GROUNDBREAKING CONFERENCE ON THE MASSACRES OF DERSIM, DESPITE THE PRESSURES FROM ANKARA

armradio.am
20.11.2008 11:26

For the first time in its history, the European Parliament welcomed a
great conference on the massacres of Dersim (Turkey, 1937-1938). This
conference was organized on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of
these events and on the initiative of the "company for resistance"
(Gesellschaft fur Wiederaufbau) and of the MEP Feleknas Uca (Confederal
Group of the European United Left, Germany), under the support of
her political party.

This conference was a huge success and was attended by more than 200
participants including European citizens and natives of Turkey. The
complete program of the day will soon be available here.

Among many speakers, Hilda Tchoboian, the president of the European
Armenian Federation underlined the continuity of the genocidal
tradition of Turkey whose identity was built on the negation of
the other. She recalled that at the time of the Armenian genocide,
Dersimis – contrary to other Kurdish tribes – had abstained from any
attacks towards the Armenian populations and sheltered and protected
them; about 40,000 people had been saved and today, one out of four
Dersimis have Armenian ancestry.

This conference – and in particular the presence of two town
representatives of Turkey – Serafettin Halis, deputy of the province of
Tunceli and Songul Er ol Abdil, mayor of the town of Tunceli (Dersim)
– caused a great agitation in the Turkish press, in particular by
their remarks on the genocidal tradition of Turkey. The presence of
Hilda Tchoboian to this conference was also interpreted by Ankara
like a proof of "the will of the European Parliament to dismember
Turkey!" During the conference, the lecturers and organisers
revealed that Ankara carried applied intense pressure to prohibit
this conference from taking place.

The conference revealed to Europeans that Turkey is not and never has
been homogeneous on an ethnic or linguistic point of view. The Kurds,
Dersimis, Zazas and innumerable other minorities have all their own
identity and collectively they compose the majority of the Anatolian
population.

"Turkey has never admitted this diversity of population and tried to
deny it by committing different mass crimes. It is also this reality
which Turkey wants to hide from its own population and other States"
concluded Hilda Tchoboian.

The conference was concluded by a Joint Declaration signed by Turkish,
Kurdish, Armenian and Assyrian-Chaldean organisations, representative’s
of populations who have all been oppressed or massacred by Turkey. This
declaration is available.
From: Baghdasarian