Turkish Hypocrisy Of Israel ?
Michael Coren is a brilliant intellectual, but with a double dose of humour and common sense. His columns are a must-read road map for anyone looking to make sense of current events.
AGHET – German filmmaker Eric Friedler “Armenian Genocide”
AGHET [produced by NDR (German public television)], a new award-winning documentary made by German filmmaker Eric Friedler compellingly proves the truth of the genocide of the Armenian people. Using the actual words of 23 German, American and other nationals who witnessed the events, and armed with archival materials, AGHET expertly takes on the challenge that PM Erdogan hurled at the world by stating: »Prove it.« AGHET incorporates never-before-seen footage and documents – making it one of the best researched and presented documentaries on the Armenian Genocide. More than just a historic retelling of the Genocide, the film also delves into the ongoing campaign of denial that the Turkish government has mounted since these events occurred in World War I.
AGHET was debuted on NDR in April, 2010. Friedler has assembled an impeccable cast, who bring to life the original texts of German and U.S. diplomatic dispatches and eyewitness accounts, interspersed with never-before-seen footage of the Genocide and its political aftermath. The film, applauded by Nobel Prize laureate Gunter Grass, has sparked renewed debate throughout Europe and has won several international awards. It is now being showcased around the world on television, in major film festivals and has been seen by members of the U.S. Congress. [Read more…]
BBC Correspondent, By Karen O’CONNOR Armenian Genocide [Video]
Any society is capable of atrocities. The Nazi atrocities were acknowledged by the Germans and now the German people are stronger and better for it. The Turks will be like the former Imperial Japanese Empire by ignoring the truth of their wrongs and they will risk commiting genocide again. All people sin against God and man, but better people will stand above their own sins when they acknowledge them. Better sooner than later. We must learn from our history or we are doomed to repeat it.
The taboo breaker: Turkish scholar speaks of cracks in the wall of genocide denial
Gayane Abrahamyan is reporting from Turkey with the support of the Global Political Trends Center (GPoT) and Internews Armenia
Turkish scholar Cengiz Aktar and a few dozen “taboo breakers” like him are changing many stereotypes about Turks, raising hopes that one day Turkey’s denialist policy regarding its past may end.
Aktar, 56, is one of the progressive intellectuals who recognize the Ottoman-era genocide of Armenians and take action to help the Turkish society face its past.
When in 2008 Aktar initiated the “I Apologize” campaign whereby for the first time Turks offered apologies to the genocide victims, Armenians, little did he think that the action would become a “tsunami” and would cause cracks on “the concrete wall of denial”. [Read more…]
Taner Akcam: “In Turkey, genocide denial is an industry”
10:44, January 26, 2012
Taner Akçam, Ph.D.
Born in the province of Ardahan, Turkey. Taner Akçam graduated from Middle East Technical University in Ankara and emigrated to Germany, where he worked as a research scientist in the sociology department at the Hamburg Institute for Social Research. Akçam earned his doctorate from the University of Hannover with a dissertation on The Turkish National Movement and the Armenian Genocide Against the Background of the Military Tribunals in Istanbul Between 1919 and 1922.
The following interview with Prof. Taner Akcam, the Robert Aram, Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marion Mugar Chair in Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark University, appeared in Le Monde on Jan. 7. The interview was conducted by Guillaume Perrier. Below is the interview in English.
Q. What is your opinion, not about the genocide denial law itself, but about the effects it can have on the debate among intellectuals and civil society in Turkey? [Read more…]