Early Day Motions, British Parliament

[Steph]

British Based or friends in UK?


Two Early Day Motions in The House of Commons need the support and signatures of our MPs.

Please write to your MP referring to these :

Early Day Motion 344 ( Nia Griffith, MP for Llannelli) :

Motion basically states that Turkey to remove it's blockade of Armenia.

Early Day Motion 357 ( Bob Spink, MP for Castle Point) calls upon the House of Commons to recognise the 1915 Genocide.

Currently there are about 120 MPs who haved signed these motions, all Members need to be contacted and requested to sign.

[Joseph]

British Based or friends in UK?


Two Early Day Motions in The House of Commons need the support and signatures of our MPs.

Please write to your MP referring to these :

Early Day Motion 344 ( Nia Griffith, MP for Llannelli) :

Motion basically states that Turkey to remove it's blockade of Armenia.

Early Day Motion 357 ( Bob Spink, MP for Castle Point) calls upon the House of Commons to recognise the 1915 Genocide.

Currently there are about 120 MPs who haved signed these motions, all Members need to be contacted and requested to sign.

I would be surprised if the bills pass but it is good to see the pressure mounting year after year.

[Helen]

A tribute to Hrant Dink


Dear Friends,
Can you forward this invitation to your MP, with an accompanying email inviting him to attend?


FAO All MPs

Re: the murder of Hrant Dink
" Denial of a genocide demonizes the victims as well as exhonerating the culprits"

Dear Friends,
Now that Hrant Dink has given his life for speaking out on thev truth of the Genocide of Armenians, I plead with you to sign Bob Spink's EDM on the issue (EDM number 357).
Affirming that there was an Armenian Genocide (on which all impartial historians in the UK are agreed) does not mean we are lecturing Turkey in any confrontational way.
The position of past UK governments is completely untenable : that there were large scale massacres but that does not constitute genocide as defined by the 1948 UN convention. This convention is quite short and simple as shown below. As Geoff Hoon has accepted that over a million Armenians were killed in the massacres of 1915,does not this fit exactly into the definition of genocide given in the convention?
The murder of Hrant Dink for standing up for the truth proves that this is not an issue which concerns just historians. The way past British governments have let down the Armenian nation ever since the time of Disraeli leaves a bitter taste for all UK Armenians.
We hope to be able to invite you to a tribute to Hrant Dink by a friend in the Commons very soon.

Please also sign Nia Griffith's EDM on the Turkish blockade of Armenia, (no. 344)which is an affront to civilized behaviour
Yours sincerely,
Eilian Williams
(for the Armenia Solidarity group)

[Steph]

Armenia Solidarity

A tribute to Hrant Dink


Dear Friends,
Can you foreward this invitation to your MP, with an accompanying email inviting him to attend?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


We are organising a tribute to Hrant Dink in the House of Commons, next tuesday, 30th january at 2.00p.m. by people who knew him.

Taking part will be Professor Khatchadour Pilikian and others .
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


At the moment we have been given committee room 8 , but this may be amended slightly this thursday. We shall confirm the committee room number on thursday, but please foreward this to your MP today or tomorrow so that he/she may be given enough time to arrange to be present
If you wish to accompany your MP to this event please let me know this week as places might be limited


Thanking you,
Eilian Williams

[Steph]

Little by little..........



Press Release



Armenia Solidarity

British-Armenian All-Party Parliamentary Group
& Nor Serount Publications






One Hundred Members of the UK Parliament Recognise the Genocide



A milestone on the road to Armenian Genocide recognition in the UK was passed today, when Ed Davey became the 100th MP (Member of Parliament) in the House of Commons, London, to sign a Motion recognising the Armenian Genocide. The motion is called “Early Day Motion 357” and was put by Bob Spink MP in December.



There are over a thousand motions in the House of Commons at this time but this is the only motion opposed to government policy which has accumulated 100 names. Also, of the motions on international issues, only motions on Burma, Zimbabwe and Darfur have gained more signatures. This shows that the Genocide issue is a high priority amongst MPs, and we look forward to a possible vote on the issue in the late autumn in response to the activity of our supporting parliamentarians. We are convinced that a vote in the House of Commons on the issue would be won.



Of the signatories, nearly two thirds of eligible Welsh MPs have signed showing the usual strength of feeling in Wales on the issue. The majority of Liberal Democrat MPs have also signed including their Foreign Affairs and Defence Spokesmen.



The motion will run until November so there is still plenty of scope for the number to increase substantially if more UK Armenians and their friends assist in the lobbying.



We appeal to all Armenians to put aside your political differences or your reticence to become involved in politics and assist us in this campaign. The wording of the motion is shown below:



Bob Spink's Early Day Motion Number 357

Recognition of the Armenian Genocide:

This House believes that the killing of over a million Armenians in 1915 was an act of genocide, calls upon the UK Government to recognise it as such and believes that it would be in Turkey's long-term interest to do the same.

_______________

[Joseph]

Armenia Solidarity
British Armenian All Party Parliamentary Group

Nor Serount Publications

Press Release
Tel 07876561398 or 07718982732
e-mails : [email protected], [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]

Human Rights issues in Turkey;
An Alternative view on Armenian Genocide Recognition


Speakers: Turkish Publisher and Human Rights activist Ragip Zarakolu and
Murat Aktas

at 4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 2nd of May 2007

in Committee Room 4 in the House of Lords

The speakers will consider democratic developments in Turkey, the
relationship with the Armenian Genocide,
the treatment of minorities and the role of Europe in these issues.


Biography: Ragip Zarakolu
Professional background
The director and owner of Belge Publishing House, Ragip Zarakolu has been
subject to a lifetime of harassment from the Turkish authorities. After
graduating college in 1968, Zarakolu began writing for magazines such as
Ant and Yeni Ufuklar, both of which focused on issues of social justice in
Turkey. In 1971, a military government assumed power in Turkey and
instituted a crackdown on writers it deemed subversive. Following a
conviction and a three-year stay in prison, Zarakolu steadfastly refused to
abandon his campaign for freedom of thought, striving for an "attitude of
respect for different thoughts and cultures to become widespread in
Turkey." Since his writings were repeatedly banned in Turkey for their
criticism of the country's military regime, Zarakolu began to turn his
attention to abuses of human rights by governments in South America and
elsewhere.

In 1977, Zarakolu and his wife Ayse Nur founded the Belge Publishing House,
which has been a focus for censorship since its inception. Its publications
have not only drawn the government's ire. Zarakolu's office was firebombed
by an extremist rightist group in 1995, forcing it to be housed in a
cellar. Despite the death of his wife in 2002, Zarakolu has continued to
publish writings critical of human rights violations around the world,
especially in his native Turkey.

Case history
Zarakolu's staunch belief in freedom of expression, his vocal campaign
against book bannings, and his persistence in publishing works that violate
Turkey's repressive censorship laws have resulted in a catalogue of
indictments dating back to the early 1970s.

His aforementioned 1971 conviction and three-year imprisonment stemmed from
accusations by Turkey's new military government that Zarakolu was in
cahoots with an international communist organization. In the 30 years since
his release, Zarakolu has continued to defy Turkey's censorship laws,
especially Article 312 of Turkey's Penal Code, which outlaws "making
divisive propaganda via publication." The Belge Publishing House operated
under a barrage of charges brought by Turkish authorities against Zarakolu
and his wife. Over the years, such charges resulted in further imprisonment
for the couple, the wholesale confiscation and destruction of books, and
the imposition of heavy fines. Zarakolu's wife passed away in 2002.

Current status
Ragip Zarakolu is currently being tried in two separate cases for
publishing works deemed "insulting" to the Turkish government.
Representatives from International PEN and the International Human Rights
Federation were present for his most recent trial in Istanbul on June 21,
2006. At this trial, Zarakolu faced charges under Article 301 of the Turkish
Penal Code for the publication of two books by George Jerjian and Professor
Dora Sakayan, with a maximum possible jail sentence of 13.5 years.

George Jerjian's book, History Will Free Us All, which was considered
"insulting" to the memory of Kemal Atatürk, suggested that close advisors
to Atatürk were responsible for the mass deportation of Armenians in 1915.
It has also been accused of "ridiculing the state," and its publication
carries charges of up to seven and a half years in prison. In response to
claims that "the court is trying a book which it has not read," a new
experts' committee has been appointed to assess the offensiveness of
History Will Free Us All. In the case regarding Professor Dora Sakayan's
book, An Armenian Doctor in Turkey: Garabed Hatcherian: My Smyrna Ordeal of
1922, the prosecutor demanded a six-year prison sentence for Zarakolu for
having "insulted the Army" and also "Turkishness" by publishing this book.
Although Zarakolu invited an expert witness to speak in his defence at the
trial, the court refused to hear him. Both cases were adjourned to June 21,
2006, then October 9, and have been now postponed again. A date has not
been set.

The news that the trials against publisher Ragip Zarakolu will drag on for
at least another four months following a prior two-month delay and eight
previous trial dates has been met with increasing alarm that, far from
improving, the state of free expression in Turkey is taking a steep
downward curve.

[1.5 million]

Interesting. Does anyone know if this book is available in English? And does it have anying worthwhile in it beyond Dadrain and Ackam on this issue?

[Steph]

29 March 2007

From Hansard : Records of British Parliament

https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200607/ldhansrd/text/70329w0006.htm

Ottoman Empire: Armenians

Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:

What are the names of the British historians whose advice they rely on in reaching the conclusion that the treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-16 should not be described as genocide. [HL2803]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Triesman): We do not rely on the advice of any particular historians or, indeed, historians from any one nation. We note contributions from a variety of historical sources and works, ranging from Bryce and Toynbee’s Blue Book to more recent studies by historians such as Malcolm Yapp. What this tells us is that historians question each other’s accounts of exactly what took place. The key now is to ensure that the full truth about these events is brought to light and that both Armenia and Turkey look to the future.

[Steph]

133 British parliamentarians expressed their support on Armenian Genocide resolution
19.06.2007 15:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ 133 British parliamentarians expressed their support on the Armenian Genocide resolution. This is three times the total for 2006, when 46 MPs signed the motion by Jeremy Corbyn. It is also more than double the previous highest total of 63, which was achieved in 2003, independent French journalist Jean Eckiyan told the PanARMENIAN.Net corespondent. It is expected that many more will undersign the document after the June 27 major speech on a report titled “Darfur and Armenia” in the House of Commons. The new Prime Minister Gordon Brown, himself a historian, will be challenged on “Genocide Denial and the UK government’s Ethical Foreign Policy” at this event.

[Steph]

There is now a concerted final push by activiists here in the UK to persuade the remaining MPs to sign the EDM.
Gordon Brown, our PM in waiting, being an historian, is being pushed to recognise formally an historic fact.
The struggle continues.........