Harut Sassounian: Turkish activist admits major blow when Texas recognized Armenian Genocide

August 16, 2017 By administrator

By Harut Sassounian

Armenian-Americans knew that they had scored a major victory for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide when Texas became the 46th State to recognize it. What Armenian-Americans did not realize is that the recognition by Texas had a devastating impact on the Turkish community’s lobbying efforts in that State.

Ferruh Demirmen, Ph.D., revealed in an article in Turkishnews.com the degree of despair he and his fellow Turks suffered in Texas when the State House recognized the Armenian Genocide on May 19, 2017. It is not very often that we come across a Turkish lobbyist who acknowledges total defeat at the hands of the Armenian community.

Demirmen starts by blaming his fellow Turks for “years of Turkish apathy and passivity, combined with Armenian aggressiveness and Western prejudice” for the passage of the resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide. He also credits the activism by the Armenian National Committee of America, Western Region (ANCA-WR), for arranging “tours involving Armenian activists at town-hall meetings,” visiting “State elected officials individually,” and establishing ANCA-WR chapters in “Dallas, Austin and Houston.”

The Turkish activist also credits the success of the genocide resolution to the support of “State Representative Scott Sanford, who is also the Executive Pastor of a Baptist church in Texas.” Having done an incredible amount of research for his article, Demirmen recalls that “at a gala organized by ANCA-Dallas in April 2016, Representative Sanford was awarded ‘Advocate for Justice Award’ for his ‘strong dedication to raising awareness about the Armenian Genocide.’ ” At the gala, a letter from Republican Senator Ted Cruz was read recognizing the Armenian Genocide, according to Demirmen.

On January 26, 2017, Representative Sanford introduced Texas House Resolution HR-191 to recognize the Armenian Genocide. The Resolution was first presented to the Trade & Intergovernmental Affairs Committee (TIAC) which called for a public hearing at the State Capitol in Austin on April 24. Demirmen regrets that the Texas legislature chose “April 24 for the public hearing, a date considered symbolic for Armenian allegations, [which] was the first sign that TIAC was pro-Armenian in its outlook.”

Demirmen is unhappy that “the hearing was closely coordinated with ANCA-WR and Rep. Sanford, and while the Armenian side had long known about the hearing, the Turkish side knew of the meeting less than a week in advance.” As a result, only six Turks attended the hearing (five from Houston and one from Dallas), while “a large crowd from the Armenian side was present. Also present [at TIAC] as an ‘observer’ was Rep. Sanford.” Demirmen expresses his regret that only four Turks, including himself, testified in committee, whereas 21 Armenians had testified. “The Armenian side ended up having five times more chances to present its case than the Turkish side. Thus the Armenian side dominated not only in terms of ‘presence’ in the hearing, but also in the testimonies given,” Demirmen admitted. “Among those who testified for the Armenian side were representatives from the Texas Holocaust and Genocide Commission, and Houston’s Holocaust Museum,” Demirmen reported. In addition, “hundreds of letters were emailed to state legislators. Many more phone calls were made by the Armenian community.”

Among the objections raised by Turks who testified against the Resolution, were: 1) the “impropriety of Texas legislators to intervene in matters affecting U.S. foreign policy, 2) the damage the bill could do to trade relations between Texas and Turkey, 3) the divisive aspect of the resolution, and not the least, 4) the fact that the resolution is defamatory toward Texas residents of Turkish heritage,” Demirmen complained.

None of these objections made an impact on the TIAC members who approved the Resolution unanimously on April 24. The Texas House took up the Resolution on May 19 approving it with 137 yes votes (eight members were absent and five abstained).

In utter despair, Demirmen describes the outcome as “a feat masterminded by ANCA-WR and endorsed by the Texas House of Representatives. While the resolution has no legal force, for all practical purposes, and for the public at large, it was a declaration finding Ottoman Turks guilty of a heinous crime.”

Demirmen acknowledges that “the Turkish response, at least at the grassroots level, to HR-191, was feeble. … Turks are no match to Armenians on activism on the ‘genocide’ issue…. The Turkish side has only itself to blame for its lethargy and passivity.”

The Turkish activist concludes his article by blaming the ATA-Houston (American Turkish Association) for not bothering to oppose HR-191. He calls the group, “the happy-hour-conscious association, founded in 1979, was not interested in the Armenian issue….”

Even though Demirmen blames Texas Turks for their inactivity, there is actually only one reason why the Resolution was adopted: Because it tells the truth! The State of Texas finally acknowledged the historical fact of the Armenian Genocide!

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com

Washington: Bono honors jailed Azerbaijani rights activist for seeking the truth (video)

November 13, 2015 By administrator

U2 frontman Bono delivered a speech at the Washington Oxi Day Foundation’s Fifth Annual Celebration, hailing Leyla Yunus, an Azerbaijani human rights activist who was sentenced to 8.5 years in jail for speaking out on the deplorable situation of human rights in Azerbaijan.

On 28 April 2014, Arif Yunus and his wife Leyla were detained at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport on their way to Doha, Qatar over allegation of spying for Armenia.

On August 13, 2015, the Baku Court on Grave Crimes sentenced Leyla Yunus to 8 years and 6 months in prison and her husband, Arif Yunus, to 7 years in prison.

“This is a moment to talk about peace as an action. It’s not wishful thinking. Creating peace is a gift to make as well as to receive. Azerbaijan is a beautiful country, run by an ugly dictator, who puts his own people, your people, our people behind bars for the crime of expressing an opinion and seeking justice. What a crime,” the singer noted.

Speaking about the plight of the human rights advocate who remains imprisoned in Azerbaijan, Bono said Leila wants peace and reconciliation between Armenia and Azerbaijan. She wants truth from a dictator, who loves to lie, he said.

“So, what Leila seeks should not be seen as anything other than fundamental right. And yet she is viewed as a traitor and is, as we speak, jailed. We, in this room, all know the free speech and expression are the building blocks of peace. People’s rights are still denied for so many people around the world. Leila, you are on the right side of history. Thanks for your courage,” Bono concluded, expressing hope to ever be useful to Leyla.

Astronaut, Senator and American hero, John Glenn, and the husband of Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh, joined other world leaders lauding the people of Greece in their courageous fight against Hitler’s Axis Forces and the Holocaust and celebrating those who today exhibit the same kind of Oxi Day valor. This was all part of the Washington Oxi Day Foundation‘s Fifth Annual Celebration on October 28, the 75th anniversary of that historic moment that changed the trajectory of the Second World War.

Armenian Activists Cite Harassment By ‘Suspicious People’ #ElectricYerevan

June 27, 2015 By administrator

By RFE/RL’s Armenian Service

A demonstrator holds an Armenian flag as others shout slogans during a protest against an increase on electricity prices in Yerevan on June 25.

Activists from the “Electric Yerevan” protest movement that has rallied thousands of supporters in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, in weeklong protests against electricity price hikes say certain “suspicious people” have begun to harass members of the group as well as peaceful demonstrators.

In a statement on June 27, the No To Plunder activists called on Armenian officials to pay attention to the issue and urged law-enforcement bodies “not to try to threaten us and to act strictly within the boundaries of the law.”

They did not disclose any specific cases of harassment.

Protesters insist that President Serzh Sarkisian revoke a June 17 decision by the state’s tariff-setting body raising energy prices by some 16 percent starting August 1.

They have said that they will not leave the avenue until Sarkisian announces the cancellation of the tariffs on national television.

They are also demanding that the current tariff be reconsidered and lowered, and they want punishment for the police officers who beat activists and journalists in a violent breakup of June 23 protests.

Armenian police chief Vladimir Gasparian has called on electricity price protesters who continue to block a central street in Yerevan to show “common sense” and end a street blockade in the capital city he said is “hindering” ordinary life.

Gasparian talked to several members of parliament who had come to Marshal Baghramian Avenue to stand as “human shields” between security personnel and the protesters to ensure riot police do not take violent action against the crowd.

He asked them to urge the young activists to unblock the avenue, which is one of the central thoroughfares near the state administration buildings of Armenia, including President Serzh Sarkisian’s offices.

“We show tolerance and exercise restraint, but you obstruct the vital functions of the city,” Gasparian said. “Now you form a ‘human shield’ as if we are enemies of our people.”

“Tell the young people that we perceive their action philosophically, but it does not mean that they must block the whole of Yerevan…. Police will not take action against citizens if they remain within the boundaries of the law. Do not block the city.”

Demonstrators on June 26 had briefly blocked a square adjacent to Baghramian Avenue, paralyzing traffic there. But after calls from police they moved out of the traffic junction.

On June 27, police said they had detained one demonstrator with a gun. They identified the man as Tigran Rostomian, 23, and said that his gun was confiscated after he was taken to a nearby police station.

In Gyumri, the second-largest Armenian city, where citizens have also held protests against rising electricity prices, police detained two people who took part in a recent march.

According to a report, one of them possessed a substance “looking like marijuana” and the other had a folding knife.

Police said they confiscated the drugs and knife and were investigating the matter.

In Yerevan, Sarkisian and Russian Transportation Minister Maksim Sokolov on June 26 commissioned a joint audit of the Russian-owned company that operates Armenia’s power grid.

Armenian opposition and civic groups have accused the Electric Networks of Armenia of corruption and mismanagement, arguing that it can operate at a profit even without applying for higher electricity tariffs.

Long Overdue?

Vaghinak Shushanian, one of the leaders of the No To Plunder group that leads the protests, described the move as “belated.”

No To Plunder activists continued to insist that Sarkisian revoke a June 17 decision by the state’s tariff-setting body raising energy prices by some 16 percent starting August 1.

They also are demanding that the current tariff be reconsidered and lowered, and they want punishment for the police officers who beat activists and journalists in a violent breakup of June 23 protests.

Sarkisian told the Russia official that while some analysts “try to look for anti-Russian sentiments” behind the protests against electricity price hikes in Yerevan, he is glad that the protesters themselves dismiss this speculation as “nonsense.”

He added that he endorsed the unpopular rate hikes as necessary because of the depreciation of the national currency and the increased cost of energy production.

Sarkisian said the government will subsidize the rising cost of tariffs for some 105,000 low-income families, or some 400,000 citizens, by increasing their social allowances.

Sokolov said the audit of the electric company’s activities will be organized by an Intergovernmental Commission, with the involvement of experts and representatives of all the parties concerned.

The process will be open and transparent, he said, so that the results of the audit will be clear and unambiguous to everyone.

Turkish troops kill Kurdish activist at Kobane border “Kader Ortakaya”

November 8, 2014 By administrator

By Alexander Whitcomb

Kader Ortakaya, a 28 year old graduate student in Istanbul, was killed Thursday by Turkish forces on the Syrian border. Photo: Aso Viyan

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkish military killed a Kurdish activist after she crossed into Syria in an attempt to reach the besieged border town of Kobane, local witnesses said. Report Rudaw

Twenty-eight year old Kader Ortakaya was shot in the head on Thursday when she a dozen other activists rushed across the Turkish border into Kobane. Her body was taken to a hospital inside the city.

The activists were able to cross because border police were distracted by a shootout between Turkish troops and armed Syrian Kurds on the other side of the border.

A group of artists belonging to the ‘Initiative for Free Art’ had formed a human chain near the border, and Ferhat Tunç, a prominent Zaza-Kurdish musician from Turkey, was giving an interview on television when violence began.

Turkish military fired tear gas on the crowd, who had been shouting slogans and flashing victory signs representing support for the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and their affiliate in Syria, the Democratic Unity Party (PYD). The PKK is considered a terrorist group in Turkey, where it has conducted a three decade long insurrection against the government, which has a long history of violently suppressing Kurdish rights.

Witnesses report that the military then began to fire live ammunition on the crowd, at which point PYD supporters on the other side of the border returned fire. Several activists then crossed into Syria, at which point Kader Ortakaya was killed.

Ortakaya was a member of the Collective Freedom Platform, a PKK-linked group, and a graduate student at Marmara University in Istanbul. She had been at the protests in Gezi Park last year, and had been monitoring the Mürşitpınar crossing and other areas on the Syrian-Turkish border for over three weeks.

The group of activists she was with had been watching closely for instances of cooperation between Turkey and the Islamic State (ISIS), as well as for ways to support the PYD’s militia—the People’s Protection Units (YPG)—and as many as 500 citizens who remain in the city.

The PKK-linked Firat News Agency wrote that she was “deliberately” targeted by Turkish military, which had been silent about the event.

Meanwhile Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga and Free Syrian Army forces have helped the local YPG fighters slowly reverse ISIS gains in the city.

“The situation is getting better,” says Ahmad Gardi, the Peshmerga commander on the ground in Kobane. “New weapons have arrived, and we will get more whenever they are needed. We will not leave until the city is wiped clean of ISIS.”

Gardi added that no Peshmerga had yet been killed, and that they have destroyed a number of ISIS tanks and artillery.

Polat Jan, a spokesperson for the YPG, told Rudaw that 250 YPG fighter have been killed since the siege began over seven weeks ago, but that the “existence of Peshmarga in Kobane changed the balance of power. We are advancing towards ISIS positions, and now the majority of the city is under our control.”

The majority of fighting has been in ISIS-controlled areas of east Kobane in recent days. A US-led coalition airstrike 25km east of the city on Thursday led some of the city’s defenders to believe ISIS had evacuated a number of troops, but the concentration of the estimated 3,000-4,000 ISIS militants around Kobane remains unclear.