Author: Andres-Papazian

ARMENIAN CLERIC SAYS POLITICIZING 1915 ADDS TO PAIN

Anadolu Agency, turkey
April 24 2015

24 April 2015 17:45 (Last updated 24 April 2015 17:47)

‘Hurts that sorrow only discussed after hundred years,’ says acting
patriarch.

ISTANBUL

One of the most senior figures in the Armenian church on Friday spoke
out against the politicization of the deaths of Ottoman Armenians
during World War I.

In a sermon to mark the centenary of the 1915 tragedy, Acting
Patriarch Aram Ateshian seemed to refer to recent declarations made
in the European Parliament, Austria and the Vatican that marked the
deaths of Armenians as “genocide.”

“Armenians in Turkey are an inseparable and loyal part of this
country,” he told the congregation at the Armenian Patriarchate in
Istanbul. “They are aware of their citizenship responsibilities.”

“It hurts us that only after a hundred years is the sorrow of our
people being discussed like this.”

He added: “Under freedom of expression, everybody can say what they
want. Many countries are supporting our hurt nation in the name of
justice. However, it will hurt us many times more to see our pain
being politicized.”

Ateshian did not use the word “genocide” during his sermon, but said
that “children lost their lives during the exile and hurt so much
because of brutal politics.”

A revolt against the Ottoman Empire by some sections of the Armenian
population in eastern Anatolia in 1915 resulted in relocations that
led to deaths. Armenia claims that up to 1.5 million were killed
while Turkey disputes the figure, and the use of the word “genocide,”
and says both Armenians and Turks died in significant numbers.

Turkey has called a joint commission to uncover what happened in 1915.

From: A. Papazian

SYRIA VOICES CONDEMNATION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE, LIKENS IT TO TERRORIST CRIMES NOWADAYS

23 AprilØ~L 2015

Yerevan, SANA – Syria expressed Thursday at a global forum its
condemnation of the genocide which the Ottoman Turks committed against
the Armenian people in 1915.

The global forum “Against the Crime of Genocide” was held in the
Armenian capital Yerevan commemorating the Centennial of the well-known
genocide, which is marked on April 24 every year.

Delivering Syria’s speech, Speaker of the People’s Assembly Mohammad
Jihad al-Laham said history will not forgive those “who didn’t learn
the lessons of wars on other peoples.”

The current Turkish government, the successor of the Ottomans, has
thrust itself so deeply in the current crisis in Syria, opening its
land wide to terrorists coming from all corners of the world to cross
border into Syria and commit horrible crimes against its people.

“Any crime against humans must be condemned and rejected whoever the
perpetrator, and how if that crime was a genocide in which more than
a million and a half of the brotherly Armenian people were killed,”
al-Laham told the forum.

“We in Syria have always felt the Armenians’ sense of belonging is as
much to Syria as it is to Armenian and vice versa,” he said, affirming
that the Armenians in Syria are an integral part of its people.

Al-Laham drew parallels between the Armenian Genocide and the mass
crimes targeting the people in Syria and Iraq, saying the crimes
systematically committed by the terrorists in both countries target
all of the two peoples’ components and are aimed at cleansing areas
of their inhabitants.

These, and the deliberate damaging of the cultural heritage and the
archeological and historical sites in Syria and Iraq, all constitute
“a genocide against humanity” and crimes against the history and
culture, he added.

While stressing that the history of appalling criminality is repeating
itself now through the terrorists of today, al-Laham said this would
not have happened was it not for those states and sides that are
supplying the terrorists with whatever funds, arms, training and
political and media cover they need to commit crimes.

Armenian Premier: We support Syria in confronting terrorism, seek
more economic cooperation

Later, Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan said his country
supports Syria in its fight against the terrorism exported to it from
different countries.

During his meeting with Speaker al-Laham Abrahamyan stressed that the
historical relations between Syria and Armenia are firmly established.

He saw that the Syrian participation in the forum, which marks the
Centennial of the Armenian Genocide, committed by the Ottomans in 1915,
reflects how much deep is the friendship relations binding the people
of Syria and Armenia.

Out of Armenia’s interest in further activating the parliamentary,
political and economic relations with Syria, Abrahamyan used the
opportunity of his meeting with al-Laham to extend an invitation to
the Syrian Prime Minister to visit Armenia with a view of expanding
the areas of economic cooperation between the two countries.

Al-Laham renewed Damascus’s solidarity with Yerevan on the occasion,
calling for joint work on the international level to prevent such
crimes from being repeated through eliminating the terrorism ravaging
Syria and Iraq.

Qabas/Haifa Said

From: A. Papazian

EXTENDING AN OLIVE BRANCH: REBUILDING TURKISH-ARMENIAN RELATIONS

The National Interest Online
April 23 2015

Fiona HillKemal KirisciAndrew Moffatt

April 23, 2015

One hundred years after the Ottoman-era atrocities against the
Armenians, a fierce battle is still being fought between Turkey
and Armenia over historical truth. In this war, politicians and
lobbyists have replaced the generals, and international legislative
bodies serve as battlegrounds where history and politics are mixed,
often irresponsibly.

On April 24, Armenians around the world annually commemorate the
mass atrocities that were perpetrated against them by the Ottoman
Empire during World War I. Most historians put the number of Armenian
Christians who perished at between 1 million and 1.5 million and
consider the events to have been genocide. Turkish authorities,
however, have contested these figures and rejected the use of the term
genocide. The official Turkish position instead attributes the deaths
and displacements to the broader context of the war, during which many
Muslims, Turks, and other minority groups also perished. Although the
scholarly record is not ambiguous, Turkish officials have advocated for
the formation of an international commission of historians to study
the matter before a definitive conclusion is reached. For Armenians,
Turkey’s contestation of history and disavowals of responsibility
remain a source of deep bitterness.

This year’s remembrance of the Medz Yeghern (an Armenian term commonly
translated as “Great Catastrophe”) carries extraordinary weight and
expectations, as it is the centenary of the massacres. To commemorate
the events, Armenian leaders have invited world leaders to gather
later this week in Yerevan. Numerous ceremonies and other memorial
events have already been organized to bring international attention
to the tragic history. The Armenian diaspora’s campaign to achieve
genocide recognition from local, national and multilateral governments,
newspapers, academic organizations and other policy makers has grown
in intensity. In recent days, Pope Francis and the European Parliament
called upon the Turkish government to acknowledge the mass deportations
and killings as genocide. On Monday, the German government retreated
from its long-standing avoidance of the term.

For the Turkish government, the term genocide is neuralgic and fraught
with legal and financial implications. Not surprisingly, Turkey
responded to these calls for recognition in an instinctively defensive
and uncompromising way, recalling its ambassador to the Vatican for
consultations and warning that such calls would harm relations. In an
acrimonious war of words, Turkish leaders have branded the Pope as part
of “an evil front” that is stirring hatred and using “blackmail” to
plot against them, and they lashed out against the “unfounded claims.”

This harsh reaction was preceded by Turkey’s decision earlier this
year to move a commemoration of the World War I battle of Gallipoli
from its customary date on March 18 to April 24-25 in order to compete
with the genocide remembrance activities in Yerevan. This political
maneuvering stoked considerable resentment on the Armenian side and
has forced world leaders, who might otherwise have participated in
both commemorations, to make an uncomfortable choice between the two.

These developments are regrettable because they come after Turkish
officials have made steps in recent years toward reconciliation
with Armenia and its global diaspora. The uproar negates the
symbolic goodwill that might have come out of the statement last
year by then Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan and this
year’s declaration by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, each of which
recognized the pain of the Armenians and extended condolences to the
descendants of those who perished. The revived discord also allows
hardline nationalists on both sides to persist in their categorical
demonization of the other.

Even more unfortunately, the tension overshadows the important
societal changes taking place in Turkey toward understanding the fate
of Ottoman Armenians. Less than a decade ago, the Turkish government
was still prosecuting citizens for describing the events of 1915
as genocide. Since that time, an awakening has begun regarding the
“Armenian issue”–several books have been published, international
conferences and televised debates have been held, and an online
apology campaign received over 30,000 signatures of support. Several
Turks have revealed long-hidden family secrets about their ancestors
being Armenians who were rescued from the death marches and taken
into their families. These developments have helped to stir this
particularly difficult and controversial history in the broader
Turkish consciousness.

It is now not uncommon for Turks, along with Armenians from around
the world, to assemble across Turkey on April 24 to commemorate the
fate of Ottoman Armenians. The anniversary date has also become an
occasion to remember the courageous Armenian-Turkish journalist,
Hrant Dink, for his struggle to get Turkish society to reconsider
its history and investigate how a once-thriving Armenian community in
Anatolia disappeared. Increasingly, the officially scripted narrative,
portraying Ottoman-era Armenians as traitors who were simply relocated,
is being questioned.

However, at the official level, the process of the “Turkish Thaw”–as
the author Thomas de Waal has labeled it–has been intermittent and
delayed at times by strong political winds. The genocide resolutions
come ahead of Turkey’s highly contested general elections in June. The
outcome of the elections will determine whether the governing
political party and its former leader, President Erdogan, can rewrite
the constitution and transform the long-established parliamentary
system into a presidential one. Polls suggest a tight race, which
is spurring the government’s need to woo nationalist votes. This
explains, in part, the harsh reaction in Turkey and the reflex to
see itself as the target of Western conspiracies. Furthermore, the
genocide statements come amid dire circumstances on Turkey’s border.

The displacement and death in Iraq and Syria brings an added source
of contestation for many in Turkey. Erdogan has recently accused
leaders of the Christian world for remaining silent and heedless to
the sufferings of Muslims. The events that have been unfolding in
the Middle East and the persecution of minority groups are in many
ways very much reminiscent of 1915.

In this charged atmosphere, categorical public calls on Turkey to
recognize the Armenian genocide risk undermining the modest gains
the nation, and especially its people, have made with respect to
reconciliation. As Hrant Dink argued, history should not be legislated
by the parliaments of third countries or imposed on Turks from abroad.

Dink acknowledged that Turks and Muslims also suffered during World
War One. Awareness of the broader context of the war is relevant,
as is recognition of what Turkish officialdom has called the “shared
suffering” of the Turks. However, Turkish officials have at times
tried to use the context to absolve the Turkish state of wrongdoing,
formulating a moral equivalency regarding the events and their
victims. Although there was widespread suffering, the atrocities that
befell the Ottoman Armenian communities cannot be contextualized away
as collateral damage amid the chaos of war. Context can help foster
empathy, but it cannot exculpate.

Turkey and its people need to face and accept their history fully
and fairly. As they do, the international community can assist
by also expressing empathy for the pain inflicted on Muslims and
other groups during and after World War I while commemorating the
genocide of the Armenians. Recognizing the indiscriminate nature of
the violence taking place in the Middle East today against Muslims,
Kurds and members of ancient Christian communities would also go a
long way toward ending the vicious cycle of recriminations.

For their part, Turkish politicians should avoid further inflammatory
reactions and language that fuels “clash of civilization”
misconceptions between Turkey and the West. Most importantly,
how Turkey deals with the present will contribute to how it
addresses the past. To this end, Turkey should lift its embargo
and open its international border with Armenia–unilaterally, if
necessary–which would constitute a powerful symbolic gesture in
support of reconciliation.

Fiona Hill is Center on the United States and Europe (CUSE) Director
and Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings
Institution in Washington, DC.

Kemal KiriÃ…~_ci is the TUSIAD Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy
Program at Brookings.

Andrew Moffatt is Associate Director of CUSE at Brookings.

Image: Brookings Institution

From: A. Papazian

BAKO SAHAKYAN: AZERBAIJAN ALSO COMMITTED GENOCIDE AGAINST ARMENIAN PEOPLE IN BAKU, SUMGAIT, KIROVABAD

19:30 24/04/2015 >> POLITICS

On April 24, Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan, accompanied by
top officials of the republic, visited the memorial complex of the
capital and attended the opening of the Memorial Belfry dedicated
to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the President’s
press office reports.

In his speech, President Sahakyan said that on that day worldwide
Armenians and civilized mankind focused their attention on the Armenian
Genocide – the most tragic and darkest page of the Armenian history,
adding that all the Armenians, in whatever part of the globe they
were, deemed as their duty to pay tribute to the memory of innocent
victims of the Armenian Genocide.

According to the President, the enemy did not intend to satisfy with
the extermination of Western Armenia and had a goal to complete the
Armenocide, dooming Eastern Armenia to the same fate.

Bako Sahakyan specified that denial of such crimes, avoiding
responsibility and showing indifference generated new disasters,
and the fact that the international community did not immediately
recognize and condemn the Armenian Genocide had led to new genocides
in different regions of the globe.

“Inspired by the example of Turkey and encouraged with the prospect
of remaining unpunished, Azerbaijan also committed genocide against
the Armenian people in Baku, Sumgait, Kirovabad and various parts of
Artsakh. However, the enemy did not succeed in realizing this appalling
task. The entire Armenian nation united, our independent statehood was
restored, the national army was formed, and the aggressor suffered
a crushing defeat. The Karabagh movement, our national-liberation
struggle and the victory became a peculiar verdict against a genocidal
state and its inhumane policy,” underlined President Sahakyan.

The President expressed confidence that the memorial would become Á
pilgrimage center, where every visitor would have deep and cherished
feelings, live through the pain of our people, at the same time being
filled with hope and faith. Bako Sahakyan pointed out that sooner
or later the Armenian Genocide would be recognized and condemned
by the international community since such a crime could not remain
unpunished forever.

“The most important guarantee for gaining ultimate victory, recognizing
the Armenian Genocide and securing the future of the Armenian nation is
the independent Armenian statehood, our powerful and efficient army,
the Armenia-Artsakh-Diaspora unwavering trinity, reliance on our own
strength,” stressed Artsakh Republic President.

From: A. Papazian

ISRAEL SENDS DELEGATION TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CEREMONY

Times of Israel
April 22 2015

‘As Jews, we must recognize the fact that an Armenian genocide
occurred,’ says Labor MK Nachman Shai

By JTA April 22, 2015, 9:22 pm 0

srael has sent an official delegation to ceremonies marking the 100th
anniversary of the mass murder of Armenians by Turkish forces during
World War I.

Armenia will hold ceremonies over the weekend to mark the tragedy,
which some call the Armenian Genocide. Israel has resisted calling
the event a genocide.

“Israel must reconsider its position on whether the time has come to
recognize the fact that an Armenian genocide occurred,” said Knesset
member Nachman Shai of the Zionist Camp, who will represent Israel
at ceremonies and events in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital.

“As Jews, we must recognize it,” he said. “This is especially true
during these days, when we mark Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Participation in the events in Armenia is a clear and strong statement
by the Israeli Knesset, which has repeatedly remembered the Armenian
victims, that it is obligated to reopen the matter.”

Anat Berko of the Likud party also will represent Israel at the
commemorations.

US President Barack Obama also has avoided calling the killings a
genocide, despite his 2008 pledged that he would.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, who is Jewish, will represent the United
States in Armenia for the commemoration.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIANS IN KESSAB COMMEMORATE GENOCIDE VICTIMS

17:35 | April 24,2015 | Politics

Armenians in Kessab today paid homage to the 1.5 million victims of
the Armenian Genocide in the city’s Holy Trinity Armenian Evangelical
Church.

The commemoration service for the Genocide victims began at 11am.

After the service, people laid flowers to the Armenian Genocide
Memorial and paid for the souls of Armenian martyrs.

From: A. Papazian

TURKEY RECALLS AMBASSADOR TO AUSTRIA OVER PARLIAMENT’S ARMENIA DECLARATION

Daily Sabah
April 22 2015

DAILY SABAH
ISTANBUL

Turkey recalled its ambassador to Vienna Hasan GöguÅ~_ back to Ankara
for consultations on Tuesday, after the Austrian Parliament issued a
declaration that labels the Armenian killings during World War I as
‘genocide’.

Turkish Foreign Ministry also released a statement regarding the
issue and blamed the Austrian Parliament for disrupting the historical
and judicial facts and said that Turkey will not forget the baseless
claims of the Austrian Parliament.

“While the joint declaration issued by the Austrian Parliament
emphasizes the sufferings of the Christians and does not even mention
the Muslim people who had lost their lives in World War I, it has
become just another example of discrimination based on religions.” the
statement read.

The statement reiterated Turkey’s rejection against the ‘genocide’
claims and added that Austrian Parliament’s selective and one-sided
approach over the 1915 events has potential to harm the relations
between the two countries.

Turkey and Armenia disagree on what happened during the events
between 1915 and 1923, with Armenia saying that 1.5 million people
were deliberately killed, and Turkey saying the deaths were a result
of deportations and civil strife.

Turkish-Armenian relations have remained strained for decades due to
Armenia’s constant demand for Turkey to officially accept the Armenian
claims of “genocide.” Tensions peaked in 1993 when Turkey closed its
borders with Armenia in reaction to the war in Nagorno-Karabakh and
in support of its close ally Azerbaijan.

Nevertheless, last year President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made attempts to
thaw tensions between the two countries by issuing a message ahead of
the 99th anniversary of the 1915 incidents. In an unprecedented move,
Prime Minister Erdogan extended condolences to the grandchildren of
the Armenians who lost their lives in the 1915 events.

However Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, in a purported refusal to
reconcile with Turkey, said he had withdrawn the peace accords with
Turkey from parliament.

The two countries’ foreign ministers at the time, Ahmet Davutoglu and
Eduard Nalbandian, had signed protocols to establish diplomatic ties
between their respective countries in 2009 in Switzerland. Mediated
by the U.S., the protocol had presupposed the opening of the border
between Turkey and Armenia, but it failed to be ratified.

Following the incident, Erdogan complained that Armenia had failed to
reciprocate Turkish peace efforts, but said that Ankara will still
pursue a settlement with Armenia. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tanju
Bilgic also said, “Turkey will remain committed to the normalization
process it pursues as the main purpose of the protocols.”

From: A. Papazian

GENOCIDE DEBATE HAUNTS TURKEY 100 YEARS AFTER ARMENIA

Bloomberg
April 23 2015

by Selcan HacaogluSara KhojoyanJack Fairweather

Like Turkey’s government, Abdullah won’t bring himself to say the
actions of his great grandfather a century ago amounted to genocide.

The 21-year-old Ankara student’s ancestor was among those who played
a prominent role in the deportation that led to the killing of as
many as 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 as the Ottoman Empire crumbled
during World War I. The centenary of the slaughter is being marked
amid unprecedented international recognition that what happened was
an act of genocide, to the fury of the authorities in Ankara who
dispute the death toll.

“What happened was ethnic engineering,” said Abdullah, whose family
name was withheld in case of reprisals. “Still, I don’t think my great
grandfather made a mistake, he obeyed orders to relocate Armenians
who rebelled against the state.”

As world leaders gather in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on Friday,
Turkey’s denials have left the country increasingly isolated. Pope
Francis and the European Parliament called on the government in Ankara
last week to recognize the genocide, while Germany, Turkey’s largest
trading partner in the European Union, is due to adopt the term for
the first time on Friday.

Nektar Alatuzyan, 101, is among a dwindling group of survivors in
Armenia. When Turks ordered the expulsion of residents of her village,
her parents joined a band of Armenians who fought back for 53 days
from Musa Dagh mountain in what became a legendary tale of resistance.

Putin, Kardashian

“Our house was full of weapons to defend ourselves,” said Alatuzyan,
now almost blind and hard of hearing. “My father was a hero of seven
villages.”

They escaped with their lives when a French ship on the Mediterranean
coast rescued survivors of the revolt. Alatuzyan went on to have
five children, 12 grandchildren, 33 great-grandchildren and eight
great-great-grandchildren.

“The perpetrators of the genocide failed to achieve what they
planned,” Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan told a forum in Yerevan
on Wednesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President
Francois Hollande, whose countries both recognize the slaughter
as genocide, will be among more than 60 delegations at Friday’s
commemorations.

U.S. reality-TV star Kim Kardashian added to Turkey’s troubles when
she stirred up global publicity about the genocide during a visit
to Armenia, her family’s ancestral homeland, with her rapper husband
Kanye West this month.

George Clooney brought Hollywood glitter to Armenian billionaire Ruben
Vardanyan’s New York launch of the “100 Lives” project celebrating
survivors in March.

Obama Pledge

Though he made a 2008 pre-election pledge to recognize the “Armenian
genocide,” U.S. President Barack Obama is unlikely to use the term in
his statement on the centenary, preferring not to alienate Turkey. The
country hosts a U.S. air base at Incirlik and is a key defense ally
in the Middle East.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will lead a presidential delegation in
Yerevan and the U.S. will “urge a full, frank, and just acknowledgment
of the facts,” according to a White House statement on Tuesday.

The genocide dispute is at the core of tensions between Armenia
and Turkey, who have no diplomatic ties and face each other across
a closed border. Turkey argues that, while atrocities took place,
they were the consequence of war after some Armenians joined Russian
troops fighting the Ottomans.

Gallipoli Clash

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan changed the date of a ceremony
to mark the 1915 Gallipoli campaign to clash with the one in Yerevan,
leading to a diplomatic tug-of-war with Armenia over attendance at
the respective events. The British royal family and Australian Prime
Minister Tony Abbott will be present for the Gallipoli memorial.

Turkey “can never accept such a sin, such guilt,” Erdogan said last
week in reference to the genocide.

Some analysts say a tentative reassessment of the Turkish role has
begun, however, pointing out that Erdogan offered Turkey’s first-ever
condolences last year to descendants of Armenians killed in 1915.

“We remember with respect the innocent Ottoman Armenians who lost
their lives and offer our deep condolences to their descendants,”
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in a statement on Monday,
while declaring that “reducing everything to one word” is “morally
and legally problematic.”

Growing international recognition of the genocide is increasing
pressure on Turkey “to more sincerely face its past,” Richard
Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Center in Yerevan,
said by e-mail.

The Bandit

Abdullah said his relative, known as “Ali the bandit,” murdered
an Armenian dignitary on the orders of Halet Bey, a member of the
Ottoman parliament.

Pressure for change must come from the bottom up, according to Diana
Yayloyan, an Armenian activist also studying in Ankara. Like Abdullah,
she has also sought to challenge her upbringing in a conservative
family that was driven from Turkey in 1915.

“In Armenia, we think that all Turks know the truth of genocide and
they reject it,” said Yayloyan. “The problem is that the people in
Turkey don’t know anything about it.”

All sides “need to uncover the past and learn from each other,”
she said. “Then the politicians will follow.”

From: A. Papazian

IRELAND’S PM EXPRESSES SOLIDARITY WITH ARMENIANS ON ‘MASSACRE’ CENTENARY

21:14, 24 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Taoiseach (Ireland’s Prime Minister) Enda Kenny has expressed his
sympathy to the Armenian people on the centenary of massacres which
resulted in the deaths of up to 1.5 million of its people between
1915 and 1922, according to The Irish Times reports.

Dr Paul Manook, who is involved in the Armenian Church in Ireland,
wrote to the Taoiseach to invite him to the community’s remembrance
service on Sunday in Taney Parish Church, Dundrum. Dr Manook lost
his grandfather during the massacres.

Mr Kenny said he was unable to attend but expressed his condolences
to Dr Manook and stated it was a “an example of the terrible suffering
and loss which Armenians endured a century ago”.

He added: “Here in Ireland, of course, we know well how difficult
it can be to come to terms with the past through a process of
reconciliation. It is fitting that the Armenian community in Ireland
will mark these events with a service of commemoration.”

Dr Manook said he was impressed with the tone of the Taoiseach’s letter
which he described as “very sensitive and understanding”, but he urged
the Irish Government to recognise the Armenian massacres as a genocide.

“I just hope Ireland will help us in this area. It is not just forgive
and forget. It needs to be dealt with. Perhaps Ireland can use its
diplomatic channels to influence the US, UK as well as Turkey,”
he said.

Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs are likely to be
called before the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade next
week to explain the rationale behind the decision not to call the
Armenian massacres a genocide.

Committee chair Pat Breen said he was not happy with the four line
explanation given by the Department to the effect that it did not
have the necessary information one way or another to make a definitive
stand on the issue. Mr Breen asked for a “comprehensive reply”.

Senator Mark Daly brought a motion before the committee seeking to have
the massacres acknowledged as a genocide. He said the DFA response
amounted to a “four-line reply to the deaths of 1.5 million people”
and called on Ireland to follow the example of countries such as
France and Canada, along with the Vatican and theEuropean Parliament,
in recognising what happened as genocide.

He added that Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish
state, acknowledged the events as genocide, but successive Turkish
governments had chosen a different path.

A Department of Foreign Affairs statement earlier this week did not
use the word genocide to describe the experiences of the Armenians.

It acknowledged the “enormous suffering of the Armenian people during
that period. As we in Ireland know well, the process of reconciliation
and coming to terms with the past is never easy.

“In this year of centenary commemorations, Ireland would urge Armenia
and Turkey to take advantage of any opportunity to progress their
bilateral relations for the good of their people, the region, and
their shared future.”

The statement added that President Michael D Higgins had recently
expressed the sympathy of the Irish people for the enormous suffering
of Armenians in that era to Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan.

From: A. Papazian

VLADIMIR POUTINE REAFFIRME SA POSITION CONCERNANT LE GENOCIDE DES ARMENIENS

RUSSIE

Coupant court aux speculations concernant son absence eventuelles
aux ceremonies du centenaire du genocide des Armeniens le vendredi
24 avril a Erevan dont il avait ete pourtant l’un des premiers chefs
d’Etat a annoncer sa venue, le president russe Vladimir Poutine a
reaffirme sa position concernant cet episode tragique de l’Histoire
armenienne, qualifiant les massacres dont ont ete victimes en 1915
les Armeniens de l’Empire ottoman comme un genocide, a la veille de sa
participation confirmees aux ceremonies du centenaire dans la capitale
armenienne. “Le 24 avril 1915 est une date douloureuse, qui renvoie
a l’un des episodes les plus dramatiques de l’histoire de l’humanite
: le genocide du peuple armenien” a declare M.Poutine le 22 avril
dans un message ecrit adresse aux participants d’une manifestation
commemorative du genocide armenien a Moscou. “Un siècle après,
nous nous recueillons en souvenir de toutes les victimes de cette
tragedie qui a toujours suscite dans notre pays peine et douleur”, a
poursuivi le president russe. “La position de la Russie a ete et reste
objective et coherente : il ne saurait y avoir aucune justification
pour une extermination et une purification ethniques. La communaute
international doit tout faire pour garantir que de telles atrocites
ne se repètent jamais nulle part >>.

From: A. Papazian