Gagrule.net

Gagrule.net News, Views, Interviews worldwide

30th anniversary of Armenian pogroms in Sumgait commemorated in Beirut

By

Sumgait commemorated in Beirut

Sumgait commemorated in Beirut

On February 25, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Artsakh to the Middle East Garo Kebabjian participated in the commemoration ceremony dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Armenian pogroms in Sumgait, held in the St. Nishan Church in Beirut.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to the Lebanese Republic Samvel Mkrtchyan and representatives of the Armenian community and the clergy of Lebanon were present at the event.

Then, the participants laid wreaths to the cross-stone monument of the Church to commemorate the victims of the Sumgait pogroms.

United State: pays tribute to 9/11 victims 15 years after attacks

By

9-11-2016Americans commemorated the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on Sunday with the recital of the names of the dead, tolling church bells and a tribute in lights at the site where New York City’s massive twin towers collapsed.

As classical music drifted across the 9/11 Memorial plaza in lower Manhattan, family members and first responders slowly read the names and delivered personal memories of the almost 3,000 victims killed in the worst attack on U.S. soil since the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Tom Acquarviva lost his 29-year-old son Paul, who worked at financial services firm Canter Fitzgerald on the 101st to 105th floors of the North Tower, just above where the first plane struck. Acquarviva was one of 658 Cantor Fitzgerald employees killed in the attack.

“We miss him terribly. Terribly, terribly, terribly. Not a day goes by that we don’t remember him,” Acquarviva told Reuters. But he said he felt a sense of hope: “There are more people here today than there ever have been.”

The ceremony paused for six moments of silence: four to mark the exact times four hijacked planes were crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon near Washington D.C., and a Pennsylvania field. The last two record when the North and South towers of the Trade Center crumpled.

It was held by two reflecting pools with waterfalls that now stand in the towers’ former footprints, and watched over by an honor guard of police and firefighters.

More than 340 firefighters and 60 police were killed on the that sunny Tuesday morning in 2001. Many of the first responders died while running up stairs in the hope of reaching victims trapped on the towers’ higher floors.

At the Pentagon, a trumpet played as U.S. President Barack Obama took part in a wreath-laying ceremony.

“Fifteen years may seem like a long time. But for the families who lost a piece of their heart that day, I imagine it can seem like just yesterday,” Obama said.

No public officials spoke at the New York ceremony, in keeping with a tradition that began in 2012. But many dignitaries attended, including Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

“We’ll never forget the horror of Sept. 11, 2001,” Clinton said in a brief statement. “Let’s honor the lives and tremendous spirit of the victims and responders.”

Trump said in a statement that it was a day of sadness and remembrance, but also of resolve.

“Our solemn duty on behalf of all those who perished … is to work together as one nation to keep all of our people safe from an enemy that seeks nothing less than to destroy our way of life,” Trump said.

TRIBUTE IN LIGHTS

Houses of worship throughout the city tolled their bells at 8:46 a.m. EDT (1246 GMT), the time American Airlines Flight 11 slammed into the North Tower.

A second pause came at 9:03 a.m. (1303 GMT), when United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower. American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. (1337 GMT), then the South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m. (1359 GMT).

Germany: Soghomon Tehlirian to be Commemorated in Berlin

By

3f73faa420f84ae8a3fdef4ddad0eb67BERLIN (ArmRadio)–It was on March 15, 1921 that Armenian avenger Soghomon Tehlirian assassinated Talaat Pasha, one of the masterminds of the Armenian Genocide.

On April 2, 120th anniversary of Tehlirian’s birth, representatives of the Armenian community will gather on Hardenbergstraße in Berlin, the site where Talaat was assassinated, to hold an event in memory of Tehlirian

Tehlirian shadowed Talaat as he left his house on Hardenbergstraße on the morning of March 15, 1921. He crossed the street to view him from the opposite sidewalk, then crossed it once more to walk past him to confirm his identity. He then turned around and pointed his gun to shoot him in the nape of the neck.

Talaat was felled with a single 9mm parabellum round from a Luger P08 pistol. The assassination took place in broad daylight and led to Tehlirian’s immediate arrest by German police.

“I killed him, but I am not a murderer,” Tehlirian said of himself.

After a two-day trial, Tehlirian was found not guilty by the German court, and freed. He eventually moved to the United States and lived out his years in San Francisco.

Hrant Dink was commemorated in front of his newspaper on the 9th anniversary of his death. 1.5 +1 genocide

By

Hrant-Dink 9thMaside Ocak: Promise to our Hrant, our Tahir, we will continue your legacy of struggle

Hrant Dink was commemorated in front of his newspaper on the 9th anniversary of his death. This year, the commemoration speech was read by Maside Ocak who is Hasan Ocak’s sister and one of the members of Saturday Mothers (Cumartesi Anneleri).

Here’s the full text of the speech

Parev, dearest Hrant,

Parev, dear Dink family with whom we became sisters in suffering,

Greetings to all hearts that are united today, in this very scene where Hrant Dink was murdered, to all hearts having gathered here so that he is ‘not to be forgotten’.  

Greetings to the enlightened people of these lands. 

Today marks the 9th anniversary of Hrant Dink’s assassination. 

On this January 19th, we have once again gathered to make our appeal ‘‘For Hrant, For Justice!’’ 

Because, for the last 9 years, there have been constant attempts to obstruct justice for this murder perpetrated by the state. There have been attempts to prevent this assassination from being solved truly, in all aspects.

Because, in Turkey, there is no political will that take democracy, human rights, and rule of law as a fundamental basis. While the defendants are well protected in the case of crimes committed or orchestrated by security forces, the victims are repeatedly faced with all forms of judicial and administrative practices geared towards refutation of their claims. 

Because, from the perspective of the state, Hrant Dink is still a dangerous enemy, since he advocated Armenian identity, used the therapeutic language of peace and brotherhood, and asked for a free, equal and just country. 

The poisonous climate, which was set before Hrant Dink’s assasination, has been jointly created by the government, the judicial bodies and the mainstream media. Today, this poisonous climate continues to target anyone who makes efforts for the resolution of social problems through democratic and peaceful means.  Today, those who do not obey the state policy of assimilation and imposition of a single identity are sentenced to live in a season of blood.  

We are in such a season of blood that we cannot even keep track of our dead. Bullets by the state hit babies in their eyes, small kids in their necks, killing them. Corpses are not allowed to be buried. The curfews imposed without any legal ground compels Kurds to watch and witness the bodies of the deceased rotting on the streets.  The society, which is already poisoned with lies, is expected to give consent to these unlawful, unscrupulous and inhuman practices. 

Hail to those who speak the truth in the face of lies of the rulers! Hail to those who declare ‘‘we will not be accomplices to this crime’’ in response to a government that is hostile to rights, truth and justice! 

They are scared of us not only when we are live, but also when we are dead. That’s why they want us to forget Hrant and all our murdered children. That’s why Saturday Mothers (Cumartesi Anneleri) are deprived of graves for the missing ones. That’s why they deny all the crimes against humanity they committed since 1915 to this very date. Since they are scared of the truth represented by our deceased, they want to enslave the society by subjecting them to a ‘constructed official discourse’. 

They want to turn Turkey into a country of masses who are estranged from one another’s pain and suffering, who are alienated from rights and law, and who lost its quality of being a society. That’s why they are blocking our channels of claiming rights and making peace mainstream.

Those who shot our Hrant in his back on Halaskargazi Avenue, those who shot our Tahir in his neck and made him fall face-down right next to the historic minaret Dört Ayaklı Minare. They did not only target them; they also wanted to shoot at our struggle for rights. Yet, here is our pledge to them: We will continue their legacy of struggle for truth, justice and peace. 

We will not concede to a single death, without any ifs or buts, without hesitation.  We will insist on silencing of arms, and settlement of all problems through dialogue. We will insist on peace, which is for us a state where human rights and liberties are recognized, protected and promoted. 

We are fully aware that each crime that is ignored, denied or not nconfronted paves the way for the next one. That’s why we will keep the truth alive. 

We are fully aware that remaining silent to persecution mechanisms targeting the dignity of people amounts to being an accomplice to the crime. That’s why we will not remain silent. 

We are fully aware that oppressive regimes build all their power and strength upon fear. That’s why we will hold no fear!   

We will never give up to call the ones who turned these lands into a safe haven for crimes against humanity, yet an unsafe hell for those who call for rights and liberties to account. 

There is no doubt that those who attempt to hamper brotherhood and freedom in this country are doomed to fail. Our humanity, which has been tested so many times with pain and suffering, will win and prevail. Our dream of equality, freedom and peace for all will ultimately become true. 

For our children who disappeared under custody and detention, 

For our lawyer Tahir Elçi, 

For Roboski,

For Gezi,

For Suruç,

For Ankara,

For Sur,

For Hrant,

For truth, for justice, for peace!  

Saturday Mothers (Cumartesi Anneleri)

Human Rights Association Istanbul Branch

Committee against Enforced Disappearances 

Armenian Genocide centennial commemorated in Baghdad

By

201431In commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, Baghdad hosted Thursday, November 26, a performance in Arabic, titled “The Armenian Genocide before the court.”

Based on the play “Stand up the court is coming” by Perch Zeytuntsyan, the event was organized by Homenetmen (Armenian General Athletic Union and Scouts) and the Armenian Mixed Youth Association, Armenian Foreign Ministry’s press office reports.

Armenia’s ambassador to Iraq Karen Grigoryan, representatives of political and public circles, clergy members attended the event, covered by local media outlets.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres, and deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, the Italian Chamber of Deputies, majority of U.S. states, parliaments of Greece, Cyprus, Argentina, Belgium and Wales, National Council of Switzerland, Chamber of Commons of Canada, Polish Sejm, Vatican, European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.