countries will not open in 2009,” he said.

  • Morgenthaus vs. Genocide

    Morgenthaus vs. Genocide

    AFTER DAVOS.. ATTACTS ON TURKISH POINT OF VIEW INTENSIFIED .. BELOW İS AN EXAMPLE … TURKISH FORUM …

    Opinion

    By Rafael Medoff

    Published March 04, 2009, issue of March 13, 2009.

    Robert Morgenthau’s announcement that he will retire after more than three decades as Manhattan’s district attorney caps an impressive career in law enforcement. With his latest case, against banks illegally aiding the governments of Iran and Sudan, three generations of Morgenthaus have now confronted perpetrators of genocide – which is as tragic a commentary on the persistence of human rights abuses in modern times as it is a tribute to a remarkable family that has fought those abuses.

    It began with Robert Morgenthau’s grandfather. A lawyer and realtor in turn-of-the-century Manhattan, Henry Morgenthau Sr. was an unlikely crusader for human rights. His life took a surprising turn when his support for the long-shot presidential candidacy of Woodrow Wilson was rewarded with the post of American ambassador to Turkey.

    Under the cover of World War I, the Turkish authorities embarked on a campaign of mass murder against their Armenian citizens. Morgenthau’s desperate cables to Washington about this “attempt to exterminate a race” – relaying details of the wholesale deportations, massacres and rapes – are among the most important evidence of the atrocities.

    The ambassador persuaded The New York Times and other news media to report on the “race murder,” as he called it; he inspired charity groups to raise relief funds for the survivors. But the Wilson administration, anxious to remain neutral in the war, rebuffed Morgenthau’s appeals to intervene. Morgenthau resigned in frustration in early 1916.

    While Morgenthau was unable to save the Armenians, his example has stood as a beacon to generations of activists determined to stop genocide. Morgenthau’s experience fills the opening section of Samantha Power’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book “A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide.” Now a senior foreign policy adviser to President Obama, Power regards “the American nonresponse to the Turkish horrors” as “establishing patterns that would be repeated” throughout the ensuing century. Power, according to recent media reports, is now attempting to break the pattern by urging active American intervention against the genocide in Darfur.

    Two decades after Henry Morgenthau Sr. resigned his post as ambassador, a twist of fate put his son in a position to act against genocide. As the proprietor of apple orchards in New York’s Dutchess County, Henry Morgenthau Jr. became friends with his neighbor Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In 1934, Roosevelt named him secretary of the treasury.

    Under ordinary circumstances, the Treasury Department would not deal with matters affecting Jews in Hitler’s Europe, but in 1943 Jewish groups asked the department for permission to send funds into Axis territory to ransom Jews. The State Department’s attempt to stall the rescue plan aroused the ire and curiosity of a senior Morgenthau aide named Josiah DuBois. His investigations revealed that the State Department had been suppressing news of the Holocaust and sabotaging rescue opportunities so America would not have to deal with what one official called “the burden and the curse” of having to care for refugees.

    In early 1944, Morgenthau confronted Roosevelt with the evidence and urged him to create a government agency to rescue Jews. Just then, leading members of Congress, galvanized by the activist Bergson Group, were pressing the president to establish such an agency. The pressure convinced a reluctant Roosevelt to create the War Refugee Board. During the final 15 months of the war, the board helped save an estimated 200,000 Jews.

    Like his father and grandfather, Robert Morgenthau chose a career path that one would not expect to embroil him in international affairs. As Manhattan’s district attorney since 1975, Morgenthau prosecuted the usual array of criminals, from muggers to Mafia bosses to white-collar swindlers.

    Last month, however, Morgenthau announced the results of what is perhaps his most important investigation: His office caught 10 major international banks laundering “billions of dollars” for Iran and Sudan. Part of the money purchased goods that international sanctions prevent Tehran and Khartoum from acquiring. Some of the money was channeled to terrorist groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah.

    Ironically, Morgenthau’s bank investigators have been collaborating with the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control – the same office that, under the direction of Josiah DuBois, his father worked with during the Holocaust.

    Three generations of Morgenthaus were unexpectedly thrust into the international arena and rose to the challenge. Henry Sr. exposed the perpetrators of the Armenian genocide. Henry Jr. helped interrupt the Nazi genocide. Now the Sudanese regime that is carrying out genocide in Darfur and the Iranian regime that dreams of genocide against Israel are facing their own Morgenthau. The family’s legacy has come full circle.

    Rafael Medoff is director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies and the author of “Blowing the Whistle on Genocide: Josiah E. DuBois, Jr. and the Struggle for a U.S. Response to the Holocaust” (Purdue University Press, 2008).

    Source:

    [2]

    Makalenin yazarinin Wikipedia girisi:

    Rafael Medoff is the director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies. Medoff received his PhD from Yeshiva University in 1991. In 2001 he was Visiting Scholar in Jewish Studies at the State University of New York at Purchase. He has served on the editorial boards of American Jewish History, Southern Jewish History, Shofar and Menorah Review. He is a member of the Academic Council of the American Jewish Historical Society, and his essays and reviews have appeared in many scholarly journals.[1] He has made a significant contribution to the history of US-Israel relations by examining American Jewish attitudes towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Palestinian Arabs. [2]In The Deafening Silence, Medoff argues that had American Jewish leaders been more forceful in presenting the case for rescue of European Jews to the Roosevelt administration, they could have moved the administration to act. In Deborah Lipstadt’s review of Holocaust literature, she engages Medoff’s argument, but concludes that “There is nothing on record to indicate that their outspoken support would have changed the mind of restrictionist legislators.” [3]

    Lawrence Davidson of West Chester University cites Medoff’s assertion in Zionism and the Arabs: An American Jewish Dilemma, 1898-1948, that Zionists did not see the Palestinian Arabs as “a distinct national group with national rights-largely because the Palestinian Arabs themselves did not claim the status of a specific national grouping,” to argue against Zionism on the grounds that “no one ruled against self- determination in other parts of Greater Syria where the same views prevailed.” [4]