LARGEST EVER GATHERING OF DIASPORA ARMENIANS IN ISTANBUL TO COMMEMORATE CENTENNIAL WITH TURKISH GROUPS
11:25, 21 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan
On the eve of the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, Turkish and
Armenian-American organizations, assembled with record-breaking number
of Diaspora Armenians from around the world, called on the Turkish
government to recognize the truth of the historic events, issue an
unequivocal apology, and move towards accountability and reparations,
DurDe and Project 2015 said today at a press conference in Istanbul.
The concerted campaign by Ottoman leaders a century ago resulted in
the deaths and exile of the vast majority of their Armenian citizens,
but successive Turkish governments have failed to recognize or take
responsibility for the deliberate and systematic mass extermination
of the ethnic group.
“We have come together with Armenians from around the globe with
a single, unified message to the Turkish government: recognize the
genocide, so we can move forward on a project of reconciliation,” said
Levent Sensever of DurDe. “Whatever the position of our government,
we want the world to know that many citizens of Turkey recognize
the truth about the terrible crime against Armenians, and to pay our
respects to the victims and the survivors.”
The groups have been working with a number of other organizations
in Turkey and Europe for the past two years to coordinate the
participation of Armenians from around the world in centennial
commemoration events in Istanbul, including:
a concert at the Istanbul Congress Center on April 22; a public
assembly near Taksim Square on the evening of April 24, as well as
the decoration of a Wishing Tree in the square; events at Sultanahmet
Square and HaydarpaÈ~Ya Station, where Armenians were rounded up,
imprisoned and deported; a memorial service at È~XiÅ~_li Armenian
Apostolic Cemetery, where Sevag Ã…~^ahin Balikci is buried; Balikci was
an Armenian soldier serving in the Turkish military who was murdered
by a Turkish soldier on April 24, 2011; and an academic conference
on the Armenian Genocide sponsored by UCLA and Istanbul’s Tarih Vakfi
(History Foundation), and convened at BoC§azici University on April 26.
Project 2015 has assembled a record-breaking delegation of almost 200
Armenians from around the world to participate in the commemoration
events. Project 2015’s participants include nationals from 15
countries, including Armenia, the United States, Canada, France, the
United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Hungary,
Burundi, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Turkey, Israel, Brazil,
Ethiopia, and Hong Kong (China).
“As Armenians, we have come to Istanbul in record numbers to
memorialize the brutal massacre of our family members, and to remind
the Turkish government that 100 years later, we are still seeking
justice and accountability, and will continue in our quest as long as
it takes,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, board member of Project 2015. “We
are heartened to see so many citizens of Turkey ready to face this
country’s past and look now to the government to come to terms with
an undoubtedly difficult and painful truth.”
The groups urged representatives of the international community to
attend the commemoration events organized in Istanbul on April 24.
“We have invited governments and non-governmental organizations alike
to join us for this historic centennial of what is a global tragedy
and a crime against humanity,” said Whitson. “Governments sending
representatives to the Gallipoli commemoration should in particular
ensure that they also send representatives to the Armenian Genocide
commemoration in Istanbul.”
Genocide is recognized as a crime under international law and defined
as the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of
an ethnic, racial, religious or national group under the 1948 Genocide
Convention. While the destruction of the Armenian population through
massacres and deportations preceded the Convention, the deliberate
and systematic actions of the Ottoman authorities undoubtedly meet
the 1948 definition. Recognition of the internationally wrongful acts
committed against the Ottoman Armenian population would constitute the
first step in addressing the obligations of the Turkish government
towards the survivors of the massacres and their descendants under
international law.
In 2014, then-Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan expressed his condolences
to the grandchildren of “Armenians who lost their lives in the context
of the early 20th century” but failed to acknowledge the role of the
Ottoman government in systematically causing these losses. The Turkish
government has refused to recognize the massacres of the Armenians
as genocide.
“President Erdogan and Prime Minister Davutoglu have a moral duty
to use their unique position of leadership to lead the people of
Turkey to come to terms with the near-total destruction of one of
our region’s oldest indigenous communities,” Sensever said. “We will
stand tall and proud as citizens of Turkey when we can say that our
government has paved a way for truth and accountability that will
let us all move forward, at last.”
“Erdogan should apply the Islamic principles he has claimed guide him
above politics and do the right thing with respect to recognizing and
apologizing for the Armenian Genocide,” said Whitson. “Leadership
in this issue means stepping forward and acknowledging the past
unequivocally, without looking for political trade-offs from
Armenians.”
The groups also urged the Turkish government to take
confidence-building measures that would demonstrate its sincerity in
addressing what it has acknowledged were tragic and terrible events
leading to the near total extermination of the Armenian population.
Among the gestures that the government could take is the establishment
of an independent council commission with a government-funded endowment
to restore 100 Armenian churches and monuments throughout the country
within 10 years. The commission should work in cooperation with
Turkish and Armenian architects who can survey, select and design
the restoration of these important heritage sites.
“100 years since the near-total extermination of its minority Armenian
population and the destruction of its centuries-old institutions,
one thing the Turkish government can do is move to restore Armenian
heritage sites throughout the country,” said Nancy Kricorian,
Project 2015 board member. “Such a gesture would not substitute for
reparations, but would indicate a good faith desire to reestablish
what past governments allowed to be recklessly destroyed.”
Discussion of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey remains a highly
sensitive subject in Turkey and subject to criminal sanctions. The
Turkish government has prosecuted journalists, writers and academics
for making reference to the Armenian Genocide. However, past
commemorations of the Armenian Genocide in Istanbul have taken place
without incident, and with the benefit of municipal police protection.
Yet Bilgi University canceled a conference planned to coincide with the
centennial, apparently on the grounds that the academic discussion of
the Genocide in Turkey remains too controversial. While the conference
organizers will now hold the conference at BoC§azici University,
its cancellation by Bilgi University stands as a poignant reminder
of latter-day Genocide denial and its consequences.
DurDe is one of Turkey’s leading civil and human rights organizations,
working to combat racism, nationalism and hate crimes. It is an
activist network that in recent years has played an important role
in organizing commemorations for the Armenian Genocide in Istanbul.
Project 2015 is a US-based non-profit organization comprised of
Armenians, Turks and Americans to encourage global participation in
the commemoration events in Istanbul.