“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
Dear Friends and Members of the Turkish-American Community:
Azerbaijani and Turkish American organizations throughout America have initiated a major campaign to urge President Obama not to use the term “genocide” if his Administration chooses to make a statement regarding events that occurred in the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
To date, no American President has described the events of 1915 as genocide. Unlike many other tragedies and massacres, whether the Armenian case constitutes genocide is widely disputed. The Armenia allegation of genocide has even been rejected by the United Nations.
We urge Turkish Americans and friends of Turkey to send their messages to President Obama and Congress NOW!
Please click on the following links to take urgent action:
Click here to send your message to President Obama not to use the term “genocide” when describing the sad events in the Ottoman Empire in early 1900’s.
Click here to send your message to your legislators.
Click here to send your message to your legislators to celebrate April 23rd, as per H.Res 221.
We also encourage you to send your message by calling the White House at 202.456.1111 between 9:00am and 5:00pm, EST. In addition, you may reach the White House online at www.whitehouse.gov
Statement of President Barack Obama on Armenian Remembrance Day
On this solemn day of remembrance, we pause to recall that ninety-five years ago one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century began. In that dark moment of history, 1.5 million Armenians were massacred or marched to their death in the final days of the Ottoman Empire.
Today is a day to reflect upon and draw lessons from these terrible events. I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view of that history has not changed. It is in all of our interest to see the achievement of a full, frank and just acknowledgment of the facts. The Meds Yeghern is a devastating chapter in the history of the Armenian people, and we must keep its memory alive in honor of those who were murdered and so that we do not repeat the grave mistakes of the past. I salute the Turks who saved Armenians in 1915 and am encouraged by the dialogue among Turks and Armenians, and within Turkey itself, regarding this painful history. Together, the Turkish and Armenian people will be stronger as they acknowledge their common history and recognize their common humanity.
Even as we confront the inhumanity of 1915, we also are inspired by the remarkable spirit of the Armenian people. While nothing can bring back those who were killed in the Meds Yeghern, the contributions that Armenians have made around the world over the last ninety-five years stand as a testament to the strength, tenacity and courage of the Armenian people. The indomitable spirit of the Armenian people is a lasting triumph over those who set out to destroy them. Many Armenians came to the United States as survivors of the horrors of 1915. Over the generations Americans of Armenian descent have richened our communities, spurred our economy, and strengthened our democracy. The strong traditions and culture of Armenians also became the foundation of a new republic which has become a part of the community of nations, partnering with the world community to build a better future.
Today, we pause with them and with Armenians everywhere to remember the awful events of 1915 with deep admiration for their contributions which transcend this dark past and give us hope for the future.
President Barack Obama salutes as he steps off Marine One helicopter before his departure from Los Angeles International airport in Los Angeles, Friday, April 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Saturday marked the anniversary of the massacre of Armenians in Turkey nearly a century ago by calling it a “horrific” slaughter, but once again stopped short of branding it genocide.
In a written statement, Obama said the 1915 killings of some 1.5 million Armenians represent “one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century.” But for the third straight year, he failed to use the word genocide to describe it.
As a candidate for president, Obama repeatedly vowed to recognize the genocide once in office, vowing “a principled commitment to commemorating and ending genocide.”
But since 2009, Obama has declined to use the word in the face of furious resistance from Turkey, a key NATO ally.
Most historians see the killings as the first genocide of the 20th century, and accept the figure of 1.5 million Armenian deaths. However, Turkish leaders have long rejected the term, contending the figures are inflated and saying there were many deaths on both sides as the Ottoman Empire collapsed during World War I.
In his statement, Obama said “contested history destabilizes the present and stains the memory of those whose lives were taken.” He said America knows this from the dark chapters in its own history.
He praised efforts in Armenia and Turkey “to foster a dialogue that acknowledges their common history. ”
But Obama confined himself to using the Armenian name for the slaughter, Meds Yeghern, and paying tribute “to the memories of those who perished.”
He said his view of what took place hasn’t changed since the campaign, adding, “A full, frank, and just acknowledgement of the facts is in all our interests.”
People carry torches during a rally through the streets of Yerevan
WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama marked Saturday the anniversary of the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks, calling for a “full” acknowledgment of the killings hotly contested by Ankara.
While denouncing the “horrific events” of 96 years ago, Obama stopped short of labeling the killings a “genocide,” despite vowing to use that exact term during his 2008 run for the White House.
“I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view of that history has not changed,” the president said in a White House statement on Armenian Remembrance Day.
“A full, frank, and just acknowledgment of the facts is in all our interests.”
In implicitly pleading for Turkey’s recognition of the killings, he stressed that “contested history destabilizes the present and stains the memory of those whose lives were taken, while reckoning with the past lays a sturdy foundation for a peaceful and prosperous shared future.”
Ankara’s ambassador in Washington promptly rejected Obama’s criticism, subdued or not.
“We deeply regret that POTUS (Obama’s) statement on 1915 events reflect an inaccurate, flawed & one-sided political characterization of history,” Ambassador Namik Tan tweeted, calling the comments “unacceptable” and “unwarranted.”
“The US should encourage normalization and dialogue and not hamper it with one-sided & politically motivated statements.”
The Armenian Assembly of America, a group promoting US-Armenian ties, was also not satisfied with Obama’s carefully worded statement, calling it a “missed opportunity” and saying “we expect the president to honor his prior commitments and statements.”
“Words do matter, and today’s statement on the eve of Easter and the commemoration of the Armenian genocide was a missed opportunity to help heal open wounds of the past,” said Armenian Assembly executive director Bryan Ardouny, noting that ex-US president Ronald Reagan used the controversial term.
“Genocide and its denial are pernicious, and the US needs to squarely address the consequence of genocide denial through unequivocal affirmation of this historical truth.”
Turkey and Armenia signed landmark protocols in 2009, under Swiss mediation, which were a first step towards ending decades of hostility over World War I massacres of Armenians under Ottoman Turks.
“I support the courageous steps taken by individuals in Armenia and Turkey to foster a dialogue that acknowledges their common history,” Obama said as he hailed the contributions of Armenian Americans.
“Our hearts and prayers are with Armenians everywhere as we recall the horrors of the Meds Yeghern, honor the memories of those who suffered, and pledge our friendship and deep respect for the people of Armenia,” he added in using the Armenian term meaning “great calamity” to describe the killings.
Last year, a diplomatic row erupted between Washington and Ankara after a congressional measure sought to brand the Ottoman massacres of Armenians as “genocide.”
Turkey recalled Ambassador Tan from Washington when a congressional panel adopted the text in March 2010 and sent him back a month later after the resolution failed to proceed to a full vote in the House of Representatives at the time.
Earlier Saturday, some 10,000 people rallied in the Armenian capital Yerevan to demand that Turkey recognize the “genocide” of up to 1.5 million of their kin. Hordes of youths marched with candles up to a hillock in Yerevan, consecrated to the memory of the victims.
The persecutions are commemorated every year on April 24. On that day in 1915, more than 200 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders were arrested in Constantinople, or present day Istanbul. That was followed by a wave of massacres and deportations that continued until 1917.
Turkey rejects the “genocide” label, countering that 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian forces.
Washington – Nearly a century after the Genocide, Turkish government is still seeking to identify and root out “Armenian separatism” inside Turkey, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable made available through Wikileaks and first published by Taraf newspaper.
Writing in December 2004, U.S. Charge in Turkey at the time Robert Deutsch related a conversation with a “long-term Embassy contact with deep experience in intel[igence] and national security analysis.”
Deutsch himself is a veteran State Department Middle East expert who following his Ankara posting serves as deputy coordinator for Iraq and later worked as senior advisor in the South and Central Asia Bureau of the State Department.
Ghost of Armenia
The unnamed Turkish source told the U.S. Embassy that as of late 2004 Turkish internal security forces (Jandarma) and its intelligence branch (JITEM) received “a steady stream of orders from Ankara to JITEM posts in the field to combat ‘Armenian separatism’” as part of the fight against Kurdish insurgency.
Deutsch notes that what he terms “paranoia” reflected “the Turkish State’s fear of history” considering that “only a handful of Armenians [were] left in the southeast” of Turkey after the Genocide.
But “Ankara was basing its suspicions on the meticulous population registry (nufus kutugu) of family lineage which, among other things, shows how many citizens — especially concentrated in certain regions of the east and southeast — actually have an Armenian background underneath their forebears’ voluntary or forced conversions or adoptions during the period when Armenians were being deported and murdered en masse by the Ottoman authorities and local Muslim bands.”
“The distant and suppressed Armenian connection is so pervasive that JITEM even came across a village imam with Armenian roots, our contact relayed.”
Deutsch adds that “in our own extensive travels throughout Anatolia, especially east of the Kizilirmak River [eastern half of the country – ed.], we have been repeatedly struck by (a) the common knowledge among ordinary citizens of what happened in 1915, a knowledge which most will readily share; and (b) the number of people with apparent Armenian features.”
Publicly, Turkish officials have off and on attempted to link Armenians and Kurdish insurgents.
Yusuf Halacoglu, former head of the Turkish Historical Society, claimed in August 2007 that many Kurds, particularly Kurdish Alevis, were originally ethnic Armenians.
Suspicion of Armenian “factor” in the insurgency is also reportedly shared to some extent by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Speaking in Washington in November 2007 Erdogan claimed that in addition to ethnic Kurds, the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) had ethnic Armenian members. He did not elaborate.
Zigzagging rhetoric
Turkish media speculation has also linked JITEM and other Turkish national security entities with January 2007 murder of Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.
That murder was followed by public outpouring of sympathy for Armenians inside Turkey and Erdogan-led government appeared eager to improve its image on Armenian issue.
The following year Turkey accepted Armenia’s offer to negotiate normalization of relations, but that negotiations process moved in starts and sputters before stalling fully by the end of 2009.
Turkish government signals on Armenia have been mixed since.
On one hand, Turkish officials no longer hinder discussion of the Genocide and have encouraged and safeguarded April 24 commemorations inside Turkey.
Ankara has also paid for renovation of a former Armenian cathedral on Lake Van and for the first time in decades Turkish citizens of ethnic Armenian descent were allowed to join the Turkish state bureaucracy.
At the same time, Erdogan threatened to expel Armenian citizens working in Turkey, a threat that he repeated earlier this month. He also ordered demolition of Turkey-Armenia “friendship monument” in Kars, a step that may be esthetically justified but nevertheless sends a negative message.
Most significantly, since 2010 Turkey has stepped military cooperation with Azerbaijan, which has long openly threatened warfare against Armenia.
Moscow. Farid Akbarov – APA. A presentation ceremony of the book “Armenian issue in 120 documents of Russian state archives” by Turkish scientist Mehmet Perincek was held at the Moscow’s Book Center, APA correspondent reports.
The author gave detailed information about his book and said he worked with the Russian archives for almost 10 years to write this book.
Perincek said the book denied “Armenian genocide” claims and explained some historic events, which were interpreted differently by the historians. “The Armenian issue and Armenians genocide claims are one of the controversial issues concerned Turkey and the world community recently. One of the important witnesses of the 1915-1923 events was tsarist Russia, then Soviet Russia alongside with Turkey and Armenian side as well. 120 original documents are saved in the Russian archives, which are open to everyone. Those documents were published in the book without any explanation and interpretation. These facts show that Armenian genocide claims are groundless. There were tragic events in that history committed by Turks and Armenians against each other and the imperialist powers, which intended to divide Turkey, had responsibility for those events”.
Then the author answered the questions of journalists. Armenian journalists and representative of the Dashnaksutyun party tried to hinder the presentation ceremony with their improper replications and speeches, but couldn’t achieve their goals. The author answered the questions with discretion. He said if Armenia opens its archives to the historians, he will work there with pleasure.
Mehmet Perincek was born in Istanbul on September 19, 1978. He graduated from the School of Law of Istanbul University and then continued his education in the post-graduate department of the Moscow Institute of International Relations. He researched a lot of materials of the Russian state archives, which proved the groundlessness of the Armenian claims against Turkey, and he published these materials in Turkey. Perincek is working now on his doctorate dissertation. He is a professor at the Istanbul University and senior fellow at the Institute of Ataturk Principles and History of Turkish Revolution.
via APA – Turkish scientist’s book “Armenian issue in 120 documents of Russian state archives” presented in Moscow.
