July 1915: Genocide by Ottoman Turks and the shameful human rights stance of Australia, New Zealand, UK and USA

June 30, 2015 By administrator

By Len Wick

About 1.5 million Ottoman Armenian citizens were killed during the Armenian Genocide by Turks and Kurds. This slaughter of an indigenous people was just one of many anti-Christian massacres since the Turkic invasion in the 11th century, and is recognised by 28 nations (including Gallipoli allies Canada and France, and Ottoman allies Austria and Germany, but shamefully not Australia, New Zealand, the UK and USA).
Turkish leaders don’t wish to apologise and pay reparations for the stolen property (including thousands of destroyed churches, even post WWI). They threaten the Pope and anyone recognizing the Armenian Genocide. The UK and USA don’t have any courage, shamefully judging that access to Incirlik Airbase is more important than genocide/human rights. Australia and NZ blindly follow the UK, as they did at Gallipoli.
Turks are falsely told that Armenians were traitors, so killing unarmed men, women and children by beheading, burning, crucifixion and death camps is justified. These are war crimes, as stated by the UK (24 May 1915) and even Turkish courts (10 June 1919). But Turkish propaganda also blames the ‘deportations’ (death marches) on the Allied attack, despite being nowhere near the conflict. So according to Turkey, allies such as Australia, New Zealand and the UK are responsible for Turks killing their own citizens! http://originsdiscovery.com/genocide.html

(Kharput) 1 July: 2,000 unarmed Armenian Ottoman Army soldiers massacred
(Diyarbekir) 5 July: 2,000 unarmed Armenian Ottoman Army soldiers massacred.
(Gallipoli) 5 July: Battle of Gully Ravine, Turks and Armenian soldiers such as Sarkis Torossian (decorated by Enver Pasha) fight for the Ottoman Empire.
(Constantinople) 7 July: German Ambassador’s telegram to Berlin states – it is the declared intention of the [Ottoman Turk] government to destroy the Armenian race in the Turkish Empire
(Mardin) 10 July: 2,700 Armenian civilians are butchered in cold blood
12 July: ‘Turkish Hitler’ Talaat Pasha issues instructions to give Armenian Genocide Christian child survivors to Turks, so they could be forcibly converted to Islam
(Euphrates River) 14 July: Djemal Pasha protests about slaughtered Armenians turning the Euphrates red (reported by Germans June 22-July 17); advises burial instead.
(Musa Dagh) 21 July: 10,000+ Turk soldiers attack 5,000 Armenians (250 armed with antique guns); after 53 days of heroic resistance the Armenians are saved by French and British ships
24 July: Talaat Pasha gives half of the [stolen] Armenian property from victims to the Central Committee, the other half to chettes (armed criminals who killed civilians)
(Dersim) 18 July: 3,000 Armenian civilians killed but some Kurds shelter Armenians.

Recognise the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek (Christian) Genocides!

Turkey “Maraş Massacre” mostly Alevis, December 19 to 25 1978 by Turkish Gov.

December 19, 2014 By administrator

Turkish crime against Humanity

According to official numbers, 111 people, mostly Alevis, were massacred savagely in the Maras Massacre from 19 to 25 December 1978. The witnesses of the massacre can not forget the agony of massacre despite 36 years passing over it. Thousands of Alevis were wounded during the incidents, over 111 people were massacred, more than 552 houses and some 289 shops were destroyed. The witnesses of the massacre say, “We witnessed babies being beheaded in their swaddles, how can we forget this?”

The massacre of Kahramanmaraş started with a bomb thrown into a movie house. Rumors spread that left-wingers had thrown the bomb. The next day, another bomb was thrown into a coffee-shop frequently visited by left-wing circles. In the evening of 21 December 1978, teachers Hacı Çolak and Mustafa Yüzbaşıoğlu were killed on their way home. They were known as left-wingers. While a crowd of some 5,000 people prepared for the funeral, right-wing groups stirred up emotions saying that “the communists are going to bomb the mosque, and will massacre our Muslim brothers”.

On 23 December 1978, the incidents turned into a mass phenomenon. Groups stormed the neighborhoods where Alevis were living, destroyed their houses and shops. Many offices, including that of Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK) and Teachers’ Association of Turkey (TÖB-DER) were destroyed.

The court cases, opened at military courts, lasted until 1991. A total of 804 defendants, mostly right-wingers, were put on trial. The courts passed 29 death penalties and sentenced seven defendants to life imprisonment and 321 people to sentences between one and 24 years of imprisonment. The Court of Cassation quashed the sentences and because of legal amendments all defendants were released in 1991.

A secret document revealed that the secret service (MİT) had planned the incidents. Opinions of witnesses include the following observations:

Seyho Demir: “The Maraş Police Chief at the time was Abdülkadir Aksu. The massacre was organised by the Turkish secret service MIT, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Islamists together… As soon as I heard about the massacre, I went to Maraş. In the morning I went to Maraş State Hospital. There, I met a nurse I knew… When she saw me, she was surprised: ‘Seyho, where have you come from? They are killing everyone here. They have taken at least ten slightly-wounded people from the hospital to downstairs and killed them.’ This was done under the control of the head physician of the Maraş State Hospital. Lawyer Halil Güllüoglu followed the Maraş massacre case. The files he had were never made public. He was killed for pursuing the case anyway.”

Meryem Polat: “They started in the morning, burning all the houses, and continued in the afternoon. A child was burned in a boiler. They sacked everything. We were in the water in the cellar, above us were wooden boards. The boards were burning and falling on top of us. My house was reduced to ashes. We were with eight people in the cellar; they did not see us and left.

Historic rug woven by Armenian orphans goes on display at White House

November 18, 2014 By administrator

By Matt Hansen

Lawmakers and members of the Armenian American community gathered in Washington on Tuesday to mark the weeklong display of a historic rug linked to the Armenian genocide, calling it significant for a nation that helped support Armenians during some of their darkest chapters.

The Ghazir rug, also known as the Armenian Orphan Rug, went on display at the White House Visitor Center after years of campaigning from Armenian American groups and senators representing Armenian communities throughout the United States, including Southern California and the state’s Central Valley.

“From coast to coast, the community spoke with one voice in asking that the Ghazir rug be displayed,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) said at an event celebrating the exhibit. “Without you, we would not be here.”

The rug, which has been stored in the White House collection for decades with few public appearances, was woven by orphans of the Armenian genocide and given to President Coolidge in 1925 as a token of gratitude for American relief efforts. It’s scheduled to appear for one week at the White House Visitor Center alongside other gifts given by countries thanking the United States for disaster assistance.

The White House canceled a planned exhibition of the rug at a book launch at the Smithsonian Institution in 2013. Senior administration officials later told the Los Angeles Times that the delay in displaying the rug was due to protocol governing historic objects, rather than concerns over political ramifications.

Historians believe an estimated 1.2 million Armenians died at the hands of Ottoman Turks during the throes of World War I. Turkey contests that interpretation of the events, saying that Armenians died instead of starvation and disease.

For lawmakers representing Armenian American communities, the display of the Ghazir rug is a step toward eventual official recognition of the genocide by the United States. Past attempts by lawmakers to pass a resolution recognizing the genocide have stalled.
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“For the last 10 years, the Armenian American community has fought to get this rug released and displayed to the public,” said Rep. Judy Chu (D-Pasadena). “This is only a first step. This story reinforces why Congress must pass a resolution to recognize the Armenian genocide.”

Members of the Armenian American community said that the rug is a tribute not only to their community’s resilience but also to the generosity of the American government, which funded major relief efforts as the Ottoman Empire dissolved during World War I.

Armenian-American researcher Missak Kelechian visited the site in Ghazir, Lebanon, where orphaned Armenian girls lived in a American-sponsored orphanage, working for 10 months to create the rug as a tribute to the United States.

“The refusal to display the rug is a denial of one of the most beautiful chapters of American history,” he said.

@mtthnsn