Armenian Genocide in the news. Recent and noteworthy articles and news.

[Vanatsi]

59 out of 62 deputies of the Crimean parliament voted for the bill. However, immediately after the voting the chairman of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Boris Deich announced that he would not sign the resolution since it could have undesirable political consequences and official Kiev started to openly put pressure upon the deputies.

http://www.xxxukr.org/o_nas/lidery/lidery_e.html *



*To activate link, replace triple-x with the magic word.

[Vanatsi]

CRIMEAN PARLIAMENT REFUSED TO CANCEL THE DECISION TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Despite the pressure from official Kiev Crimean lawmakers stayed close to their principles.

On June 22 the Supreme Council of Crimea again discussed the question of Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey. It should be reminded that on May 19 the Crimean parliament passed a resolution proclaiming April 24 as the day to commemorate the victims of Armenian Genocide. Under the pressure from the outside the leadership of the legislative organ came up with an initiative to cancel the resolution. By the majority of votes the deputies rejected the proposal.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The bill on announcing April 24 the Memory Day of the victims of Armenian genocide was introduced by the deputy from the Congress of Russian communities of Crimea Sergey Shuvaynikov. 59 out of 62 deputies of the Crimean parliament voted for the bill. However, immediately after the voting the chairman of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Boris Deich announced that he would not sign the resolution since it could have undesirable political consequences and official Kiev started to openly put pressure upon the deputies. The foreign ministry of Ukraine gave to understand that they would make efforts to achieve cancellation of the decision of Crimean lawmakers at any price. Unable to bear the pressure, during the seating of the presidium of the Supreme Council deputy Shuvaynikov reluctantly suggested to make corrections in the document and to qualify the events of 1915 as "tragedy". By the majority of votes the presidium rejected the proposal and decided to leave the document as it is, without putting the issue of changing the formulation of the resolution on the agenda of the parliament. Nevertheless speaker Boris Deich did not give up the idea to achieve the inclusion of the issue on the agenda. He decided to pursue the initiative directly at the plenary session.

In the case in question the head of the legislative organ of the autonomy realized the will of official Kiev that actively flirts with Baku opposing itself to Yerevan. Ukraine and Azerbaijan are partner countries in GUAM but allied obligations do not demand open neglection towards Armenia with which Ukraine has ancient historical connections. It is quite obvious that it was Ilham Aliev that persuaded Ukrainian leaders to put pressure on Crimea. During the meeting with the speaker of Supreme Rada of Ukraine Vladimir Litvin the President of Azerbaijan demanded to do everything possible to make Crimean lawmakers reconsider their decision concerning the recognition of Armenian genocide. Ankara on its turn also made use of diplomatic instruments, including even the resources of Crimean-Tatar community. Mejlis - the illegal "parliament" of Crimean Tatars spoke out against the resolution. The leaders of the Azerbaijan community of Kiev even started discussing the necessity of Ukrainian parliament to pass a bill, announcing the resolution invalid.

Arguing the necessity of canceling the resolution, the speaker of the parliament Boris Deich mentioned that passing of the resolution had aroused dangerous international resonance. However the arguments of his opponents turned to be more persuasive. The pro-Armenian atmosphere in the Crimean parliament was formed yet when the vice-speaker of Supreme Council of the autonomy was Anushavan Danielyan - current Primer Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh. In his speech during the debates deputy Vladimir Kazarin said, "I don’t understand what has the president of Azerbaijan to do with our decision". Kazarin reminded that Armenians have lived on the territory of Crimea for more than 1500 years. "They have had a tremendous input in the development of the peninsula. The history of Crimea is inseparably linked to the names of hundreds of outstanding Armenians who have become dear for Crimea", the deputy said. The head of the Crimean organization of the Republican party of Ukraine Alexander Gross also supported Kazarin and said, "No parliament in the world has ever cancelled passed resolutions for the commemoration of the victims of Armenian genocide. This can be a sad precedent. We have to account for our own decisions…"

As a result, the initiative of the speaker was put to the vote and received only 13 votes. The issue is closed. From now on, every year on April 24 Crimea will officially commemorate the victims of Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey.

http://www.panarmenian.net/details/eng/?id=551&date=2005-06-25

[bezjian]

http://goldwater.mideastreality.com/...argeteduk.html

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satelli...=1076904432757

thank you vanatsi for that jerusalem post link.

[Vanatsi]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (Lord Triesman): My Lords, the long-standing position of Her
Majesty's Government is well known. The British Government acknowledge
the strength of feeling about this terrible episode of history and
recognise the massacres of 1915-16 as a tragedy. However, neither
this Government nor previous British governments have judged that
the evidence is sufficiently unequivocal to persuade us that these
events should be categorised as genocide as defined by the 1948 UN
convention on genocide.

http://goldwater.mideastreality.com/2004/feb/xxxstargeteduk.html

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1076904432757

[Siamanto]

House of Lords: Armenian "Massacres" of 1915

http://www.accc.org.uk/News/Lords_-_14July05/lords_-_14july05.html

House of Lords

Thursday, 14 July 2005.

The House met at eleven of the clock (Prayers having been read
earlier at the Judicial Sitting by the Lord Bishop of Newcastle): The
CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES on the Woolsack.

14 Jul 2005 : Column 1212

Armenian Massacres of 1915

11.7 am

Baroness Cox asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will reconsider their position with regard to the
recognition of the Armenian massacres of 1915 as genocide.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (Lord Triesman): My Lords, the long-standing position of Her
Majesty's Government is well known. The British Government acknowledge
the strength of feeling about this terrible episode of history and
recognise the massacres of 1915-16 as a tragedy. However, neither
this Government nor previous British governments have judged that
the evidence is sufficiently unequivocal to persuade us that these
events should be categorised as genocide as defined by the 1948 UN
convention on genocide.

Baroness Cox: My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply. Does he
agree that every unrecognised genocide encourages other potential
genocides, as shown by Hitler's infamous statement before invading
Poland: "Who today speaks of the Armenians?"?

The testimony of respected contemporary witnesses shows that the
massacres of 1.5 million Armenians by Turkey would certainly fit the
contemporary definition of genocide. What steps are the Government
taking to ensure that their refusal to acknowledge this does not give
implicit encouragement to other perpetrators of would-be genocides or,
indeed, inhibit Turkey from recognising this, which is a precondition
for healing and reconciliation?

Lord Triesman: My Lords, I say unequivocally that what took place
was by any standards an atrocity of the first order. The judgment
required under the United Nations convention is that it can be
demonstrated that a state had intent. That is the element that the
lawyers have concluded is not shown in this case. That is why the
difference is made. However, that does not alter the fact that every
nation responsible for atrocities on such a scale needs to face them,
think about them and consider what can be done or said to help to
heal some of the wound that was caused, even if some time ago.

Lord Archer of Sandwell: My Lords, does my noble friend accept that
the issue is not so much what the Turkish Government did as their
present attitude to the atrocities? Given that it is now a criminal
offence in Turkey to refer to the genocide, that an academic seminar
supported by three Turkish universities was banned by the Government
and that academics are in prison for discussing it, is my noble friend
a little troubled that admitting Turkey to the European Union--not
after but while the Government demonstrate this contempt for human
rights--may debase the ethical implications of EU membership?

Lord Triesman: My Lords, it is true that the issue has not been set
as a precondition for negotiations with Turkey over accession to
the European Union, which, as I said to your Lordships yesterday,
will start on 3 October. On the other hand, there is no doubt that
progress needs to be made and that it must be substantive. The United
Kingdom Government have attempted to move this process on. In March
2005, at an EU Ministerial Troika with Turkey, my right honourable
friend Denis MacShane suggested to Turkey that there should be an
independent international commission to review the events of 1915.

Subsequently, the Turkish Prime Minister wrote to the Armenian
President and offered to collaborate in such a review. I submit to the
House that the review might well reach the conclusion that there was
genocide because that is not ruled out. I am not prejudging what the
review might do. But unfortunately the proposal was not accepted by
the Armenians unless the border issue and recognition were resolved
first. It is quite hard to see how progress can be made easily.

Lord Howell of Guildford: My Lords, the Minister will recall the
official British government inquiry into these atrocities under Lord
Bryce in 1915, which established beyond doubt that huge and systematic
massacres had taken place. Speaking for myself and for many others,
although there is sympathy with modern Turkey's position and its desire
to move into effective membership of the European Union, might it not
be useful for the British Government to tell our Turkish friends--to
nudge them, as it were--that a more open approach on this matter than
the one rightly described by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Archer,
might help Turkey's general position and prospects of membership of
the European Union?

Lord Triesman: My Lords, I sympathise wholly with what my noble and
learned friend Lord Archer and the noble Lord, Lord Howell, have just
said. That is precisely why my right honourable friend Denis MacShane
urged that on the Turkish Government. Given how static this position
has been for so long, we took some comfort that they were prepared to
accept a completely independent international commission to review
the events. That itself is the beginning of significant change. It
is not the change itself but the beginning of the change. We should
continue to encourage that process.

Lord McCluskey: My Lords, I speak as one who supports Turkey's
application to join the European Union. However, do Her Majesty's
Government recognise that the conduct of modern Turkey dismays many
who support the application to join and creates real obstacles to
its success? I refer: first, to its refusal to acknowledge the fact
of the massacre of more than a million Armenians under the Ottoman
Empire; secondly, to its enactment of the provision to which the
noble and learned Lord, Lord Archer, referred--Article 305 of the
Turkish penal code making journalists and others liable to criminal
prosecution for using the word "genocide" in Turkey; and, thirdly,
to the continuation of the blockade that has been referred to.

Lord Triesman: My Lords, there is no reference in the penal code
itself to that. There is an explanatory note to Article 305, which
has the impact described. However, I am told that it is not legally
binding. I also make it clear that the European Commission expects the
language to be taken into account in interpreting Article 305 because
it would not be acceptable to the European Union to interpret it in
such a damaging way.

Good relations with neighbouring states require that there should be
open and flexible discussion of borders. That requires discussion not
just with Armenia, but also with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.
That is, again, slightly complex, but we are encouraging that border
discussion.

Lord Avebury: My Lords, is the Minister aware that in 1999 when I sent
Joyce Quin, the then Minister for Europe, a list of 400 bibliographical
references on the genocide, she said that the Foreign Office did
not have time to study them? In view of the fact that, since then,
the Bryce Blue Book has been reprinted with all the references and
that archives from Germany and Turkey have been put into the public
domain, does the noble Lord not think that the Foreign Office should
at least thoroughly re-examine the evidence?

Lord Triesman: Yes, my Lords, for I am one of life's perpetual
students. I do not mean to be at all frivolous about the subject of
genocide, for there is no subject more telling in our recent modern
history. I will most certainly study that.

http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg120062.html

[ckBejug]

Genocide in the news. Recent and noteworthy articles

Genocide in the news. Recent and noteworthy articles.

[CatWoman]

Turkey Under Media Scrutiny For Attacks On U.S. Genocide Resolution

Turkey Under Media Scrutiny For Attacks On U.S. Genocide Resolution


Major Story in Vanity Fair, Report by Public Citizen Allege Unethical Conduct by the Turkish Government and its Allies

by OfficialWire NewsDesk


WASHINGTON, D.C. -- (OfficialWire) -- 08/05/05 -- A major news magazine and a leading citizens' group this week focused public attention on the unethical conduct of powerful opponents of legislation recognizing the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

Vanity Fair, in its September issue, published a 10-page story on FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, who was fired after "she accused a colleague of covering up illicit activity involving Turkish nationals." According to the article by contributing editor David Rose, Edmonds claims FBI wiretaps reveal that the Turkish government and its allies boasted of bribing - with as much as $500,000 x the Speaker of the House of Representatives as part of an alleged deal to stop consideration of the Armenian Genocide Resolution.

The article cites accounts by Edmonds regarding FBI wiretaps of the Turkish Embassy and Turkish groups such as the American Turkish Council (ATC) and the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA), including, "repeated references to Hastert's flip-flop in the fall of 2000, over an issue which remains of intense concern to the Turkish government, the continuing campaign to have Congress designate the killings of Armenians in Turkey between 1915 and 1923 a genocide."

Rose is careful to point out that "there is no evidence that any payment was ever made to Hastert or his campaign." According to the article, "Hastert's spokesman says the Congressman withdrew the genocide resolution only because of the approach from [President] Clinton, 'and to insinuate anything else just doesn't make any sense.' He adds that Hastert has no affiliation with the ATC or other groups reportedly mentioned in the wiretaps.'" The full article can be read in the September issue of Vanity Fair.

In a separate development, CongressWatch, an arm of Public Citizen, recently released a 49-page report raising ethical concerns about lobbying by former Members of Congress. The report includes a 12- page case study of the Livingston Group's lobbying efforts for the Turkish Government. The report details the efforts by Livingston Group founder, former House Appropriations Chairman Bob Livingston, to secure a "$1 billion supplemental appropriation for Turkey. . . despite that country's refusal to allow U.S. troops to use its soil as a staging area for the Iraq invasion. He also helped kill an amendment that would have formally recognized the Armenian Genocide that occurred between 1915 and 1923. Turkey has always opposed this recognition." The Livingston Group has received over $9 million in payments from Turkey. To read the entire report.

"These behind-the-scenes accounts reveal a pattern of patently unethical and possibly even illegal conduct by the Turkish government and its allies in their efforts to oppose the Armenian Genocide Resolution," said Aram Hamparian. "Facing growing bipartisan Congressional support for this legislation, these interests are resorting to increasingly desperate means to avoid the international isolation that Turkey will face following U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide."

In the months leading up the publication of these documents, the ANCA provided both Vanity Fair and Public Citizen with background materials, interviews, and first-hand accounts regarding Congressional efforts to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

http://news.baou.com/main.php?action=recent&rid=20393

[Siamanto]

Monument honors those lost
By John Ciampa/ Staff Writer

Chelmsford Independent, MA
Aug 4 2005

At the Sts. Vartanantz Armenian Church on Old Westford Road stand
three granite tablets differing in height, meaning and coloration.
The triptych lies stark and still, as if the people that it
represents are actually a million distant echoes cast within the
stoney silence of memory - voices of the past that long for us to
heed their stories of pathos and loss.

This striking memorial, erected to commemorate the 90th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, does not just ask for attention
- it demands it.

The monument's layout is distinctive and rich with symbolism in
order to accurately reflect what happened during the genocide.

Columns of granite rise up from a round pedestal that is
encircled by rows of brick. The bricks form a cross that stretches
from the monument toward the church. Between the arms of the cross
rests a series of benches - erected for relatives who survived,
perished and one marked as "unknown," signifying those unaccounted
for.

"That bench is very important for me," says former Chelmsford
High principal George Simonian, a member of Sts. Vartanantz and a
direct descendent of survivors of the genocide.

"So many Armenians were simply taken away and there is no record
of them. I had relatives that were brought out to sea, thrown
overboard and that was it. Others were just taken from their homes,
never to be heard from or seen again," he said.

Simonian says that everything about the monument is deliberate
and carefully designed. When facing the church in front of the
monument, the three stones symbolize a family - a man, woman and
child - entering the church.

In the late-afternoon sun the monolithic shadows are long and
dark, emphasizing their presence.

A pair of granite spires - cast in the likeness of the church's
gold dome - guide visitors toward the monument along a path that
extends to the church's front vestibule. Between the spires, the
horizon drapes a canvas behind the stones that stretch into the
foothills of southern New Hampshire, where merging shades of blue
from the mountains and sky provide a hallowed backdrop.

"We were lucky enough to get have a generous benefactor in William
Hausrath," says Simonian. He wasn't Armenian, but his wife Agnes
Manoogian was. He made the donation on her behalf."

According to Simonian, Hausrath presented the church with the
funds in April 2004.

Simonian motions with his hands across the church's property as
he recalls the careful positioning of the monument.

"We debated the location," he explains. "When we noticed the
view from the front of the church overlooking this area, it became
clear that this would be the spot."

Also seen from the church are a series intricate carvings that
adorn each stone.

According to Sts. Vartanantz parishioner, Jim Magarian, there
are called Khathckars, which hearken back to the stone crosses that
have historically been placed in Armenian monasteries.

"We spared no expense," says Simonian. "The stones are made of
Barre Gray granite from Vermont, which is the best there is. Local
builders came in and did a tremendous job. We worked with Luz Granite
from Lowell, and Mark Donovan from Westford, a former student of
mine, did the brickwork."

Dedicated to the men, women and children who lost their lives
during the genocide, each tablet eulogizes the groups who perished.
Their inscriptions read in unison: May God Enlighten Their Souls.

The Armenian Genocide signifies the widespread strife that swept
across the eastern regions of the Ottoman Empire, primarily from
1915-1922, in which Armenia sustained massive losses in both
territory and population.

One of the oldest civilizations in the world, the former
Armenian nation stretched over much of the ancient Middle East.
Today, Armenia occupies only a small area about the size of Maryland,
just north of Iran.

Armenians place blame on the Young Turks - a leading faction
that rose to power within the Ottoman ranks during this period, but
Simonian says that the seeds to the Genocide were sown well before
that.

"Going back to the late-19th century, the Ottomans were growing
increasingly weary of us. We were an ambitious and upwardly mobile
people - and the only Christians in the region."

Throughout the 20th century, scholars and historians have
discussed the Armenian Genocide in an attempt to place it within its
proper historical context. Much of Armenia's former lands lie in
present-day Turkey.

Turkish authorities continue to deny the genocide, instead
labeling it as consequence of war (genocide by definition, must
constitute a planned means of mass extermination). Exacerbating the
issue is the fact that it occurred during the outbreak of World War
I, with much of the world distracted by the chaos that was engulfing
Europe at the time.

"It's not even about the land," insists Simonian. "We're simply
looking for some kind of admission. The Germany of today has nothing
to do with the Nazis, yet that doesn't keep them from acknowledging
the Holocaust."

"The Turkish government has consistently made attempts to deny
any self-incriminating evidence on the subject," says Magarian.
"There's ample evidence showing how they've suppressed dialogue and
information within their own country."

Those who call it a genocide attest that the process by which
Armenians were killed was clinical and calculated, and not the result
of a protracted conflict.

They claim that it began with the murder of Armenian men who
were serving in the Turkish infantry, followed by the rounding up
hundreds of Armenian elites in the Turkish capital of Constantinople
on April 24, 1915, where they were executed.

"They were scholars, businessmen and politicians, essentially
our leaders," said Simonian.

Then, after having annihilated much of the Armenian male
population, Turkish forces drove the remaining Armenian women and
children in "death marches" into the depths of what is now Syria,
where they were left to perish in the desert heat.

Henry I. Morgenthau was the American Ambassador to
Constantinople from 1913 to 1916. His memoir, "Ambassador
Morgenthau's Story," details much of what he witnessed in Armenia.
Published in 1918, it remains one of the most widely cited American
accounts of what took place.

"Whatever crimes the most perverted instincts of the human mind can
devise, and whatever refinements of persecution and injustice the
most debased imagination can conceive, became the daily misfortunes
of this devoted people," wrote Morgenthau.

Despite Morganthau's words, the U.S. stands among the nations
that have yet to acknowledge the Genocide, and both the Clinton and
Bush administrations have abstained from referring to it as such,
though President Reagan did use the term at one point during his
tenure.

"The U.S. position is based on a policy of political interest,"
claims Magarian. "Armenia is a small nation that holds little
strategic importance for the U.S., yet Turkey continues to be a key
Middle Eastern ally that we want to appease."

The list of nations that have officially acknowledged it
continues to grow, however, and includes France, Italy, Russia,
Canada and even the Vatican, among others.

Regardless of where today's regimes stand, most nations share
the consensus that Armenia suffered immeasurable losses.

"Most estimates place total casualties around 1.5 million," says
Magarian.

That figure constitutes roughly 60 percent of Armenians who were
living at the time - a proportion equaling that of the Holocaust.
Adolf Hitler would come to invoke the plight of the Armenians some 20
years later when giving orders to round up Jews.

"Many more were deported or abandoned. My father was one of the
children who managed to escape," adds Magarian.

Many others who also escaped now call the U.S. home, and the
Boston area holds one of the most vibrant Armenian communities in the
country. The Armenian Library and Museum of America is located in
Watertown. Inside, visitors can find a wealth of information on
Armenian history including archived recordings from survivors of the
Genocide.

Like the monument that now stands here in town, it is a testament to
a people who have persevered.

http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg119893.html

[Siamanto]

MONUMENT TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS ERECTED IN ROSARIO ARGENTINEAN TOWN

PanArmenian News Network
Aug 2 2005

02.08.2005 03:35

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The solemn unveiling ceremony of the monument to
the Armenian Genocide victims was held July 30 in the Armenian city
of Rosario, the state committee for organizing events dedicated to
the 90-th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide told PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter. Mayor of Rosario Miguel Livsh!ts [edited by Siamanto] its and Armenian Ambassador
to Argentina Ara Ayvazian took part in the ceremony. On the same
day they agreed on considering the possibility of trade and economic
cooperation between one of the Armenian towns and Rosario, which is
a big port and industrial center.

http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg119764.html