California Courier Online, April 13, 2006

1 – Commentary
Those Who Live in Glass Houses
Should not Throw Stones…

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
2 – Facing History and Ourselves Hosts
Institute on the Armenian Genocide
3 – British Columbia Legislative Assembly
Recognizes the Armenian Genocide
4 – AEF Accepts
Applications for
Scholarships
5 – European Parliament Sends 10-Person Delegation
To Investigate Destruction of Armenian Cemetery
6 – Armenian Youth
May Be Deported
To Azerbaijan
7 – Website for Worldwide
Armenian Genocide Events
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1 – Commentary
Those Who Live in Glass Houses
Should not Throw Stones…

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
The anticipated self-promotional puff-piece by Gunduz Aktan, a former
Turkish Ambassador and member of the infamous Turkish Armenian
Reconciliation Commission (TARC), was finally published in the April 8
issue of the Turkish Daily News.
Aktan and Omer Lutem, another former Turkish ambassador and a notorious
denialist, toured the U.S. during the second half of March, to spread coast
to coast their perverted version of history regarding the Armenian
Genocide.
In his article, Aktan says that the objective of their visit was to give
seminars to Turkish Americans “on the 1915-1916 incidents” and to
“distribute CDs” on this issue. He discloses that the two denialists have
made similar trips to several other European countries.
Aktan makes the following self-serving and questionable observation: “We
were happy to see that a Turkish diaspora is now emerging in America, as is
the case in Europe. Turks who, in the past, failed to come together despite
all the efforts made by Turkish diplomatic missions abroad, are now burying
their differences and joining hands. Due to the fact that they had lived as
subjects of an ’empire’ in the past, Turks failed to develop the kind of
minority psychology that would have enabled them to wage a struggle to
defend their rights when they found themselves living outside the borders
of the Turkish Republic.”
Aktan is implying that he and Lutem deserve some credit for their role in
this miraculous transformation, thereby trying to raise the value of their
services to their paymasters in Ankara. His explanation that Turkish
Americans have not developed the self-defense mechanisms of a minority due
to being “subjects of an ’empire’ in the past,” is utter nonsense, as very
few Turks still living today were around when the Ottoman Empire was in
existence, to be able to acquire such an imperial complex!
Aktan finally gets to the real purpose of his article by falsely claiming:
“Armenians tried to prevent us from arranging meetings at U.S.
universities. Despite their efforts we gave lectures at Columbia University
and the University of Chicago as well as in Congress and held a closed
meeting in Georgetown University. The Armenians who put pressure and issued
threats, on the other hand, prevented the meeting we were to hold at the
University of Southern California.”
The former diplomat makes cheap accusations and sweeping generalizations
against Armenians without providing a shred of evidence to back up his
claims! There have been no reports of threats by a single Armenian at any
of their talks. Aktan also falsely claims that Armenians had “prevented
expression of the Turkish side’s views at a program to be aired by [the]
American PBS television.” He must be referring to a panel discussion
offered by PBS to its affiliate stations. Contrary to Aktan’s assertions,
the panel discussion is not cancelled. Some PBS stations are planning to
air that program, while others have announced that they would not carry it
because it added nothing new to the genocide documentary. Finally, Armenian
Americans, like all Americans, have the constitutionally protected right to
freely express their opinion and disagree with PBS, unlike in Turkey where
one can be accused of “denigrating Turkishness” and thrown in jail for
simply speaking one’s mind!
Aktan finally brings up the same old refrain that he has repeated ad
nauseam in many of his articles claiming that Armenians are “wary of taking
their cause to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague,”
implying that they are afraid of losing. The truth is that Armenians would
be at The Hague tomorrow if there were the slightest possibility that the
ICJ would take up a case that is more than 90 years old! Nevertheless,
should the Turkish government accept the Court’s jurisdiction over the
genocide issue and consequent remedies, this would mean that Ankara would
agree in advance to abide by the Court’s possible verdict to return back to
Armenians the confiscated properties and occupied territories. If Aktan is
so sure of his phony arguments, instead of simply bluffing, he should get
his government to commit to abide by the court’s verdict. Just last year,
after bravely “threatening” to take the Armenian Genocide issue to the
United Nations — a move Armenians welcomed — Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul sheepishly reversed himself by announcing that the UN would not be an
acceptable venue for his government! Gul may have discovered, a little
late, that back in 1985 a UN human rights panel had already classified the
Armenian Genocide as an example of genocide!
What makes Aktan’s entire column so ridiculous is that, contrary to his
assertions, the University of Southern California did not cancel his and
Lutem’s talks because of any “threats” from Armenians. Joshua Fouts, the
Director of USC Center on Public Diplomacy, the sponsor of the lecture,
told the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles that he cancelled it because “the
topic was not what we had previously agreed-upon and thus not something we
could host.” When a former USC Turkish student accused the university of
“curbing free speech,” Fouts responded by quoting Mark Twain: “A lie can
travel halfway around the world, while the truth is still putting its shoes
on.” He told this Turkish individual: “The reason the USC Center on Public
Diplomacy was unable to host the Turkish event is simple: …The topic that
was originally proposed was a different one…. The topic that I discussed
with the Turkish Consulate on Feb. 27 was to be on ‘Turkish Public
Diplomacy,’ specifically the role of Civil Societies in improving
Turkish-Armenian relations…. I notified the Consulate that this was not the
event we agreed on….”
The reason that the Aktan & Lutem show was cancelled had nothing to do with
“threats” or pressure by Armenians. It was a pure and simple case of the
Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles misrepresenting to the university the true
topic of their talk. This is nothing new. Readers may recall that a year
ago, the Ankara Chamber of Commerce placed a Turkish DVD as a paid ad in
TIME Europe, ostensibly promoting tourism to Turkey, but actually including
70-minutes of vicious lies on the Armenian Genocide!
Finally, it is simply ridiculous for Turkish officials and their henchmen
to accuse a major U.S. university of curbing freedom of speech. As the
proverb says: “Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones!”

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2 – Facing History and Ourselves Hosts
Institute on the Armenian Genocide
PASADENA – The Armenian National Committee announced last week the first
California Institute for Educators on the Armenian Genocide, offered by
Facing History and Ourselves will take place June 26-30 at the Krouzian
Zekarian Vasbouragan Armenian School in San Francisco.
The Institute connects a rigorous exploration of the Armenian genocide, to
ethical decision-making students face today. The ANC strongly endorses this
program and is calling for financial support from the community to ensure
teachers from southern California will be able to attend.
The Institute and resource book, Crimes against Humanity and Civilization,
provides one of the most comprehensive guides to the Armenian Genocide
created for secondary education. The Armenian Genocide is placed in
thorough context and is studied through historical facts as presented in
primary sources from the National Archives, Library of Congress and with
the support of prominent specialists in the field.
Dr. Richard Hovannisian, Holder of the AEF Chair in Modern Armenian History
at UCLA, who is a member of Facing History’s National Board of Scholars,
will be a featured speaker at the Institute.
The weeklong institute builds on one-day trainings Facing History has
already provided teachers in Southern California, including district-wide
workshops in Glendale, Montebello and Pasadena.
Teachers of Modern World History, International Relations, and Comparative
Government will find this institute particularly valuable. Individuals in
the San Francisco Bay Area are sponsoring teachers from their region, but
additional funds are needed to ensure teachers from southern California are
able to participate.
Please consider sponsoring a teacher to attend the institute:
$1000 will cover the costs for one teacher, including the $350 tuition,
airfare and accommodations in San Francisco for one week, and all
resources.
The goal is to send 12-15 teachers from Los Angeles, who collectively can
expect to reach 1200-1500 students each year with the lessons and resources
gained at the institute.
Following the institute, Facing History program staff will provide free
follow-up support to help customize the course to meet the teachers’ needs.
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3 – British Columbia Legislative Assembly
Recognizes the Armenian Genocide
OTTAWA – The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia unanimously adopted a
Private Member’s Motion 59, recognizing the Armenian Genocide and to
designate April 24 of every year as a remembrance day for the 1.5 million
Armenians who fell victim to the first genocide of the 20th Century.
The debate on the Motion, which was sponsored by Member of the Legislative
Assembly (MLA) Adrian Dix (Vancouver-Kingsway), commenced at 11:00 a.m. and
was voted upon at the end of the allotted one-hour.
Several members spoke in support of the Motion.
Since last August, the Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC), the
ANC of Canada – West (ANCCW), and the ANC of Vancouver have worked closely
with the MLAs to build non-partisan support for the motion. The ANCC, ANCCW
and ANCV delegates had numerous meetings with various MLAs to brief them on
the Motion’s importance as a universal human rights issue. In addition, the
delegates presented historical overview of the Genocide and supporting
documents.
The executive director of the ANC of Canada Aris Babikian, on behalf of the
Canadian-Armenian community, thanked MLAs Adrian Dix (NDP) and Randy Hawes
(Liberal) for their leadership role in the successful adoption of the
Motion. Furthermore, Babikian thanked members who spoke in favor of the
Motion and the members who voted to adopt it.
Babikian said: “This is a historic day for our community in Canada and in
British Columbia. The steadfast support and the unanimous vote of the MLAs
demonstrates once again that the Turkish Government’s denial policy and
rewriting of history will not succeed. We call upon the Turkish Government
to be constructive, to come to terms with its dark history and to
acknowledge its predecessors’ guilt and extend a hand of atonement and
reconciliation to the Armenian People.”
The ANC of Canada has nine chapters throughout the country.
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4 – AEF Accepts
Applications for
Scholarships
GLENDALE – The Armenian Educational Foundation (AEF) announced last week
that it is accepting applications for Richard R. Tufenkian Scholarship for
the 2006 – 2007 academic year.
The Richard R. Tufenkian Scholarship was established by Ralph and Savey
Tufenkian in memory of their son. Five $2,000 scholarships will be awarded
to Armenian undergraduate students at an accredited United States
college/university. To qualify for this scholarship, students must be of
Armenian descent, have a minimum 3.0 GPA, show financial need, and be
actively involved in the Armenian community.
Students who meet the above criteria should visit for
scholarship application and more information. All completed scholarship
application packages must be postmarked no later than July 30, 2006 and
mailed to AEF, 600 West Broadway, Suite 130, Glendale, CA 91204, phone
(818) 242-4154 or email aef@aefweb.org.
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5 – European Parliament Sends 10-Person Delegation
To Investigate Destruction of Armenian Cemetery
STRASBURG (FRANCE) – A 10-member delegation from the European Parliament
will travel to Djulfa, Azerbaijan, to investigate the destruction of the
Armenian cemetery by Azeri authorities. The treasure of world architectural
heritage was effectively destroyed and replaced by an Azerbaijani military
facility.
Composed of members of the Commission of EU-Armenian parliamentary
cooperation group, the European Parliament delegation was approved by the
leaders of its political parties and the President of the EP on April 6.
The EP leaders unanimously decided to entrust this mission to the
Commission on EU-Armenia parliamentary cooperation rather than to an ad-hoc
delegation, as it had initially been planned.
The mission is being sent in accordance with the Parliament’s resolution
“on cultural heritage in Azerbaijan,” which was adopted in February of
2006. This measure “demands that Azerbaijan allow missions, including
experts working with ICOMOS, who are dedicated to surveying and protecting
archaeological heritage, in particular Armenian heritage, onto its
territory, and that it also allow a European Parliament delegation to visit
the archaeological site at Djulfa.”
The delegation is set to travel to Djulfa as part of their trip to Armenia
from April 17-21. Prior to travelling to Djulfa, they
will need to get the necessary authorizations from the Azerbaijani
authorities, the same authorities responsible for the desecration of the
cemetery.
The delegation includes Parliament members from France, Slovakia, Italy,
The Netherlands, Belgium,, Germany, Austria and Poland.
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6 – Armenian Youth
May Be Deported
To Azerbaijan
YEREVAN (Mediamax) – Karen Avanesian, 19 might be forcibly deported from
Great Britain to Baku.
Sources in London said that Avanesian, who arrived in Great Britain
illegally at the age of 16, failed to obtain political asylum, and British
authorities decided to deport him.
According to relatives, Avanesian attended school and lived on welfare as
he had no work permit. His Azerbaijani father left the family when his son
was a little boy.
Since Avanesian was born in Nagorno Karabagh which de-jure is considered to
be part of Azerbaijan, the British authorities decided that his motherland
is Azerbaijan and resolved to deport him to Baku. Avanesian was told that
this week he would be flown to Moscow, and from there to Baku.
Avanesian was held at the Tinsley House detention center at London’s
Gatwick airport.
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7 – Website for Worldwide
Armenian Genocide Events
Since April of 2003, GenocideEvents.com has undertaken the task of
informing the general public, as a community service, of the events
commemorating the Armenian Genocide.
The public is encouraged to attend the functions in their area of
residence, watch Armenian Genocide video clips/flash presentation and
reflect upon the horrors which fell upon the Armenian Nation and Armenian
people in the beginning of the last century.
April 24, 2006 marks the 91st Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
Armenians worldwide will be commemorating the First Genocide of the 20th
Century with solemn religious and civil ceremonies. Along with the Armenian
people, prominent celebrities and statesmen will be participating in this
day of remembrance.
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