Re: Armenian Genocide in the news. Recent and noteworthy articles and news.
I found this at:http://www.armenianaffairs.blogspot.com/
Very telling...
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Turkish Scholarly Reason !
Do you remember what Sedat Laciner, the JTW editor and the ISRO Director told me in his Letter 5 ? Talking about Cemal, Enver and Talaat he said :
They [Cemal, Enver and his friends] made great mistakes, yet I know that they did not make genocide, because they were Turkish.
Any reasonable person, will find that kind of response simply absurd!
Yet, it seems that the above is a well established concept in Turkey today .... "They Can't Possibley Commit Genocide because they are Turks."
In his blog, the Artyom Reader reported that, in the last Istanbul conference Mehmet Saray who presented in an emotional tone a paper entitled “Armenians and the Ottoman conception of the state” said the following at the end of his paper:
“The Turkish nation is the most noble nation of the world; friends, it is not possible for such a nation to commit genocide.”
Are those your so-called scholars Turkey ?!
-
Re: Armenian Genocide in the news. Recent and noteworthy articles and news.
Ambassador Evans to be Recalled
For Acknowledging the Genocide
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
Ever since last year, when John Evans, the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, during a tour of the Armenian American community, broke rank with his superiors and publicly acknowledged the Armenian Genocide, there have been persistent stories circulating about his possible recall.
Last year, during a public gathering at the University of California at Berkeley, Amb. Evans courageously said: "I will today call it the Armenian Genocide…. I informed myself in depth about it. I think we, the US government, owe you, our fellow citizens, a more frank and honest way of discussing this problem. Today, as someone who has studied it … there’s no doubt in my mind [as to] what happened…. I think it is unbecoming of us, as Americans, to play word games here. I believe in calling things by their name." Referring to the Armenian Genocide as "the first genocide of the 20th century," he said: "I pledge to you, we are going to do a better job at addressing this issue." Amb. Evans also disclosed that he had consulted with a legal advisor at the State Department who had confirmed that the events of 1915 were "genocide by definition."
Within days of making these statements and after complaints from Turkish and Azeri officials to the State Department, Amb. Evans was ordered by his superiors to issue "a clarification" in which he said that "misunderstandings" might have arisen as a result of his earlier comments. He said that he had used the term "genocide" in his "personal capacity."
The very next day, Amb. Evans was further embarrassed when he was ordered to issue "a correction" to his "clarification," amending the words "the United States policy on the Armenian Genocide" to "the United States policy on the Armenian tragedy." The Turkish press reported that the State Dept. had forced him to make this "correction," after receiving complaints from Turkey’s Ambassador to Washington.
Several months later, under pressure from the State Department, the American Foreign Service Association took the very unusual step of rescinding a "Constructive Dissent" award that it had decided to grant Amb. Evans during a special ceremony that was to be held at the State Department on June 17, 2005. It is highly ironic that Amb. Evans was deprived of a “dissent” award for deviating from official U.S. policy! Around that time, he was abruptly summoned to Washington, D.C. by his superiors for consultations.
After months of uncertainty, it now appears that the rumors about his possible dismissal have finally become reality. The State Department recently finalized the decision to recall him. According to reliable Armenian governmental sources, Amb. Evans informed high-ranking Armenian officials last week about his departure in the coming months, pending the Senate approval of his likely successor, Richard E. Hoagland, who is currently the U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan. Knowledgeable U.S. sources in Washington have confirmed to this writer that Amb. Evans was being recalled because of his candid remarks on the Armenian Genocide. Neither the Ambassador nor the State Dept. has made any public comments regarding these developments.
It is noteworthy that during a hearing before the House International Relations Committee last month, Cong. Adam Schiff (Democrat of California) asked US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice several pointed questions regarding Amb. Evans. Cong. Schiff asked that Secretary Rice explain in writing if the State Dept. played any role in the reversal of the decision to grant Amb. Evans the "dissent" award. Cong. Schiff also asked the Secretary State to assure the House Committee that the Department of State has not taken, and will not take, any punitive actions against Amb. Evans for speaking out about the Armenian Genocide. Secretary Rice has not yet responded to these questions.
Amb. Evans has taken a principled stand for which he is sacrificing his diplomatic career. Even if it is too late to reverse the State Dept.’s decision, Armenians in general and Armenian-Americans in particular need to express their objection to the State Department’s punitive action against a distinguished diplomat for telling the truth about the Armenian Genocide.
Unless Armenians take a strong stand, they would be sending the wrong signal to the U.S. government that the Armenian Genocide is not an important issue for them! If they remain quiet on this occasion, never again would another U.S. diplomat dare to speak up on the Armenian Genocide, knowing full well that he would jeopardize his career and no one would care.
Write to your congressional representative and send a complaint to the Secretary of State at: www.state.gov . Click on "contact us" and then click on "send a message to the Secretary of State.”Leave a comment:
-
Re: Armenian Genocide in the news. Recent and noteworthy articles and news.
Wednesday, August 10th, 2005
Democracy Now!
"Did Speaker Hastert Accept Turkish Bribes to Deny Armenian Genocide and Approve Weapons Sales?"
Read transcript, listen or watch the interview at
"Democracy Now contacted Congressman Hastert's office and the Turkish Embassy for comment. They did not return our phone calls."Last edited by Anahita; 03-04-2006, 05:28 AM.Leave a comment:
-
Re: Armenian Genocide in the news. Recent and noteworthy articles and news.
British Parliamentarians respond to Turkey on Armenian Genocide
1/27/2006 British Parliamentarians Lord Avebury
House of Lords
London SW1A 0AA
UK
26 January 2006
Following receipt of the appended letter from the Turkish Grand
National Assembly, a number of members from both British Houses of
Parliament have discussed the matter raised by Turkish
Parliamentarians and decided to send the following response to the
Turkish Grand National Assembly on the occasion of Holocaust Memorial
Day 2006.
(Please find attached Letter from Turkish Parliamentarians dated 28
April 2005; and Response to Turkish Letter from Gomidas Institute
dated 22 September 2005)
RESPONSE TO THE TURKISH GRAND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY'S LETTER DATED 28
APRIL 2005
We are responding to the letter to the British Houses of Parliament
contesting the integrity of a British Parliamentary Blue Book
published in 1916, signed by Members of the Turkish Parliament in
April 2005 (?the letter?)
According to the letter, the report in question, ?The Treatment of
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire 1915-16? (?the Blue Book?) was a
wartime fabrication, which harmed Turkish interests during World War I
and continues to do so today. The central thesis of the Blue Book was
the argument that starting in 1915 Armenians were subjected to a
policy of mass annihilation in the Ottoman Empire. The letter claims
that the Blue Book was the source of allegations that the massacres
and deaths of Armenians during the forced deportations of 1915-16
constituted a Genocide, which the letter says is untrue.
The letter says that:
1. the 1916 report has no supporting documentation;
2. the report is contrived in essence, and
3. the main compiler and editor of the report admitted that the Blue Book
was simply a propaganda tool fabricated against Ottoman Turkey and its
German allies.
The letter insists that the core of the Blue Book was a set of
eyewitness accounts which were unreliable, and that the work was
composed in such a way as to conceal the flawed character of these key
reports. It maintains that withholding the names of some informants
and locations, supposedly to safeguard sources still in the Ottoman
Empire, was in reality, to conceal the weaknesses of the reports
themselves.
We are satisfied, from our knowledge of the Blue Book itself and of
many other contemporaneous accounts by eyewitnesses which have since
been published, and from consideration of the following report from
the Gomidas Institute (UK) that:
1. the Blue Book was compiled from first-hand testimonies which were
scrupulously reported by the distinguished editor, Arnold Toynbee;
2. the supporting documentation is readily accessible, a point
overlooked in the letter;
3. Arnold Toynbee did not say that the Blue Book was flawed as claimed
by the letter;
4. the letter wrongly asserts that the War Propaganda Bureau was the
sole source for all information regarding the situation in the Ottoman
Empire ? t here were hundreds of neutral consular officials and
missionaries;
5. the reports by neutrals have been reinforced and corroborated by
other United States and German consular reports, now in the public
domain, and by numerous accounts in the diaries and letters of
survivors;
6. the sources of the 150 eyewitness accounts published in the Blue
Book were not discovered recently in a War Propaganda Bureau document,
but have been known and published for many years.
We do not believe that the letter reflects opinions of Turkish
scholars who know this subject; on the contrary, it shows that the
Turkish Parliament is not properly informed about the Blue Book. We
invite them to a round table discussion, with our academic advisers,
in the hope that we can formulate a common statement on the historical
facts, and in the meanwhile we invite them to withdraw their letter to
the British Houses of Parliament, in the light of this Response.
SIGNED [Signatures on file at Lord Avebury's office]
HOUSE OF LORDS
Baroness D'Souza
Baroness Caroline Cox of Queensbury
Baroness Darcy de Knayth
Baroness Falkner of Margravine
Baroness Flather
Baroness Park of Monmoth, CMG, OBE
Earl of Mar and Kellie
Lord Alderdice
Lord Alton of Liverpool
Lord Archer of Sandwell
Lord Avebury
Lord Biffen
Lord Hylton
Lord Pearson of Rannock
Lord Rea
Lord Roberts of Llandudno
Lord Shannon
Lord Tordoff
Lord Wedderburn of Charlton
Right Reverend Richard Harries
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Andrew Mackinlay
Dr. Vincent Cable
Greg Hands
Helen Goodman
Hywel Williams
Justine Greening
Mark Field
Paul Holmes
Peter Bottomley
Piara Khabra
Robert Marris
Rudi Vis
Stephen PoundLeave a comment:
-
this was in the news todayLeave a comment:
-
Turkey Bans Armenian Genocide Conference.... AGAIN!
A Turkish court has ruled that a controversial conference on the mass killing of Armenians living under the Ottoman Empire should be suspended.
The conference of academics and intellectuals was to offer a critical look at the official approach to the events of 1915.
Armenians want the killings classified as genocide, but Turkey refuses, pointing to casualties on both sides.
It is the second time the conference has been called off.
The cancellation comes just 10 days before Turkey is due to begin accession talks for membership of the European Union.
Taboo
This was no ordinary academic conference. The delegates were set to discuss the fate of the Ottoman Armenians 90 years ago, one of the most sensitive subjects in Turkey.
The first attempt to stage the debate, in May, was abandoned after Turkey's Justice Minister accused organisers of stabbing Turkey in the back.
This time a group of nationalist lawyers petitioned a court at the last minute and once again the conference is off.
The alleged massacre of more than one million Armenians in 1915 has long been a taboo subject in Turkey.
It was illegal even to discuss the issue until a very recent reform inspired by Turkey's bid for membership of the European Union.
No appeal
Just 10 days before EU accession talks are due to begin, this court ruling is likely to embarrass the authorities.
The prime minister, though, has already voiced his concern, calling the decision undemocratic.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that although you may not approve of a point of view, that does not mean you should prevent others from expressing it.
The university does have the right of appeal, but lawyers here say there is now little to no chance the ground-breaking debate can go ahead as planned on Friday.Leave a comment:
-
The stubborn moron does it again!!!
Turk Politician Again Charged In Switzerland For Denying Armenian Genocide
(AP) - Swiss authorities brought a third charge against a Turkish politician for allegedly breaking Switzerland's racial discrimination laws by denying that the killings of Armenians around the time of World War I was a genocide, police said Monday.
Dogu Perincek, the leader of the Turkey's Workers' Party, made the remarks Sunday in a speech in central Switzerland, Bern cantonal (state) police said in a statement. He already had been charged twice by Swiss authorities for two previous, similar incidents.
Denying that the Holocaust or other cases of genocide took place is regarded as racial discrimination under Swiss law, and can be punished by up to three years in prison and an unspecified fine.
"Based on the fact that, in the course of his address, Dogu Perincek denied the Armenian genocide and expressed prejudices against the western world, the Bern cantonal police has put down a complaint because of suspicion of racial discrimination," the police statement said.
Perincek will be questioned Tuesday by police in neighboring Vaud canton, where he already is under investigation for similar remarks made in May, Bern police spokeswoman Anastasia Falkner said. Swiss authorities launched a second investigation into Perincek in July for making similar remarks in northern Switzerland, and Perincek was briefly detained after that speech. Turkey called the Swiss ambassador to the Foreign Ministry to protest Perincek's detention and investigation.
Similar disputes have erupted in the past between Turkey and Switzerland. In June, a Turkish Cabinet minister postponed a visit to Switzerland to protest an investigation of a Turkish historian who denied in a separate speech that the killings were genocide. In July, Turkey canceled a proposed visit by Swiss Economics Minister Joseph Deiss because of "schedule clashes," Deiss's spokesman said.
In a separate development, Turkey's Foreign Ministry said Friday it "greeted with sadness" the passage by a U.S. congressional committee of two resolutions that denounce the deaths of Armenians early last century as genocide, and hoped U.S. legislators would not allow the resolutions out of committee.
"In the period ahead, we believe that members of the U.S. Congress will act with a responsibility befitting the Turkish-American relationship, and strongly hope that the resolutions will stay in the committee and not be carried to the floor," the statement said.
LinkLeave a comment:
-
Schiff's genocide bill heads to floor of House
WASHINGTON -- Legislation introduced by Rep. Adam Schiff recognizing the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to 1923 as a genocide was passed by the House International Relations Committee Thursday, but proponents say the battle to get the bill to the floor for a vote has just begun.
Thursday's bill mark-up was the Armenian Genocide Resolution's final hurdle before it can be voted on by the full House of Representatives.
The committee approved the bill with a bipartisan vote of 36 to 11, Schiff said.
"We are just thrilled," Schiff said. "It was the first time we had the support of the chair and a ranking member. We think this will give us a lot of momentum on the floor."
But even with Thursday's victory, lawmakers pushing the resolution are frank about the uphill battle they face. There's been no timetable established for when the resolution might reach the floor for a vote because legislators anticipate resistance from Republicans who do not want to offend ally Turkey.
"It was a hill to climb just to get it heard in the committee," Schiff said. "But if the committee was any indication, the votes are there. We just need to get the leadership to commit to the vote."
Rep. Brad Sherman, who represents a portion of Burbank, was a member of the committee that passed the resolution. Proponents of the resolution will now focus on pushing Rep. Tom Delay (R-Texas) to allow the bill onto the floor for a vote, he said.
"The rumor is that [President Bush] is going to try to say, 'hey, we Republicans don't want this on the floor -- let's stop it,'" Sherman said. "It's peculiar, because our committee is always passing resolutions favoring democracy. But when it comes to our resolutions getting fair and democratic treatment, I'm pessimistic."
National Security Council spokesman Fred Jones could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The resolution is important for the United States in quest for democracy throughout the world, Sherman said.
"It's important because genocide denial sets us up for the next genocide," Sherman said. "It was Adolf Hitler who said, before he killed 6 million of my ethnic group and tens of millions of others, 'who remembers the Armenians?'
"Genocide denial is the last act of genocide itself. First you exterminate the people, then you exterminate the people's memory, then you exterminate the memory of the extermination."
In spite of the uphill battle before them, local proponents of the bill will continue with a phone, e-mail and fax campaigns to members of Congress, just as they have the past few years, said Armen Carapetian, director of the Armenian National Committee's Western Region.
"This is sort of a David and Goliath-type battle and the little guy won," Carapetian said. "Hopefully, that will be carried through to the full floor vote."
Carapetian is optimistic that Congress will recognize that acknowledging the Armenian Genocide is an important issue.
"We know that the only way to prevent genocide from continuing to happen around the world is to hold those who commit them responsible," Carapetian said. "Turkey must be held accountable.
This resolution serves as a first step in pursuing justice and pressuring Turkey to come to grips with its past."
Leave a comment:
-
Blagojevich signs law requiring genocide education in public schools
Blagojevich signs law requiring genocide education in public schools
August 5, 2005 - Illinois public schools are required to teach about
genocides around the world under a bill signed Friday by Gov. Rod
Blagojevich.
The measure, which took effect immediately, expanded the previous
requirement that elementary and high school students learn about the
Holocaust to include lessons on genocides in Armenia, Bosnia, Cambodia,
Rwanda, Sudan and Ukraine.
School districts have the entire academic year to meet the law's
requirement, State Board of Education spokeswoman Becky Watts said.
"As we teach our kids the important lessons of history, we have to be sure
that they understand that racial, national, ethnic and religious hatred can
lead to horrible tragedies," Blagojevich said in a statement.
Glenn "Max" McGee, superintendent of schools in the Chicago suburb of
Wilmette and a former state schools superintendent, said learning about
genocide and other tragedies should be part of the curriculum.
"I think it is important for boys and girls to learn about these tragic
events so that maybe they can make contributions that will truly change the
course of history in the future," he said.
But McGee worried the requirement could become an unfunded mandate from the
state.
"I hope and trust that the state Board of Education will provide resources
and some training in teaching these and it won't fall in the district's lap
to develop units," McGee said.
The law says the State Board of Education may give instructional materials
to districts to help them develop classes. Local school districts would set
specifics on the classes for each grade level.
The state board's curriculum and instruction division, which is responsible
for learning standards, was researching what curricula exists and which ones
would be most helpful to schools to teach about genocides, Watts said.
No decision has been made yet about whether the board will recommend a
curriculum or help schools access parts of one by providing online
resources, she said.
Schools will teach a unit on genocide and the lessons can last for different
lengths of times, she said.
The genocides students will learn about include Rwanda, where about 500,000
people, most of them from the country's Tutsi minority, were killed in 100
days by a regime of extremists from its Hutu majority in 1994. In July 1995,
as many as 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in the U.N.-protected Bosnian
enclave of Srebrenica were killed in Europe's worst massacre since World War
II.
In the Darfur region of Sudan, war-induced hunger and disease have killed
more than 180,000 people and driven more than 2 million from their homes
since rebels from black African tribes took up arms in February 2003,
complaining of discrimination and oppression by Sudan's Arab-dominated
government.
Richard Hirschhaut, project and executive director of the Illinois Holocaust
Museum and Education Center, praised the bill.
"The new law affirms the continuing relevance of applying the universal
lessons of the Holocaust to the tragedies of genocide in our world today,"
he said in a statement.
The measure was sponsored by state Rep. John Fritchey, D-Chicago, and state
Sen. Jacqueline Collins, D-Chicago.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Last Updated: Aug 5, 2005
Leave a comment:
Leave a comment: