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IMMIGRANT TURKS IN IRAN, ATTACK ARMENIANS, IRANIAN
GOVERNEMNT
March 3, 2006
Appo Jabarian
Managing Editor, Executive Publisher
USA Armenian Life Magazine
Hye Kiank Armenian Weekly
According to various news sources, a group of
immigrant Turks residing in Tavriz, Iran, gathered on
February 27 in a violent demonstration in front of a
local Armenian church, chanting anti-Christian,
anti-Iranian, and anti-Armenian slogans.
The Turkish protesters inside Iran, mostly from the
neighboring Republics of Azerbaijan and Turkey, held
the demonstration under the cover of being
anti-Armenian and anti-Christian. But they also aimed
it at the Iranian government.
On one hand, they expressed “dissatisfaction” against
the Iranian government’s “suppression” of their Turkic
language and culture. On the other, they cried: “we
want the destruction of Armenia.”
The destruction by the Army of the Republic of
Azerbaijan in late 2005, of thousands of “Khach-kars”
(Armenian cross headstones), some as old as eight
centuries, inside the Turkish/Azeri-occupied Armenian
province of Nakhitchevan, seemingly did not satisfy
the Turkic demonstrators’ appetite for destruction.
The demonstrators, who were not granted permit by the
Iranian internal security authorities, were eventually
forced to disband.
The Armenian Prelacy of Iran issued a statement
thanking the Iranian government for its timely
response in averting yet new calamities against
Armenians at the hands of immigrant Turks inside Iran.
At the same time, the Armenian Prelate appealed the
members of the Iranian-Armenian community for
refraining from escalating the adverse situation
caused by Turkish provocateurs.
During recent decades, the extremist Turks from Turkey
and Azerbaijan, armed with pan-Turkism, have embarked
on a disinformation campaign aimed at brainwashing the
northern Iranians, also known as Iranian Azerbaijanis,
as belonging to Turkic ethnicity.
Recently, in open cooperation with immigrant Turks
inside Iran, Turks in US and elsewhere, have initiated
an anti-Iranian on-line petition. In a message
addressed to the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr.
Koïchiro Matsuura, the petitioners claimed the
existence of an “issue which affects more than 30
million people in Iran. On behalf of Azeris in Iran,
we ask that you take action to protect our mother
tongue.”
“Pan-Turkism is a racist movement that not only
threatens Iran, but (also) Greece, Armenia, Russia,
Ukraine and even, to a certain extent, China. If
unchecked, Pan-Turkism may become as dangerous to
international peace and stability, as Islamic
fundamentalism has become today,” says Dr. Kaveh
Farrokh, of the University of British Columbia in
Vancouver, Canada. Dr. Farrokh himself is an norhern
Iranian, also known as Iranian Azerbaijani.
Continues Dr. Farrokh: “Geopolitics and petroleum
diplomacy is using pan-Turkism to promote a nefarious
and self-serving economic agenda. Pan-Turkic
activists, supported by (economically and) politically
motivated western academic outlets, are literally
re-narrating world history. And in this quest, they
have tragically misled many well intentioned but naïve
individuals. Many believe in a series of facts, events
and a past history that never was. Veracity is falling
victim to racism, especially in the inherent
anti-Persian agenda (that is) propelled by
geopolitical petroleum diplomacy.”
According to several well-informed Iranian experts,
the majority of northern Iranians, also known as
Iranian Azerbaijanis, when asked if they are from the
Mongol-Turkic extract, their answer is a categorical
“NO”.
Apparently, ultra-nationalist Turks have not yet given
up on the ill-fated, and now-defunct Turkish
imperialism.
Before they go any further, it would be wise to
solicit the opinion of the former involuntary
component Armenian, Arab, Assyrian, Kurdish, Greek,
and Bulgarian nations of Ottoman Turkey and the uneasy
neighbors of Iran, Georgia, and Russia.
American Viewer Expects PBS to Present Historic Facts,
Not Dosages of Lies, Distortions
The nationwide protest Against the Armenian Genocide
Panel Discussion on PBS, which evolved into a major
national and international issue, continues to gain
further momentum.
In his commentary this week, Harut Sassounian, the
Publisher of The California Courier, and long-time
senior contributor to USA Armenian Life Magazine and
many other news outlets worldwide, says: “Ms. Atlas
owes an apology to the Armenian American community for
providing a national platform to genocide deniers and
stating that the Armenian Genocide is not ‘analogous’
to the Holocaust. Should she fail to apologize and
cancel the offensive panel questioning the Armenian
Genocide, PBS management should then dismiss her from
her position. American taxpayers should not pay the
salary of someone who besmirches the memory of the
victims of genocide and insults their descendants.”
In the absence of an apology and a timely remedy, Ms.
Atlas must be relieved of her responsibilities at PBS,
for having had exhibited such an irresponsible
executive behavior toward the American taxpayers. Not
only is she insulting the Armenians worldwide, but she
is also insulting the average American TV viewer’s
intelligence. She is attempting to undermine the basic
human right of each and every concerned viewer to be
informed and not misinformed.
In my opinion, American TV viewers, care less if the
notoriously denialist Turkish government is disturbed
by the dissemination of historic facts concerning any
issue. The average viewer expects media members,
including PBS, to disseminate accurate facts, and to
not inject his mind with dosages of lies and
distortions.
MORE MOMENTUM FOR THE PETITION
On Sunday February 26, Archbishop Hovnan Derderian,
the Primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian
Church, issued a statement saying: “It is our moral
responsibility and duty as Armenians to not only sign
the petition ourselves, but also inform our families
and friends to also join in this appeal, for the
memory of our forefathers who were martyred in 1915.”
As of now, the petition link is easily accessible
through:
- http://www.armenianchurchwd.com
- http://ANCA.org
- http://ArmenianLife.com
- http://www.azad-hye.com
- http://gibrahayer.cyprusnewsletter.com
- http://systemofadown.com
- http://www.axisofjustice.org/feature_022106.htm
GOVERNEMNT
March 3, 2006
Appo Jabarian
Managing Editor, Executive Publisher
USA Armenian Life Magazine
Hye Kiank Armenian Weekly
According to various news sources, a group of
immigrant Turks residing in Tavriz, Iran, gathered on
February 27 in a violent demonstration in front of a
local Armenian church, chanting anti-Christian,
anti-Iranian, and anti-Armenian slogans.
The Turkish protesters inside Iran, mostly from the
neighboring Republics of Azerbaijan and Turkey, held
the demonstration under the cover of being
anti-Armenian and anti-Christian. But they also aimed
it at the Iranian government.
On one hand, they expressed “dissatisfaction” against
the Iranian government’s “suppression” of their Turkic
language and culture. On the other, they cried: “we
want the destruction of Armenia.”
The destruction by the Army of the Republic of
Azerbaijan in late 2005, of thousands of “Khach-kars”
(Armenian cross headstones), some as old as eight
centuries, inside the Turkish/Azeri-occupied Armenian
province of Nakhitchevan, seemingly did not satisfy
the Turkic demonstrators’ appetite for destruction.
The demonstrators, who were not granted permit by the
Iranian internal security authorities, were eventually
forced to disband.
The Armenian Prelacy of Iran issued a statement
thanking the Iranian government for its timely
response in averting yet new calamities against
Armenians at the hands of immigrant Turks inside Iran.
At the same time, the Armenian Prelate appealed the
members of the Iranian-Armenian community for
refraining from escalating the adverse situation
caused by Turkish provocateurs.
During recent decades, the extremist Turks from Turkey
and Azerbaijan, armed with pan-Turkism, have embarked
on a disinformation campaign aimed at brainwashing the
northern Iranians, also known as Iranian Azerbaijanis,
as belonging to Turkic ethnicity.
Recently, in open cooperation with immigrant Turks
inside Iran, Turks in US and elsewhere, have initiated
an anti-Iranian on-line petition. In a message
addressed to the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr.
Koïchiro Matsuura, the petitioners claimed the
existence of an “issue which affects more than 30
million people in Iran. On behalf of Azeris in Iran,
we ask that you take action to protect our mother
tongue.”
“Pan-Turkism is a racist movement that not only
threatens Iran, but (also) Greece, Armenia, Russia,
Ukraine and even, to a certain extent, China. If
unchecked, Pan-Turkism may become as dangerous to
international peace and stability, as Islamic
fundamentalism has become today,” says Dr. Kaveh
Farrokh, of the University of British Columbia in
Vancouver, Canada. Dr. Farrokh himself is an norhern
Iranian, also known as Iranian Azerbaijani.
Continues Dr. Farrokh: “Geopolitics and petroleum
diplomacy is using pan-Turkism to promote a nefarious
and self-serving economic agenda. Pan-Turkic
activists, supported by (economically and) politically
motivated western academic outlets, are literally
re-narrating world history. And in this quest, they
have tragically misled many well intentioned but naïve
individuals. Many believe in a series of facts, events
and a past history that never was. Veracity is falling
victim to racism, especially in the inherent
anti-Persian agenda (that is) propelled by
geopolitical petroleum diplomacy.”
According to several well-informed Iranian experts,
the majority of northern Iranians, also known as
Iranian Azerbaijanis, when asked if they are from the
Mongol-Turkic extract, their answer is a categorical
“NO”.
Apparently, ultra-nationalist Turks have not yet given
up on the ill-fated, and now-defunct Turkish
imperialism.
Before they go any further, it would be wise to
solicit the opinion of the former involuntary
component Armenian, Arab, Assyrian, Kurdish, Greek,
and Bulgarian nations of Ottoman Turkey and the uneasy
neighbors of Iran, Georgia, and Russia.
American Viewer Expects PBS to Present Historic Facts,
Not Dosages of Lies, Distortions
The nationwide protest Against the Armenian Genocide
Panel Discussion on PBS, which evolved into a major
national and international issue, continues to gain
further momentum.
In his commentary this week, Harut Sassounian, the
Publisher of The California Courier, and long-time
senior contributor to USA Armenian Life Magazine and
many other news outlets worldwide, says: “Ms. Atlas
owes an apology to the Armenian American community for
providing a national platform to genocide deniers and
stating that the Armenian Genocide is not ‘analogous’
to the Holocaust. Should she fail to apologize and
cancel the offensive panel questioning the Armenian
Genocide, PBS management should then dismiss her from
her position. American taxpayers should not pay the
salary of someone who besmirches the memory of the
victims of genocide and insults their descendants.”
In the absence of an apology and a timely remedy, Ms.
Atlas must be relieved of her responsibilities at PBS,
for having had exhibited such an irresponsible
executive behavior toward the American taxpayers. Not
only is she insulting the Armenians worldwide, but she
is also insulting the average American TV viewer’s
intelligence. She is attempting to undermine the basic
human right of each and every concerned viewer to be
informed and not misinformed.
In my opinion, American TV viewers, care less if the
notoriously denialist Turkish government is disturbed
by the dissemination of historic facts concerning any
issue. The average viewer expects media members,
including PBS, to disseminate accurate facts, and to
not inject his mind with dosages of lies and
distortions.
MORE MOMENTUM FOR THE PETITION
On Sunday February 26, Archbishop Hovnan Derderian,
the Primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian
Church, issued a statement saying: “It is our moral
responsibility and duty as Armenians to not only sign
the petition ourselves, but also inform our families
and friends to also join in this appeal, for the
memory of our forefathers who were martyred in 1915.”
As of now, the petition link is easily accessible
through:
- http://www.armenianchurchwd.com
- http://ANCA.org
- http://ArmenianLife.com
- http://www.azad-hye.com
- http://gibrahayer.cyprusnewsletter.com
- http://systemofadown.com
- http://www.axisofjustice.org/feature_022106.htm
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