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Starz acquires Armenian Genocide documentary “Intent to Destroy”

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Intent to Destroy

Intent to Destroy

Starz, an American entertainment company that owns U.S. pay television channels, has acquired the Armenian Genocide film “Intent to Destroy” along with seven other exclusive first-run documentaries, Deadline reports.

Director Joe Berlinger embeds himself on the epic film set of Terry George’s The Promise (2016) to take an unwavering look at the Armenian Genocide. Historians, scholars and filmmakers come together in Berlinger’s cinematic exploration of the tangled web of responsibility that has driven a century of denial by the Turkish government and its strategic allies.

Intent to Destroy (2017) is a timely reckoning with the large-scale suppression of a historical tragedy. Berlinger confronts the fraught task of shedding light on the Armenian Genocide – whose witnesses and descendants are still fighting to be officially acknowledged as such by the international community – how it was carried out during World War I as the reign of the Ottoman Empire drew to a close, and how it laid the groundwork for the genocides that followed.

“We are acquiring an eclectic slate of documentaries that not only strategically align with Starz Original series but also present engaging subjects, provocative conflicts and authentic storytelling,” said C. Brett Marottoli, Head of Program Acquisitions for Starz.

“Intent to Destroy: Death, Denial & Depiction”  will premiere on April 23, 2018.

Serbia parliament rejects opposition proposal to recognize Armenian Genocide

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The Serbian parliament has rejected the opposition’s proposal to recognize Armenian Genocide.

Even though such motions have been submitted several times in the Serbian legislature over the past decade, they have always been rejected, according to RFE/RL Balkan Service.

This time a resolution recognizing the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire was submitted by Serbia’s former Prime Minister Zoran Živković, who now heads the opposition New Party.

Speaking to the RFE/RL Serbian Service, Živković underscored the need for Belgrade to clarify its position on this matter, and he recalled that both Russia and most of the US states have recognized this greatest tragedy of the 20th century.

According to various estimates, solely up to 300 Armenians live in Serbia which has a population of about 7 million, and which also was part of the Ottoman Empire at the turn of the last century.

 

“Armenian Genocide denial can lead to other genocides”. Dean Cain and Montel Williams present “Architects of Denial” film in Yerevan

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Dean Cain and Montel Williams present, Armenian Genocide

”All ordinary Turks whom I know recognize the Armenian genocide, only Turkish government denies it,” famous American actor Dean Cain, who will attend the premiere of the documentary about Armenian Genocide denial today in Armenia .
Dean is one of the co-authors of the film. He visited Armenia in 2017 during the film shootings.

How did the American actor learn about the Armenian Genocide if, in his words, most Americans do not know about it?
“I went to Princeton University, I consider it one of the finest universities of the world, and I was a history major. A friend of mine, Kevin Matosian asked me if I knew about the Armenian Genocide, and this was 15 years ago. I was embarrassed because I was a historian, and had never heard about it, and he invited me to participate march in Los Angeles on April 24”.
Dean Cain shares the idea of making a documentary about the Armenian Genocide with her friend, Emmy Award-winning Montel Williams.

According to Montel Williams, when Dean Cain told him about the project he was surprised to hear about the Armenian Genocide. “At that moment I started to think that if I have been a servicemen for 22 years, I consider myself to be a military historian, I refer to numerous issues during my TV shows and I am unaware of the Armenian Genocide, it means that many are unaware. I realized that it’s necessary to tell people, discover that reality for them, since not being recognized the Armenian Genocide can lead to other genocides. It’s enough. This issue should be raised and a solution should be found to it”, Williams said.

“I think that until the Armenian Genocide has not been recognized, this tense situation in Azerbaijan and Artsakh can turn into a massive genocide,” added Dean.

Dean and Montel faced any obstacles while filming “Architects of Denial”.
The only thing was that they were not allowed to place movie posters on the buses in Washington.
“I am going to visit Turkey or Azerbaijan tomorrow,” Montel Williams said , speaking about the possibility of being blacklisted in these countries.

The film may be nominated for Emmy.

Egyptian lawmakers call on parliament to follow Netherlands’ example on Armenian Genocide

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Yahia Al-Kadwani

Yahia Al-Kadwani

Yahia Al-Kadwani, deputy chairman of the defense and national security committee of the Egyptian parliament and Tarek El-Khouly, secretary of the committee on foreign affairs, once again touched upon the issue of recognizing the 1915 Armenian massacres as genocide.

Citing the two resolutions recently adopted by the Dutch parliament, the two MPs demanded a similar decision from the Egyptian legislature.

According to Al-Kadwani, such a move is necessary to confront Turkey’s continuous infringements as “the massacre of Armenians is a historical fact, and everyone should have a clear stance.”

El-Khouly, in turn, told reporters that Egypt is a witness to history having provided refuge to Armenians in the early 20th century.

New Zealand politician urges government to acknowledge Armenian Genocide

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New Zealand politician, calling Armenian Genocide

New Zealand politician, calling Armenian Genocide

By Tony Wright

Re-published from NewsHubNew Zealand governments have been constantly running scared from officially recognising the 20th century’s first great crime against humanity – the Armenian Genocide.It’s believed up to 1.5 million of the 2 million Armenian civilians living in the Ottoman Empire (now modern day Turkey) were slaughtered during the First World War.

While the purges and mass-death events were front page news in New Zealand at the time, and even witnessed by Kiwi soldiers who were captured by Ottoman forces at Gallipoli, no New Zealand government has ever officially acknowledged that the Armenian Genocide took place, and that needs to change.

We recognise the Jewish Holocaust of World War II, the Rwandan genocide, the Bosnian genocide, and
closer to home, the East Timor genocide.So why don’t we do the same with the Armenian Genocide?The answer is simple: New Zealand’s link to Gallipoli and Turkey.Turkey refuses to admit that the Armenian Genocide took place at all – its official line is that thousands of Armenians died in military uprisings – not as victims of ethnic cleansing.

If a New Zealand government moved to officially recognize that the Armenian Genocide took place, then Turkey would likely threaten to ban Kiwi passport holders from visiting the old Gallipoli battlefields – or at least make the process much more difficult than it is now.Here are some of the 29 countries that officially recognise the Armenian Genocide:Germany, Canada, France, Russia, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Netherlands, Argentina, Brazil, Greece and Syria.In many of these countries, denial of the genocide is punishable by a fine or even imprisonment.

It’s interesting to note that soldiers from France and Canada also fought the Ottoman forces at Gallipoli, and yet those nations still decided to stand up to Turkey and recognise the Armenian Genocide.

So, my challenge to the Jacinda Ardern-led Government is this:

Take a stand and officially recognise that the Armenian Genocide took place. Make it law. Teach it in Kiwi classrooms alongside other genocides like the Jewish Holocaust. Do it for peace, and as a chilling warning of what can happen during a war.

Over 18,500 New Zealand soldiers didn’t die in World War I so that foreign powers could still hold us to ransom a century later.

 

“The houses of the ones who hide Armenians will be burned and they will be executed” New Document #ArmenianGenocide

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A Second Official Ottoman Document Has Surfaced Regarding The Armenian Genocide

A Second Official Ottoman Document Has Surfaced Regarding The Armenian Genocide

The historian Taner Akçam has made a new document of critical importance public after the revelation of the telegram of Bahaettin Sakir.  The Order Of III telegram sent by the Army Commander Mahmut Kamil Pasha to the regions where the Armenians were being driven away and massacred is an even more frightening one. Mahmut Kamil Pasha says that the houses of those hiding Armenian should be burned to the ground and the owners should be hanged in front of their homes:

“It is considered necessary that those who have been hiding and maintaining Armenians in opposition to government orders be hung in front of their properties and their properties burned to the ground.” –  23 July 1915.

We have the microfilm of the original version of the official Ottoman Document: order of III.  Army Commander Mahmut Kemal Paşa’s telegram which was written on a paper with the letterhead of the Ministry of Interior. At the bottom of the telegram, there is the stamp of the ministry: “true to original text”. In this letter, Mahmut Kemal Paşa informed that the houses of the ones who hide Armenians will be burned and they will be executed in front of their houses, and soldiers or civil servants who had done it will be dismissed immediately and tried in a military commission.

The modern Turkish version of the telegram dated July 24, 1915 translates as: “It is understood that Muslims are hiding Armenians in some villages and towns from where residents were deported. The houses of householders who hide and protect Armenians against the order of the government must be burned and they must be executed in front of their houses. Make sure that there is no Armenian left who is not deported and inform us about your conduct. The Armenians who converted to Islam will be deported as well. If there are members of armed forces who protect [Armenians], they will be reported to the related ministry, dismissed immediately to be tried later. If they are administrative authorities, they will also be dismissed immediately and referred to the military commission.”

Just like Bahaettin Şakir’s telegram dated July 4, 1915, this telegram is also included in the file of Committee of Union and Progress trials, which had been held in Istanbul in 1921-22. In the indictment against CUP executives, this telegram was quoted at length and it was noted that the number of this document is “section 13, document 1” [tertîb 13 vesîka

Second telegram

Mahmut Kamil Paşa wrote another telegram about the same issue. On August 1, 1915, he sent another order to the regions as an explanation to the one sent on July 24. In this second telegram, he wrote the execution order does not apply to “the ones who host women and children who were officially settled [in Muslim houses] by the government”. He noted that the punishment “applies to ones, regardless of their religion, who hide Armenians without informing the government” and these people will be executed.

This order reveals a fact: in villages and towns, many Muslims were hiding Armenians in their houses and the government wanted to prevent it. This is why the threat of burning the houses and execution was posed.

All these documents revealed during CUP trials in Istanbul are still kept confidential in secret vaults of the state! Since these documents couldn’t have been found for years, they had been treated as “invalid in the absence of originals”. For years, there had been a strange coalition. The state hid the documents and some academics spread the claim that “since there is no original document, they cannot be regarded as evidence”.

Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem

A considerable part of the court documents about Istanbul trials were in Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul once. In 1922, the patriarchate sent them to Marseilles. Afterwards, they were sent to Manchester and then to Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. This course can be traced from the stamps on the Mahmut Kamil Paşa and Bahaettin Şakir documents. On the top right corner of the documents, there are a stamp and a number on Ottoman letterhead. The stamp belongs to Armenian Diocese of Marseilles. It was written “Armenian Patriarchate of Marseilles” [Հայոց Առաջնորդարան Մարսելի] in Armenian at the center of the stamp and in French around the stamp. Jerusalem archive record consists of an Armenian letter and a number. Since Jerusalem archive is not open to researchers, it is impossible to access these documents for now.

We found the document in the archive of Catholic Priest Krikor Gergeryan, who died in 1988.

Read the full story on the website of AGOS Newspaper.

Wallenberg Foundation decries Israel not recognizing #ArmenianGenocide

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Hotovely says decision was made because of ‘complexity and diplomatic repercussions.

By Tamara Zieve February 25, 2018
The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation expressed “deep disappointment” in the Knesset’s rejection of a bill to recognize the Armenian genocide earlier this month.
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said that while Israel had sent a parliamentary delegation to the 100th anniversary event in Yerevan, it will not take an official stance on the matter, “in light of its complexity and diplomatic repercussions, and because it has a clear political connection.”

The Raoul Wallenberg Foundation sent a letter on Thursday to Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, with a copy to Hotovely and Yesh Atid leader MK Yair Lapid, who sponsored the bill.

Edelstein called on the government in 2015 to change its stance, and in 2016 the Knesset Education Committee recognized the genocide.

However, any motion for official state recognition of the genocide has failed to go through.

“Regrettably, this voting down has been repeating itself, time and again, for the last few years, as a constant ritual,” read the letter, signed by foundation chairman Eduardo Eurnekian and founder Baruch Tenembaum.

“With all due respect, we are not able to understand, let alone justify this stance,” they said. “Israel is the national home of the Jewish people, who suffered an indescribable plight during the Shoah [Holocaust].

Twenty-five-years earlier, the Armenian people endured another unspeakable tragedy, which, in light of the world’s silence, many believe has encouraged the Nazis to perpetrate their atrocities against the Jews during World War II.”

The foundation believes that of all the nations in the world, the Jewish state should have “the intellectual honesty and the spiritual generosity to recognizing the horrific tragedy of the Armenian people. Alas, the Israeli government and its Knesset have lost this opportunity time and again. There is no political reality that could provide a reasonable excuse for that.”

Eurnekian and Tenembaum observed a “deep connection” between Jews and Armenians. The NGO, which works to recognize Righteous among the Nations, notes that 24 Armenians have officially received that title so far, which is a large number in relation to the size of the population.

“Mr. Edelstein, we know your personal support for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, as is the case of your predecessor, President Reuven Rivlin,” the letter concluded. “We feel that the Knesset would be praised around the world for taking a bold ethical stance, regardless of any short-term political considerations. We regret that this has not happened yet.”

Lahav Harkov contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Wallenberg-Foundation-decries-Israel-not-recognizing-Armenian-Genocide-543580

Dutch parliament to vote on the Armenian Genocide motions on February 22

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Dutch parliament

The lower house of the Dutch parliament is poised to vote on the two motions, recognizing the Armenian Genocide on February 22. Ermenihaber reports, one of the bills that recognizes the Armenian genocide and the second – calling on the Dutch Minister or State Secretary to attend the commemoration of the genocide in Armenia are already guaranteed the support of a majority of MPs.

To remind, back in 2004, the Dutch Parliament unanimously adopted a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide and calling on the Netherlands government to consistently bring up the Armenian Genocide in future negotiations dealing with Turkey’s accession to the European Union. However, the Netherlands in its references to the Genocide used the wording “issue of the Armenian genocide.”

“We cannot deny history out of fear of sanctions. Our country houses the capital of international law after all, so we must not be afraid to do the right thing here too”, the initiator of the legislation parliamentarian of the Cristian Union Joel Voordewind had stated.

As reported on Monday, Turkey summoned the Dutch charge d’affaires to Ankara to express its unhappiness with the proposed bills labeling them as unacceptable.

The motions are believed to risk further souring relations between Turkey and the Netherlands, the relationship between the Netherlands and Turkey is already tense, since the Netherlands refused Turkish ministers access to the country to campaign for a 2017 referendum that gave President Tayyip Erdogan more power.

Turkey angered by Dutch decision to recognise Armenian genocide

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Turkey has summoned the Netherlands’ senior diplomat to account for the Dutch parliament’s vote to recognise the Armenian genocide of 1915. A majority of MPs backed a campaign by Christian Union MP Joël Voordewind to acknowledge the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenian Christians by the Ottoman empire as an act of genocide. They also supported sending a minister to represent the Netherlands at the official commemoration in Armenia in April. The decision has put further strain on the already frayed relationship between the two countries.
The Netherlands formally withdrew its ambassador from Ankara earlier this month, but has had no representation since last March, when a Turkish minister was denied permission to attend a gathering of supporters in Rotterdam and given a police escort out of the country. Turkey has ordered the acting ambassador to report to the ministry of foreign affairs to discuss what its government continues to describe as ‘the Armenian question’. Voordewind said the Netherlands should take a stand as the home of the institutions of international law in The Hague. ‘We are acknowledging history,’ he said. ‘That is not the same thing as casting aspersions as Turkey has done towards the Netherlands.’

Turkey reacts to Netherlands’ plans to recognize Armenian Genocide

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Ankara Summons Dutch, Armenian Genocide

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has summoned the Dutch charge d’affaires following reports about the Dutch parliament planning to recognize the Armenian Genocide, the ministry’s spokesman Hami Aksoy said Saturday, February 17, according to Sputnik International.

On Thursday, the Dutch parliament approved two motions to consider recognizing the Armenian Genocide and send a minister or state secretary to the commemoration event that will take place in the Armenian capital of Yerevan in April. The motions were proposed by Christian Union lawmaker Joel Voordewind.

“The Turkish Foreign Ministry has summoned the charge d’affaires of the Netherlands in connection with reports about the Dutch parliament’s plans to support Armenia’s claims regarding the events of 1915,” Aksoy’s statement read.

The Dutch move came amid the ongoing deterioration of Dutch-Turkish relations. In 2017, Dutch authorities refused entry to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Family and Social Affairs Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya, who were going to participate in the Turkish rallies for the referendum on amendments to the Turkish constitution.

Earlier this month, the Netherlands decided to formally withdraw its ambassador from Ankara, who has been denied access to the country since March.