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04/21/2005
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1) Berlin Urges Turkey to Take Responsibility for Massacres
2) Turkish Army Criticizes US over Kurdish Rebels, Warns about Kirkuk
3) 178 US Representatives Urge President to Properly Characterize the Armenian Genocide
4) Poland’s Walesa Condemns ‘First Genocide of 20th Century’
1) Berlin Urges Turkey to Take Responsibility for Massacres
BERLIN (DPA)–All parties in the German parliament have agreed on key
points of
a resolution which will tell Turkey to “take historic responsibility” for the
1915 Armenian genocide, a senior member of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s
Social Democrats said on Thursday.
Gernot Erler, the Social Democratic (SPD) deputy foreign affairs spokesman in
the Bundestag, said the resolution due to win final approval in the coming
months would have three ‘goals.’
First, Germany’s parliament will recognize a limited German role in the
massacre of 1.2 million to 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks during
World War One, said Erler in a statement. “Germany was Ottoman Turkey’s main
ally in document…and partly through approval and through failure to take
effective preventive measures there was a German co-responsibility for this
genocide.” “The (Bundestag) asks the Armenian people for their forgiveness,”
said Erler’s statement.
Second, the Berlin parliament will call on Turkey “to halt its up until now
overwhelming suppression, to take historic responsibility for the massacre of
the Armenians by the Young Turk regime and to ask for forgiveness from the
descendants of the victims.”
Turkey’s government has always insisted that there was no Armenian genocide
and says a far smaller number of Armenians died during Ottoman deportations
which it argues took place under war conditions and were due to an Armenian
rebellion.
Turkey’s ambassador to Germany, Mehmet Ali Irtemcelik, denounced the planned
Bundestag resolution as containing “countless factual errors” and being
written
“in agreement with propaganda efforts of fanatic Armenians.”
“Its goal is to defame Turkish history…and poison ties between Turkey and
the European Union,” said the ambassador.
Finally, the German parliament’s resolution will underline Berlin’s
efforts to
help normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia.
Germany, which has about 2.5 million resident Turks, has–up until now– been
wary about addressing the Armenian genocide.
A member of the opposition Christian Democratic alliance (CDU/CSU), Erwin
Marschewski, said in a statement that the value system of the European Union
insisted that countries “shine a spotlight on the dark pages of their
history.”
“Recognition by Turkey of the Armenian genocide of 1915 and 1916 is
important,”
said Marschewski.
Turkey is due to start membership negotiations with the EU in October but EU
leaders say accession talks–if successful–will take up to 15 years.
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is a staunch backer of Turkish EU membership and
will visit Ankara and Istanbul for talks with Turkish political and business
leaders on May 3 and 4.
The draft resolution being debated in Germany’s parliament does not use the
word ‘genocide’ but rather refers to the “expulsion and massacres” of
Armenians
under the Ottoman Turks in 1915 as part of ceremonies marking the 90th
anniversary of the killings.
“We purposely left out the term genocide,” said Christoph Bergner, an
opposition Christian Democrat, in a speech to parliament.
The declaration says between 1.2 and 1.5 million Christian Armenians died or
were killed by the Moslem Turks during “planned” deportations during the First
World War.
Armenians all over the world will on April 24 mark the 90th anniversary of
the
start of what most international historians describe as a genocide lasting
from
1915 to 1923 which left up to 1.5 million people dead.
2) Turkish Army Criticizes US over Kurdish Rebels, Warns about Kirkuk
ISTANBUL (AFP)–The head of the Turkish army criticized the United States
Wednesday for failing to curb Turkish Kurdish rebels hiding in northern Iraq
and warned that Iraqi Kurdish attempts to take control of the oil-rich city of
Kirkuk could throw the entire region into turmoil.
General Hilmi Ozkok, the chief of general staff, complained in a yearly
evaluation speech that Turkey’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was
gaining influence in northern Iraq and stepping up attacks across the
border on
Turkey because of US failure to take action against the rebels.
“The terror group has been included in the list of terrorist organizations by
the United States and the European Union, but that does not carry a meaning in
practice,” Ozkok said.
“It is thought-provoking that no action has been taken yet against the
organization. The PKK must at any rate be deprived of foreign support and have
its hope of success crushed,” he said.
Turkey says about 5,000 PKK militants have found refuge in the mountains of
neighboring northern Iraq since 1999, when the group declared a unilateral
ceasefire with Ankara in its armed campaign for self-rule in the country’s
mainly Kurdish southeast.
The group called off the truce last year, raising tensions in the region.
Ozkok also expressed concern over attempts by Iraqi Kurds to seize the
ethnically volatile city of Kirkuk, which, he said, with its large oil
resources, should belong to all Iraqis and not just one ethnic group.
“That is why it is important for Kirkuk to have a special status,” Ozkok
said.
“We have said several times that Kirkuk is a problem area ready to explode
..and that it would affect the entire region if it explodes.” .
Turkey suspects Iraqi Kurds of planning to capitalize on their post-war gains
to make Kirkuk the capital of an independent Kurdish state.
Such a state, Ankara fears, would fuel separatism among the restive Kurds of
adjoining southeastern Turkey, sparking regional turmoil.
3) 178 US Representatives Urge President to Properly Characterize the Armenian
Genocide
–Record Level of Support for Congressional Letter Sends Strong Message to
White House
WASHINGTON, DC–A record number of US Representatives sent a Congressional
letter to President Bush on Wednesday, urging him to reaffirm the US record on
the Armenian genocide by properly characterizing the atrocities as “genocide.”
The letter comes days after a similar Senate initiative, which garnered the
support of an unprecedented 32 Senators–a 45% increase over the previous
year.
The April 20 letter, spearheaded by Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairmen
Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), stresses that “by properly
recognizing the terrible atrocities committed against the Armenian people as
‘genocide’ in your statement, you will honor the many Americans who helped
launch the unprecedented US diplomatic, political, and humanitarian
campaign to
end the carnage and protect the survivors.”
“We were very gratified by the announcement this evening by the
Co-Chairman of
the Armenian Caucus that a record total of one hundred and seventy-eight US
Representatives have joined together in calling on the President to properly
recognize the Armenian Genocide in his April 24th remarks,” said Aram
Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA, following a special 90th
anniversary
Armenian genocide observance on Capitol Hill.
“Along with the thirty-two Senators who sent a similar letter earlier this
week to the White House, this brings to two hundred and ten the total
number of
US legislators formally calling for the President to speak with historical
accuracy and moral clarity about this crime against humanity. We welcome this
unprecedented level of Congressional leadership and urge the President to heed
their call and honor the pledge he made in February of 2000 to properly
recognize the Armenian Genocide.”
Representatives Pallone and Knollenberg, in a March 3 letter to their House
colleagues, encouraged them to lend their voice to the effort noting, that “by
properly affirming the Armenian Genocide, we can help ensure the legacy of the
Genocide is remembered so this human tragedy will not be repeated.” Over the
past several weeks, Armenian Americans from across the US have been sending
ANCA WebFaxes to their Representatives urging them to co-sign the letter to
the
President.
On April 7, Representative Knollenberg joined with Republican House Members
George Radanovich (R-CA), Michael Bilirakis (R-FL), Mark Souder (R-IN) and
Mark
Foley (R-FL) in urging their party colleagues to encourage Pres. Bush to
follow
Senator Dole’s lead and “simply tell the truth.”
Members of Congress joining Reps. Pallone and Knollenberg in co-signing the
letter included: Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Tom Allen
(D-ME), Robert Andrews (D-NJ), Joe Baca (D-CA), Brian Baird (D-WA), Tammy
Baldwin (D-WI), Charles Bass (R-NH), Melissa Bean (D-IL), Bob Beauprez (R-CO),
Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Howard Berman (D-CA), Michael
Bilirakis (R-FL), Sanford Bishop (D-GA), Tim Bishop (D-NY), Earl Blumenauer
(D-OR), Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), Mary Bono (R-CA), Jeb Bradley (R-NH),
Sherrod
Brown (D-OH), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Lois Capps (D-CA), Michael Capuano (D-MA),
Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Dennis Cardoza (D-CA), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), John
Conyers (D-MI), Jim Costa (D-CA), Jerry Costello (D-IL), Christopher Cox
(R-CA), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Duke Cunningham (R-CA), Danny Davis (D-IL),
Susan Davis (D-CA), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), William Delahunt (D-MA), Rosa
DeLauro
(D-CT), Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL), John Dingell (D-MI), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX),
John Doolittle (R-CA), Mike Doyle (D-PA), David Dreier (R-CA), Vernon Ehlers
(R-MI), Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Lane Evans
(D-IL), Sam Farr (D-CA), Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Tom Feeney (R-FL), Mike Ferguson
(R-NJ), Bob Filner (D-CA), Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Mark Foley (R-FL), Vito
Fossella (R-NY), Barney Frank (D-MA), Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), Scott
Garrett (R-NJ), Jim Gerlach (R-PA), Mark Green (R-WI), Gene Green (D-TX), Raul
Grijalva (D-AZ), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Tim Holden
(D-PA), Rush Holt (D-NJ), Michael Honda (D-CA), Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Steve
Israel (D-NY), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Jesse Jackson (D-IL), Sheila Jackson Lee
(D-TX), Nancy Johnson (R-CT), Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH), Marcy Kaptur
(D-OH), Sue Kelly (R-NY), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Dale Kildee (D-MI), Carolyn
Kilpatrick (D-MI), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), James Langevin
(D-RI), John Larson (D-CT), Steven LaTourette (R-OH), Barbara Lee (D-CA),
Sander Levin (D-MI), John Lewis (D-GA), Daniel Lipinski (D-IL), Frank LoBiondo
(R-NJ), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Dan Lungren (R-CA), Stephen
Lynch (D-MA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Edward Markey (D-MA), Jim Matheson
(D-UT), Doris Matsui (D-CA), Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), Betty McCollum (D-MN),
Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), Jim McDermott (D-WA), James McGovern (D-MA), John
McHugh (R-NY), Mike McIntyre (D-NC), Buck McKeon (R-CA), Michael McNulty
(D-NY), Martin Meehan (D-MA), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Michael Michaud (D-ME),
George Miller (D-CA), Candice Miller (R-MI), Gwen Moore (D-WI), James Moran
(D-VA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Richard Neal (D-MA),
Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Devin Nunes (R-CA), John Olver (D-MA), C. L.
“Butch” Otter (R-ID), William Pascrell (D-NJ), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Nancy
Pelosi (D-CA), Collin Peterson (D-MN), Richard Pombo (R-CA), Jon Porter
(R-NV),
George Radanovich (R-CA), Charles Rangel (D-NY), Mike Rogers (R-MI), Mike Ross
(D-AR), Steven Rothman (D-NJ), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Edward Royce
(R-CA), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Paul Ryan (R-WI), John Salazar (D-CO), Loretta
Sanchez (D-CA), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), H. James Saxton
(R-NJ), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Allyson Schwartz (D-PA),
Joe Schwarz (R-MI), E. Clay Shaw (R-FL), Christopher Shays (R-CT), Brad
Sherman
(D-CA), John Shimkus (R-IL), Rob Simmons (R-CT), Christopher Smith (R-NJ),
Hilda Solis (D-CA), Mark Souder (R-IN), Pete Stark (D-CA), John Sweeney
(R-NY),
Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), Mike Thompson (D-CA), John Tierney (D-MA), Edolphus
Towns (D-NY), Mark Udall (D-CO), Christopher Van Hollen (D-MD), Nydia
Velazquez
(D-NY), Peter Visclosky (D-IN), James Walsh (R-NY), Maxine Waters (D-CA),
Diane
Watson (D-CA), Henry Waxman (D-CA), Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Curt Weldon (R-PA),
Gerald Weller (R-IL), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Frank Wolf (R-VA), Lynn Woolsey
(D-CA), David Wu (D-OR), and Albert Wynn (D-MD).
4) Poland’s Walesa Condemns ‘First Genocide of 20th Century’
(RFE/RL)–Lech Walesa, Poland’s former president and a Nobel Peace Prize
winner, made on Thursday an emotional case for the recognition by Turkey of
the
1915 genocide of Armenians, saying it should be a precondition for Ankara’s
accession to the European Union. Walesa was addressing an international
conference devoted the upcoming 90th anniversary of the start of the mass
killings and deportations of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey. His visit came just
two days after Poland became the ninth EU country to officially describe the
slaughter of some 1.5 million Armenians as a genocide.
“The massacres of Armenians in Turkey were the first genocide of the 20th
century,” Walesa declared in a speech in Yerevan. “Armenia is justly demanding
that the recognition of the Armenian genocide be a precondition for Turkey’s
membership in the European Union,” he said. “Without a universal acceptance of
historical justice, we can not meet the challenges of the contemporary
world.”
“The massacres of Armenians were started by the bloodthirsty [Ottoman] Sultan
Abdul Hamid II,” Walesa said in his speech. “In 1915, the Turkish government
ordered the slaughter of Armenian intellectuals and the deportation of
hundreds
of thousands of Armenians that either starved to death or were brutally killed
by Turkish soldiers and Kurdish bandits.”
“If I or anyone else forget that crime, then let God forget us,” he added.
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress