Sceduled Events in Sweden

[Gavur]

For the sake of Turks and TR, They better start to agressively make peace with theyre past through their past and present minorities, if they really love their country.

Instead they masochisticly try to argue and fight with the world in this issue and they are belittled every time .I don't know, it's kind of like a Kemal Sunal movie,The viewer doesnt know whether to laugh or to feel sorry.

[Gavur]

`Genocide in the Ottoman Empire'

PRESS OFFICE:
The Union of Armenian Associations in Sweden
Box 25106, 750 25
Uppsala, Sweden

November 28th, 2005
Contact: Mimi Mirzakhanian
Tel/Fax :+ 46 18 -31 47 94
Mob: +46 704 412 412
E-mail: [email protected]

https://WWW.armeniska.se

A remarkable International Conference in Stockholm, Sweden
On `Genocide in the Ottoman Empire'

Under the auspices of several Swedish institutions, but mainly the
governmental organization `The Living History Forum', an
international
conference on Genocide in the Ottoman Empire took place in Stockholm,
Sweden on November 15, 2005.
The specific subject matter of the conference was the state-sponsored
mass murder of the Christian minorities of the Empire, but more
particularly the Armenians. Even though the organizers of the conference
invited the Turkish Embassy to have the so-called Turkish standpoints,
represented by a Turkish historian, they nevertheless prevailed in their
insistence that the overall title of the conference identifies that
conference as one on genocide. This is the first time that the Turkish
authorities in this case the Turkish Embassy, and indirectly, the
Turkish Foreign Ministry in Ankara, had no choice but to agree to the
use of the term `genocide' when formulating the title of the
conference.

The non-Armenian minorities covered in this conference were the
Assyrians, Syriacs and Chaldeans. The very able moderator of the
conference was Arne Ruth, former Editor-in-Chief of Dagens Nyheter, the
largest Swedish morning newspaper.

Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson, Chairman of ABF, one of the co-sponsors of the
Conference, and member the Board of The Living History Forum, opened the
Conference with a brief speech. The first speaker was Dr. Tessa Hoffmann
from the Free University of Berlin, and a valiant fighter for the rights
of vulnerable minorities. She has been in the forefront of the fight
against the Turkish denial of the Armenian Genocide. She offered a
review of the historical background of the World War I comprehensive
sweep of ethnic cleansing in Turkey. Professor Vahakn Dadrian from the
U.S.A. was the next speaker. In more than one hour he discussed the
flimsy and highly dubious grounds on which the Turkish denial is
anchored. In doing so, he introduced a series of authentic
Ottoman-Turkish and German state documents which he defined as
`compelling evidence'.
A striking point in Dadrian´s presentation was his emphasis on the fact
that the bulk of the Ottoman-Turkish documents of wartime origin, were
authenticated by competent officials of the Turkish Interior Ministry
before being introduced as prima facie evidence in the Turkish
Courts-Martial 1919-1920.
Professor Dadrian in his conclusion proceeded then to offer a
theoretical model of genocide within the framework of which several
other types of genocide may be analyzed. He was followed at the podium
by Professor David Gaunt from the Swedish Södertörn University. As a
champion of such neglected Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire as
the Assyrians, Syriacs, and the Chaldeans, he outlined the problems
arising from this neglect at the same time stressing the scale of
extermination to which these people were subjected during World War I.

After a break for lunch, Kemal Cicek from the Turkish Historical Society
presented the Turkish argument against the label of genocide. His
discourse was incoherent, was in disarray, and was punctuated by utterly
polemical declarations. Out of the blue, he repeatedly would try to
ingratiate himself by intoning, `I love Armenians, I love all of you
and you must love me too,' while at the same time he would repeat the
standard Turkish falsehoods about the Genocide. He dismissed the
statistics of the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul as they related to
Armenian population figures, while repeatedly calling The Armenian
Patriarch `a liar'. When questioned about the essay of Prof. Taner Akcam
in which the latter in a devastating force had exposed Cicek as an inept
historian, unable to absorb and correctly analyze documents, Cicek had
no viable explanation or defence; in fact he admitted in having
manipulated such data.

The last speaker was the émigré Turkish essayist, and critic of Turkish
denialism, Mrs. Yelda Özcan. Her presentation, though not directly
related to the central theme of the Conference, was pungent and
unsparing about the abuses of human rights in Turkey today and the
persistence of the dangers and threats under which Christian minorities
are living in Turkey today.

The Conference's last phase was a panel discussion in which, in addition
to the regular participants of the Conference, participated
representatives of the Christian minorities. Here, it should be noted,
that Mr Garo Hakopian, the leader of Sweden's Armenian Community, once
more demonstrated his talents as a spokesman for the Armenian cause, all
this, in addition to his gift as a consummate organizer and a unifying
community leader. He ended his brief speech by addressing Dr. K. Cicek
as follows:
`You want to be really loved? First acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.
Then, I promise to you, I will seriously consider the possibility of
loving you.'
It should be noted; in this connection that Dr. Cicek publicly invited
Prof. Dadrian to Ankara to examine there the Ottoman Archives. Dadrian
responded saying that there is no such need because these Archives are
suspect, as they bear imagining a comparable scenario whereby Nazi
perpetrators, emerging victorious in World War II, are seen inviting
scholars to examine Nazi records to prove that there was no such thing
as s Holocaust. More importantly, added Dr. Dadrian, the Archives of the
Turkish Military Tribunal are more than adequate for this purpose as
they abound with primary sources and freshly acquired first class
documents to examine and demonstrate convincingly the reality of the
Armenian Genocide. `Therefore', declared Dadrian, `I hereby and once
more invite Dr. Cicek to intercede with the leadership of Turkish
Historical Society, and above all his government, to at last retrieve
from their hidden depositories, and produce for unfettered scrutiny the
vast documentary evidence of the Archives of the past-war Turkish
Military Tribunal.

This remarkable Conference acquired added significance by the attendance
of a vast array of governmental, academic, journalistic, and other
public figures. Among these was notable German Ambassador to Sweden
Hans-Wulf Bartels who previously was Ambassador to Armenia. He made a
point that he was present in Yerevan when four years ego Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian had invited to his office several ambassadors
to Armenia, including those of U.S.A., Great Britain, Russia, France and
Germany, to hear a special lecture on the Armenian Genocide which Prof.
Dadrian then delivered. Present at the Stockholm Conference were also
several Swedish parliamentarians, especially Mrs. Ulla Hoffman, a leader
of the Swedish Left Party, as well as representatives of Sweden's
Foreign Ministry. There were also a host of professors from universities
of Stockholm and nearby academic Mecca, Uppsala. The Swedish media,
whether radio, press, or television, recorded and reported the
highlights of the Conference, especially the two most prominent Swedish
dailies and a nation-wide radio network, which a day after the
Conference broadcast the highlights of the conference.
Furthermore, a group of educational editors, in charge of producing a
text-book on genocide in general for use in Swedish schools, were
present to assemble material, especially on the Armenian Genocide to
present it as a classic example.
To the great surprise of the organizers of the conference, a prominent,
professional, turk, who attended the conference, let it be known to one
of these organizers that he listened with great interest to Prof.
Dadrian's preserntation and he wanted to express his respect for his
level of scholarship.
The Conference was attended by some 300 people; among the attendees were
representatives of Stockholm's Turkish Embassy.

It is worth to mention that before the Conference it was a unique
opportunity for the Armenian community to meet Dr Tessa Hofmann in the
Ararat Cultural Association's meeting-hall in Stockholm. After a
lecture on Armenian genocide she answered to many questions.
This meeting followed by a lecture that took place at Södertörn
University titled "Europe, Turkey and Genocide Awareness". She also led
the Presentation of relevant documentary films on the Armenian Genocide.
"Voices on the Lake" (about Harput/Kharberd province-
H. Hakobian) and 'The Genocide in Me" (narratives with survivors -
Araz Artinian).
The first is a good regional study about the genocide in the
Harput/Kharberd vilayet (province), the second a study of the impact of
the genocide on the third post-genocide generation.

Immediately after the end of the Conference on 15 November a group of
Christian Democrat deputies of the Parliament expressed a desire to
extend an invitation to Dr. Dadrian to appear before their parliamentary
fraction and have an exchange with their colleagues about the legal and
political implications of the Armenian genocide, they added that they
don't want to miss this opportunity to have Dadrian address their group.
As a result, it was decided to invite _Prof. Gaunt and Dr. Hofmann as
well. Accordingly, the following day Prof. Dadrian did appear and
address the group with a brief speech and answered their questions at
the end of that speech.
The Armenian co-organizers of the conference then distributed among the
parliamentarians his Key Elements of the Turkish Denial.

This successful Conference on 15 November was followed by four
supplementary lectures which Prof. Dadrian was invited to deliver at
Swedish academic institutions in nearby university town Uppsala. One of
them was at the Department of Holocaust and Genocide Studies of Uppsala
University. For some two hours Dadrian presented the central aspects of
the Armenian Genocide to an audience consisting of graduate students and
faculty. Following a period of questions-and-answers, he was treated to
a past-lecture reception at the Centre where more questions were asked
while being served refreshments.
The Second academic presentation in Uppsala took place at an Institute
where only faculty are admitted for conducting full-time research on a
variety of subjects in humanities and social sciences. Many of these
faculty were from different universities in Europe, especially Germany
and England. Dadrian spoke almost three hours in a seminar-style set-up,
with many questions, arguments, and debates dominating the session. The
faculty decided right there and then to order for the Centre's library
as well as for personal possession several copies of the Armenian
Scholar's published works. In this respect it should be noted that his
main work History of the Armenian Genocide, seventh printing, all forty
copies of them, were sold out in quick order at the end of Stockholm
Conference. His Key Elements of Turkish Denial of the Armenian Genocide
was sold even in larger quantities.
Professor Dadrian´s third presentation took place at Södertörn
University in Stockholm. Several participants and attendees of the main
Stockholm Conference got together for a seminar-style exchange of views,
comments, and proposals for future planning. Professor David Gaunt and
Vahakn Dadrian, and Dr. Tessa Hofmann, co-chained the seminar. For
three hours a variety of suggestions were made with a view to
consolidating the study and specialization of the subject matter of the
World War I genocide in the Ottoman Empire.
Prof. Gaunt, who is a member of the faculty of Södertörn University,
expressed willingness to make available for the projected development of
this special field the resources of his university and his department.

The cycle of these conferences and seminars was completed by two
additional lectures which Dr. Dadrian delivered entirely in Armenian
language in response to the requests made by the Armenian community in
Sweden.
One was delivered for the Armenian community of Uppsala, whose club
served as the site of the lecture. As usual, questions and answers
followed. But his main Armenian-language lecture took place in the
lecture hall of a major Swedish church. Following Armenian Holy Mass
some 200 Armenians gathered in the hall to hear the Armenian professor
who in great detail related his journey into the field of Armenian
Genocide Research. In all these conferences and meeting his association
with Zoryan Institute and the academic mission of that institute became
a focal point of interest.

You can find the Conference photos at the following website,

http://www.levandehistoria.se/default.php?id=3D267&cat=3D25

[Gavur]

Activity Dedicated To Armenian Genocide Victimsin Ottoman Empirein 1915 Heldin Sweden

YEREVAN, April 24. /ARKA/. An activity dedicated to the Armenian genocide victims in Ottoman Empire in 1915 was held in Upsala, Sweden. The coordination center of Armenian unions of Sweden reported that hundreds of Armenians, Swedes, representatives of political entities and NGOs kept a moment of silence in the memory of the Armenian genocide victims.
During the activity the professor of the university of Lund, the author of the books “From Ararat to Nagorno-Karabakh” and “History of the Genocide” Claus-Joran Karlsson held a lecture. In his turn, the MP Ulla Hoffman pointed out the necessity for Sweden and other European countries to support Armenia.
She denounced the Turkish policy of denying the genocide. “Without Turkey’s recognizing the genocide and reconsidering her past, development of real Armenian-Turkish relations and reconciliation cannot be attained,” she said.
The representative of the green party, the member of Upsala’s town council and candidate to Riksdag Helena Liedner pointed out that the Swedish society should know about the Armenian genocide as much as it knows about the Jews’ holocaust.
This activity was organized on the initiative of the Coordination center of Armenian Unions of Sweden and the Armenian Cultural Union of Upsala with the support of church councils, “Hayastan” All-Armenian Foundation and the country’s NGOs. R.O. –0--

[Gavur]

Two Swedish MPs Honor the Victims of the Armenian Genocide.

PRESS RELEASE
ANC Scandinavia
Hagop Khatcherian
Tel: +46707461495
[email protected]


Two Swedish MPs Honor the Victims of the Armenian Genocide.

The Armenian community in Sweden On the occasion of 91st anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide held several commemoration meetings in different cities in
Sweden. IN Uppsala, on the 24th of April a meeting carried by several
Armenian organizations including , Raffi Cultural Association, Armenian
Relief Society, Homenetmen-Sweden and the Armenian Church , was attended by
several Swedish guest including MP from the Swedish Riksdag. Mr Michael
Oscarson, MP Christian Democrat also participated in the commemoration of
the genocide and held a speech where he said that Ninety-one years ago the
Armenian people experienced terrible suffering and loss of life.
Unfortunately people are not aware of it. We need to work together such that
this very important humanitarian tragedy is captured by the public. Together
with my colleagues I will raise the question of Armenian genocide in the
Riksdag. I will address the Foreign Minister and demand an explanation on
what the Swedish government is doing concerning the denial by Turkey. My
party and I supported those resolutions, and continue to recognize them
today. Last year I was on an official visit to Turkey and every time I met
my colleagues in the Turkish Parliament I took up the Armenian Genocide, but
I was shocked to be met by a wall of silence, and I was even more shocked
when one of them in the end replied, ³we , the Turks are the victims, we
were the ones who were submitted to genocide. In his turn the Swedish MP Mr
Rezene Tesfazion, on behalf of his party the Social Democrats, made a
statement and said that we must never forget the lessons of history I join
with you today in remembering the past I encourage you to continue honoring
your forefathers. H e concluded, this is our duty as human beings .Together
with my colleague Miss TONE Tingsgaard I will try to arise the issue in the
Riksdag. In his statement Mr. Tesfazion honoured not only the memories of
the victims of the Armenian Genocide but extended his sincere greetings to
all of those marking this tragic anniversary . In 2000 the Swedish Riksdag
adopted a motion acknowledging the Armenian genocide .The motion was adopted
on the March 29, 2000 which reads: "An official statement and recognition of
the Genocide of the Armenians is important and necessary. In 1985 the UN and
the European Parliament established the fact that the Ottoman Empire had
committed genocide against the Armenian people in the beginning of the 20th
century. The Standing Committee [on Foreign Affairs] is of the opinion that
the greater openness Turkey demonstrates, the stronger Turkey's democratic
identity will be. It is therefore important that unbiased independent and
international research on the genocide committed against the Armenian people
be carried out. It is of great importance that an increasing openness and
historical understanding of the events of 1915 and thereafter be developed.
An improvement in this respect would also be of importance for the stability
and the development in the whole Caucasus region." (Unofficial translation)