PUTIN: RUSSIA, ARMENIA TO KEEP COOPERATING WITHIN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
YEREVAN, April 24. /ARKA/. Russia and Armenia will continue cooperating
closely within international organizations and developing integration
contacts, Russian President Vladimir Putin said today as met with
his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan in Yerevan.
ARMENIAN PRESIDENT’S INTERVIEW WITH TURKISH HURRIYET DAILY
11:07, 24 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan
On the morning of April 24, the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet has
published an extensive interview with Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan.
– As a politician who has invested great efforts into the process
of reconciliation between your country and Turkey, what scenario you
would dream of having on April 24 Remembrance Day this year?
I believe one such option would be giving tribute to the innocent
victims of the Armenian Genocide jointly with the Turkish President
on the hill of Tsitsernakaberd, and proclaiming from the Memorial to
the whole world that we join our efforts in condemning the crimes
of genocide of the past thus preventing the possible recurrence of
genocide and other crimes against humanity.
This was exactly our aim when we sent an invitation to the President
of Turkey to participate in the commemoration events on April 24.
Unfortunately, this became another missed opportunity for Turkey.
– If the protocols were implemented, would Armenia still continue its
aggressive campaign calling upon states and international organizations
to recognize the Armenian Genocide?
First of all, the characterization of being ‘aggressive’ is misplaced.
The steps we have taken should not be misconstrued as an attack,
and are not against the Turkish people. And, secondly, I would rather
avoid any hypothetical questions.
That was a process, which had not reached its logical conclusion.
Should it have been crowned with success, perhaps, we would have found
ourselves in another reality: it is possible that eventually Turkey
itself could have acknowledged the Armenian Genocide, and with that
we would enter a new phase of a genuine reconciliation between our
nations. Today we have what we have.
The present tendencies of recognition and condemnation of the Armenian
Genocide by various states and organizations demonstrate in practice
the international community’s awareness that impunity for the crimes
against humanity is inadmissible, and we shall join efforts to devise
effective mechanisms for the prevention thereof.
The continuous process of the Armenian Genocide recognition by the
international community should be a serious signal to the Turkish
authorities that the denials stance of Turkey on this issue does not
in any way or shape fit the values and realities of the XXI century.
– What have you gained from the latest statement by Pope Francis? Did
you anticipate it? What possible consequences do you think it may
entail?
World leaders are vested with a unique mission to prevent crimes
against humanity. In this context, the Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica
served by Pope Francis on April 12 to commemorate the Armenian Genocide
Centennial, who followed the lead of Pope John Paul II in defining
the well-known events as genocide, was a clear demonstration to that
effect. The Pope’s statement was a message of humanism, tolerance,
struggle against xenophobia, and crimes against humanity addressed
to the entire humankind. I hope it will become a landmark to guide
especially those countries that subordinate universal values to their
political interests.
The emotional and non-diplomatic reaction of the Turkish leadership
was yet another proof that Turkey continued its policy of evident
denial pursued at a state level, thus taking upon it the burden of the
responsibility for the crime perpetrated by the authorities of the
Ottoman Empire. If Turkey does not share this view, if it disagrees
with numerous countries and international organizations that have
recognized the Armenian Genocide, that is Turkey’s problem, and not
the one of the international community.
– What are your expectations from the U.S. President Obama on April
24 this year? If the United States decides to take into account its
strategic interests in the region, and not to initiate any steps that
might infuriate Turkey, what would be your reaction?
Every country pursues its strategic interests, but there are universal
interests and universal priorities. One of them is to build a secure
and peaceful world, which is possible through straightening out
disputes we presently that exist today. And that means that one
needs to face its own past, learn lessons from it by taking the
necessary steps.
The 28th President of the United States Woodrow Wilson 95 years ago
actually formulated the need for the international recognition of
the Armenian Genocide, since the prevention of the crimes of genocide
and all other future sufferings starts with the acknowledgement.
As a mighty power and champion of democratic values the United States
has on numerous occasions stated its position regarding the Armenian
Genocide. Out of 51 U.S. constituent states 44 recognized and condemned
the Armenian Genocide. Throughout history various American Presidents,
such as Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, described the atrocities against
the Armenian people as genocide. Even those U.S.
Presidents that had not used the word “genocide” during their tenure
had used that term while campaigning. It means that they never
questioned the veracity of what had happened, and only due to certain
political considerations refrained from uttering the word “genocide”.
We strongly believe that universal values will eventually prevail
over ephemeral political interests.
– In spite of the European Parliament recognition of the Armenian
claims in 1987, and a similar resolution adopted on April 15 this
year, I have met numerous European liberals in past years that
happened to support the Turkish views that history is better left
to historians. There was also a reference to that effect in the
Armenian-Turkish protocols too, aiming at the establishment of a
special commission. Despite this we have noticed the position of the
Armenian authorities that history is not a matter of discussion. This
is a kind of controversial stance, isn’t it?
I do not know which representatives of the European Parliament you
have met but the resolution of April 15, 2015, was adopted by a sheer
majority in the European Parliament that represents 28 European states,
and around half a billion people. That in itself is already a very
vocal fact that testifies the clear cut position of the European
family with regard to the Armenian Genocide.
By adopting that document, the European legislative body paid tribute
to the memory of 1.5mln victims of the Armenian Genocide, and once
again underscored its commitment to the protection of human rights
and universal values.
On the notion of leaving history to historians: the veracity of
the Armenian Genocide has been studied by various scholars, social
and political figures, international law experts, the International
Association of Genocide Scholars, lawmakers, and also a number of
Turkish historians for about a century now. The unanimous view of all
of them was that what happened to the Armenian people in the Ottoman
Empire definitely constituted genocide. Under the light of this,
it becomes obvious that the Turkish proposal of establishing the
so-called commission of historians has only one goal, which is to
delay the process of the Armenian Genocide recognition, and divert
the attention of international community from that crime. That is
not only our view but also the view of the international community
that goes on recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide.
The protocols contain no clause of establishing any commission
on historical studies. The respective paragraph in the protocol
envisages a dialogue aimed at restoring mutual confidence between
the two nations, which entailed the establishment of a sub-commission.
Throughout the negotiations the Armenian side has stressed on numerous
occasions at various levels also to the Turkish side that the veracity
of the Genocide cannot be questioned under any circumstances.
– On February 16 you recalled the protocols from your Parliament. On
the other hand, the protocols are still in the Turkish Parliament
waiting for a politically expedient time for ratification. Isn’t this
move by Armenia perceived as a step back from the reconciliation
efforts on your side? Does this mean the 2009 process has failed
totally?
I will ask a rhetorical question: when the expedient time will
arrive according to the Turkish standards? It has already been
the sixth year since the protocols have been signed: when is the
expedient time? On the part of Turkey this signifies lack of any
basic respect not only towards the side that the protocols have been
concluded with but also towards its international obligations. The
years behind have demonstrated that Turkey is looking forward not
to some convenient moment, but instead is trying to prevent the
manifestation of unambiguous position of the international community
on the Armenian Genocide by imitating a process of the Armenian-Turkish
rapprochement, claiming that recognitions were something that hindered
the reconciliation.
The process of the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation was launched upon my
initiative, and pursued a very simple goal – to establish diplomatic
relations without any preconditions, and unseal the last closed
border in Europe, safeguarding peaceful and neighborly coexistence
of our nations.
Unfortunately, the lack of political will on the part of the
Turkish authorities, distortion of the letter and spirit of the
protocols, fresh manifestations of denial, and continuously brought
up preconditions intended to feed groundless demands of Azerbaijan
thwarted the implementation of the protocols. Everyone is well-aware
that it was Armenia that could have brought up some preconditions
in the first place, but we have not resorted to it yet since we are
guided by our vision of establishing an environment of cooperation
in the region.
After six years of unfulfilled expectations I have decided to recall
the protocols from the parliament. On one occasion I said that
the Armenians are not going to wait indefinitely for the Turkish
authorities to be able to find a convenient moment to finally ratify
those protocols.
It was not Armenia that closed the Armenian-Turkish border, and it is
not Armenia shutting the doors to the reconciliation. Unfortunately,
the window of opportunity to arrive at historic reconciliation between
our nations was missed because of the unconstructive Turkish policies.
We, however, are ready to embark upon a constructive dialogue with
Turkey in case it faces its own history, heeds to the calls of the
international community, and guided itself by the vision of creating
a peaceful future for the Armenian and Turkish peoples.
– Does the Republic of Armenia have any territorial claims from Turkey?
The Republic of Armenia has never declared any territorial claims
either to Turkey, or to any other country since our independence.
There has never been such an issue on the foreign policy agenda of our
country, and there is none today. That is a clear cut position. We are
a fully-fledged and responsible member of the international community.
As a member to the United Nations we recognize our role in the
international affairs, we respect the principles of international
law, and the same, incidentally, we anticipate from our neighbor to
the West. The one that illegally keeps the border with our country
shut, turning it into the last closed border in Europe, and brings up
unacceptable preconditions for the establishment of the diplomatic
relations with Armenia in disrespect towards the international
community that mediated the Zurich Protocols. The Zurich Protocols,
I remind you, which bears Turkey’s own signature underneath.
And, finally, I would like to register: you might have noticed that the
talk of Armenia’s territorial claims towards Turkey or any intentions
of our to that effect is mainly carried in Turkey, not in Armenia. I
will stop here to let each of us draw his own conclusions as why it
is so.
– Why Armenia considered offensive the Turkish invitation to
participate in the ceremonies dedicated to the Battle of Canakkale
on April 24? The Turkish officials were saying that for the past 20
years they had been marking that event, and the present year has been
significant because of the hundredth anniversary of the Canakkale
battle. It seems around 30 heads of states are going to participate
in that ceremony. Is Armenia concerned about that?
The events scheduled for the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide
Centennial are not a matter of competition for us. If the Turkish
authorities are in pursuit of securing more state leaders in attendance
at any cost in order to overshadow the Armenian Genocide Centennial
events, we have got much more serious and forward-looking goals, that
is to establish a vigorous platform together with the international
community in struggling against the past and future crimes against
humanity.
In contrast to Turkey, we neither force, nor threaten, and nor
blackmail the international community to partake in our commemoration
events. The representatives of states and international organizations
are coming to Armenia guided not by political or economic gains,
but principles, universal values and moral imperatives.
As you have indicated, it has been for only 20 years that Turkey holds
those ceremonies. But let us also register that in the course of those
20 years it has never been held on April 24. This is the first year
that the celebration is planned on the very same day of April 24,
when the Armenian people for a hundred years has been firmly getting
together to commemorate the innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide.
Regardless of what name do the Turkish authorities ascribe to the
Armenian Genocide, such an indelicate move manifested disrespectful
attitude towards their own citizens – the memory of 1.5 million
murdered Armenians. Meanwhile, had Turkey a slightest willingness to
normalize our relations, figuratively speaking, “it should not have
organized a feast and celebration on the day when the neighbor is
mourning at home.”
– Don’t you think that opening the border will change the existing
difficulties in the relations?
Opening the border will change many things. First of all, it will
create a certain atmosphere of trust, lay foundation of establishing
beneficial business ties, and make a considerable contribution to
the economic development of the Eastern provinces of Turkey. Opening
the border will also make contacts between our civil societies more
active, making them more informed about each other’s approaches and
perceptions, which, I believe, will also have a positive impact on
the two nations’ rapprochement.
– Now, as April 24 passes, what will be the strategy of the Armenian
state in the upcoming years? Will there be a place for renewed efforts
to start a new process of rapprochement? Do you personally have the
political will to change this process of stalemate, which does not
make it possible for the two states to live as neighbors?
We have stated many times that our struggle does not end in 2015 – it
will just enter a more mature phase. Let us not forget that we have had
an opportunity to raise the issue of the Armenian Genocide, and condemn
it only after the declaration of independence of the third Republic
of Armenia. And that means that our struggle has just started. And
it will be more coordinated and purposeful in the upcoming years.
The bridges of rapprochement are not burned yet and we even initiated
rapprochement ourselves. However, it is impossible to open the
door whose key we don’t have. And even now, when we commemorate the
centennial of our innocent victims, I declare that we are ready for
the normalization of relations with Turkey, for starting a process
of rapprochement between the Armenian and Turkish nations without
any preconditions.
– Prime Minister Davutoglu of the Republic of Turkey made a statement
on April 19, which was unexpected for us. He said, “I express my
condolences to the grandchildren of Ottoman Armenians who lost their
lives during WWI.” There were also expressions like sharing the pain,
true memory, honestly confronting the past in the statement. Another
surprise is that on April 24, a liturgy will be served in the Armenian
Patriarchate. How do you assess the content of this message?
It is interesting that this message was published on April 19. If it
had been made public on April 24, i.e., on the day of the centennial
of the Genocide or a day before that, I would have considered it
as an ordinary statement whose denialist content we know from the
previous statements. However, since it was made public so early, in
our opinion, it is an attempt to resist or affect the larger process
related to the recognition of the Genocide that is under way around
the world. It is understandable why it was made public on April 19.
And I think it was inappropriate to distort, manipulate or respond
to His Holiness Pope Francis’s words.
I don’t want to talk about the content of that spurious statement –
I expect that on April 24, Mr. Erdogan, the President of Turkey, will
prove to be more robust and rational and will make a real statement,
in which he will say what happened, which will make it possible for
us to start a process of rapprochement between our two nations. To be
more accurate, perhaps, one needs to say – not between the nations,
but between ourselves and the Turkish government because I don’t
blame the Turkish people, the Turks for anything whatsoever.
– If you are ready to share your feelings toward the Turkish people,
I would like to ask the following question. During the same war, what
does the pain suffered by the Turkish and Muslim societies signify
to you? Does Armenia admit the pain, sufferings, and deportations of
Turks during the same period?
The Armenian people cannot but understand that suffering because the
Armenian people have suffered many defeats and won many victories
during their three-millennia-long history. There have been both
sufferings and joys; therefore, the Armenian people can understand
very well what any people, including the Turkish people, can undergo
during war. However, it is one thing to suffer and another thing to
undergo genocide. If the Turkish people also went through genocide
during the Ottoman rule, let the current government of Turkey recognize
the genocide of both Armenians and Turks, which was committed by the
Ottoman government.
It is one thing when residents of one, two, or three villages move to
another place, or individual citizens change their places of residence,
which we pity, but when a whole people is eliminated, it is quite
another thing. I suggest that you pay attention to two facts: first,
the statements of the Young Turks’ leaders about their intentions
to eliminate Armenians. Secondly, there are interviews with Raphael
Lemkin, during which he was asked, “What does genocide mean?”
He answered, “Genocide is what happened to Armenians and Jews.” What
can one add to this?
I hope that some years on from now, there will be so many people in
Turkey who realize what happened, that it will be impossible to make
statements like the one the Prime Minister made (on April 19).
TURKEY CALLS ON LEADERS TO REJECT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE LABEL
Deutsche Welle, Germany
April 22 2015
Turkey’s president has blamed Armenia for making plans to “insult
Turkey” during ceremonies to mark 100 years since the massacre of
1.5 million Armenians. Ankara rejects assertions the 1915 killings
were genocide.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that Ankara
planned to “discuss peace” when it hosts events to commemorate 100
years since the beginning of the World War I battle in Gallipoli on
April 24 and 25.
During those ceremonies, Erdogan said Armenia “will not be on the
agenda.”
Armenians believe the death of more than 1.5 million people amounts
to a genocide campaign carried out by Ottoman Turks during World War I.
Most Western scholars and two dozen governments regard the 1915
killings as the first genocide of the 20th century.
Ankara, which has no diplomatic ties with Armenia, maintains the deaths
do not constitute genocide as hundreds of thousands of people were
killed on both sides in the war that destroyed the Ottoman Empire. The
modern-day Republic of Turkey was built on its ashes in 1923.
‘Take the initiative’
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Dautoglu said Wednesday he had spoken to
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, asking her “to take the initiative”
to persuade parliament not to acknowledge the killings as genocide
in parliament on April 24, the day the killings began.
Dautoglu’s comments came after Germany’s grand coalition government
on Monday supported a statement with stronger-than-expected language
on the killings.
“The government backs the draft resolution in which the fate of the
Armenians during World War I serves as an example of the history of
mass murders, ethnic cleansings, expulsions, and, yes, the genocides
during the 20th century,” Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen
Seibert, told reporters in Berlin Monday, citing the document agreed
to by Merkel’s Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats.
German parliament will hold a ceremony in memory of the victims on
Friday, while German President Joachim Gauck is expected to use the
term “genocide” at a religious service scheduled for Thursday in
the capital.
Historians, not politicians to decide
Speaking in Ankara on Wednesday, Erdogan said he had talked to US
President Barack Obama about the issue, and he “said it should be
left to the historians, not the politicians,” to determine whether
the killings constituted genocide.
Meanwhile, US Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and Deputy National
Security Advisor Ben Rhodes steered clear of using the word “genocide”
when meeting heads of America’s Armenian community at the White House.
McDonough and Rhodes “discussed the significance of this occasion
for honoring the 1.5 million lives extinguished during that horrific
period,” the Armenian Council said in a statement Wednesday.
The dispute came to a head this month, when Pope Francis called the
1915 massacres a genocide, this prompted Turkey to summon the Vatican
envoy and recall its own.
jlw/sms (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)
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Content-Description:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
From: Katia Peltekian
Subject: Turkey calls on leaders to reject Armenian genocide label
Deutsche Welle, Germany
April 22 2015
Turkey calls on leaders to reject Armenian genocide label
Turkey’s president has blamed Armenia for making plans to “insult
Turkey” during ceremonies to mark 100 years since the massacre of 1.5
million Armenians. Ankara rejects assertions the 1915 killings were
genocide.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that Ankara
planned to “discuss peace” when it hosts events to commemorate 100
years since the beginning of the World War I battle in Gallipoli on
April 24 and 25.
During those ceremonies, Erdogan said Armenia “will not be on the agenda.”
Armenians believe the death of more than 1.5 million people amounts to
a genocide campaign carried out by Ottoman Turks during World War I.
Most Western scholars and two dozen governments regard the 1915
killings as the first genocide of the 20th century.
Ankara, which has no diplomatic ties with Armenia, maintains the
deaths do not constitute genocide as hundreds of thousands of people
were killed on both sides in the war that destroyed the Ottoman
Empire. The modern-day Republic of Turkey was built on its ashes in
1923.
‘Take the initiative’
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Dautoglu said Wednesday he had spoken to
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, asking her “to take the initiative”
to persuade parliament not to acknowledge the killings as genocide in
parliament on April 24, the day the killings began.
Dautoglu’s comments came after Germany’s grand coalition government on
Monday supported a statement with stronger-than-expected language on
the killings.
“The government backs the draft resolution in which the fate of the
Armenians during World War I serves as an example of the history of
mass murders, ethnic cleansings, expulsions, and, yes, the genocides
during the 20th century,” Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman,
Steffen Seibert, told reporters in Berlin Monday, citing the document
agreed to by Merkel’s Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats.
German parliament will hold a ceremony in memory of the victims on
Friday, while German President Joachim Gauck is expected to use the
term “genocide” at a religious service scheduled for Thursday in the
capital.
Historians, not politicians to decide
Speaking in Ankara on Wednesday, Erdogan said he had talked to US
President Barack Obama about the issue, and he “said it should be left
to the historians, not the politicians,” to determine whether the
killings constituted genocide.
Meanwhile, US Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and Deputy National
Security Advisor Ben Rhodes steered clear of using the word “genocide”
when meeting heads of America’s Armenian community at the White House.
McDonough and Rhodes “discussed the significance of this occasion for
honoring the 1.5 million lives extinguished during that horrific
period,” the Armenian Council said in a statement Wednesday.
The dispute came to a head this month, when Pope Francis called the
1915 massacres a genocide, this prompted Turkey to summon the Vatican
envoy and recall its own.
jlw/sms (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)
HOW ARABS REACHED OUT TO ARMENIANS AMID 1915 MASSACRE
Yahoo! News – Maktoob
April 24 2015
Al-Jazeera
Beirut – As Armenians and Turks mark the centenary of the disputed
events of 1915 – what Armenians claim was “genocide” and Turks insist
were counterinsurgency measures – a number of events have taken place
to commemorate the tragedy and give voice to the families impacted.
But little has been said of the role played by Arabs in addressing
the humanitarian disaster that ensued as tens of thousands of refugees
and orphans streamed out of Anatolia.
“The Arab role in helping the Armenians during [these events] is very
much understudied,” Reverend Paul Haidostian, president of Hagazian
University and an Armenian scholar, told Al Jazeera.
“It started with individual Arabs, especially tribal leaders from the
Syrian desert, [who] tried to save the Armenians who were forced on
their death marches,” he explained. “They tried to help in any way they
were able to; either by adopting the orphans or feeding the people –
trying to save them somehow.”
________________________________
RELATED: Vox Pops: Commemorating the Armenian massacre
________________________________
After the Turks deported the Armenians in what have been called
“death marches” to Deir Ezzor in Syria and the deserts in Iraq,
areas considered to be predominantly Muslim-inhabited, many survivor
accounts describe how Arabs offered help and shelter.
“When Armenian communities were able to reach cities like Aleppo,
one task was to try and reunite with each other, find the orphans and
bring them back [into the communities],” Haidostian said. Through
contacts and word of mouth, many Arab families who had adopted the
orphans returned them to their communities. “This was a very common
theme; that the orphans would be ‘lost’ for a few years and then they
would find their way back to their families. It happened to thousands
of Armenians.”
Not all orphans were so lucky. Some fell victim to the massacres
at the hands of the Turks or Kurdish tribesmen. Orphanages in the
provinces set up by the Turks for Armenians who had lost their parents
introduced Turkification programmes, where they would force children
of non-Turkish ethnicity to convert to Islam and change their names
to Turkish ones.
In other cases, Armenian children would be adopted by Arabs and
fully integrated into the Arab-Muslim way of life. “There are of
course children who would be adopted but were not able to save their
Armenian identity,” Haidostian said. “The point is their lives were
saved, though.”
In the period leading up to the mass killings, the Turks reportedly
used religion as a cover to justify committing atrocities against
the Armenians. There are reports of preachers urging Turks to attack
and drive out Armenians, claiming they were against Muslims. Ethnic
minorities, especially non-Muslims, were forced to live as second-class
citizens, obliged to pay “jizya” – protection money – for being
non-Muslim. This is the same tax being levied today by the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant against Christians in the areas they
control in Syria and Iraq.
“The Turks wielded religion as an instrument … but it certainly
was not a religious issue,” Vera Yacoubian, executive director of
the Armenian National Committee in the Middle East, told Al Jazeera.
“First off, there were many Arabs who faced the same fate as the
Armenians at the time. The Turks were pushing a pan-Turkic agenda,
not a Muslim one.”
Arab religious figures condemned the use of religion by the Turks,
issuing fatwas and decrees calling on Arabs to help the Armenians. In
1909, a Turkish mufti issued a religious ruling urging Turks to kill
Armenians. Sheikh al-Bishri of al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo – one of
the world’s leading Islamic institutions – issued a counter-fatwa,
calling such acts un-Islamic and urging Muslims to protect minorities.
This was reinforced by another decree issued by the Sharif of Mecca in
1917, calling on Arab Muslims to protect Armenians: “What is requested
from you … is to protect everyone who may be staying or living in
your quarters or neighbourhood or among your tribes of the Armenian
Jacobite community.”
________________________________
RELATED: Armenian immigrants look for a better life in Turkey
________________________________
Following the end of World War I and the subsequent collapse of
the Ottoman Empire, Armenians settled in the newly drawn up Arab
countries with relative ease, gaining citizenship and equal rights. But
assimilation for them was more of a challenge due to the linguistic
and cultural differences.
Lebanon was more difficult than others initially, as Lebanese Muslims
were not so keen on having another Christian minority settle into
the country, afraid it would upset the sectarian balance.
“It was the French mandate that helped the Armenians in Lebanon,”
Yacoubian said, adding that for political reasons, the French were
keen on boosting the number of Christians in the country – leading to
unease amid other Lebanese sects. “Yet once they saw the Armenians
were not an economic burden and were actually helping the country,
the tensions eased.”
In other countries, such as Syria and Iraq, Armenians were treated
as equal citizens – in some cases better than other minorities –
and allowed to maintain their identity through the establishment of
Armenian schools and universities.
“Unlike the Kurds and the Assyrians, the Armenians never had
any territorial demands, so were not seen as a possible threat,”
Yacoubian said.
Today, Armenians live across the Middle East in very distinctive
neighbourhoods; street signs and stores are written in the Armenian
language, and people speak Armenian as fluently as Arabic. Accounts
from the 1915 massacre are passed down from generation to generation,
and commemorations take place every year without any interference
from governments.
Lebanon, where Armenians hold six parliamentary seats, is the only
Arab country to have formally recognised the “Armenian genocide”. The
others, keen on not disturbing the delicate relations they hold with
Turkey, have stopped short of formal recognition, but support the
Armenians in their right to commemorate the events of 1915.
“I can’t say this enough; if it wasn’t for the Arabs, especially in
Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, we would not have an Armenian diaspora today,”
Yacoubian said.
TURKISH PRIDE IN THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Breitbart
April 24 2015
by James Zumwalt24 Apr 201512
As if on safari, the hunters proudly display their dead prey. But
the circa 1915 photograph depicts an undeniable horror. The hunters
flank a dozen or so human bodies, laid out upon a dirt mound. The
distinctive hunters’ uniforms identify them as Turkish soldiers of
the Ottoman Empire; their victims are Armenian Christians.
This photograph captured for eternity the 20th century’s first
genocide.
April 24, 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of
an onslaught that, to this day, Turkey claims never happened. But
photographs of genocide don’t lie.
These photographs are eerily similar to others, that would appear
three decades later, of another human atrocity against victims only
persecuted due to their faith. The 1945 photographs show stacks of
emaciated Jewish bodies–victims of Nazi tormentors.
A telling difference exists as to why both sets of photographs
were taken.
The photographs of Nazi concentration camp horrors were the product
of victors seeking to document a vanquished enemy’s evils, lest future
generations doubt what had occurred there.
The photographs of the Armenian genocide were the product of Turkish
victors, not to record evil, but as a trophy glorifying kills made
in the name of Allah.
Turkey’s genocidal tendencies towards Armenians are historical.
The Armenians adopted Christianity in 301 A.D., prospering long as a
people and an independent nation–until Ottoman aggression absorbed
it in the 15th century. They became second-class citizens, forced
to pay an “infidel” tax Muslims demanded of all non-Muslims under
their control.
But when Armenians pushed for equality in the late 1890s, the sultan
ordered his army into action. Between 1894-1896, an estimated 200,000
Armenians died in what was known as the Hamidian Massacres.
With the turn of the century, the loss of parts of the Ottoman Empire
fed a wave of nationalism. Sensing a re-building opportunity with
the outbreak of World War I, the Ottomans allied with Germany against
Russia. Devastating losses trying to invade Russia caused the Turks
to blame Armenians, who had assisted the Russians.
On April 19, 1915, the Turkish governor of the city of Van trumped up
a claim to charge Armenians with rebellion and lay siege to the city.
After Russian forces intervened to save the Armenians, the Turks used
the Russian rescue to claim the Armenians were traitors. The genocide
began April 24th, when the Turks rounded up 250 Armenian community
leaders and executed them.
By year’s end, 75% of the Armenian population (1.5 million people)
had been killed.
Turkish hatred fueled a killing machine against the Armenians that
escalated from massacre to genocide speed in less than a generation.
Turkish inhumanity towards the Armenians was limitless. Young girls
were raped or crucified. Forced marches, in endless circles over
mountain trails, of the very old and very young–denied food and
water–sought but one final destination: death. As an ultimate slap
in the face, Armenians transported by train to death camps were even
required to purchase their own tickets.
A Turkish government that saw no evil by its actions against the
Armenians in 1915 still sees no evil in them today.
One would like to believe a century-long evolution of Turkish
leadership from dictatorship to democracy might have opened the
government’s eyes to admitting its role in this savagery. It has not.
This is unsurprising, based on the leadership of Turkey’s current
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Over the past several years, he has
belied a desire to return to the days of the Ottoman Empire, rolling
back domestic freedoms to get there.
In Erdogan’s Turkey, it remains a crime to mention the word “genocide.”
This denial by the Turkish leadership is not motivated by concerns of
possibly having to pay reparations by accepting responsibility for its
genocidal actions. It is fed by the belief today–just in 1915–that
any Muslim slaughter of Christians is a divine right granted by Allah.
Turkish intolerance for Christians continues today. As one critic
observes, “Sadly, Turkey, a NATO member since 1952 and supposedly a
candidate for membership in the European Union, has largely succeeded
in destroying the entire Christian cultural heritage of Asia Minor.”
Apparently, the Turkish government won’t allow what happened to the
Armenians to be given the negative connotation of “genocide,” for
such would insult Turkey, but will allow Turks to proudly celebrate
the genocide’s end result, to insult the minority Armenian community
victimized.
Turkish intolerance has already manifested itself with the approach of
this important anniversary date in Armenian history as banners have
been unfurled in several Turkish cities proclaiming, “We celebrate
the 100th anniversary of our country being cleansed of [Christian]
Armenians.”
Of course, it is difficult to criticize Erdogan when Western political
and Christian leaders have either refused or been slow to call the
Armenian genocide what it really was.
Just such a call was recently made by Pope Francis. “In the past
century, our human family has lived through three massive and
unprecedented tragedies,” the Pope said. “The first, which is widely
considered ‘the first genocide of the 20th century,’ struck your own
Armenian people.” Francis became the first leader of the Catholic
Church to call Turkey out on the genocide.
Presidential candidate Barack Obama, critical of then-President Bush,
stated in 2008 America “deserves a president who speaks truthfully
about the Armenian genocide.” President Obama has yet to deliver on
this promise, and few expect him to tomorrow.
He is not alone among presidents; only Ronald Reagan, in a 1981
proclamation observing the Holocaust, dared call the slaughter a
“genocide.”
Reportedly both the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and Department of
Defense (DOD) again recommended against attaching the genocidal tag
due to concerns of impacting negatively on U.S.-Turkey relations.
DOD’s concern obviously stems from not wanting to upset a supposed
NATO ally who potentially can play an important role in Middle East
hostilities, although Turkey balks at doing so. DOS’s concern stems
from Obama’s inexplicably close friendship with Erdogan, regardless
of how far back the would-be dictator sets democracy in his country.
Most shockingly, Israel too has yet to make the call, unwilling to
damage an already strained relationship with Turkey.
The absence of Western voices aids and abets Turkey’s denial. It has
only encouraged Erdogan to threaten the few voices heard, warning
Pope Francis not to “repeat this mistake.”
On the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, we would do well
to reflect upon Holocaust scholar Deborah Lipstadt’s words: “Denial
of genocide… is not an act of historical reinterpretation… but
an insidious form of intellectual and moral degradation.”
It is time for Western leaders to re-calibrate their moral compass.
Lt. Colonel James G. Zumwalt, USMC (Ret.), is a retired Marine
infantry officer who served in the Vietnam war, the U.S. invasion
of Panama and the first Gulf war. He is the author of “Bare Feet,
Iron Will-Stories from the Other Side of Vietnam’s Battlefields,”
“Living the Juche Lie: North Korea’s Kim Dynasty” and “Doomsday:
Iran-The Clock is Ticking.” He frequently writes on foreign policy
and defense issues.
LAMMERT ON THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN MASSACRE
President Norbert Lammert (c) German Bundestag/Melde
On Friday, 24 April 2015 in the Bundestag, President Norbert Lammert
classified the deportations and massacre of the Armenian people as a
genocide. Due to their own experiences, he said, Germans can encourage
others to face their history: “self-critical commitment to the truth
is essential for reconciliation.” This involves admitting the shared
responsibility of the German Reich for the crimes, he continued.
Introductory statement to the debate on the deportation and massacre
of the Armenian people 100 years ago, 24 April 2015
Colleagues,
The next item on the agenda deals with a highly significant historical
event with lasting consequences, not only for relations between the
neighbouring countries of Turkey and Armenia. Our debate today in
the Bundestag has already attracted a great deal of public attention
through its inclusion on the agenda.
Genocide is a crime defined under international law as acts committed
with the intent to “destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnical,
racial, or religious group, as such”. What happened in the midst of the
First World War in the Ottoman Empire, before the eyes of the world,
was a genocide. It was not to be the last of the 20th century.
This makes our obligation all the greater, out of respect for the
victims and due to the responsibility we bear for the causes and
effects, to neither suppress the memory of, nor play down, these
crimes.
We Germans are in no position to lecture anyone about how they should
deal with their past. Yet due to our own experiences, we canencourage
others to face their history, even when it is painful: self-critical
commitment to the truth is essential for reconciliation. This involves
admitting the shared responsibility of the German Reich for the crimes
committed a century ago. Although the leaders of the Reich were fully
informed, they did not exert their influence; the military alliance
with the Ottoman Empire was more important to them than intervening
to save people’s lives.
The recognition of this shared guilt is vital for our credibility in
the eyes of both Armenia and Turkey.
Beyond the facts, history demands interpretation, making it
inevitably political. This conflict may be seen as lamentable, but
it is unavoidable – and it needs to take place in Parliament. The
unparalleled experiences of violence in the 20th century have ensured
that we know there can be no real peace until the victims, their
relatives and descendants experience justice: through remembrance of
the events.
Today, too, people are the victims of persecution for political, ethnic
and religious reasons, including thousands of Christians. By accepting
well over a million refugees, Turkey is providing huge humanitarian
assistance, which is too seldom honoured and puts some in Europe to
shame. In no way whatsoever do we forget this willingness to take
responsibility in the present when we call for an awareness of also
taking responsibility for the country’s own past.
The current Turkish government is not responsible for what happened
over 100 years ago, but it is responsible for what happens next. We
pay tribute to the fact that they are endeavouring to reach out to
descendants and neighbours at their own ceremony, and in particular
we pay tribute to the many courageous Turks and Kurds who for many
years have been working alongside Armenians towards addressing this
dark chapter of their shared history in an honest way: writers,
journalists, mayors, religious leaders. I am thinking of the winner
of the Nobel Prize for Literature Orhan Pamuk, of the journalist Hrant
Dink, who paid for his commitment to historical truth with his life.
They deserve our support. And they need it. Our debate today is
intended to contribute to this.
PROTEST IN FRONT OF TURKISH EMBASSY IN IRAN ON OCCASION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL
18:02 24/04/2015 >> REGION
The Armenian community of Iran held a protest in front of the Turkish
Embassy in Tehran to mark the Armenian Genocide Centennial, Iranian
outlet Tabnak.ir reports.
As the article reads, after the event in the neighborhood of St.
Sarkis church in Tehran, the representatives of the Iranian Armenian
community marched towards the Embassy of Turkey to Tehran.
The Iranian outlet also covers today’s event in Yerevan noting that
the presidents of France and Russia have arrived in Yerevan to take
part in the Armenian Genocide Centennial events.
Facebook Persian-language page “Armenian Genocide 1915” has posted
a video where the participants of the rally chant slogans “Death to
the fascist government of Turkey!” “Justice! Justice!”
Related:
Iran’s position regarding recognition of Armenian Genocide
Iranian outlet: Ottoman Turks slaughtered also Iranian Azaris apart
from Armenians
Iranian Turkic-speaking Azaris condemn Turkish government for not
recognizing Armenian Genocide
Assyrian member of Iran Majlis: We are grateful to Armenia for speaking
about Assyrian Genocide
PRESIDENT OBAMA ANNOUNCES PRESIDENTIAL DELEGATION TO THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA TO ATTEND THE CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION OF THE EVENTS OF 1915
White House , DC
Press Release
April 22 2015
President Barack Obama today announced the designation of a
Presidential Delegation to the Republic of Armenia to attend the
Centennial Commemoration of the Events of 1915 on April 24, 2015.
The Honorable Jacob J. Lew, Secretary of the Department of Treasury,
will lead the delegation.
Members of the Presidential Delegation:
The Honorable Richard M. Mills, Jr., United States Ambassador to the
Republic of Armenia, Department of State
The Honorable Jackie “Kanchelian” Speier, Member of the United States
House of Representatives (CA-14)
The Honorable Frank Pallone, Jr., Member of the United States House
of Representatives (NJ-6)
The Honorable Anna G. Eshoo, Member of the United States House of
Representatives (CA-18)
The Honorable Dave Trott, Member of the United States House of
Representatives (MI-11)
IS THIS GENOCIDE? WHAT FOUR AMERICANS SAW HAPPENING TO ARMENIANS 100 YEARS AGO
Washington Post
April 22 2015
It appears President Obama will not use the word “genocide” on Friday
when acknowledging the massacres of perhaps more than 1 million
Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire a century ago. That’s when
the nation of Armenia, as well as the far-flung Armenian diaspora,
will mark the 100th anniversary of what they staunchly believe was
a genocide.
There’s little historical disagreement about the scale of the upheavals
that began in April 1915 — when Ottoman officials first ordered the
removal of Armenian intellectuals in Istanbul, and later the mass
deportation of ethnic Armenians mostly living in what’s now eastern
Turkey. But, as WorldViews discussed earlier, the question of how to
remember it has been the subject of decades of debate and rancor,
wrapped up in the the complex politics of the Cold War as well as
the ironclad nationalism of a succession of Turkish governments.
It’s the source of considerable international awkwardness. Obama isn’t
alone in his avoidance of the “g-word” — he’s joined by a host of
other world leaders, including United Nations Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon, as well as all his predecessors in the White House.
But there was a time when many in the international community were
more certain of what took place. This is particularly true when it
comes to the United States: Americans in the Ottoman Empire offered
some of the first outsider testimonies of what transpired in 1915.
Some U.S. officials even invoked the slaughter of the Armenians as
moral justification for the United States eventually entering World
War I against Germany and its allies.
To be sure, the unraveling of the Ottoman Empire between 1914 and
1922 saw mass violence and depravation visited on its non-Armenian
populations as well. An estimated 5 million Ottoman civilians perished
during the conflicts between this eight-year period.
The following accounts are from four Americans who witnessed what
befell the Armenians of the crumbling Ottoman Empire. They are all
taken from an excellent new book, “Great Catastrophe: Armenians
and Turks in the Shadow of Genocide,” by Thomas de Waal, an expert
on the Caucasus and Black Sea region at the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace.
Henry Morgenthau, U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, in a cable
sent to Secretary of State Robert Lansing on July 10, 1915:
Persecution of Armenians assuming unprecedented proportions. Reports
from widely scattered districts indicate systematic attempts to uproot
peaceful Armenian populations and through arbitrary arrests, terrible
tortures, wholesale expulsions and deportations from one end of the
Empire to the other accompanied by frequent instances of rape, pillage,
and murder, turning into massacre, to bring destruction and destitution
on them. These measures are not in response to popular or fanatical
demand but are purely arbitrary and directed from Constantinople in
the name of military necessity, often in districts where no military
operations are likely to take place.
Morgenthau went on, explaining the shocking reasons behind the
violence:
The Moslem and Armenian populations have been living in harmony but
because Armenian volunteers, many of the Russian subjects, have joined
Russian army in Caucasus and because some have been implicated in
armed revolutionary movements and others have been helpful to Russians
in their invasion… terrible vengeance is being taken. Most of the
sufferers are innocent and loyal to the Ottoman government.
The execution of the Ottoman directives was uneven. In some areas,
the bulk of Armenian men were able to leave their homes and towns. In
others, wrote Henry Riggs, an American pastor in eastern Anatolia,
“men very seldom left the province alive.” According to some accounts,
males over the age of 12 were systematically killed.
Riggs observed what happened to surviving women and children in the
tragic deportation convoys marched out of Anatolia. They were waylaid
by bands of Kurds and brutalized by the gendarmes, or soldiers,
dispatched to guard them. Rape and abuse were rife.
Left with absolutely no protection, at the mercy of those brutal
gendarmes, many of them criminals of the worst type, the women
and children were driven along with such rigor that many perished
from sheer exhaustion within the first few days. Of the treatment
received by the younger and more vigorous women at the hands of men
whose unbridled lust was no longer restrained by any fear of justice,
no detailed account need be attempted. The fact of so many suicides
at the [Euphrates] River is perhaps sufficient comment, though the
women who escaped from other convoys and came to us for relief told
of their own experiences of those nightly orgies in shocking detail.
Mary Gaffram, another American missionary, walked with a group of
Armenians leaving the central Anatolian city of Sivas.
As far as the eye could see over the plain was this slow-moving line
of ox carts. For hours there was not a drop of water on the road,
and the sun poured down its very hottest. As we went on we began to
see the dead from yesterday’s company, and the weak began to fall by
the way. The Kurds working in the fields made attacks continually,
and we were half-distracted. I piled as many as I could on our wagons,
and our pupils, both boys and girls, worked like heroes. One girl
took a baby from its dead mother and carried it until evening. Another
carried a dying woman until she died.
Jesse Jackson, the U.S. consul in Aleppo, sent this cable in September
1916 of what he witnessed by a town outside the Syrian city, where
the last phase of the campaign was playing out.
The impression which this immense and dismal plain of Meskene leaves
is sad and pitiable. Information obtained on the spot permits me to
state that nearly 60,000 Armenians are buried there, carried off
by hunger, by privations of all sorts, by intestinal diseases and
typhus which is the result. As far as the eye can reach mounds are
seen containing 200 to 300 corpses buried in the ground… women,
children and old people belonging to different families.
Jackson described the surviving Armenians he encountered as “living
fantoms.”
Ishaan Tharoor writes about foreign affairs for The Washington Post.
He previously was a senior editor at TIME, based first in Hong Kong
and later in New York.
CANADA DESIGNATES APRIL 24 AS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MEMORIAL DAY
01:36, 25 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan
The Canadian Parliament unanimously adopted Motion M-587 today. This
important motion calls on this and subsequent governments to honor
the victims of all genocides by recognizing the month of April
asGenocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month. The motion
was introduced by MP Brad Butt.
With this motion the House
(a) re-affirms its support for
(i) the Holocaust Memorial Day Act,
(ii) the Armenian genocide recognition resolution adopted on April
21, 2004,
(iii) the Rwandan genocide resolution adopted on April 7, 2008,
(iv) the Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (“Holodomor”) Memorial Day Act;
(b) calls upon the government to honour the victims of all genocides
by recognizing the month of April as Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation
and Prevention Month; and
(c) acknowledges the associated commemorative days of
(i) Yom ha-Shoah (Holocaust Memorial Day), as determined by the Jewish
Lunar calendar,
(ii) Armenian Genocide Memorial Day on April 24,
(iii) Rwandan Genocide Memorial Day on April 7,
(iv) Holodomor Memorial Day on the fourth Saturday in November.