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Activists in Turkey discuss steps toward Armenian Genocide recognition

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July 09, 2013 | 11:11

ISTANBUL. – The “Say No to Racism and Nationalism” movement in Turkey convened a conference on July 6.

161618During the event, the progressive activists of the Turkish society discussed the steps that need to be taken ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

The participants examined the activities that were conducted in the previous years and toward the recognition of the genocide, and a proposal was made to discuss the steps to be taken in the lead-up to the 100th anniversary of the genocide, reports Istanbul’s Agos Armenian bilingual weekly.

It was noted that the objective of this initiative is to bring the Armenian Genocide issue on the agenda and to hold an open discussion.

Also, it was decided to implement a number of steps to keep genocide recognition on the agenda.

Iranian-Armenians Want Rouhani to Recognize Genocide

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YEREVAN (Armenpress)—The major contemporary problem facing the Armenian community of Iran is socio-economic in nature, but the recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide is still the most important issue, the Deputy of the Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Karen Khanlarian, stated at the course of a press Iranian_Parliamentconference held on July 3. As Armenpress reports, Karen Khanlarian underscored that “the primary issue for the Armenian community of Iran and all the communities of the Diaspora remains the issue of the Armenian Genocide.”

Among other things, Khanlarian noted that the Armenian community expects Rouhani to keep the issue of the official recognition of the Armenian Genocide in the centre of his attention. “That’s what we shall demand from Mr. Rouhani,” Khanlarian underscored.

Hassan Rouhani’s victory in the presidential elections in Iran was close to western democratic standards, said the Armenian MP of the Iranian Parliament, Karen Khanlarian, at a press conference in Yerevan.

Reformist Rouhani’s victory will not lead to radical changes in the country, Khanlarian said. According to him, the President-elect is a reasonable politician, and one can expect tangible, tactical changes in the domestic and foreign policies of the country.

The parliament member said the Armenian community actively participated in the pre-election developments.

During the campaign, the Armenian community addressed the candidates with a number of demands, namely to recognize the Armenian Genocide and involve Armenians in the work of executive bodies.

“Now, after elections, we will try to establish contacts with Hassan Rouhani,” Khanlarian noted.

He recalled that, on the eve of April 24, the Deputy Speaker of the Iranian parliament condemned the Armenian Genocide, and that earlier President Ahmadinejad had denounced the tragedy, while former president Khatami had visited Tsitsernakaberd.

The Armenian community of Iran is estimated at 60,000-70,000. Many are leaving Iran due to socio-economic worries, Khanlarian said. Iranian Armenians mostly migrate to the United States and Canada, he added.

“Armenians of Iran have no political problems,” he said. Two Armenians are represented in the Iranian Parliament.

Khanlarian added that Iran’s relations with Armenia can develop and that new projects for economic cooperation can be initiated under the rule of the Iranian president-elect Hassan Rouhani.

“Apart from that, I believe that scientific ties between Armenia and Iran, and student and lecturer exchange programs in particular, will increase during his term”, the deputy told a press conference Wednesday.

Ex-Secretary of National Security, Supreme Council Rouhani, was elected to the presidential post in the 11th presidential election in Iran on June 14, where he polled more than 50% of the votes. Voter attendance was 72.7 percent in the election.

Khanlarian said Rouhani is focused on Armenia-Iran relations and positive changes should be expected in the bilateral relations during his term in office.

Armenia and Iran are planning to implement a number of major projects in the fields of energy and transportation.

Official: Armenians, Greeks must join forces against Turkish denial policy

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June 27, 2013 – 22:02 AMT

Armenians and Greeks must join forces against Turkish policy of the Genocide denial, deputy parliament speaker said.

163790On Thursday, June 27, Eduard Sharmazanov met with the ex-speaker of Greek parliament, the head of an Armenia-Greece friendship group Apostolos Kaklamanis.

At the meeting, the ex-speaker hailed friendly ties with Armenia, noting that in 1996 his country’s parliament unanimously recognized the Armenian Genocide.

Sharmazanov, in turn, spoke of the genocide of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians and other Christian nations in the Ottoman Turkey, noting that the National Assembly urged the parliaments worldwide to recognize the genocide of Christian nations, including Pontic Greeks.

Australian lawmaker urges for Turkey’s Genocide recognition efforts

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Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, Rev. Fred Nile delivered a solemn tribute to Australian ANZAC soldiers who witnessed and provided relief efforts during the genocides of the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian population of the Ottoman Empire, the Armenian National g_image-MPCommittee of Australia reported.

Nile’s message comes in light of recent accusations by Turkey’s Ambassador to Australia that these recorded accounts by ANZAC soldiers were somehow false, and it also comes at a time when Turkey’s Foreign Ministry has threatened to ban those Australian politicians, who supported recent motions to recognise these genocides, from attending Gallipoli commemorations of ANZAC Day in 2015.

Nile said: “As we head into the centenary year of the landings at Anzac Cove, it is not an act of friendship to declare that Australian parliamentarians who support motions recognising aspects of Australian history are not welcome at the commemorations at Gallipoli in 2015.”

Shortly after the Gallipoli campaign, Australian soldiers came into contact with the genocides of the Armenian, Greeks and Assyrians. Over 300 ANZACs were held as prisoners of war (POWs) by the Ottoman forces. These ANZACs recorded their experiences in detailed diaries and memoirs with vivid accounts of the genocide. Many of these accounts are now stored in the archives of the Australian War Memorial.

In his speech on the floor of the Legislative Council, Nile called upon Turkey to have respect for Australian history and to recognise the crime of genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire.

Nile said: “Modern Turkey and modern Australia must have a friendship that is based on mutual respect and understanding of historical differences. Turkey and Australia have overcome the legacy of the battles on Gallipoli, so we must overcome whatever difference of opinion we have about recent motions recognising the Assyrian and Hellenic genocides and reaffirming the Armenian genocide.”

ANC Australia Executive Director, Vache Kahramanian welcomed Nile’s statement paying tribute to the ANZACs and confirming the authenticity of their records.

Kahramanian said: “The history of the Armenian genocide is intertwined in the fabric of Australian history. Many brave Australian soldiers risked their lives to provide aid and assistance to survivors of the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian Genocides.”

“This history is clearly recorded in the archives of the Australian War Memorial and is a proud testament to Australia’s humanitarian assistance abroad. Denying the historical reality of the Armenian genocide also denies our proud Australian history, which should never occur,” Kahramanian added.

The NSW Parliament passed two unanimous motions in May of this year recognising the Assyrian and Greek genocides while reaffirming its 1997 motion recognising the Armenian genocide. The motion paid tribute to Australian ANZACs as well as Australia’s proud humanitarian assistance to victims and survivors of this genocide.

In response, the Turkish Foreign Ministry released a statement stating that those who were responsible for this motion will “doubtlessly be deprived of the hospitality and friendship” normally extended to Australians.

More specifically, the official statement says: “These persons who try to damage the spirit of Çanakkale/Gallipoli will also not have their place in the Çanakkale ceremonies where we commemorate together our sons lying side by side in our soil.”

ZEYNEP TOZDUMAN: CAUTION PARK TRAVEL WANTED OFFENDERS resistance (DİKKAT GEZİ PARKI DİRENİŞİNİN SUÇLUSU ARANIYOR)

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ZEYNEP TOZDUMAN Reporting from Turkey:

—————————English Version ————- See bellow Turkish version ————————

Within the past few days, the news media reported that the so-called art teacher functioning of racism and hate crimes, Yildiz Technical University, Faculty of Art and Design, Head of the Department of Art. Dr. Ahmet on Twitter for the participants of the actions of Atan’ın Travel Park, one tipçiliğin / racism / hatred is still dominant in this Zeynep TOZDUMAN Picturecountry is an indication that. The so-called beating of professor, Twitter “Jewish, Armenian, and to take an active role in acts of Rum’sanız Travel sympathize. Please search for your descendants, “he has shared photos.
We condemn this professor and art, in such form as long as the hands of racist minds come to this country, nor democracy nor peace.

Also in this country, I’d be a racist fascist, Jewish, Greek, Armenian, I’d rather be with honor. Those who think this person is going to be an academic, such as the so-called acts of resistance behind the person before the Kurdish people as terrorists attacked the Kurdish movement. Had enough of these blood suckers. And now the so-called university professor with official openings, Armenians, Greeks, Jews, shameless attacking. Ola ancient peoples that get behind the actions mentioned above. I ask;
1 – Armenians, Greeks, Jews, that they are not a citizen of this country, to join the resistance. Did baskılanmıyor minorities in this country for many years that the passing of resistance?.
2 – One of every four people in the informal müslimken 1915 Turkey these days, 1% does not even. These people need to ask what happened to the so-called professor? TC. According to the official description of the number of non-Muslim origin 70 thousand. I’m going to ask, the resistance of a single night of 15 June 2013 there were 70 thousand Uskudar district. Eagle, Taksim, Bosphorus Bridge, Gazi district, Maltepe, Yenikoy, Şişli, Beşiktaş, Istanbul’s Kadikoy other districts do not even need to write. Armenians, Jews, Rum, Turkey Taksim, this number even if they come from all over the integer result of the work yakalayamayacaklarken criminal / leader of these people do you see. How many did you sell your conscience salary?. This kind of description is to defend a kind of psychology of guilt.
3 – Travel Park” in” and vicinity which are subject to the resistance, was once the Armenian cemetery. Is this place for real owners learned that the Armenians? The functioning of such hate crimes. Comes to find the legal cover to these places, not enough we have usurped by manipulating the facts now appeared, to find a jacket Is fascism attack from these ancient peoples?. This emerging locations, facts, lies ördüğünüz your date of professor supposedly upset.
4 – Please search for your descendants, your words, your so-called eleveriyor of professor. Without realizing that you have accepted the idea of ​​denying the genocide 98 years, actually. How? It’s simple. Ancestors of the Armenians, Greeks, Jews, Assyrians, EZiD first, it is sticking to the Turkish and Kurdish identity is the result of this so-called professor notions of racist and fascist like you.

Of professor who also need to know that you’re, TC., UN Genocide Convention in 1948, the first to accept one of the countries with the USSR. Even the United States from Turkey in 1986 after the parliament approved the contract. TCY signed in 1948 by signing this Convention, adopted and punish the crime of genocide during According to the essence of the de facto Armenian genocide of 1915 is adopted.

Turkey denies the genocide 98 years, how well it does to try to endüstürisi a day will come when international agreements bind Turkey. As the genocide by denying the past in front of the world do not live in the dark and dirty, loud and civil history of mankind to ask for an apology to the rank of professor dear. The only way to prevent new genocides of the past genocides is to ensure that people convicted of conscience. After the first person finishes his hatred and his society, Zoom, Zoom will not. Do not hate people, people go, people to love people as much as we can kutsallaştırdığımız dear professor.

——————————– Turkish Version ————————————-

Geçtiğimiz Birkaç gün içersinde basında yer alan bir haberle sözde Sanat hocası olan ırkçılık ve nefret suçu işleyen  Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi Sanat ve Tasarım Fakültesi Sanat Bölüm Başkanı Prof. Dr. Ahmet Atan’ın Gezi Parkı eylemlerine katılanlar için Twitter’da yaptığı yorum,  tek tipçiliğin/ ırkçılığın / nefretin hala  bu ülkede egemen olduğunun bir göstergesidir. Sözde profosör  Atan, Twitter’da “Yahudi, Ermeni ve Rum’sanız Gezi eylemlerinde aktif rol almanızı anlayışla karşılıyorum. Lütfen soyunuzu araştırın” diyerek fotoğraf paylaşımında bulunmuştur.

Bu profösörü kınıyor ve sanat; böylesi ırkçı beyinlerin ellerinde şekil verdiği sürece bu ülkeye ne barış gelir ne de demokrasi.

 Ayrıca bu ülkede ırkçı bir  faşist olacağıma, Yahudi, Rum, Ermeni olmayı onurla tercih ederim. Sözde üniversite hocası olacak bu zat gibi düşünenler  direniş eylemlerinin arkasında önce terörist diye  kürt halkı şahsında kürt hareketine  saldırdılar. Yetmedi bu kan emicilere. Şimdide üniversitedeki resmi ağızları olan sözde profosörleri; Ermenilere, Rumlara, Yahudilere hayasızca saldırıyor. Ola ki bu eylemlerin arkasında yukarıda adı geçen kadim halklar olsun. Soruyorum;

1- Ermeniler, Rumlar, Yahudiler bu ülkenin vatandaşı değiller mi ki, direnişe katılmasın. Azınlıklar yıllardır baskılanmıyor mu bu ülkede ki, direnişe geçmesin ?.

2- Türkiye’de  1915’li yıllarda  her dört kişiden biri gayri müslimken, bu gün % 1 ‘i bile bulmuyor. Ne oldu bu insanlara sormak gerek sözde profosöre? TC’. nin resmi açıklamalarına göre orjin gayri müslim sayısı  70 bindir. Sormaya devam ediyorum; 15 Haziran 2013 gecesi direnişte bir tek Ümraniye ilçesinde  70 bin insan vardı. Kartal, Taksim, Boğaz köprüsü, Gazi mahallesi, Maltepe, Yeniköy, Şişli, Beşiktaş,  Kadıköy gibi  İstanbul’un diğer ilçelerini yazmaya gerek bile yok.  Ermeniler, Yahudiler, Rum’lar ,Türkiye’nin her yerinden tam sayı gelseler bile taksim’de bu sayıyı yakalayamayacaklarken neden işin suçlusu/elebaşısı  olarak bu halkları görüyorsunuz?. Kaç maaşa sattınız vicdanınızı?. Bu, çeşit açıklamalar suçluluk psikolojisiyle  bir çeşit savunmaya geçmektir.

3- Direnişe konu olan  ”Gezi Parkı” yer ve civarı, bir zamanlar Ermeni mezarlığı idi. Buranın asıl sahiplerinin Ermeniler olduğunu öğrendiğiniz için midir? Böylesi nefret suçu işleyişiniz. Söz konusu olan bu  yerleri  yasal kılıf bulup, hileyle gasp ettiğimiz yetmedi de şimdi gerçekler ortaya çıkınca, faşizme kılıf bulmak için midir bu kadim halklara saldırılarınız?. Bu yerle ortaya çıkan gerçekler, sizin yalanlarla ördüğünüz tarihi, altüst etti sözde profosör.

4- Lütfen soyunuzu araştırın sözleriniz, sizi eleveriyor sözde profosör. 98 yıldır inkar ettiğiniz soykırım düşüncesini farkında olmadan kabul ettiniz aslında.  Nasıl mı? Çok basit. Ataları Ermeni, Rum, Yahudi, Süryani, Ezidi olanlar,  bu gün Türk ve Kürt kimliğini taşıyorsa  bu sizin gibi ırkçı faşist anlayışlarınızın sonucudur sözde profösör.

 Ayrıca profosör olduğunuza göre şunu da bilmeniz gerek; TC., BM Soykırım Konvansiyonunu 1948’de, SSCB ile birlikte ilk kabul eden ülkeler arasındadır. ABD bile Türkiye’den çok sonra  bu sözleşmeyi 1986 yılında parlementosunda onaylamıştır. 1948 yılında imzalan bu konvansiyona imza atmakla TCY, sında soykırım suç kabul edilip cezalandırdığına göre ; de facto 1915 Ermeni soykırımını kabul etmiş oluyor özünde.

 Türkiye’de 98 yıldır soykırım inkar endüstürisi  ne kadar iyi çalışırsa çalışsın uluslarası sözleşmeler bir gün gelecek Türkiye’yi bağlayacaktır. As olan,  soykırımı inkar ederek dünyanın gözü önünde karanlık ve kirli geçmişimizle yaşamak değil,  tarihimizi yüksek ve medeni insanlık mertebesine getirmek için özür dilemektir sayın profosör. Yeni soykırımları önlemenin tek yolu ise,  geçmişteki soykırımların halk vicdanında mahkum olmasının sağlanmasıdır. Kin ve nefret önce insanın kendisini bitirir sonra yaşadığı toplumu küçülte, küçülte yok eder. İnsana nefreti değil , insana gitmeyi, insanı  sevmeyi kutsallaştırdığımız  kadar insan oluruz sayın profösör.

 

Scholars Speak Out Against Legitimizing Genocide Deniers

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[The] willingness to ascribe to the deniers and their myths the legitimacy
of a point of view is of as great, if not greater,
concern than are the activities of the deniers themselves.
—Deborah Lipstadt

denial-genocide-posterWATERTOWN, Mass. (Armenian Weekly)— The participation of a number of Armenian studies and genocide studies scholars in the conference “The Caucasus at the Imperial Twilight” in Tbilisi, Georgia, organized by Prof. M. Hakan Yavuz of the University of Utah and sponsored by the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) has generated a controversy in the diaspora as well as in Armenia over the enabling of genocide denial.

The individual and organization at the heart of this conference have for much of the past decade been actively engaged in efforts to extend denial of the Armenian genocide into academia as well as in the political realm in North America.

Since 2009, the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA), established in 2007, has pumped at least $900,000 into the Yavuz-directed Utah Turkish Studies Project as a continuation of the decades-long campaign to deny, diminish, or otherwise distort the history of the Armenian Genocide. Denial within academia has reached new heights through the publication of genocide denying books by the Utah University Press and other outlets and the organization of four (2010-2013) conferences of which the most recent is the conference in Tbilisi.

The TCA has also lobbied aggressively to block recognition of the Armenian genocide and has engaged in legal actions against, most notoriously, the University of Minnesota and its Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies (CHGS). The suit alleged defamation because the CHGS website had identified the TCA as an “unreliable” source on the Armenian genocide that engaged in genocide denial. The suit was dismissed and the dismissal upheld, with the decision stating that “the Center’s statement about the TCA is true and, therefore, not actionable.” In addition, in 2011 the U.S. House of Representatives Ethics Committee ruled that the TCA had provided some $500,000 in improper gifts in the form of legal counsel to now former Ohio Representative Jean Schmidt.

A key element of the TCA’s mission is to normalize the presentation of denial of the Armenian Genocide within academia. This approach seeks to establish the Turkish state’s denialist narrative as a legitimate historical viewpoint, as just another scholarly “perspective.” In order to succeed, however, they need legitimate scholars to function as “the other side.”

By participating in the Tbilisi conference, scholars, whether intentionally or not, are providing just that “other side” of the “debate” over the Armenian genocide, argued several prominent scholars contacted by the Armenian Weekly.

Prof. Richard Hovannisian
“I learned a long time ago that providing a platform for deniers, under any guise, is a serious mistake because it affords them a claim to legitimacy. It is no less harmful to the cause of serious scholarship to participate in a conference organized and sponsored by a deceptive university professor and an organization that has repeatedly supported the publication of denial literature and initiated legal proceedings against institutions that exclude denial materials from their programs,” said Prof. Richard Hovannisian, former holder of the Armenian Educational Foundation Chair in Modern Armenian History at UCLA.

“No matter how well-intended it may be, participation in such a conference confers on those behind it an unmerited status as partners in a scholarly dialogue when, I believe, the real purpose is to create doubt and undermine honest scholarly investigation,” added Prof. Hovannisian.

Prof. Roger Smith
Prof. Roger Smith, a founding member of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) and a former president of the association, concurred. “Invitations to conferences such as the one organized by Hakan Yavuz of the University of Utah, a university that has numerous graduate students who are churning out denial of the Armenian Genocide, are simply lures and traps,” he said. “Lures in the sense that it gives the appearance of welcoming dissenting views and appears to offer an opportunity to refute the narrative upheld by ‘historians who hold other views of what took place in 1915.’ It suggests a debate and an assessment of the evidence: a normal process in scholarly inquiry. Some scholars may, not unreasonably, jump at the bait, and hope to dislodge the claims of those who argue that the Genocide never took place, that the Young Turk regime is not responsible for whatever happened, and that, in any case, the term ‘genocide’ is not applicable for a variety of reasons. But the trap is when such well-known, non-denialist, scholars participate in such conferences, they inescapably offer legitimacy to the whole conference, to its framework. And that is precisely what the organizers seek: the appearance of legitimacy for bogus history,” he added.

Marc Mamigonian
Marc Mamigonian, the Director of Academic Affairs of the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), said, “Deniers have already hijacked the discussion of the Armenian genocide to an unhealthy extent through their efforts to manufacture doubt about established historical facts. Participating in forums organized and funded by individuals and entities who promote the Turkish state’s denial of the Armenian genocide only contributes to the myth of a scholarly debate.  This also undermines scholars who strive to create honest scholarship in the face of denial and intimidation. Denial—even if it carries a university imprint—must not legitimized and granted a place at the same table as scholarship, because it does not belong there.”

Prof. Keith Watenpaugh
Prof. Keith Watenpaugh, Associate Professor of Modern Islam, Human Rights and Peace at UC Davis, said, “The Turkish Studies Project (TSP) at the University of Utah, which is the sponsor of this conference is funded by the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA). As a federal judge recently ruled, the TCA is a denialist organization. It uses its money and relationship with the University of Utah to support Armenian Genocide denial through publications and through conferences like the one in Tbilisi. Given the genocide denial framework established by the TSP and its director, the Political Scientist M. Hakan Yavuz, the participation by scholars—Armenian or otherwise—cannot help but lend legitimacy to its broader denialist enterprise. I would not participate in something like this. I am reluctant to criticize the few Armenian scholars who did participate, because I stand in solidarity with all those who resist denial and its corrosive effects, even if I don’t agree with the way they go about doing it.”

Watenpaugh added, “Instead we should be asking questions about the continued relationship between the University of Utah and the TCA. It is hard for me to understand why an important American research university would lend its good name to a political organization that seeks to violate academic freedom by, for example, bringing suit against the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota, and by promoting the falsification of history through its grants and political advocacy. The real issue here is the fact that the University of Utah has provided an institutional home to genocide denial.”

“Armenians and others should be confident that there are more and better venues of interchange between Turks and Armenians in which elements of their shared past can be examined honestly and in a framework of legitimate historical enquiry. In fact scholarship on late-Ottoman Armenian society and history is one of the most vital fields of history today and the Armenian Genocide is firmly established in the global history of human rights and genocide studies,” Watenpaugh concluded.

Prof. Debórah Dwork
In turn, Prof. Debórah Dwork, the Director of the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University, told the Armenian Weekly that “there is no reason—none!—to engage genocide deniers, whether they are deniers of the Armenian Genocide or of the Holocaust, or of any other genocide.” She explained, “A conference or debate offers them an arena to make their arguments. Why would I offer them such an arena? Speaking to them, or arguing with them elevates them to the status of legitimate scholars, and their positions to the status of legitimate history. We are not equals and there aren’t two legitimate, equally historically valid ‘sides.’”

According to Prof. Dwork, “engaging with deniers allows them to set the issues to be discussed; it allows them to hijack the historical account. Why should I talk about the points they wish to raise? And please, would someone tell me why I should I waste my time refuting their arguments? Time is the coin of the scholarly realm, and if we spend it on deniers, we are not moving our research forward.” She concluded, “Engaging with deniers thus undermines history thrice over: it offers them a platform; it confers legitimacy upon them, and it diverts scholars from their own research which, of course, plumbs precisely the genocide the deniers refute.”

‘Genocide’ cartoon in French school shocks Turkish students

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Hurriyet.com.tr

Two Turkish students in a French school have reacted after a cartoon depicting a Turk carrying a basket full of skulls with the words “Armenian Genocide” written on its side was shown in class.

Turkish Scalaton CartonThe incident occurred at the College Anatole France high school in the city of Montbéliard in France’s Comte region.

A teacher displayed a cartoon during a geography and history class and asked students: “What do you understand from this cartoon? Why can Turkey not join the EU according to this cartoon?”

The cartoon depicted a mountain with the EU flag erected at its peak. Three stereotypical caricatures of Balkan peoples were drawn climbing the mountain. At the very bottom of the mountain was a “peasant” Turkish man struggling to get up from the ground with a very large basket on his back. The basket was filled with human skulls with the word “Turkey” written on it and the words “Armenian Genocide” above. Behind the Turkish character, a slender man with “France” written over his head was shown adding a skull to the already-full basket. Turkish students Muhammed Ali Erki, 17, and İsmail Erdal, 14, said they were shocked to see the cartoon. Erki reportedly asked his teacher, “We did not commit genocide, yet you accuse us of it. What do you think about Algerians?”

“You are right but this cartoon is not my idea, I need to give this class as part of the curriculum,” the teacher said in reply.

Erdal said he understood from the cartoon that “the French do not want to see Turkey in the EU.”

The students said they had not been able to concentrate on their classes after seeing the cartoon and added that were especially saddened to see North African students making fun of Turkey and Turks.

The families of the students notified the anti-racism COJEP International foundation. COJEP President Ali Gedikoğlu said they would bring the cartoon to the attention of the authorities in France and file a complaint with the French Education Ministry to have the cartoon removed from the curriculum.

Australian politician speaks on Western Armenia visit

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May 16, 2013 – 11:08 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, Walt Secord, who is also the Deputy Co-Chair of the NSW Parliamentary Friends of Armenian Group, delivered a powerful speech in Parliament recounting his recent visit to Western Armenia, armenia.com.au reports.

Walt SecordSecord made history in 2011 by becoming the first Australian politician to visit the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh. And in December 2012, Secord returned to Armenia to take part in an expedition to Western Armenia and visit towns and cities, which were completely emptied during the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923.

The tour, which commenced in Yerevan, took Secord north through Gyumri, into the heavily Armenian populated region of Javakhk in Georgia, and then onto the cities of Kars, Van, Ani, Idgir and Akhtamar.

Upon his return to Australia, Secord remarked: “My visit to western Armenia was the most interesting study tour I have undertaken in my life.”

The seven-day visit, which was organized and partially funded by the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia), allowed Secord to continue his “exploration of the Armenian genocide”, and allowed him to “see modern Turkey within the context of the interaction between Islam and the West”.

The trip put into perspective the extensive destruction of the Armenian populated regions during the Armenian genocide.

In his speech in Parliament, Secord said: “Of course, official denial is a vital component of oppression and genocide. This is why I will never apologise for my inquiry into the Armenian story or my support for the Armenian community. As I have said in Yerevan, in the Parliament of New South Wales and on many other occasions, it is repugnant for Turkey to deny the deaths of the 1.5 million Armenians.”

Executive Director of ANC Australia, Vache Kahramanian thanked Secord for his continued support to ensure the recognition of the Armenian genocide and for his continued support of the Armenian-Australian community.

“We are grateful for Mr. Secord’s continued efforts in ensuring the just recognition of the Armenian Genocide,” Kahramanian said.

“This trip allowed for the Honourable Member to experience first hand the destruction that fell upon the Armenian people nearly a century ago. Mr. Secord is a dear friend of the Armenian-Australian community and a true champion of human rights.”

Walt Secord will again visit Armenia as part of the New South Wales Parliamentary Friends of Armenian Group delegation in July this year.

Attorney Mark Geragos speaks at Watertown event

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May 15, 2013 – 16:02 AMT

Attorney Mark Geragos, the featured speaker on Monday, May 6, at the monthly dinner meeting of the Men’s Club of St. James Armenian Church of Watertown, MA drew an audience of over 500 people, The Armenian Mirror-Spectator reported.

158341The noted criminal defense attorney spoke about his new book, Armenian heritage, current events and the successful lawsuits against New York Life Insurance and AXA Corp. for claims on insurance policies issued to Armenians before the Armenian Genocide.

To help raise funds for their non-profit group, SOAR (the Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief) volunteers set up an informational booth and sold scores of copies of Mistrial: An Inside Look at How the Criminal Justice System Works…and Sometimes Doesn’t, a new book co-authored by Mark Geragos and Pat Harris.

Dwelling on current events ranging from the Boston-Watertown area to those in California, Geragos covered a lot of ground. He shared his thoughts on the mysterious Mischa – described by a relative of Marathon bombing suspects as an Armenian (Christian) who converted to Islam – and the insensitivity of such a statement coming to light during a time when Armenians commemorate the Armenian Genocide, and where so many Armenians live in Watertown where the bombing suspects were caught.

Regarding recent lawsuits relating to insurance policies issued to Armenians before the Armenian Genocide, he described the great effort and steps involved in documenting the insured, finding heirs, and how one insurance company marketed to Armenians and Syrians; his research found that about 40 percent of policies issued to Armenians had no claims at all since no descendants were left.

During the question and answer period, he suggested a few ideas for creating awareness of Armenians and issues of importance: developing candidates for political office, and engaging the media.