Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide 15- Murat Belge

May 9, 2014 By administrator

By Hambersom Aghbashian

Murat Belge (born March 16, 1943 in Ankara, Turkey) is an outspoken left-liberal Turkish intellectual, academic, translator, literary critic, columnist, and civil rights activist. Since 1996 he has been a professor of comparative literature at Istanbul Bilgi University. For several years he wrote columns for the daily Radikal, before shifting to Taraf in June 2008. Belge has translated works of James Joyce, Charles Dickens, D. H. Lawrence, William Faulkner and John Berger into Turkish.
Murat Belge was a member of the organizing committee for a two-day academic conference that started on September 24, 2005, held at Bilgi University in Istanbul, titled “Ottoman Armenians During the Decline of the Empire: Issues of Scientific Responsibility and Democracy”. The conference offered an open dispute of the official Turkish account of the Armenian Genocide, and was denounced by nationalists as treacherous. This is a fight of “can we discuss this thing, or can we not discuss this thing?”. This is something that’s directly related to the question of what kind of country Turkey is going to be.(Belge, during the conference opening). Belge’s remarks led to his facing a ten-year jail sentence for criticizing the judicial ban; he was acquitted.(1)
The conference was held after two previous attempts which were blocked by the Turkish government. The self-avowed goal of the conference was to call into question the official Turkish account of events. The participants discussed the plight of the Armenians in the final days of the Ottoman Empire, a politically correct way in Turkey of saying the Armenian Genocide. It was the first time this subject was ever discussed so openly in Turkey. Discussing the mass killings of Armenians has long been taboo in Turkey, and scholars who use the word genocide can be prosecuted under a clause in the Turkish penal code on insulting the national character.(2)

http://www.opendemocracy.net mentioned that ” Murat Belge, one of the Turkish journalists facing trial in Istanbul over public discussion of the 1915 Armenian massacres, sees his case as an emblem of Turkey’s struggle against the country’s anti-democratic “deep state”.(3)
Murat Belge’s book, titled “Armenians in Literature”, was published in Turkey by Yayın İletişim publishing house (News.am- Sept.23, 2013). The new work by Belge, who is known for his studies on the Armenian Genocide, is devoted to the Armenians that lived in the Ottoman Empire. The book looks into what role the Armenians had in which period and in which novel, how the Armenians—who were a part of the Ottoman society—became enemies, and how the Armenians are portrayed in the post-Genocide novels.
To note, Murat Belge was a friend of Hrant Dink, founder and chief editor of Istanbul’s Agos Armenian bilingual weekly, who was gunned down in 2007 in front of his office building. During a discussion in Armenia, Belge had stressed that Turkey should recognize the Armenian Genocide.(4)

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1- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murat_Belge
2- http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Conference:_Ottoman_Armenians_During_the_Decline
3- http://www.opendemocracy.net/author/murat-belge
4- http://news.am/eng/news/172746.html

Also Published on Nor Or, May 8, 2014

Armenian Genocide monument to be unveiled in Lowell

May 9, 2014 By administrator

By ARAM JEKNAVORIAN
The Lowell Sun

In the month of April 1915, during World War I, the first recorded ethnic cleansing of the 20th century began in historic Armenian provinces in western Turkey and continued until 1.5 million were dead and hundreds of thousands escaped into the world diaspora. Estimates are that only 25 percent of ethnic Armenians remained in the world.

Although most of our father’s family was lost, 14-year-old Abraham was miraculously saved by a Greek family who hid him in their home while resident Armenians were driven out of their Black Sea port city, Ordu, onto their death march into the deserts of Dezor.

That family exposed themselves to danger and possible extinction if caught aiding young Abraham’s escape. Little did they now that the same fate awaited them in 1922 when nearly 1 million resident ethnic Greeks and Assyrians were massacred in Smyrnia and Condos, Turkey.

On Saturday, May 10, at 10 a.m., a procession will begin from the corner of John and Merrimack streets to Lowell City Hall Plaza for a flag-raising ceremony and unveiling of a monument commemorating the genocide. The monument, with its exquisite “Mothers hands Weaving” design by Daniel Hejinian, was donated by all social, fraternal, religious members and friends of the Merrimack Valley American Armenian community in New England and areas beyond.

Zoryan Institute Responds to Erdogan

May 8, 2014 By administrator

The president of the Zoryan Institute, K.M. Greg Sarkissian has issued an open letter to Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in response to the prime minister’s official statement on the eve of the 99th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

Below we present the full text of the letter dated May 5, 2014.

Prime Minister Erdogan:

Your official statement on April 23 acknowledging how “The 24th of April carries a particular significance for our [Turkey’s] Armenian citizens and for all Armenians around the world” and your message of condolence, “… we wish that the Armenians who lost their lives in the context of the early twentieth century rest in peace, and we convey our condolences to their grandchildren” constitute an unprecedented step from the Turkish Government and must be recognized as such.

But, Mr. Prime Minister, we can’t stop there, for the sincerity of your condolence is undermined by the calculated presentation in the rest of the letter. Allow me to point out a few examples.

You begin by saying this occasion “provides a valuable opportunity to share opinions freely on a historical matter.” There can be legitimate differences of opinion on historical matters, but opinions must be grounded on facts. When there is incontestable evidence of genocidal intent in the events of 1915-including from the Turkish Archives-it undermines belief in your sincerity when you refer euphemistically to “relocations,” instead of the painful death marches they were. It was the killing, planned and executed by the state apparatus, of about 1.5 million and the deportation of the rest of the 2.5 million Armenian citizens of Ottoman Turkey, with the intent to exterminate the entire race. This is not a matter of historical opinion; it is the reality that we must share. Presumably, this is the reason for your letter of condolence in the first place.

You state that “In Turkey, expressing different opinions and thoughts freely on the events of 1915 is the requirement of a pluralistic perspective as well as of a culture of democracy and modernity.” This lofty sentiment creates the impression that you are open and caring about truth, when, in fact, you are using it as a Trojan horse and a blatant political stratagem to play with the minds of the general public. During your tenure, many scholars, journalists and intellectuals have been persecuted, jailed, and even murdered for holding opinions on 1915 that differ from your official state narrative.

It is true that “It is indisputable that the last years of the Ottoman Empire were a difficult period, full of suffering for millions of Ottoman citizens, regardless of their religion or ethnic origin.” lndeed, your Foreign Minister, His Excellency Ahmet Davutoglu, refers to this in his op-ed piece in The Guardian expressing support for your letter of condolence:

A series of ethnic cleansings in the Balkans pushed millions eastward, transforming the demographic structure of Anatolia….. Approximately 5 million Ottoman citizens were driven away from their ancestral homes in the Balkans, the Caucasus and Anatolia. While much of western history tells of the suffering of the dispossessed and dead Ottoman Christians, the colossal suffering of Ottoman Muslims remains largely unknown outside of Turkey.

We can understand and share with compassion the pain of all those Muslims who were forcibly expelled from the Balkans, the Caucasus and Crimea. We know firsthand that pain. I am the son of two Armenians orphaned in 1915 from Urfa, Anatolia, and who were deported after losing their entire families, and others at the Zoryan Institute, as well as most other Armenians, also have this personal experience. We know well the pain of being uprooted from your ancestral homeland and of being a refugee growing up in several countries, none of which replace what home once was, or allow you to maintain continuity with your cherished history and culture.

But, Mr. Erdogan, you talk about suffering while ignoring how the suffering was inflicted. You lump all of the millions of deaths together without making the critical distinction between the causes of death, those who were targeted for extermination, and those who died from the war. More Germans died in WWII than did Jews, for example, but the deaths had very different causes and different meanings, as did the deaths of the Armenians within the Ottoman Empire. We agree that no one should try to construct hierarchies of pain. However, the pain of those Ottoman Muslims was not inflicted by our Armenian fathers or grandfathers, whereas the pain of the planned destruction of the 2.5 million Armenians in 1915 was caused by yours.

Genocide denial involves four dimensions: denial of the facts, responsibility, calling the events something else, and relativization. Your letter engages in all four. Until you and the Turkish State demonstrate a sincere and apologetic expression about the consequences of your ancestors’ actions, your condolences to the Armenians will be perceived as insincere and a cleverly contrived trick for gaining an end.

No Turk living today can be held responsible for the crime of the genocide committed by the Ottoman regime. Yet, your country and your government are responsible for the aggressive and ongoing denial, which exacerbates and perpetuates the pain of the Armenians and itself is considered the continuation of the crime. We believe that the Armenian people worldwide would embrace the whole people of Turkey, if the Turkish Government acknowledges the responsibility of its predecessor, the Ottoman Empire, in the planned annihilation of its Armenian citizens, expresses a sincere apology, and makes appropriate efforts at atonement. That would build trust between the parties and allow the healing and forgiving process leading to a true liberation for all concerned. In this respect, we take this opportunity to express our deepest sympathy to the families of all those righteous Muslims—Turks, Kurds, and Arabs-who risked their lives to save Armenians during that period.

Your call for a joint historical commission to study the events of 1915 is only a public relations stratagem. Please recall that in 2003, the Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission requested The International Center for Transitional Justice to examine the Armenian Genocide issue. The ICTJ issued its finding that “the Events, viewed collectively, can thus be said to include all of the elements of the crime of genocide as defined in the Convention, and legal scholars as well as historians, politicians, journalists and other people would be justified in continuing to so describe them.” The Turkish members of the Commission rejected this finding and TARC broke apart. Why would you now propose another joint commission, when you have already rejected an independent, third-party finding from an organization headed by the renowned Elie Wiesel? You, yourself, have repeatedly stated publicly that you would never accept that Turkey committed genocide. It is difficult to reconcile this with your statement that “Turkey has always supported scholarly and comprehensive studies for an accurate understanding of history.”

Mr. Prime Minister, if you really would like to see “that the peoples of an ancient and unique geography, who share similar customs and manners will be able to talk to each other about the past with maturity and to remember together their losses in a decent manner,” then perhaps you could take a few very simple steps to show your commitment, by establishing diplomatic relations with Armenia, with no preconditions, and opening the borders between the two countries (closed only from the Turkish side), as a first step to commencing dialogue. This would demonstrate in a tangible way the sincerity of your letter of condolence and be a first step towards reconciliation.

Yours sincerely,

K.M. Greg Sarkissian, President
ԱՌՆՉՎՈՂ ՀՈԴՎԱԾՆԵՐ

Letter to GAZETTE: Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide should have received attention

May 7, 2014 By administrator

THE GAZETTE MAY 6, 2014
By: Arek Markarian Mont Royal

I applaud The Gazette’s April 26 article titled “Two minutes to recall the horror” outlining Israel’s official Holocaust Remembrance Day. This was a dark period in humankind’s history.

However, I, as well as the entire Armenian community, am shocked and dismayed how The Gazette did not report the 99th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24th.

There was the annual march to the Turkish embassy, where they were met by Turkish demonstrators who ridiculously challenge that the genocide ever took place. The Armenian Genocide is widely accepted by 21 countries such as Canada, Russia, France, Germany, Switzerland and Vatican City. It is generally accepted, although not officially (due to economic and military lobbying and threats from Turkey), by the United States.

Scholars and historians agree on this historical fact. However, Turkey refuses to accept this black mark in its history, evidently for fear of having to pay restitution for their crimes.

The EU community has continuously scolded Turkey that if they ever have a chance to join the Union (which they desperately want to be part of), they must recognize the genocide.

On the same page of the April 26 issue, there is another article titled “Learn Lessons of the Holocaust: Netanyahu”. It speaks about Benjamin Netanyahu issuing a “stern warning Sunday to the world the lessons of the past and prevent another Holocaust.”

Yet, why is there no mention in the April 24 edition of the paper, or even the next day’s edition, of the systematic extermination of 1.5 million Armenians by the Turkish Ottoman Empire in 1915? Shouldn’t the world know about this to prevent another genocide?

Why not have the world remember the Jewish Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide, in an effort to prevent this happening again in any foreseeable future?

The word “Genocide” is generally recognized as the plight of the Armenian people as it was the first one of the 20th century, just as the word “Holocaust” is associated with the Jewish people.

Both people have suffered an unimaginable horror in such relative recent history.

It is reported that Hitler stated to his commanders, right before invading Poland, the following: “Who, after all, speaks of the annihilation of the Armenians’? If the world had acknowledged and reported this atrocity of the Armenian people, what affect might that have had on the Holocaust?

We’ll never know for sure.

Why not report both tragedies? Surely, this would be a good thing for the world to remember, and be wary of following a similar path one day? Acknowledging one atrocity would not detract from the severity and horror of another. It would only strengthen the message we need to send to the world that this must never happen again.

There are close to 50,000 Armenians living in Montreal, and it is surprising that The Gazette would not report such a historic and monumental anniversary that affects such a sizable portion of its reader base.

Next year will mark the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

Let us hope that The Gazette will show that it is a credible and respected form of media in one of greatest cities in the world, by reporting the centennial anniversary of this tragic event.

I hope on April 24, 2015, this milestone will be given the attention and respect it deserves, so that the world will not forget what horrors man can do to fellow man.

Arek Markarian

Mont Royal

Turkish liberals should support Erdogan message to Armenian

May 7, 2014 By administrator

My article last week for Al-Monitor, “How I faced the Armenian Genocide” has triggered reactions in the Turkish media, especially after Prime Minister Erdogan – a day after the date of publication of my article – has sent a message of condolences to the victims of unprecedented Armenian Genocide. Differences have reached a level of inadequacy that even matter as the tragedy of 1915, which is supposed to unify, is greatly exceeded in its consequences.

Summary: The Turks should confront the Armenian Genocide awareness of the momentum created by Prime Minister Erdogan and seize the legacy of many Turkish officials who saved Armenians death.

Rasim Ozan Kutayali

Published April 30, 2014

A telling example is the reaction as Amberin Zaman correspondent had in Turkey The Economist and freelance Al-Monitor, for having shared my article in social media. Here’s what happened, according to his own words, in the daily Taraf “Rasim Ozan Kutahyali, which is known to be close to Prime Minister Erdogan, wrote an article for Al-Monitor, which I also contributes, in which he called genocide the events of 1915 and says that those who deny give him nausea. I shared his article on Twitter, later on April 22 with the words’ a good article. Many people were furious. According to them, I had ‘betrayed’ my profession praising someone who did not deserve it. In addition, they believed that it is Kutahyali who wrote this article at the request of Erdogan – to deceive foreigners “.

Thus, Zaman has been attacked for simply having enjoyed my article, which explicitly described the events of 1915 as genocide. Moreover, people who have taken part were not militants Turkish fascist group, but even those who ostensibly have on the events of 1915 an opinion sensible. According to them, I was not able – not part of their camp – to recognize the Armenian Genocide. Be close to Erdogan, such as Zaman said, was a great crime in their eyes.

My first article in which I recognized the genocide was published in Turkish media September 10, 2008. I was also among those who participated in the 2008 “We apologize to the Armenians.” In a debate on television, the same year, I had a heated exchange with a Turkish retired general who denied the genocide.

This does not preclude my detractors spread their black propaganda saying that my article was written on Erdogan instructions to deceive foreigners. In fact, a close Erdogan writer writing an article in which genocide is viewed face should satisfy people who urge the Turkish state to recognize that the events of 1915 were genocide.

Message Erdogan would also have been welcomed. But unfortunately, the Turks left and pseudo-liberals are more concerned with their personal obsessions against Erdogan posts by descendants of survivors of the Armenian Genocide. As I wrote in my previous article, they agree with everything except with Erdogan as future president of Turkey. The contrast is evident with the two most renowned Armenian liberal intellectuals – Etyen Mahcupyan and Markar Esayan – who themselves support Erdogan’s presidential election on August 10, just as I do myself.

Now, leaving aside the Turks left and see the messages sent by the Armenian diaspora to the Turkish people in an initiative Agos, the weekly bilingual Armenian-Turkish context.

Armenian filmmaker and intellectual Eric Nazarian, for example, sent the following message: “I would say the Turkish people in this day of remembrance [April 24] also belongs to you. Without your participation in this event without your acknowledgment, we can not heal together. Collective healing is possible? We must strive to seek it, for a meaningful dialogue, facing the past and the genocide that was committed, assessing the immediate and long-term this terrible tragedy. This day is also the day of Turkish Righteous and those they saved his life.

I am totally in agreement with Nazarian. To recover, the Turkish company also depends on the comparison with 1915. And Erdogan is the leader who can convince the Turks to live in harmony with the truth, after nine decades of black propaganda with the same mindset as that led to genocide. Political commentators agree: Erdogan is almost certain, likely govern Turkey, as President, during the coming decade.

The insistence with which Nazarian speaks Turkish Righteous is important. Indeed, a significant number of Turkish officials defied government orders Talat Pasha in 1915. I would like to briefly mention the names of some of them borrowed from the book of Turkish university Ayhan Aktar.

Order of the Young Turks to trigger the massacres, the Ankara Governor Hasan Mazhar Bey replied: “I’m governor, not a bandit. I do not obey illegal orders. ”

The governor of Konya Celal Bey saved the lives of tens of thousands of Armenians, disobeying the order of deportation. Former governor of Aleppo, Celal Bey knew deport these people in the Syrian deserts equivalent to their death. The strongest support for this honorable statesman came from sheikhs and teachers of the faith of Konya – resisting a deportation order which amounted to murder, in violation of both Islam and the humanity, the son of the Turkish nation have proven their high moral virtue.

Kutahya Governor Ali Faik Bey was another dignitary who refused the order of deportation. He instructed his subordinates so that they protect the Armenians who had reached Kutahya in a miserable state, deported from other cities. He drove the infamous chief of police of the city had begun to force the Armenians to convert to Islam, threatening them if they refused, to “join convoys of deportation.” A true symbol of nobility, Faik Ali Bey exclaimed in City Hall “Turks Kutahya have not participated and will never take part in the atrocities committed against the Armenians! “. This is because there were people like him that I feel honored to have Kutahya in my name.

The governor of Kastamonu Resit Pasha, the governor of Basra, Ferit Bey, the governor of Yozgat Cemal Bey, Deputy Governor of Lice Husseyin Nasimi Bey and the Assistant Deputy Governor of Batman Sabit Bey were part of the honorable high Officials we are proud to have had. Some of them also lost their lives. The mentality of the Young Turks has not spared, as they flocked to the deportations are continuing in full knowledge of the atrocities they represented.

So we ask the question: We see ourselves as the grandchildren of these noble men of Turkish state? Let us build their steles in the towns they served? Where we grandchildren cruel men who have made a conscious decision to kill? We will continue to praise the murderers? If we continue to shamelessly argue that “we did and we were right to do so”, we are the grandchildren of the latter. We have to decide who are the Turks that we consider real ancestors?

In almost all Turkish cities today, streets and boulevards named after a Young Turk leader. And the names of the noble Turkish statesmen who have heard the voice of their conscience and their humanity? One of them is it registered with a school, a hospital or a street? No one? These questions are designed to Erdogan. The man who will probably be president in 2015 – the centenary of the killings – it is expected to take more drastic measures.

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article contained an incorrect citation of Eric Nazarian translation. The article has been updated with the correct version of the quote.

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/04/turkey-armenian-genocide-erdogan-condolence-legacy-liberals.html

Gilbert translation Béguian

The Turkish Historical Society (TTK) presented its latest publication

May 5, 2014 By administrator

The Turkish Historical Society (TTK) presented its latest publication on the Armenians, prepared by 350 scholars and entitled “Turks and Armenians in history.”

The Chairman of the TTK Dr. Metin Hülagü said that the book was about “solidarity Turks and Armenians.”

“The book discusses the unity of Turks and Armenians. The combat is a last resort in our culture. The recent statement by Prime Minister [on the events of 1915] also highlights the humanitarian sentiments, “said Hülagü.

He added that the Armenian historians have not been included in the book, despite the fact that the TTK had appealed for their participation.

“We announced to the world that we were preparing this book and the documents were accepted. But we did not have contributions from abroad. We have not been able to receive the contribution of all Armenians, “said Hülagü.

Lack of time

He suggested that a “lack of time” could be a reason for the lack of foreign participation in their project.

The book of 10 volumes of TTK includes articles with titles including “Armenians of the First Age and the Middle Ages”, “The culture of living together”, “socio-economic”, “Armenians in areas rural and urban “,” Population and Migration “,” The Armenian population and the Church “,” missionary activities, “The emergence of the Armenian Question” and “foreign countries.”

A document entitled “The mission of the church taking the Armenian issue to the international agenda,” argues that the Armenian Church has played an important role in the realization of the Armenian question and the question genocide to the attention of the international community.

Hurriyet

Turkey’s statements set limit with no expectations beyond it – Vahram Ter-Matevosyan

May 5, 2014 By administrator

In response to Tert.am’s question about the possibility of Turkey reopening its border with Armenia on the threshold of the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, without any preconditions, to prove something to the world – which, in fact, would be far from realpolitik – expert in Turkic studies Vahram Ter-Matevosyan said:

“If we speak of a hypothetic scenario, we could expect not only such a step by Turkey, but also subscenarios. I do not think it [the border] will be reopened without the establishment of official diplomatic relations. It is needed to settle some issue.”

In commenting on Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoglu’s article in The Guardian, Ter-Matevosyan said:

“The wordings in Davutoglu’s article should be viewed in the context of the statements by the Turkish PM and government members on April 23 and during the following week. But we should also consider the fact that the elections scheduled for this August and next May and June are both opportunities and challenges for Turkish political forces. Of course, statements will be made, with many to take advantage of them. Nationalists will try to gain the best advantage of possible statements.

Following his statement on April 23, the Turkish premier denied the Armenian Genocide in his interview with PBS TV, saying: “If such a Genocide occurred would there have been any Armenians living in this country?”

“He has never admitted the fact. An important thing should be considered: previous and further statements set the limit beyond which any further expectations can never be held not to be disappointed. And this limit means offering condolences rather than apologies. That is, moral consequences rather than legal or political consequences are implied. We should take into account the fact that Turkey’s elite is not prepared for doing it, offering condolences, nor is it prepared for making statements of legal or political nature.”

Source: Tert.am

Turkish PM Erdogan condolences, Pure tactics’ before presidential election, Baydar

May 3, 2014 By administrator

Baydar: Dark memories will not disappear

The conciliatory statement by Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan to Armenians signals a departure from the country’s previous position on a difficult chapter of its history. Experts view it partially as an election tactic.

The statement came as a surprise to Turks and the international community. The text of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was circulated in nine languages, including Eastern Armenian, the official language of Armenia, as well as Western Armenian, the language of many Armenians in the Diaspora.

“As with all citizens of the Ottoman Empire, it is a humane duty to understand and share with Armenians their memories of the suffering they enduring during this period of time,” Erdogan said.

‘Inhumane consequences’

The imposed deportation of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, which began on April 24, 1915, had “inhumane consequences,” Erdogan said. He extended his condolences explicitly to the descendants of the victims. Never before has a high-ranking Turkish politician come so close to making a formal apology for the crimes.

At the same time, however, Erdogan made it clear that while modern Turkey tolerated the genocide accusations, the county did not share them. In his statement, he emphasized that “various opinions and thoughts about the events in 1915 are freely expressed in Turkey.”

Just a few years ago, Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk was put on trial for calling on the country to recognize genocide.

Ankara’s new position

Nearly 1.5 million Armenians died in the death marches and massacres between 1915 and 1917. Turkey, however, refuses to classify these crimes as genocide. Erdogan’s statement marks the first time that the country recognizes the inhumanity of the 1915 deportations and the suffering of Armenians, without partially blaming the victims for their own suffering. This had previously been the official line.

Erdogan’s text now defines the Turkish position, independent of the prime minister’s motives, according to the well-known Turkish journalist Yavuz Baydar, co-founder of the independent media platform P24 in Turkey. “What was said can no longer be unsaid,” he told DW.

Baydar said he views Erdogan’s initiative as a mixture of a fundamentally new beginning in the Armenian issue and tactical considerations. “An optimist would say that the statement stands for a slow path toward recognizing genocide,” he said. “A pessimist would say Erdogan is playing a clever game of tactics to reduce the pressure on Ankara ahead of the centennial. I think it’s both.”

‘Pure tactics’ before presidential election?
Baydar said Erdogan was fully aware that international demands for recognition of Turkey’s genocide would significantly increase in advance of the 100th anniversary in 2015. “The dark memories won’t go away – and Ankara knows this.”

Dimitrios Triantaphyllou, a political scientist from Greece at the Kadir Has University in Istanbul, said Erdogan has not only the international community in mind, but also domestic Turkish politics.

“Although it’s good he said this, I believe it was purely a tactic,” Triantaphyllou told DW. “It’s likely that with the gesture, he sought to broaden his voter base ahead of the presidential election.”

The Turkish public generally expects the 60-year-old Erdogan to run for the highest public office. To attain success in the first round, he would need a simple majority – more than the 45 percent that his AK party received recently in local elections. The votes of liberal Turks and 80,000 Armenians could make an ample contribution toward this goal.

Nationalists incensed

The nationalist party MHP, which is still seeking its own candidate for the presidential election, reacted with outrage to Erdogan’s Armenia statements. MHP head Devlet Bahceli called the text unpatriotic and said the wording was reminiscent of descriptions of Turkish ethnic diversity made by imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan.

The Republican People’s Party (CHP) reacted more cautiously, while still accusing Erdogan of wanting to exploit Armenian topics. With an eye on the presidential election, CHP politician Faruk Logoglu said it was suspect that although Erdogan has acted as prime minister for 10 years, he only this year made this public declaration.

Kurd party BDP, among others, called on the prime minister to go a step farther: They would like to see the Turkish state officially apologize to the Armenians.

Source: DW.com

Serj Tankian message to Turkish people He will, for justice, my competing propaganda and corruption over the border?

May 3, 2014 By administrator

On the eve of April 24, Serj Tankian leader of the famous American band System of a Down has sent a message to the Turkish people in the magazine Agos, Turkish, Armenian and English.

Dear People of Turkey

My name is Serj Tankian. I am Lebanese, born New Zealand American Armenian.

My four grandparents came from the area now called Turkey.

My grandfather Stepan had Efkere Kayseri, while my grandmother had Varsenig Tokat. My other grandparents came from Dortiol and Urfa. None of them had left voluntarily.

They were survivors of the horrible genocide committed by the Ittihad government in the last days of the Ottoman Empire.

They were all children at that time. My grandfather Stepan was collected and raised in an American orphanage and in a Greek orphanage before coming to Lebanon as a refugee. My grandmother Varsenig and her grandmother were rescued from slaughter by a Turkish mayor who was risking his life, which seemed fair.

These are some stories that are in the Turkish archives and those of other nations. These are true stories of my family.

There are more than 600 years, the area where my grandparents came was called historic Armenia. When anthropologists dig in Turkey, they are the remains of our civilization, those of the Greeks and other civilizations.

Turkey is important for me, not only because my grandparents came from, but because my whole tribe comes from these lands that have been taken by force, not by war or by a redrawing of borders, but by brutal orders of the Government of Ittihad.

What does this mean for us today? It is quite simple. Armenians do not want to create problems for Turkey, or are creating ethnic divisions, we simply want justice in order to get us out of all this pain that distorts our historical relations. It is not only the history of Armenians, it is also the history of Turkey.

The Erdogan government will he do what is in reconciliation with all this? I do not think so. No more than will the military junta that was in power in Turkey throughout the modern era.

Did you know that your government spends millions of dollars every year in foreign capitals to deny this truth are committing all sorts of pressure groups and creating university chairs to reinvent the truth in his own way? Do you know what it is to feel an Armenian? What is this painful experience? Be the grand-son of survivors of a horrible tragedy in the history not enough? Should my competing propaganda and corruption over the border to get justice?

The swirl that shook Turkey today to find itself relate to us, the Armenians. It is impossible to leave these problems without solution: our stories, and our respective geographies bloods are too close.

Armenians and Turks deserve foremost leaders and governments that are truly egalitarian, democratic and uncorrupted.

In closing, I just want to say thank you to each of you, citizens of this amazing Turkish people I met who told me their stories on tour or online, and that gave me hope for a reconciliation based on truth and justice.

My hope, Dear People of Turkey, is that you find yourself.

On the occasion of April 24,

Peace,

Serj

Gilbert Béguian translation Armenews.com

Creators of Armenian Genocide movie launch Indiegogo fundraising campaign

May 3, 2014 By administrator

The creators of “Armenia, My Country, My Mother, My Love,” the powerful new Armenian Genocide movie that recounts the tale of the unspeakable acts perpetrated against the Armenian people nearly a century ago, is announcing the launch of an Indiegogo campaign to help raise funds for the production and release of the film, Digital Journal reports.

“Armenia, My Country, My Mother, My Love” tells the tale of an intellectual family living in Armenia at the time of the Turkish invasion of 1915, which resulted in the senseless and brutal killings of more than 1.5 million innocent men, women and children. Historians recognize the Armenian Genocide as one of the most heinous atrocities of the 20th century, and yet prominent members of the international community – namely Turkey, which committed the terrible act, and the United States – have not officially acknowledged that the genocide occurred.

Flawless Production Inc., the company in charge of making the film, is committed to bringing the truth to light and commemorating the lives and deaths of the victims of the Armenian Genocide. Remembering and acknowledging the truth about genocide is the only way to prevent similar offenses from occurring in the future, which is one reason why it is so important that people learn the history behind this terrible event. As Hitler once said in justifying the slaughter of the Jews, “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”

Through the support of generous individuals, the production team of “Armenia, My Country, My Mother, My Love” will create a socially and historically significant piece of art that will finally tell the real story of the Armenian people and their suffering. The team is seeking $875,000 to produce, develop and distribute the content. Due to the political and historical controversy surrounding the event, conventional studio financing has been very difficult to come by, which is why it is so important that members of the public contribute to the project.

Depending on their level of contribution, donors will be eligible to receive numerous perks, including DVD copies of the movie, t-shirts, official movie posters, and even the opportunity to appear in the film, attend the premiere, or receive producer credit.

The film “Armenia, My Country, My Mother, My Love” is inspired by a true story of an intellectual family living in post-invasion Armenia who encounter the atrocities surrounding the senseless murders of their family and friends. The fundraising campaign presents an opportunity to get involved and tell this story to the world. The objective is to prompt millions of Americans to think about what happened to the Armenian people and hopefully prevent anything like this from happening again. For more information, please visithttps://www.indiegogo.com/projects/armenia-feature-film-to-commemorate-100-years-of-the-armenian-genocide.