Assa-Irada. Azerbaijan
May 11 2005
Azeri, Armenian presidents not to sign accord in Warsaw
Baku, May 10, AssA-Irada
Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents will not sign an agreement at a
meeting due in Warsaw as part of the Council of Europe summit October
16-17.
The two countries’ foreign ministers will receive relevant
instructions based on the results of the meeting, Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov told reporters on Tuesday.*
Pan Armenian News
LIZ GRANDE: «PITY I AM LEAVING ARMENIA»
10.05.2005 04:43
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian Speaker Artur Baghdasarian met with Lise
Grande, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Armenia completing her
mission in Armenia, reported the Press Service of the National Assembly of
Armenia. Having thanked L. Grande for the work done and wishing her good
luck in further activities, Artur Baghdasarian noted that the UN Office in
Yerevan was efficient under her direction. In her turn Lise Grande noted
evident progress in Armenia, within the past two years the role of the
Parliament in solving public problems increased. After Armenia Lise Grande
will go to Congo and she said «it is a pity I am leaving Armenia.» She said
she was sure that she will keep the ties with Armenian friends and her
successor will continue the cooperation and implementation of joint programs
with the Armenian Parliament. In the course of the meeting the parties noted
the importance of programs targeted at the vulnerable social strata –
disabled persons and refugees. The interlocutors specially emphasized the
realization of programs aimed at meeting the needs of the population of
Armenia’s regions, whose problems were many times raised at the National
Assembly. Artur Baghdasarian and Lise Grande noted that this work should be
continued.
ARKA News Agency
May 9 2005
Karlos Papulos invites Armenian President o visit Greece
Armenian, Moldavian Presidents discuss CIS reforms
RA National Assembly Speaker: Heroic victory our grandfathers and
fathers won 60 years ago paved way for existence of independent
Armenia today
Armenian President congratulates country citizens on 60th anniversary
in Great Patriotic War
Our fathers’ achievements in Great Patriotic War basis for victories
in liberation struggle: Armenian PM
NKR State Commission on War Prisoners and Missing hands over three
Azeri servicemen to Azeri side
Russian Embassy in Armenia presents jubilee medals on 60th
Anniversary of Victory in WWII to veterans of Great Patriotic War
*********************************************************************
KARLOS PAPULOS INVITES ARMENIAN PRESIDENT O VISIT GREECE
YEREVAN, May 9. /ARKA/. President of Greece Karlos Papulos has
invited Armenian President Robert Kocharyan to visit Greece. The RA
presidential press service reports that during their meeting in
Moscow the sides expressed their satisfaction over the bilateral
relations and stressed their willingness for further development.
P.T. -0–
*********************************************************************
ARMENIAN, MOLDAVIAN PRESIDENTS DISCUSS CIS REFORMS
YEREVAN, May 9. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharyan held a meeting
in Moscow with Moldavian President Vladimir Voronin. The RA
presidential press service reports that the sides discussed a wide
range of issues of bilateral relations. The sides also discussed CIS
reforms and prospects. P.T. -0–
*********************************************************************
RA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SPEAKER: HEROIC VICTORY OUR GRANDFATHERS AND
FATHERS WON 60 YEARS AGO PAVED WAY FOR EXISTENCE OF INDEPENDENT
ARMENIA TODAY
YEREVAN, May 9. /ARKA/. Armenian National Assembly Speaker Arthur
Baghdasaryan congratulated Armenian people Monday on the Day of
Victory. According to national Assembly’s Public Relations
Department, the message says that “anti-Hitler coalition’s victory
over Nazi Germany in 1945 opened a new chapter in Europe and the
world history”. Heroic victory our grandfathers and fathers won 60
years ago paved the way for existence of independent Republic of
Armenia today, the message says. The Speaker noted that may always
was a month of historic victories for Armenian people. As an example
of those victories, Baghdasaryan also single out Shushi liberation.
Today, bowing to the war victims, we ought to take care of all those,
who are along with us today after going through the war. The Speaker
congratulated Great Patriotic War veterans and Artsakh War heroes and
wished them sound health and happiness. M.V. -0–
*********************************************************************
ARMENIAN PRESIDENT CONGRATULATES COUNTRY CITIZENS ON 60TH ANNIVERSARY
IN GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR
YEREVAN, May 9. /ARKA/. Armenian President Robert Kocharyan addressed
Armenian citizens Monday congratulating them on 60th anniversary of
victory in Great Patriotic War, Armenian Presidential Press Service
reports. “We celebrate glorious jubilee – 60th anniversary of Great
Patriotic War. This victory and peace laid ground for Armenia’s
further development”, the message says. Armenians set excellent
examples of courage and braveness and also make their contribution to
allies’ troops, guerillas groups and resistance movement in home
front. “My special cordial congratulations to our veterans that have
stood the cruel ordeal and defended the country from Nazi disaster”,
the President said in his message.
Kocharyan also pointed out that in 1992, Shushi liberation joined to
Armenian historic May victories. “In that war imposed on our people,
we proved once against that we always are ready to defend our people
right for peaceful life”, the President said in his message as well
as wished Armenian people peace and noted that “our devotion to our
motherland will be shown in creative labor focused on a new
generation upbringing and a new country building”. M.V. -0–
*********************************************************************
OUR FATHERS’ ACHIEVEMENTS IN GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR BASIS FOR VICTORIES
IN LIBERATION STRUGGLE: ARMENIAN PM
YEREVAN, May 9. /ARKA/. Our fathers’ achievements in the Great
Patriotic War served as a basis for victories in the liberation
struggle in Artsakh, RA Premier Andranik Margaryan told reporters.
According him, the Armenian authorities are equally dealing with the
problems of veterans of both the Great Patriotic War and Artsakh war,
making new steps to resolve them. Speaking of the two dates being
marked in Armenia today – the 60th anniversary of Victory in the
Great Patriotic War and the 13th anniversary of liberation of Shushi
– the RA Premier pointed out that “in 1941-1945 the task of
self-preservation was being accomplished, while in 1992 a step was
made to the realization of our hopes.”
In his turn, RA Minister of Defense Serge Sargsyan pointed out that
any family was affected by the cruel war in the soviet Union.
According to him, it is no coincidence that 60 year later people pay
tribute to those that sacrificed their lives for victory. Pointing
out that Armenia is marking two holidays today, Sargsyan stressed
that “the joy and pride of today are mixed with a bitterness in
memory of the perished companions-in-arms.”
RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said that today we express our
gratitude to the people that sacrificed their lives in battling
fascism to resolve the problem of our existence, and by their
liberation of Shushi and consolidation of nationhood in the period of
independence, they opened a new page in the Armenian people’s
liberation struggle. P.T. -0–
*********************************************************************
NKR STATE COMMISSION ON WAR PRISONERS AND MISSING HANDS OVER THREE
AZERI SERVICEMEN TO AZERI SIDE
STEPANAKERT, May 9. /ARKA/. Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s State
Commission on War Prisoners and Missing handed over three Azeri
servicemen – Hayal Abdulaev, Hikmet Tagiev and Ruslan Bakiev -to
Azerbaijani side on Saturday at 14:25. The handover took place at
Agdam section of contact line between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azeri
armed forces. According to the Commission report the servicemen were
taken in custody on February 15, 2005, at north-eastern territory of
NKR while attempting to cross the demarcation line. Observing its
international commitments, Karabakh side informed OSCE and ICRC
offices in Nagorno Karabakh.
The handover of Azeri servicemen made in accordance with NKR
authorities’ decision with mediation of ICRC and OSCE Chair-in-Office
Personal Representative after proper accord with Azeri side was
reached.
ICRC representatives regularly visited the war prisoners throughout
the period they were kept in captivity. M.V. -0–
*********************************************************************
RUSSIAN EMBASSY IN ARMENIA PRESENTS JUBILEE MEDALS ON 60TH
ANNIVERSARY OF VICTORY IN WWII TO VETERANS OF GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR
YEREVAN, May 9. /ARKA/. Russian Embassy in Armenia presented jubilee
medals on 60th Anniversary of Victory in WWII to veterans of Great
Patriotic War, citizens of RF. Acting Charge’ d’Affaires of Russia in
RA Igor Gromiko read out the address of RF President Vladimir Putin.
The message said `wherever you are, wherever you celebrate this
holiday, it remains in the heats of every one of us’. `You have
undergone many severe trials; you have stood up for the people’s
right for freedom, thus freed the country and the world from Nazism.
We pay our tribute to your feat. However, the lessons of war teach us
to join efforts in common fight against contemporary threats. Only
together we can withstand terrorism and other today’s challenges’,
says the address of the Russian President. L.V.-0–
Ninety years post Ottoman Turkish Genocide of the Armenians:
Lessons learned and challenges to overcome
PRESS RELEASE
New York: AASSSG
185 E 85th Street,
NY NY 10028
Phone: 201 941-2266
E-mail: [email protected]
The Armenian American Society for Studies on Stress & Genocide
(AASSSG) presented a symposium commemorating the 90th Anniversary of
the Genocide of the Armenians. Dr. Kalayjian, President of AASSSG,
organized and chaired this symposium.
The keynote speaker was Professor Roger Smith, who received the
AASSSG 2005 Outstanding Achievement Award. This award is given to
those scholars who excel in the area of Genocide studies, research
and publication. Professor Smith is Professor Emeritus at the College
of William and Mary in Virginia.
Prof. Smith stated how hard it was to focus on the topic of lessons
from the Armenian Genocide and remaining challenges to overcome. He
then discussed the following issues: knowledge acquired from the
Genocide, the shape of memory, denial, and the possibilities of
reconciliation.
KNOWLEDGE: The Armenian Genocide was the first large scale genocide
in the 20th century. It should have been a warning to what could lay
in store later in the century: it showed that human beings were fully
capable of systematic destruction of other humans, that genocide was an
ever present possibility. But this was largely forgotten. The Holocaust
took place, but this was viewed as an aberration and allowed to drop
from sight until the 1960s. Subsequently it was held out as the model
of all genocide, but this was misleading. Rather the Armenian case
was the prototype for most genocides since 1945: nationalism, a simple
technology of destruction, and targeting of victims within more or less
given territories, as opposed to any global attempt to annihilate them.
The Armenian Genocide helps us to understand many of the conditions for
such acts and particularly the relations between war and genocide. It
also teaches some negative lessons: threats of intervention that are
not carried out may be worse than silence (Bosnia, Darfur).
SHAPE OF MEMORY: Recollection of historical events, including massive
killing of innocents, does not follow a straight or continuous
path. The Armenian Genocide was well known at the time it took place,
by the early 1920s the erosion of memory had set in. Even survivors
were often silent (see, for example, Balakian’s BLACK DOG OF FATE). But
the pain and trauma were there. In due time, the stories would be told
within the Armenian family and community, but not much beyond it. The
trauma, plus the rage/humiliation engendered by denial would continue
down the generations. Genocide does not end with the last atrocity.
But by the 50th anniversary public commemorations took place; this
was followed by stepped up efforts by Turkey at denial; followed in
turn by greater efforts to overcome the denial.
DENIAL: The arguments of denial refuse the fact that the term
“genocide” is applicable to the events, and the significance of
the events (rationalization, relativization, and trivialization). In
recent years, there has been widespread affirmation of the Genocide by
scholars, scholarly organizations, states, international organizations
and the Pope. These affirmations are a matter of recognition, not
legislation of truth; they also offer recognition that the Turkish
government’s denial is essentially political, not historical. But
some states have aided and abetted Turkey in denial out of expediency,
rather than acceptance of Turkish arguments.
POSSIBILITY OF RECONCILATION: Reconciliation can take place at either
the individual or state level. It is difficult for an individual to
forgive or forget the Genocide. Forgiveness would require, at minimum,
acknowledgment, apology, and making amends to the extent possible. At
the state level, partial reconciliation may be possible without
acknowledgment of the Genocide (the US has good relations with Japan
though Japan refuses to acknowledge its war guilt. There are various
steps that Turkey could take: diplomatic recognition, lift embargo,
allowing Armenia access to the sea, etc. Even if these steps were
taken, without acknowledgment and acceptance of responsibility,
no full reconciliation can take place at the state level.
Turkey has much to gain from facing its own history and accepting
responsibility for it. But this will occur only when Turkey has become
a more open, democratic, and pluralistic society. That time may come,
especially with pressure from the E.U., but it is not here today.
Professor Dennis Papazian is the Director of the Armenian Research
Center at the University of Michigan in Dearborn. He pointed out
that after all, Hitler read about the Armenian Genocide in his
contemporary newspapers while he was a corporal in the German army
and his bosom friend, Max Erwin von Schubner-Richter was actually one
of the hundreds of foreign witnesses to mass killings of Armenians
during WWI and notified the German Foreign Office, allies of the
Turks, that the Turkish Government was attempting to eradicate the
Armenian population of the Empire. It is worth looking into whether
other Germans who were in Turkey during the Armenian Genocide later
became active in the Nazi Party.
Why is the Armenian Genocide the “forgotten genocide” and the
Holocaust so much in the public mind? Just think for a moment what
would it be like if all of Turkey had been occupied by the Allies and
war crime trials had been brought to a successful conclusion? The
episode would be widely followed, the chief perpetrators punished,
and restitution made to the survivors. The survivors would then urge
the world to remember their tragedy and seek to prevent such a tragedy
from happening ever again.
And just think for a moment if the Nazis had survived World War II
and there were no Nuremberg trials for the perpetrators of the Jewish
Holocaust. The Nazis, just as the Turkish government today, would
deny the Holocaust and its memory might fade into history. The Jews,
of course, would demand recognition and attempt to keep their tragedy
in the public eye, but most of the public would forget over time and
the Holocaust might be known today as the “forgotten Holocaust.”
The Turkish government has spent millions of dollars on public
relations experts attempting to eradicate from the public mind a
memory of the Armenian Genocide or at least to cast doubt in the
public mind. This attempt is made easier by the fact that few Americans
today know anything about Turkey, Turkish history, and most certainly
Turkish geography. The Turkish government does not have to disprove
the Armenian Genocide; it merely needs to cast doubt on what happened
in 1915-1923.
Their job of propaganda is made easier by the inclination of most
Americans not to think evil of anyone and always give the accused
the benefit of a doubt. Genocide is so ultimately an evil that there
are not two sides to it, and those who perpetrated it, or their legal
successor, must face the consequences of their actions. The greatest
aid to the denialists is the nice people who don’t want to take sides.
Fortunately, there are now people in Turkey who are speaking out
about the Armenian Genocide, but the more these few speak out, the
more the reactionaries make outlandish claims. At the time of this
writing, early April 2005, there seem to be indications that the
Turkish government will make some kind of simple form of confession
in the nature of, “Oh, we don’t see it as Genocide but you may call
it what you will.”
Prof. Papazian then presented the chief arguments of the Turkish
government and its supporters in denying the Armenian Genocide and
the answers.
Prof. Ann L. Saltzman is the Co-Director of the Center for
Holocaust/Genocide Study at Drew University. She spoke about her
journey from the first time she heard about the Genocide till today,
and what she has learned. The lessons were presented insightfully
and emotionally.
Prof. Saltzman said “as I look back over the programs we have
offered in memory of the Armenian genocide, I note how the series
itself traces our developing knowledge of it. Thus, for our first
program we showed the film, “The Forgotten Genocide,” and asked your
president, Anie Kalayjian, to be our discussant. We needed to start
with some basic history of what had happened. But it didn’t take long
before our programs began to “take on” one of the central issues of
the study of the Armenian genocide: the refusal to recognize it as
such. Our second program, subtitled “Art as Resistance in Countering
Genocidal Denial,” featured a slide presentation and discussion
of the art of Robert Barsamian. For me, it was the beginning of a
dawning awareness of how deep this denial went. The following year,
we invited Peter Balakian to speak, and in response to my mentioning
this to a colleague at another school, I was “jokingly” asked,
“Does Turkey know?” At this point, I knew that there was denial,
but I don’t think I truly understood how much economic, political,
and psychological energy Turkey was putting into making sure that no
country would call what had happened in 1915 a genocide. And I think
I was just beginning to understand how much psychological havoc this
denial was creating for the Armenian community. Certainly Balakian’s
book Black Dog of Fate helped me to see the parallels with the second
and third generation of Holocaust survivors. Also, his impassioned
lecture which called upon us all to “deny the denial.” Still further,
in response to last year’s showing of the film Ararat, it became
even clearer how important it is for a people’s healing to know what
happened to them in the past and to have others acknowledge it. I
began to relate this to my own un-named sorrow and terror in response
to the veiled way in which the Holocaust was discussed when I was
a child. Unless the story could be told and affirmed, the feeling
of being haunted by something I didn’t understand remained. I now
understand that about the Armenian genocide as well.
Prof. Saltzman concluded stating: “So the first thing I have learned
about the genocide is that there was a genocide. It is where one
must begin. I think my first reading about the Armenian genocide did
not actually occur until 1990 when I was preparing to teach a First
Year Seminar at Drew, entitled “Obedience to Authority: The Holocaust
and Beyond.”
I learned that there was a genocide, I learned that there are powerful
forces at work to deny that there was a genocide, and I have learned
that until the truth is told and acknowledged, that the people against
whom this genocide was committed will remain under its shadow. Still
further, only last night at Drew’s annual commemoration did I realize
that children and grandchildren of survivors and victims of the
genocide at still searching for answers to questions and information
about what happened to their relatives, some 90 years later.
A lively discussion followed. The presence of Armenians, Turks
and Americans made it very insightful, challenging and extremely
rewarding. The youth were calling for more information and more
details of the history itself. Recommendations were made to have a
smaller group focusing on education and dissemination of documents
from history.
For more information on these informational groups kindly contact Dr.
Kalayjian at: [email protected] or check
ARMENIAN PRESIDENT MET WITH GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR VETERANS
Pan Armenian News
05.05.2005 05:47
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President Robert Kocharian today met with
representatives of the Council of Veterans of the Great Patriotic War,
reported the Press Service of the Armenian leader. In the course
of the meeting R. Kocharian congratulated the veterans with the
forthcoming Victory holiday. The interlocutors discussed common state
issues as well. At that the veterans noted they see the solution to
those problems only under provided that Armenia is stable and well
protected. Upon the completion of the meeting the veterans presented
the Armenian President with a book telling about the feats of Armenian
soldiers at battle of Leningrad.
Soldiers Go AWOL in Akhaltsikhe
Civil Georgia (Tbilisi)
2005-05-04
News broke on May 3 that 12 servicemen abandoned their military unit
in Akhaltsikhe and went AWOL claiming they were subjected to human
rights abuse and intimidation from officers and other servicemen of
the military unit.
All of these servicemen are residents of Akhalkalaki, a town in
southern Georgia region of Samtskhe-Javakheti, which is predominately
populated by ethnic Armenians.
Rustavi 2 television interviewed several of these AWOL servicemen on
May 3. Private, with the second name Barbarian, said in an interview:
“we were beaten up [in the military unit]; we were frequently told why
we speak in Armenian and not in Georgian. But I do not know Georgian.”
Another private complained that officers were intimidating him and
demanding money.
No official comment has been made by the Georgian Defense Ministry yet.
The Georgian Public Defender’s Office has already launched probe into
the case. “I have talked with [official from] the Defense Ministry and
I think we can find some solution to this problem,” Sozar Subeliani,
the Public Defender, told Rustavi 2 television on May 3.
Civil.Ge (UNAG online Magazine)
HR 1450 IH
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1450
To require additional tariffs be imposed on products of any nonmarket
economy country until the President certifies to the Congress that that
country is a market economy country, and to direct the Secretary of the
Treasury to deposit the amounts generated from those tariffs into the Social
Security trust funds.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 17, 2005
Mr. TANCREDO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To require additional tariffs be imposed on products of any nonmarket
economy country until the President certifies to the Congress that that
country is a market economy country, and to direct the Secretary of the
Treasury to deposit the amounts generated from those tariffs into the Social
Security trust funds.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. ADDITIONAL TARIFFS ON PRODUCTS OF NONMARKET ECONOMY COUNTRIES.
(a) In General- Notwithstanding the provisions of title I of Public Law
106-286 (19 U.S.C. 2431 note), title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C.
2431 et seq.), or any other provision of law, and subject to subsection (b),
there shall be imposed on any article that is the growth, product, or
manufacture of a nonmarket economy country and is imported directly or
indirectly into the United States, in addition to any other duty that would
otherwise apply to such article–
(1) a rate of duty of 5 percent ad valorem during the 1-year period
beginning on the effective date of this Act; and
(2) an additional duty of 1 percent ad valorem in each succeeding 1-year
period.
(b) Certification- Subsection (a) shall cease to apply to a country at such
time as the President certifies to the Congress that the country is a market
economy country.
(c) Definitions- In this section:
(1) NONMARKET ECONOMY COUNTRY- The term `nonmarket economy country’ means
the following:
(A) Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Cambodia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan,
Laos, Moldova, the People’s Republic of China, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,
Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
(B) Cuba and North Korea, to the extent that any products of those countries
enter the customs territory of the United States.
(C) Any other country that the President determines is a nonmarket economy
country as defined in section 771 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C.
1677).
(2) MARKET ECONOMY COUNTRY- The term `market economy country’ means a
country that operates on market principles of cost and pricing structures so
that sales of merchandise in such country reflect the fair value of the
merchandise.
SEC. 2. DEPOSITS OF TARIFFS IN SOCIAL SECURITY TRUST FUNDS.
The Secretary of the Treasury shall deposit into the Federal Old-Age and
Survivors Insurance Trust Fund created by section 201(a) of the Social
Security Act, and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund created by
section 201(b) of that Act, in such proportions as the Secretary may
determine, amounts equal to the duties collected under section 1(a), less
such amounts that the Secretary determines are necessary to administer the
collection of such duties.
SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION.
For purposes of this Act, the People’s Republic of China shall not be
construed to include Taiwan or any island over which Taiwan exercises
jurisdiction.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall take effect on the 15th day after the date of the enactment
of this Act.
END
Armenian president, ruling coalition discuss reforms
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
27 Apr 05
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan today held a working meeting with
members of the political council of the ruling coalition.
The meeting discussed issues related to constitutional reforms and the
improvement of the Electoral Code.
Pan Armenian News
KARABAKH COMMITTEE FORMED AT PACE
28.04.2005 02:41
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Based on the PACE Rapporteur David Atkinson’s report over
Nagorno Karabakh and in compliance with the PACE Resolution adopted this
January, the Assembly Bureau formed a Temporary Committee for Nagorno
Karabakh April 25. According to item 5, the PACE urges OSCE Minsk Group
member states to activate efforts to provide for peaceful settlement of the
conflict thus urging the governments of those countries to annually inform
the Assembly on the work carried out. Simultaneously the Assembly asked the
Bureau to form a Temporary Committee composed of the heads of the
delegations of the PACE member states. British Deputy, former PACE President
Lord Russel-Johnston is elected to chair the Committee.
National Public Radio (NPR)
SHOW: All Things Considered 8:00 AM EST NPR
April 26, 2005 Tuesday
Turkey’s entry into the European Union could hinge on whether it
accepts responsibility for Ottoman Empire’s treatment of Armenians 90
years ago
ANCHORS: ROBERT SIEGEL
REPORTERS: IVAN WATSON
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
It has been 90 years since the Ottoman Empire’s mass deportation and
massacre of ethnic Armenians during World War I. Armenians marked the
anniversary over the weekend of what they call a genocide. They say
one and a half million of their people were killed. That’s a charge
that modern-day Turkey has long denied. And now that it is on the
verge of beginning negotiations to join the European Union, Turkey
once again finds itself on the defensive in this historical
controversy. NPR’s Ivan Watson reports from Istanbul.
IVAN WATSON reporting:
On a day when Armenians held solemn ceremonies of remembrance in
Yerevan, Paris and New York, in Turkey, the day honoring Armenian
victims was virtually ignored. Nearly a century after the fact, the
official Armenian and Turkish versions of what took place in the
final years of the Ottoman Empire are still miles apart. Ilter Turan
is a professor at Istanbul’s Yildiz University.
Professor ILTER TURAN (Yildiz University): What happened in 1915 and
during that period was a mutual battle between poorly organized
people trying to retain territory as a multinational empire was
crumbling.
WATSON: The Turkish government contends that a half-million Turkish
Muslims were killed after Armenians revolted against the Ottoman
Empire during World War I. Armenians reject this claim. Karan
Karakoshlai(ph) is a founder of the Augos Armenian newspaper in
Istanbul.
Ms. KARAN KARAKOSHLAI (Founder, Augos): In summary, what happened was
that a great nation of 4,000 years was exterminated, was cut off the
roots.
WATSON: Both sides agree that the Ottomans forcibly deported huge
numbers of Armenians from what is now eastern Turkey. And today
Turkey’s Armenian Christian community has dwindled to just 60,000
people. Though Turkey has offered to conduct a joint historical probe
with neighboring Armenia, many Turks continue to be defensive about
what they call `the Armenian issue.’ This year nationalists filed
lawsuits against Turkey’s most famous author when he told a Swiss
newspaper, quote, “One million Armenians were murdered here, and no
one dares to mention that.’ Professor Turan, a former member of a
Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission, says until recently the
subject was taboo here.
Prof. TURAN: The Turkish educational system for a long time
concentrated on nation-building. And the arguments or ideas that were
thought to undermine it were not discussed in primary or high school
curriculums.
WATSON: But there are signs that the taboo is beginning to break
down. Only a few Armenians are left in the southeastern Turkish city
of Diyarbakir, where schoolchildren play in the ruins of a large
Armenian cathedral that stands as an unofficial monument to what was
once a thriving community.
(Soundbite of banging noises)
WATSON: Younger generations here, mostly ethnic Kurds, are beginning
to talk about their great-grandparents’ role in the massacres.
Unidentified Man: They were Muslim Kurdish people, Muslim. And they
killed Armenian people.
WATSON: At a university, a Kurdish student named Zoloh(ph) and
several classmates recounted stories passed down by long-dead
relatives of atrocities against their Armenian neighbors. This
Kurdish woman, who preferred not to give her name, said some of her
ancestors were, in fact, Armenians who had been forced to convert to
Islam.
Unidentified Woman: (Through Translator) We couldn’t admit to our
neighbors that my great-grandmother was Armenian and that was she was
forced to marry my great-grandfather. At school they didn’t tell us
about the genocide, but I heard the stories, some from my relatives
at home. And I always had one question: Why did they kill the
Armenians? What did they do?
WATSON: International pressure is building on Turkey on this issue.
Over the past year the European Parliament and France have joined
Armenian diaspora groups demanding that Turkey accept responsibility
for the genocide before it can become a member of the European Union.
But Karan Karakoshlai of the Armenian Augos newspaper says blocking
Turkey’s EU bid would be a step backwards for Turkey and the
Armenians still living here.
Ms. KARAKOSHLAI: This is a genocide again to the ancestors a second
time because a tragic historical pain is used as a political
material.
WATSON: Ivan Watson, NPR News, Istanbul.