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.

After recalling its ambassador to Austria on April 22, Turkey has now recalled seven ambassadors to Ankara over the last few years for various reasons, including bilateral political strain or security concerns in those foreign capitals.

Currently, Turkey has no ambassadors in Syria, Egypt, Israel, Libya, Yemen and the Vatican, in addition to Austria, as bilateral relations between Ankara and the aforementioned countries have become strained or due to security concerns over the past five years.

New envoys could be added to the list as further parliamentary declarations on the 1915 killings of Anatolian Armenians by Ottoman Turks as “genocide” are expected for April 24. The Duma of Russia could make a similar decision about Armenian claims, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has already identified the mass killings as “genocide.”

Turkey withdrew its ambassador in Tev Aviv, Oğuz Çelikkol, in 2010 after Israeli commandos boarded Gaza-bound aid ships resulting in the deaths of 10 Turks, bringing the already strained relationship between the Jewish state and Turkey to a breaking point. Diplomatic relations between the two states have been reduced to the second-secretary level.

In 2013, Egypt expelled Turkey’s ambassador to Cairo on Nov. 23, declaring him “persona non grata,” amid tension between the two countries, which has escalated since the military takeover that toppled former president Mohamed Morsi. Since then, Turkey has not appointed a new ambassador to Cairo.

In 2012, Turkey recalled its ambassador to Syria, Ömer Önhon, and closed its embassy in Damascus, citing the worsening security situation in the country. The move came two days after then-prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Ankara was on the brink of breaking diplomatic ties with Syria and withdrawing its ambassador. Shortly after, Turkey declared that it did not recognize Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government as the legitimate administration in the country.

New Zealand politician urges government to acknowledge Armenian Genocide

Seven world capitals now without Turkish ambassadors