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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

  • Nationalists react to SO-CALLED intellectuals’ courageous apology

    Nationalists react to SO-CALLED intellectuals’ courageous apology

    Turkey’s nationalists have been incensed about a group of Turkish intellectuals who recently apologized publicly for the “great disaster Ottoman Armenians suffered in 1915” in a country where even discussing Armenian claims of genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire can be cause for arrest.

    The reaction to a petition initiated by a group of intellectuals, led by popular professors Baskın Oran and Ahmet İnsel and journalists Ali Bayramoğlu and Cengiz Aktar, personally apologizing for the forced deportation of Armenians from their homes in the Turkish heartland in 1915, has shown yet again how courageous one must be to publicly announce his or her unorthodox opinions in Turkey, particularly if those opinions contradict the official ideology.

    In a phone interview with Today’s Zaman, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy for Erzurum Zeki Ertugay accused the signatories of being in “a state of hysteria.” He stressed that it was not Armenians who suffered at the hand of Ottoman Turks, but Turks who were assaulted by Armenians. “Erzurum suffered most from that cruelty.

    Every house has memories of people butchered by Armenians. I regard apologizing to the Armenians as an insult to the Turkish nation. People who call themselves intellectuals have not even been enlightened about their own history. A stain of shame like genocide has never taken place in the history of the Turkish nation. If there is somebody who needs to apologize, it is the Armenians and the Western states that provoked the Armenians against the Turks by promising them a state of their own.”

    Behiç Çelik, a MHP deputy from Mersin, was equally enraged. “It is impossible to refer to these people as intellectuals. The so-called intellectuals trying to apologize to Armenians do not know the past. They don’t know history. There has never been any genocide in the history of the Turkish nation. Apologizing even for the deportation is not acceptable, because deportations have been carried out by many nations, not just Turkey. The US relocated Native Americans, Russia deported the Kazaks and the Crimean Tatars. Their intellectuals never apologized to anybody.”

    Ultranationalist media outlets and pundits were also furious. The Yeni Çağ (New Age) daily referred to the petition as a “campaign to smear Turkey.” Yusuf Halaçoğlu, a well-known ultranationalist who formerly headed the Turkish Historical Society (TTK), said the real target here was connected to Turkey’s new foreign policy initiative, started in early September with President Abdullah Gül and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan visiting Yerevan for a soccer match between the national teams of Turkey and Armenia. “The aim here is to foment public opinion to be able to take that earlier initiative to the next level,” Halaçoğlu said.

    He said only 22,000 people died before 1915, the year of the forced deportation. “Will they apologize for those, too? Or will the Armenians announce with whom they cooperated when the Ottoman Empire was fighting world powers? Are they going to publicly announce how many Armenians were part of the French and Russian armies at the time? Armenians, as people who cooperated with the enemy in their own countries, have lost this war. This is the state of affairs as it stands today,” he said.

    Historian Cemalettin Taşkıran was quoted in nationalist newspapers as saying, “This is the biggest betrayal that could be shown to our forefathers.” Taşkıran said the campaign was set up to hurt the unity of the Turkish nation and to prepare the way for Turkey’s eventual recognition of Armenian claims of genocide.

    The intellectuals’ group is calling on other people to sign the petition posted online, which reads as follows: “I cannot conscientiously accept the indifference to the great disaster that Ottoman Armenians suffered in 1915, and its denial. I reject this injustice and, acting of my own will, I share the feelings and pains of my Armenian brothers and sisters, and I apologize to them.”

    The organizers of the campaign have underlined that first they will collect signatures from intellectuals and they will then open a secure Web site to collect signatures.

    The Armenian population that was in Turkey before the establishment of Turkish Republic was forced to emigrate in 1915, and, according to some, the conditions of this expulsion are the basis of Armenian claims of genocide.

    06.12.2008
    News
    E.BARIŞ ALTINTAŞ, ERCAN YAVUZ

  • CNN Scream Bloody Murder Documentary

    CNN Scream Bloody Murder Documentary

  • Turks Create False Impressions To Block Obama’s Promises

    Turks Create False Impressions To Block Obama’s Promises

    ERMENI FANATIKDEN BIR MAKALE 


    Publisher, The California Courier
    Senior Contributor, USA Armenian Life Magazine
    Turkish officials are in a mad rush. Informed by Washington insiders that President-elect Barack Obama intends to carry out his promises to Armenians, the Turkish government is anxious to conclude an agreement with Armenia in order to block the incoming administration and/or Congress from taking a stand on the Armenian Genocide.

    For years, Ankara repeatedly rejected Yerevan’s offers to normalize relations without preconditions. Hoping that Armenia would buckle under intense economic pressure, Turks placed strict demands for lifting the blockade and establishing diplomatic relations. Armenia had to refrain from efforts for genocide recognition, accept Turkey’s territorial integrity, and relinquish Artsakh (Karabagh) to Azerbaijan.

    A few months ago, the two sides appeared to have reached an arrangement whereby Pres. Serzh Sargsyan would agree to Turkey’s request to form a joint study group on the Armenian Genocide, as part of a larger inter-governmental commission that would deal with a host of bilateral issues, on condition that Turkey would first establish diplomatic relations and opens its border with Armenia.

    Soon after, Pres. Abdullah Gul made an unprecedented trip to Yerevan at the Armenian President’s invitation to watch a soccer match between the national teams of the two countries. Both leaders received high praise and encouragement from the international community for their “football diplomacy.”
    Relations between the two countries seemed to be on the mend, until Turkey’s leaders, misjudging Pres. Sargsyan’s eagerness to have the Turkish border opened, demanded additional and unacceptable concessions from Armenia. They asked that Armenians initially withdraw from a small area on the periphery of Artsakh and announce the formation of the study group on the genocide prior to the convening of the wider inter-governmental commission.

    In making these demands, the Turkish leaders were trying to accomplish two contradictory objectives. On the one hand, they were pressuring Armenia into making as many concessions as possible. On the other hand, they desperately want to reach a quick agreement with Yerevan before Pres. Obama enters the White House next month.

    When Armenia rejected Turks’ excessive demands, Turkish authorities decided to switch tactics and attempt a more effective approach: Create the impression in Washington that Armenians and Turks are making good progress in resolving their differences, even though in reality they are not!

    To implement this new policy, Ankara persisted in placing a positive spin on all official contacts with Armenia. For example, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian’s trip to Istanbul on November 24, to chair the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) conference, was repeatedly mischaracterized by the Turkish side as a visit to discuss with Foreign Minister Ali Babajan the improvement of relations with Armenia.

    Also, Turkish officials and media have beenrepeating ad nauseam that Armenia’s President would be visiting Turkey shortly, thus giving the false impression that the two sides are about to resolve their differences. In reality, Pres. Sargsyan is not expected to go to Istanbul until October 2009, when the Armenian and Turkish national soccer teams meet again.

    Yet another falsehood spread by the Turkish media, for the sole purpose of manipulating American and international public opinion, is that Armenia has accepted to participate in a joint study group on the Armenian Genocide, even after Pres. Sargsyan’s announcement that such a commission was “absolutely unnecessary.” Armenia’s President expressed his concern that such a study would actually “mislead” the international community.

    In another diversionary tactic, Turkish authorities announced last week that they are considering the accreditation to Armenia of their current Ambassador to Georgia, who would continue to be stationed in Tbilisi. This is a clever attempt to claim that Turkey has taken a major step in establishing diplomatic relations with Armenia! Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines announced last week that it is planning to start charter flights to Armenia — another attempt at creating a false impression of the ostensibly improving Armenian-Turkish relations.

    In support of their government’s propaganda, Turkish newspapers have been publishing interviews with Armenians and Turks who are engaged in a variety of joint cultural and business activities and predicting that Armenia would have a thriving economy once the border with Turkey is opened. The Turkish press does not interview, however, Armenians who demand justice for the crimes committed by the Ottoman Turkish government during the Genocide.

    It is regrettable that certain Armenian individuals, driven by their narrow self-interest, have made statements to the Turkish media that help reinforce the false impression that Armenians and Turks are getting along perfectly well, and outsiders like the United States should not take any initiatives that would ruin this budding friendship!

    The fact of the matter is that Armenians worldwide will continue to view Turkey with deep misgivings as long as the Turkish government pursues its morally bankrupt policy of making demands rather than amends.

  • Amanpour Screams ‘Bloody Murder’ But Not about Armenian Genocide

    Amanpour Screams ‘Bloody Murder’ But Not about Armenian Genocide

    TURKISH FORUM AILESINE CANDAN TESEKKURLER

    DUNYAYA YAYILMIS  300 BIN UYEMIZDEN VE MILYONU COKDAN GECMIS BULTEN UYELERIMIZDEN YAGAN BINLERCE PROTESTO UZERINE CNN SOZDE SOYKIRIMI PLANLANAN GOSTERIDEN KALDIRDI .

    ASAGIDA BU KONUDA ACIKLAMAYI / CIGLIKLARI / FERYATLARI VE CNN’E KARSI GOSTERMEK ISTEDIKLERI TEPKIYI ERMENI LOBICILERIN KENDI KALEMLERINDEN OKUYUNUZ

    Set CNN Straight
    Gripping Documentary Covers the History of Mass Slaughter; Neglects Armenian Genocide

    A powerful new CNN documentary, “Scream Bloody Murder,” anchored by Christiane Amanpour, premiered tonight (9:00 p.m. ET/PT). The program offered a compelling look at genocide throughout history, with a special focus on those who witnessed and warned the world about these atrocities.

    Sadly, however, in a disservice to it millions of viewers, CNN neglected to include the Armenian Genocide as the first such event, despite the fact that it was this atrocity that first prompted international lawyer Raphael Lemkin to coin the word “genocide,” and to work toward the eventual adoption of the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

    Read the Asbarez Armenian Daily Newspaper editorial on this documentary.

    Amanpour Screams ‘Bloody Murder’ But Not about Armenian Genocide
    BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN
    A powerful documentary entitled “Scream Bloody Murder” anchored by Christiane Amanpour premiering on CNN today (9 p.m. ET/PT) offers a gripping look at Genocide throughout history and those who witnessed and warned a deaf world about such atrocities, but neglects to mention the Armenian Genocide as the first such event that prompted Raphael Lemkin to coin the phrase.

    The documentary begins with the roots of the word Genocide and chronicles the stormy conflicts within Lemkin, who, as Amanpour puts it, was affected by the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks and was prompted to coin the phrase Genocide. In the almost 90-minute press screener, the Armenian Genocide was mentioned for about 45 seconds as an anecdotal reference to Lemkin’s struggle for human justice. Using photographs now familiar to all Armenians and possibly obtained from Armin T. Wegner Collection, Amanpour illustrates the horror of the Armenian Genocide but does not delve into it in as in-depth and compelling manner as she does the other instances of Genocide.

    Throughout the program, Amanpour “reveals stories of those who tried to stop genocide,” as the CNN press information describes it and discusses the horrific stories of Genocide with “heroes who witnessed evil– and ‘screamed bloody murder’ for the international community to stop it.

    Amanpour and CNN should be applauded for the in-depth look at Genocide, from the Holocaust to the killing fields of Cambodia, to Iraq, Rwanda, Bosnia and now Darfur the horror of it all is told with searing images and graphic eyewitness accounts.

    To bring attention to Genocide, on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the adoption of UN Convention of Genocide and Human Rights, authored by Lemkin, is an important accomplishment, one that also asks the hard question of why the world did (does) not interfere when it has a moral obligation.

    Amanpour adeptly clarifies the political machinations behind the response–or lack thereof–by the US in all instances featured in the report and wonders, at the end, whether others who “scream bloody murder” will be heard. One wonders, however, if Amanpour heard the screams of Henry Morgenthau, the US Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire at the time of the Armenian Genocide, who along with Elie Wiesel, Father Francois Ponchaud, Peter Galbraith, Richard Holbrook, Canadian General Romeo Dallaire and others who bore witness to such unspeakable atrocities and whose warnings prompted action but not soon enough to save millions of lives.

    Perhaps, the Armenian community can now prompt CNN, as it did eight years ago ABC News and its venerable anchor the late Peter Jennings to take a closer look at the first Genocide of the 20th Century.

    Amanpour’s “Scream Bloody Murder” is an important piece of journalism as it asks the very critical questions that could have prevented so many acts of Genocide. In its reporting, Amanpour is also very adept at pointing to US complicity in all these events, much like Samantha Power was in her Pulitzer Prize-winning book “A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide.”

    “Scream Bloody Murder” anchored by CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour airs on CNN Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern/Pacific, with an encore at midnight Eastern and Pacific.

    *****

    TAKE ACTION:

    1) Post your question on CNN iReport

    Ask Christiane Amanpour a question about this serious shortcoming in her documentary through CNN iReport, an interactive feature that allows you to post video and text viewable by the millions of visitors to CNN’s website. Your posting will also be searchable on Google News.
    View an effective CNN iReport posting commenting on “Scream Bloody Murder”.

    2) Write directly to CNN’s editors

    Send a free ANCA WebFax to CNN’s leadership pointing out this shortcoming and asking them to address this gap in their reporting in future coverage of genocide-related issues.
  • Dashnaks Urge Caution In Armenia’s Ties With Turkey

    Dashnaks Urge Caution In Armenia’s Ties With Turkey

    By Emil Danielyan

    The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) has urged Yerevan to exercise caution in the ongoing rapprochement with Turkey, saying that Ankara is using it to scuttle worldwide recognition of the Armenian genocide.

    The issue was on the agenda of a three-day meeting of the pan-Armenian party’s top governing body, the Bureau, that finished its work in Beirut on Monday.

    In a statement circulated on Thursday, Dashnaktsutyun said Bureau members agreed that “Turkey has still not taken any positive step” to reciprocate President Serzh Sarkisian’s diplomatic overtures. “On the contrary, there are attempts to use the existing [Turkish-Armenian] contacts for halting the genocide recognition process and making relations between the two states conditional Armenia’s relations with a third country, Azerbaijan,” it said.

    Some Dashnaktsutyun leaders warned earlier that the incoming U.S. administration will have second thoughts about its pledge to recognize the genocide if Yerevan agrees to a Turkish-Armenian academic study of the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire which is sought by Ankara. Sarkisian has indicated that he is not against the idea in principle.

    The Dashnaktsutyun statement said that Armenia’s “supreme leadership” views genocide recognition by the international community and Turkey as a top foreign policy priority. But in a thinly veiled warning to Sarkisian, the party represented in Armenia’s government added: “On the other hand, it was stressed [during the Bureau meeting] that the immediate importance of normalizing Armenia-Turkey relations must not take precedence over the rights of generations.”

    Meanwhile, a senior U.S. official reportedly said on Thursday the two neighboring states have come close to establishing diplomatic relations after months of intensive diplomatic contacts. The Mediamax news agency quoted Deputy Assistant Secretary of States Matthew Bryza as making this assertion after a fresh meeting of the Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers held on the sidelines of a high-level OSCE meeting in Helsinki. The two ministers already met in Istanbul late last month.

    Turkey has long made the establishment of diplomatic relations and opening of its border with Armenia contingent on a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and an end to the Armenian campaign for genocide recognition. Despite the dramatic thaw in Turkish-Armenian ties, Ankara has so far given no indication, at least in public, that it is ready to drop these preconditions.

    https://www.azatutyun.am/a/1598716.html

  • French government protests law that punishes persons for denying so-called “Armenian genocide”

    French government protests law that punishes persons for denying so-called “Armenian genocide”

    Paris–APA. French government for the first time protested the law that punishes persons for denying so-called “Armenian genocide” at the Senate. Responding the socialist lawmaker Rene Roger’s question on this issue, Secretary of State for the interior and local authorities Alain Marleix said the government did not intend to bring this law approved by the lower chamber of the parliament to the Senate’s agenda. The minister said the parliament shouldn’t interfere in the work of historians and if the law was adopted it would cause serious protest from Turkey.
    Lower chamber of the French parliament approved the law for punishment of persons denying the so-called “Armenian genocide” on October 12, 2006 proposed by the Socialist party. According to the law the person denying the so-called genocide can be sentenced for a year of imprisonment or 45 thousand euro fine.