Rep. Adam Schiff, in an interview with Asbarez Editor Ara Khachatourian discussed the recent development surrounding the Armenian Orphan Rug exhibit at the White House visitor center next month, as well as Turkey’s efforts to thwart US-led operation to combat the Islamic State–ISIS
Armenia: National Archive Chief Says Enough Documents to Bring Turkey to Court
YEREVAN (Mediamax)—Director of Armenia’s National Archive Amatuni Virabian said Thursday that there are enough necessary documents on the Armenian Genocide in the archive to initiate an international court trial against Turkey.
Ahead of the Armenian Genocide centennial, the National Archive is going to publish collections on Armenia’s material and cultural losses over the Genocide years, Mediamax reports.
“We are willing to publish in the upcoming years all the documents on the Genocide preserved in the archive. It will be a few years’ work,” said the Director of the Archive.
In 2015, the Archive will also publish a collection of documentary materials on the property owned by the Armenian Church, including Western Armenian churches.
“We have a large number of documents on the ownership of our churches even in the Ottoman Turkish language. Now we aim to translate them into Armenian or English,” said Virabian.
According to him, work on creating an e-vault of names of Armenian Genocide victims is underway. “I don’t think we will be able to collect the names of 1.5 million victims. A long time has passed and we just started the work. But I think we will be able to publish around 300 thousand names. Presently, the Archive preserves files of around 30 thousand Armenian orphans whose murdered parents’ names are known,” said Virabian.
Ahead of 2015, the Archive will also start another project presenting stories of 100 Armenians who survived the Genocide, found refuge abroad and became recognized figures in culture, science or business.
The Armenian National Archive has prepared a Russian book titled “The Participation of Armenians in the First World War,” which was published in Moscow. A three-volume publication titled “The Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey” has also been released. The first volume has already been translated into English and Turkish, Virabian said.
Acknowledge ‘Historical Responsibility,’ German Foreign Minister Advises Turkey, Armenia
Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier offers a moment of silence after laying a wreath at the Dzidzernagapert Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan
YEREVAN (Middle East Online)—Germany’s foreign minister on Thursday offered Berlin’s experience in post-war reconciliation to Armenia and Turkey to help them forge peace a century after the Armenian Genocide.
On a visit to Yerevan, Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Germany’s long road to partnership with France after two world wars could serve as an example following the 1915 slaughter and exile of Armenians during World War I.
“When it comes to the bloody history of the 20th century, in which Germany started two world wars, we should not present ourselves as the schoolmasters,” he told reporters after talks with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian in Yerevan.
“But we can offer our experience.”
He noted that he had also told Turkish leaders earlier this year that Germany and France had worked hard to overcome the hatred of previous generations.
“After a difficult century, we have reconciled by not keeping silent about our historical responsibility” but by “working through the horrific things that happened,” he said.
“If our experience can be helpful, we are ready to offer it,” he said, citing youth exchange programs as one initiative that had helped to build bridges.
“But that must be decided here.”
Nalbandian said Armenia was ready to reduce tensions with Turkey but insisted the ball was in Ankara’s court.
“Five years ago, on Armenia’s initiative, we started a process that led to the signature of the Zurich protocols — to make the normalization of our relations possible,” he said.
“But Turkey is not respecting these agreements.”
Steinmeier also visited the Dzidzernagapert Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan on Thursday to pay tribute to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
Steinmeier was accompanied by Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Hayk Demoyan.
The German Foreign Minister laid a wreath at the memorial to the Armenian Genocide victims and paid tribute to their memory with a minute of silence.
Hayk Demoyan presented a copy of his most recent book titled “Armenian Genocide: Front Page Coverage in the World Press” and a stamp dedicated to Johannes Lepsius, a German missionary, orientalist, and humanist with a special interest in trying to prevent the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire.
Nalbandian on Thursday met with Steinmeier. Welcoming the guest, Nalbandian said with gratification that Armenian-German relations have been continuously developing in the last two decades, the press service of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Armenia told Armenpress.
Expressing gratitude for the warm reception, Steinmeier noted that his country attaches importance to expansion of comprehensive cooperation with Armenia and he has arrived in Yerevan for that very purpose.
Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide 36-Cengiz Algan
By: Hambersom Aghbashian
Cengiz Algan (born 1967 in Adana – Turkey) is a Turkish politician and a human rights activist. Grew up in Izmir and graduated from Gazi University-English language department and translated many books. He is the author of many books (1). According to www.sabah.com.tr (6.22.2014), Cengiz Algan is a familiar name in the Libertarian left circles in Turkey, and he is a Co-founder of the The DurDe civic initiative “Say stop to racism and nationalism”, which is totally an independent organization and was established immediately after the murder of Hrant Dink. DurDe has organized the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in Taksim and its against hate crimes . DurDe members are active in the Armenian issue, they oppose anti-Semitism and Islamophobia as well, and defend the rights of all disadvantaged groups (2).
According to http://en.hayernaysor.am/ (10.06.2013), The Turkish organization “Say no to racism and nationalism” intends to restore the Memorial dedicated to the Armenian Genocide erected in 1919 in the Gezi Park in Istanbul’s centrally-located Taksim Square but later dismantled. As reported by Armenpress, this was published by the Turkish information website demokrathaber.com. The Spokesman of “Say stop to racism and nationalism” Cengiz Algan reminded that the territory of the Gezi Park in Istanbul’s Taksim Square and the adjacent areas belonged to the Armenians. “In 1560 the territory was presented to the Armenians by the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent as a token of gratitude for his life was saved by an Armenian cook. A part of the park was occupied by the Armenian cemetery. In 1940s the Kemalist dictators snatched the territory from the Armenians”. He expressed his hope that someday the Memorial dedicated to the Armenian Genocide will be erected in its real place (3).
Cengiz Algan was one of the Turkish intellectuals who have signed an open letter to the Danish Royal Library, in response to official statements that the Royal Library of Denmark has agreed “to balance” an Armenian Genocide exhibition by allowing the Turkish government to mount its own “alternative” . The Turkish intellectuals mentioned that ” Turkish government has been suppressing historic truths and following a policy of denial for more than 90 years. The Turkish intellectuals have asked the authorities “Not to Stand Against Turkey’s Democratization and Confrontation with its History(4).
Under the title “Is Turkey Overcoming the Armenian Taboo?”, Orhan Kemal Cengiz wrote in ALMONITOT (April 22, 2013), “Turkey is changing from a country where the phrase Armenian question was never mentioned to one where groups are marching in the street using the term Armenian genocide“. Orhan Kemal added that “The change of language of the announcement used by the Dur De “Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism” initiative, which organizes these meetings, helps demonstrate the gradual erasing of the Armenian taboo in Turkey. In 2010, the announcement of the commemorative events began with the words, “This pain is our pain.” In the text, the events of 1915 were described as “the great disaster,” the Turkish equivalent of the phrase “Meds Yegern” used by Armenians. Cengiz Algan, spokesman for Dur De, said they received many threatening messages despite that “soft terminology.” The language became “clearer” over the years, and the number of threats declined. On the 2011 announcement, the title said only “April 24, 1915.” The text read, “This is the date when the extermination of the Armenians began.” The title of last year’s announcement read, “This is a pain of all of us,” while the text spoke of the tragedy of the Armenian people at length. The text of this year’s announcement is even more daring. It begins, “We are remembering the victims of genocide,” and it continues, “With the campaign of extermination that began on April 24, 1915, the Armenian people were eradicated en masse”(5).
In a press release -Paris 19 April 2014, it was announced that EGAM* and AGBU** Europe delegation of European Civil Society leaders to attend the Commemorations of the Armenians Genocide in Istanbul. The event was organized by their Turkish partners DurDe! and the Human Rights Association – IHD from April 21st to 25th. In Their appeal they stated ” In 1915, the implementation of a methodical and premeditated plan led to the extermination of one and a half million of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, in an attempt to destroy an entire civilization and to “Turkify” Anatolia. The Armenian people were the victims of a genocide which would soon serve as a gruesome reference for others to follow. The successive governments of the Turkish Republic have since fought to deny the dark side of the history of their country, and to make their people and the world forget that the genocide ever occurred. They added “Our shared initiative is one for recognition, solidarity, justice, and democracy.” This was signed by Paul Morin, Executive Dir.– EGAM, Cengiz Algan & Levent Sensever, Spokespeople for Durde! (Turkey), Alexis Govciyan, President & Nicolas Tavitian, Director AGBU (Europe), Ayse Öktem, Platform for “Confronting a Century of Denial” (Turkey),Charles Aznavour, singer (France), Bernard Henri Lévy, Philosopher (France), and many others. (6)
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* EGMA : European Grassroots Antiracist Movement
**AGBU : Armenian General Benevolent Union
1- http://www.vansiyaseti.com/van/cengiz-alganla-soylesi-h7114.html
2- http://www.sabah.com.tr/Gundem/2014/06/22/artik-o-mahalle-ile-birlikte-yurumek-istemiyorum
3- http://en.hayernaysor.am/
4- http://www.armenianweekly.com/2012/12/18/turkish-citizens-sign-petition-against-denialist-exhibit-in-denmark/
5- http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/iw/originals/2013/04/armenian-genocide-taboo-turkey-anniversary.html
6- www.egam.eu/…/14.04.18-CP-EN-European-Delegation-to-Commemora
Turkey 9 public officials face investigation for negligence in Dink murder
Former İstanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah is among the nine public officials who face an investigation on a charge of negligence in the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. (Photo: Cihan) report TodayZaman
Nine public officials, including former İstanbul Deputy Governor Ergun Güngör and former İstanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah, are facing an investigation on a charge of negligence in the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was assassinated in broad daylight outside the office of his Agos newspaper on Jan. 17, 2007.
The lawyers of Hrant Dink’s family had filed a complaint in 2011 with the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office against Güngör; Cerrah; the former chief of the İstanbul Police Department’s intelligence unit, Ahmet İlhan Güngör; and six other police officers on the grounds that those public officials were negligent in preventing Dink’s murder.
After the complaint, the chief public prosecutor’s office applied to the İstanbul Governor’s Office to ask for permission to investigate those listed public officials. However, the governor’s office did not give this permission to the prosecutor’s office. After the governor’s office’s decision, the prosecutors decided not to prosecute.
However, the Dink family filed an appeal with the Bakırköy 8th High Criminal Court to annul the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office’s decision not to prosecute.
On May 21 of this year, the Bakırköy court decided to cancel the prosecutor’s office’s decision not to prosecute.
After the decision of the high criminal court, the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office applied to the Justice Ministry, requesting that the Supreme Court of Appeals’ Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office appeal the Bakırköy 8th High Criminal Court’s verdict.
The Justice Ministry rejected this request, opening the way for an investigation into the public officials against whom the Dink family originally filed the criminal complaint.
This recent decision has paved the way for the judgment of the public officials on the charge of negligence in the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Dink.
Dink was shot and killed by an ultra-nationalist teenager seven years ago. The hit man, Ogün Samast, and 18 others were brought to trial. During the process, the lawyers for the Dink family and the co-plaintiffs in the case presented evidence indicating that Samast did not act alone. Another suspect, Yasin Hayal, was given life in prison for inciting Samast to murder. However, Erhan Tuncel, who worked as an informant for the Trabzon Police Department and was the man accused of initiating the effort to have Dink murdered, was found not guilty of the murder.
UN: Attacks on Iraq’s Yazidis may constitute attempted genocide
Iraq’s Yazidi religious minority is facing what may amount to attempted genocide. A week-long visit to the country revealed evidence that “strongly indicates” an effort to wipe out the community.
The campaign against the Yazidis by the “Islamic State” (IS) could constitute attempted genocide, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic said on Tuesday.
“The evidence strongly indicates an attempt to commit genocide,” Simonovic said after meetings with some 30 people – officials and displaced people in Irbil, Baghdad and Dohuk – during the week-long visit.
Hundreds of Yazidis are believed to have been killed when IS swept across northern and western Iraq in August. Many fled to Kurdish-held parts of northern Iraq, while some 7,000 are believed to have stayed behind and converted to the harsh interpretation of Islam promoted by IS.
Simonovic said it appeared that IS militants – who claim the Yazidis are “devil worshippers” – had the intent of destroying a religious group.
‘Bought and sold’
In a recent issue of its Dabiq magazine, IS reportedly boasted that it was selling Yazidi women and children as slaves, saying members of the group were singled out because of their unique customs.
Earlier this month, the Human Rights Watch group released a report saying abducted woman were subject to sexual assault and were being bought and sold by IS fighters.
According to the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the term genocide represents an intent to destroy – either in whole or in part – a national, ethical, racial or religious group.
The means of doing so, according to the convention, include the killing of members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members, and deliberately inflicting conditions that would bring about the destruction of the group.
They also include preventing births within a given community or the forcible transfer of children from the group to another group.
During the IS onslaught, thousands of Yazidis were trapped on a mountain near to their main hub, the town of Sinjar, for days in August. They were subsequently helped to safety in Kurdish-held areas with the aid of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
rc/lw (AFP, AP, Reuters)
A famous Australian lawyer Geoffrey Robertson presented in Canberra his book on the Armenian Genocide
The famously known for the Defence of Human Rights Australian lawyer, Geoffrey Robertson, who also works at the UN on legal cases has just written a book on the Armenian genocide. Geoffrey Robertson presented his book “An iconvenient genocide” (an inappropriate genocide) subtitled “Who now remembers the Armenians” (who today remembers the Armenians?) At the National Press Club in Canberra (Australia). The author presents compelling evidence of the reality of the Armenian genocide and claims that under international law and knowledge, qualification of “genocide” is irrefutable.
Krikor Amirzayan
Rouhani Invited to Commemorate Genocide Centennial in Yerevan
TEHRAN—Armenia’s Prime Minister Hovik Abrhamian had a meeting with Iranian President Hasan Rouhani on Monday in Tehran, where he presented Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian’s invitation to President Rouhani to join him in commemorating the centennial of the Armenian Genocide in Yerevan in April 2015. report asbarez
“We appreciate the close, good-neighborly relations with Iran rooted in the basis of centuries-old friendship between our peoples. Armenian-Iranian relations are on a high level and continue to develop in an atmosphere of mutual understanding,” Abrahamian said during the meeting.
President Rouhani noted, in turn that the Armenian prime Minister’s visit would contribute to the further deepening of friendly relations in different spheres. He said “Iran is willing to support the initiatives of the Armenian side and the implementation of joint programs.”
Abrahamian noted that Armenia’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union provides an opportunity to assume the role of a bridge between the members of the Eurasian Economic Union and foreign trading partners. He added that favorable conditions have been created in Armenia for making investments.
The Iranian President also hailed the role of the Iranian-Armenian community in the development of the country.
The parties referred to the Karabakh conflict and other regional issues. Abrahamian noted that Armenia is committed to the settlement of the Karabakh issue exceptionally in a peaceful way within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. The parties emphasized the importance of resolution of regional conflicts and stressed the need to ensure peace and stability in the region.
Assyrian Genocide Monument Unveiled in Athens
ATHENS (Greek Reporter)—A memorial for the Assyrian victims of the Turkish genocide of Christians during World War I was unveiled in Athens, Greece, a city that hosts approximately 8,000 Assyrians. According to estimates from that era, the Turkish genocide claimed 750,000 Assyrians, 1.5 million Armenians and 500,000 Pontic Greeks.
The ceremony for the unveiling of the monument was attended by four hundred people, including members of the Assyrian, Greek and Armenian communities, as well as representatives from the Armenian embassy. The monument was officially presented by the current and former Mayors of the Greek capital.
President of the Assyrian Union of Greece Kyriakos Betsaras opened the ceremony, while both the Director of the Assyrian Genocide Research Center, Sabri Atman, and the former Mayor of Egaleo gave speeches.
The three communities have cooperated in the past regarding the issue of the Turkish genocide. In fact, in 2010, the Greek Parliament held a discussion on the topic of “Three Genocides, One Strategy.”
Discussions about the erection of a monument began almost three years ago, and last year, the Assyrian Union of Greece’s request to build a monument to commemorate the victims of the Assyrian genocide was met.
This is the world’s 9th Assyrian genocide monument. Other monuments have been erected in: Jonkoping, Sweden; Liege, Belgium; Arnouville, France; Yerevan, Armenia; Fairfield, Australia; Wales, United Kingdom; Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois.
My film is not is not devoted to Genocide, says Turkish director (it is against Taboo)
Fatih Akin, the Turkish-German director whose movie “The Cut” stirred up anger over the Genocide issue in Turkey, has complained about facing threats.
In an interview with Evrensel, Akin said the film is neither political nor devoted to the Armenian Genocide per se. He said he was inspired by book written by Hassan Cemal, Cemal Pasha’s grandson.
“If the grandson of someone who was responsible for the era uses the word, why shouldn’t I use it? The book is on sale in book-stores and displayed on shop-windows,” he noted.
“I didn’t search the topic; it found me itself. As a child of a family from Turkey, it was always of interest to me, especially when it turned into a taboo. When something is banned, you become curious and studious. ”
Asked whether the topic still remains a taboo in Turkey, Akin said he sees that a lot has changed since the assassination of Hrant-Dink, the editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos.
“If, seven years ago when Hrant Dink was killed, you tried to speak about the Genocide in any café, those sitting at the table would show resistance. You can now speak about it without whisper almost everywhere,” he answered.
Akin blamed the Turkish propaganda for diverting the Turkish society from the historical truth.
“If one nation was permanently cheated by historians and politicians [who said] ‘nothing of the kind happened; it’s a big lie’ etc., and heard nothing else from families, textbooks and newspaper, I cannot blame them.
“But the politicians calls for leaving history to historians is wrong. History belongs to us, the people …” he added.
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