A MONUMENTAL DECISION BY THE NEW YORK BASED "INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GENOCIDE SCHOLARS"
Greek News, New York
Dec 24 2007
New York.- In a groundbreaking move, the International Association
of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) has voted overwhelmingly to recognize the
genocides inflicted on Assyrian and Greek populations of the Ottoman
Empire between 1914 and 1923.The resolution passed with the support
of fully 83 percent of IAGS members who voted.
The resolution declares that "it is the conviction of the International
Association of Genocide Scholars that the Ottoman campaign against
Christian minorities of the Empire between1914 and 1923 constituted
a genocide against Armenians, Assyrians, and Pontian and Anatolian
Greeks." It "calls upon the government of Turkey to acknowledge
the genocides against these populations, to issue a formal apology,
and to take prompt and meaningful steps toward restitution.
"In 1997, the IAGS officially recognized the Armenian genocide. The
current resolution notes that while activist and scholarly efforts
have resulted in widespread acceptance of the Armenian genocide,
there has been "little recognition of the qualitatively similar
genocides against other Christian minorities of the Ottoman Empire."
Assyrians, along with Pontian and Anatolian Greeks, were killed on a
scale equivalent in per capita terms to the catastrophe inflicted on
the Armenian population of the empire — and by much the same methods,
including mass executions, death marches, and starvation.
IAGS member Adam Jones drafted the resolution, and lobbied for it along
with fellow member Thea Halo, whose mother Sano survived the Pontian
Greek genocide. In an address to the membership at the IAGS conference
in Sarajevo, Bosnia, in July 2007, Jones paid tribute to the efforts
of "representatives of the Greek and Assyrian communities … to
publicize and call on the present Turkish government to acknowledge
the genocides inflicted on their populations," which had made Asia
Minor their home for millennia.
The umbrella term "Assyrians" includes Chaldeans, Nestorians, Syriacs,
Aramaens, Eastern Orthodox Syrians, and Jacobites.
"The overwhelming backing given to this resolution by the world’s
leading genocide scholars organization will help to raise consciousness
about the Assyrian and Greek genocides," Jones said on December
15. "It will also act as a powerful counter to those, especially in
present-day Turkey, who still ignore or deny outright the genocides
of the Ottoman Christian minorities."
The resolution stated that "the denial of genocide is widely
recognized as the final stage of genocide, enshrining impunity
for the perpetrators of genocide, and demonstrably paving the
way for future genocides." The Assyrian population of Iraq, for
example, remains highly vulnerable to genocidal attack. Since
2003, Iraqi Assyrians have been exposed to severe persecution and
"ethnic cleansing"; it is believed that up to half the Assyrian
population has fled the country. Extensive supporting documentation
for the Assyrian and Greek genocides was circulated to IAGS
members in the months prior to the vote, and is available at
porting_documentation.htm.
FULL TEXT OF THE IAGS RESOLUTION
WHEREAS the denial of genocide is widely recognized as the final stage
of genocide, enshrining impunity for the perpetrators of genocide,
and demonstrably paving the way for future genocides;
WHEREAS the Ottoman genocide against minority populations during and
following the First World War is usually depicted as a genocide against
Armenians alone, with little recognition of the qualitatively similar
genocides against other Christian minorities of the Ottoman Empire;
BE IT RESOLVED that it is the conviction of the International
Association of Genocide Scholars that the Ottoman campaign against
Christian minorities of the Empire between 1914 and 1923 constituted
a genocide against Armenians, Assyrians, and Pontian and Anatolian
Greeks.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Association calls upon the government
of Turkey to acknowledge the genocides against these populations,
to issue a formal apology, and to take prompt and meaningful steps
toward restitution.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
