Author: Babajanian Karo

WHAT DOES ARMENIAN DIASPORA WANT?

Al-Monitor, Turkey
April 17 2015

Author: Pinar Tremblay
Posted April 17, 2015

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu delivered a heartwarming
message Feb. 15: “[The] Armenian diaspora is not an enemy diaspora,
it is ours. We will keep reaching out to them.” Yet on March 18,
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called upon the Armenian
diaspora, saying, “Come let’s go over the archives. We can assign
experts to evaluate all documents, bring your documents. It is not
ethical to go traveling around different countries, distributing money,
establishing lobbies to carry anti-Turkish propaganda.”

The Armenian diaspora has become the scapegoat for the Turkish-Armenian
conflict. As the commemoration of the Armenian genocide centennial
approaches, the Turkish government keeps sending mixed messages.

For example, on March 24, disturbing graffiti appeared on the wall
of an Armenian church in Bakirkoy district of Istanbul. It read:
“Who cares if you are all Armenians [referring to the liberal groups
standing with the minorities with the slogan ‘We are all Armenians’],
one of us being Ogun Samast [the murderer of prominent Armenian
Turkish author Hrant Dink] is sufficient.” The graffiti, which
caused an uproar on social media, was promptly cleaned up. Another
one appeared the next day reading: “Holy Year 1915.”

The existence of the diaspora itself poses the most difficult question:
How did the Armenian population decline to 60,000 from 2.5 million at
the end of the 19th century in Anatolia? While Turkish views on the
Armenian issue are divided, there seems to be a general conviction
in Turkey that the Armenian diaspora is now strong enough to affect
Turkey’s international politics.

In a piece for the Armenian Weekly, columnist Raffi Bedrosyan expressed
the popular perception among Turks about the “evil” Armenian diaspora.

Bedrosyan lives in Canada, as a pianist and engineer working diligently
to save the Armenian properties all around Anatolia. In September
2012, he gave the first Armenian piano concert since 1915 in the Surp
Giragos church of Diyarbakir. He was also active in the reconstruction
of the church.

Bedrosyan told Al-Monitor, “Erdogan, AKP [Justice and Development
Party] and generally the Turkish state and state-controlled media
misguidedly portray Armenians as three distinct groups: the good,
the bad and the poor. The small Armenian community in Istanbul is
regarded as the good — obedient, agreeable and easy to manipulate. The
diaspora is regarded as the bad — the hateful enemy obsessed with
genocide recognition, compensation and reparations. The Armenians in
Armenia are regarded as the poor — completely desperate, dependent
in every way on the Russians or the diaspora finances. [The] Turkish
state and Erdogan fail to see that all three groups share a common
pain since 1915 and a common goal for a just resolution. Yes,
perhaps the diaspora is the most vocal among the three in pushing
for acknowledgment and justice; however, Turkey has completely shut
out any attempt for reconciliation with all three groups — closed
borders with Armenia and no dialogue with any Armenian entity from
neither diaspora nor Armenia regarding 1915. I am a minority within
the Armenian diaspora advocating direct dialogue with Turkey, instead
of pressuring Turkey through third states, but after several attempts
for dialogue, encouraged by Davutoglu’s statements such as ‘Armenian
diaspora is also our diaspora,’ I have become disillusioned at the
fake attempts by government officials and academia. I see absolutely no
willingness at state level to acknowledge historical facts and truths.”

Indeed, Al-Monitor interviewed over 20 prominent Armenian academics,
journalists, artists, pundits and pastors from Australia, United
Kingdom, France, Canada, Syria and Lebanon, as well as different
parts of the United States, and all agreed with Armenians’ demand
for Turkey to officially recognize the genocide.

Kevork Oskanian, a research fellow at the Center for Russian,
Eurasian and European Studies at the University of Birmingham in the
United Kingdom, told Al-Monitor that beyond the shared wish of an
official recognition of genocide, “there are actually a great number
of different ideas [among the diaspora]. Some believe the matter
should stop there; others go so far as to advocate the resurrection
of the Sevres Treaty and Wilson’s arbitral award. The overwhelming
majority are somewhere in between these two extremes, demanding, say,
symbolic acts, or more concrete — financial — forms of compensation.”

Asked about the Armenians of the Levant, he said, “They have a
special status in the diaspora partly because they are the oldest
and best developed postgenocide communities; the ancestors of many
people in France, the USA … passed through Lebanon or Syria before
heading West, and, of course, 1915’s ‘killing fields’ were situated
mostly in Syria, giving the place an added significance to Armenians
worldwide. In that sense, the Syrian civil war has done immense
damage to the Syrian Armenian community, which used to be one of the
most dynamic in the region, and is considered the ‘mother community’
by many in the diaspora.”

Scout Tufankjian, a photojournalist and author of the upcoming book
“There Is Only the Earth: Images from the Armenian Diaspora Project”
that documents contemporary Armenian communities in more than 20
countries, told Al-Monitor, “Beyond [the recognition of genocide]
views [of the diaspora] really vary — from those who would be
satisfied with recognition to others who would push for reparations to
others who would want to re-establish Western Armenia in our historic
homeland.” A New York resident now, Tufankjian has just returned from
a year in Istanbul.

“Views on modern Turkey also really vary,” she added. “Some people
hold that the responsibility for recognition lies with every Turkish
citizen; others see this more as a governmental issue. Some people
have no issue with traveling to eastern Turkey to tour the villages
of their ancestors; others would never step foot in a Turkey that
does not acknowledge the genocide. Even the attitude that people
take toward the Kurdish apology [for their role in the genocide]
has varied. Many have accepted it warmly and wholeheartedly and look
for opportunities to work together; others distrust it.”

Nigol Bezjian, a filmmaker in Beirut, told Al-Monitor, “Armenians in
the Levant may have more pragmatic and practical approach to deal with
the past in this modern time due to the proximity to their homeland.”

Bezjian, born in Aleppo, Syria, has directed the movie “I Left My
Shoes in Istanbul” documenting the travels of a Lebanese Armenian to
Istanbul in 2012.

Armen Georgian, a political analyst for France 24, is more pessimistic
about the relations between the diaspora and Turkish government and
the impact of Syrian civil war. “I see the stalemate continuing,” he
told Al-Monitor. “Last year, Erdogan made a statement on the Armenians
that would have been unthinkable for a Turkish leader 20 years ago,
but it fell far short of the unequivocal apology that the diaspora has
been demanding for a century. This year Erdogan has taken a harder
line, trying to make sure that the Gallipoli centenary overshadows
the centenary commemorations in Yerevan. So I think the rift between
him and the diaspora has widened. In addition, some members of the
diaspora hold the Turkish government indirectly responsible for the
destruction of Armenian heritage in Syria by the Islamic State.”

When asked whether the diaspora’s actions benefits Armenians in
Turkey, Georgian said, “I think that international awareness of the
genocide centenary makes it difficult for the Turkish government
to take measures against Armenians — back in March 2010 the prime
minister threatened to deport 100,000 Armenian migrants — but I
would not rule out a further spike in tensions after April 24 that
could make both Armenian migrants and Turkish citizens of Armenian
origin feel uncomfortable.”

An Australian Armenian, Ashley Kalagian Blunt, told Al-Monitor about
the position of the Armenian community in Australia, “The battle at
Gallipoli, which began April 25, 1915, was a significant aspect in the
formation of Australian national identity. While Australian Armenians
are keen to stand up and commemorate the genocide as a community
this April, they wish for official recognition from Australia and,
of course, official recognition from Turkey.”

One of the biggest diaspora groups is in Southern California. Harut
Sassounian, the publisher of the California Courier, expressed concerns
about the reactions of rest of the world as well, wondering, “Is it
sufficient to criticize Turkey for genocide denial, while ignoring
world leaders who attend the Gallipoli ceremonies?”

Whatever your answer is to Sassounian’s question. one cannot deny
that diverse and determined Armenian diaspora spread over 70 countries
symbolizes survival rather than victimhood.

INAUGURATION D’UN KHATCHKAR A VALENCE A L’OCCASION DU 100EME ANNIVERSAIRE DU GENOCIDE DES ARMENIENS – PHOTOS

VALENCE (DRÔME)-GENOCIDE DES ARMENIENS-100 ANS

Dimanche 19 avril près de 400 personnes etaient reunies au parc Idjevan
de Valence (Drôme) pour l’inauguration du khatchkar, don de genereux
bienfaiteurs d’Armenie, presentes lors de la ceremonie inaugurale par
Vaner Harutyunyan le vice-consul d’Armenie a Lyon ainsi que les hommes
d’affaires et donateurs Armen Chahazizian et Garen Gaguikian. Une
ceremonie qui beneficiait du double soutien du Ministère armenien de
la Diaspora et de l’Eglise armenienne d’Etchmiadzine.

Dans le cadre du centenaire du genocide des Armeniens, ce sont les
associations de l’amicale des Armeniens d’Ourfa (presidee par Georges
Rastklan) et France-Achtarak (presidee par Levon Chatikyan) qui ont
pris l’initiative de cette manifestation.

Tour a tour Georges Rastklan puis Levon Chatikyan se sont exprimes sur
l’objectif de l’inauguration du khatchkar. Puis Jacques Abrahamian
(vice-president de l’Amicale des Armeniens d’Ourfa) detaille le
message que vehiculait le khatchkar. J. Abrahamian dit

Après l’intervention de Vaner Harutyunyan, le Maire de Valence Nicolas
Daragon prit la parole pour affirmer l’importance du khatchkar pour sa
ville et l’importante communaute armenienne. Il a en outre rappele
que sa Valence multiplie les manifestations liees au centenaire
du genocide des Armeniens. Il a salue les referents de Mission 2015
Drôme-Ardèche > avec la conseillère
communautaire Annie Koulaksezian-Romy. Etaient egalement presents
près d’Annie Koulaksezian-Romy, les autres elus d’origine armenienne,
Nathalie Iliozer et Franck Daumas-Diratzonian, adjoint au Maire.

Après la ceremonie de l’inauguration du khatchkar, l’Amicale des
Armeniens d’Ourfa a invite le public a une reception a la Mairie de
Valence. Lors de cette reception, Vaner Harutyunyan, Armen Chahazizian
et Garen Gaguikian remirent au Maire de Valence, Nicolas Daragon des
livres souvenirs ainsi que des timbres-poste representant le myosotis
edites par la Poste armenienne a l’occasion du 100 ème anniversaire du
genocide. Le groupe musical Sheram accompagne par Levon Chatikyan au
duduk donna une prestation musicale avec Ankine Rastklan qui chanta
quelques chansons armeniennes liees a la douleur du peuple armenien
victime du genocide il y a un siècle.

Krikor Amirzayan texte et reportage-photo

lundi 20 avril 2015, Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

TURKEY RIGHTS GROUPS DEMAND APOLOGY, COMPENSATION, AND RESTITUTION FOR GENOCIDE

10:08, 20 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Armenian Weekly – Human rights organizations in Turkey, under
the umbrella group “100th Year – Stop Denialism,” have issued the
following statement:

An indelible, massive crime was committed in these lands, 100
years ago–a crime that will remain irreversible, irremediable,
and unforgivable. During the genocide of 1915, Armenians and other
Christian peoples of Asia Minor, among them Assyrians and Rums, were
targeted by a systematic politics of extermination, and destroyed
along with their social organizations, economy, arts and crafts,
and historical and cultural heritage.

Our initiative “100th Year – Stop Denialism” was established to
commemorate the genocide on April 24, in Istanbul and Diyarbakır. The
initiative brings together (in alphabetical order) the Anatolian
Cultures and Research Association (Aka-Der), Human Rights Association
(HRA) – Committee against Racism and Discrimination, Nor Zartonk,
Platform for Confronting History, Turabdin Assyrians Platform, and
Zan Foundation for Social, Political, and Economic Research. Our
initiative is also supported by the Gomidas Institute (London),
the Armenian Council of Europe, and Collectif Van (Paris), whose
representatives will be joining us.

Shame and responsibility are the basis of the “100th Year – Stop
Denialism Initiative’s” conceptualization of the commemoration. We
believe that any commemoration of the crime of genocide on these lands
will have to express the responsibility of genocide denial itself,
and the shame felt by the descendants of the peoples who have had the
opportunity for growth, development, and enrichment in the absence
of-due to the absence of-the peoples who fell victim to genocide.

While this understanding constitutes the ethical core of our acts of
commemoration on April 24, our concrete demands are for recognition,
apology, compensation, and restitution.

Our initiative’s commemorations begin at 11 a.m. on April 24, in
front of the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts on Sultanahmet Square,
where we will hold a moment of silence in memory of the victims. This
building was known as the central prison in 1915; individuals from
the Istanbul Armenian community, including intellectual leaders,
were arrested in their homes, detained here, and then sent off to
the HaydarpaÃ…~_a train station.

After the moment of silence, we will begin our “Genocide March,”
walking in silence from Sultanahmet to Eminönu, and then crossing
over to HaydarpaÃ…~_a by sea. The detainees of April 24, 1915, were
deported from HaydarpaÃ…~_a to the depths of the country–in actual
fact, to their deaths. Here, our “Genocide March” will end with
another commemoration.

>From HaydarpaÃ…~_a, we will proceed to the Ã…~^iÃ…~_li Armenian
Cemetery to commemorate Sevag Å~^ahin Balıkcı, who fell victim to
a ethnic-hate murder on April 24, 2011, while on mandatory military
duty in Batman, and express our support to the Balıkcı family in
their pursuit of justice.

Before and after the events of the “100th Year – Stop Denialism
Initiative,” the constituents of the initiative will participate in
two other events. Representatives of the Armenian Council of Europe,
who were invited to Istanbul by the HRA Committee Against Racism and
Discrimination, will hold a commemoration on Beyazıt Square at 10 a.m.

on the same day, April 24. Members of the HRA Committee Against Racism
and Discrimination, human rights defenders, and activists against
genocide denial will participate in the commemoration of 20 Henchak
Party leaders and members who were executed by hanging on June 15,
1915-yet another mass execution, of symbolic import, during the period
of the Armenian Genocide.

A protest march organized by Nor Zartonk will start out at 6:30 p.m.,
from Galatasaray Lycée and head toward Taksim Square, followed by a
100th year commemoration event led by the Platform for Commemorating
the Armenian Genocide, at 7:15 p.m., at the Taksim end of Istiklal
Street.

Concurrently, in Diyarbakır, the Human Rights Association Diyarbakır
branch and the Gomidas Institute are jointly organizing a commemoration
of Armenian and Assyrian victims in the ruins of Surp Sarkis Church
at noon on April 24, with support from the Diyarbakır Bar Association
and the Zan Foundation.

The struggle for genocide recognition and against denialism will
end neither on April 24, 2015, nor on Dec. 31, 2015. Until the
state of the Republic of Turkey and the majority following official
ideology recognize the crime and take steps toward compensation for
the irreversible and irremediable losses, we will persevere in our
pursuit of justice for the genocide victims of Asia Minor and for
their descendants, who are dispersed around the world or who continue
to live under the conditions of genocide perpetuated by denial.

IN ARMENIA, PRESIDENTS OF FRANCE AND RUSSIA TO DISCUSS ISSUE OF MISTRAL AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT SHIPS

by Alexandr Avanesov

Monday, April 20, 10:53

While on a visit to Armenia on April 24, Presidents of France and
Russia, Francois Hollande and Vladimir Putin, are expected to discuss
delivery of the French Mistral amphibious assault ships to Russia.

According to RT TV, the statement came from the French president on
the French television.

Reportedly, Holland said Moscow and Paris have not yet arrived at
any agreement on the delivery of two Mistral amphibious assault ships
since December, when Russia was to receive the first one. The president
said the main problems rest upon the situation in Ukraine.

Commenting on the issue earlier, Vladimir Putin said: “Russia will
not impose penalties against France over its failure to fulfill a
1.2 billion euro contract to supply two Mistral helicopter carriers,”
according to Reuters.

“We do intend to seek any penalties or fines … but it is necessary
that all costs we have incurred are covered,” Putin said during his
annual televised call-in show.

“I assume the current French leadership and the French generally are
good people and will return our money,” he said.

GERMANY TO CALL 1915 ARMENIAN MASSACRE ‘GENOCIDE,’ MERKEL’S SPOKESMAN CONFIRMS

18:20, 20 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Reuters – The German government backed away on Monday from a steadfast
refusal to use the term “genocide” to describe the massacre of up to
1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces 100 years ago after
rebellious members of parliament forced its hand.

In a major reversal in Turkey’s top trading partner in the European
Union and home to millions of Turks, Germany joins other nations and
institutions including France, the European parliament and Pope Francis
in using the term condemned by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said the
government would support a resolution in parliament on Friday declaring
it an example of genocide.

Germany had long resisted using the term “genocide” even though
France and other nations have. But the coalition government came under
pressure from parliamentary deputies in their own ranks planning to
use the word in a resolution.

“The government backs the draft resolution…in which the fate of the
Armenians during World War One serves as an example of the history of
mass murders, ethnic cleansings, expulsions and, yes, the genocides
during the 20th century,” Seibert said.

Turkey denies that the killings, at a time when Turkish troops were
fighting Russian forces, constituted genocide. It says there was no
organised campaign to wipe out Armenians and no evidence of any such
orders from the Ottoman authorities.

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had rejected using the word
genocide in an ARD TV interview on Sunday, denying any suggestion it
was being avoided to avoid upsetting Turkey.

“Responsibility can’t be reduced to a single term,” he said.

Members of parliament in the conservative Christian Democrats and
their Social Democrat (SPD) allies forced the change.

Analysts said that the reluctance until now from Germany, a country
that works hard to come to terms with the Holocaust it was responsible
for, was due to fears of upsetting Turkey and the 3.5 million Germans
of Turkish origin or Turkish nationals living in Germany.

The German government also did not want to use the word due to
concerns the Herero massacres committed in 1904 and 1905 by German
troops in what is now Namibia could also be called genocide —
leading to reparation demands.

“It’s a striking contradiction by the German government that Germany
is denying the genocide of Armenians,” said Ayata Bilgin, a political
scientist at Berlin’s Free University.

“Research has shown that external pressure on countries can have a
considerable influence and Germany could play a very important role
in this discussion on Turkey.” (Writing by Erik Kirschbaum; editing
by Ralph Boulton)

THE PRESTIGIOUS POLITIQUE INTERNATIONALE JOURNAL PUBLISHED A SPECIAL ISSUE DEDICATED TO THE CENTENARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

20.04.2015

One of the most prestigious publications in the world of international
studies, Politique Internationale (International Politics) Journal,
published in France, released a special issue dedicated to the
Centenary of the Armenian Genocide and entitled “A Hundred Years
Ago …

the Armenian Genocide” consisting of 330 pages, in English and French.

“Never again” by President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, “The year 2015.

Centenary of the Armenian Genocide” by President of France Francois
Hollande,”The Duty of Remembrance” by Former President of France
Nicolas Sarkozy, “The prevention of crimes against humanity is still
imperative” by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Edward Nalbandian
and “They Fell” by Charles Aznavour were introduced in the Journal.

Executive Director of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide
in Jerusalem Israel Charny (Israel), founder of the International
Association of Genocide Scholars Roger Smith (Canada), President at
the International Association of Genocide Scholars Daniel Feierstein
(Argentina), prominent experts of international law as Geoffrey
Robertson (Australia) and Alfred de Zayas (Switzerland), Turkish human
rights activist Ragip Zarakolu, renowned genocide scholars Mark Levene
(UK), Henry Theriault (USA), Yair Auron (Israel), William Schabas
(UK), Yves Ternon (France) and Tessa Hofmann (Germany) wrote articles
in the special edition of Politique Internationale Journal.

In his article, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, particularly,
mentioned, “This year the whole world commemorates the Centennial of
the Armenian Genocide committed in the Ottoman Empire. The descendants
of the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide continue to
bear the offence of the 100 years old denialism. This denialism and
impunity should also be examined among the breeding grounds of the
Holocaust committed during the Second World War”.

“This crime committed against humanity was heinous by its goals,
methods of implementation, scale and consequences. The humanity was
shocked by the gravity of this atrocity and was not able at that time
to characterize that horrendous crime by definite terms. The Armenian
nation named what was committed against it “Mets Eghern” embedding
in this words all the horror and hell through which it passed. In
these words the Armenians called both their collective and individual
tragedy. It took four long decades before the crime was defined by the
term “Genocide” based on an example of what happened to Armenians”,
writes the President of Armenia.

Stressing that numerous countries and nations extended their
hospitality and gave shelter to our survived compatriots who were, for
years, massacred by the Ottoman Empire, President Sargsyan continues,
“Is there a bigger mission than to save the belief? The belief in
humanity, the belief not only in one’s own future but in the future
of mankind”.

“One of the objectives of the centennial commemoration is the
reinforcement of universal human values through remembrance and
awareness rising. Refusal to acknowledge the Genocide or its deliberate
denial together with impunity paves the way for the repetition of
new crimes against humanity”, adds the President of the Republic
of Armenia.

In the special edition of Politique Internationale the President of
France Francois Hollande mentions, “Genocide denial is intolerable
because it is an insult. Our laws must protect society from
manipulation, vrom every form of manipulation. That is France’s
position with regard to genocide denial… There is a difference
between being insolent, impertinent and challenging others’ opinions,
on the one hand, and falsifying, manipulating and denying a crime
against humanity on the other”.

Former President of France Nicolas Sarkozy says, “The visit to the
Memorial in Yerevan will remain one of the most moving experiences
of my presidency. I have not forgotten the beauty of the monument,
its heartrending soberness and dignity… I thought about the 1.5
million innocent victims: men, women, and children, carried off by
human folly. I thought about their descendants who rebuilt a country
through their courage, resilience and hard work, and even more,
a nation like no other.

To those who had wanted to exterminate them, who sought to make their
very civilisation, culture and identity vanish, they have responded
in the most beautiful way possible: with the rebirth of Armenia,
symbolised by the shaft of granite towering in the sky at the Monument.

The fact that the Armenian nation survived the horror and is back on
its feet, even greater and stronger today, is due first and foremost
to itself, to its courage and its genius”.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, particularly, mentions, “The
Armenian nation, which survived the first genocide of the 20th century,
feels a strong moral responsibility to bring its contribution to
international efforts in prevention of crimes against humanity. We have
exerted our best efforts and will continue to do so for that purpose.”

Minister Nalbandian reflects on the UN Human Rights Council Resolution
on prevention of the crime of genocide, initiated by Armenia, where
the three main pillars of genocide prevention: early warning, human
rights protection, and public campaign for education and awareness
are pointed out.

“The civilized world should resolutely reject the incitement to
hatred, racism, dissemination of intolerance, denial of genocide,
and crimes against humanity under the guise of freedom of expression”,
emphasizes Armenia’s Foreign Minister.

Edward Nalbandian stresses that independently of geopolitical or any
other interests, all members of the international community should
stand together in the recognition, condemnation and punishment of
past genocides towards their prevention in the future.

“I have always been an optimist, fully confident in the wisdom of
people and in their ability to make right choices, even difficult
ones, which allow us to overcome struggles and become stronger. I am
convinced that the time will come when Turkey will face its past”,
writes Charles Aznavour.

CRIMINALIZATION ONLY WAY TO HALT GENOCIDES – ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT OFFICIAL

15:24 * 20.04.15

The vice speaker of Armenia’s National Assembly has called for
universal efforts towards criminalizing genocides, considering it
the only way to prevent future atrocities against the mankind.

In a speech at a musical exhibition held at St Petersburg’s Tavridi
Palace, Eduard Sharmazanov particularly shared the history of the
Armenian Genocide, strongly condemning Turkey’s continuing policy
of denial.

“Raphael Lemkin, a lawyer, used the term ‘genocide’ in 1944, referring
the atrocities against the Armenians in Ottoman Turkey. Exactly
100 years ago, Turkey’s leadership orchestrated the genocide and
dispossession of an entire nation only because they were Armenians
pursuing the Christian faith.

“On April 24, no later than a month after the April events, the
entente countries characterized the extremely grave crime committed
by Turkey against the Armenian people as a ‘crime against humanity
and civilization.’ This testifies to the fact that as early as 100
years ago, humanity realized the seriousness of the event. However,
Turkey keeps persistently denying the Armenian Genocide.

“I think we must not only condemn the Armenian Genocide but also
struggle with the progressive humanity to achieve its criminalization.

Criminalization is the only way that can close the doors to new
genocides,” he said.

TURKEY’S TOP CLERIC CALLS POPE’S ARMENIAN GENOCIDE COMMENTS ‘IMMORAL’

21:31, 20 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Turkey’s top cleric on Monday described comments by Pope Francis that
the 1915 mass killing of Armenians was genocide as immoral and said
the Vatican should look to its own history before leveling accusations
of casting stones, Reuters reports.

Francis this month became the first head of the Roman Catholic church
to publicly call the killing of as many as 1.5 million Armenians
“genocide”, prompting a row with Turkey, which summoned the Vatican’s
envoy and recalled its own.

“The Vatican will come out as the biggest loser if we are all giving
account for past sufferings and pain caused,” Mehmet Gormez, head of
the Religious Affairs Directorate, the highest religious authority
in largely Muslim Turkey, told Reuters in an interview.

“Is the current situation of millions of Syrian refugees much less
cause for concern to the Vatican than what happened during the Armenian
deportation?” he said, referring to refugees from Syria’s civil war
being sheltered in Turkey.

“I find the Pope’s statement immoral, and can’t reconcile it with
basic Christian values.”

Gomez said Europe’s weak economy and its difficulties integrating
immigrants were the root causes of rising Islamophobia on the
continent.

“Islamophobia should be considered a crime against humanity, just
like anti-Semitism,” he said.

Gormez also said violence carried out by groups such as Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Boko Haram, Al Shabaab and al
Qaeda was a consequence of ignorance and poverty, as well as of the
exploitation of the Middle East and Africa for two centuries.

He called on Islamic scholars and clerics to be self-critical about
how they were raising new generations.

TOGETHER WITH ALL ARMENIANS ORANGE COMMEMORATES THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL

YEREVAN, April 20. / ARKA /. With the support of Orange Foundation
on Saturday evening the National Opera House hosted a concert with
participation of Armenian and French musicians, dedicated to the
Armenian Genocide Centennial.

During the concert many famous compositions of French and Armenian
composers were performed under the direction of a celebrated Armenian
conductor and violinist George Pehlivanian. Moreover, “Ploughland”,
composed by Vache Sharafyan specially for the Armenian Genocide
Centennial, was performed by the Children’s Choir for the first time.

“This year is of a great importance to all Armenians and, as a member
of the Armenian society, Orange supports and participates in a series
of events dedicated to the Armenian Genocide Centennial. Today’s
concert, which will as well be performed in Paris and many other
French cities in May, is one of these events and holds a symbolic
meaning of unification, hope and revival,” said Lilit Martirosyan,
General Secretary of Orange Foundation.

“We have decided to engage young talents in this concert, dedicated
to the centenary of the Armenian Genocide, as children are our
future and strength. Remembering the past, it is very important to
look forward and certainly encourage our youth. With this concert,
together with our musicians and singers, through our songs and music
in a truly Armenian style we want to pass our message of peace in
the whole world” said Maestro George Pehlivanian.

To remind that Orange Foundation will also support the greatest
musical event in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide Centennial
to be held in the Paris prestigious Châtelet hall on April 21. The
concert is organized by the Armenian General Benevolent Union and
will be available to the Diaspora and Armenian audience.

Those, who wish to watch the concert live, can do so by attending the
National Opera House on April 21, 9:30pm. Thanks to the cooperation
with Orange Foundation, the concert will as well be broadcasted live
via the satellite channels of Armenia TV in Europe, USA and Russia
as well as aired on the territory of Armenia on April 24 via Armenia
TV channel.-0-

United Press International UPI
April 17 2015

Painting on Armenian genocide too big to ignore

By Danielle Haynes

CHICAGO, April 17 (UPI) — One hundred years after the start of a
genocide that killed an estimated 1.5 million Armenians, artist Jackie
Kazarian has created a painting memorializing the event that’s so big
it can’t be ignored.

The Chicago-based artist is unveiling her mural-size painting titled
“Armenia” (pronounced “Hayasdan” in Armenian) on Friday at her studio.
It will be on view to the public for the first time one week before
April 24, the date widely regarded as the anniversary of the 1915
genocide.

Kazarian is herself Armenian; her grandparents fled their homeland
before World War I, before the mass killings and deportation of
Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Turks.

She grew up hearing the stories of the atrocities Armenians suffered
beginning in 1915 through the 1920s and knew she wanted to create
something powerful to acknowledge the centennial of the event. She saw
it as an opportunity to do something monumental not only in scope, but
also in size.

“I had been toying with the idea of trying to make a gigantic painting
for four years,” Kazarian told UPI, saying the centennial seemed like
the perfect opportunity to do so.

And gigantic is what it is. “Armenia” is comprised of three canvases
that together stand at 11.5 tall by 26 feet across.

Those dimensions are no mere happenstance, either. They are the exact
same as Spanish artist Pablo Picasso’s famed “Guernica” painting
depicting the 1937 bombing of civilians in a Basque Country village in
northern Spain.

Kazarian said she wanted to mimic the size of the famed Picasso
painting to draw attention to commonalities between the two events
they depict.

Both paintings reference human tragedies, both firsts of their kind.
The bombing of Guernica is often considered to be the first air raid
on a civilian population, while the mass killings of Armenians in 1915
is thought to be the first instance the term “genocide” was used.

Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin coined the term genocide, which means the
killing of a people based on ethnicity or race, in the early 1940s. He
used it to describe the massacre of Armenians and the Jewish Holocaust
during World War II.

“There was nothing strategic about it other than to terrorize people,”
Kazarian said of the bombing of Guernica. “I think what happened in
1915 was similar; [there was] no real reason to exterminate the
people. It was really something else.”

But the similar, tragic subject matter isn’t the only reason to borrow
from the scale of “Guernica.” The sheer size of the painting draws
attention and lends importance to an event that to this day the
Turkish government denies even happened.

“I knew that Guernica was something that people don’t really talk
about very much,” Kazarian said, “but people do know about Guernica
primarily because of Picasso’s painting.”

Todd Bartel, teacher at The Cambridge School of Weston high school in
Massachusetts, told UPI that Kazarian’s painting is the “physical
equivalent to the magnitude and scale of the events of 1915.”

Bartel, as director of the school’s art gallery, the Thompson Gallery,
curated a yearlong series of exhibits called “Kiss the Ground,”
featuring contemporary Armenian artists from around the globe. He said
the topic of genocide was perfect for the school, one of the first in
the United States to require students to obtain credits in social
justice.

The second exhibition in the series included paintings by Kazarian,
which acted as studies for her final, larger work, “Armenia.”

“You as a human are dwarfed by the size of this thing,” Bartel said of
the larger-than-life painting. “The irony here is Armenians have
endured 100 years of denial around what occurred in 1915.

“Picasso was responding to the incredulity of the first air raid. The
world had never seen anything like the horror,” Bartel added. “He had
no other recourse but to make this large work. Where could you put
those feelings?”

Kazarian, like Picasso, couldn’t just paint a small painting.

But while “Armenia” gives a nod to “Guernica” in size and topic,
Kazarian says that’s really the only way the two paintings overlap.
Neither of the two artists use a particularly realistic style, but
Kazarian is far more expressionistic, with large swaths of paint
showing brush work and other areas where color has been splashed onto
the canvas.

She plays more with color in “Armenia” compared to the monochromatic
“Guernica.” Brown, neutral colors at the bottom of her canvas give way
to bright jewel tones of blue, gold and red up top.

Bartel says this use of color is typical of Armenian art, as is the
collage-like effect Kazarian creates with overlapping images.

He says many Armenian artists often “pluck out an image and juxtapose
it with another one.”

“The predisposition can be traced back to earliest records of art
about 3,000 years old,” he said, explaining this can be explained by a
melding of cultures and religions historically seen in Armenia.

Kazarian’s images focus on culture and creation — Armenian words,
sections of lace based on her own grandmother’s work, floor plans for
churches lost to war — while Picasso’s are of death and destruction.

“I didn’t want to only depict the sadness of the losses. I wanted to
present something positive. I wanted to celebrate the culture that
survived,” Kazarian said.

Bartel said he was particularly intrigued by the tone of forgiveness
the painting offers. He displayed one watercolor study Kazarian
created called “Forgiveness” in one of his exhibits. In large block
letters is the word “FORGIVE” in English, surrounded by some of the
scrolling, lace-like imagery and church floor plans seen in the final
painting.

Like the open hands at the bottom of “Armenia,” it’s uplifting, Bartel says.

“By not focusing on the horror and by posing the question of
forgiveness, she activates the content and makes it alive,” he said.
“You walk away with the potential to transform. It’s not that typical
anger; it’s hopeful.

“She may be paying homage to Picasso, but she is clearly creating a
new dialogue … forgiveness,” Bartel said of Kazarian.

He said that’s particularly surprising given the fact that the very
perpetrators of the mass killings of 1915 have yet to even use the
word genocide.

Last year, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan did offer
condolences to the families of Armenians killed during World War I.
His comments, on the eve of the 99th anniversary referred to the
incident as “our shared pain … having experienced events which had
inhumane consequences, such as relocation, during the first world war
should not prevent Turks and Armenians from establishing compassion
and mutually humane attitudes.

But the government staunchly stood by its decision not to recognize
the deaths as a genocide earlier this week after the European Union
and Pope Francis both made statements using the term.

“In the past century, our human family has lived through three massive
and unprecedented tragedies,” the Pope said at a Mass at St. Peter’s
Basilica on Sunday. “The first, which is widely considered the first
genocide of the 20th century, struck your own Armenian people,”

The statement upset the Turkish government, which immediately pulled
its ambassador from the Vatican.

Turkey’s foreign minister tweeted that the Pope’s remarks were based
on “unfounded allegations.”

Then members of the European Parliament on Wednesday passed a
resolution stressing the need for Turkey to recognize the Armenian
genocide so that it may then lead to “genuine reconciliation” between
the two nations.

The EU encouraged the two countries to “use examples of successful
reconciliation between European nations” to establish diplomatic
relations and opening the border.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu issued a statement after the
vote accusing the EU of attempting “to rewrite history.”

“We do not take seriously those who adopted this resolution by
mutilating history and law,” he said. “The participation of the EU
citizens with a rate of 42 percent in 2014 elections already implies
the place that this parliament occupies in the political culture of
the EU.”

Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to recognize the
centennial on April 24 with a statement, though White House Press
Secretary Josh Earnest indicated Thursday the president won’t use the
term “genocide.”

“The president and other senior administration officials have
repeatedly acknowledged as historical fact that 1.5 million Armenians
were massacred or marched to their deaths in the finals days of the
Ottoman Empire,” Earnest said.

“We’ve further stated that we mourn those deaths and that a full,
frank, and just acknowledgement of the facts is in the interest of
everybody, including Turkey, Armenia and the United States,” he added.

Earnest said the White House’s longstanding position to avoid using
the term likely won’t change in next week’s statement, despite the
fact that Obama made a promise to change that stance during his
campaign in 2008.

“The Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a
point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an
overwhelming body of historical evidence,” Obama said in 2008. “As
president I will recognize the Armenian genocide.”

For her part, Kazarian plans to travel with “Armenia” in order to
expose people to a part of history that is often not discussed. She
specifically designed her painting so that it can be broken down and
shipped by air in a box.

“I wanted the making of this painting to be something that could
create a dialogue about genocide because it still happens,” she said.
“Even though we’ve said ‘never again,’ they continue to happen.

“I was hoping this painting will be an impetus to start conversations
about what leads to genocide — what do we do or what don’t we do to
stop it.”

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