Armenians and Assyrians Protest Genocide Denial at Turkish Convention

[Tongue]

Armenians and Assyrians Protest Genocide Denial at Turkish Convention


Chicago Police Stop ATAA Board Members Who Threatened Demonstrators

Chicago, IL - A coalition of groups working against genocide protested outside the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, site of the annual convention of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA). Nearly 100 demonstrators from as far away as New York, Detroit and Southern Wisconsin protested the ATAA’s ongoing campaign of genocide denial and its efforts to whitewash Turkey’s abysmal human rights record including the treatment of minorities.

The demonstrators carried signs displaying “ATAA Go Away” and “ Turkey: Guilty of Genocide” while chanting slogans including “Recognize the Genocide,” referring to Turkey’s 1915 genocide of 1.5 million Armenians and 750,000 Assyrians. For much of the three-hour-long demonstration, ATAA members shouted profanities and made obscene gestures at the protestors. Frustrated by the rejection of their appeals to the Chicago Police Department to end the protest, ATAA members began photographing the demonstrators as a means of intimidation.

On several occasions, ATAA members attempted to provoke protestors by crossing Monroe Street, which separated the protestors from the entrance to the Palmer House Hilton, only to be turned back by Chicago police. Photographs of the event identified some of the Turkish agitators as being members of the ATAA’s board of directors, including ATAA President-elect Nurten Ural,

“We are here today to remind the ATAA and the Turkish government that genocide denial and historical revisionism will not be tolerated,” stated Greg Bedian, Chairman of the Armenian National Committee (ANC) of Illinois, one of the groups, which organized the protest. “We are here to speak on behalf of our Armenian and Assyrian brothers and sisters in Turkey, who are not allowed to exercise their freedom of speech, who suffer daily from cultural and religious oppression, to demand genocide recognition, reparations and the return of occupied territories.”

The ATAA has been among the most active groups engaged in genocide denial, dedicating a great deal of resources to the effort. Most recently, it filed a lawsuit in the State of Massachusetts demanding that information denying genocide be included in public school system’s Holocaust and Genocide education curriculum.

The ATAA came under close scrutiny this summer after an investigative report appeared in the August, 2005, issue of Vanity Fair magazine, containing accusations that the organization attempted to bribe Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert in order to prevent passage of legislation regarding the Armenian Genocide. The investigation was based on the wiretapped conversations of Turkish diplomats at the Chicago consulate and local ATAA officials.

Numerous Turkish diplomats and government officials attended the convention as well as representatives of various Turkish American groups. The convention featured the premier of a new denialist propaganda film entitled “The Armenian Revolt” as well as several of the sessions devoted to strategy and tactics used to promote genocide denial and improve Turkey’s image. Other sessions discussed Turkey’s bid to join the European Union.
“It is clear that a consensus is developing among the EU nations that Turkey must recognize the 1915 genocide in addition to making major democratic reforms and improvements in human rights,” stated Dr. Norman Solkhah, spokesman for the group Assyrians Against Genocide. “Until Turkey undertakes genuine reforms and atones for its past, it will continue to find obstacles on its path to European integration,” he concluded.

Groups participating in the rally included the Armenian National Committee, Assyrians Against Genocide, and the Armenian Youth Federation. The groups joined together to raise awareness of Turkey’s campaign of genocide denial.
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[Gavur]

Assyrian Community Of Great Britain Shows Support For Armenians

Assyria Times, CA
Jan 27 2006

http://assyriatimes.com/engine/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3160

The Assyrian Community of Great Britain, numbering some 5,000 people,
has made great strides for the recognition of the 1915 Assyrian
Genocide (Seyfo) in Ottoman Turkey.

On the occasion of Holocaust Memorial Day 2006, Assyrian organizations
screened a powerful new documentary on the Assyrian Genocide at
Assyrian House in London (22 January 2006), held a successful public
meeting at the House of Commons with Assyrian and Armenian speakers
(24 January 2006), and now they have an Early Day Motion (EDM) tabled
at the House of Commons with the sponsorship of Steven Pound, MP. The
EDM also addresses the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The full text of
the EDM is as follow:

ASSYRIAN AND ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN 1915

24/01/2006

Pound, Stephen

That this House is appalled by the genocide committed against the
Assyrians in 1915 in their ancestral homeland by the then ruling
government of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, the Committee for Union and
Progress, a genocide which led to the mass exodus of the Assyrians
from their millennia-old native soil and resulted in the deaths
of approximately two-thirds of the Assyrian population and one
and a half million Armenians and the destruction of many Assyrian
and Armenian villages and national and religious institutions;
recognises the suffering of the Assyrian and Armenian people during
the genocide of 1915, and accepts that the suffering of victims of
genocide is augmented and perpetuated by indifference and denial,
and that genocide prevention can only by achieved by learning from
history and recognising and condemning previous acts of genocide;
calls upon the UK and Turkish governments publicly and officially to
recognise the Assyrian and Armenian genocide of 1915, and encourage
other members of the international community to take similar steps,
thereby fulfilling the obligation of international co-operation
enshrined in the preamble to the 1948 Genocide Convention; and urges
the UK Government to call on the European Union to make official
Turkish recognition of the 1915 Assyrian and Armenian genocide one
of the pre-conditions for Turkey's membership of the EU.

"The Armenian Community congratulates the Assyrian community for its
initiative," said Raffi Karaoglanian. "It is about time that the
1915 Assyrian, Armenian and Greek genocides in Ottoman Turkey are
addressed as part of the same event."

The Firodil Institute, based in London, is currently drumming support
for the EDM by asking British citizens (Assyrians and non-Assyrians)
to visit the following web address, and to see if their MPs have
signed onto the statement.

edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=29864&SESSION=875

[Gavur]

British House of Commons Holds Hearing on Assyrian Genocide

LONDON (AINA) -- The evening of the 24 January 2006 was orientated on a "Forgotten Genocide", however it was an unforgettable experience for the Assyrian community in London.

Just over 90 years ago, approximately two-thirds of the Assyrians were murdered at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in 1915. After much destruction in the Assyrian homeland, immense pain in the hearts of our brothers and sisters and continuous fear in the eyes of our children we have begun, 90 years later, to rise against the treacherous genocide and massacres that slaughtered two thirds of our nation in one region. To assist us in this plight for justice, MP Mr Stephen Pound and one of Britain's prestigious Law Lords were present to listen to four of our leading experts talking about the "forgotten genocide" and these were; Mr Ara Sarafian, Mr Sabri Atman, Ms Lina Yacubova and Mr Recep Marasli, who unfortunately was unable to attend, however his speech was given to Mr Ninos Warda to be read out on his behalf. Amongst these present were, the English Press, the Turkish Press, Wilfred Wong from Jubilee Campaign and Minority Rights Group, an organisation based in London, as well as a large and supportive Assyrian and Armenian community.

The evening began with an introduction by MP Mr Stephen Pound about an Early Day Motion (EDM) he has brought forward to the House of Commons about the recognition of the genocide by the Turkish government. He states that it is imperative for Turkey to recognise and accept their actions in the past in order for them to have any hope of becoming a member of the European Union (EU) in the future.

In order to understand why after 90 years we have begun to fight for this recognition we have to understand the context of how the first genocide of the 20th century took place. Mr Sabri Atman, a prominent author and journalist, gave a very informative history of the Ottoman Empire and the Assyrian position within it. He stated that the one common feature of genocide is that it is always denied by the perpetrators, for example Hitler and Nazi Germany in the killing of 6 million Jews, and now with Turkey and the Assyrian and Armenian people. To this present day the Turkish government comment on the "so-called genocide" as never taking place, using the World War I as a scapegoat for their actions to extinguish all Christian minorities. Mr Atman talked of true personal stories of people dying of hunger and thirst, of being intentionally left without homes and those people with wounds being refused medical attention and left to die in agony, women and children not even spared but raped and massacred by swords (Seyfo). Such stories from Mr Atman left the audience in awestruck and sorrowful emotion. He continued to state that our plight for the recognition of a genocide that occurred 90 years ago is not meaningless as many would say it is, as there is no legal limitation for a crime such as this, a crime against humanity! It is up to us, those living in democratic societies away from all oppression and massacres to bring justice and equality to the fore-front in order for all to live in tolerance with one another. Mr Atman ends his speech with the effects of the genocide would have both economically and politically. The thesis, he states, that the Turkish government has asserted being "the event is a historical event, leave it to the historians" is one evidence that Turkey is far from being a democratic society. The Assyrian community of today request acknowledgement and apologies for the victims of the genocide and ask the British government that this should be a pre condition for Turkey to accede to the EU. Not only will this augment respect for Turkey by countries worldwide but it will more importantly strengthen international democracy.

Our next speaker Mr Ninos Warda on behalf of Mr Recep Marasli, a Kurdish publisher who writes about the 1915 genocide, reads out a letter stating the enormous emotional effects of the Seyfo (a term widely used by the Assyrians in reference to the genocide). He states that a large numbers of the victims were taken by the Ottoman Empire as slaves and changed their identity and religion. The affect on the future continues denial of the Seyfo, it is still today picked up and discussed in large generations was uncertain for some, unknown as to their origin and who they descended from. Mr Warda reads on the importance of historians, writers and organisations to rid of the genocide mentality of which denial is a part of and start accepting. Despite Turkey's groups, and there are certain honourable individuals who are struggling to break the taboo. However this struggle can be overcome by individuals and groups all over the world who can speak out and pressurise the government in accepting the truth of the genocide of a nation who can not even be called a minority in its own native soil anymore!

Ms Lena Yacubova, an award winning film maker of the Assyrian and Armenian genocide, talked of her experience when making documentaries and gathering the evidence for her film "A Forgotten Page of a Nation". She states that whilst visiting many of the

Assyrian and Armenian towns and villages in Turkey she recorded many of the churches were desolate and in ruins, large number of the artefacts damaged and the people, many of whom are Muslim now, no longer speak their native mother tongue language, still speak of the thousands that died in the Assyrian name. According to Ms. Yacubova, there are 4000 such Assyrians and 2000 such Armenians that still live in Hakkari. Ms Yacubova finished with that although today the Assyrians and Armenians struggle against plight for recognition of the Seyfo, we must not forget and bow our heads before the hundreds of thousands of our people that died with no tombstones on their graves.

Our final spokesperson of the evening, Mr Ara Sarafian, an academic Armenian and Archive Historian, stated that there is a growing number of Kurdish and Turkish intellectuals who recognise the Assyrian genocide against their own government. Therefore, it can only be a matter of time before the Turkish government comes to recognise this also. As this week is Holocaust Memorial Week, it is important to remember the other past genocides, in particular the Seyfo, and by this way we can raise more awareness internationally and pressurise for the acknowledgement of its occurrence in 1915. Mr Sarafian states that Turkey's denial of genocide is a crime in itself, "a crime in a catalyst of the genocide crime itself", he continues to talk about the repercussions of the denial as an example that would only permit other countries to commit it against minorities and deny it ever happened. This will not only lead to and affect international human rights but also even more instability in undemocratic countries. Mr Sarafian poses the question, "Is it reasonable to expect the British Government to take Mr. Ara Sarafian holding Toynbee's blue book an active role in the recognition of the genocide?" and his answer to that was "Yes", as it was the British who gave the first systematic thesis on Seyfo and the Assyrian and Armenian genocide. He continues to state that the Turkish government feel threatened by its atrocious history and they try to this day to undermine real research and real issues and evidence, by burning books and petitioning to the British government (only less than a year ago) to rescind the reports compiled by Arnold Toynbee in the Blue Book because they claim it to be a fabrication of what the Turkish government purport to be the truth. Mr Sarafian concludes his speech with deliberate encouragement that with continuous books, articles and films being made and in order for the prevention of future genocides it is only a matter of time before the Assyrian and Armenian genocide is recognised. So what is it we want from the recognition? The Assyrians want our artefacts to be preserved and we want the souls of those who died in the Assyrian name to rest in peace knowing justice has been served and we want the future generations to know what happened to our homeland and two thirds of our nation!

The evening was concluded with a powerful speech on the dignity of human rights by MP Mr Stephen Pound. He stated that the "successors of those responsible must admit their culpability". Had the Assyrians and Armenians known that their death would have been denied, they would have died in more agony, but if only had they known that in future generations their nation is striving for the recognition of their deaths, they probably would have died more honourably. Mr Pound states that the history of the Assyrians can not be denied today. The EDM in the House of Commons is for justice and respect, for admiration for the Assyrians who have flourished to every corner of the world. Despite the vicious and cruel attack on the Assyrian and Armenian nations, they have survived and strengthened. Mr Pound concludes that this is the beginning and the "end will only be reached when the Turkish Parliament gives an apology, and may that day come!!"

If you would like further information on the EDM and an update on the signatures of the MP's please see here.

I asked some of the Assyrians who attended what they thought, Mr Colin John stated that the impact of this on the UK is that it would wake people up as to the facts of what happened in 1915 and we can not forget our history, we must learn more of it. Furthermore, Mr Aram Warda and Mr Edwin Shlemon of Assyrian Society of United Kingdom said, "if WE do not fight for rights to be recognised, who will? We must not forget the blood of our martyrs and recognition is important for the new Assyrian generations to know our history and cherish it". Miss Fay Toma, Mr Sargon Dawod and Mr Frank Darmoo, all felt that they learnt something new from today, and it is highly important for our youth to be educated about our history. Our people died for being Assyrians and Christians and no other reason at all and this needs to be recognised!

By Miriam Jaso

© 2006, Assyrian International News Agency. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use.

[Reincarnated Am]

Let’s see what Turkey will come up with concerning the Assyrian Seyfo, I am sure it will be something like this; Assyrians were helping the Armenians to help Russia invade turkey, and Assyrians alone massacred 10.000.000 Turks. And since there was a war in that region, for the sake of the Assyrians we deported them on foot with no food and no water to a warmer and safer place, where they can die in peace.