Armenian scandal at UN

Hurriyet, Turkey
April 1 2006

A general sense of trouble was felt at the so-called “Genocide forum”
held at the United Nations, following Turkish Professor Turkkaya’s
disagreement with allegations by Armenians who had organized the
event. Turkkaya Ataov’s defense against the allegations caused the
unsettled behaviour. While the UN was staging an “Armenian show”,
a New York Times journalists attempted to prevent Prof. Ataov from
talking causing a scandal at the forum.

Armenians in the US attempted to take the notion of “genocide” to the
UN by organising the forum entitled, “Genocide: Then and Now. Lessons
Learnt in the 21st Century”. Political Affairs Assistant to UN General
Secretary Kofi Annan, Ibrahim Gambari’s name was also mentioned at the
forum co-organised by Armenian, Rwandan Ambassadors and the Armenian
General Benevolent Union.

However, on discovering that Turkey was targeted at the forum, Gambari
stated that his name was placed on the list of speakers by mistake,
and declined from making a speech.

Director of Genocide Research at the Zoryan Institute, Prof. Vahak
Dadrian, put forward that the Armenian massacre had begun with the
death of 200,000 Armenians during the reign of Abdulhmit. Dadrian also
claimed that militant Islamists systematically massacred Armenians
living in Anatolia, between 1918 and 1920.

Turkkaya Ataov, a Turkish Historian also attending the forum,
took the floor and asked, “You say that you are referring to secret
reports from German sources stating that Ottoman rulers gave orders
for genocide. You claim that the documents have been seen. Who has
seen these documents and where are they?” causing a stir.

The forum Chairman, New York Times journalist, Andrea Kannapell
attempted to stop Turkkaya Ataov from speaking. Ataov responded to this
by saying, “You are taking sides. Dadrian gave a 40-minute speech,
but you do not want someone of the opposite opinion to speak”, then
went on to describe the important place Armenians held in Ottoman
society, holding government positions amongst many others.

Following Kannapell’s second attempt to quiet Ataov, a group of
Armenians in the room began to scold him.

Directing his words at the Rwandan Ambassador, Ataov complained, “This
forum is just for show.” Turkkaya Ataov declared that the purpose of
the forum was to take this “supposed genocide” to a global platform.