Author: Babajanian Karo

EVENT IN GREECE COMMEMORATING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL

17:21, 21 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

On April 19, an event commemorating the centenary of the Armenian
Genocide was held at the renowned “Pallas” theatre of Athens, on
the initiative of Greek Centennial Central Body and the prefecture
of Attika.

Minister of Industry Reconstruction, Environment and Energy Panagiotis
Lafazanis, State Minister Panagiotis Nikoloudis, Deputy State Minister
Terence Quick, Deputy National Defense Minister Nikolaos Toskas,
Chief of the National Defense General Staff Michail Kostarakos, Deputy
Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament Ioannis Balafas, former President
of the Parliament Apostolos Kaklamanis, MPs representing various
parliamentary groups, Members of the European Parliament, Head of
the military academy “Evelpidon” Dimitrios Reskos and Armenian cadets
studying at the academy, Deputy Governor of Attika and Piraeus, Mayors
of Piraeus and Nikaia-Renti, heads and members of foreign embassies,
military attaches, heads and members of religious, political,
cultural and educational institutions of the Greek-Armenian Community,
representatives of Pontian Greek, Assyrian and Jewish organizations,
academic and other circles of Greek society were in the attendance.

The event was moderated by Araxie Abelian-Qolanian who in her opening
speech highlighted the link between the past and present stating that
the Armenian Genocide issue does not affect only the Armenian-Turkish
relations, but the security of the wider South Caucasus region as
well. A short film based on the testimonies of genocide witnesses
was screened.

Keynote speaker, MEP and head of the EU-Armenia friendship group Eleni
Teocharous commenced her speech with following words “Every free person
in Greece is Armenian today”. Thus, expressing her admiration for the
centuries-old struggle for freedom of the Armenian people and hoping
to see the same spirit of liberation in Cyprus as well.

Teocharous noted that due to the impunity of the Armenian genocide
the international law has “cracks” and this makes the small nations
vulnerable to violence and arbitrary practices. The speaker noted
that the 1915 genocide saw its continuation in the 90’s massacres
of Armenians in Baku and Sumgait, in the violation of the right to
self-determination of the people of Artsakh, and in the blockade of
Armenia. Touching upon the European Parliament resolution of April
15 and the following response by the Turkish high level officials,
Teocharous stated that democracy punishes and teaches a lesson, but
it never inflicts revenge. In addition she noted that denying the
truth the Turkish authorities make the Turkish nation an accomplice
to the heinous crime of the Ottoman government. She reaffirmed the
call of the MEPs on Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide and to
comply with all its obligations under the international law.

In his speech Ambassador Ghalatchian highlighted the concepts of
memory, gratitude, international struggle and rebirth, as cornerstones
of the Armenian genocide Centennial commemoration and attached special
importance to the renewed processes of the international recognition
of genocide due to the Armenian Genocide Centenary, as an additional
tool to prevent the crime of genocide.

Speeches by Deputy Regional Governor of Attika, Deputy Speaker of
Parliament and Deputy National Defence Minister followed.

The artistic part of the event consisted in the performance of
“Lament of Adana”, “Shall we still be silent” and “Der Zor” by the
“Hakob Papazian” choir of “Hamazgayin” cultural centre under the
baton of Father Hrayr Nikolian. The Greek quartet “Evritmon” closed
the event performing pieces by Komitas.

Accompanied by the Armenian Scouts groups the participants marched
towards the central Syntagma square where a solemn wreath laying
ceremony at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier took place with the
guard of honour. Wreaths were laid by Eleni Teocharous, Ambassador
Galatchian, Military Attache Samvel Ramazyan, by the representatives
of the Hellenic government, Attica prefecture, Athens municipality,
Greek-Armenian community, Unions of Assyrians, Jews and Pontus Greeks.

ARMENIAN ANALYST: KARDASHIAN VISIT AND PAPAL STATEMENT WERE “EXPLOSIVE”

12:23, 21.04.2015
Region:Armenia
Theme: Politics, Society, Innovations

YEREVAN. – The number of people browsing the word “Armenian Genocide”
in Google search engine has increased in the last two weeks,
information security expert Samvel Martirosyan said at a press
conference on Tuesday.

In his words, the people’s respective interest has grown especially
after famous American Armenian TV personality Kim Kardashian’s recent
visit to Armenia, and Pope Francis’ Armenian Genocide statement and
the mass he offered at the Vatican.

“We should not also forget that the European Parliament passed a
special resolution [on the genocide], the British and American press
began to write about the Armenian Genocide, [and] SOAD [i.e. the
world-renowned American Armenian rock band System of a Down] started
its world tour, whose theme is the Genocide Centennial,” Martirosyan
said. “All this creates a very strong resonance, but Kim Kardashian
and the Pope had an explosive effect.”

According to the information security expert, it is very important
to keep the genocide topic in the international platform.

EIFFEL TOWER LIGHTS TO SWITCH OFF FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS

21:04, 21.04.2015
Region:World News, Armenia, Turkey
Theme: Politics, Society

Eiffel Towel lights will be turned off on April 24 in memory of the
Armenian Genocide victims, Armenia’s embassy in France reports.

According to the Mayor’s decision, on the Armenian Genocide Centennial
Day at 22:00 (midnight Yerevan time) Eiffel Tower lights will be
partly turned off, this symbolizing the tribute to the Armenian
Genocide victims.

AFTER 100 YEARS, TURKEY SHOULD ACKNOWLEDGE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

12:39 21/04/2015 >> SOCIETY

Thestar.com editorial

After 100 years, it is now widely accepted as the first genocide of
the modern era. The killing of as many as 1.5 million Armenians in
Ottoman Turkey that began in April, 1915, was a stain on the conscience
of humanity, the first such horror in a century that would sadly see
many more.

Here in Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government recognizes
the genocide, and Parliament passed resolutions more than a decade
ago condemning it as a crime against humanity.

As Armenians the world over mark the 100th anniversary on Friday of
the beginning of the “great catastrophe,” they know that the mass
slaughter and expulsion that their community suffered as the First
World War raged has gained iconic status as a crime of monstrous
proportions. Nazi leader Adolph Hitler may have believed that few
would remember the Armenian tragedy, but history has proved him wrong.

Just this past week Pope Francis used his powerful pulpit to urge
world leaders to recognize the genocide, saying that “concealing
or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without
bandaging it.” The Pope alluded, as well, to the current persecution
of Christians by Islamic State jihadists and other radicals in places
such as Syria, Iraq and Nigeria. Even so, his remarks predictably
infuriated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government. It
recalled its envoy to the Vatican and accused the Pope of fanning
hatred with baseless claims.

As the Star’s Olivia Ward wrote on Saturday, the Turkish government
has always maintained the claim that the Armenian “tragedy,” while
terrible, has been exaggerated, and was a byproduct of an ugly civil
war as the Ottoman Empire disintegrated. But diplomats at the time were
shocked by the sheer scale of the suffering of two million Christian
Armenians in what is now eastern Turkey. They faced mass deportation,
death marches, starvation, executions, torture and rape.

To one American diplomat it looked like a systematic bid to crush
the Armenian race.

The Armenian tragedy proved to be just the first of several in a 20th
century drenched in the blood of two world wars and state-sanctioned
mass slaughter.

The singular evil of the Shoah, the Holocaust, towers above the rest.

Hitler’s Nazi killing machine murdered 6 million Jews seeking to
annihilate an entire people. But millions of Ukrainians died in
Joseph Stalin’s man-made famines. In Cambodia the Khmer Rouge killed
millions. And nearly a million perished in Rwanda and Bosnia.

Modern Turkey is a democratic, advanced state and a valued ally
of Canada and the rest of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
alliance. The Ottoman Empire is long gone and Turkish people today
have no such blood on their hands. With the hindsight of a century,
they should be able to come to terms with past events, however painful.

Yet, discouragingly, the Turkish government continues to attack any
and all who dare utter the word genocide. In Erdogan’s mind, “it
is out of the question for there to be a stain or a shadow called
genocide on Turkey.” That perversely casts Turkey in the role of
victim. That simply doesn’t stand serious scrutiny. Modern scholarship
has documented a campaign by Mehmed Talat Pasha and his regime against
the Armenians, who were regarded as pro-Russian enemies from within,
at a time when Turkey was allied with Germany against Russia.

Turkey’s current leadership, innocent of century-old crimes, should
recognize that their country’s international standing is suffering by
their corrosive refusal to come to grips with the past. The European
Parliament has just made that very case, urging Turkey “to come to
terms with its past, to recognize the Armenian genocide and thus to
pave the way for a genuine reconciliation between the Turkish and
Armenian peoples.” That reconciliation is long overdue. It’s time to
look history squarely in the face, or be haunted by a terrible wrong.

TURKEY, US, GREAT BRITAIN SHOULD FEEL ASHAMED OF THEIR APPROACH TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE – RICHARD GIRAGOSIAN

15:23 * 21.04.15

In an interview with Tert.am, Richard Giragosian, Founding Director
of the Regional Studies Center (RSC), commented on the international
response to the Armenian Genocide centennial.

It is clear official Ankara, Washington and London prefer not using
the word “genocide”. Shame on them, Mr Giragosian said.

As to hopes that US President Barack Obama will use the term
“genocide”, he said that the US leader must feel ashamed.

Asked about any preconditions for Turkey’s concessions, Mr Giragosian
said that it is not an “if” question, but a “when” question – when
Turkey will recognize the Armenian Genocide.

He believes that the international community will increase its pressure
on Ankara due to commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.

Commenting on the events to mark the Battle of Gallipoli, Mr Giragosian
said that they attracted greater attention to the Armenian Genocide
centennial and deflected attraction from the events marking the Battle
of Gallipoli.

World leaders preferred coming to Armenia than going to Turkey.

As to whether the international community can perceive any problems
in Armenia-Turkey reconciliation on Turkey’s part, Mr Giragosian said
it is clear.

Asked about possible developments in Armenian-Turkish relations he
said that it is Turkey that is responsible, not Armenia.

In any case, it is only on June 7, after Turkey elections, that
anything can be expected.

HASAN CEMAL : LE REPORTER DU GéNOCIDE ARMéNIEN

Publié le : 21-04-2015

Info Collectif VAN – – Le Collectif VAN vous
propose cet article sur Hasan Cemal publié sur le site Toute l’Europe
le 17 avril 2015.

Toute l’Europe

Le 17 avril 2015

Portraits d’Européens

Hasan Cemal : le reporter du génocide arménien

Hasan Cemal est un journaliste a l’ancienne, prêt a aller au front
et régulièrement dans la ligne de mire du pouvoir politique. En
Turquie, ce profil n’est pas vraiment du goÔt du gouvernement et
du président Recep Tayyip Erdogan. D’autant moins qu’Hasan Cemal
est engagé en faveur de la reconnaissance du génocide arménien,
un dossier encore extrêmement sensible. En 2012, il a publié un
best-seller sur le sujet : une manière de s’écarter définitivement
de son lourd héritage familial. Son grand-père, Djemal Pacha,
fut l’un des trois grands ordonnateurs du massacre, en 1915 et 1916.

” Petit-fils de ” et militant de la réconciliation

Pour Hasan Cemal, reconnaître le génocide arménien commis par les
Turcs, son peuple, en 1915 et 1916, fut un long cheminement. Pendant
longtemps, il n’a pas prononcé ni écrit ce mot, largement tabou en
Turquie – en atteste encore la réaction outrée du gouvernement turc
a la suite de la reconnaissance du génocide par le pape Francois le
12 avril. ” Le mot ” génocide ”, je l’ai écrit plusieurs fois”
, se rappelle Hasan Cemal dans un documentaire diffusé sur France 5
et par la RTBF en 2015. ” Puis je l’ai barré. Je l’ai réécrit et
je l’ai barré a nouveau. Alors je me suis interrogé : pourquoi moi,
Hasan Cemal, ai-je un problème avec ce mot ” génocide ” ? Je me
disais : mais pourquoi fuis-tu ce mot ? Si c’est ainsi que tu penses,
écris-le ! Car ce qu’ont vécu les Arméniens ottomans en 1915 et
1916 a été planifié et appliqué de manière systématique. C’est
un génocide” .

Il est probable que son histoire familiale ne l’a pas aidé a franchir
le pas plus rapidement. Son grand-père n’est en effet autre que
Djemal Pacha, qui fut l’un des trois dirigeants Jeunes-Turcs qui a
dirigé le pays au début du XXe siècle, durant la Première Guerre
mondiale. Avec Enver Pacha et Talaat Pacha, Djemal Pacha prend le
contrôle du pays a la suite des guerres balkaniques perdues par
l’Empire ottoman en 1912 et 1913. Deux ans plus tard, durant la
Guerre, les Jeunes-Turcs s’emploient a brider l’émancipation des
minorités. Commence le génocide au cours duquel plus d’un million
d’Arméniens ottomans ont péri, assassinés ou victimes de leur
déportation.

Ce n’est qu’en 2012 qu’Hasan Cemal a définitivement rompu avec
cet héritage. Il publie 1915 : génocide arménien, un livre qui
deviendra rapidement un best-seller – signe d’une Turquie qui change
– et qui invite l’Etat turc a reconnaître sa responsabilité. Six
ans plus tôt, il s’était rendu a Erevan, la capitale arménienne,
pour se recueillir au Mémorial de Tsitsernakaberd, bâti en 1968
pour commémorer le génocide. Il accompagne alors son ami et
confrère Hrant Dink, Turc d’origine arménienne, ardant défenseur
de la réconciliation entre les deux peuples et assassiné l’année
suivante dans des circonstances troubles.

” Personnellement, j’ai beaucoup appris de cet infatigable militant
du rapprochement turco-arménien, tant de son vivant qu’après sa
mort” , écrira Hasan Cemal en 2008, dans un éditorial publié
dans le quotidien Milliyet, traduit par Courrier international. ”
J’ai ainsi compris que l’on ne pouvait échapper a l’Histoire. Dans
le silence du matin, j’ai donc réfléchi a la futilité qu’il y a a
vouloir encore nier le passé, de même qu’aux risques qu’il y a a se
retrouver prisonnier de ses propres souffrances” , poursuit-il. Avant
de citer Hrant Dink. ” Quelle part d’humanité allons-nous donc
bien pouvoir sauver en chacun de nous si nous nous prêtons a des
acrobaties sémantiques pour savoir s’il s’agit d’un génocide ou
d’une déportation, a plus forte raison si nous sommes incapables
ensuite de les condamner de la même facon tous les deux ? ”.

Ci-dessous, l’éclairage du journaliste Guillaume Perrier :

Faire son travail en Turquie

De Milliyet, Hasan Cemal est parti en 2013. Il y travaillait depuis
1998. La faute a un article sur une rencontre entre le gouvernement
turc, alors dirigé par Recep Tayyip Erdogan depuis devenu président,
et le PKK, l’organisation kurde considérée comme terroriste par
la Turquie, l’Union européenne ou encore les Etats-Unis. Vivement
critiqué par M. Erdogan, Hasan Cemal répliqua qu’il ne faisait que
son travail, mais fut empêché de publier d’autres articles sur ce
sujet, son journal ne souhaitant pas le suivre dans cette nouvelle
croisade.

Non content de soutenir la reconnaissance du génocide arménien,
le journaliste osait en plus couvrir la question kurde et se rendre
dans les montagnes de Qandil, situées au croisement des frontières
turque, irakienne et iranienne, pour interviewer les rebelles.

Au fond, peu importe : Hasan Cemal en a vu d’autres. Rasé de près,
cheveux correctement peignés, lunettes arrondies, chemises oxford et
veste en velours côtelé, Hasan Cemal est l’archétype du reporter a
l’ancienne, toujours par monts et par vaux. Il a même des faux airs de
Jean-Marie Colombani, l’ancien patron du Monde. Mais être journaliste
engagé et indépendant en Turquie n’a pas les mêmes implications
qu’en France. Celui qui a aujourd’hui 71 ans, et dont la conscience
journalistique et l’intégrité viennent d’être récompensées
par l’université de Harvard, avait déja dÔ abandonner son poste
de rédacteur en chef en 1992, lorsqu’il écrivait pour le pourtant
engagé et courageux Cumhuriyet – le seul journal d’un pays musulman
a avoir publié des dessins de Charlie Hebdo a la suite des attentats
de janvier dernier.

Aujourd’hui, Hasan Cemal écrit pour le site d’information turc T24. Il
y a quelques années encore, son engagement lui aurait certainement
valu la censure, la prison, voire une tentative d’agression ou
d’assassinat. L’association Reporters sans frontières, qui a inscrit
Hasan Cemal parmi ses ” 100 héros de l’information ”, avait tout de
même alerté l’opinion, en 2012, sur la campagne de diffamation dont
il a été victime, au même titre que d’autres journalistes turcs,
pour sa couverture des dossiers arménien et kurde. Le quotidien
islamiste et nationaliste Yeni Akit l’avait accusé de ” glorifier
” le groupe terroriste du PKK et d’en être un ” enthousiaste
propagandiste” .

Largement insuffisant pour museler Hasan Cemal, que personne n’est
encore parvenu a empêcher de “faire son travail”.

Texte et infographie : Toute l’Europe

Interview vidéo et mise en page : 28â~@²

Voir aussi :

Génocide arménien, le spectre de 1915

Lire aussi :

Hasan Cemal, le repentir d’un petit fils de Djemal

Source/Lien :
Toute l’Europe

MARONITE PATRIARCH AL-RAHI TO TRAVEL TO ARMENIA FOR GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL

11:14, 21 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi is scheduled to travel to Armenia on
Tuesday to attend the centenary commemoration of the Armenian genocide,
Nahmet reports.

Delegations from more than 60 countries are expected to attend the
centennial commemoration events in Armenia.

RFI SPECIAL REPORTER HEADS TOWARDS WESTERN ARMENIA TO PRESENT CURRENT STATE OF ARMENIAN HERITAGE

19:53, 21 April, 2015

PARIS, 21 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. A special reporter for Radio France
International (RFI) has headed towards eastern Turkey to find out
what happened to the Armenian churches and tombstones, how the people
already referred to as “incognito Armenians” are living and what is
going on the Armenian-Turkish border that has been closed for the
past 20 years now. As “Armenpress” reports, RFI particularly wrote
the following: “April 24, 2015 will mark the 100th anniversary of
the Armenian Genocide perpetrated in the Ottoman Empire. Between
the years of 1915 and 1923, 1.5 million Armenians were annihilated
in the territory of modern-day Turkey. Those mass killings became
one of the most dangerous crimes of the 20th century. To this day,
the Turkish government refuses to acknowledge the genocide.”

The French radio’s special report has already been to Bitlis, Van and
Diyarbakir and has prepared several reports providing wide coverage
of the current issues facing the local Armenians, as well as the
stories about and current state of Armenian cultural heritage.

ARMENIAN IT SECURITY EXPERT WARNS OF HACKING RISKS

12:36 * 21.04.15

April 23 and 24 are expected to be risky days for Armenian web domains,
as the country is preparing to marke the Genocide anniversary, a
cyber security expert said today, noting that the days traditionally
see increased bullying attempts by Turkish hackers.

“What we can normally expect these days is massive attacks against the
[local] websites. A special target may be the news websites, especially
those covering the Genocide issue. That’s what has been the case for
several years running; not absolutely very year, but there have been
a few serious attacks. Over the past years, the Azerbaijani hackers
have been involved the Genocide denial propaganda more actively than
the Turks,” Samvel Martirosyan told reporters on Tuesday.

The expert noted that the passiveness of the Armenian websites
logically diverts attention to the Turkish web resources which he
said normally spread disinformation.

Martirosyan added that they now observe higher activeness by Turkish
and Azerbaijani hackers, as the year marks the centenary of Genocide.

“The term Armenian Genocide was never before searched so much in
Google as it was in the past fortnight. So we are in for risky days,”
he warned.

PASTOR OF BERLIN PROTESTANT CHURCH PRINCE PHILIP KIRILL OF PRUSSIA APOLOGIZES TO ARMENIANS FOR GERMANY AND HIS GRANDFATHER KAISER WILHELM II

by Ashot Safaryan

Tuesday, April 21, 15:01

Pastor of Berlin Protestant Church Prince Philip Kirill of Prussia,
who is the great-great-grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm II arrived in
Armenia on April 20.

On April 21, the great-great-grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm II visited
the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan.

Talking to reporters, Prince Philip Kirill of Prussia said he shares
the paid of the Armenian people and could but visit Armenia as he
feels his part of responsibility of the Genocide in the Ottoman
Empire. “As the grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm II I identify myself
with his mistakes. I think my predecessor had an opportunity to
prevent that horrific tragedy in he Ottoman Empire, as Germany was
Turkey’s ally during the WWI and had a colossal political influence
on the Ottoman Empire. My great-great grandfather could prevent that
tragedy, but did not do it. I feel a big pain and shame,” Prince
Philip Kirill of Prussia said. The Pastor of Berlin Protestant Church
will participate in the Interchurch forum organized by the Church
“The World of Life.” On April 23, he will attend the ceremony of
canonization of the Armenian Genocide Victims at the Mother See of
Holy Etchmiadzin. “It is a great honor for me to participate in these
events,” he said. Church Prince Philip Kirill of Prussia said he
would like to see Germany government members at the events in Yerevan.

He is sure official recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the
FRG would help develop Armenia and boost the Armenian-Turkish
reconciliation efforts.