Category: News

Şişli Provincial Organization of HDP has been holding “April 23,5 commemoration” for 5 years. This year, the police on winterfered with the commemoration on the occasion of 102nd anniversary of Armenian Genocide. The commemoratias held in the office of HDP, reports.

Speaking at the commemoration, Nor Zartonk spokesperson Norayr Olgar stated that genocide is continuing today in Kurdish cities: “Peace is impossible without confrontation. Victims of the genocide are everywhere.”

Melis Tantan from Şişli Provincial Organization stated that they want to relieve the suffering caused 102 years ago and the social trauma to some extent. Stating that the genocide hasn’t ended in 1915, Tantan said:

“The genocide continues with the changed names of old Armenian neighborhoods and with schools and streets named after Talat Pasha, who is one of the perpetrators of the genocide. The genocide continues with the murders of Hrant Dink, Sevag Balıkçı and Maritsa Küçük and the impunity in such cases.”

Khloe Kardashian has marked the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian genocide with a powerful post.

The 32-year-old posted a picture of her and her sisters at the centenary of the genocide in Armenia to social media.

She wrote: “Today marks the 102-year anniversary of the Armenian genocide. In 1915, the Ottoman Empire committed mass extermination of 1.5 million Western Armenians. I am proud to be an Armenian!!!

“It is our duty to not be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation no matter their race or creed. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. It saddens me that history books don’t acknowledge such torture but my voice will be used to bring awareness to my people for being survivors!!!”

Khloe then shared a quote from Armenian-American novelist William Saroyan, writing: “‘I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump has avoided uttering the term “genocide” to define mass killing of ethnic Armenians at the hands of Ottomans in 1915, emulating his predecessor in describing the killings as “Meds Yeghern” — the Great Tragedy.

“Today, we remember and honor the memory of those who suffered during the Meds Yeghern, one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century,” Mr. Trump said in a statement.

“Beginning in 1915, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in the final years of the Ottoman Empire. I join the Armenian community in America and around the world in mourning the loss of innocent lives and the suffering endured by so many,” the statement released on Monday said.

Calling the 1915 killings as the “dark chapter of human history,” Mr. Trump said “we also recognize the resilience of the Armenian people,” as many of them built new lives in the United States.

“We must remember atrocities to prevent them from occurring again. We welcome the efforts of Turks and Armenians to acknowledge and reckon with the painful history, which is a critical step toward building a foundation for a more just and tolerant future,” the president concluded.

Photo: AP

By Chris Bohjalian

Adolph Hotler kept a bust of Ataturk in his office. Heinrich Himmler considered moving to Turkey in the early 1920s. And Rudolf Hoess, commandant of Auschwitz, admitted in his memoirs (penned while awaiting his execution) that he first killed while serving in the Ottoman Empire in the First World War. Make no mistake: The Young Nazis were serious fanboys of the Yung Turks.

The term “Young Turk” today, of course, has come to mean a hard-charging young executive, a bullish entrepreneur who takes no prisoners. A century ago, however, the Young Turks — Talaat Pasha, Djemal Pasha, and Enver Pasha — were the leaders of the Ottoman Empire and the architects of the Armenian genocide: the systematic annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians during the First World War. Three out of every four Armenians living under Ottoman rule were killed by their own government; the nation, outside of Istanbul, was ethnically cleansed of its Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek minorities.

And the Germans, the Ottoman Empire’s ally, were there. They saw it all. The cables from the German diplomats from Aleppo to Erzurum that chronicled the slaughter are as clear as the photographs that German medic Armin Wegner took of starving children and dying women. And while some of those Germans were aghast at what they were witnessing, others clearly were inspired.

After the war, Mustafa Kemal — Ataturk — finished the work of the Young Turks, turning his armies on the Armenians and the Greeks, forcing them out and creating what he hoped would be a homogenous Turkic nation. No minorities to muddy the agenda. Then, with Stalin-like fanaticism, his government began to rewrite history, denying the carnage. Armenians went from victims to traitors; the true story was erased. It’s why Turkey today continues to deny the genocide with pathologic obsession. The last thing they want is for Mustafa Kemel and the Young Turks to be saddled with the moniker “war criminal,” or their nation to risk the sort of reparations that accompany the term “genocide.”

Today is April 24, the day when Armenians around the world commemorate the start of the Armenian genocide: It was that night in 1915 when the Ottoman authorities rounded up the Armenian political, intellectual, and religious leaders of Constantinople and executed almost all of them.

To commemorate this devastating anniversary, the president of the United States will likely find yet another euphemism for the word “genocide,” because heaven forbid America should risk antagonizing Turkey by describing accurately what happened and assigning the blame where it belongs. Trust me, some poor White House speechwriter’s thesaurus is looking pretty dogeared right about now.

Congress has not formally recognized the Armenian genocide either, and I’m not expecting this one to put moral spine before realpolitik.

But, fittingly, Germany has. Last year the German Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of calling the massacres a genocide.

Historians often note how the last stage in genocide is denial, and that denial becomes the first stage in the next one. As a character in one of my novels remarks, “There is a line connecting the Armenians and the Jews and the Cambodians and the Bosnians and the Rwandans. There are obviously more, but really, how much genocide can one sentence handle?”

The Holocaust might have occurred even without the precedent of the Armenian genocide. But as historian Stefan Ihrig proves in his book “Justifying Genocide,” the Young Nazis were there when the Young Turks were at work. They saw how easy it was to blame the problems of the nation on one small ethnic minority, and then rationalize their murder. They grew bold. As Hitler said to his Wehrmacht commanders on Aug. 22, 1939, a week and a half before unleashing his Panzers on Poland, “I have placed my death-head formation in readiness with orders to them to send to death mercilessly and without compassion, men, women, and children of Polish derivation and language. Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”

That is precisely why today America must stop mincing words when it comes to the Armenian genocide.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian doesn not rule out a meeting with his Russian and Azerbaijani counterparts later this week.

“There is a general perception that such a meeting should be organized. When the final agreement is reached and the timetable is clarified, we will inform you,” Nalbandian told Orakarg program of Public TV.

“It is known that Armenia has always been and continues to be a supporter of  negotiations,” Minister Nalbadian said.

“It is also known that it has always been Azerbaijan trying by all means to move the discussions on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue to other platforms, thus trying to avoid negotiations and to refuse meetings organized within the agreed format under the aegis of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs, while putting the blame for that on the Armenian side,” the Foreign Minister stated.

The comments come in the wake of Azeri claims that Armenia avoids negotiations, but will have to return to the negotiating table.

Minister Nalbandian blamed Azerbaijan for the failure to implement agreements reached during negotiations, as it was the case with the agreements reached at last year’s Summits in Vienna and St. Petersburg.

“Azerbaijan always rejects the implementation of even minimal agreed steps, while demanding the maximum. Everyone gets the impression that Azerbaijan is not capable of negotiating. However, despite Azerbaijan’s attempts to refuse meetings,  Armenia has always been and continue to be the supporter of talks, as there is no alternative to the negotiation process,” Minister Nalbandian stated.

Armenia international Henrikh Mkhitaryan took to social media to commemorate the anniversary of the Armenian Henocide.

“24 April 1915…a dark date in Armenian history. My thoughts are with my fellow compatriots,” Mkhitaryan said in a Facebook post.

Armenians are holding a rally in front of the Turkish Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia.

French presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron has marked the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in a brief ceremony in Paris, Euronews reports.

Macron laid a wreath and observed a minute’s silence in memory of the victims.

If elected president of France in the second round of the country’s election, Macron has vowed to continue the fight for full international recognition of the atrocity as a genocide.

Speaking to Nouvelles d’Armenie before the Sunday vote  Emmanuel Macron pledged to continue the tradition to commemorate the Armenian Genocide if elected.

“The date of 24 April is a strong symbol: it commemorates the murder of 600 Armenian intellectuals on 24 April 1915 in Constantinople and the beginning of the first genocide. This is an important moment for the duty of memory and for the friendship between France and Armenia. I intend to continue this tradition by participating in the commemorations. I am also in favor of a day of commemoration of the Armenian Genocide being included in our calendar,” Macron said.

“In France, the penalization of the denial of the genocide could not be obtained and the decision of the Constitutional Council provoked much misunderstanding. I am convinced that we must continue to work in this direction. Law and memory cannot be incompatible,” the presidential candidate said.

Macron, a centrist with pro-business, pro-European views, will face far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the May 7 runoff of the presidential election.

Photo: Reuters

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a message to a religious ceremony held in the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul on April 24 to commemorate the victims of the “1915 killings of Armenians under Ottoman rule”, addressing Patriarch Aram Ateşyan, general vicar of the Armenian patriarch of Turkey, and citizens of Armenian origin, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

“This year, I once again pay our respects to the Ottoman Armenians who lost their lives under the harsh conditions of the First World War and convey my condolences to their descendants,” Erdogan said in the message.

“Turks and Armenians, as two ancient nations of this region, have shared a common history and culture in this geography, where they lived side by side for a thousand years,” he said.

The Armenian community made great contributions to the Ottoman Empire, as well as to the modern republic, the president said.

“Armenians, as equal and free citizens, have important roles in the social, political and commercial life of our country today, as they did in the past,” he said.

It is our common objective for these two peoples, who have shared the grief and happiness of centuries, to heal the wounds of the past and strengthen people to people ties.

Turkey has taken steps “to heal the wounds of the past” and strengthen the ties between the two peoples, Erdogan said.

“We are determined to advance our efforts and preserve the memory of the Ottoman Armenians and the Armenian cultural heritage in the future,” he said.

“On this occasion, I would like to emphasize that the peace, security and happiness of our Armenian community are of special importance to us. We have no tolerance for the alienation and exclusion of our Armenian citizens and for a single Armenian citizen to feel second-class,” he said.

“I convey my hope for the speedy conclusion of the election of the Armenian Patriarch of Turkey and wish you success in this endeavor,” he said.

“With these thoughts, I once again pay tribute to the memories of the Ottoman Armenians who lost their lives at the beginning of the 20th century. May millions of Ottoman citizens deceased under the difficult conditions of the First World War rest in peace,” Erdoğan said.