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ASSEMBLY THIS WEEK Monday, September 19, 2005
ASSEMBLY THIS WEEK Monday, September 19, 2005
PAN-ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION PASSES HOUSE IR COMMITTEE BY WIDE
MARGIN
The influential House International Relations Committee last week voted
40 to 7 to approve the pan-Armenian Genocide resolution, thereby
clearing an important legislative hurdle.
H. Res. 316, which is currently backed by 140 Members, won passage
thanks in part to Committee Chairman Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL), and the
bill's principal sponsors Reps. George Radanovich (R-CA), Adam Schiff
(D-CA) and Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Frank
Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ).
"The argument has been made that these resolutions, if adopted, will be
harmful to [the] interests [of the U.S.] by undermining our relationship
with Turkey, which all acknowledge to be one of our key allies....Denial
of [the Armenian Genocide] cannot be justified on the basis of
expediency or fear that speaking the truth will do us harm," Hyde said.
The Committee also voted 35 to 11 to approve an alternative measure,
sponsored by Schiff, that would reaffirm the Armenian Genocide.
"The Assembly extends its appreciation to Chairman Hyde and members of
the Committee for properly recognizing the first genocide of the
twentieth century and affirming the U.S. record," Assembly Board of
Trustees Chairman Hirair Hovnanian said following the vote. "This
recognition, which is especially poignant during this 90th commemorative
year, will go a long way in preventing future tragedies and give meaning
to the phrase 'Never Again.' "
"We also thank the original sponsors of H. Res. 316 who worked long and
hard in helping secure today's victory," Hovnanian added.
H. Res. 316 calls upon the President of the United States to ensure that
the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate
understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights,
ethnic cleansing and genocide documented in the United States record
relating to the Armenian Genocide. Also, it acknowledges the proud
history of the U.S. intervention in opposition to the Armenian Genocide.
The legislation is similar to the version that nearly passed the House
of Representatives in 2000. The previous resolution, which had the
support of 143 cosponsors, passed the House International Relations
Committee by a vote of 24 to 11. It was later scheduled for a vote on
the House floor, but withdrawn at the last minute due to an intervention
by President Clinton to Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) which prevented
the final affirmative vote.
Board of Directors Chairman Anthony Barsamian praised the Assembly's
network of grassroots activists and the community at large for reaching
out to lawmakers and helping secure bi-partisan support for H. Res. 316.
"Armenian-Americans celebrate this victory, not only for our public
advocacy efforts, but for those who dare to speak the truth," said
Barsamian. "Today's success demonstrates that engaging our grassroots in
the democratic process prevails over the millions spent by Turkey's
hired lobbyists to influence decision makers. It is our hope that
Speaker Hastert will now follow the example of President Reagan, and
more recently, U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans, and formally and
irrevocably reaffirm the Armenian Genocide."
The next step in the legislative process is to work with the sponsors to
secure passage in the full House.
ASSEMBLY MONITORING EUROPEAN HUMAN RIGHTS CASE AGAINST TURKEY
The European Court of Human Rights is expected to announce a decision
this week on the property rights of minority foundations. Specifically,
the Court will adjudicate two cases filed by the Soorp Purgich Armenian
Hospital Foundation and the Fener Greek Boys High School Foundation
against Turkey.
In both cases, properties gifted to the Foundations were seized on the
basis that the bequests violated a decree disallowing non-Moslems from
donating real estate. If the court rules in favor of the Foundations,
hundreds of buildings seized by the Turkish government may be returned.
Earlier this year Board of Directors Member Van Krikorian testified
before the Helsinki Commission on freedom of religion in Turkey,
pointing out that seizure and destruction of Armenian Church property
has been common for centuries. "Armenians paid and in many places still
pay a high price for their Christianity," he said. Krikorian also
pointed to the Soorp Purgich Armenian Hospital as an example of how the
Treaty of Lausanne and other international standards for protecting
religious rights are not being upheld, and urged the Helsinki Commission
to play a critical leadership role in addressing these issues.
Corrections: The documentary "Armenian Genocide: 90 Years Later" has
been nominated for a regional (not national) Emmy award by the Upper
Midwest Chapter of the National Television Academy. Winners will be
announced Oct. 22. * Fellow Trustees Steven Kradjian and Gary Takessian
participated in the Assembly-led meeting with Congresswoman Susan Davis
(D-CA) on September 10.
Calendar of Events
10/19-11/1: Annual Mission to Armenia & NKR
10/22: International Banquet; Yerevan, Armenia
11/13: Capital Regional Holiday Reception; DC
3/26 - 3/28: 2006 National Conference & Banquet; DC
************************************************** ***************
A WEEKLY NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY THE ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA
1140 19th Street, N.W., Suite 600, Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 393-3434
FAX (202) 638-4904
E-Mail: [email protected] WEB http://www.armenianassembly.org
************************************************** ***************
RADIO FREE EUROPE/ RADIO LIBERTY
U.S. HOUSE COMMITTEE PASSES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTIONS
By Emil Danielyan
Sept. 16, 2005
A key committee of the U.S. Congress on Thursday overwhelmingly approved
two resolutions recognizing the mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman
Turkey as genocide and urging President George W. Bush to do the same.
Ignoring White House objections, the International Relations Committee
of the House of Representatives voted 40-7 and 35-11 in favor of the
bills after months of intense lobbying by Armenian-American advocacy
groups. The panel had endorsed a similar pro-Armenian resolution five
years ago before its passage by the full House was blocked by its
Speaker Dennis Hastert and then U.S. President Bill Clinton.
"This is an important, resounding vote acknowledging the historical
truth and squarely combating Turkey's denial of the Armenian genocide,"
Bryan Ardouny, the executive director of the Armenian Assembly of
America, told RFE/RL. "We hope that it will encourage Turkey to come to
terms with its past."
"The fight is not over as there are still steps along the way. We will
continue to work with our friends in Congress to have this resolution
approved by the full House," Ardouny said.
One of the bills known as House Resolution 316 was introduced in June
and has since been co-sponsored by 140 legislators. It calls on Bush to
"accurately characterize the systematic and deliberate annihilation of
1,500,000 Armenians as genocide and to recall the proud history of
United States intervention in opposition to the Armenian Genocide."
The other legislation, co-sponsored by 86 congressmen, similarly calls
on Bush to "commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide on behalf
of the people and Government of the United States." It also urges Turkey
to "acknowledge the culpability of its predecessor state, the Ottoman
Empire, for the Armenian Genocide" and to "promote rapprochement with
the Republic of Armenia."
"We are absolutely thrilled with the result. We got a strong bipartisan
vote for recognition of the Armenian genocide," Adam Schiff, a
pro-Armenian California congressman and the sponsor of the House
Resolution 195, told RFE/RL.
Successive U.S. administrations have avoided using the term "genocide"
for fear of antagonizing Turkey, a key U.S. ally which maintains that
the Armenian massacres occurred on a much smaller scale and were not
premeditated by the last rulers of the Ottoman Empire. Bush has instead
used phrases like "systematic annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians"
which leaders of the influential Armenian-American community say
constitute a textbook definition of genocide.
"We have never termed the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman
Empire a genocide. That is why we do not support this resolution," a
senior Bush administration official, who asked not to be identified,
told RFE/RL from Washington.
"We believe that the use of the term genocide would not contribute to
reconciliation and dialogue between the two communities," the official
said, speaking shortly before the House committee vote. He would not
speculate on whether Bush will follow Clinton's example and ask Hastert
to effectively kill the resolution.
Ardouny did not rule out such possibility. "Anything can happen but we
will press ahead with this in any case," he said, adding that White
House pressure on the Republican-controlled Congress is not as "intense"
as it was five years ago.
Schiff also noted a "growing momentum in favor of genocide recognition"
and "very limited opposition" to the bills from the White House and the
State Department. Still, he said "a lot remains to be done" to bring
them before the full House of Representatives.
The State Department sent a letter to members of the House International
Relations Committee ahead of the votes, saying the debate "could damage
U.S.-Turkish relations and could undermine progress by Ankara and
Yerevan as they begin quiet talks to address the issue and look to the
future."
But the committee's Republican Chairman, Henry Hyde, said that he doubts
the relationship with Turkey would be harmed and stressed the
resolutions do not hold Turkey or the Turkish people accountable for the
killings. He said the resolutions "merely recognize the fact that the
authorities of the Ottoman Empire deliberately slaughtered the majority
of the Armenian community in their empire."
"Denial of that fact cannot be justified on the basis of expediency or
fear that speaking the truth will do us harm," Hyde said, according to
the Associated Press.
The Bush administration official noted that despite its reluctance to
call the mass killings a genocide Washington supports "serious
examination of the history of that period." He pointed in particular to
a "good" study conducted by a New York-based human rights organization
at the request of the U.S.-backed Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation
Commission (TARC). The International Center for Transitional Justice
(ICTJ) concluded in January 2003 that the Armenian massacres fit the
definition of genocide set by a 1948 UN convention. Armenian members of
the former TARC say the study dealt a serious blow to Turkish denial of
the genocide.
In his last April 24 message to the Armenian-American community, Bush
described the ICTJ study as a "significant step toward reconciliation
and restoration of the spirit of tolerance and cultural richness that
has connected the people of the Caucasus and Anatolia for centuries."
The administration official clarified that this should not be
interpreted as U.S. endorsement of its findings.
"We endorsed the process of the study, not its conclusions," the
official said. "We were not part of the study." He also praised TARC's
four-year activities as a "serious process that involved serious
people."
In his 2005 statement, Bush referred to the Armenian massacres as the
"Great Calamity." The "Great Calamity" was translated as "Mets Yeghern"
in the Armenian-language version of the statement released by the U.S.
embassy in Yerevan. The Armenians use this term only with regard to the
1915-1918 slaughter of their kinsmen.
The late Ronald Reagan was the first and so far the only U.S. president
to recognize genocide in 1981. John Evans, the current U.S. ambassador
to Armenia, became the second U.S. government official to do so publicly
at a series of meetings with Armenian-Americans last February. "The
Armenian Genocide was the first genocide of the 20th century," Evans
declared at one of those meetings, sparking talk of an imminent change
in U.S. policy on the issue.
However, the State Department and Bush administration officials were
quick to quash the speculation, insisting that the envoy expressed his
personal opinion on the matter.
************************************************** **********************
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ARMENIA THIS WEEK September 19, 2005
ARMENIA THIS WEEK September 19, 2005
CONGRESSIONAL PANEL GIVES STRONG ENDORSEMENT TO GENOCIDE AFFIRMATION
The International Relations Committee of the U.S. House of
Representatives overwhelmingly approved last week two bills affirming
the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide and urging Turkey to address
the tragedy. Armenia hailed the development and urged a full
congressional affirmation of the Genocide. As in the past, the vote came
amid opposition by Turkish government lobbyists.
Co-Chairs of the Armenian Congressional Caucus Joe Knollenberg (R-MI)
and Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), as well as Caucus members George
Radanovich (R-MI) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) championed the House Resolution
316, which received the endorsement of 140 House members and 40 to 7
approval in the committee. The U.S. State Department said that while the
Bush Administration "mourns the forced exile and annihilation of
approximately 1.5 million Armenians... as one of the great tragedies in
human history" it "did not support" the congressional involvement,
arguing that it might undermine Turkish-Armenian rapprochement.
But the committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-IL) disagreed with this
argument, expressing his conviction that "it is in the interests of the
United States and of Turkey and Armenia both that we take the lead in
dealing with this paralyzing legacy [of the Genocide]. And we must start
with recognition of the truth. For there is no possibility that this
problem can ever be overcome if we seek to ground any solution on
silence and forgetting." In a reversal of his past position, the
Committee's ranking member Tom Lantos (D-CA) also voted for the
legislation.
Congressmen also condemned Ankara for prosecution of world-renowned
Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, who faces up to three years in prison for
publicly referring to the Armenian Genocide in an interview. Rep. Ed
Royce (R-CA) called the prosecution "as wrong as it is incredible."
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan criticized the vote in a
meeting with Jewish American organizations on the sidelines of the UN
General Assembly in New York. According to the pro-government Turkey
daily Zaman, Erdogan "demanded Jewish support against Armenians,"
pointing to Turkey's importance for Israel.
In 2000, a similar bill on the Armenian Genocide passed the
International Relations Committee, but it was withdrawn from full House
consideration after Turkey threatened to suspend anti-terrorism
cooperation with the U.S. Earlier this year, shortly before the April 24
statement by President George W. Bush, the Turkish government approved
the request for expanded U.S. use of the Incirlik Air Base on Turkish
territory. According to the Turkish media at the time, the decision and
its timing were part of the Turkish effort to avoid the use of the
Genocide term in Bush's statement. Armenia's leading Turkey expert Ruben
Safrastian suggested that the United States may similarly trade the
current resolution for a more cooperative Turkish stance on Iraq and
other foreign policy priorities. (Sources: Armenia This Week 4-25, 8-8;
AAA Press Release 9-14; RFE/RL Armenia Report 9-15; Zaman 9-15; U.S.
State Dept. 9-16; Regnum 9-18)
ARMENIA OUTRANKS NEIGHBORS IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, BUSINESS OPENNESS
RANKING
Armenia continues to lead its region in economic reform and social
progress, according to reports by the United Nations and the World Bank.
Despite built-in geographic constraints and modest natural resources, as
well as blockades by Turkey and Azerbaijan, Armenia has also registered
five straight years of double-digit growth. The government estimated an
almost 12 percent increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the
seven months of 2005. Foreign investments have also grown by 12 percent
to $140 million for the first half of the year.
According to the United Nations' "Human Development Index," which
measures life expectancy, education level and average income, Armenia
ranked 83rd out of 177 nations. Armenia's immediate neighbors, Turkey,
Iran, Georgia and Azerbaijan, ranked 94th, 99th, 100th and 101st,
respectively. Armenia's Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian called the
annual ranking a "report card" and welcomed the fact that it noted
progress in Armenia, which "is doing better than [many] expected." He
stressed, however, that the government was not satisfied with the social
and economic status quo, pledging further democratic reforms and
alleviation of poverty.
The "Doing Business 2006" report prepared by the World Bank's
International Finance Corporation (IFC) put Armenia 46th in the ranking
of 155 countries in terms of "ease of doing business." The IFC ranked
Russia - 79th, Turkey - 93rd, Azerbaijan - 98th, Georgia - 100th, and
Iran - 108th. The same report ranked Armenia 9th in the world for the
ease of registering property and 41st for starting a business. The
annual "Economic Freedom Index," jointly prepared by the Wall Street
Journal and the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, also ranked
Armenia repeatedly ahead of its region, most recently as 42nd of 161
countries surveyed. (Sources: Armenia This Week 1-10; Arminfo 8-19;
RFE/RL Armenia Report 9-8, 13; The Armenian Foreign Ministry Press
Release 9-9; The World Bank's http://www.doingbusiness.org 9-15)
************************************************** ***************
A WEEKLY NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY THE ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA
1140 19th Street, N.W., Suite 600, Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 393-3434
FAX (202) 638-4904
E-Mail [email protected] WEB http://www.aaainc.org
************************************************** ***************
The New York Times Editorial
Sunday, September 11, 2005
THE TURKISH IDENTITY
Next week, the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will
address the United Nations on one of the issues threatening to slow down
negotiations to admit Turkey into the European Union - recognizing
Cyprus. But he should also address the question of Orhan Pamuk, the
pre-eminent Turkish novelist who has been charged with "public
denigration" of Turkish identity.
In February, a Swiss newspaper quoted Pamuk on Turkey's long-standing
refusal to discuss the Armenian genocide and the deaths of 30,000
separatist Kurds more recently. Pamuk's remarks inflamed Turkish
nationalists, and he left the country. He faces the possibility of three
years in jail.
The charges against Pamuk violate the standards of free speech, one of
the prerequisites to Turkey's admission to the European Union. The
charges also cut to the heart of Pamuk's writing. The question of
Turkish identity informs his work. In "My Name Is Red," Pamuk never lets
the reader forget the ethnic and cultural diversity of Turkey's past.
Nor does he flinch, in "Istanbul," from reminding readers of the
"deliberately provoked" 1955 riots that destroyed several non-Muslim
neighborhoods in that city. Beneath the notion of a Turkish identity
lies a tension, still noticeable today, that has nourished Pamuk's
writing.
It has been about six months since Pamuk's comments were published, so
it is unclear why the charges are being brought just now. Whatever the
motive, they are a reminder that one of Turkey's biggest obstacles in
dealing with the West is the way it chooses to patrol its own history.
The Washington Post Editorial
Wednesday, September 7, 2005; A24
Free Speech for Turkey
Orhan Pamuk, one of Turkey's most acclaimed writers, is facing up to
three years in prison. His offense, according to the state prosecutor?
"Public denigrating of Turkish identity." Specifically, Mr. Pamuk told a
Swiss newspaper in February that certain topics were off-limits for
discussion in Turkey -- citing the massacre of Armenians in 1915 and the
more recent conflicts between Turkish security forces and Kurdish
separatists. "Thirty-thousand Kurds were killed here, 1 million
Armenians as well. And almost no one talks about it," he said.
"Therefore, I do."
As mild as these comments sound to American ears, they touched off a
firestorm in Turkey, where the government line is that the Armenian
deaths were the consequence of war, not genocide, and public discussion
of the issue is hazardous. The uproar over Mr. Pamuk's remarks, which
included death threats and burnings of his books, culminated with the
filing of the criminal case under Article 301/1 of the Turkish Penal
Code, which applies criminal penalties to "a person who explicitly
insults being a Turk, the Republic or Turkish Grand National Assembly."
Under Turkish law, Mr. Pamuk isn't even permitted to comment on the
charges before his case is heard in December.
The prosecution of Mr. Pamuk is, of course, outrageous; the charges
should be dropped as soon as possible. The ill-advised use of this
ill-advised provision to punish Mr. Pamuk contravenes Turkey's
commitment to comply with the free-speech provisions of international
agreements such as the European Convention on Human Rights. It's exactly
the wrong signal for Turkey to be sending as Europe debates its
admission to the European Union. As Mr. Pamuk's translator, Maureen
Freely, wrote in the British newspaper the Independent, "There is no
doubt that it will raise questions about the wisdom of Turkey's EU
membership bid. How can it possibly claim to be a European country if it
has such laws on the books, and if public prosecutors can bring such
cases?"
This reaction, indeed, may be exactly what those pushing for a
prosecution intended; the timing of the charges, as European ministers
meet in Wales to discuss Turkey's membership, is suspicious. That makes
it even more important for the national government, though it doesn't
control the prosecutor who brought the case, to do what it can to halt
this case and others like it. Turkey has made important strides in
protecting freedom of expression in recent years, including reforming
its penal code. The charges against Mr. Pamuk underscore how far it
still has to go.Comment
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ARMENIAN GENOCIDE EDUCATION Reaching Into the School Curriculum
PRESS RELEASE
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research
395 Concord Ave.
Belmont, MA 02478
Contact: Marc Mamigonian
Tel: 617-489-1610
Fax: 617-484-1759
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.naasr.org/
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE EDUCATION
Reaching Into the School Curriculum
A Panel Discussion with
Prof. Richard G. Hovannisian
Armenian Education Foundation Professor of
Modern
Armenian History, UCLA
Margot Stern Strom
Executive Director, Facing History and
Ourselves
Adam Strom
Director of Research and Development, Facing
History and
Ourselves
Dr. Henry Theriault
Associate Professor of Philosophy, Worcester State College
Over the past several decades a remarkable amount of work has been
done to document and analyze the Armenian Genocide committed by the
Ottoman Turks in 1915- 23. Yet the level of knowledge of the Genocide
outside the Armenian community remains disappointingly low; and,
moreover, the lessons of the Armenian Genocide and other 20th century
genocides have not halted the practice of mass killings for political
purposes, as recent events in Darfur attest.
Facing History and Ourselves of Brookline, MA, has been a leader in
producing Holocaust and genocide curricula since it's founding in the
late 1970s. They have now published an important textbook on the
Armenian Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity and Civilization: The
Genocide of the Armenians, supervised by Adam Strom with significant
input from leading scholars such as Richard Hovannisian. The
existence of such a text, as well as the huge body of scholarship on
the subject, raises key questions: How to get the text and the
teaching of the Armenian Genocide into public schools in Massachusetts
and beyond? What is the most effective way to teach the Armenian
Genocide to non- Armenians? Can the lessons of the Armenian Genocide
have a far-reaching effect in the prevention of future genocides?
These and many other questions will be addressed by the panel which
will be moderated by Marc A. Mamigonian of NAASR. Join us for the
opportunity to engage in an in- depth conversation on this most
relevant subject and learn more about Crimes Against Humanity and
Civilization.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday
September 30, 2005
------------------------------------------------------------
TIME:
7:30 p.m
---
LOCATION:
Belmont High School Auditorium
Concord Ave.,
Belmont,
MA
---
CO-SPONSORS:
Facing History and ourselves
National Association for Armenian Studies and
Research
Armenian Assembly of America
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Admission free (donations accepted)
* Reception following program at NAASR Center
* Parking is available at Belmont High School and in
adjacent areas on Concord Ave.Comment
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RE: Assembly Meets with Armenian Parliament Speaker
Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.armenianassembly.org
PRESS RELEASE
September 20, 2005
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
Email: [email protected]
RE: Assembly Meets with Armenian Parliament Speaker
An Assembly delegation led by Board of Trustees Chairman Hirair
Hovnanian met with Armenian Parliament Speaker Arthur Baghdasaryan in
New York on September 9. The meeting, which focused on building
stronger U.S.-Armenia relations and democratic reforms in Armenia,
also included Board of Trustees Treasurer Edele Hovnanian, Board of
Directors Chairman Anthony Barsamian, Board of Directors Member Van
Krikorian and Executive Director Bryan Ardouny.
Ardouny also briefed the Speaker on key legislative issues and
participated with him in various meetings with U.S. government
officials in Washington. Baghdasaryan met with U.S. State Department
officials and several lawmakers including House Speaker Dennis Hastert
(R-IL), House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-CA), Minority
Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and
Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Frank Pallone,
Jr. (D-NJ), among others.
"Armenia has a proud history and is committed to engagement with its
neighbors to promote democracy and regional trade," Dreier
said. "Speaker Baghdasaryan and I agreed that democracy is critical to
security and stability in the region. I was proud to welcome the
Speaker to the Capitol and look forward to working with him on his
efforts in the future."
Photographs available on the Assembly Web site at the following links:
Caption: L to R: Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny, Board of
Directors Member Van Krikorian, Speaker of the Armenian Parliament
Arthur Baghdasaryan, Board of Trustees Chairman Hirair Hovnanian,
Board of Directors Chairman Anthony Barsamian and Board of Trustees
Treasurer Edele Hovnanian.
Caption: L to R: Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny, House
Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-CA) and Armenian Parliament
Speaker Arthur Baghdasaryan.
Caption: Armenian Parliament Speaker Arthur Baghdasaryan, center, with
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD), far right, and Assembly
Executive Director Bryan Ardouny.
The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness
of Armenian issues. It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership
organization.
###
NR#2005-091Comment
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Turkey: Conference In The European Parliament A Huge Success
EUROPEAN ARMENIAN FEDERATION
for Justice & Democracy
Avenue dela Renaissance 10
B-1000 Bruxelles
Tel: +322 732 70 26
Tel/Fax:+322 732 70 27
Email: [email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
September 23rd, 2005
Contact :François Michel
Tel :+322 732 70 26
TURKEY: CONFERENCE IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT A HUGE SUCCESS
The conference, held on Thursday, September 22nd, 2005 and co-organized by the
EPP-ED Parliamentary Group (Christian Democrat) and by the European Armenian
Federation, concluded successfully and solicited much interest in the European
Parliament where it was held. More than 200 participants, including key
European policy makers, parliamentarians and leaders of associations from
around fifteen EU countries, as well as many columnists made the trip to
Brussels to hear and express opinions on the theme “December 2004 – October
2005: Has Turkey changed?”
Following the welcome address given by the vice-president of the European
Parliament, Dr. Ingo Friedrich (EPP, Germany), the fifteen speakers tackled
issues linked in general to the EU accession criteria and Human Rights, and
more specifically to the issues of freedom of speech, the denial of the
Armenian Genocide, the Kurdish question and the perception of the accession
process by European public opinions. More precisely, many Members of the
European Parliament from different political persuasions (see attached program)
recalled that Turkey still does not fulfil the accession criteria be it on the
Cyprus issue or regarding the respect of minorities or the Armenian question.
In the afternoon, a heated exchange took place between the participants and Mr.
Pierre Mirel, the representative of the Enlargement Directorate General of the
European Commission. It was patently apparent that a large gap and discrepancy
exist between the EU Commission stance and European public opinion. Mr.
Triantaphyllides (EUL, Cyprus) starkly stated, “ I have lost confidence in the
Commission and trust only the will of European citizens”. On a different
topic, Mr. Vahan Hovhanisyan, vice-chairman of the National Assembly of
Armenia, highlighted the risk of the destabilization of the Caucasus because of
Turkey’s aggressive attitude towards Armenia.
“On the eve of October the 3rd, this conference called upon the European Union
political leaders to show vigilance” stated Hilda Tchoboian, Chairperson of
the European Armenian Federation. “They will have to give an appropriate
answer to the citizens of Europe who demand more transparency in the decisions
taken by the Commission and the Council regarding the accession conditions for
Turkey” concluded Tchoboian.
The proceedings and pictures of the events will be posted on the website of the
European Armenian Federation www.eafjd.org
--------------
FINAL PROGRAM
FINAL PROGRAM
9:30 – 9:45 Mr Ingo Friedrich
Vice-President of the European Parliament
Welcome Address
9:45 – 10:00 Mr Francesco Enrico Speroni (IND/DEM, Italy),
Member of the European Parliament
10:00– 10:15 Mr Panagiotis Beglitis (PSE/Greece),
Member of the EU-Turkey delegation
10:15 – 10:30 Mr. Recep Marasli
Editor
Will the military system disappear ? The political status of Kurds in
Turkey.
10:30 – 10:45 Mr Oliver Money-Kyrle
Director, Projects Division, International Federation of Journalists
Press Freedom in Turkey
10:45 – 11:00 Mr Dogan Özgüden
Founder and President of Info-Türk Agency
What is the current situation of Human rights in Turkey?
11:00 – 11:15 Mr Irnerio Seminatore
Founder and President of the European Institute for International Relations
(IERI)
The 4th Copenhagen criterion and the global security issues. The
destabilizing potential of Turkey
11:15 – 11:30 Mr Franck Biancheri
President of Newropeans
Turkey’s Accession : ground for divorce between the European elites and the
European citizens
11:30 – 12:00 Roundtable
12:00 – 1:30 xxxxtail & Lunch
1:30 – 1:45 Mrs Hilda Tchoboian
Chairperson of the European Armenian Federation
The Turkish policies and the Armenian issues
1:45 – 2:00 Mr Ioannis Kasoulides, (EPP/Cyprus),
Member of Foreign Affairs Committee
2:00 – 2:15 Mrs Renate Sommer (EPP/Germany),
Vice-Chairman of the EU-Turkey delegation
2:15 – 2:30 Mr Philippe Kalfayan
General Secretary of the International Federation for Human Rights
Minorities’ rights in Turkey
2:30 – 2:45 Mr Kyriacos Triantaphyllides (EUL/ Cyprus),
Member of the EU-Turkey delegation
2:45 – 3:00 Mr Vahan Hovhannisyan
Deputy Chairman of the National Assemblyof the Republic of
Armenia Turkey’s Role in the South Caucasus
3:00 – 3:15 Mr Pierre Mirel
European Commission, Director of Directorate B for “candidate countries”
in DG Enlargement
3:15 – 4:00 Roundtable
4:00 – 4:15 Concluding address by the European Armenian Federation
####
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ANCA Update - 9/23/2005
ANCA Update - 9/23/2005 -- To receive this publication in text format, please send an e-mail to [email protected] with "text format" in the Subject heading. Did this email end up in your spam/junk/bulk folder? Add [email protected] and [email protected] to your address book to ensure that you receive all future messages in your Inbox. ANCA Update - September 23, 2005 [http://www.anca.org/assets/graphics/...l/collage.jpg]
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Capital Gateway Program
September 23, 2005
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1) System of a Down Ask House Speaker Dennis Hastert to 'Do the Right Thing' in Support of Armenian Genocide Legislation
Band Rallies their Fans with ANCA / AYF / Axis of Justice in front of Speaker Hastert's Batavia, IL Office
Tuesday, September 27th at 12 Noon
2) Send a Free WebFax: Urge Speaker Hastert to Schedule a Vote on Armenian Genocide Legislation.
Click here to join the ANCA 10,000 WebFax Campaign.
3) 2005 ANCA-WR Annual Banquet Draws Over 600 Federal, State, and Local Officials and Community Members
4) Balakian?s 'Burning Tigris' Wins 2005 Raphael Lemkin Prize
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ANCA table at recent System of a Down Concert 1) Multi-Platinum Rock Band System of a Down Ask House Speaker Dennis Hastert to 'Do the Right Thing' in Support of Armenian Genocide Legislation
-- Band Rallies their Fans with ANCA / AYF / Axis of Justice in front of Hastert's Batavia, IL Office Tuesday, September 27th at 12 Noon
Los Angeles, CA - September 23, 2005 ? System of a Down, one of rock's most daring and innovative bands, have just announced that they ? along with their fans, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA; www.anca.org), Axis of Justice (www.axisofjustice.org) and the Armenian Youth Federation (www.ayf.org) ? will visit the Batavia office of Rep. Dennis Hastert on Tuesday, September 27 (Noon) to ask Speaker Hastert to ?do the right thing? and keep his commitment to hold a vote on the pending Armenian Genocide legislation. If passed, the legislation will officially recognize Turkey?s destruction of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923. The band have invited their fans to join with them in this effort by attending the rally and have set up a system by which fans can directly email Speaker Hastert on the issue.
System of a Down?s four band members - Serj Tankian, Daron Malakian, Shavo Odadjian and John Dolmayan ? are of Armenian descent and have made awareness of the genocide, and genocide around the world, a central message of the band. All have lost family members to the Armenian Genocide.
"Dennis do the right thing" stated Serj Tankian, ?I just visited my 97 year old grandfather, my only link to the far past, and promised him that I would go and try to talk to Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House, and make sure that he takes this opportunity to bring up the Armenian Genocide Resolution to the floor of the House of Representatives. This is a personal issue to me and System.?
The System of a Down/ANCA rally will take place at the offices of Rep. Dennis Hastert - 27 North River Street, Batavia, Illinois (about an hour from downtown Chicago). The rally is scheduled for 12Noon-2:00 PM on Tuesday, September 27. The Armenian community, activists, and the band?s fans from across the greater Chicago area are expected to attend the rally.
Members of System of a Down and Aram Suren Hamparian, Executive Director of ANCA, are available to discuss the rally and pending legislation on Tuesday, 9/27 and Friday, 9/30, the day of their concert at Chicago?s Allstate Arena. more. . .
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Marina Manoukian with her husband and ANCA-WR board member Leonard Manoukian speaking with
CA State Senator Jackie Kanchelian-Speier, who received the 2005 ANCA-WR Woman of the Year Award
3) 2005 ANCA WR Annual Banquet Draws Over 600 Federal, State, and Local Officials and Community Members
LOS ANGELES, CA?The Armenian National Committee of America ? Western Region (ANCA-WR) played host to a maximum capacity number of guests at its annual banquet held on Sunday, September 18, 2005 at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel. Over 600 supporters of the ANCA-WR attended the annual banquet, including dozens of federal, state, and local legislators, and community leaders. The event raised over $200,000 to help the ANCA-WR advance issues of concern to the Armenian American community. Banquet benefactors Khachik and Elo Mouradian were joined by Frank and Houri Melkonian, Ashken Pilavjian, John and Asdghik Bedrosian, and Sarkis and Noune Sepetjian in cosponsoring the event.
The ANCA-WR presented California State Senator Jackie Kanchelian-Speier (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) with the 2005 ANCA-WR Woman of the Year Award and the ANCA?s own Elizabeth Chouldjian with the 2005 ANCA-WR Vahan Cardashian Award for her dedication and tenacity in advancing the Armenian Cause. Congressman George Radanovich (R-CA), by video, joined Congressman Adam Schiff (D-29) in praising the ANCA-WR?s efforts in helping the Armenian Genocide resolutions pass through the House International Relations Committee last week. Newly elected Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gave special remarks during the evening?s program where he expressed his appreciation for the support that the ANCA-WR and the Armenian American community have given him during his tenure as a legislator. The Mayor also used the opportunity to announce appointments of Armenian Americans to his administration. more. . .
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4) Balakian?s 'Burning Tigris' Wins 2005 Raphael Lemkin Prize
New York, NY -- Peter Balakian?s The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America?s Response has been awarded the 2005 Raphael Lemkin Prize for the best scholarly book in the preceding two years on the subject of genocide, mass killings, gross human rights violations, and the prevention of such crimes. The award is given by the Institute for the Study of Genocide at John Jay College of Criminal Justice/CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. The prize comes with a cash award and commemorates Raphael Lemkin, the legal scholar who pioneered the international legal concept of genocide. Helen Fein, Chair of the prize committee called The Burning Tigris ?a book of enduring scholarly value and of important contemporary meaning.? Previous winners include Samantha Power?s A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide (winner of the Pulitzer Prize), and Alison Des Forges Leave None To Tell The Story: Genocide In Rwanda.
"We extend our congratulations to Peter on this well-deserved honor," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. "In the spirit of Raphael Lemkin, Peter has truly contributed greatly to the field of genocide studies - raising unprecedented public awareness about the crime of genocide, warning of the dangers of its denial, and explaining - in clear and forceful terms - the moral imperative of its prevention."
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Terry Davis: "Both Turkey and Europe must honour their word"
PRESS RELEASE
Council of Europe Press Division
Ref: 491a05
Tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 25 60
Fax:+33 (0)3 88 41 39 11
[email protected]
internet: www.coe.int/press
Terry Davis: "Both Turkey and Europe must honour their word"
Strasbourg, 26.09.2005 - Following a conference on the fate of Turkish
Armenians at the end of the Ottoman Empire, which was held at Bilgi
University in Istanbul this weekend, Terry Davis, Secretary General of
the Council of Europe, made the following statement:
"I want to congratulate the organisers of the conference on their
courage and determination. Those believing in a modern, democratic and
tolerant Turkey refused to be intimidated and silenced by extreme
nationalists on the streets of Istanbul.
I reiterate my strong support for the position taken by Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has supported freedom of expression in Turkey.
I hope that such an attitude will also prevail with regard to the
shameful prosecution of one of the most renowned Turkish writers, Orhan
Pamuk, who was recently indicted for speaking openly on the Armenian
issue.
I appreciate the sensitivity of this question for the Turkish
authorities and the public opinion, but, however painful, such issues
must be resolved through dialogue and truth, not repression and
propaganda. As a member of the Council of Europe, Turkey is obliged to
respect the European Convention on Human Rights, and I am confident that
the Turkish authorities will not waver in their democratic and human
rights reforms at this critical junction in relations between Turkey and
Europe. I also hope that leaders in other European capitals will rise to
the occasion, remember their commitments and honour their word to
Turkey", concluded the Secretary General.
To receive our press releases by e-mail, contact :
[email protected]
A political organisation set up in 1949, the Council of Europe works to
promote democracy and human rights continent-wide. It also develops
common responses to social, cultural and legal challenges in its 46
member states.Comment
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Assembly This Week: 09/26/05
ASSEMBLY THIS WEEK
Monday, September 26, 2005
ASSEMBLY ENCOURAGED BY OPENING OF GENOCIDE CONFERENCE IN TURKEY
Assembly leaders today were encouraged by the Turkish government's
backing of an Armenian Genocide Conference which took place this
weekend, after a Turkish court attempted to derail and ban the
gathering.
The court ruling embarrassed the Turkish government around the world
just days before the start of its long-awaited membership talks with the
European Union.
"I want to live in a Turkey where freedoms are enjoyed in their broadest
sense," Prime Minister Recep Tayip Ergodan said.
Board of Directors Chairman Anthony Barsamian said, "This conference
faced heavy opposition from the outset and was postponed twice. The
Prime Minister's comments are a step in the right direction. The larger
question is whether Turkey will become further isolated by the reaction
of its hardliners or will the country move towards an open society by
reforming its penal code as it relates to criminalizing public discourse
on the fact of the Armenian Genocide."
According to the Associated Press, nationalist protesters hurled eggs
and rotten tomatoes at those arriving to the conference, accusing them
of committing treason against the Turkish state.
PEACE CORP DIRECTOR TO SPEAK AT ASSEMBLY'S INTERNATIONAL BANQUET NEXT
MONTH
The Assembly announced this week that Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez
will be a featured speaker at the Assembly's International Banquet on
October 22 in Yerevan, Armenia.
The event, which will celebrate the ever-strengthening U.S.-Armenia
relationship, will be held in conjunction with the Assembly's 10th
Trustee Mission to the region.
Board of Directors Vice Chair Annie Totah will lead the annual trip
which includes expert-guided tours, private briefings with U.S. and
Armenia government officials, as well as social and cultural events.
Banquet tickets cost $50.00 per person and can be purchased by calling
Assembly Development and Membership Deputy Director Rita Mullane in
Washington at (202) 393-3434 x234.
NEWS & NOTES
* Board of Directors Chairman Anthony Barsamian will be the featured
speaker at Project SAVE's 30th anniversary banquet on October 1 in
Boston, MA. The event will be hosted by Boston Globe investigative
reporter Steve Kirkjian.
Project SAVE's mission is to collect, document, preserve and present the
historic and modern photographic record of Armenians and Armenian
heritage.
* The Assembly congratulates New York Times Bestselling author Peter
Balakian for winning the 2005 Raphael Lemkin Prize for his book, "The
Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response." The
award commemorates Raphael Lemkin, the legal scholar who coined the term
"genocide' in 1944.
* On September 20, Rep. James Moran (D-VA) recognized Assembly Associate
Trustee Rita Balian for her humanitarian work on behalf of women and
children in the U.S. and Armenia. In a speech on the floor of the House
of Representatives, Moran said: "I am proud to recognize the numerous
accomplishments of Rita Balian. Her dedication to the people of Armenia
and her efforts to increase international understanding reflect a deep
sense of purpose and remarkable ability to achieve difficult and worthy
goals." Balian is founder, president and CEO of the Armenian American
Cultural Association, a non-profit charitable organization. In other
news, Balian recently discussed the work of the Armenian American
Wellness Center, which she established in Yerevan, during the UN DPI/NGO
Conference in New York earlier this month.
* In Yerevan, Country Director for Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh Arpi
Vartanian attended a concert on September 21 dedicated to the dual
anniversary of Armenia's independence and Armenia's National Assembly.
Vartanian was also interviewed by Noyan Tapan News Agency last week on
the recent passage of the Armenian Genocide resolution by the U.S. House
International Relations Committee. "It is our duty to our ancestors and
as American citizens to make our government recognize the truth,"
Vartanian said.
GET ASSEMBLY THIS WEEK ELECTRONICALLY!
Receive Assembly This Week in your inbox! In an effort to increase our
efficiency and better serve our members, readers can receive an
electronic version of this publication as an alternative to the printed
version. Those who are interested should send their email addresses to
Rita Mullane at [email protected].
Calendar of Events
10/19-11/1: Annual Mission to Armenia & NKR
10/22: International Banquet; Yerevan, Armenia
11/13: Capital Regional Holiday Reception; DC
3/26 - 3/28: 2006 National Conference & Banquet; DC
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PRESS RELEASE
St Nersess Seminary
September 28, 2005
150 Stratton Rd.
New Rochelle, NY 10804
Phone: 914-636-2003
Armeno-Turkish: Betrayal or Blessing?
It looks like Armenian but it's not.
For about 250 years, from the early 18th century until around 1950,
more than 2000 books were printed in the Turkish language using the
divinely-inspired letters of the Armenian alphabet. On the surface,
the phenomenon of "Armeno-Turkish" would seem like yet another sad
chapter in Armenian history as Armenians gradually lost their
language, culture and identity under Ottoman tyranny.
Bedross Der Matossian sees the phenomenon not as a sign of the
deterioration of Armenian ethnic identity, but of its extraordinary
endurance and resilience. In an intriguing lecture delivered at the
Seminary on Tuesday, September 27, the young doctoral candidate in
Middle Eastern Studies argued that the tradition of writing Turkish
with Armenian letters is an overlooked example of the versatility of
the Armenian alphabet and "a creative mechanism for maintaining
Armenian identity in a multi-ethnic environment."
Der Matossian's lecture, entitled, The Phenomenon of the
Armeno-Turkish Literature in the 19th century Ottoman Empire, was the
first in a series of five public lectures being offered this Fall as
part of St. Nersess Seminary's commemoration of the 1600th
anniversary of the creation of the Armenian alphabet.
Armenian? Turkish?
Armeno-Turkish books are not hard to find. If you know the 38
characters of the Armenian alphabet and you glance across the shelves
of an Armenian library or church office; or peek into the boxes in
medz-mayrig's (grandma's) attic, you will almost surely come across a
book printed in Armenian, which you will not be able to read--unless
you speak Turkish.
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire wrote books on history, fine arts,
religion, science, and philosophy in Turkish using not the
conventional Arabic script, but the ayp, pen, kim of our ancestors.
Armeno-Turkish business contracts, school books, dictionaries,
grammars, translations of European literature, Bibles, hymnals and
even prayer books were published in more than fifty cities including
Venice, Vienna, Trieste, Boston and New York.
This rich body of highly erudite writings can hardly be taken as the
last gasp of a dying culture. It marked a true cultural-intellectual
achievement. Der Matossian displayed a list of more than 30 distinct
newspapers published in Armeno-Turkish, which circulated during the
60's and 70's of the 19th century.
Der Matossian repeatedly referred to Armeno-Turkish as a "language."
The Armenians who wrote Ottoman Turkish were not simply transcribing
the sounds of the Turkish language; they meticulously preserved the
Turkish words, syntax, punctuation and grammatical structures. This
triggered the publication of Armeno-Turkish dictionaries and grammar
books, many examples of which survive today. The famous Haigazian
Pararan, the preeminent lexicon of Classical Armenian published by
the Armenian Mekhitarist Fathers of Venice in the early 18th century,
gives an Armeno-Turkish equivalent for each word found between its
massive covers.
`As the language evolved, Armeno-Turkish gradually adopted Arabic and
Persian words and word forms,' Der Matossian observed, "Expressions
which a Turk would probably not understand."
An Armenian Oddity?
Not only Armenians read Armeno-Turkish, but the non-Armenian elite,
including the Ottoman Turkish intelligentsia, who were exposed to
European literature and emerging political ideas thanks, in part, to
the Armenians who translated these writing into Armeno-Turkish.
Turkish has no native alphabet. The Turks adopted the Arabic script
along with Islam.
"Arguably, the Armenian letters function better than Arabic as a
script for Ottoman Turkish," said Der Matossian, a native of
Jerusalem, who is fluent in Armenian, Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew and
English. "During the First Ottoman Constitutional Period (1876) there
was even the suggestion that Armenian be used as the official
alphabet of the Empire," the young scholar said.
American Protestant missionaries also learned and used Armeno-Turkish
in their missionary efforts among the Armenians of 19th-century
Ottoman Turkey. `Grammatically Turkish is a simpler language than
Armenian but the Armenian alphabet is much easier to learn than the
Arabic script. This made Armeno-Turkish a highly effective tool for
the missionaries,' said Der Matossian. `For many Armenians of the
time, the Bible was only accessible in Armeno-Turkish translations
produced by the missionaries. The Armenian Church used only Krapar
(Classical Armenian), which the general population did not
understand,' he said. Protestant missionaries also produced an
Armeno-Kurdish translation of the Scriptures, as well as
Greco-Turkish (so-called Karamanli) and other versions.
For Those Who Do Not Know Armenian
Again and again Der Matossian insisted that the use of Armeno-Turkish
should be seen not as a betrayal of Armenian identity, but as a
creative effort to preserve it under the most unfavorable conditions.
Several elderly members of the audience were visibly moved when Der
Matossian read an Armeno-Turkish prayer that was dedicated `to those
who do not know Armenian.' Giving thanks to God for the blessing of
holy communion, the prayer had only four Armenian words:
haghortootyoon(communion), Heesoos (Jesus), nushkhark (Eucharistic
bread), and pazhag (chalice). Der Matossian said that Armeno-Turkish
fully exploited the Turkish language but preserved certain `sacred'
words in Armenian as a way of maintaining Armenian ethnic boundaries.
`I am hearing a language that I don't love express a thought that is
very precious to me,' said Edward Yessayian, tears streaming down his
cheeks.
The Language of the State and Dominant Group
`As a result of Ottoman domination and compulsory conversion to
Islam, many Armenians of the Ottoman Empire gradually lost their
ancestral language but they adhered religiously to their alphabet,
teaching it to their children even though they could no longer speak
the words it was intended to record,' Der Matossian said. `The
readiness of our people to apply the Armenian alphabet as a vehicle
for writing the language of the dominant group is astonishing and
highly significant.' It is not that the Armenians could not learn the
Arabic script - the intelligentsia wrote and spoke Turkish fluently.
`Rather," Der Matossian said, `It was their way of preserving,
consciously or unconsciously, their ethnic and religious identity and
maintaining boundaries around their distinctive identity. I would
even venture,' Der Matossian said in response to a question, `that in
developing Armeno-Turkish, the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire sought
to `armenize' or to consecrate for themselves a small sanctuary in
the hostile world they were living in. For Armenians, religion and
alphabet cannot be separated.'
"Bedross gave a 3-hour lecture in 40 minutes," said Fr. Daniel
Findikyan. `Here is an entirely overlooked aspect of the creative
genius and theological depth of our Armenian-Christian heritage and
forebears.'
Der Matossian is a graduate of the Hebrew University and currently a
Ph.D. candidate at Columbia University in the Department of Middle
East and Asian Languages and Cultures. His concentration is on
inter-ethnic relationships during the Second Constitutional Period of
the Ottoman Empire.
"The great reward of being a teacher is to raise a good student,"
said Dr. Roberta Ervine in her introductory remarks. "We are in the
presence of something special when we meet a young man like Bedross
who has devoted his life to exploring, preserving and teaching a
precious culture."
Ervine was Mr. Der Matossian's teacher in the Holy Translators' Soorp
Tarkmanchats School in Jerusalem. She called him "the best, most
perceptive student of Armenian history that I had had in 21 years as
a teacher in Jerusalem."
The next scheduled lecture in this series will take place at the
Seminary on Monday, October 24 at 7:30 PM. Professor Michael Stone,
the noted armenologist from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, will
deliver a lecture entitled, `Why Have an Armenian Language?'Comment
Comment