Two developments on Armenian-Turkish issues spilled a lot of ink last week. Neither one was significant, but assumed significance because of extensive international media coverage.
On April 22, exactly a year after the release of the roadmap, ostensibly to normalize Armenia-Turkey relations, and six months after the infamous Protocols were signed by the two countries with great fanfare, Pres. Serzh Sargsyan announced their suspension.
There was actually nothing new in this announcement. It has been crystal clear for months that Turkey’s leaders never intended to ratify the Protocols. They simply wanted to exploit them in order to extract further concessions from Armenia. Turks repeatedly announced that unless Armenia turned over Karabagh (Artsakh) to Azerbaijan, the Turkish Parliament would not ratify the Protocols. As time went by, Turkey added more inane demands, such as reversal of the Armenian Constitutional Court’s decision, and withdrawal of genocide resolutions from Parliaments of other countries. Since Armenia had repeatedly announced that it would not be the first to ratify the Protocols, the accords were already frozen for months, if not stillborn.
Even though some may view Pres. Sargsyan’s decision as a bold move, it would have been far more preferable for him to withdraw his country’s signature from the Protocols, since they were dead in the water anyway. He could have easily blamed their collapse on Turkey’s intransigence. He did acknowledge in his last week’s public announcement that he decided to suspend the Protocols, after Russia, France and the United States asked him not to abandon them completely.
Now that Armenia has blinked first, Turkey is blaming it for causing the collapse of the Protocols. Armenia has thus helped Turkey to wiggle its way out of the intense international pressure it was subjected to in recent months for its failure to ratify them.
Moreover, as long as the Protocols are not completely discarded, Turkey will continue to exploit them by cleverly claiming that it is still committed to their ratification under the “right” conditions, and will use them as a viable tool to defeat all initiatives by third countries on the Armenian Genocide.
Regrettably, Turkey is not the only country exploiting the Protocols. Pres. Obama, after pressuring Armenia not to reject the Protocols, dodged the term “Armenian Genocide” once again in his annual statement. He used as an excuse the non-existent “dialogue among Turks and Armenians.”
Just as he had done last year, Pres. Obama substituted the term “Meds Yeghern” [Great Calamity] for the Armenian Genocide and used the same worn out euphemisms and shameful word games for which, as a Senator and presidential candidate, he had condemned Pres. George W. Bush.
The overwhelming majority of Armenian-Americans, who had supported Obama’s candidacy and trusted him, now feel disillusioned and deceived. He ran his campaign on the promise of change, only to adopt the same immoral position of his predecessors, even though he keeps saying that he has not changed his mind regarding his pledge to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide!
In a column I wrote last year after Pres. Obama first broke his campaign promise on the Armenian Genocide, I stated that Armenian-Americans do not need to beg him to acknowledge the Genocide. Thirty years ago, Pres. Reagan issued a Presidential Proclamation referring to the Armenian Genocide. Therefore, Armenian-Americans see no special advantage in a repeat statement by Pres. Obama. By not keeping his word, however, Pres. Obama succeeded in undermining his own reputation and credibility with the American people and world public opinion.
It is simply mind-boggling that the President of the United States would go out of his way to issue a statement that would alienate the very people he is trying to accommodate.
Just imagine what the outcry would be had Pres. Obama referred to the Holocaust as a massacre or a tragic event. Yet, this is exactly what he has done on the Armenian Genocide by using a series of euphemisms in his April 24 statement: “Dark past,” “Dark moment in history,” “painful history.” “awful events of 1915,” ” a devastating chapter,” “one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century,” “murder,” and “terrible events.” Pres. Obama’s aides could have spent their time more usefully by reading a history book rather than a dictionary of synonyms.
The only new idea in Pres. Obama’s April 24, 2010 statement is the following brief sentence: “I salute the Turks who saved Armenians in 1915.” This is a commendable notion which unfortunately becomes devoid of any meaning, in the absence of who or what exactly these Armenians were saved from!
We all hope that the solemn commemorations next April 24 would not be tarnished either by the Protocols (frozen or thawed) or by Pres. Obama’s offensive statement!
U.S. — US President Barack Obama speaks about reforming Wall Street and the financial reform bill in the Great Hall at Cooper Union in New York, 22Apr2010
24.04.2010
Emil Danielyan
Backtracking on a campaign pledge, U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday again declined to describe the 1915 massacres of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as genocide as he honored the victims of “one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century.” (UPDATED)
As was the case in April 2009, Obama used instead the Armenian phrase Meds Yeghern, or Great Calamity, to mark the 95th anniversary of the start of the mass killings and deportations. “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,” he said. “Today is a day to reflect upon and draw lessons from these terrible events.”
“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,” he added.
Obama at the same time again made clear that he stands by his statements on the subject issued during the 2008 U.S. presidential race. “I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view of that history has not changed,” he said.
In a January 2008 statement to the Armenian community in the United States, Obama, then a presidential candidate, called the Armenian genocide “a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence.” “America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides. I intend to be that president,” he said at the time.
Obama backpedaled on that pledge after taking office, anxious not to antagonize Turkey, a key U.S. ally. In his April 2009 statement on Armenian Remembrance Day, Obama implicitly cited the need not to undermine the U.S.-backed rapprochement between Armenia and Turkey. The process culminated in the signing of Turkish-Armenian normalization agreements in Zurich last October.
Obama’s latest message contains no explicit references to the normalization process that has stalled because of Ankara’s refusal to unconditionally normalize ties with Yerevan. It only voices support for continued historical dialogue between Armenian and Turkish societies.
“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,” Obama said. “Together, the Turkish and Armenian people will be stronger as they acknowledge their common history and recognize their common humanity.”
The current and previous U.S. administrations have strongly encouraged and even sponsored Turkish-Armenian contacts at various levels. The U.S. State Department was, for example, behind the establishment in 2001 of the non-governmental Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission (TARC).
TARC called for the unconditional normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations before being disbanded in 2004. It is also famous for commissioning a study on the events of 1915 from the New York-based International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ).
In a 2003 report, the ICTJ concluded that the Armenian massacres “include all of the elements of the crime of genocide” as defined by a 1948 United Nations convention. Former U.S. President George W. Bush repeatedly cited the ICTJ study in his April 24 statements.
U.S. — President Barack Obama (L) greets Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC, 12Apr2010
Obama on Saturday also paid tribute to the “remarkable spirit” of the Armenian people. “The indomitable spirit of the Armenian people is a lasting triumph over those who set out to destroy them,” he said. “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.”
These words will hardly placate influential Armenian-American advocacy groups that had strongly backed Obama’s presidential bid and now deplore his reluctance to use the word “genocide.” They have also criticized the Obama administration for opposing a congressional draft resolution affirming the Armenian genocide.
The Turkish government scrambled to halt further progress of the resolution after it was approved by U.S. House Foreign Affairs committee on March 4. Turkish leaders also warned Obama against uttering the politically sensitive word in his April 24 message. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested after meeting Obama in Washington last week that the U.S. president will heed the warning.
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian seemed resigned to that as he addressed the nation Thursday on the future of the Turkish-Armenian normalization process. But he implied that Obama’s failure to term the 1915 massacres a genocide will not halt the decades-long Armenian campaign for genocide recognition.
“Our struggle for the international recognition of the Genocide continues,” said Sarkisian. “If some circles in Turkey attempt to use our candor to our detriment, to manipulate the process to avoid the reality of the 24th of April, they should know all too well that the 24th of April is the day that symbolizes the Armenian Genocide, but in no way shall it mark the time boundary of its international recognition.”
The Armenian American is a high-profile figure on the genocide.
By Patt MorrisonApril 23, 2010 | 5:07 p.m.
The Armenian American names Saroyan and Deukmejian, California writer and governor, respectively, might ring a bell. Here’s one that sounds a klaxon: Harut Sassounian, one of the most visible Armenian Americans in a dozen time zones. As president of a major charity, he has delivered above half a billion dollars in medical supplies, computers and vital equipment to Armenia. As publisher and columnist of the weekly California Courier, he presses for full, official acknowledgement of the 1915 massacre as genocide, a knifepoint balancing act for the U.S., which counts Turkey as a major strategic ally.
He comes, he says, from a family of warriors — including his grandmother, garlanded with a bandolier of bullets in a 1920s photograph made in Syria, where he was born. His weapons are words and paper; speaking for and to a sometimes fractious Armenian community, he quotes an old line: “Bring two Armenians together, and they will form three political parties.”
April 24, 95 years ago, was the beginning of the genocide. What happened?
Every important Armenian leader in Istanbul — writers, poets, intellectuals, scholars, you name it — [the Turks] arrested them and killed them. The Turks were thinking, “Once we kill off the leaders, the rest are sheep without the shepherd.”
The California Courier has been around since 1958 — and when you arrived in 1983, you changed it.
The paper was started in Fresno by two gentlemen; one was an Armenian by the name of George Mason. There were a handful of Armenian-language papers at the time but not a single newspaper in English. It caught like wildfire. It was a social newspaper; it wasn’t political at all. So it went for 25 years. Then Mason hired me.
The first week, I wrote that the Turkish ambassador [to the United States] should be expelled as persona non grata for the Armenian genocide. Mason got tons of complaints — who is this radical terrorist you hired? The column created such a reaction — initially a negative reaction. They asked Mason to fire me immediately.
Why?
[Readers] were used to babies being born, vacations….. Many were cultural Armenians, not political Armenians. Their Armenianism was lifestyle Armenianism.
What’s wrong with that?
Nothing, but Armenians are also a nation [with] a long history and culture, and genocide was committed against them. The newcomers, it matters to them. They want to right the wrong; they feel strongly about this injustice. If somebody wants to leave their history behind, that’s their choice. But if somebody wants to struggle to regain what we lost in the old country, he also has that right. You can protest, you can petition your congressman, the president.
There’s a current news story about a bone marrow drive for a little girl in Glendale who’s a quarter Armenian. The search focuses on Armenians because they have a distinctive genetic makeup, being less likely to marry outside their ethnic group. Why is that?
If you know what Armenians have been through, then you start appreciating why. Armenians are an ancient people with an ancient civilization. At one point basically every Armenian lost just about everything — their grandparents, their language and culture. I cannot go back and fight the genocide — I cannot bring back those people. I cannot declare war against Turkey. So the only thing I can do is to hang on to whatever little is left of the culture, as my way of getting back at those who tried to wipe it out.
Armenians abroad dreamed of a free Armenia — and it happened after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
We thought we wouldn’t see it in our lifetime. But all of a sudden we woke up and behold, there’s a free Armenia. So part of our dream is realized, but that’s not the full dream. The land west of current Armenia, where Mt. Ararat [stands, along with] thousands of churches and monuments, that’s where the real Armenian homeland is. Now we have 10% of what was Armenia historically. We’re looking forward to 90%.
There’s a very powerful Armenian brain trust here and around the world. Would it help the Republic of Armenia for those people to go back?
Some Armenians have gone back. But there are very practical considerations. The country is so destitute, there basically are no jobs. So unless you’re financially independent, you’re going to be a burden. It takes a very hardened person to really go there and live. Secondly, people have their lives, their families here. It really is a hardship to pull up your roots.
Even if all Armenians want to move there, that’s not necessarily a good thing. [The diaspora has] turned the tragedy of the genocide inadvertently into a blessing because when the homeland needs something, Armenians have contacts in terms of trade, import-export, neighbors and colleagues. If it wasn’t for the Armenian Americans lobbying Congress, Congress would be allocating much less aid to Armenia. It would be worse off.
Armenia and Turkey are doing unprecedented work to normalize relations. Why would Armenians abroad take a harder line toward Turkey than the Armenian government does?
Running a country is different than being an individual in the diaspora. If I were the president of Armenia, I would be making decisions based on certain constraints that I don’t have sitting in Glendale right now. As an individual I can take a very hard line.
In some instances, Armenia’s leadership would like to take a position on something but they know it would have negative repercussions if they became a little more demanding. The diaspora is much freer to make such demands, so we make those demands. Sometimes, us taking a hard line is very helpful to Armenia, because they look much more accommodating.
You once told The Times’ editorial board you wouldn’t talk to Turkish officials, but you would talk to Turks.
What I said was, I do not speak with Turkish officials who deny the genocide. There’s no point in arguing with them. They’re going to deny it, no matter what I say. But regular Turks — I talk to them, we communicate. Someone in Turkey now who’s 30, 40, even 70, 80 years old, they have not committed any crime. I have no hatred or animosity against the Turkish population at large. These people have not done anything against me or my people. The Turks who did the crime are dead. What is really sad and unhelpful is today’s Turkish leaders denying such an event took place, sort of linking themselves to the earlier crime by covering it up.
[Recently] on Turkish CNN, four prominent scholars [said they were] for the recognition of the Armenian genocide. One line was just a killer line: “In Turkey, we have Armenians desperately trying to prove to the world that they were killed, and Kurds desperately trying to prove that they’re alive, that they exist.”
What are the misconceptions about Armenians here?
[That] they’re clannish and don’t integrate into the larger society. In Glendale there’s always a dispute which goes like this: Why do you have to speak Armenian to each other? This is America — speak English. You hang around each other; it’s like a little Armenian clique.
By all means we should be fluent in English, we should participate in the Lions Club, we should go to football games and partake in everything American. But if somebody chooses to speak only Armenian, go to an Armenian grocery store and go to Armenian barber, that’s his business; no one should force him. If [anyone] doesn’t want to speak English, and he has a life he can live just knowing Spanish or Armenian or Hebrew, that’s his business.
There are a lot of Armenians who are integrated into society — many of them change their names; you can’t even go by the “ian” at the end.
Gov. George Deukmejian didn’t change his name to “George Duke.”
The governor is a very unusual person. Not only is he fully integrated into American society and mainstream politics, but he kept his long Armenian name. A lot of people advised him [not to].
What is Armenian Americans’ sense of President Obama now?
It’s a very sad situation. We passionately supported his candidacy because he’s not the typical politician — he comes from a minority background, he knows what it is to be suffering, so we identified with him right away. When he was a senator, he spoke fervently in defense of the Armenian cause, in defense of recognition of genocide. He even gave a speech when he was a candidate [and] said: “America deserves a president who will tell the truth about the Armenian genocide. I intend to be that president.” So we all believed in him. And the minute he becomes president, he does not say genocide, he finds a euphemism the way Bush and Condoleezza Rice did. He even went so far as to use an Armenian word to describe [it], which was really ridiculous. He’s done everything that he said he would not do.
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.
Turkish Forum Advisory Board Member Robert B. McKay, Ph. D. In supportOfTHE YOUNG TURKS OF AMERICA
50 years ago my wife and I traveled to Turkey. We lived there for 5 years as teachers at the Tarsus American College, Tarsus, Turkey. Finding artifacts going back to 2500 B.C. opened our eyes to aspects of history that never seemed real in a sterile classroom on the rolling hills of my college, University of Connecticut.
While teaching in Turkey, one of the many issues that interested me were the world events of 1915 as they affected Turkey and the actions that surrounded them.
However if we take 1915 out of context we do not see the relentless, persistent and predicable deaths that the Armenians have inflicted on their neighbors: Jews, Kurds, Turks, Azeries, and all others who might disagree with them.
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TIMES SQUARE RALLY, NEW YORK CITY
APRIL 24, 2010
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A flow of history which shows a uniform and consistent pattern of atrocities by the Armenians would be the following 3 periods.
1915 through WWI Armenian Russian conspiracy
1980’s Armenians begin worldwide assassinations: Ambassadors and politicians
they didn’t like. The FBI credited Armenia with 25% of international terrorism in the USA.
1992—In the Nagorno=Karabakh region of Azerbaijan Armenian and Russian
forces kill 400,000 Azaries leaving 1,000,000 (IDP’s) International Displaced
Persons in Azerbaijan.
Period I
Let’s talk about 1915 through WWI. It is well documented that Russia wished the demise of Ottoman Turkey and wanted access to oceans. During this period Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire flocked to join Russian forces attacking the Ottomans from their eastern flank. The Armenian Russian forces and guerilla forces with the Ottoman Empire blow up post offices, cut lines of communication and caused the Ottomans to move up to 400,000 troops from the southern flank to protect the Armenian Russian threat. There were massacres and atrocities of equal magnitude on both sides. Bones found in Turkish soil are both ethnically Turkic and Armenian. However, today after all these years Armenians, mostly those living in the United States, claim that the Ottomans committed a genocide: as a side note the term genocide was never used until it had political importance long after WWII.
In brief your concern with the topic is appreciated, but telling only the pro-western/Christian side of the story is not appreciated. In the minds of many scholars, writers and politicians, the Armenian perspective is wrong! There are, in fact, two sides.
Please note that a preponderance of scholars and politicians do not accept the genocide concept. Interestingly the highest ranking Armenian, Hovhannes Katchaznouni, the first Prime Minister of the new independent Armenian Republic in 1923 did not accept the concept of genocide.
a) Dr. Katchaznouni in his report to the Dashnaq Party’s 1923 Congress clearly accepts Armenian responsibility for the tragedy that befell his country. “We (Armenians) caused this tragedy. Turks knew what they were doing (and) the (Ottoman Turkish) deportation (of Armenians) was right and necessary”
This report has been hidden from researchers for years, however since being uncovered it has been published in a brief 125 page book titled “Dashnagtzoutiun Has Nothing to Do Anymore”, Kaynak Yayinlari (Kaynak Press) pps. 125.
b) The Malta Tribunal, held by England, immediately after WWI and initiated by the Armenian interest could not convict a single Ottoman military officer or politician of
genocide and/or war crimes.
c) U.S. Admiral Bristol, commander of the Sixth Fleet and later first Ambassador to the new Republic of Turkey (post WWI) traveled the country extensively and reported no genocide.
d) Ambassador Elekdar went to England to intensively study a document produced by the English called the “Blue Book”. The Ambassador has shown that most of the the documents were either fraudulently written or slanted so as to draw England into WWI.
Ambassador Elekdar subjected himself to scholars from around the world on his findings. He has not been refuted.
For brevity it is fair to say that the key scholars and leaders of the early 1900’s did not attribute a genocide to the Ottoman Turks.
Period II
During the 1980’s Armenians, who never at any time in the history of the Ottoman Empire had never had sovereignty over even a single square inch of the Anatolian peninsula were beginning to push for land claims and reparation based upon a made up genocide claim.
During this time the Turkish archives were open to scholars. No one has ever found a single note or sentence regarding a government policy of eliminating or getting rid of Armenians.
Armenia would never open its archives. In order to prevent conflicting view the Armenians began a worldwide campaign of assassinating ambassadors and others who disagreed with them. In fact at one point during this period the FBI identified Armenia as being responsible for 25% of international terror casualties in the U.S.A.
Period III
In 1992 interest in oil drive an Armenian Russian genocide of Azeris. As in Period I (1915) Armenians are pawns of Russia. They can only act with Russian consent.
However since the early 1800’s those people of the Transcaucuses: Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been under the control of Russia. The Armenians more than the others, have been willing to be the pawns of Russian geo-political interests.
In the 1990’s Russia had decided that the oil rich region of Nagorno-Karabakh would be an autonomous section of Azerbaijan even though it had a high % of Armenians living there.
However, the Armenians living in this Nagorno Karabkh region of Azerbaijan began killing any Azari that lived there. In the village of Khojaly (about 7000 people) the Armenians killed every man, woman and child. The Russian 366th Regiment participated.
The result was that by 1992 Armenians were responsible for killing 400,000 people and leaving over 1,000,000 International Displaced Persons (IDP’s) in Azerbaijan. Where is the popular media outrage? Where is the political outrage? These events are contemporary.
As background information let’s remember that Armenia today is about the same population as Connecticut, slightly over 3 million. Ten years ago the Armenian population was almost double that of today. For economic reasons, Armenians are relocating around the world, a large percentage to Turkey.
In Conclusion
The long term actions of Armenia as an aggressor pawn of Russia lends credibility to the Turkish claims that there was no genocide.
There is no doubt that more ethnic Turks died than ethnic Armenians,
(International Red Cross figures state that more than 25% of all ethnic Turks died
as a result of war, massacres, diseases and starvation.)
There never was an Ottoman policy to exterminate Armenians.
Ottoman Turks failed in World War I in large part because Armenian/Russian
forces diverted their capabilities to the eastern part of the empire.
At the beginning of the century Armenians were pawns of Russian attempts to
gain seaports. Armenia thought part of the Ottoman Empire would be given to
them.
Later in the century (1992) Armenia was a pawn of Russian oil interests.
Again Russia gets oil, Armenia expands its borders into Azerbaijan.
Armenian Russian killings in Azerbaijan are 400,000 dead and 1,000,000 IDP’s.
Where is the outrage by the media and U.S. politicians?
The U.S. Congress considered H. Res. 252 which is in conflict with historical facts and severely distorts history. Furthermore, this resolution will harm U. S. Turkish relations and the Armenian-Turkish normalization process for years to come.
It will also harm Islam Christian trust for centuries around the world. Alliances between Muslim and Christian countries will be less likely. Certainly Turkish treaties with American backed Israel will be much less enthusiastically viewed.
Based on historical facts, the real question is why would the United States wish to inflict insults and injuries to its friends, the Turks, and ignore the recent Armenian atrocities in Azerbaijan and around the world.
Young Turks-Genç Türkler Derneği’mizin düzenleyeceği “Ermeni Yalanlarına Son ve Şehitlerimizi Anma”Mitingi, 24 Nisan 2010 Cumartesi günü 12.00 pm ile 3.00 pm arasında yapilacaktir
Sizden ricamiz: sizleri ve dernek uyelerini aramizda gormek istiyoruz.Bu Milli Davaya SAHIP CIKALIM………………….
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Amerikadaki Türk Toplumumuzun birlik ve beraberlik içinde Ermeni Yalanlarına Hayır diyerek, milli davasına sahip çıkması gerektiğini belirten Tekman, gerçekleri tüm dünya kamuoyunun bilmesinin şart olduğunu sözlerine ekledi. 24 Nisan gününün Türk bayragi altında toplanıp,beraberce tek bir yürek ve tek bir yumruk olarak hareket etme günü olduğunu ifade eden Tekman, Başkan Obama’nın ,Ermenistana vereceği mesajtan önce mitingin yapılmasının önemine dikkat çekti.
Sözde soykırım tasarısının komitede kabul edilmesinden sonra,Ermeni Diasporasının güç kazanarak,iyice şimartildiğini dile getiren Tekman, Türkler üzerindeki baskının daha da arttığını , iç ve dış düşmanların her türlü engellemelerine rağmen,New York Polis Departmanından, büyük çabalarla iznin alındığını belirtti.Başkan Yardımcısı Cenk Coktosun’nun katılacak dernekler ile temasta olduğunu ve New York çevresinde yaşayan vatandaşlarımızın 24 Nisan mitingine katılması için büyük çaba sarfedildiğini açıkladı. TASFO dahil olmak uzere, yaklaşık 20ye yakın derneğimizin desteği var diyen Tekman, Ermenilerin tarih boyunca Türklere ve Azerilere yaptığı insanlık dışı zulmü ve katliamları, tüm Amerikan Kamuoyuna izlettireceklerini söyledi. İlk defa hiç bir yerde yayınlanmamış video gösterilerinin olacağını belirten Tekman, programa bir cok süpriz konuşmaci katilacagini dile getirdi.
Kurucu Başkan Tekman, bu sene katılımcılar arasında, Özbekistan,Doğu Türkistan,Türkmenistan,Uygur ve Kırım Türklerininde destek vereceğini ve Azerbaycan Milli Güvenlik Bakanlığından bir grup yetkilininde programda olacağını belirterek, tüm vatandaşlarımızı mitinge bekliyoruz cagrisinda bulundu.
Ermeni Terör Örgütü ASALA tarafından katledilen diplomatlarımız ve aileleri içinde saygı duruşunda da bulunacağız diyen Tekman, “Sözde Ermeni Soykırımına Hayır” ,’Arşivler Açılsın”, ‘Yalana Son” gibi birçok pankartın hazırlandığını bildirdi
TURKIYE DERIN KIS UYKUSUNDAN UYANMA ISARETLERI GOSTERMEYE BASLADI
.. TURKISH FORUM
Armenian Weekly Staff
Thu, Apr 22 2010
ANKARA, Turkey (A.W.)-A symposium on the Armenian Genocide titled “1915
Within Its Pre- and Post-Historical Periods: Denial and Confrontation,
”
which was to be held in Ankara, was cancelled on April 21 after facing
political and bureaucratic hurdles.
Organized by the Ankara Freedom to Thought Initiative (AFTI), the
symposium was not only going to address history, but explore issues
like the confiscation of Armenian property and reparations.
Confirmed participants included Ragip Zarakolu (publisher), Recep
Marasli (author of The Armenian National Democratic Movement and 1915
Genocide), Sait Cetinoglu (activist and writer), David Gaunt (genocide
scholar, author of Massacres, Resistance, Protectors: Muslim-Christian
Relations in Eastern Anatolia During World War I), Henry Theriault
(professor of philosophy, Worcester State University), Baskin Oran
(author, professor of political science at Ankara University; one of
the initiators of the apology campaign of Turkish intellectuals),
and Khatchig Mouradian (doctoral student in Holocaust and genocide
studies, Clark University; editor, the Armenian Weekly).
Theriault and Mouradian were scheduled to speak about Genocide
recognition and reparations.
U.S. — US President Barack Obama speaks about reforming Wall Street and the financial reform bill in the Great Hall at Cooper Union in New York, 22Apr2010
