RECAST GENOCIDE EXHIBIT OPENS AT U.N.
By Lily Hindy – Associated Press Writer

Seattle Post Intelligencer, WA
May 1 2007

UNITED NATIONS — An exhibit on the 1994 Rwandan genocide opened
Monday at U.N. headquarters after organizers recast a section on
the killings of 1 million Armenians in Turkey during World War I –
a reference that angered the Turks.

The exhibit, originally set to open April 9, was postponed after
a Turkish diplomat complained about the mention of the Armenian
killings. The section now uses the term "mass killings" instead of
"murders," does not include the number of people killed, and replaces
"Turkey" with "Ottoman Empire."

Armen Martirosyan, Armenia’s U.N. ambassador, said the reference
still reflects the truth, "to some extent."

"This is a Turkish version of history which is not acceptable for us,
but to avoid further postponement of the exhibition, we compromised,"
Martirosyan said.

Calls placed Monday to Turkey’s U.N. Mission seeking comment on the
changes were not immediately returned.

Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed
by genocide scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century.

Turkey, however, denies the deaths constituted genocide, saying the
toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil
war and unrest.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who opened the exhibit, said it
was intended to focus on the genocide in Rwanda.

"This exhibition is about lessons learned from the Rwandan genocide,
and does not attempt to make historical judgments on other issues,"
Ban said. "The United Nations has taken no position on events that took
place before the World War that led to the birth of the organization."

David Brown, spokesman for the British-based Aegis Trust, which
works to prevent genocide and helped organize the exhibit, said his
organization feels the reference to the Armenian killings is still
"quite strong."

"The magnitude of the event is still clear in the new wording,"
said Brown. "We’re quite pleased with the outcome."

The U.N. confirmed the Turkish complaint when the exhibit was
postponed, and said the delay was mainly because the regular review
process for exhibits, which takes all positions into account, was
not followed.

U.N. associate spokesman Farhan Haq said Monday that the Turkish
objection to the exhibit was not the only one, and that other
concerns had to be addressed before opening the exhibit. He declined
to elaborate.

"The past three weeks have been spent making sure that all the text
in the exhibit would be historically accurate," Haq said.

"Lessons from the Rwanda Genocide," sponsored by Rwanda’s U.N. Mission,
marks the 13th anniversary of the genocide. The exhibit highlights
the role of governments in preventing genocide, provides information
on warning signals, examines the genocide in Rwanda and emphasizes
the plight of victims.

Joseph Nsengimana, Rwanda’s U.N. ambassador, said the international
community must "act in a more serious and consistent manner to
prevent genocide."

Rwanda’s genocide began hours after a plane carrying the country’s
then-president was mysteriously shot down as it approached the capital,
Kigali, on April 6, 1994. More than 500,000 minority Tutsis were
killed by Hutu extremists in a 100-day period, which ended after rebels
ousted the extremist Hutu government that orchestrated the killings.