Terrorist State of Turkey suspended Kurdish monthly “Roza” for writing about the Armenian genocide

March 19, 2016 By administrator

arton123433-480x341 In Ankara Turkey has banned publication of the monthly “Roza” appearing in Turkish, Kurdish and English because he had referred to the Armenian Genocide in one of its articles. Information provided by the site Rudaw.net. For the Turkish authorities, “Roza” has become as its editor Mehmet Salih Erchari a “terrorist organization propaganda”. The court in Gaziantep having thus declared the Kurdish monthly as a terrorist propaganda support for the single reason that he had discussed the Armenian genocide.

Krikor Amirzayan

NICOLAS SARKOZY IN FRENCH OVERSEAS “I’m for the criminalization of denial of the Armenian genocide”

March 17, 2016 By administrator

image-14-465x290-465x290 Nicolas Sarkozy, who was Wednesday night with Manuel Valls the guest of honor at the dinner Crefom (Representative Committee of French Overseas), reaffirmed his support for a law criminalizing denial of the Armenian genocide. In his introductory speech, Patrick Karam, president of Crefom, asked a series of questions to his guests, including one on their position on a possible extension of the Gayssot law in denial of the Armenian genocide and slavery. In his speech, former President of the Republic then grabbed up the ball for recall, with conviction, his positon on the subject.

The voluntary evocation of the principled position of Nicolas Sarkozy on the issue outside the Armenian context, that it was under his mandate had been voted the Boyer Act, which was eventually censured by the Constitutional Council, chaired by the the time by Jean-Louis Debre. This invalidation took place in an extremely tense between France and Turkey climate. The diplomatic situation between the two countries has since normalized, whereas this penalty law promised by the left yet to find a realization, a year before the end of term François Hollande.

Several hundred people attended the second dinner of the French overseas, including many problematics similar to those of the Armenians. Also participating in the evening a wide range of personalities among whom were Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, Minister of Education, Mrs Valérie Pécresse, President of the Ile-de-France, as well as co-chairs of CCAF, Mourad Papazian and Ara Toranian.

Glendale Unified officially adds day off to commemorate Armenian Genocide

March 17, 2016 By administrator

BY Arin Mikailian Contact Reporter

Thousands brought flags, signs and photos to the March for Justice commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood on Friday, April 24, 2015. Glendale school officials wanted to locally brand the day, which until now was referred to only as a non-instructional day. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

April 24 will be now designated “Armenian Genocide Commemoration Day” in the Glendale Unified School District after a unanimous vote by school board members on Tuesday.

Since the 2013-14 school year, students and teachers have been given the day off on April 24 — globally observed as the recognition of the Armenian Genocide — because so many of them take part in genocide events, such as the annual remembrance march through Hollywood.

However, school officials wanted to locally brand the day, which until now was referred to only as a non-instructional day.

“Every calendar in the school district, it’s going to be printed ‘Armenian Genocide [Commemoration] Day,” said board member Greg Krikorian. “It’s going to be embedded in there.”

Glendale Unified is the first school district in the country to establish a day in remembrance of the genocide, which began in 1915 and resulted in the killing of 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.

Glendale has one of the largest Armenian populations outside of Armenia.

Krikorian said the genocide remembrance day is also about welcoming other ethnicities to participate and learn about the genocide, adding that while growing up in Hartford, Conn., he learned a lot about the local Irish and Italian populations.

“I think it’s good to know what your neighbors and co-workers went through,” he said.

Christine Walters, board president, echoed those statements, saying the commemoration day is also a lesson about man’s inhumanity to man.

“I think for us to be able to really embrace our cultural history and our collective cultural history is extremely important and really educating students about how things can get out of control,” she said.

While it is important to afford people the time to observe April 24 in their own ways, it’s also significant for the day to have a label, said board member Armina Gharpetian.

“Naming the day has a lot more value and meaning to our students, to our teachers, to the whole entire district and the city,” she said.

Elen Asatryan, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region, praised the decision during the school board meeting.

She spoke of the massive relief effort by the United States immediately following the Armenian Genocide in the form of aid, including opening 400 orphanages and caring for 132,000 orphans. Establishing “Armenian Genocide Commemoration Day” is a way of expressing appreciation for that aid, Asatryan said.

“You’re also commemorating those who have really risked their lives and gone overseas during that time to really help save the Armenian nation,” she said.

Armenian president We will never forget Greeks who lent us helping hand after Genocide –

March 15, 2016 By administrator

President Serzh Sargsyan hailed the dynamically developing Armenian-Greek relations, praising the local Armenian community’s role in the continuing partnership and dialogue.
Speaking at a news conference held jointly with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, the Armenian leader said that the nation will never forget the Greek people’s attention and care to the Armenian Genocide survivors in the country.
“We will never forget the Greek brothers’ assistance and the broad opportunities offered to the Armenians to live and create in the new fatherland. I highly appreciate Armenia’s principled stance on the recognition and condemnation of that extremely grave crime. Greece reaffirmed its commitment to that, adopting the Anti-Racism and Xenophobia Bill (9 September, 2014) ahead of our national tragedy’s centennial to criminalize also the Armenian Genocide denial. It thus addressed an exemplary message to the world civilization. In turn, the National Assembly of Armenia unanimously adopted the statement on condemning the genocide of Assyrians and Greeks in the Ottoman Empire. This vividly proves that the spirit of solidarity has for centuries united and will keep uniting our peoples,” the president said.

Turkey blackmails Bulgarian municipalities over the Armenian genocide

March 15, 2016 By administrator

By Georgi Gotev | EurActiv.com

armenian_genocide Three Bulgarian municipalities will not receive EU funding under the cross-border cooperation programs between Bulgaria and Turkey. The reason is that Turkey bans partnerships with municipalities who recognise the Armenian genocide.

The Bulgarian municipalities of Burgas, Haskovo and Svilengrad stand no chance to receive EU money, because of obstructions by Turkey, a non-EU member state, the Bulgarian public TV channel bTV announced yesterday (14 March).

The ban comes from the Turkish foreign ministry, which prohibits working with municipalities who recognise the Armenian genocide of 1915, when hundreds of thousands of Christian Armenians died during forced removals by the Ottoman army from what is now Eastern Turkey.

As Bulgarian municipalities are unable to find a Turkish partner to implement joint projects, they are bound to lose several millions of euros. The most important projects concern the environment, for the prevention and mitigation of natural disasters.

For Bulgaria, the issue constitutes both a diplomatic and economic scandal. In the region of Haskovo, every winter, rivers destroy bridges and dams, and flood villages. Local government lacks the resources to do preventative work. That’s why it was counting on the EU-funded regional partnership with the Turkish municipality of Edirne to do the required work. But now the project is dead, because Turkey reneged on cooperating.

The Mayor of Edirne, Recep Gürkan, is quoted as saying that the decision of the Turkish foreign ministry is final:

“With Haskovo we worked very well, but we already have a ban from our Foreign Ministry. The reason is a decision of the Municipal Council of Haskovo from last year, who used the motif of the Armenian genocide to name a park in the city,” Gürkan said.

Declarations condemning the Armenian genocide, adopted by the municipal councils of Bourgas and Svilengrad, have put these municipalities on Turkey’s black list. The Bulgarian Environment Ministry was informed of the case.

Speaking to bTV, Gürkan advised the Bulgarian municipalities to vote again. If the municipal council of Haskovo rescind using the Armenian genocide as a motif for naming a park, cooperation can start again, he said. And he added that the Bulgarian municipality of Yambol had done precisely that.

“Nobody can interfere (with) how we will name a street or a park,” retorted the mayor of Haskovo Dobri Belivanov.

Before prohibiting Edirne to work with these communities on projects, Turkey formally ended diplomatic relations with their mayors. With Haskovo, for example, the twinning was frozen.

Brussels can’t do anything

Apparently the EU can only stop the financing, because trans-border projects require a partner in the neighbouring country. Therefore the risk that the Bulgarian municipalities would lose EU funding because of the political games played by Ankara is real, bTV reports.

Turkish-Bulgarian relations have deteriorated recently. Bulgaria has declared a Turkish diplomat working at the Consulate General in Burgas a persona non-grata. A government source said the Turkish diplomat carried out activities which breach the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Bulgaria expels Turkish diplomat for conducting Islamist activity

Bulgaria has declared a Turkish diplomat working at the Consulate General in Burgas persona non-grata, the Bulgarian press reported yesterday (21 February).

Background

Hundreds of thousands of Christian Armenians died during forced removals in 1915 by the Ottoman army from what is now Eastern Turkey, but Turkey denies that the move constituted genocide.

The country’s attitude vis-à-vis the bloodshed in 1915 is one of the defining aspects of modern Turkish diplomacy, with any use of the term ‘genocide’ either within Turkey or abroad swiftly denounced by Ankara.

Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was killed in 2007 after openly saying that the events of 1915 were genocide.

On April 24 Armenians will gather on Times Square in New York to commemorate the 101th anniversary of the genocide

March 10, 2016 By administrator

arton123074-480x233 April 24 next 2 hours to 4 am, thousands of Armenians from the United States will gather on the famous Times Square (Square) in New York to commemorate the 101th anniversary of the first genocide of the 20th century. “The son and daughters of Vartan” who organize the event indicate that during this “genocide remembrance Month” other events will be organized. Denis Papazian founder of the chair of Armenology at the University of Michigan reported that US President Barack Obama delivered in Armenian the word “Medz Yeghern” (Մեծ եղեռն) avoiding the term “genocide”, but April 24 is officially declared the day of remembrance and commemoration. “The position of the presidents of the United States is somewhat cautious because the country feared the reaction of Turkey as an important partner in the Middle East,” said D. Papazian to justify the official position of Washington.

Krikor Amirzayan

The Three Monkeys of Gallipoli

March 5, 2016 By administrator

By Len Wicks/Tigran Hakobyan

By Len Wicks,

Privates Key, Turnbill and Cameron are deaf, dumb and blind, while WWI allies Canada, France and Russia (and even the Ottoman’s allies Austria and Germany) have the courage to recognise the worst of crimes – genocide.

Turkey effectively blames invading nations like New Zealand, Australia and the UK for the deaths, saying it had to ‘deport’ its Christian citizens in case they supported the Allies (‘deport’ means to kill more than 1.5 million Armenian children, women, aged and unarmed male citizens by burning, crucifixion, bayonets and other gruesome means, steal their property and crush more than 2,000 churches).

The truth is that Turks have been massacring indigenous Christians since they invaded Asia Minor in 1064 because of their Christian faith, while New Zealand, Australia and the UK shamefully appease Turkey, instead of defending human rights.

Lest we Forget (the genocide of Christians – Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks).

Note to veterans: the NZ, Australian and British cartoon figures are representing political leaders, not courageous Gallipoli soldiers, many of whom recognised this crime against humanity.

Note to publishers: the cartoon may be freely reproduced but must have the following credit: Len Wicks/Tigran Hakobyan. A larger image is available at http://originsdiscovery.com/Cartoon.JPG.

GERMANY Armenian Genocide: A funny handshake Bundestag

February 28, 2016 By administrator

arton122603-480x271 The debate in the Bundestag on the proposal of the Greens on the Armenian genocide did take place Thursday afternoon, however, because the future EU-Turkey summit on refugees no vote was taken but the governing parties have promised that a vote will take place shortly.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung spoke yesterday the episode in an article entitled “a hard handshake in difficult times.”

The newspaper says “see a handshake between the opposition and the government is very rare in a plenary session of the Bundestag. Sometimes these handshakes represent a change of power – as was the case when Chancellor Helmut Schmidt SPD was ousted by a vote of no confidence and approached the winner Helmut Kohl and he silently shook hands firmly . This happened once in Bonn. Now, in Berlin, there was a special moment between Volker Kauder, head of the group of the Union in power, and Cem Özdemir, head of the Green Party in opposition. The handshake of the two did not take place as part of a transfer of power – it appeared a promising future. “

To log all stakeholders in the debate in the Bundestag have qualified the massacre of Armenians in 1915 as genocide and an agreement was reached for a joint resolution to be adopted “before the summer”.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said “during the debate in plenary on Thursday experienced parliamentarians later said they felt a mixture of pride and enthusiasm, something they had not seen in twenty years as deputy”.

Summarizing the trade paper said “Cem Özdemir finally got up, walked to Kauder, expressed its conditions, Kauder nodded several times, then the two men while looking seriously exchanged a long handshake. The resolution was withdrawn. A small sensation, this debate is not ritualized brawl, but in a struggle to find the best solution. “

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung concludes that a person was “amused” by this gesture of brotherhood and Kauders Özdemir. “Angela Merkel fears a harsh reaction of the Turks.”

Deputy parliament speaker hails German MP’s stance on Genocide

February 26, 2016 By administrator

206955 Deputy Speaker of Armenia’s National Assembly Eduard Sharmazanov met on Thursday, February 25 with the Chairman of Germany’s Alliance 90/The Greens Cem Ozdemir, who authored the resolution on the Armenian Genocide.

The German Bundestag held a debate on the Armenian Genocide Thursday, February 25 and decided to postpone the vote for the new Armenian Genocide bill proposed by the Alliance 90/The Greens political party. The ruling coalition said it’s not the proper time to adopt the bill and proposed to continue the discussions in the coming weeks to prepare a new finalized document by April 24, 2016.

At the meeting, the Armenian official hailed Ozdemir’s stance on the Genocide, also stressing the need for the condemnation of crimes against humanity by both the Bundestag and the international community.

The parties agreed that the German parliament’s discussion of the issue is a pledge of the Bundestag’s inevitable condemnation.

Addressing the Bundestag Thursday, Ozdemir said “the authorities have no common stance on the issue out of the fear to irritate Erdogan. “I don’t understand why we cannot vote for this bill. We should do that for the simple reason of clearing our conscience,” he said.

The bill noted that “the German Bundestag bows to the victims of forced displacement and massacre of the Armenians and Aramaeans, Assyrians and other Christian minorities of the Ottoman Empire, which began 100 years ago. It deplored the actions of the then Turkish government, almost full annihilation of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

The resolution noted that “the fate of the Armenians stands as exemplary in the history of mass exterminations, ethnic cleansing, deportations and yes, genocide, which marked the 20th century in such a terrible way.” German President Joachim Gauck used the same wording as he addressed a commemoration ceremony on the eve of the centennial of the Armenian Genocide.

Los Angeles Rally for Justice at April 24 2016 #ArmenianGenocide

February 25, 2016 By administrator

LOS ANGELES—Community organizations have come together once again to call for justice for Armenian Genocide. On Sunday, April 24, at 1 p.m., a community-wide RALLY FOR JUSTICE will be held in front of the Turkish Consulate at 6300 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles to commemorate the 100+1 anniversary of the Armenian Genocide as we continue to fight for a just resolution and against denial of this still unpunished crime against humanity.

All leading religious, political, youth, and advocacy organizations of our community have come together once again after last year’s unprecedented Centennial March for Justice to organize the 2016 Rally for Justice. Strengthened by our unity, we call upon all segments of our community to join the Armenian Genocide Committee in making our collective voice heard as one Nation for one Cause.

Although traffic will be lighter this year on Sunday, bus transportation will be provided from churches, schools and community centers throughout Southern California. Pick up/Drop off locations will be announced soon.

Rally for Justice t-shirts are on sale at Jons Marketplace locations in Glendale, Hollywood and Valley Village and are also available online at Amazon.com and Ebay.com. Proceeds from all sales will go entirely toward funding the Rally for Justice. Please purchase and start wearing your t-shirts now and help us spread the word.

Mark your calendars. Further details will be forthcoming.

Armenian Genocide Committee
Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America
Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church
Armenian Catholic Church of North America
Armenian Evangelical Union of North America
Armenian Revolutionary Federation
Armenian Democratic Liberal Party
Social Democrat Hunchak Party
Armenian General Benevolent Union – Western District
Armenian Relief Society – Western USA
Armenian Youth Federation
Armenian Assembly of America
Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region
Armenian Council of America
Armenian Rights Council
Armenian Bar Association
Organization of Istanbul Armenians