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03/07/2005
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1) ANCA Web Fax Campaign Urges Pres. Bush to Speak With Moral Clarity on the
Armenian Genocide
2) ARF Bureau Member Meets with PES Secretary General
3) EU Raps Turkey on Police Violence
4) Former US Envoy Backs Armenian Genocide Recognition
5) Turkey Accused of Misleading EU over Resettlement
6) Turkey Renames ~QArmenian~R Animals

1) ANCA Web Fax Campaign Urges Pres. Bush to Speak With Moral Clarity on the
Armenian Genocide

WASHINGTON, DC–In light of discrepancy in policy of US complicity in Turkey’s
denial of the Armenian genocide in recent weeks, the Armenian National
Committee of Armenia began its WebFax Campaign asking for moral clarity and
principled leadership in the coming weeks.
On the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, send a free ANCA WebFax
urging President Bush, once and for all, to bring an end to the shameful
policy
of US complicity in Turkey’s denial of the Armenian genocide.
The letter asks Pres. Bush ~Sto adopt a new approach to our nation’s policies
on the proper recognition, official commemoration, and contemporary
implications of the first genocide of the 20th century.~T
It also urges the President to ~Sabandon the policy of opposing legislative
and
other initiatives–in Congress, at the state level, and by municipal
governments–to recognize and commemorate the Armenian Genocide, as well as
end
all forms of official US complicity in Turkey’s campaign of genocide denial,
and use the full moral standing and geopolitical influence of the White House
to press Turkey to acknowledge this crime, accept its responsibilities, and
come to terms with the Armenian nation.~T
In February 2000, then presidential candidate George W. Bush (campaigning for
votes among Armenian voters in the Michigan Republican primary) pledged to
properly characterize the genocidal campaign against the Armenian people. In
subsequent statements, Pres. Bush has consistently evaded references to the
Armenian genocide and consistently opposed legislation marking this crime
against humanity.
In February of this year, US Ambassador to Armenia John Marshall Evans, in
town hall meetings with Armenian communities in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Los
Angeles, Fresno and San Francisco, spoke openly and candidly about the
Armenian
genocide. Under apparent pressure from the Turkish government and its
surrogates, he later issued a statement noting that his private views on this
subject did not represent a change in official US policy.
Send an ANCA WebFax asking the President to honor his pledge to properly
recognize the Armenian genocide by visiting
<;

2) ARF Bureau Member Meets with PES Secretary General

YEREVAN (Yerkir)–ARF Bureau Member Mario Nalbandian met with the Secretary
General of the Party of European Socialists (PES), Philip Cordery, at the
organization’s headquarters.
The two Socialist leaders spoke about the political situation in Armenia,
Turkey’ accession to the European Union (EU), and the EU’s “New neighborhood
Wider Europe” policy.
After a brief presentation about the ARF, Nalbandian discussed the ARF’s role
in the governmental coalition, stressing the party’s aim of promoting
stability
and democracy.
Regarding Turkey’s European Union candidacy, Nalbandian noted the importance
of the recognition of the Armenian genocide by Turkey during the negotiations
between Brussels and Ankara. He said that “this issue is not emotional, but
rational.”
He explained that Turkey’s aggressive policy against Armenia and Armenians is
linked to the genocide itself, and asked the Party of European Socialists to
closely scrutinize Turkey’s actions as part of the broader effort to guarantee
the security and stability of the South Caucasus.

3) EU Raps Turkey on Police Violence

ANKARA (Reuters)–The European Union has condemned the use of violence by
Turkish police against women demonstrators and urged Turkey to fully implement
all human rights reforms aimed at preparing the country for EU membership.
Television footage showed Turkish police kicking and beating women’s rights
protesters on Sunday during an unauthorized demonstration in Istanbul just as
senior EU officials arrived in the country for three days of talks on Turkey’s
EU bid.
“We have been very concerned to see such disproportionate use of force
against
demonstrators,” said Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn. Luxembourg
holds the EU’s rotating presidency.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul promised a full investigation into the
incident and said Turkey remained fully committed to meeting all EU norms
as it
prepares for entry negotiations, which are due to start on October 3.
Asselborn urged Turkey to keep up the momentum of its reforms, including a
‘zero tolerance’ policy towards torture and full property rights for
non-Muslim
religious groups.
Gul rejected recent criticism by EU officials and Turkish media that Ankara
has been dragging its feet over the EU process since winning its October 3
date
for talks at a historic summit in Brussels last December.
He attributed the impression of recent inactivity to the big reform push
ahead
of the December summit, jokingly comparing Turkey to a “doped-up” athlete
racing for the finishing line.
“Now we continue our work at a more normal pace,” he said.

4) Former US Envoy Backs Armenian Genocide Recognition

YEREVAN (RFE-RL)–A retired diplomat who served as the United States’ first
ambassador to Armenia has joined calls for the international recognition of
the
Armenian genocide, echoing surprise statements on the subject made by the
current head of the US mission in Yerevan.
Over the weekend, Ambassador Harry Gilmore said the extermination of an
estimated 1.5 million Armenians in Ottoman Turkey fits the definition of
genocide set by the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of
Genocide.
“There is no doubt that the Armenian events were genocide,” Gilmore said.
“Of course, we have to bear in mind that the Genocide Convention came well
after the events in the Ottoman Empire,” he added. “I think legally there
is no
question of the convention applying retroactively. But the key point is that
the convention sets up a standard and the massacres and deportations of the
Ottoman Armenians meet that standard fully.”
Gilmore argued that Raphael Lemkin, the Jewish author of the word “genocide,”
referred not only to the Jewish Holocaust but also the events of 1915-1918
when
he came up with the concept following the Second World War. “In fact, when Mr.
Lemkin coined the term genocide the Armenian events were one of the two
archetypes he used in his work,” he said.
Gilmore, who served as ambassador to Armenia from 1993-1995, was the first US
government official to visit and lay flowers at the genocide memorial in
Yerevan. But both he and his two successors consistently avoided calling the
systematic deportation and massacres of the Armenians a “genocide” in line
with
Washington’s policy on the highly sensitive subject.
Successive White House administrations have been anxious not to upset Turkey,
a major US ally which strongly denies that the government of the crumbling
Ottoman Empire pursued a premeditated policy of exterminating its Armenian
population. Ankara also claims that the Armenian death toll is inflated.
John Evans, the current US ambassador in Yerevan, therefore took many
observers by surprise when he declared at a series of meetings with members of
the Armenian-American community last month that the Turks did commit “the
first
genocide of the 20th century.” The remarks fueled speculation about a
pro-Armenian shift in the US government’s position on the issue.
But Evans denied it, saying in a statement last week that he expressed his
personal opinion. A senior official from George Bush’s administration stated
that Evans’s statements “absolutely contradict the policy of the US
government.”
Gilmore declined to comment on possible implications of Evans’s statement.
“Because I am outside the US government now, I have no insider knowledge of
what his communication with the US government might be on the issue,” he
said.
“From my thorough study of the events of that period I am persuaded that they
do indeed constitute a genocide,” he added.
Evans likewise told members of the Armenian-American community that he
studied
the subject in detail and consulted with a State Department lawyer before
going
on record. Leading Armenian-American organizations were quick to commend him.

5) Turkey Accused of Misleading EU over Resettlement

ANKARA (HRW)–Turkey’s government was accused on Monday of misleading the
European Union about progress made in resettling nearly 400,000 people
displaced by the civil war between the army and Kurdish separatists in the
1980s and 1990s.
Human Rights Watch alleged the government had exaggerated the number of
people
returning to their villages and farms in the southeast of the country last
year, just as EU political leaders were deciding whether to invite Turkey to
join the EU. The organization said the government’s claim that one-third of
the
estimated 378,000 mainly Kurdish refugees were being helped to return home was
“unreliable.” It said its own investigation showed that in some places, the
number was less than a fifth of the official estimates.
“Our analysis found that the official statistics are not entirely reliable,
and that permanent returns are running at a much lower rate than indicated,”
Human Rights Watch said in a report issued on Monday.
It said many villagers were reluctant to return because their homes and
villages had been destroyed and were often without electricity, telephone
lines, education, or health facilities. Assistance with reconstruction was
“minimal or non-existent.”
Rachel Denber, acting executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Europe and
Central Asia division, accused paramilitary village guards of “attacking and
killing” returnees in some parts of the region. She said a visiting EU
delegation should put the issue of returnees at the top of its agenda.
The resettlement of people displaced by the civil war is a benchmark of
Turkey’s chances of joining the EU, and the government has pledged to
facilitate their return. The refugees were forced out of villages and farms
across a swathe of the south-east by the armed forces in their campaign
against
PKK rebels.

6) Turkey Renames ~QArmenian~R Animals

ANKARA (AP)–Turkey is renaming three indigenous animals to eliminate
references to Kurdistan and Armenia, the Environment and Forestry Ministry
announced Friday, saying the old names were given by foreigners with
designs on
the country’s unity.
A species of red fox known as “Vulpes Vulpes Kurdistanica” will now be known
as just “Vulpes Vulpes,” a species of wild sheep called “Ovis Armeniana” was
changed to “Ovis Orientalis Anatolicus,” and a type of deer known as
“Capreolus
Capreolus Armenus” was renamed “Capreolus Cuprelus Capreolus,” a ministry
statement said.
“Unfortunately, foreign scientists, who for many years researched Turkey’s
flora and fauna, named plant and animal species that they had never come
across
before with a prejudiced mind-set,” the statement said. “Unfortunately, there
are many species in our country that were named in this way with ill intent.
This ill intent is so obvious that even species that are endemic to our
country
were given names that are against our unitary structure,” the statement
added.
The ministry said the new names were chosen through scientific research. It
was not clear why Turkish authorities have waited until now to change the
names. It was also not clear if the name changes would be internationally
recognized.

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