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‘Ottoman Turco-Armenian War Tragedy’ presented at Edinburgh City Council

The Federation of British Turkish Associations and the British Turkish Committee for Dialogue

A symposium, jointly organised by the Federation of British Turkish Associations and British Turkish Committee for Dialogue, entitled ‘Ottoman Turco-Armenian War Tragedy’ has been presented at Edinburgh City Council on the 24th October 2005. . . .

In the symposium, the two-sided nature of the Ottoman Turco-Armenian War Tragedy has been presented to the participants, amongst whom were Edinburgh City Council leader Donald Anderson and Edinburgh Councillors.

Prof. Norman Stone (Professor of History) and Retired Ambassador Gunduz Aktan presented the incidents’ historical, political and legal aspects to the audience.

In the symposium, it was explained that the clashes between the Turkish/Muslim community and the armed Armenian groups and resulting migrations in the declining stages of the Ottoman Empire, cost many lives to both sides. The speakers suggested that this should be called a tragedy in which both sides suffered.

Enforcing Turkey to define this tragedy as a genocide that only affected the Armenian population has been the main leverage to block Turkey’s EU membership path by anti-Turkish factions in the past.

The speakers answered questions from the audience, including those from the City Council leader Donald Anderson.

As British Turkish Committee for Dialogue and the Federation of British Turkish Associations we declare that it was upsetting that the CDs and DVDs necessary to present the two-sided nature of the tragedy has been obstructed and delayed at customs, preventing that part of the symposium from taking place.

As BTCD and FBTA, we suggest that the vote on the declared motion by Edinburgh council aiming at defining this tragedy as ‘genocide’ should be cancelled, for the sake of preserving impartiality of Edinburgh Council as a third party. Both organisations have agreed that Edinburgh council has done enough to enlighten the true nature of this tragedy, allowing both parties to present their cases.

Sincerely,
The executive committees of BTCD and ITDF

Background:
The clashes between the Turkish/Muslim community and the armed Armenian groups and the resulting migrations in the declining stages of the Ottoman Empire cost many lives to both sides. (At least 523,000 Turkish lives – documented so far -, and hundreds of thousands of Armenian lives from among the 1,050,000 Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire at the time)

The Armenian Diaspora describes this two-sided Tragedy as genocide committed against them. However, many scholars, including Prof. Dr Bernard Lewis, Prof. Dr. Stanford Shaw, Prof.Dr.Heath Lowry support the view that in these clashes both sides suffered and it is scientifically wrong to call the tragedy as ‘genocide’. There is no decision given by an International Court to this effect.

The Turkish Diaspora in-large maintains the opinion that giving precedence to any side of the victims is unhelpful and they propose to commemorate the victims of both sides. The Turkish government has recently proposed to set up a joint committee between Armenia and Turkey to investigate the events in more detail, based on historical archives.

The scholars that support the view that the incidents can be best described as a two-sided tragedy, in which both sides suffered, have been the target of extremist Armenian organisations in the past, which deny the two-sided nature of the war tragedy so far.

July 16, 2008

Source: Armeniatruth

July 28, 2008
PKK-Armenian Relations

Changing their tactics after the ’80s as they encountered adverse reactions from the world. Now, it was time for PKK to carry on the mission. Their first terrorist act started at Eruh and Semdimli in 1984 while the ASALA-Armenian terror receded to the background. Some of the tangible proofs of the ties between Armenians and PKK are the following: . . .

The terrorist organisation PKK announced the period from 21 to 28 April 1980 as the “Red Week” and started to organise meetings on April 24 as the anniversary of the alleged genocide against Armenians.

The PKK and ASALA terror organisations held a joint press conference on 8 April 1980 at the City of Sidon in Lebanon where they issued a declaration. Since this drew a considerable reaction, they decided that their relations should be maintained on a clandestine basis. The responsibility of the attacks launched against the Turkish Consulate General in Strasbourg on 9 November 1980 and the Turkish Airline office in Rome on 19 November 1980 were undertaken jointly by the ASALA and PKK.

Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the separatist terror organisation, was elected to the honorary membership of the Armenian Authors’ Association for “his contributions to the idea of Greater Armenia”.

A Kurdistan Committee was formed within the Armenian Popular Movement like in many European countries.

On 4 June 1993, a meeting was held at the headquarters of PKK terrorist organisation at West Beyrouth with the participation of representatives from the Armenian Hinchak Party, ASALA and PKK.

Another striking example of the Armenian-PKK ties are the following resolutions adopted in meetings held at two separate churches from 6 to 9 September 1993 with the participation of Lebanese Armenian Orthodox Archbishop, officials of the Armenian Party and about 150 youth leaders:

A somewhat sedate attitude should be reserved toward Turkey for the time being.

The Armenian community is on the way to growth and better economic strength.

The propaganda activities have started to make the genocide claims better understood in the rest of the world.

The newly founded Armenian State with a constantly growing territory will definitely avenge the ancestors of its citizens.

The Western powers and particularly the United States side with and favour the Armenians in the combat for Nagorno Karabakh. This opportunity should be well exploited as more and more Armenian young men join the ranks in this fight.

The perpetual terrorist attacks in Turkey (meaning the PKK’s actions) will continue and eventually collapse the country’s economy, leading to an uprising by the entire population.

Turkey will be abolish and a Kurdish State will be formed.

Armenians will hold good relations with the Kurds and support their fight.

Territories presently held by the Turks will the Armenian’s tomorrow.

PUBLICATION ORGANS OF TERRORIST ORGANISATION PKK IN ARMENIA

The newspapers Reya Taze and Bota Redaksiyon are published in Armenia in Cyrillic alphabet under the control of terrorist organisation PKK with the help of PKK members coming from Turkey and Europe and carries out propaganda for the PKK.

PKK-ASALA RELATIONS

The Armenian terrorism at international first started basis in 1973 and began to gain impetus after the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation with attacks or terrorist nature against Turks and Turkish representations abroad with sabotages and outright assaults.

Upon resurrection of the Kurdish terrorist movement that began to show itself in a variety of legal political entities from ’70s onward, the Armenian terror organisation ASALA ceded its place in 1984 to the PKK that killed without distinction of Turk or Kurd in a bloodthirsty manner under the guidance of Abdullah Öcalan.

Yet in prior to that date, of the co-operation between terrorist organisations ASALA and PKK was known manifesting in the training of ASALA militants at PKK’s trannie camps, the joint operations and declamations by them both and training support provided at the PKK camps by Armenian experts, not to mention the organic ties between the terrorist organisation PKK and Armenian Tashnak Sutyun Party.

The common goal of the co-operation between the terrorist organisations PKK and ASALA is to establish States in Turkey’s Southeastern and Eastern under the Marxist-Leninist ideology. Since, however, an overview of the areas on which both organisations had schemes, it may be deduced that one of these organisations acts as the other’s mercenaries.

An examination of the discovered documents revealed that the militants of ASALA and PKK terrorist organisations underwent training at the Bekaa and Zeli camps.

1987 AGREEMENT BETWEEN PKK AND ARMENIANS

An agreement was concluded between the separatist terror organisation PKK and Armenians in 1987. Following are the highlights of this agreement:

1. Armenians will be involved in training activities within the PKK terror organisation.

2. Five thousand American Dollars per annum will be paid to the PKK terror organisation per capita by the Armenian side.

3. The Armenians will participate in the small-scale operations.

As the Armenian component began to acquire a significantly elevated position within the organisation as a result of this agreement, the following resolutions were adopted in a meeting held on 18 April 1990 with a person named Hermes Samurai, reported to be the official responsible for the PKK-ASALA relations:

1. The PKK and ASALA terrorist organisations will be under a joint command from that date on.

2. The Armenians will undertake intelligence work on the Turkish security forces.

3. Territories gained through the expected revolution will be equally shared between the parties.

4. Seventy-five percent of training camp expenses will be borne by the Armenians.

5. Operations will be conducted at the metropolitan cities in Turkey.

The terrorist organisation PKK that moved its bases into Northern Iraq after because of very heavy blows dealt in the transborder operations and lost all possibilities of sheltering there is known to have entered into arrangements for shifting some of its cadres to Iran and Armenia where it started an active subversive operation toward Turkey.

It has also been learned that a group of European representatives of the terrorist organisation PKK paid a visit to Armenia where they concluded an agreement with the Armenian leaders for the unhindered ingress to and egress from Kars region by their militants, that Armenia offered sheltering, monetary and equipment support to the Kurdish settlements in that country following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the formal proclamation of the Armenian Republic. Similarly, a group of militants of the terrorist organisation PKK left Urmiah for Armenia on three vehicles on 19 and 20 May 1992 for fighting against Azerite Turks together with the Armenians.

ARMENIAN ALLEGATIONS: Myth and Reality

karabakh.gen.az

Source: Armeniatruth

July 28, 2008
MCCAIN ATTACK ON OBAMA GENOCIDE POLICY

MCCAIN ATTACK ON OBAMA GENOCIDE POLICY

armradio.am
24.07.2008 11:29

Armenian Americans – a community of one a half million citizens that
has experienced the horrors of genocide and continues to endure the
pain of its denial -defended Senator Barack Obama against Senator
John McCain’s unfounded and starkly hypocritical charges that the
presumptive Democratic nominee is not serious about preventing future
genocides.

Senator McCain’s presidential campaign issued a press statement
attacking Senator Obama as lacking sincerity in his calls of
“never again,” even as the Illinois Senator personally traveled
to Israel’s Yad Vashem memorial to honor the millions slaughtered
in the Holocaust. Senator Obama has been a consistently strong and
effective leader on issues of genocide, leading Congressional efforts
to stop the Genocide in Darfur, and fighting vigorously against the
Bush Administration’s complicity – enthusiastically backed by John
McCain – in the Turkish government’s denial of the Armenian Genocide.

“Armenian Americans, a community with a long and painful experience of
genocide, know that John McCain lacks the standing to lecture anyone –
especially a genocide-prevention leader of the stature of Barack Obama
– regarding America’s compelling national interest and moral obligation
in opposing all genocides, past or present,” said Armenians for Obama
Chairman Areen Ibranossian. “Barack Obama has led the fight=2 0against
the Darfur Genocide, and publicly taken on the Bush White House’s
obstruction of recognition of the Armenian Genocide, while John McCain
has done little more than to meekly accept the gag-rule imposed by the
Turkish government on the discussion of this crime against humanity.”

“John McCain, who has outsourced U.S. genocide policy to the
Turkish government, really hit bottom by launching such an obviously
hypocritical attack against Barack Obama, who is so far out in front of
him in fighting for real U.S. leadership to end the cycle of genocide,”
added Ibranossian.

On January 19th, 2008 Senator Barack Obama issued a forceful and
passionate statement on the topic of genocide, which reads, in part:
“Genocide, sadly, persists to this day, and threatens our common
security and common humanity.

Tragically, we are witnessing in Sudan many of the same brutal tactics
– displacement, starvation, and mass slaughter – that were used by
the Ottoman authorities against defenseless Armenians back in 1915. I
have visited Darfurian refugee camps, pushed for the deployment of
a robust multinational force for Darfur, and urged divestment from
companies doing business in Sudan. America deserves a leader who
speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and responds forcefully
to all genocides. I intend to be that President.”

Armenians for Obama is a nationwide voter registration, education
and mobilization effort dedicated to electing Ba rack Obama
President. Based in Los Angeles, and with chapters and affiliates
in all 50 States, Armenians for Obama will harness the energy and
enthusiasm for Barack Obama’s candidacy to ensure record high Armenian
American turnout in critical battleground states

July 27, 2008
TURKEY AND ARMENIA: FROM SECRET TALKS TO “SOCCER DIPLOMACY”?

TURKEY AND ARMENIA: FROM SECRET TALKS TO “SOCCER DIPLOMACY”?

By Gareth Jenkins

Friday, July 25, 2008

On July 24, the presidents of Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan formally inaugurated the Turkish section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad, which will eventually provide the first ever rail link between the three countries. Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Turkish President Abdullah Gul declared, in an unmistakable reference to Armenia, that “this project is open to all countries in the region who wish to contribute to good, neighborly relations, peace and prosperity” (NTV, CNNTurk, July 24).

Armenia and Turkey do not have any official diplomatic relations and the border between the two countries has been closed since 1993, following the war in Nagorno Karabakh between ethnic Armenians and the Azeri government in Baku. In recent years, hopes of an improvement in relations between Turkey and Armenia have been frustrated by continuing differences over the status of Nagorno Karabakh and—more intractably—the treatment of ethnic Armenians during the final years of the Ottoman Empire, culminating in 1915-16 in the massacre and deportation of virtually the entire Armenian population of Anatolia.

As a result, Ankara has consistently excluded Armenia from its plans to make Turkey into an energy and transportation hub. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum (BTE) natural gas pipeline both pointedly circumvent Armenia. The 76 kilometer (48 mile) Turkish section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad is currently expected to be completed in late 2010 or early 2011 at a total cost of $241 million. The initial target is for the railroad to carry 1.5 million passengers and 6.5 million tons of freight in the first year after it comes into service (Today’s Zaman, July 25).

In addition to connecting Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan, Ankara hopes that the railroad will form another link in a rail network that will eventually connect, via Turkey, China and Central Asia to western Europe. The Marmaray Project to bore a rail tunnel under the Bosporus and connect the Asian and European shores of Istanbul is currently scheduled for completion in 2011.

Armenia opposed the building of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad, pointing out that there is already a railway running from Tbilisi to Kars via the Armenian town of Gyumri, although it has been out of use since the closure of the Turkish-Armenian border in 1993.

It is currently unclear what concessions Gul envisaged when he apparently made Armenian participation in the new rail project conditional on Yerevan making a contribution to “good, neighborly relations, peace and prosperity.” For the moment at least, the respective positions of Turkey and Armenia on issues such as Nagorno Karabakh and the massacres and deportations of ethnic Armenians in the late Ottoman Empire appear so far apart as to be irreconcilable. Even if the two countries could reach some form of understanding over the latter, a solution to the problem of Nagorno Karabakh is beyond Turkey’s control as it depends on an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. There is currently no indication that one is imminent.

Nevertheless, there have recently been signs of a slight thaw between Turkey and Armenia. Even though the border between the two countries remains closed, there are now regular flights between Turkey and Armenia by both the privately-owned Turkish Atlas Jet and the Armenian state-owned carrier Armavia.

On July 18, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan appeared to confirm rumors in the Turkish media that diplomats from Turkey and Armenia had met in Switzerland for several days of informal talks about ways of improving ties. “Such talks are held from time to time,” said Babacan. “We have problems about current issues and disagreements about the events of 1915. It is essential that these problems are handled through dialogue” (Today’s Zaman, July 19).

The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) also issued a statement admitting that in recent years there had been occasional informal contacts between Turkey and Armenia and noting that Turkey had been one of the first countries to recognize Armenia when it declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. “Meetings between members of the foreign ministries of the two countries are part of these contacts. We believe that no different meaning should be attributed to these meetings,” said the MFA statement (Today’s Zaman, July 19).

A previous series of informal discussions in 2005 failed to produce any result. In recent years, hopes of an improvement in relations have been complicated by events such as the motion brought before the U.S. Congress in fall 2007 calling on the United States to recognize what happened to the Armenians in 1915 as a genocide and the racist murder in Istanbul in January 2007 of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

But, even if diplomats from Turkey and Armenia remain reluctant to be seen meeting with each other, the two countries will come together in the most public of ways later this year. On September 6, the Turkish and Armenian national soccer teams are due to meet in Yerevan in the first ever match between the countries after they were both drawn in the same group in the qualifying stages for the 2010 soccer World Cup in South Africa. Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan has already invited Gul to Yerevan to watch the match. Gul has yet to reply to the invitation. Given the often extreme mutual antagonism between nationalists in both countries, traveling to Yerevan would require Gul to display both personal and political courage; as it would for Sarksyan to attend the return match in Istanbul. But there is also little doubt that, even if it did not produce any immediate results, such “soccer diplomacy” could contribute to a further easing of tensions and perhaps lay the foundations for an eventual reconciliation.

July 26, 2008
Cyprus Peace Operation Ended Pain Of Turkish Cypriots, Erdogan

ANKARA – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday “the Cyprus Peace Operation of July 20th, 1974 ended the pain suffered by Turkish Cypriots.”

Speaking at a group meeting of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party in the Turkish parliament, Erdogan said, “the Cyprus Peace Operation helped protect the Turkish Cypriots from a possible genocide in the island.”

Reminding that July 20th was a day of celebrations for peace and freedoms in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Erdogan said, “the Cyprus Peace Operation ended the violence perpetrated towards the Turkish Cypriots. The Peace Operation was a proof that the motherland, Republic of Turkey, would stand by the Turkish Cypriots at all costs. The Peace Operation was based on international agreements and helped Turkish Cypriots attain freedom and peace. The whole world must understand this reality. Those who are resisting to understand the realities would see the facts sooner or later. We have always been on the side of peace in Cyprus. Both before and after the Peace Operation, we maintained our posture supporting peace and dialogue.”

“A comprehensive solution in Cyprus should be based on the political equality of Turkish Cypriots. The new partnership should be bi-zonal and based on political equality and be under the active guarantee of Turkey,” Erdogan said.

“Despite their peaceful stance, the Turkish Cypriots have been subject to unfair isolations. The Turkish Cypriots voted for the Annan Plan on April 24th, 2004. While the Greek Cypriots rejected the Annan Plan, they got rewarded by the European Union (EU) with full membership. The Turkish Cypriots got punished although they had approved the Annan Plan,” Erdogan said.

“Closing eyes to the isolations imposed on Turkish Cypriots in the 21st century is a shame for all of humanity,” Erdogan said.

“We expect all parties, including the EU, to fulfill their promises made to the Turkish Cypriots,” Erdogan stressed.

“Regardless of what the conditions may be, the AK Party government would continue to stay on the side of the TRNC and our brothers and sisters living there,” Erdogan said.

“Cyprus is our national cause. We would carry this matter on our shoulders at all costs,” Erdogan said.

Touching on the water need of the TRNC, Prime Minister Erdogan said that Turkey would build an underwater system to carry 75 million cubic meters of potable water from the southern town of Anamur to the island soon.

“Water is essential for the Turkish Cypriots and this project may turn into a ‘peace water’ project. With God’s help, we would complete this project by the end of 2008,” Erdogan also said.

Source: www.turkishpress.com, 22.07.2008

July 24, 2008
Armenians for Obama”

Armenians for Obama” isimli kampanya çerçevesinde Colorado, Washington, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Washington DC ve New York eyaletlerinde düzenlenmesi öngörülen „grassroots” toplantılarına ilişkin olarak 17 Temmuz tarihinde „Asbarez”de yayımlanan „Armenians For Obama to Host Nationwide Platform Meetings” başlıklı haberin metni :

sgurbuz@aol.com

„LOS ANGELES, CA – Armenians for Obama announced this week that it has organized grassroots platform meetings throughout the country aimed at including domestic and international issues of interest to the Armenian American community within the Democratic Party’s platform to be approved at the Democratic National Convention in August.

The meetings will take place in Lakewood, CO; Seattle, WA; Gallup, NM; Las Vegas, NV; Portland, OR; Houston, TX; Austin, TX; and Glendale, CA in the Western United States, and in Dearborn, MI; Philadelphia, PA; Washington, DC; and New York, NY on the Eastern part of the country. For more information on the platform hearings, Armenians for Obama, or getting involved, please email: info@armeniansforobama.com.

Those attending the platform meetings will discuss the possible inclusion of US recognition for the Armenian Genocide, the right to self-determination of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh and lifting the Turkish blockade of Armenia. Participants will also address the war in Iraq, the troubled U.S. economy, and rising cost of healthcare.

“The Bush Administration has failed the Armenian-American community on a wide range of issues, especially its continued complicity in the denial of the Armenian Genocide, but also its opposition to a broad array of foreign policy and domestic issues of concern to Americans of Armenian heritage,” said Areen Ibranossian, Chairman of Armenians for Obama.

“Including issues of special concern to Armenian Americans in the Democratic Party Platform, such as the need to end the cycle of genocide, will play a vital role in energizing this highly motivated and networked community to tip the scales for Barack Obama this November in battleground states such as Nevada, Virginia, Colorado, and Michigan”, added Ibranossian.

“In the upcoming election, we have an historic opportunity to elect a President who offers a fundamental change from the failed policies of the last seven year,” explained Ibranossian.

In January, Sen. Obama issued a strong statement to the Armenian American community calling for passage of Armenian Genocide legislation and pledging to end U.S. complicity in Turkey’s denial of that crime against humanity. “The facts are undeniable,” stated Sen. Obama in his January 19 statement. “An official policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy. 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.”

He has made subsequent statements in support of US recognition of the Armenian Genocide both publicly and privately during meetings with Armenian-American community representatives.

Last month, Obama submitted questions on the Armenian Genocide to Marie Yovanovitch, President Bush’s nominee to be U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. The Senator serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which must confirm Yovanovitch before she can assume her post in Yerevan.

While on a fact-finding mission to Azerbaijan, Sen. Obama openly criticized the Turkish and Azeri blockades of Armenia and urged the two nations to open their borders with the land-locked country.

Armenians for Obama is a nationwide voter registration, education, and mobilization effort dedicated to electing Barack Obama President. Based in Los Angeles, and with chapters and affiliates in all 50 States, Armenians for Obama will harness the energy and enthusiasm for Barack Obama’s candidacy to ensure record high Armenian American turnout in critical battleground states. „

July 24, 2008