Cultural Genocide

[Hovik]

I-Newswire.com (press release)
July 29 2005

Cultural Genocide Lectures

Simon Maghakyan, the author of `The First Christian Civilization's
Cultural Genocide' photo-collection, will be available for delivering
presentations on Cultural Genocide of the Armenian Heritage starting
this fall.

(I-Newswire) - Simon Maghakyan, the author of `The First Christian
Civilization's Cultural Genocide' photo-collection, will be available
for delivering presentations on Cultural Genocide of the Armenian
Heritage starting this fall.

Maghakyan, a student in Colorado, has been studying the state of the
Armenian cultural monuments in Turkey for the last few years. He has
collected hundreds of photographs from various sources that testify
to the attempted destruction of the Armenian monuments in the
Republic of Turkey. Maghakyan is also the author of more than
three-dozen Armenian-related articles that have been published in the
USA, Armenia, Russia, Iran, Greece, etc.

Maghakyan has given speeches during various human rights awareness
events and has been called `a vibrant speaker' by Colorado's local
papers. He was paid tribute to by the Colorado Congressman Tom
Tancredo in the House of the Representatives for his continuous
academic success and for his genuine service to Colorado's community.
During 2004-2005, Maghakyan served as the president of Phi Theta
Kappa International Honor Society's Sigma Phi chapter.

The Cultural Genocide of the Armenian Heritage is a result of the
denialist policy of the Turkish government. Between 1915 ( the year
the Armenian Genocide started ) and now, more than 2000 Armenian
churches and cathedrals of eastern Turkey have been ruined, converted
to mosques and desecrated. As Henry Morgenthau, America's Ambassador
to the Ottoman Empire at the time of the Armenian Genocide, has
stated, `the killing of the Armenian people was accomplished by the
systematic destruction of churches, schools, libraries, treasures of
arts and cultural monuments in an attempt to eliminate all traces of
a noble civilization with a history of more than 3000 years.'

Lecture requests can be made through www.CulturalGenocide.cjb.net.

[Gavur]

Monumental Effort: Scotsman wants to prove Azeri policy of cultural destruction in Na

Monumental Effort: Scotsman wants to prove Azeri policy of cultural destruction in Nakhijevan
By Gayane Mkrtchyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
A Scotsman, Steven Sim, takes out books about Armenian historical and cultural monuments from his backpack, as well as maps of contemporary and historical Armenian territories. He says that he is in love with Armenian monuments, and this love was born in him 20 years ago when he visited the ruins of Ani, once Armenia’s capital, and made his first photograph there.

“During these years I visited Turkey many times and photographed Armenian monuments. I even photographed the monuments in the waters of the river Arax that remained under water when the river’s dams were built,” says the ???? year old ????. Armenian monuments are of interest to me by their original beauty, and because they are not known to the world.”



The ground has been leveled where an Armenian church used to stand in Nakhijevan.

Currently on one of his visits to Armenia, Sim was just in Nakhijevan, visiting the famous Armenian cemetery in Nor Jugha, from where he returned angry and disappointed.


“I was advised to leave the place as soon as possible unless I wanted trouble,” Sim says.


Ten years ago Sim was in Iran and saw the Jugha khachkars across the border. He says that from that moment he had been longing to visit the place and see the cultural values of world importance.


“Generally, the photographs of the monuments of Nakhijevan were published in numerous books. I was also advised to go and see them by the chairman of the Research on Armenian Architecture organization Armen Hakhnazaryan, with whom I have close ties,” says Sim.


Sim fulfilled his dream two weeks ago. He went to Turkey, and from there to Nakhijevan (which is under Azerbaijan rule), then he took a train to Jugha to see the khachkars of the cemetery on the road, as the railway directly passes by the cemetery. But he was quickly spotted as a foreigner. Sim says that controllers strictly prohibited him from taking photographs or even to look out of the window.


“They did everything to distract my attention, even by treating me to tea,” Sim says. “Before reaching Jugha two of the controllers left the compartment and I had time to look through the window. I was taken aback, because there was not a single standing khachkar (stone cross) there. All of them were lying, facing the ground, or ruined. Meanwhile, 10 years ago I saw from across the border 2,000 standing khachkars.”


The Jugha cemetery situated on a territory of 1,600 sq. meters is located on the west side of Jugha – on three hills. It is famous for its khachkars. In 1648, according to the data of traveler Alexander Rodes, it had 10,000 well-preserved khachkars. In 1903-1904, after the construction of a railway, along with the destruction of a number of the town’s monuments also destroyed were part of the cemetery’s khachkars. During that time there were 5,000 standing and collapsed khachkars registered. According to the data of 1915 and then 1928-29, there were up to 3,000 khachkars and a few thousand flat, two-edged, cap-shaped tombstones. In 1971-1973, only 2,707 were preserved in Jugha, and in the cemeteries of churches and the All-Savior monastery and elsewhere there were 250 khachkars, and 1,000 tombstones.


Sim says that a great part of the cemetery situated on a hill next to Jugha does not exist anymore. The khachkars on the other two hills are turned upside down.


In 1998-1999, Iranian-Armenian architects photographed evidence that the Azeris were using bulldozers to destroy the last vestiges of Armenian culture in the territory across the Arax.


“What I saw was real savageness, but I cannot say that they did not leave anything, since there are still lying khachkars,” says Sim.


After Jugha he decided to go to see the current condition of the churches that he saw in books.


He took a taxi from Nakhijevan????? to the town of Abrakunis to see Surb Karapet Church (1381). Sim photographed from the same spot, the same scene that he saw in the books, but without the church.


“They razed it to the ground, they did not leave even the slightest thing reminding of the church, it was totally cleared. When I asked the locals where the village church was, they showed the empty territory situated near the entrance. The only thing that reminds of the existence of a church in the past was the pieces of brick buried in the ground,” says Sim.


After Abrakunis he went north and visited the villages of Khanega, Ilandagh (Odzasar) and Khachi Sar. There he also found ruined and destroyed Armenian monuments and churches. The following day he took a bus to Ordubad to go to on to Agulis from there. However, the police prohibited him from going to Agulis. They even prohibited him to leave the center of the town.


“I did not oppose the ban, as tension was already obvious. Officially the purpose of my visit there was to see Islamic and Armenian holy places. In Nakhijevan they treat foreigners with suspicion. It does not matter whether you are an Armenian or a representative of another nationality. In Ordubad, too, every Armenian thing was destroyed,” he says.


Thereafter, Sim went to one of the remotest regions of Nakhijevan to see whether such a situation was everywhere. He went to the village of Shorut. What Sim saw there brought him to one conviction: “It is a special state policy being implemented throughout Nakhijevan.”


Nothing is left of the churches once situated in Shorut – the churches of Patriarch Hakob, Grigor Lusavorich, Surb Stepanos, Surb Astvatsatsin, nor the khachkars dated 924-926. The villagers claim that there were no Armenian churches there. The oldest of them even began to speak Armenian with Sim to try to identify his nationality.


Having visited Turkey and Azerbaijan, studying the Armenian monuments Sim says: “I don’t think that there is a central government program in Turkey to destroy monuments. There, it is even possible to purchase travel guides telling about numerous Armenian churches. But a special state policy of destruction is being implemented in Azerbaijan. In Turkey, after 90 years of staying empty, there are still standing churches today, meanwhile in Nakhijevan, all have been destroyed within just 10 years.”


After Shorut Sim returned to Turkey, and from there came to Armenia.


“I raise my voice of protest and want everybody to listen to me. If such monuments are being destroyed, then it is an evil deed directed against all of mankind,” Sim said on a visit to ArmeniaNow newsroom. “The khachkars of Jugha are cultural values of international importance. Once, the problem was raised at UNESCO, however Azerbaijan did not receive its representatives, which shows that they are hiding the facts. And the photographs are very, very important. It will be possible to prove the truth through them.”


The ground has been leveled where an Armenian church used to stand in Nakhijevan.

[imported_Hellektor]

Just wanted to tell it!

I know a guy that knows this guy.
They met in occupied Western Armenia and, probably under influence of Turkish hate propaganda, this Sim guy had asked the guy I know why Armenians are so nationalistic.

After tasting "Azeri" "hospitality" and after seeing the destruction for himself now he has woken up.
Wish the Turks had as much lucidity to rid themselves of their fantasy.

BTW there's a new Armenian forum here:

http://www.hayem.org/forum/index.php

The Turks like always have copy-pasted the same McFarty spam in that forum.
Give this forum a helping hand those who can find the time.

[Pantalaimon]

I know a guy that knows this guy.
BTW there's a new Armenian forum here:

http://www.hayem.org/forum/index.php

The Turks like always have copy-pasted the same McFarty spam in that forum.
Give this forum a helping hand those who can find the time.

I registered, even though the forum seems exclusive to Armenian Cypriots. Then again, I didn't really see any Armenian Cypriots on there in the first place. It's mostly Turks starting propaganda threads, and not even in English. Who are they trying to convince? Themselves?

[imported_anoush]

There is also a new Armenian Nationalist Forum:

http://s4.invisionfree.com/Armenian_Diaspora/index.php?act=idx

[Pantalaimon]

Here's a forum of some significance: http://s9.invisionfree.com/Greece_Tu...ex.php?act=idx

[imported_anoush]

Here's a forum of some significance: http://s9.invisionfree.com/Greece_Tu...ex.php?act=idx

I frankly don't know why people like wasting time talking to turks. It's always the same recycled BS. Does somebody expect they are going to perform a miracle and make them civilized?

[Hovik]

European Parliament Strongly Condemns Azerbaijan's Destruction Of The Djulfa

EUROPEAN ARMENIAN FEDERATION
for Justice and Democracy
Avenue de la Renaissance 10
B-1000 Bruxelles
Tel: +322 732 70 26
Tel/Fax: +322 732 70 27
Email: [email protected]


PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
February 16, 2006
Contact: Vartenie ECHO
Tel: +322 732 70 26


EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT STRONGLY CONDEMNS AZERBAIJAN'S DESTRUCTION OF THE DJULFA
ARMENIAN CEMETERY

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - The European Parliament today overwhelmingly adopted a
resolution condemning the Azerbaijani government's destruction of the
Armenian cemetery in Djulfa, a unique archaeological treasure located in the
Nakhichevan autonomous republic administered by Azerbaijan.

The resolution, which was approved by a vote of 85 to 5, noted that,
"serious allegations have been raised about the involvement of the
Azerbaijani authorities in the destruction of these monuments" and stressed
that " Azerbaijan has not provided answers [on this matter to] the former
special rapporteur of the United Nations." Based on these and other
findings, the European Parliament “strongly condemns the destruction of the
Djulfa cemetery […]” and “demands that Azerbaijan allow missions dedicated
to surveying and protecting the archaeological heritage on its territory,
especially Armenian heritage […].” The measure also asks Azerbaijan to
“allow a European Parliament delegation to visit the archaeological site at
Djulfa.”

“We extend our warmest congratulations to the Members of the European
Parliament for the principled and comprehensive nature of this condemnation.
We regret, however, attempts, especially from the European Greens, to
obscure Azerbaijan's crime by drawing fake parallels with alleged
destruction of cultural sites by Armenia,” stated Hilda Tchoboian, the
Chairperson of the European Armenian Federation.

The European Armenian Federation calls upon the presidency of the European
Parliament to promptly send the parliamentary delegation called for in this
resolution to survey the destruction of Djulfa.

The Federation also expressed its hope that this European initiative will
encourage other national, multilateral and international bodies to condemn
the Djulfa destruction with the same energy that they devoted to their
protests in 2001 of the Buddhas of Bamiyan.

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[Hovik]

Destruction Of Armenian Khachkars: Azeri Historians Try To Revise History

DESTRUCTION OF ARMENIAN KHACHKARS: AZERI HISTORIANS TRY TO REVISE HISTORY

Yerkir
22.02.2006 12:27

YEREVAN (YERKIR) - Destruction of the Armenian cemetery in Old
Julfa (Nakhichevan) is quite comprehensible from the point of
view of Azeri historians, head of the Agency for Preservation of
Historical and Cultural Monuments at the Ministry of Culture and Youth
Affairs of Armenia, professor of architecture Artem Grigoryan told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In his words, they are now trying to revise
the history and prove that Armenians did not live for centuries on
territories seized by them.

According to Artem Grigoryan, systematic destruction of the material
culture only shows the degree of civilization of the Azeri people.

Â"Armenians never destroyed monuments of other peoples that lived or
live in Armenia. There are no diplomatic relations between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, as well as Turkey, thus we can influence these countries
only via international organizations.

At present we are forming an information database over Old Julfa to
submit it to the European Parliament. Khachkars, naturally, cannot
be returned, however we can try to save what is left - churches,
other evidence of aboriginal settlement of Armenians on Nakhichevan
territory," he emphasized.

--Boundary_(ID_DTS5Y/Do4K0978duX495zw)--

[Gavur]

Politics of Protection: Group urges review of “cultural genocide” during Turkey’s app

Politics of Protection: Group urges review of “cultural genocide” during Turkey’s application

By Zhanna Alexanyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter

While the European Union considers Turkey’s application for membership, some Armenians are using the time of intense inspection to rally their cause against what they call “cultural genocide”.

Earlier this month a group of Armenian intelligentsia met in Yerevan to discuss ways to bring attention to the destruction of Armenian architecture on Turkish soil.


Armenian intellectuals share their concern over the fate of Armenian monuments in Turkey
Armen Hakhnazaryan, who has founded an organization for studying Armenian architecture 35 years ago in Germany, says they have struggled for recognition of the Genocide by Germany, but the German Bundestag adopted the resolution condemning the events of 1915 only now that EU membership is being considered.

“Those facts about the cultural genocide that we presented to the members of parliament and various parties played a big role also,” Haknazaryan says. “Not because they did not know about it and their eyes suddenly opened, but because from the point of view of politics of today they are afraid of the 70 million population entering Europe. We should use the moment.”

The German members of parliament who put the resolution into circulation consulted with Hakhnazaryan who has devoted himself to publicizing the “cultural genocide”. (Although the term “cultural genocide” is not part of the 1945 UN Convention on Genocide, it is widely accepted by the international community.)

“During the last several years the term cultural cannibalism is used. That is a nation not only exterminates the other’s values but also expropriates. And that is cannibalism,” says head of Turkic Department of Oriental Studies Institute of the National Academy of Sciences Ruben Safrastyan.

He also presented the legal bases of the question that can be used by Armenia to raise the question of responsibility of Turkey before international instances.

The policy of Turkey may be condemned by the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, 1972 European Union World Culture and Natural Heritage Agreement and 1992 Agreement on Preservation of Architectural Heritage; the first of which committed Turkey to preservation of monuments of the Christian minority living on its territory.

A resolution on the Armenian Genocide by the Council of Europe in 1987 can also be helpful to Armenia in this matter, according to which the European community demands Turkey to respect and preserve the historical monuments of the Armenian nation. The extermination of Armenian monuments in Turkey began with the Armenian Genocide and continues up to now.

If in 1920s there were more than 900 Armenian churches in Turkey. By 1974 according to data publicized by UNESCO more than the half of them had been destroyed, 212 ruined and 197 needed urgent reconstruction.

“Crumbs have remained and their number decreases day after day. We have losses every single day. We lost our country, before we could recognize it,” says coordinator of the Armenian branch of the organization for the research of Armenian architecture Samvel Karapetyan.

Specialists charge that Turkey exterminates Armenian culture by turning churches into mosques, and by other means.

“I was heavily impressed with the Urfa Cathedral that was used in 1915 to burn 3000 Armenians alive and that has turned into fire depot after the creation of the Turkish republic,” informed Safrastyan.

Safrastyan and others also claim that monuments have been ruined by “excavations” in search of buried gold.

Head of the Spiritual Treasury of the Mechitarist Congregation Father Harutyun Pstikyan spoke about the cultural vandalism in Georgia and Azerbaijan.

“The only one among our neighbors that preserves Armenian monuments on its territory is Iran,” said the representative of the Mechitarist Congregation.

In the end of the discussion an open letter was addressed to the Armenian authorities that urged authorities to call Turkey to responsibility for destruction of Armenian culture.