Art can be political’ – sculptor of Snowden-Assange-Manning monument

November 8, 2014 By administrator

Art is important when it gives the possibility for people to grow up, Italian sculptor Davide Dormino told RT. He has launched a campaign to raise money to erect a “monument to courage” – a statue of three whistleblowers, Assange, Manning, and Snowden.

The founder of the Frontline Club, Vaughan Smith, and his team were inspired to create the monument after Smith got to know Julian Assange, and “got to see some of the documents that he was releasing from Bradley Manning.”

“I felt that is very important that the public do something to support. The reality is that these whistleblowers are our friends… whistleblowers are sustaining democracies by providing us with accurate information that we are not getting from our rulers,” Smith told RT.

The sculptor, Dormino said that it is going to be a public art project, and in his view art can be political.

“I think it is very important for people to learn from art. Art is important when it gives the possibility to people to grow up,” he said.

The idea of the project – which was developed by Dormino together with American journalist Charles Glass first popped up about a year ago, he said.

The life-size bronze statues of Assange, Snowden, and Manning standing on chairs almost as if they were speaking out will also have an empty fourth chair.

“That is empty for reason,” said Smith. “We are hoping that a member of the public can stand on that … it is a manner in which we can participate in it,” he added. The monument is Dormino’s vision and it is really “a way for public involvement.”

Smith believes that we are living in the “PR century” that is why “we have so much reliance on these whistleblowers.”

“These whistleblowers have ruined their lives for us and I think it is time for us to respond and the world is full of people who wish to respond and to support them,” said the journalist.

He argues that the project will be welcomed by people who support whistleblowers and appreciate what they have done for them.

Dormino said that anyone happy to share the idea should give money. “We also are using crowd funding and people give money for this. I think that they will be happy because everyone of us wants to be courageous and courage is contagious. People need to do something different if we want to have something different,” he told RT.

Smith claims that the project is going well. He said that if they continue to get support they will confidently reach the £100,000 they need. “We have had a good start but there is more to do. We need people to continue supporting it,” he told RT.

“I think people are a little bit angry. People see that we are getting such poor information from our ruling classes. There are a lot of people out there who want to support, who want to stand on the chair and be counted,” he added.

He believes that it is a way we can communicate with whistleblowers and they are not going to be forgotten.

“We have about £7000 at the moment. We need £100,000,” said Dormino. He also claims that nobody in the team will be paid for their work. “We do this because we believe in an idea,” he added.

Glendale City Council Unanimously Approves Negotiations on Armenian-American Museum

November 8, 2014 By administrator

GLENDALE—All five members of the Glendale City Council voted on November 4, 2014, in favor of a motion to enter into an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement with the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of Western US (AGCC) for the ground lease of a 1.7 acre property located to the south of the Glendale Civic Auditorium and across the street from Glendale Community College.

Earlier this year, the AGCC announced its interest to build a Museum and Educational/Cultural Center in Southern California. After exploring numerous locations throughout Los Angeles County, the organization identified a site in Glendale with the characteristics for a world class museum and cultural/educational center.

In her introductory remarks, AGCC Co-Chair Talin Yacoubian observed “It is not often that one finds such a wide cross section of a constituency or community wholeheartedly supporting any single project, but the magnitude, relevance and importance of this project has created an indivisible bond, not only among the Armenian community but beyond.”

Representatives of the 19 organizations on the Board of the AGCC, its Landmark Sub-Committee, members of the Armenian Genocide Memorial Council of Glendale as well as several dozen community organizers and volunteers were in attendance at the Council meeting to express their support. The more than 100 people who attended the Council meeting applauded when the Council voted 5 – 0 to adopt the motion to initiate the exclusive negotiations.

“We have decided to build a Museum and a Cultural and Educational Center that strives to transform lives, and a Memorial Monument to fallen victims of crimes against humanity, to promote all that is just in the United States of America, and, ultimately be, a destination venue for all,” explained AGCC Co-Chair Garo Ghazarian in his remarks to the members of the Council.

His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian told the Council members that he was delighted that they have taken this initiative. He stated, “This Museum with its Cultural and Educational Center and Memorial will be a symbol of life; a symbol of resurrected life; a symbol of justice; a symbol to adhere to history and culture; a symbol of an important monument which will invite us all to embrace heroism in our lives.”

Western Prelate Archbishop Moushegh Mardirosian was out of the country on official church business but sent a message expressing his support. The Prelate’s message states, “All of these objectives and more, will be achieved by the synergy of the placement of a Museum, next to the Civic Auditorium and the Glendale Community College, which, will benefit all three establishments, as well as the surrounding neighborhoods, and the City of Glendale as a whole.”

Each Council member expressed support for the project and willingness to work with the AGCC during this critical phase of exploring the feasibility of building the Museum, Cultural/Educational Center, and Memorial on this site within the next few years.

Approximately 3,000 sq. ft. of this 1.7 acre property had already been reserved for the construction of a Monument to the victims of the Armenian Genocide and Man’s Inhumanity to Man. City Mayor Zareh Sinanyan informed the audience that he was pleased to have received the communication from the Armenian Genocide Memorial Council of Glendale expressing their willingness to join the efforts of the AGCC and to have the area reserved for the monument included in the ground lease negotiations.

The report presented to the City Council by City Manager Scott Ochoa and Director of Economic Development Philip Lanzafame states that the museum and education center is scheduled to include exhibit galleries, a theater, research space, classrooms, an outdoor plaza, and a memorial.

In his remarks, Lanzafame stated, “The elements and size of the proposed museum and education center will be further defined by the research, discussions, and reports that would occur during the term of the exclusive negotiating period.”

Although the term of the exclusive negotiating period is 12 months, the AGCC spokespersons expressed their desire to make sufficient progress by April 2015 to unveil the conceptual design for the Museum complex and construct an interim memorial on the site by the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

The Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of Western US helps oversee, coordinate and organize events and activities to observe the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in the region.

The representatives of the following organizations and institutions serve on the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee – Western USA: Armenia Fund – Western Region USA; Armenian Assembly of America; Armenian Bar Association; Armenian Catholic Church; Armenian Council of America; Armenian Cultural Foundation; Armenian Evangelical Union of North America; Armenian General Benevolent Union – Western District; Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region; Armenian Relief Society – Western USA; Armenian Rights Council; Armenian Youth Federation; Ignatius Foundation; Nor Or Charitable Foundation; Nor Serount Cultural Association; Organization of Istanbul Armenians; Unified Young Armenians; Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America; Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Inauguration of the foundations of the future memorial of the Armenian Genocide at the University of California, Fresno

November 7, 2014 By administrator

Hundreds of people have recently attended the foundation of the Armenian Genocide memorial at the University of California, Fresno. The memorial to be inaugurated next year the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

According to the newspaper “The Fresno Bee” among the public who attended the ceremony it was noted, in addition to members of the Armenian community, many political leaders and representatives of the University of California, Fresno. President of the University, Joseph Castro said in his speech “Our main purpose is education, which also corresponds to this initiative. Our history is full of students and teachers and friends without whom we could not become a university high level. “The representative of the Armenian Consulate in Los Angeles, Levon Minassian thanked the University of California for this wonderful initiative and the Armenian community who supported the project. “On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, the erection of this memorial reflects the importance of community and the Armenian-American life,” said Levon Minassian.

Krikor Amirzayan

Fresno State student explores her Armenian birthright

November 7, 2014 By administrator

By Marine Vardanyan The Fresno Bee November 7, 2014

Birthright Armenia. Those two words represent a program that is beyond description.

Last summer, I had the amazing opportunity to experience Armenia in its entirety — not as a tourist,

but as an Armenian, returning to her roots on a journey of self-discovery and enlightenment.

Birthright Armenia helped make my dream into a reality. To return to Armenia with a purpose. To immerse myself into the Armenian life. And to build

connections with young Armenians who share the same love, faith and vision for the country.

Birthright Armenia is a program that empowers young diasporans, ages 20-32, to

travel to Armenia as interns and volunteers in their desired fields. Not only does Birthright

Armenia connect the participants to internships, but they also provide opportunities to gain

unique insight into Armenia through forums, socials, community service projects, language-

lessons, and excursions.

From meeting with Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan, to visiting the 21st century Ayb

School, to cleaning up a park in Hrazdan, and driving a tractor with a wagon full of Birthrighters

through a village in Karabakh, Birthright Armenia truly made my summer an adventure full of

bright memories and new lessons.

An incredibly special part of my experience was meeting and connecting with volunteers from

all over the world, ranging from Germany, Egypt, Argentina, and more. We danced together,

sang together and learned together. I encountered both Armenians and non-Armenians with

fascinating stories and backgrounds, each unique, yet sharing the same passion for making

a difference in Armenia. My journey with Birthright Armenia gifted me with long-lasting

friendships that I will forever cherish.

Birthright Armenia also connected me to CivilNet, an organization that provides online advocacy

news and journalism in Armenian and English, covering local, regional, and international

stories. As an intern, I was given the opportunity to work on a variety of assignments

alongside journalists such as Maria Titizian and Salpi Ghazarian.

Every morning, I awoke with

excitement for what awaited me at my job. I strolled down Tumanyan Street towards Northern

Avenue, happily aware of the sunlight, of the tall buildings, and active life surrounding me. The

assortment of tasks, the spontaneity of each workday, and the atmosphere of the office made

CivilNet an ideal place that I grew to love dearly.

On my first day, I was sent out to cover a protest at the Afrikyans Home, a historic site that the municipality recently demolished.

On my second day, I translated an Armenian video report about the border-village of Chinari,

which regularly experiences Azerbaijani gunfire, and recorded the English voice-over.

Afterward, a viewer donated $3,000 to the family featured in the video. I translated numerous

articles and helped with several news stories, some which involved going out of town, for

example to a village in Armavir province for a first-aid class and to the village of Teghut in the

province of Lori.

CivilNet welcomed me with open arms and made my internship an eye-opening experience.

My assignments, interactions, and adventures allowed me to uncover the issues in Armenia

along with gaining real-life experience in journalism.

Birthright Armenia

has much to offer, however, it is how one takes advantage of the opportunities that produces

unforgettable and amazing experiences. Allow yourself to be inspired, expose yourself to the

new and unknown, and trust in your ability to make a difference.

To all my Armenian peers, I encourage you to look into this program. Whether it’s for a few

weeks or a few months — do yourself a favor by joining Birthright Armenia. I promise that you

will not be disappointed.

Learn more by visiting: http://www.birthrightarmenia.org/en/.

Marine Vardanyan is a Fresno State senior majoring in public health and minoring in Armenian studies and mass communications and journalism. She is the president of the Armenian Students Organization, editor for the Hye Sharzhoom student newspaper and radio host for the 90.7 KFSR Hye Oozh Show. She was born in Armenia and was graduated from Duncan Polytechnic High School in Fresno.

HESAP SORMADIĞIMIZ HER SOYKIRIM, BİR SONRAKİNİN AYAK SESLERİDİR,

November 7, 2014 By administrator

By ZEYNEP TOZDUMAN, Human right Activist Izmir, Turkey —- also see below google translated english version

Öncelikle ülkemde yaşatılan Ermeni- Süryani- Rum- Ezidi ve Kızılbaş soykırımlarından başlayarak, tüm dünyada soykırım yaşayan halklara ve inançlara yapılan insanlık suçlarını kınadığımı bir kez daha deklere etmek istiyorum.

Kurşun nasıl adres tanımazsa, soykırımlar da etno- dinsel adres tanımaz…. Ama illaki her soykırımda vurulan halklar, bir daha vurulur…

Dünya var olalı beri Habil ile Kayin’den günümüze değin, hep kardeş diye bildiğimiz komşu halklar tarafından yaşatılan katliamlar, günümüze değin sürmektedir. Dört kutsal kitapta yer alan yaratılış hikâyesine göre tanrı belki de ” yarattığı kullarını birbirini katletsin diye ” Babil kulesinin yapımından hemen sonra aynı dili kullanan insanların öncelikle dillerini karıştırarak, yeryüzünün dört bucağına bu yüzden dağıtmıştır kim bilir? Tanrı yarattığı kullarını neden savaştırır hiç anlamam, elbette konumuz bu değil. İŞİD ( İSİS )’in, Irak ve Suriye’de acımasızsa uyguladığı soykırımlar yüzünden dünya bu gün Radikal İslami ve Etno-dinsel soykırımları ciddi ciddi sorgulamaya başlamış gibi görünüyor. Radikal İslam şeriatına inanan İŞİD, yine Sünni İslam inancına sahip Kürt halkını vurunca ancak, radikal İslam sorgulanmaya başladı. Bu sorgulamayı İŞİD’in son olarak Kobane’de uyguladığı vahşete karşı direnen Kürt halkına yardım etmek için dünya ezilen ve soykırım yaşayan halkların desteğinde de görüyoruz. Bu gün Kobane’de, dört parçadaki Kürtler ve Kızılbaşlar başta olmak üzere (1915’de ataları özellikle Kürtler ve Türkler tarafından katledilen) Ermeni, Süryani, Ezidilerin yanı sıra Alman, İsveç, Amerikan, Afganistan, İsviçre, Fransa ve İngiltere’den gerilla olarak Kobane’ye gelen, milis gücü olarak İŞİD ile savaşanlar bir çığ gibi büyümektedir.

Kobane’de Kürt halkıyla birlikte direnen dünya halklarını, bu yazımda bir kez daha selamlıyorum ama özellikle Ermeni ve Süryani halkının gerillalarını çok daha fazla değerli buluyorum… 1915’de soykırımı yaşayan halkların Kobane’deki Kürt halkına ilk yardıma koşması sizce bir tesadüf müdür? Ancak acıyı yaşayan bilir, acının insanda ne büyük yaralar açtığını. Bu gün Kürt halkının yanında yer alarak, şehit vererek İŞİD’e karşı birlikte mücadele eden soykırım mağduru halkları işte bu yüzden yüceleştiriyorum. Biliyoruz ki İŞİD’e karşı Kobane’nin kazanımı tüm ezilen ve soykırım yaşayan halkların da kazanımıdır… Bu yüzden Rojava’da kadınlar devrim doğurdu. Kobane direnişi, bize bir kez daha göstermiştir ki kadın olmadan devrim olmaz. Kadının dünyadaki statüsünü ve varlığını yeniden sorgulayan bir direniş olması bakımından Kobane, sadece ezilen halklar için değil, kadının özgürleşmesiyle ilgili de bir tarih yazıyor. Özellikle Kobane, bu yüzden biz kadınların onuru ve namusudur… Kobane kazanırsa sadece insanlık kazanmayacak, dünyanın yarısını oluşturan biz kadınlarda kazanacağız ve özgürleşeceğiz.

Kobane, 1915’de de aynı acıları yaşayan bir coğrafyadır. Dün Kobane’de Ermeniler, Süryaniler ve Ezidiler bu gün ise Kürtler yaşam mücadelesi veriyorlar. Tek bir farkla… 1915’de Kobane’de, Ermeni –Süryani ve Ezidileri dünya yalnız bırakmıştı… Kanın düştüğü yerde belki de bu yüzden Narçiçekleri hep kan kırmızısında açıyor kim bilir?

İnancım o dur ki hiçbir bayrak, hiç bir din, insanın yaşam hakkından daha kutsal değildir. Dünyaya gelen her canlının ( Bitki- Hayvan ve İnsan ) yaşam hakkını kutsayıp, saygı göstermediğimiz sürece daha çok soykırım ve katliamlar yaşanacaktır… Din yerine vicdan müessesini hayata geçirebildiğimiz kadar acılarımız da özürlerimiz de az olur.

Ülkemizde yaşatılan, son yüzyılın en büyük soykırımı ise 1915’de yaşanmıştır. 1915; Ermeni, Süryani, Pontus Rum ve Ezidiler için sonun başlangıcı olmuştur. Bu tarih yüzyıldır hafızalarımızda hep kara bir leke olarak vicdanlarımızı rahatsız etmiştir. Soykırımdan özür dilenene, hukuksal olarak yargılanana dek de vicdanlarımız rahatsız olmaya devam edecektir. Bu gün Kesab, Musul, Ninova, Telafer, Şengal, Kobane’de yaşatılan katliamlar hep 1915’in hesabını soramadığımız için yaşanıyor. Hesap sormadığımız her soykırım, bir sonraki soykırımın ayak sesleridir.

Ah! Acılı coğrafyanın 1915 gülleri, yer, gök nasıl da kana boyanmıştı o günlerde… Acı çığlıklara mezar olup, Dicle ve Fırat kan akıyordu kan. Orhan Kemal’in bir kitabında ”Bereketli topraklar” dediği bu topraklar, kadim halkların Ahlarıyla sulanıyordu İslam elden gidiyor fetvalarıyla. Yeryüzü belki de Hitler’in soykırımına kadar, bu kadar büyük acıya tanık olmamıştı. 1915 Soykırımı yaklaşık 2 milyonun üzerinde insanın bu topraklardan kazınmasına neden olmuştur. Bu suç, bu vahşet, bu acı Anadolu denilen coğrafyada yaşayan, hepimizin.

Başta ülkemizde ve dünyada başka soykırımlar yaşanmaması için kamuoyunun yakından bildiği soykırımlardan bazılarını anlatmak istiyorum. Hepsini anlatmam mümkün değil elbette insanlık tarihine not düşülen ve bu gün için bilinen 60’ın üzerinde soykırım yapılmıştır.

Bu soykırımdan bazıları ise

Türkiye coğrafyasında; 1915 öncesi ve sonrası Hıristiyan halklara, Ezidilere, Yahudilere, Alevilere ve Kızılbaş Kürtlere uygulanan soykırımlar.

Almanya’da Adolf Hitler’in; Yahudiler, Romanlar, Eş cinseller ve Engellilere uyguladığı yaklaşık 6 milyon insana yapılan soykırım.

İspanya ve Amerika’nın; Yerli halk olan Kızılderililere uyguladığı soykırım,

Amerika’nın Japonya’da; Nagazaki ve Hiroşimo’ya attığı atom bombası ile uyguladığı soykırım.
İngilizlerin Avustralya’da; Yerli halk olan Aborjinlere uyguladığı soykırım,

Saddam’ın Irak/ Halepçe’de; Kürtler ve Süryanilere yaptığı soykırım

Orta Afrika Ruanda’da : Tutsiler ve ılımlı Hutulara yapılan soykırım. 100 gün içinde 1 milyon insan katledildi.

Burma’da Budistlerin; Müslümanlara uyguladığı soykırım.

Sırpların, Bosna -Hersek savaşında özellikle Srebrenica bölgesinde; Yerli Müslümanlara uyguladığı soykırım.

Norveçlilerin; Göçerleri kısırlaştırarak ve toplama kamplarında izole ederek yaptığı soykırım…

İsrail’in; Filistin ve Gazze’de, Müslüman halklara uyguladığı soykırım bu soykırım hala devam etmektedir.

Suriye’de İslami terör örgütü ÖSO’nun; Hıristiyan halklara ( Ermeni, Süryani, Arap ) ve Nusayri ( Arap Alevisi) inançlarına uyguladığı soykırım. Görüldüğü gibi hiçbir halk sütten çıkmış ak kaşık değildir. Geçmişte yaşatılan tüm soykırımlara karşı bu gün İnsanlığın yüceltilmesi için mücadele etmek gerek.

Ve ne acıdır ki bu gün yeryüzünde özellikle İslam coğrafyalarında, soykırımlar hala devam ediyor. Geçtiğimiz Haziran ayından bu yana soykırımlar tarihine bir yenisi daha eklendi. Tarih bu soykırımı yazmaya devam ediyor.

İŞİD terör örgütünün ( Irak ve Şam İslam devleti ) 2014 Haziran’ında Irak’ta başlattığı soykırımda: Şiiler, Süryaniler, Ermeniler, Ezidiler, Kürtler ve Türkmenler insanlık dışı bir soykırımla karşı karşıya kaldı. Tecavüzler, Kafa kesmeler, zorla sünnet etmeler, 5-6 yaşındaki çocuklarla İslam nikâhı, kadınların köle pazarlarında satılması, cizye vergileri, kilise ve manastırların bombalanması, 7000 kadının hala akıbetinin bilinmemesi gibi bir dizi vahşet uygulayan İŞİD’in uyguladığı soykırım hala devam etmektedir. Yaklaşık 55 gündür Kobane’de büyük bir direnişle karşılaşan İŞİD, halkların ortak iradesi karşısında mutlaka yenilecek ve gerileyecektir.

Yakın tarihimizde Orta doğu coğrafyasında, özellikle sınır komşularımız olan halklar, sözde Arap baharıyla başlayan süreçte çok büyük acılar yaşamıştır. Sözde Arap baharından sonra Suriye’de ve Irak’ta yaşatılan soykırım ise dünyanın gözü önünde vahşice yaşatılmaya devam ediyor.

9 Haziran 2014’de İŞİD’in saldırıları sonucu ilk önce Musul’un düşmesiyle başlayan bu kanlı süreçte Süryanilerin ana yurdu olan Irak- Musul- Ninova’da yaşatılan katliam ve sürgünler ile başlayan acı dolu günler, Şengal’de Ezidilere, Telafar’de Alevilere, bu gün ise Kobane’de Kürt halkına yapılan zulümlerle sürüyor. YPG-HPG- PYD- YPJ-PKK ve PEŞMERGE’nin kararlı direnişi sonucu Kobane’ye destek vermek zorunda kalan ABD, şimdi yarattığı canavarı İŞİD’i, Kobane’den çekmek için Kürt halkına büyük destek sunmaktadır. Önce savaştır, sonra da destek ver. Geri kalmış İslam ülkelerinde tam Amerikan yani emperyalist bir politika uygulanmaktadır. Bu gün bu politikalar yüzünden yüz binlerce insan yerinden, yurdundan edilmiş, zemheri ayında aç, perişan, sağlık ve gıda sorunlarıyla yaşamaktadır.

Yaşasın Irak’ta ve Suriye’de direnen Kürt halkı. Yaşasın Kobane’de Kürt halkına destek veren dünya ezilen ve soykırım yaşayan halkları…

ZEYNEP TOZDUMAN

*****

ASK ANY ACCOUNT mAdIğImIz GENOCIDE, THE NEXT VOICE feet

Firstly Eziu my country alive by Armenians and Syriac Rum- Kızılbaş starting from genocide, I condemn genocide crimes against humanity living people and their beliefs made all over the world once again until I want to.
Does not know how to lead address, genocide does not recognize the ethno-religious peoples address …. But necessarily hit every genocide, one more shot …
Let the world existed until today since Cain and Abel, he always massacres brother survived by neighboring peoples we know, lasts until today. Four holy books according to Situated creation story God perhaps ‘get slaughtered created by the servants of one another so that’ mixing languages, primarily of people who use the same language immediately after the construction of the tower of Babel, who knows so distributed on the earth’s four corners? Fight each other ever understand why God created His servants, of course, this is not our subject. Isidor (ISIS) in Iraq and because of that cruel genocide in Syria to implement radical Islamic world and ethno-religious genocide these days seem to have begun to seriously question. Isidor believes in the radical Islamic Sharia, Sunni Kurds, but when it hits the people of the Islamic faith again, radical Islam began to be questioned. This questioning of the end of the hearing to help resist against the savagery of the Kurdish people and genocide Kobani’de living world we see in support of the oppressed people. These days Kobani’de, mainly Kurds and Kizilbash in four parts (who was murdered by especially Kurds and Turks are the ancestors in 1915), Armenian, Syriac, EZiD as well as German, Swedish, American, Afghanistan, Switzerland, France and the guerrillas from the UK from Kobani’yi, who fought with the militia ISID has been growing like a snowball.
Peoples of the world who resist with the Kurdish people Kobani’de greet once more at this writing, but especially the Armenian and Assyrian peoples of the guerrillas of the more valuable I find … living the genocide in 1915, first aid people of the Kurdish people in Kobani’yi run you think it a coincidence? However, living knows the pain, the pain of what is human large open wounds. Taking place next to the Kurdish people these days, that’s why I yüceleştiriy genocide victims killed by people who are fighting together against the hearing. We know that the Kobani’yi against hearing gain for the recovery of all the oppressed peoples and genocide … That’s why women living in Rojava revolution gave birth. Kopana resistance has shown us once again that no revolution without women. Women’s status in the world again questioning the existence and terms of a resistance that Kopana, not only for the oppressed peoples, writes about the political emancipation of women date. Especially Kopana, so we will win the women’s dignity and honor … if only mankind Kopana win, we will win in the women constitute half the world, and we will liberate.
Kopana is a pain living in the same region as in 1915. Yesterday Kobani’de Armenians, Assyrians and Kurds Ezidis these days is struggling for survival. In one difference … 1915 Kobani’yi, Armenian -Süry new and EZiD had left the world alone … where blood drops so maybe blood red pomegranate flowers are always open, who knows?
It is my belief that no flag, no religion, more about human life is not sacred. Every living thing came to Earth (Plant-Animal and Human) bless the right to life, the more there will be genocide and massacres … as long as we respect our religion instead of suffering in our life so that we can spend the conscience institution apology would be less.
Kept alive in our country, and the largest genocide of the last century occurred in 1915. 1915; Armenian, Assyrian, and Pontic Greeks was the beginning of the end for Ezidis. This date is a century bother our conscience as a black mark on our memory always. Apologize for the Holocaust, as well as legal prosecution until our conscience will continue to be disturbed. These days Kesab, Mosul, Nineveh, Tall Afar, Sengal, who survived the massacres happening because we can not always ask for the account Kobani’de 1915. Account mAdIğImIz ask each genocide are the footsteps of the next genocide.
Ah! Spicy geography of 1915 roses, ground, sky was painted in those days how grave the bitter cry and bleed … is, the Tigris and Euphrates flowed blood blood. Orhan Kemal’s in a book, ” fertile land ” said this land was irrigated by the ancient peoples of Islam goes hand Oh the fatwa. Earth, perhaps until Hitler’s genocide, has never witnessed such a big pain. About 2 million people over the 1915 Genocide led to instill these lands. This crime, the cruelty, pain living in this region called Anatolia, all of us.
Especially in our country and I want to tell the public know some of the genocide that occurred closely to avoid another genocide in the world. Of course not possible to explain all of human history and made a note to genocide less than 60 known to this day.
This is some of the genocide
Turkey’s geography; 1915 before and after the Christian peoples, EZiD the Jews, Alevis and Kurdish genocide as applied to the Kizilbash.
Adolf Hitler in Germany; Jews, Roma, sexual spouse and applied to approximately 6 million people with disabilities as genocide.
Spain and the United States; Genocide implemented by indigenous peoples, the Indians,
America, Japan; Nagasaki with atomic bombs and genocide perpetrated by Hiroşimo at. In Australia, the British; Genocide perpetrated on indigenous peoples, Aboriginals,
Saddam’s Iraq / in Halabja; Kurds and Assyrians made to genocide
Central Africa in Rwanda: the genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus. 1 million people were massacred in 100 days.
Buddhists in Burma; Genocide perpetrated against Muslims.
Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the war, especially in Srebrenica -H; Applied to domestic Muslim genocide.
Norwegians; Nomads of the genocide committed by isolating kısırlaştırarak and concentration camps …
Israel; Palestine and Gaza, genocide perpetrated genocide against Muslims that people still continue.
Islamic terrorist groups in Syria FSA; Christian peoples (Armenians, Assyrians, Arabs) and Nusayri (Arab Alevis) genocide perpetrated their faith. As we have seen people come from no spoon milk is not flowing. In the past alive this day genocide against all humanity need to fight for the glory.
And what on earth is the pain that these days, especially in the Islamic geography, genocide continues. Last added another new date for genocide since June. History continues to write this genocide.
Isidor terrorist organization (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) 2014 genocide that began in Iraq in June: the Shia, Assyrians, Armenians, Ezidis, Kurds and Turkmen were faced with a genocide inhumane. Rape, beheading, forced on to be circumcised, 5-6 year-old child with Islamic marriage, the sale of women’s slave market, capitation taxes, the bombing of churches and monasteries, 7000 women’s genocide still applied by the hearing performed a series of atrocities like to know the whereabouts still remain. Approximately 55 days Kobani’yi Isidor encounter great resistance in the face of the common will of the people must be defeated and will be back.
In our recent history in the Middle East region, especially with our neighboring peoples, the process began with the so-called Arab Spring has experienced great suffering. After the so-called Arab Spring in Syria and is survived genocide in Iraq continues to brutally alive before the eyes of the world.
June 9, 2014 the hearing of the attack as a result of first starting with the fall of Mosul this bloody process Assyrians, the main dormitory Iraq-Musul- starting painful days with the massacres and deportations were kept alive in Nineveh, Sengal in the EZiD, Telafar in the Alevis this day continues with the persecution of the Kurdish people Kobani’de. YPG-HPG- PYD- YPJ-PKK and the remaining peshmerga have to support Kobani’yi results determined resistance in the US, created the monster now hear offers great support for the Kurdish people to take the Kobani’yi. First is war, then give support. Lagging is applied to a full American imperialist policy that in Islamic countries. These days, hundreds of thousands displaced because of these policies has been the dormitory, opened in the Zemheri, shabby, lives with health and food issues.
Hooray for the Kurdish people in Iraq and Syria resisted. Long live the world in support of the oppressed peoples of the Kurdish people living Kobani’de and genocide …
Zeynep Tozduman

Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide 38-Fikret Adanır

November 7, 2014 By administrator

By: Hambersom Aghbashian

Fikret Adanır (born Oct. 3, 1941 in Foca, Turkey) is a Turkish professor of history and philology. He studied English Philology at the University of Istanbul(1962-1964), worked as a Turkish Language Instructor in Vermont, USA(1964). During the years (1965 -1971), he studied English Philology, History and Philosophy at the University of Frankfurt am Main (M.A. in English Literature), then studied Slavic Languages (Russian and Bulgarian) (1971-73) and completed his post-graduate studies and research at University of Frankfurt am Main (PhD in History, 1973-77). He held many academic positions where he served as Research Assistant (East European History), University of Frankfurt am Main(1978-79), Assistant Lecturer (East European History), University of Giessen(1979-84), Assistant Lecturer (History Department), Free University of Berlin(1984-86), Professor for Southeast European History (with special focus on Ottoman-Turkish History), Ruhr University Bochum(1986 to Present), and visiting professor, Sabanci University, Istanbul (October 2002-February 2003). He is the author of many books and has a very long list of published books.(1)

Prof. Fikret Adanir participated in the Conference entitled The Armenians during the Collapse of the Ottoman Empire that was held at Istanbul’s Bogazici University in September 2005. In his speech, he said, ” a Turkish government may have to accept genocide accusation one day due to impositions. This may please some circles. But, I don’t think a concession made as a result of such impositions will be beneficial for the future of Turkish-Armenian relations.” Adanir also said that he was using the expression ‘Armenian Genocide‘ in his academic works, and added, ” the dimension of the 1915-16 relocation is far beyond than mass killings. A whole nation, regardless of whether they were women, men, elderly or children, were relocated and died on the roads. Their properties were seized, while those who survived this incident were not allowed to return.” (2)

The Danish Royal Library has, together with the Armenian embassy, held an exhibition on “The Armenian genocide and the Scandinavian reaction” .Due to protests from the Turkish embassy, the library’s director, Erland Kolding Nielsen, has agreed to hold an alternative exhibition titled, “The so-called Armenian genocide.”This decision has caused widespread debate and 37 Turkish intellectuals, including Fikrat Adanır ,Taner Akçam, Cengiz Aktar, Murat Belge, Baskın Oran and İpek and Oral Çalışlar, have in an open letter in Dec.2012 in Denmark’s leading daily Berlingske, called on the library’s director to reconsider his decision. They mentioned in their letter “By giving the Turkish government the opportunity to present an “alternative exhibit”, you support their policy of suppression and intimidation. The support that you are extending to a regime that has made opposition to confronting history and denial of the truth a fundamental principle is equivalent to supporting a regime of apartheid. We want to remind you that your support constitutes an obstacle to democratization efforts in Turkey today.”(3)

In his research ” The Reality and Relevance of the Armenian Genocide” ,1999, Prof Richard Hovannisian (UCLA), mentioned that “Fikret Adanir explains the lack of readiness in Turkish society to face the truth of the Armenian Genocide as being in large measure is the result of the “official history” taught and propagated in the Republic of Turkey. He offers an overview of Turkish nationalist historiography and how it shapes public opinion.”(4)

According to ESI (European Stability Institute), Turkish historian Halil Berktay, a professor at the prestigious Sabanci University in Istanbul told ESI in early 2009, “Every country has foundation myths. Turkey’s, however, thanks largely to the perseverance of Kemalist dogma, has been virtually uncontested – at least till the 2000s. Turkey was a late nation state. The hegemony of state Kemalism allowed foundation myths to survive longer than in most nation states. He added ” A few Turkish intellectuals, such as Taner Akcam or Fikret Adanır, addressed the Armenian issue in the 1990s. But they were isolated from Turks in Turkey. The press did not cover their views. Marginal journals or printing houses printed 1500 copies of one of their books, for example.(5)

According to “ www.newworldencyclopedia.org ” ,(Oct 16, 2006), “Some Turkish intellectuals also support the genocide thesis despite opposition from Turkish nationalists; these include Ragip Zarakolu, Ali Ertem, Taner Akçam, Halil Berktay, Fatma Muge Gocek and Fikret Adanir.The reasons are : First, they cite the fact that the organization members were criminals, and that those criminals were specifically sent to escort the Armenians. This is regarded as sufficient evidence of the government’s criminal intent. Second, the fact that Armenians living outside the war zone were also removed. Thirdly, it is argued that the thesis of simple relocation is flawed due to the absence of the preparations which resettlement would require. Fikret Adanir suggested that over a million lost their lives during the events.(6)

A group of academics, journalists, artists and intellectuals have released a statement condemning in the harshest terms what they define as expressions that include “open hatred and hostility” towards Armenians in Turkish schoolbooks, which were recently exposed by the newspapers Agos and Taraf. The two newspapers recently published reports on hateful remarks targeting Armenians in the textbooks used in history classes, according to Today’s Zaman.

A letter accompanying the text of the condemnation, written by historian Taner Akçam, notes that including such expressions as lesson material to teach children is a disgrace. Prof. Fikret Adanir was one of the academics who have participated in releasing the statement.(7)

——————————————————————————————————

1- http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/soeg/adanir.html

2- http://www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/Fikret_Adanir

3- http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/a-controversial genocide.aspx? pageID=238&nID= 37144 &News CatID =396

4- http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/history/centers/armenian/source109.html

5- http://www.esiweb.org/index.php?lang=en&id=322&debate_ID=2&slide_ID=3

6- http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Armenian_Genocide

7- Turkish Intellectuals Condemn Anti-Armenian Textbooks. Asbarez.com.Sept. 30th, 2014

Russia, Serbia To Hold Joint Military Drills

November 7, 2014 By administrator

By RFE/RL’s Balkan Service

November 06, 2014

BELGRADE — Russia and Serbia are preparing to hold their first-ever joint antiterrorist exercises on Serbian territory.

RFE/RL’s correspondent in Belgrade reports that six IL-76 aircraft from Russia arrived at a Belgrade airport on November 6.

Russian media quoted Defense Ministry officials in Moscow on November 5 as saying units from paratroopers in Tula will take part in the joint maneuvers, which are scheduled in the coming days.

The exercises will be held near the city of Nikinci in the northern province of Vojvodina.

Serbian military analyst Ljubodrag Stojadinovic told RFE/RL that joint maneuvers with Russian troops on this scale have never been held in Serbia.

He added that in holding the maneuvers, Moscow is trying to demonstrate that it has allies in Europe.

Turkey-bound ships take militants to Iraq, Syria: Interpol

November 7, 2014 By administrator

Interpol says terrorists use cruise ships to get to countries including Turkey to join Takfiri groups in Syria and Iraq.

Foreign terrorists are increasingly going to Turkey through booking tickets on cruise ships to join Takfiri groups in neighboring Syria and Iraq, Interpol has warned.

“Because they know the airports are monitored more closely now, there’s a use of cruise ships to travel to those areas,” Pierre St. Hilaire, the director of counterterrorism at Interpol, said on Thursday.

He added that the international police body has evidence that “the individuals, especially in Europe, are traveling mostly to [the Turkish coastal town of] Izmit and other places to engage in this type of activity.”

Turkey has come under international criticism for allowing thousands of foreign terrorists to join Takfiri groups such as ISIL, which has captured large areas across Iraq and Syria.

“It’s a global threat — 15,000 fighters or more from 81 countries traveling to one specific conflict zone,” St. Hilaire said.

He noted that some 300 militants from China have joined terrorist groups fighting in Syria and Iraq.

Speaking at an Interpol meeting in Monaco this week, Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble confirmed that Turkey was a destination for the terrorists.

The outgoing Interpol chief also called on countries to step up screening at “airports and, more and more, cruise lines” to halt the flow of terrorists to the war-torn countries.

“Originally, our concern about people on cruise ships — dangerous people on cruise ships — really focused on the classic sort of rapist, burglar, or violent criminal,” Noble said.

Interpol has “realized that there are more and more reports that people are using cruise ships in order to get to launch pads, if you will — sort of closer to the conflict zones — of Syria and Iraq,” he noted.

Many European countries have called on Turkey to tighten its border to block the entry of recruits from European countries into Syria. They have expressed concern that home-grown terrorists will return home with skills to carry out terror attacks.

The Takfiri ISIL terrorists currently control parts of eastern Syria and Iraq’s northern and western regions. They have committed heinous crimes and threatened all communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians and Izadi Kurds, during their advances in Iraq.

ISIL using Turkey as superhighway – analyst

November 7, 2014 By administrator

A political analyst says Turkey’s territory remains a major lifeline and the main route for the ISIL terrorists to move into Syria.

In an interview with Press TV on Thursday, Gordon Duff, a senior editor of Veterans Today from Ohio, said that the ISIL terrorists were “moving freely in and out of Turkey.”

“They are using Turkey as almost a superhighway,” the analyst said.

Duff said the government in Ankara has essentially turned the ISIL terrorist group into a “de facto” wing of the Turkish armed forces.

Turks are major business partners of the ISIL terrorists as they are in cahoots with the militants in their oil and gas theft from Syria, the analyst argued.

He also stated that Turkey was violating the international law by seizing oil and gas fields through its proxy forces inside Syria.

The Syrian military forces backed by pro-government fighters retook control of the Jhar and Mahr gas fields, as well as the Hayyan gas company in the east of Homs Province.

Duff said the ISIL militants are taking away large quantities of Iraqi and Syrian oil with the help of NATO and the government in Ankara.

ISIL reportedly controls some oil and gas fields in Iraq as well as Syria.

The ISIL terrorists control large areas of Syria’s east and north. The Takfiri group sent its militants into Iraq in June, seizing large parts of land straddling the border between Syria and Iraq.

Appalling silence over Turkey’s 1915 genocide against Armenians

November 7, 2014 By administrator

By GEOFFREY ROBERTSON The Australian November 08, 2014 12:00AM

Armenians bring flowers to a Yerevan memorial marking the genocide launched by Turkey on April 24, 2015, on the eve of the Gallipoli landings. Source: AFP

JUST before the invasion of Poland, Adolf Hitler urged his generals to show no mercy towards its people — there would be no retribution because “after all, who now remembers the annihilation of the Armenians?”

As the centenary of the Armenian genocide approaches — it began on April 24, 1915, the night before the Gallipoli landing, with the rounding up and subsequent “disappearance” of intellectuals and community leaders — remembrance of the destruction of more than half of the Armenian people is more important than ever. Yet, as Hitler recognised in 1939, the crime the Ottoman Turks committed against humanity by killing the major part of this ancient Christian race has never been requited or, in the case of Turkey, been the subject of apology or reparations.

The Young Turks who ran the Ottoman government did not use gas ovens but they did massacre the men and sent the women, children and elders on death marches through the desert to places we hear of now only because they are overrun by Islamic State. They died en route in their hundreds of thousands from starvation or attack, and many survivors died of typhus in concentration camps at the end of the line. The government ordered these forced deportations in 1915, then passed laws to seize the Armenians’ lands, homes and churches on the pretext that they had been abandoned.

The destruction of more than a million Armenians was declared a “crime against humanity” by Britain, France and Russia in 1915, and these allies formally promised punishment for what a US inquiry at the end of the war described as “a colossal crime — the wholesale attempt on a race”. But the Treaty of Sevres, designed at the end of World War I to punish the Young Turks for the colossal crime — now called genocide — was never implemented.

Modern Turkey funds a massive genocide denial campaign, claiming that the death marches were merely relocations required by military necessity and that the undeniable massacres (the Euphrates was so packed with bodies that it altered its course) were the work of a few “unruly” officials. In Turkey today, you can go to jail — and some do — for affirming that there was a genocide in 1915: this counts as the crime of “insulting Turkishness” under section 301 of its penal code.

Ironically, in some European countries, it counts as a crime to deny the Armenian genocide. The parliaments of many democracies — France, Germany, Spain, The Netherlands, Russia, Greece and Canada, for example — recognise it explicitly, as do 43 states of the US. The problem is that Turkey, “neuralgic” on the subject (the word used privately by the British Foreign Office to describe its attitude), has threatened reprisals and is too important geopolitically at present to provoke by stating the truth, lest it carries out threats to close it air bases to NATO and its borders to refugees.

Thus Barack Obama, who roundly condemned the Armenian genocide in 2008 and promised to do so when elected President, dares not utter the G-word. Instead, he calls it Meds Yeghern (Armenian for “the great crime”) and asserts that his opinion has not changed.

The same double standard has been adopted by the Australian government. Tony Abbott, when opposition leader, did not hesitate to condemn the Armenian genocide. But when the NSW parliament formally recognised it, Turkey threatened to ban MPs from Gallipoli for next year’s Anzac centenary.

That doubtless explains Foreign Minister Julie Bishop’s bizarre statement in June that the events of 1915 were “a tragedy” but “we do not recognise the events as genocide”. She added: “The approach of the Australian government has been not to become involved in this sensitive debate.” A sure-fire way of becoming involved in the debate is to refuse to recognise the genocide, and she was duly hailed in Turkey as a genocide denier. “Australian Foreign Minister: Armenians not victims of genocide” screamed the newspaper headlines in Istanbul.

Telling the truth about this genocide has, for the Australian government, never been more inconvenient. Although many of its members will be at the dawn service at Gallipoli on April 25 next year, nobody has yet been appointed to represent Australia at the international commemoration in Armenia’s capital Yerevan on the day before.

This is shameful because the Dardanelles landings were the trigger for the start of the genocide, and (together with Russian military activity on Turkey’s eastern front) were used as an excuse for the destruction of the Armenians, on the pretext that they might support the allied invasion.

Even today, Turkey defends the death marches on grounds of “military necessity”, as if the destruction of civilians far from the front, and the ethnic cleansing of women, old men and children, could ever be necessary to gain a military advantage.

The evidence of the government’s genocidal intent, in any case, is overwhelming, coming as it does from appalled German and Italian diplomats and neutral Americans, to whom the Young Turk leaders admitted that they were going to eliminate “the Armenian problem” by eliminating the Armenians.

There can never be justification for genocide. This was understood by Raphael Lemkin, the Polish lawyer who coined the word and worked tirelessly between the wars to have the annihilation of the Armenians recognised as an international crime. The Holocaust soon provided another example of the need for a convention to bind the world to act against governments that seek to destroy racial or religious minorities.

It is sometimes forgotten that Australia was first to take up Lemkin’s cause, through the foresight of Doc Evatt, who bonded with Lemkin and introduced the Genocide Convention in 1948 during his presidency of the UN General Assembly. Its definition of the crime, applied to the undisputed facts of 1915, produces a verdict of guilt that is beyond reasonable doubt.

It was, of course, a century ago: does it still matter? A century is just within living memory: this year a 103-year-old woman, once a small child carried by her mother across burning sands, took tea with Obama and the world’s most famous Armenian (Kim Kardashian). The mental scars and trauma for the children and grandchildren of survivors throughout the diaspora will continue until Turkey makes some acknowledgment of the crime and offers an apology.

International law may provide some assistance: there are assets expropriated in 1915 that can still be traced, and many ruined churches that can be restored and returned. Armenians want restoration of their historic lands in eastern Turkey, which is asking too much (although I have suggested that the majestic Mount Ararat, overlooking Yerevan, could be handed over by Turkey as an act of reconciliation).

But what they want most of all is what they are plainly entitled to have: an acknowledgment from Turkey, and for that matter from the Australian government, that what happened to their people in 1915 was not a tragedy but a crime.

Geoffrey Robertson QC is author of An Inconvenient Genocide: Who Now Remembers the Armenians?, published this month by Random House.