Author: Badalian Vardan

MARK GRIGORYAN: WE ARE NOT READY FOR TURKISH RECOGNITION

April 20, 2015 13:36
EXCLUSIVE

On the threshold of the Armenian Genocide Centennial, Mediamax
continues a series of interviews with the intellectuals of Armenia
and the Diaspora. It is an attempt to collect opinions as to whether
the Armenian Genocide Centennial will serve a certain “New Beginning”
for Armenians or not.

Our today’s interlocutor is journalist Mark Grigoryan.

-You lived most of your life in Armenia but spent around ten years
in London. You have been to many Armenian communities and have often
visited Istanbul. What differences between Armenia and Diaspora do
not allow us to come to terms on critical issues?

– To tell the truth, I don’t know what “critical issues” mean. If we
are talking about the policy conducted by Armenia, I believe it’s
natural that we are not coming to terms. People living in Armenia
feel that policy on their own back. It’s hard to imagine a reality in
which, say, Armenians of the U.S. or France share the same perceptions
and approaches.

– Should we aspire to have a “common denominator?” Would it not be
better to have several clearly formed views and attempt to build
bridges between them?

– Want it or not, we will have varying views. It is dictated by human
nature. There are other important factors affecting the perception of
the Genocide as well. For example, roughly 90% of American Armenians
are descendants of Armenian Genocide survivors. Their number is high
in Armenia as well but they will hardly make 90%.

During the USSR era, until 1965 when it was forbidden to speak
about Genocide in Armenia, this issue was highly politicized in the
Diaspora. Thus, Armenian parties were trying to present the issue as
theirs – Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) it its way, Armenian
Democratic Liberal (ADL) Party and Social Democrat Hunchakian Party
(SDHP) – in theirs. And attempts by various groups to monopolize the
Genocide issue is one of the outcomes of this issue’s politicization.

– If we put aside the sensory perception, have we framed what we will
do in case of the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide?

After all, what claims do we have?

– For some, the recognition means acknowledgement of their family pain
and restoration of the dignity of their victims. For some, seeking
vengeance is the first and foremost goal, and there are people who
want to regain the property they lost.

But let’s assume Erdogan says the following on April 24: “We admit
it was Genocide and 1.5 million innocent Armenians suffered. We bow
before their memory.”

I am sure that most of Armenians are not ready to accept it. Many of
them are not ready for Turkey’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

There are even people who are not ready to accept the fact that 80
thousand Armenians reside in Turkey whose views should be respected
and whose lives should be taken care of.

We are not ready to admit that the political recognition of the
Armenian Genocide should be interlinked with other acknowledgements
as well. Over 20 countries have recognized the Armenian Genocide. Many
people around the world already know that if you are an Armenian then
you represent a nation that has gone through Genocide. The reality
has changed but we are yet not prepared for it. We must understand
what we will be doing on April 25.

-Do you think the Centenary might serve a new beginning to ponder
over those issues?

-I would like it to become a beginning for such a change and for us to
discuss in our society – in Armenia and in the Diaspora – and to try
to understand where we are standing now and where we should head to.

Let various scenarios be discussed but what matters is not to lag
behind the reality.

– Along with a number of other Armenian intellectuals, you came
together in Lisbon in October 2014 on the initiative of Calouste
Gulbenkian Foundation to discuss vision for Armenia in a century. Is
it possible to understand through such discussions where we are
heading to?

– This meeting clearly pointed at the fact that the issues of Armenians
living in various countries greatly vary. We cannot put the issues
of Russian Armenians on par with, say, Argentine Armenians.

Of course, there are also common problems, such as the issue of
identity. We need to understand how Armenian identity needs to be
shaped in the changing world. At the same time, for example, the
Russian Armenians face political problems that absolutely do not
raise interest among the Argentine Armenians.

Recognition of the Armenian Genocide is not the only issue of
Armenians. There are also other issues that should be discussed and
brought up.

– Can you pick out those identity elements, which are important for
all Armenians? Language, including the preservation of the Western
Armenian, is probably the first and foremost element.

– Western Armenian is one of our greatest treasures. It’s a language
in which millions of people speak and think and there is also beautiful
literature in it.

Of course, it would be naïve to think that the Armenian community
in Russia should have its input in the preservation of the Western
Armenian from this day on, but it should realize the importance of
taking common steps.

Today there are more Armenian schools and churches in Istanbul than in
Tbilisi, despite the differences in our ties with Georgia and Turkey.

One of the reasons for it is that the life of Armenians of
Constantinople has a form of communal organization. Classical Armenian
communities center on churches and schools. Such a community could not
be existing in Tbilisi as such a life was deemed to be anti-Soviet
in the USSR. I believe preservation and modernization of community
institutions is one of the issues we should discuss and resolve
through our joint efforts.

I remember it quite well when my children were learning “Little Lake”
poem by Petros Duryan written in beautiful Western Armenian. Today
it’s not comprehensible for children. If we are sure that this poem
and literary compositions written in Western Armenian are really
important for our education and the national character of our culture
we should teach our children Western Armenian for them to understand
what they are learning and not just simply learn by heart without
fully comprehending the idea. We should realize what is more important
for us.

– Every year we expect the U.S President to utter the word “genocide”.

Do you think it holds us back from other useful initiatives, such as
hiring best solicitors who would analyze the addresses of U.S.

Presidents delivered over the past 10-15 years and who would then
state that the message they contain is precisely what is defined in
the UN Convention?

– I think we shouldn’t have got disappointed with Obama the first time
he used the term “Medz Yeghern” and claim that he lied to everyone
not uttering the word “genocide.” On the contrary, we should have said
“look, Obama took a step forward and recognized the Armenian Genocide
de facto, at that, he did it in Armenian.” But we let this opportunity
slip through our fingers.

We should understand the difference between the political and legal
recognition of the Armenian Genocide. When rejoicing at learning that
one more country has recognized the Armenian Genocide we tend not to
see that it is often done as a weapon to influence Turkey. We have
handed that “weapon” to them. It’s a political weapon, while there are
legal, moral and historic weapons that we should twist in our favor.

I would also like to recall that Hrant Dink used to say that it
does not matter for him whether that word will be uttered or not,
what matters is that Turkey acknowledges those victims and admits
its guilt to those people.

Ara Tadevosyan talked to Mark Grigoryan

DIE WELT: GERMAN CHANCELLOR TO DEFINE 1915 MASSACRES AS GENOCIDE

by Marianna Lazarian

Monday, April 20, 21:50

Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel and the Federal government are
ready to define the 1915 massacres against the Armenians as genocide.

Die Welt reports that press secretary of the German government Steffen
Seibert has said that the German state is in favour of adopting a
resolution on the massacres against the Armenians in the early 20th
century. “The resolution particularly states that the fate of the
Armenians during WWI is an example of mass extermination, ethnic
cleansing, deportations and, yes, a genocide of the 20th century”,
said Seibert. According to him, the Federal state is the author of
the resolution.

Seibert has also added that Joachim Gauck has played a significant
role. On April 23 he is to participate in the commemorative prayer
in Berlin monastery. The newspaper reports that Gauck is supposed to
utter the word “genocide” during his speech.

Die Welt also reports that big coalition is quite likely to pay less
attention to its partner Turkey and that the 100-year-old massacre
is to be characterized as “genocide”.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE EXHIBITION OPENS IN MOSCOW

YEREVAN, April 20. / ARKA /. An exhibition devoted to the Armenian
Genocide in the Ottoman Empire has opened in the Central Museum of the
Great Patriotic War on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow. The exhibition is one
of a long string of events in the Russian capital city commemorating
the 100th anniversary of the genocide marked by Armenians around the
world on April 24.

The head of the Russian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church,
Archbishop Ezras Nersisyan, told Tass news agency that the exposition
not only shows the tragedy of the Armenians but serves also as a
reminder of friendship of Armenian and Russian peoples and ‘the power
of faith and strength, allowing death to win.’

The exhibition has on display photographs of 1915-1923, testimonies of
Russian soldiers, officers, journalists, who witnessed the genocide
and those who participated in the rescue of people. The exhibition
is open until April 24.

In the coming days, Moscow will host about a dozen of commemorative
events – the opening of the first Armenian museum, memorial services
and concerts at the Moscow Conservatory. Commemorative events are
being held in another 600 Russian cities.

“The death of innocent people is not only the pain of our fellow
Armenians, it is the pain all of us, the entire Russian people, the
entire mankind”, Yevgeny Yeremin, a senior official from the Russian
presidential administration, said at the opening ceremony.

“Russian Armenians have become an integral part of our multiethnic
people,. We stood shoulder to shoulder defending our freedom in World
War II,” he said.

An estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed at the hands of Ottoman
Turks from 1915 to 1923.-0-

TESSA HOFMANN: IN CONTEXT OF GENOCIDE, EVASIVENESS TRANSFORMS INTO ENCOURAGEMENT OF FURTHER CRIMES

What is taking place in Germany ahead of April 24 – the country,
which, according to many experts, is to some extent responsible for
the Armenian Genocide, the country, which perpetrated the Holocaust,
but repented and continues compensating the damage to the Jews up to
this day?

In an interview with the Golos Armenii newspaper, Tessa Hofmann,
a renowned German scholar and human rights activist, the head of
the Working Group “Affirmation” – Against Genocide, commented on
these issues.

– The media claims that a difficult situation has emerged in Bundestag
with the document on Armenian Genocide. How would you characterize
this situation and what kind of document shall we expect to be adopted?

– On 24 April 2015, two motions for resolutions will be discussed
by the Federal German Parliament (Bundestag) in the course of only
20 minutes: one is from the oppositional socialist party Die Linke
(The Left) and contains the demand for official recognition of the
genocide against the Armenians; the other derives from the ruling
conservative-social democrat coalition and is said to have contained
originally the term genocide, which, however, was cancelled after the
intervention of the German Foreign Office and the leadership of both
coalition parties. The text of the revised version of the coalition
parties (without the term genocide) has not yet been published,
but the headline contains the two key-words that the Federal
Government has ever used since 2005 to avoid a legal evaluation of
the crimes committed in 1915/6 against the Ottoman Armenians and
other Christian ethnic groups, mainly Aramaic speaking Christians
(Arameans/Assyrians/Chaldeans) and Orthodox Greeks.

The resolution of the oppositional party has no chance of acceptance.

The evasive terms used by the Bundestag in its non-legislative
resolution of 2005 and subsequently by the German government are
‘expulsion’ and ‘massacres’. In particular ‘expulsion’ is a misleading
term and a minimization if scored against the historic facts: During
WW1, Ottoman Armenians were not just chased over the nearest borders.

They did not get such chance to escape the government-planned
extermination. Armenians were driven under armed guards southwards
into the Mesopotamian areas of massive starvation and slaughtered
in 1916 or burnt alive if they did not perish from starvation soon
enough. Deportation, or forcible population transfer are legal terms
and crimes against humanity according to the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court (1998); expulsion is not such a term.

The political position behind these evasive terms is obvious: Official
Germany supports the official Turkish position that there still exists
a need for academic clarification- despite at least 30 years of intense
international academic research with the participation of Turkish,
Armenian and other scholars. The German government and legislators
deliberately ignore not only the results of profound genocide and
historic studies, but also the expertise of the International Center
for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) which has been commissioned by the
Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission (TARC) in 2001. In its
report, ICTJ already in 2003 confirmed the applicability of the UN
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide on
the ‘events’ of 1915. In the past, the German Bundestag was well aware
of the existence of TARC and used it in 2001 as argument to decline
a joint recognition petition of Armenian, Turkish and German NGOs.

On 24 April 2015, the Bundestag in all probability will repeat its
resolution of 2005 in which it avoided the term genocide. Instead of
expressing an own legal opinion, the Bundestag ten years ago promised
to support Turks and Armenians in their dialogue. The fiction of this
non-existing bi-lateral dialogue may be further repeated, whereas the
reality of the already existing collaboration of Armenian and Turkish
scholars is ignored once they come to the result of genocide in 1915.

– The German press informed, that in the events dedicated to the
centenary of Armenian Genocide the German President Joachim Gauck will
take part for the first time. How would you assess this step? This is
somehow against the official position of German authorities, isn’t it?

– The Federal Government declined any own commemorative events or
activities. But the Presidential Office confirmed that President
Gauck will participate in non-public church service of 23 April which
is organized by the Armenian Orthodox Diocese, the Protestant and
Catholic Churches of Germany. So far, Gauck did not use the term
genocide, but evasively speaks about the ‘pain of the Armenians’,
which again resembles the official Turkish terminology. Since 2010,
official Turkish statements by Davutoglu, since 2014 also by Erdogan,
admit Armenian ‘pain’, while at the same time denying a state intended
genocide.

There is no contradiction between the acknowledgement of ‘pain’
by the German president and the 2005 resolution of the Bundestag,
or any official version of the AKP governments in Turkey.

The practical implications of such evasiveness and half-heartedness
in German history and memory politics go far beyond words. In Germany,
mayors decide whether memorials are erected in cities or towns.

Despite the centenary, several municipal heads and/or administrations
declined applications of citizens to erect – on the expenses of the
applicants! – memorials in commemoration of the genocide against
Ottoman Christians. In Cologne, the city’s administration refused to
accept the offer of Mr. Erdal Þahin (a Turkey born Alevi from Dersim)
to erect a memorial for the Armenian genocide. In the town of Leer,
the recent mayor (a Social-Democrat) told Mr. Albert Tovmasyan,
who initiated the erection of a khachkar that the cross-stone would
not be allowed to bear a dedication with the word genocide, although
Tovmasyan has earlier received the permission of a previous mayor
for the erection of a genocide memorial in the public space of
Leer. In Gutersloh (Land Lower Saxony) the city council declined
the erection of a memorial commemorating the destruction of the
Arameans/Assyrians/Chaldeans, although there is a large community of
Arameans in Gutersloh and its vicinity, many of them descendants of
genocide survivors.

To the Turkey born communities of Germany belong Armenians, Kurds
and Turks. While German governmental statements still dwell on the
necessity of Armenian-Turkish dialogue, German local, regional or
federal decision-makers miss their ample chances of genocide awareness
education among these communities, of encouraging those Turkey born
residents of Germany who acknowledge the Ottoman crimes as genocide
or want to know about them.

– The position of Germany regarding the issue of Armenian Genocide
has always been of paramount importance, taking into consideration
the important role played by Germany in the events in early XX century.

The Bundestag has once adopted a resolution, yet refrained from
employing the word ‘genocide’. Are there any chances this term may be
included in documents of legislative level anytime in the near future?

– To be honest, I do not see such a perspective in the near future.

– Germany has acknowledged and atoned for the Holocaust. Yet,
acknowledging the crime against the Jews, Germany refuses to recognize
a similar crime against the Armenian people perpetrated by Turkey.

What do you think is the reason for that? Only close partnership
with Turkey?

– Germany has been involved into three genocides; for two of them –
Namibia (1904-1908) and the destruction of the Jews of Europe during
WW2 – Germany bears full and only responsibility. In the case of the
genocide against the Armenians and other co-victims Germany decided
to remain a passive bystander and benefitted from the unpaid slave
labor of Armenian men, women and even children at the construction
sites of the Baghdad Railway. Survivors of the Armenian genocide such
as Archbishop Grigoris Palakyan (Balakian) in their memoirs accused
certain Germans for stimulating the idea of deportation among their
Young Turkish allies. Several of the high-ranking German officers who
served in the Ottoman forces gave deportation orders despite their
knowledge about the fatal consequences for the deportees. The German
Imperial Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg refused to distance Germany
from the Ottoman policies against the Armenians, arguing that the
military alliance with the CUP regime was of highest priority,
“even if Armenians perish”.

Whereas the misconduct of the Imperial German Government during
WW1 explains by its military alliance with the Ottomans, relations
between Turkey and Germany of today are much less relevant. Both are
NATO members, but that alone does not explain the repeated refusal of
German governments to juridically evaluate the Ottoman crimes of the
WW1 period or to condemn these crimes as genocide. I believe that those
of my countrymen who bear the responsibility for state politics, act
by tradition and in difference to our neighbors in France, Switzerland
or Sweden. Our tradition is shaped by pronounced national or even
personal self-interests, the lack of humanitarian visions and values
and the failure to act according to human rights principles.

Consideration for votes from Turkey born constituencies is an
additional factor why German MPs refrain from confrontations with
Turkey and Turkish diasporas.

Let me add, that the evasiveness and half-heartedness of official
Germany is not only shameful (for Germans) or painful (for Armenians),
but first of all internationally dangerous. Drawing conclusions
during these April days of commemoration, we must answer the following
question: Can three million people be killed and the perpetrators get
away with it? The current conduct of German MPs and state politicians
is a tacit ‘yes’. In the case of the three million Ottoman Christians,
who were murdered during 1912-1922, most perpetrators ended their
lives without being ever called to justice. Therefore their crimes
can and must be unambiguously condemned by politicians and statesmen
of today. In the context of genocide, evasiveness transforms into
the encouragement of further crimes.

– Recently President Erdogan has urged the Armenians “to show “archive
documents” about the genocide. How would you respond to this, as a
prominent genocide scholar?

– It is Erdogan’s very cheap attempt to buy time. Relevant primary,
i.e. archival sources have been documented, published and analyzed over
the last 40 years. Many of them are published in the World Wide Web and
made searchable, such as contemporary German diplomatic correspondence,
Ottoman archival documents and documents from neutral diplomats on
the site ‘Armenocide.net’. Already years ago the German government
handed over copies of the relevant German archival documents to the
governments of Turkey and Armenia. If Turkey has lost her set of
copies, I shall with pleasure buy a notebook for Mr.

Erdogan. He can then in a convenient for him way research the sites of
‘Armenocide.net’ and others, where Turkish and English translations
help him over the linguistic gap. But he can also give on-line orders
for the numerous Turkish editions of such primary sources.

20.04.15, 13:14

DOMINICAN NEWSPAPER: TURKEY IS ACCUSED OF CHANGING GALLIPOLI BATTLE DATES

21:38, 20.04.2015
Region:World News, Armenia
Theme: Politics, Analytics

The subject of the Armenian Genocide continues to be publicized in
the farthest corners of the world. The Dominican newspaper Hoy devoted
one of its publications to that topic.

“According to the Turkish side critics, the decision by the Turkish
authorities to put off the events dedicated to the Centenary of the
Battle at Gallipoli can be an attempt to cover Armenians’ initiatives
for 100th Anniversary of Armenian Genocide,” the newspaper writes.

“Just as last year, Ankara authorities confirmed the decision to hold
the events dedicate to the Centennial of the Battle at Gallipoli on
April 24 – a day before the Soviet Army landed on April 25, 1915.

According to Armenia and many other countries, the mass annihilations
in the Ottoman Empire cost the lives of 1,5 million Armenians and
were planned beforehand.

World leaders have come to confront a difficult choice in terms of
which country to visit. Among those leaders is Russia’s President
Vladimir Putin, who, according to the newspaper Kommersant, will
nonetheless head to Armenia, while the Parliament Speaker – the forth
official representative of the country by office – will visit Turkey,”
the newspaper reports.

FRENCH EMBASSY TO PRESENT VIRTUAL MUSEUM OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

19:33, 20.04.2015
Region:World News, Armenia
Theme: Politics

YEREVAN. – In early May, the Embassy of France will present a virtual
museum of the Armenian Genocide, which contains a lot of archive
materials.

The virtual museum halls will be devoted to the Armenian Genocide,
adviser to French Embassy on cultural affairs Jean Michel Gasparian
told reporters on Monday.

This project, according to the diplomat, was brought to life thanks
to the cooperation between Armenia and the State Archives of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France.

“The virtual museum will feature all the documents available to the
Armenian delegation during the signing of the Treaty of Sevres,”
he said.

FRANCE 24 TO LIVE BROADCAST GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION CEREMONIES IN ARMENIA

23:27, 20 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Since April 18th until April 24th, to mark the centenary of
the Armenian genocide, France 24 is offering a special series of
programmes dedicated to the Armenian people, its history and culture,
on its three channels (in English, in French and in Arabic).

Provisional programme:

>From 18 to 24 April:

REPORTERS – First broadcast Saturday 18 April at 21.10 (repeated
during the week)

Format: 17 min

Presentation: Mark Owen

In 1915, the first genocide of the 20th century claimed one and a half
million victims. The Ottoman government had ordered the extermination
of the Armenian people. But between 100,000 and 200,000 women and
children survived, becoming Islamised and integrated into the Kurdish
and Turkish populations. Today, their descendants are discovering
Armenian roots that have lain hidden for generations. Some are
researching their ancestors to reclaim their history and culture;
others are considering converting to Christianity.

Report by Achren Verdian and Johan Bodin.

On 23 and 24 April:

FOCUS – First broadcasts at 06.45 (repeated all day long)

France 24 will propose two long-format reports dedicated to two towns
with important Armenian communities: the Lebanese town of Anjar in
the Bekaa Valley, and Marseille, the cradle of the Armenian community
in France.

Reporting in Lebanon by Selim El Meddeb and Adam Pletts.

Reporting in Marseille by Noufissa Charai and Luke Shrago.

On 24 April:

>From 06.30 and throughout the day, France 24 will live broadcast
the ceremonies taking place in the Armenian capital in the presence
of numerous Heads of State.

At 12.15, France 24’s cultural programme Encore! (A l’affiche! on
the French channel) will also be dedicated to Armenian artists with a
special show in Yerevan. Among others, Tigram Hamazyan, jazz pianist,
and the photographer Antoine Agoudjian, will be guests of Eve Jackson
and Sonia Patricelli.

The channel will also punctuate its news bulletins with contributions
and reports from its correspondents and reporters in Armenia,
France and around the world. Finally, this special programming will
be accompanied by excerpts of recent exclusive interviews with the
Armenian and Turkish Presidents, Serzh Sargsyan and Recep Tayyip
Erdogan.

France24.com will also publish a new webdocumentary devoted to the
survivors of the 1915 genocide, who managed to pass on their ancient
history and culture to succeeding generations. The webdocumentary will
contain a number of portraits of descendants of survivors who have
taken up the torch and, in their own way, maintained the heritage of
an entire nation.

HEAD OF PARTY: NATIONAL REVIVAL UNDERGOES PRESSURE BY NKR AUTHORITIES

by David Stepanyan

Monday, April 20, 17:55

The National Revival Party has been undergoing constant pressure by
the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities since it submitted the documents for
running in the parliamentary elections, Head of the National Revival
Party Hayk Khanumyan has told ArmInfo.

The electoral campaign in Artsakh kicked off on April 1, and the
parliamentary election will be held on May 3. 7 parties will take
part in the election: Free Motherland, National Revival, Peace and
Development, ARF Dashnaktsutyun, Movement-88, the Democratic Party,
and the Communist Party of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

“We were suddenly denied the territory we were leasing for our
party’s headquarters. We had to urgently find new premises, and now
our headquarters is in Alek Manukyan Street in Stepanakert,” the
oppositionist says, explaining it by the special services’ threats
against the lease provider and his relatives.

Khanumyan says that the authorities keep hampering the National
Revival Party’s campaign, threatening its supporters and disrupting
the party’s meetings with the voters. He lays the responsibility on
the NKR President Bako Sahakyan and Head of the NKR National Security
Service Arshavir Gharamanyan.

The National Revival party list is led by Hayk Khanumyan. He is
followed by political expert Tigran Grigoryan and doctor Nune
Melkumyan.

The Parliament of Artsakh consists of 33 deputies, with 22 of them

Trend, Azerbaijan
April 18 2015

MEPs call resolution on 1915 events ‘unbalanced’

18 April 2015, 10:19 (GMT+05:00)

As the European Parliament adopted a resolution Wednesday to recognize
the 1915 events as “genocide,” some MEPs have called the act
“unbalanced.” Anadolu Agency reported

“I cannot say it (the resolution) was balanced,” Greens lawmaker
Ernest Maragall told The Anadolu Agency on Thursday. “Europe has to
help to create the common table (and) the common scenarios where the
Turkish people (and) the Armenian people could frankly explain
themselves to each other and look for and understand reconciliation.”

Maragall added that one must distinguish between the Ottoman Empire
and the current Turkish state, which has accepted more than 1.7
million Syrian refugees since the Syrian civil war began in 2011.

“We should take into account that Turkey deserves respect and deserves
recognition from European countries,” Maragall said regarding the
Syrian refugees in Turkey.

The European Parliament first recognized the 1915 events as “genocide”
in a 1987 resolution, which the parliament reiterated in a vote
Wednesday — the centenary of the 1915 events.

Ismail Ertug, a member of the European Parliament for the Socialists
and Democrats, told AA on Thursday that pressure for the “recognition
of the Armenian genocide” in Turkey has not helped so far in bringing
reconciliation between Turks and Armenians.

“There needs to be a common agreement in order for Turkey and Armenia
to normalize relations,” Ertug said. “Negotiations will not start and
problems will not be solved unless there is confidence.”

Turkey has repeatedly rejected the EU’s definition of the events and
has said that Armenians died during a relocation process in 1915
during World War I, when a portion of the Armenian population, living
in the Ottoman Empire, sided with the invading Russians and revolted
against the empire.

Armenia has demanded an apology and compensation, while Turkey has
officially refuted Armenian allegations over the incidents saying
that, although Armenians died during the relocations, many Turks also
lost their lives in attacks carried out by Armenian gangs in Anatolia.

Opening archives

Turkey has called for the establishment of a joint commission of
historians and the opening of archives to study and uncover what
actually happened between the Ottoman government and its Armenian
citizens.

Ertug said calls for establishing a joint historians’ commission is a
good idea, but that it is frozen if the calls are unanswered.

“I think Turkey should not stop there,” he said. “Turkey should go on
with this process in a fair and impartial manner.”

‘A tragedy’

The European Commission has refused to call the 1915 events a
“genocide” following the European Parliament’s resolution.

The European Commission, the 28-nation-bloc’s executive body, referred
to the 1915 events as a “tragedy.”

European Commission Vice President Kristalina Georgieva told the
European Parliament on Wednesday that the EU “fully acknowledges the
significance of the upcoming commemoration as well as the divergence
of views over this tragedy.”

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 18 2015

Pope’s, EP’s `genocide’ remarks prompt debate on mass killings of Armenians

Pope Francis (Photo: Reuters)
April 18, 2015, Saturday/ 17:00:00/ DENÄ°Z ARSLAN / ANKARA

Recent decisions by both Pope Francis and the European Parliament (EP)
to publicly describe the 1915 mass killings of Armenians as a
`genocide’ may prompt a domino effect around the world, sparking other
such acknowledgments, and push Turkey — which denies that the events
amount to genocide — to grow increasingly isolated over the issue.

The pope’s remarks last Sunday were followed by a similar move by the
EP, which voted on Wednesday to pass a resolution acknowledging the
1915 events as `genocide’ and calling on Turkey to stop its policy of
`denial’ and find a way to reconcile with Armenia. The two countries
have no diplomatic relations and Turkey refuses to open its border
with Armenia.

Furthermore, the EP’s resolution calls on all member states of the EU
to officially recognize the 1915 massacres as `genocide.’ If other
nations follow suit, then Turkey may struggle to push its position on
the Armenian issue and end up paying compensation to the families of
the victims of the 1915 events.

The EP’s resolution has prompted a stern rebuke from the Turkish
government, with President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an responding that Turkey
does not accept the decision and the Foreign Ministry stressing that
Turkey does not respect those who are `mutilating history and the
law.’

While almost all opposition parties rallied behind the Turkish
government’s stance against the EP and the pope, one exception came
from pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Co-chair Selahattin
DemirtaÃ…?. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, DemirtaÃ…? strongly
criticized the Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) response to
the EP resolution and the pope’s genocide remarks. `The government
should be in a position to examine what has happened in the past. The
pope says something and they react in a childish way. This is
difficult to understand. The government needs to tell people to face
up to the Armenian issue,’ DemirtaÃ…? said. He added that by rejecting
the pope’s remarks, the government cannot resolve the Armenian
problem.

Speaking to a group of businesspeople during an official visit to
Kazakhstan on Thursday, ErdoÄ?an said, `We don’t recognize decisions
taken by [foreign] politicians and parliaments,’ adding that Turkey
will ignore all such resolutions. He stated that the EP’s decision on
the Armenian issue is merely a reflection of its `anti-Turkey
approach.’

ErdoÄ?an also stressed that Turkey does not have any problems with the
Armenian people and urged politicians around the world to leave the
debate to historians.

According to a source close to the Vatican, the pope’s remarks do not
only reflect his personal views but the new official position of the
Vatican. When the pope used the word `genocide’ in 2013, he attracted
Turkey’s anger but the Vatican was able to smooth diplomatic relations
by explaining to Turkish officials that they are the pope’s personal
view.

The next step that would potentially further isolate Turkey’s stance
on the Armenian issue may be US President Barack Obama’s annual
statement to commemorate the 1915 events. Before he came to power,
Obama was clear in his acknowledgement of the mass killings and
deportations of Armenians as genocide. Since he took office, Obama has
avoided using the word `genocide’ to describe the 1915 events in the
official statements he issues every year on April 24 because it does
not reflect the official policy of the US. It is not clear whether
Obama will use the word `genocide’ or not this year, in line with a
possible change in the US administration’s official policy on the
issue. US-Turkish relations have become increasingly distant due to
differing policies in the Middle East, particularly with regard to
Turkey’s reluctance to contribute to the US-led coalition against the
Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Armenians around the world are getting ready to commemorate the
centennial of the 1915 killings and mass deportations on April 24 and
the Armenian government has invited a number of world leaders to
Yerevan. In response to these commemorations, Turkey’s ruling AK Party
decided this year to move the commemoration of the 100th anniversary
of the Gallipoli Campaign of World War I for the first time, to April
24-25. The move attracted widespread criticism by Armenians and other
groups, with some observers describing it as a crude, failed attempt
to distract international attention from the centennial of the
Armenian commemorations. President ErdoÄ?an had invited Armenian
President Serzh Sarksyan to the Gallipoli commemorations but Sarksyan
dismissed the invitation, instead calling on Turkey to end its policy
of genocide denial.

Pope Francis angered Turks when he described the massacres of
Armenians during World War I as `the first genocide of the 20th
century’ in Mass on Sunday of last week to honor the centennial of the
1915 events, held with Sarksyan in attendance. This was not the first
time the pope has used the word `genocide’ since he took over his
position, with Francis rumored to have close ties with the Armenian
diaspora since his time as archbishop of Buenos Aires.

`Everybody has been taken by surprise by the pope’s remarks. It was
known that he would receive a high-level Armenian delegation but
nobody expected him to use the word `genocide’,’ the source close to
the Vatican told Sunday’s Zaman on the condition of anonymity.

The source pointed out that the pope was very cautious on the Armenian
issue during his visit to Turkey last November and restricted himself
to calling for reconciliation between Ankara and Yerevan. Three months
after being elected to the papacy, the pontiff first used the word
`genocide’ when receiving a group of Armenians in June 2013. However,
the Vatican informed Turkey via diplomatic channels that the pope’s
remarks simply reflected his personal views.

The official newspaper of the Holy See, L’Osservatore Romano, reported
last week in an editorial that without accepting the past, wounds will
remain open. Standing firm behind his remarks in a radio program last
week, the pope also mentioned the `Christian courage’ involved in
speaking one’s mind over the Armenian issue.

Despite knowing that his remarks would anger Turkey, Pope Francis used
the word `genocide’ during his Mass last Sunday. Turkey immediately
recalled Mehmet Paçacı, the country’s ambassador to the Holy See, to
Ankara for `consultations.’ The Vatican’s ambassador in Ankara,
Archbishop Antonio Lucibello, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on
Sunday as well.

Former Turkish Ambassador to the Holy See Kenan Gürsoy told Sunday’s
Zaman on Monday that recalling the Turkish ambassador to the Vatican
for consultations after the pope’s remarks does not mean that Turkey’s
relations with the Vatican have come to a complete halt. Gürsoy said
that recalling the ambassador simply means that things are not going
well and that some adjustments are needed to put the relationship back
on track.

Gürsoy added that the pope’s remarks don’t match his positive messages
conveyed during his visit to Turkey last November, adding that he
finds this change `ironic.’

`If the pope had acknowledged the pain of Muslims, Turks and Armenians
during World War I, it would have been more appropriate. His recent
remarks don’t match his statements in support of peace between
different religious groups,’ Gürsoy said. In November of last year,
Pope Francis was the first foreign dignitary to visit Turkey’s lavish
new presidential palace, which was constructed on the wishes of
President ErdoÄ?an.

In his first response to the pope’s remarks, President ErdoÄ?an sharply
criticized the pontiff. During a meeting with members of the Turkish
Exporters Assembly (TÄ°M) in Ankara on Tuesday, ErdoÄ?an said, “I
condemn the pope and warn him to not repeat the same mistake.’

Prime Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu went further and accused the pontiff of
participation in `plots’ against the AK Party and Turkey. `I am
addressing the pope: Those who escaped the genocide carried out by the
Catholic world in Spain via the Inquisition found peace and safety in
our just system,’ DavutoÄ?lu said.

`We are ready to look into everything but we will not let our nation
be insulted over its history. We will not allow Turkey to be
blackmailed through historical debates,’ the Turkish prime minister
declared. Speaking to reporters in Antalya on Tuesday, Foreign
Minister Mevlüt ÇavuÃ…?oÄ?lu also criticized the pope’s remarks,
describing them as “insincere.” ÇavuÃ…?oÄ?lu recalled that the pope had
employed different rhetoric when discussing the Armenian issue during
his November visit and that his recent remarks do not match his
previous comments. “Religious leaders should focus on peace and
reconciliation and not hatred and discrimination,” ÇavuÃ…?oÄ?lu said.