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Alumna’s book shines light on forgotten history of #ArmenianGenocide

March 9, 2018 By administrator

Mouradian my mother voice

Mouradian my mother voice

By Cameron Vernali,

Kay Mouradian’s mother survived the Armenian genocide at the age of 14.

However, while Mouradian heard stories of her mother’s experiences as a child, the alumna wouldn’t really learn about the details of the horrific event until she began writing a book on the subject called “My Mother’s Voice” in her 50s.

The novel and accompanying documentary focus on her mother’s life during the Armenian genocide, which Mouradian researched for 10 years in libraries, book shops and other countries. Mouradian won the Armenian Genocide Awareness Legacy Award at the Armenian National Committee of America Western Region’s annual awards banquet on Feb. 24 for spreading awareness of the topic and said she hopes a personal focus on the Armenian genocide will help people, especially teachers, remember a part of history that is often forgotten.

Mouradian said the idea for the book first came from her mother, who was suffering from severe dementia. As her condition got worse, she told Mouradian to write a book about her life and the Armenian genocide. However, Mouradian was teaching throughout Los Angeles and had plans to go to Beijing to teach overseas at the time.

But her plans changed – Mouradian never went to Beijing and ended up writing the novel instead. Mouradian said she wanted to help the Armenian genocide retain its place in history, and as a former teacher, she wanted to give other educators a more accessible way of understanding the genocide.

The Armenian genocide began in 1915, during which the Ottoman Empire – which includes modern-day Turkey – committed genocide of more than 1.5 million Armenians residing in the empire. However, Mouradian said people sometimes are unaware of the mass killings since Turkey refuses to acknowledge the genocide, and the word “genocide” did not exist until 30 years after the Armenian genocide.

“I thought to myself, ‘How do I make it easy for teachers to get a grasp of what happened in 1915 to make their job easier and to get their interest involved?’” Mouradian said.

Mouradian researched the genocide using a variety of sources including the history and memoir sections in used bookstores and international trips. At the bookstores, Mouradian would open books to the table of contents and buy them if she saw the word “Constantinople” in it. She also went to UCLA libraries for books on World War I and got in touch with the Library of Congress manuscript division for 10 microreels.

During three trips to Turkey and two to Syria, she searched for her mother’s rescuers, whose descendants remembered her mother decades after the end of the genocide, she said. She also traveled the routes her mother took from her village to Aleppo and through the Syrian desert.

However, Mouradian added to the complexity of “My Mother’s Voice” when she decided to create a documentary with the same name and focus as the novel. Mouradian said she wanted to create the documentary to help students understand the Armenian genocide via a more accessible medium.

Mark Friedman, a sound designer for Moriah Films, helped Mouradian make the documentary after meeting her through mutual friends. The documentary features Mouradian’s voice over archive footage and photographs, as well as live footage of Mouradian herself. Friedman said the focus on Mouradian’s mother’s life created an opportunity for viewers to personally connect with the story.

“When you tell (people) that a million and a half people were murdered (in the Armenian genocide) … that number is so large that they can’t identify with it,” Friedman said. “But when you follow somebody’s life specifically, I think it has a lot of meaning and really affects people in the way we wanted them to be affected.”

Mary Mason, the director of teaching and learning in Glendale, met Mouradian while working with her on the Genocide Education Project training committee for district teachers. Mason said she thinks the documentary is a useful educational tool because it is personal and appropriate for kids to watch and talk about but does not oversimplify the topic.

“It puts a very real face on something that happened 100 years ago, and I think that’s important in the bigger context,” Mason said.

“My Mother’s Voice” is currently pending approval of the curriculum review committee of Glendale, which would result in the distribution of class sets for middle schools. Mouradian said integrating her work into educational systems is the most important aspect of her work because it ensures future generations will learn about events that are currently left out of textbooks.

“The Armenian genocide does deserve its rightful place in history,” Mouradian said.

Filed Under: Articles, Books, Genocide Tagged With: #armenianGenocide, Kay Mouradian’, mother

Bill Authorizing Freeway Sign leading to Pasadena #ArmenianGenocide Memorial Passes Committee

July 17, 2017 By administrator

Sign leading to Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial PassesThe Assembly Transportation Committee last week passed SCR 25 which paves the way for the installation of a sign at the Fair Oaks Avenue exit off Interstate 210 to guide visitors to the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial.

State Senator Anthony Portantino, author of the bill, said he believes the installation of the freeway sign will be helpful in raising awareness about the Armenian Genocide.

“I am so excited to see this piece of legislation moving through the legislature with such overwhelming and bipartisan support. Installing a freeway sign will help direct visitors to the memorial, raise awareness about the Armenian Genocide and serve as a reminder that educating the public about crimes against humanity is an ongoing process and requires our continuous attention. I look forward to seeing SCR 25 progress and these signs installed,” said Portantino.

Unveiled in April, 2015, the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial located in the northeast corner of Old Pasadena’s Memorial Park, honors the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide.

It was constructed by the nonprofit Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee with unanimous support from the Pasadena City Council. Senator Portantino served on the board of the nonprofit prior to joining the State Senate. He was the only non-Armenian to have served on the Board.

The memorial features a 16-foot tall tripod that captures the image of the structures used by the Turks to hang Armenian artists and leaders 100 years ago.

From its apex, a drop of water falls every 21 seconds, with 1.5 million drops falling in a year, symbolizing the souls of the departed genocide victims.

Neither the U.S. Government or the Turkish government have officially acknowledged that the Armenian Genocide ever occurred.

After passing the Assembly Transportation Committee, SCR 25 is now headed to Assembly Appropriations Committee, after which it will move to the Assembly floor for a final vote.

Sen. Portantino represents nearly 930,000 people in the 25th Senate District, which includes Altadena, Atwater Village, Bradbury, Burbank, Claremont, Duarte, Glendale, Glendora, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, La Verne, Lake View Terrace, Los Feliz, Monrovia, Montrose, Pasadena, San Dimas, San Marino, Shadow Hills, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena, Sunland-Tujunga, and Upland.

Filed Under: Genocide, News Tagged With: #armenianGenocide, Freeway Sign, Pasadena

Why Trump Should Recognize the #ArmenianGenocide

January 22, 2017 By administrator

Areg Galstyan Phd.

By Areg Galstyan, Ph.D.,

This past week, a report on how Donald Trump’s administration should build a political dialogue with Turkey was published at the website of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.  The authors of this work are James F. Jeffrey, the former U.S. ambassador to Turkey during the presidency of George W. Bush (2008-2010), and Soner Cagaptay, the director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute.  Recommendations of the authors cover a wide range of geopolitical issues that the United States and Turkey should solve by joining their efforts.

It is noteworthy that Mr. Jeffrey and Mr. Cagaptay mark the necessity for Trump’s administration to guarantee non-recognition of the Armenian Genocide as an important condition for restoration of trust between the U.S. and Turkey.  In particular, the authors write: “Separately, the United States can quietly guarantee Turkey that the Armenian Genocide resolution in Congress will not pass. This has always been critical in the relationship and most Turks care deeply about the issue.”  There is no doubt that the authors aim not only to influence on the development of the foreign policy of the new administration for Turkey, but also to remind that the Armenian question can have a negative impact on bilateral relations.

Certainly, the representatives of the pro-Turkish lobby groups can develop their own recommendations for the foreign relations between Washington and Ankara.  This is a normal practice of lobbying.  However, the authors, speaking about the need to block the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, make a number of serious mistakes.  First, this question is an internal affair of the United States.  We must not forget that the requirement to recognize the historical events of 1915-1923 in the Ottoman Empire comes from the millions of citizens of America and is purely humanitarian.  American Armenians do not require official Washington to take any steps against Turkey.

On the other hand, the representatives of U.S.-Armenian relations have always stressed that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the United States and Turkey will be a good signal and will allow the establishment of Armenian-Turkish dialogue in the future.  Unfortunately, the Turkish authorities turned the Armenian issue into an instrument of political blackmail and intimidation.

Secondly, it is an incorrect recommendation to the U.S. president to influence Congress to prevent the passage of the resolution on the Genocide.  This is not just interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign country, but also a call for the executive power to put pressure on the legislators, which cannot but arouse the indignation of American citizens.

Concerning the Armenian issue, I would like to give an alternative view to the next administration.  During the Cold War, Turkey was considered one of the most important strategic allies in the bilateral format and in the framework of NATO.  On the basis of pragmatic considerations, the White House and the leaders of both parties in Congress believed that an open discussion of the Armenian issue could cause a negative reaction from Turkey.  The situation changed in 1974, when Turkey sent troops to the territory of Cyprus.  In response to this act of aggression, Congress declared an arms embargo on Turkey.  A series of further events led to a serious cooling of U.S.-Turkish relations.  Then Washington did not prevent the adoption of Resolution No. 148 on the “Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Inhuman Crimes.”  According to the adopted resolution, the 24th of April was officially proclaimed the day of remembrance of victims of the Armenian Genocide.  Thus, the United States at that time became the only country in the world whose president officially addressed to the Armenian people on every 24th of April.

In 1978, the U.S. president, Jimmy Carter, used the term “genocide” for the first time in his statement to describe the events of 1915-1923 in the Ottoman Empire.  Carter noted that, while preparing for the meeting with the Armenian community, he spent a lot of time in Roosevelt’s room and carefully studied the documents related to the Armenians’ history.  The president said he was impressed by the force of will and talent of Armenian people and that as the U.S. citizens, Armenians made an enormous contribution to the development of the country.  Carter said that not many people knew that a few years prior to 1915, a deliberate effort was taken to destroy the Armenian people.  At the end of his speech, he stated that the Armenian Genocide was one of the greatest tragedies that ever befell any group of people, and no trial similar to Nuremberg was conducted over the criminals.

In the very first year of his presidency, Ronald Reagan demonstrated support for the Armenian-American community in the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.  In his proclamation No. 4838 on April 22 in 1981, Reagan remarked that the United States was aware of the fact and understood that the criminal government that had committed inhuman acts of genocide had to acknowledge its past and repent for it.  Reagan said there was an eternal debt of all mankind toward those who had experienced these horrors.  He urged the international community to remember that the lessons of the Holocaust, as well as of the Armenian Genocide, the ensuing genocide of the Cambodians, and numerous persecutions against other nations, could never be forgotten.

On the 11th of April in 1985, the Republican majority leader – Senator Robert Dole – introduced Resolution No. 247 on the “Day of Memory of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire” to Congress.  The hearing in the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives was successful, and Speaker Tip O’Neill put the resolution on a general vote.  Turkey threatened that in case of adoption, it would refuse to buy eleven U.S. Boeing aircraft for the benefit of aircraft of the European consortium Airbus Industries.  Moreover, Turkey claimed that it would cease to prolong the Defense and Economic Cooperation Agreement.

President Reagan assured Turkey’s Prime Minister Ozal that the administration was committed to maintaining a high level of appropriations for Turkey.  The U.S. president was referring to the majority in Congress held by Democrats, whom he could not influence.  Regardless of quite logical explanations given by the White House, the Turkish side did not conceal its irritation.  Ankara stated again that it would prepare for the revision of the U.S.-Turkish agreement on military and economic cooperation.  America, which at that time was going through a period of difficult relations with Greece, was close to losing access to its military bases in Turkey.  It was for that reason that the U.S.’s Secretary of State Schulz arrived to the negotiations on the extension of the agreement in Ankara.

Trying to prevent the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the pro-Turkish lobbies were interfering in the electoral process.  Thus, Ankara and its lobbyists campaigned against Mike Dukakis – an ethnic Greek who was the candidate of the Democratic Party in the presidential elections of 1988.  They also opposed George Deukmejian, an ethnic Armenian and the governor of California, who was considered by George Bush, Sr. for the post of the U.S. vice president.  During their election campaigns, presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama talked about the need to tell the truth about the Armenian Genocide at the highest level.  However, being in the Oval Office, they broke their promises for fear of spoiling relations with Turkey.  These examples from history show that the Turkish authorities and the pro-Turkish lobbyists have always used intimidation tactics when it comes to the Armenian issue.  Donald Trump poses himself as a leader who will protect the interests of America and Americans.  In this case, the new president and his administration should not allow Turkey to interfere in the internal affairs of the United States.

Moreover, Turkey’s statements that adoption of a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide may harm relations with the U.S. are greatly exaggerated.  Nowadays, the laws on the Armenian Genocide have been adopted in more than twenty countries around the world, including Russia, France, and Germany.  Did Russia’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide have an impact on its bilateral relations with Turkey?  No.  Official Ankara has traditionally protested and threatened with deterioration in relations.  However, in reality, we are witnessing active development of Russian-Turkish ties in the political, economic, trade, tourism, and energy sectors.  There was a similar scenario regarding Turkish-French relations after Paris officially recognized the Armenian Genocide.  By the way, France and Germany, being Turkey’s NATO allies, take their own domestic political decisions without fear of Ankara’s threats.

In this regard, the new administration should clearly express its position on the Armenian issue and should not be afraid of threats from Turkey and its lobbyists.  Anyway, President Trump has two ways to solve this issue.  He can continue the policy of denying the Armenian Genocide (as Bush and Obama did), or he can choose a different path and become the president who had enough courage to restore historical justice.  I hope Trump will choose the path of Ronald Reagan instead of the one of Barack Obama.

Source: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/01/why_trump_should_recognize_the_armenian_genocide.html

Areg Galstyan, Ph.D., is a regular contributor to The National Interest, Forbes, and The Hill and the head of the “American Studies” Research Centre.

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide Tagged With: #armenianGenocide, Recognize the, Trump

The International Association of Bulgarians recognizes and condemns the Armenian Genocide

October 22, 2016 By administrator

international-bulgarianFrom October 15 to 16 held in Varna (Bulgaria) 7th meeting of the “International Association of Bulgarians” in the presence of numerous representatives of Bulgarian associations from Bulgaria and many other countries. At this meeting was unanimously voted a text recognizing and condemning the Armenian genocide as a crime against humanity that killed 1,650 million Armenians. According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, this statement will be proposed to the National Assembly of Bulgaria for his vote.

Krikor Amirzayan

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide Tagged With: #armenianGenocide, Armenian, Bulgaria, Genocide, recognize

France: MARSEILLE County Council Commemorates #ArmenianGenocide

April 21, 2016 By administrator

France 125133-480x360The president of the County Council of Bouches-du-Rhône, Martine Vassal, inaugurated on April 19 evening a banner in memory of the 1915 genocide.

The sentences were well constructed and the words chosen were strong. President South CCAF, Simon Azilazian set the tone for an evening where Armenians Bouches du Rhône were invited to County Council in Marseille for the unveiling of a banner in memory of the genocide victims.

“Despite the centenary of the many tragic events of 1915 marked by actions in France, Europe and around the world, led by Erdogan Turkey continues its disinformation campaign, and denial-fixing. It approves the Azerbaijani aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh. Today, Jihadism and Pan-Turkism are one. With Erdogan, Turkey has become an Islamo-fascist state that imprisons journalists. Between Daesch and Europe, Turkey has to choose. Our duty of memory beyond the framework of the Armenian Genocide. Our values are: Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. We say yes to peace and no to war “insisted Simon Azilazian during his speech applauded at length.

Invited to speak, the MP Valérie Boyer said that “Nagorno-Karabakh is an Armenian land” and denounced “the indifference of the media that does not treat Azerbaijani aggression with the complicity of Turkey against the Armenians of this Republic.

President of the Departmental Council of Bouches-du-Rhône, Martine Vassal, believed “we need to have the United Armenian associations to demand the recognition of the Genocide of 1915. It is encouraging to see the new generation represented by Scouts continue this fight. I salute the spirit of resistance of the Armenian people and its dignity, courage and strength. We must combat Holocaust denial and must awaken consciences. It is time that the Turkish state is changing. I think the French government is cautious about what is happening in Karabakh, “concluded Martine Vassal which stated that on May 23, the County Council of the Bouches du Rhône will receive Charles Aznavour. In June, she will visit Armenia with a delegation of elected officials and members of the Chamber of Commerce French Armenian.

We noted in the audience attendance Maurice Di Nocera, Deputy Mayor of Marseille and Departmental Councillor Didier Parakian, Deputy Mayor of Marseille. JAF was represented by the President and by Pascal Julien Harounyan Chamassian. FRA Dashnaksoutioun was also represented. Raffi Delanian and Karen Khurshudian headed the delegation of the Apostolic Scouts. It also noted the presence of Pastor Gilbert Leonian and Father Aram, representing the Prado Cathedral.

Thursday, April 21, 2016,
Claire © armenews.com

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide Tagged With: #armenianGenocide, Commemorates, council, County, Marseille

The Role of Historians of Turkey in the Study of Armenian Genocide

May 13, 2015 By administrator

Author: Professor Erik Jan Zürcher, Turkish Studies, Leiden University

armenian-genocide-3-580x300On the occasion of the centenary of the Armenian genocide someone like me, who sees himself as a historian of Turkey in the twentieth century, has to speak out.

In the first place, there are moral and ethical reasons why this is so.  Historians of the late Ottoman Empire and Turkey in the twentieth century have a special responsibility, because we have been part of the fabric that maintained the silence for so long. We cannot allow a situation to continue such as I knew it when I was a student and a young university teacher in the nineteen seventies and eighties, when –in spite of the fact that outside our field the genocide had been an object of historical research for 50 years– we were barely aware of what had happened in 1915. Our textbooks only mentioned it as a footnote to history, if at all, and never defined it as a genocide. Our teachers never discussed it.

I felt the effects of this silence clearly in my own research. In 1984, I published the book that would form the basis for my academic career. It was called The Unionist factor. The Role of the Committee of Union and Progress in the Turkish National Movement (1908-1925). The dates in the title are significant, because the most important thesis of the book was that the national resistance movement in the Ottoman Empire after the World War I, out of which the Republic of Turkey emerged, was in fact the creation of the Young Turk Committee of Union and Progress that had been in power during the World War I. It was also this Committee that launched Mustafa Kemal, the later Atatürk, as a leader.

The book was well received, but a friend of mine translated a review in an Armenian journal for me. That, too, was appreciative of my work, but it also voiced a criticism. According to the reviewer my story seemed to play out in an empty landscape, as if the elimination of the Armenians had not taken place. At the time my reaction was: ‘Yes, that may be true, but my book was not about that.’ It was only 20 years later, when I started to involve myself more with the Armenian question in the context of the pioneering Workshop on Armenian Turkish Scholarship (WATS), that I realised that I had been wrong. Even the continuity of the political leadership between the Unionist period and the Kemalist republic, the subject of my book, cannot be studied without taking into account the fact that this leadership had been formed in the crucible of 1915-16 and that the national resistance movement that brought forth the republic was in so many ways a continuation of World War I –politically, ideologically and personally. It is true, of course, that the top political and military leaders of the World War I era had fled the country in 1918 and that most of them were killed by Armenian agents in the following years, but still: quite a few of the people involved in the genocide held high office in the republic, and the shared experience of 1915-16 undoubtedly created group solidarities.

Involving oneself with the issue of the genocide is not just a moral issue, however. Historians of Turkey also have something specific to offer. Now that the outlines and many of the details of the genocide have been so well established by historical research based on original documents and eye-witness accounts, there are, I think, two areas where historians of Turkey can contribute significantly to a better understanding of it, on the basis of Turkish sources. The first area is that of the causes and motives. At this point in time we have come to recognise that both longer-term developments (the popularity of social Darwinism, militarism, the issue of reforms and land disputes, mass migration of Muslim refugees) and short-term ones (the Ottoman loss of the Balkan War, the outbreak of the World War I, the Ottoman defeat at Sarıkamış the British landings at Gallipoli and the rebellion at Van) played a role.

Looking for causes and motives is important because it helps us better to understand what happened. It does not affect the issue of genocide, and the fear of some Armenian scholars that analysing the causes and motives is necessarily apologetic, is groundless. What is important for the definition of genocide is intent, the intent to destroy an ethnic or religious group wholly or in part. The motive behind this intent is not relevant, that is why the denialist argument that what happened in 1915 cannot be genocide because Armenians formed a threat is nonsense, even if this contention were founded in fact.

The other issue is the way in which modern Turkey, as it emerged after World War I was shaped by the Armenian genocide.  I have looked at the personal and ideological continuities between the Committee of Union and Progress and the Kemalist republic, which are considerable. More can certainly be done in this field, but the issues that now require attention (and increasingly are also getting it, in Turkey as well) are the transfer (or theft) of Armenian property and the conversion of Ottoman Armenians. The first, together with the more regulated takeover of Greek properties, laid the basis for the emergence of a Turkish bourgeoisie during the republic and quite a few major corporations of Turkey have their roots in this process. I am not a lawyer and I have no idea about the validity of legal claims after a century has passed, but for a better understanding of Turkey we need to know more about the transfer of property, for instance through access to the still closed cadastral archives.

The conversion to Islam of large numbers of Armenians during World War I is the other big issue that needs to be addressed. As in any nation-building process, homogenising the population has been a key feature of modern Turkish history. This has obscured the fact that many Turks today have some Armenian roots.  Nobody knows exactly how many Armenian women and children were taken into Muslim families in 1915-16, but even if we assume a relatively low number of 100,000 and project on that the demographic trends of Turkey in the twentieth century, that would mean that something like 2.5 million Turks have at least one  Armenian grandparent. Rediscovering these roots has become popular among progressive Turks in recent years.

In other words: the Republic of Turkey not only carries the legacy that it was founded and ruled to a considerable extent by people who had been involved in the genocide, it also carries a material and a personal legacy of the Armenians themselves.

I am happy to say that not only in the world of Turkish studies in general, but also among Turkish historians in Turkey the number of those who are genuinely interested in finding the truth and discussing it openly, is increasing constantly. Both the ground breaking conference at Bilgi University in 2005 and the demonstrations following the murder of Hrant Dink in 2007 have been milestones. At the many conferences that have been held at the centenary of the genocide, Turkish scholars have played an important role.

This new openness is a hopeful sign that reconciliation between Turks and Armenians is a possibility. That reconciliation cannot be built on denial, that is obvious, but it also cannot be built on compromise. Compromise is a politician’s tool and it serves to solve current issues, but it has nothing to do with an enquiry into historical truth. People cannot be slightly murdered. Nor can reconciliation be built on the notion, heavily promoted by the current Turkish government, that all those who suffered in the horrible years of the World War I in Turkey should be commemorated together. Many more Germans died in the World War II than Jews (although some of the Germans were Jews and some of the Jews Germans) but Chancellor Merkel would not dream of claiming that these should be remembered equally as victims of their time and circumstances. ‘Respectfully agreeing to disagree,’ a solution proposed by some semi-official spokesmen in Turkey, is no solution either. It implies that recognition and non-recognition of the genocide are morally and academically equivalent positions. They are not.

Acceptance of the historical truth will take time, even though the circle of Turkish historians actively promoting it is increasing. Younger generations of Turks (which means the vast majority of them as this is a young country), having been exposed to nationalist state rhetoric in school, during military service and in the media, are genuinely convinced that the story of the genocide is a lie. Unlike the first generation of the republic they no longer consciously deny a truth they know only too well. Instead, the younger generations of Turks often place the ‘Armenian lies’ in the context of the conspiracy theories that are so prevalent in Turkey – they see them as a weapon used by the West to denigrate and harm the country.

That makes the task of re-educating the Turkish public and opening up the debate huge. But the door has been opened and it cannot be closed. Among Kurdish intellectuals and politicians, too, we see a completely new readiness to discuss the events of 1915 with an open mind, not only in Istanbul and Ankara but also, even primarily, in the southeast.

A broader realisation in Turkey and beyond that genocide is a personal crime, in other words: that persons can be accused and convicted of genocide, but not nations or states, might also make the discussion easier. The current Turkish state and society can rightfully be accused of denying the genocide, but not of the crime itself. Its perpetrators are long dead.

Recognition is important not just for the Armenians, but also for Turkey itself. As Taner Akçam has argued long ago, the genocide needs to be faced if Turkey is to develop into a more relaxed, more democratic, more humanist society. Discussion and recognition can act as a catalyst to remove the blanked of narrow and increasingly religiously tainted nationalism that lies over this society. So, let us hope that the centenary is the opening of a new page in the story of facing the historical truth, in the interest of Turks as well as Armenians.

Professor Erik Jan Zürcher, Turkish Studies, Leiden University

Please cite this publication as follows:

Zürcher, E. (May, 2015), “The Role of Historians of Turkey in the Study of Armenian Genocide”, Vol. IV, Issue 5, pp.12-17, Centre for Policy and Research on Turkey (ResearchTurkey), London, Research Turkey. (http://researchturkey.org/?p=8775)

Editor’s Note:

Centre for Policy and Research on Turkey (Research Turkey) encourages pluralism and opposing views to be discussed. Anyone who would like to contribute as a response to this article could send their pieces to editor@researchturkey.org. All publications of Research Turkey are peer reviewed. No view in the articles could be considered as the institution’s official views.

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide Tagged With: #armenianGenocide, armenain, Genocide, Role-of-Historians, Turkey

Turkish Dictator Erdogan: Armenia fixed April 24 ceremonies to coincide with Gallipoli events

March 30, 2015 By administrator

Edogan-Nato-Islamic-200President of Turkey said Armenia had fixed April 24 date to coincide with the anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli.

In an interview with France 24 television, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey is commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli Battles and “we are in no position to obtain permission from Armenia”.

“It is a date in history and it has nothing to do with the ceremonies in Armenia. Quite on the contrary, they fixed their ceremonies to coincide with our date,” Erdogan said.

Speaking about problems between Armenia and Turkey, he said it was Ankara that always “took a positive step”and “extended our hand in peace”.

Filed Under: Genocide, News Tagged With: #armenianGenocide, Armenia, Erdogan

Genocide Prevention Resolution adopted by UN Human Rights Council message to entire world – experts

March 29, 2015 By administrator

f5517aab1042a9_5517aab1042cb.thumbThe Armenia-submitted Genocide Prevention Resolution, which was adopted at the 28th session of the UN Human Rights Council, proves that Armenia is struggling not only for recognition of the Armenian Genocide, but also for preventing further genocides, Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies Ruben Safrastyan told Tert.am.

This most important initiative succeeded. Armenia is thus not only showing its concern, but is also taking specific steps.
“This way of action must become one of our diplomatic priorities,” Mr Safaryan said.

As regards the importance of the resolution in the context of international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide, the scholar stressed that the entire civilized world is well aware Armenia’s initiative is no coincidence.

Expert in Turkic studies Ruben Melkonyan says that genocide prevention is a panhuman task, and the resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council is evidence that the organization is responsible for dealing with the humankind’s problems in the right way.

Armenia’s initiative must be considered within context of the Armenian Genocide centennial.

“We can suppose that the adoption of the resolution is at least a political ‘message’ to the entire world, particularly to Turkey. We can regard the resolution as silent support for the opinions on the Armenian Genocide. That is, without placing any emphasis, the UN is condemning Turkey, urging it to admit the Armenian Genocide.”

The entire civilized world is well aware that Armenia is champion of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and this is one of Armenia’s foreign policy priorities.

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide Tagged With: #armenianGenocide, Armenian, council, Human rights, UN

UCSD Groups Commemorate #ArmenianGenocide

February 9, 2015 By administrator

793360The Armenian Student Union, in conjunction with several other student cultural organizations on campus, hosted the Stain of Denial: Silent Sit-in Protest on Thursday, Feb. 5. The protest, which was meant to acknowledge the 100th year of denial regarding the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Empire, was held in front of the Silent Tree outside of Geisel Library from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

ASU alumni instituted the Stain of Denial protests on the UCSD campus three years ago. The protests, which were held simultaneously throughout UC campuses on Feb. 5, aimed to educate students about the Armenian Genocide and the ensuing campaign of denial by the Ottoman Empire which is now the state of Turkey.

The event consisted of about 30 student protesters throughout the day and caught the attention of many individuals who stopped to speak with representatives from the various organizations.

ASU President Yeraz Kochkarian told the UCSD Guardian that the purpose of sitting silently in protest was to create a visual representation of the ongoing denial.

“The silence represents all of the silence around the issue essentially,” Kochkarian said. “And how politics and governments don’t talk about it or don’t refer to it as a genocide. This year marks the 100th year commemorating the genocide, so it’s especially important to           make a visual protest demonstrating how this is still important 100   years later.”

Many of the protesters wore red tape over their mouths to further enhance this visual effect of the protest. They also wore black shirts to show their solidarity.

Besides being one of the representatives whom those passing by could question, Kochkarian was also holding a picture of her grandmother, a survivor of the Armenian Genocide who was rescued by French soldiers and taken to France before later returning to Syria and sharing her story. Other protestors held similar photographs and were willing to share other stories            of survivors.

Among the other campus groups that came out to support the event was the Union of Jewish Students. Vice President of Outreach Yael Kempe, a senior from Sixth College, shared with the Guardian why it was important that UJS showed up to the event.

“Our club personally feels a very close connection to the ASU, and we feel like we need to show our [solidarity] to them as a coalition we have with them,” Kempe said. “I think also because our cultures are so similar and we’ve experienced the Holocaust and they’ve experienced the Genocide, its all one and the same. It’s nondenominational, and we’re here to show our support with AS[U].”

Other student organizations involved with the protest included the Armenian cultural Greek organizations Alpha Gamma Alpha, Zeta Chapter and Alpha Epsilon Omega, Eta Chapter. Also present were members of the Black Student Union and Kaibigang Pilipino. However, an affiliation with one of these groups was not necessary to join the protest.

Revelle College junior transfer Asher Alter, who is a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi, stated that he came out to the event because the genocide was something that strongly affected him.

“It’s something that resonates deeply,” Alter told the Guardian. “It was the first genocide of the modern age, and the fact that it’s not recognized by most countries is a pretty big deal.”

Filed Under: Genocide, News Tagged With: #armenianGenocide, commemorate, UCSD

Talaat pasha’s report on the Armenian Genocide “Turkish archives”

February 4, 2015 By administrator

f54d21b98eb8c7_54d21b98eb8fe.thumbRecent Documents released in Turkish archives, combined with surviving documents from Talaat’s Pasha’s private papers, confirm that Talaat was indeed the architect of the Armenian Genocide, horizonweekly.ca reports.

There is a clear record that he ordered and supervised the general deportation of Ottoman Armenians in 1915-16, and that he followed the fate of such deportees from close quarters. Talaat was sent updates regarding Armenians at different stages of deportations, as well as information about the fate of others who were subjected to special treatment. Although a great deal of Ottoman records still remain unavailable in Turkish archives, the available records show that the Ottoman deportation thesis was a smokescreen for the annihilation of Armenians. Ottoman records in Turkish archives, as well as Talaat’s 1917 report, show that less than 100,000 Armenians survived in the so-called resettlement zone for Armenians.

According to Talaat’s report on the Armenian Genocide, most Armenians in the Ottoman Empire had disappeared between 1915 and 1917, or they were dispersed in different provinces of the Ottoman Empire for assimilation. The forced assimilation of hundreds of thousands of Armenians was indicative of the power, control and purpose of the Ottoman state.

Talaat Pasha’s Report on the Armenian Genocide is the closest official Ottoman view we have of the Armenian Genocide. The report was undoubtedly prepared for Talaat Pasha and meant for his private use. It was not meant for publication and probably only survived because Talaat was assassinated in 1921 and his widow gave the report to a Turkish historian who eventually published it.* No such record has been released by Turkish archives to date, though the data presented in the 1917 report can be checked against the available Ottoman records and stands scrutiny.

According to Talaat’s figures 1,150,000 Armenians disappeared in the Ottoman Empire between 1915-1917. This number includes well over 100,000 Armenians who fled from the Ottoman Empire in 1915 (and died in large numbers from hunger, exposure and disease), but it does not include tens of thousands of Armenian women and children who were absorbed into Muslim families or placed into state orphanages for assimilation.

In this publication of Talaat’s report on the Armenian Genocide, historian Ara Sarafian discusses the 1917 report in light of other Ottoman records. He presents Talaat’s statistics in all detail and includes two invaluable color maps demonstrating the content of the report, as well as additional Ottoman documents related to the Armenian Genocide. Sarafian presents Talaat’s breakdown of the number of Armenians, their native provinces, and their whereabouts in the Ottoman Empire in 1917.

Filed Under: Genocide, News Tagged With: #armenianGenocide, Talaat Pasha, Turkey, turkish-archives

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