One Hundred Years of Competition: History of Russo-Turkish Relations

December 21, 2015 By administrator

Turkish 1915 Dictator Enver Pasha, the Minister of War of the Ottoman Empire (Armenian Genocide) instigator

To those who know Russian history, Ankara’s hostile move in Syria has come as no surprise: over the past hundred years Turkey and Russia have been involved in a longstanding geopolitical competition.

Incredible as it may seem it was Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany who urged Sultan Mehmed V of Turkey to unleash a “Holy War” (Jihad) against the Russian Empire, Britain and France during the First World War (1914-1918).

On November 14, 1914, Mehmed V declared Jihad against the enemies of the German Reich and the Ottoman Empire.

Besides religious matters, the Ottoman Empire had certain geopolitical interests in gaining control over Russia’s Caucasus, the Central Asian and the Volga regions.

Interestingly enough, the Turkish spiritual emissaries made every effort to engage Russian Muslims in the “jihad” against the Russian Empire, but largely in vain. Turkish pan-Islamists had been repeatedly spotted in the Caucasus on the eve of the First World War promoting the anti-Russian sentiment. They also tried to convince the Russian Tartar population to take the side of the Ottoman Empire.

The German leadership in its turn also added fuel to the fire by launching an ideological propaganda campaign and publishing “El-Jihad” newspaper. The outlet addressed Russian Tatars POWs and urged them to join Kaiser Wilhelm II, the self-proclaimed protector of all Muslims.

However, only 1,500 of almost 50,000 Russian Tatar POWs enlisted in German diversionary battalions.

Meanwhile, Enver Pasha, the Minister of War of the Ottoman Empire, developed an ambitious plan aimed at capturing Russia’s Kars province.

On December 22, 1914 a 150,000-strong Turkish military group launched an offensive against the Russian Caucasian Army in the Kars region. Unfortunately for Enver Pasha, the Turkish advance resulted in the disastrous defeat of the Ottoman military forces at the Battle of Sarikamish in January 1915. Russia’s victory brought the Turkish dream to stir up the Turkic inhabitants of Russia’s southern regions to an end.

However, it is only a part of the story. Russo-Turkish relations thawed in the early 1920s after the Bolsheviks came to power in Russia in October (November) 1917. The First World War dealt a heavy blow to the Ottoman Empire leading to the country’s partitioning. In April 1920 Turkish national leader Mustafa Kemal Pasha (dubbed later Ataturk) sent an official request to Vladimir Lenin, the head of the Bolshevik Party, asking to establish diplomatic relations between Soviet Russia and Turkey. Needless to say, Lenin met the proposal with enthusiasm — the Soviet government was at the time seeking new geopolitical allies.

The Soviets helped the Turkish state to delineate the borders between Turkey and Armenia and Iran.

In accordance with the Kars Treaty signed on October 13, 1921, between Turkey, Soviet Azerbaijan, Soviet Armenia and Soviet Georgia, Kemal Pasha received the infamous Kars region, Ardagan and Artvin. The treaty was preceded by a similar agreement signed by the Kemalists and Soviet Russia. The Soviet government also provided the Turks with considerable financial aid in gold. In August 1921 General M.V. Frunze assumed the post of a Soviet Ambassador to Turkey and became Ataturk’s close military adviser.

In order to support Turkey in its war against “imperialist powers” the young Soviet Russian Republic supplied to the country about 39 000 rifles, 327 heavy machine guns, 54 big cannons, 63 million bullets, 147 000 artillery shells as well as necessary raw materials and powder. Soviet military experts and instructors were deployed to Ankara.

However, relations between the states started deteriorating in 1936 during negotiations over the status quo of the Bosporus Straits and the Dardanelles. The Straits were placed back under the control of Turkey. Moscow believed that Ankara would provide it with additional preferences given the close cooperation between the countries during the Turkish War for Independence. Alas, the Soviet government’s wishes had not been met.

Indeed, in the late 1930s, after the death of Ataturk, Turkey adopted a new political course and turned to its old ally — Germany. In the 1930s Nazi Germany became Turkey’s major trading partner.

On June 18, 1941, after the Second World War began, the German-Turkish Non-Aggression Pact was inked in Ankara by German ambassador to Turkey Franz von Papen and Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Sukru Saracoglu. Under an agreement signed in September 1941 Ankara sold Chromite ore, a strategic metal, to Nazi Germany up until 1944. Furthermore, Ankara allowed German warships to cross the Straits under the official guise of commercial vessels during the course of the war.

Although then-Turkish president Ismet Inonu proclaimed a policy of neutrality, a considerable number of Turkish senior nationalist policymakers raised their voices urging Ankara to start “crusade” against the USSR and Bolshevism.

The supporters of the so-called Pan-Turanian movement dreamt of establishing control over Soviet Central Asia and the Volga region inhabited by Turkic population and most notably the rich oilfields of the Caucasus. In a word, nothing had changed much since the First World War. Needless to say, Nazi Germany courted the Turkish Pan-Turanists.

Interestingly enough, the Turkish “wish list” included not only the USSR’s territories, but also northern Syria, Aleppo and Mosul.

Historians call attention to the fact that according to an additional secret agreement to the Turkish-German non-aggression pact Turkey was expected to enter the war against the USSR when Nazi Germany captured the Soviet strategic city of Stalingrad. In mid-1942 twenty-six Turkish divisions were concentrated on the border with the Soviet Union.

Turkish 1923 the Ethnic cleansing Dictator Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

However, the Soviet advance against Nazis dealt a blow to Pan-Turanists’ plans. In 1944, Ankara changed its political vector again, and cracked down on Nazi-supporters inside the country. Furthermore, in February 1945 Turkey officially declared war on Nazi Germany, however not taking part in any fighting.

During the Cold War era Ankara continued to pursue anti-Soviet policies. In 1952, Turkey joined NATO and took part in the CIA’s clandestine Operation Gladio aimed against the USSR and the Warsaw Pact countries. Turkey’s Counter-Guerilla forces, including Turkish nationalists Grey Wolves (Bozkurtlar), carried out paramilitary training of the Turkish youths, conducted terror acts against the Kurdish left parties and spread anti-Soviet sentiment. Turkish nationalists proclaimed the creation of Great Turan and the dissolution of the USSR as their primary objective.

After the collapse of the USSR, Turkish nationalists once again attempted to spread their influence over former the Soviet Republics and regions — the Caucasus, the Central Asia, the Volga region and Crimea. As for Ankara’s Middle Eastern policies, its ambitious plans predictably include the Iraqi Mosul, where Turkish troops have been recently deployed, and northern Syria.

History clearly shows that Turkey’s principal geopolitical agenda has not changed.

Source: http://sputniknews.com/politics/20151220/1032050373/history-of-russo-turkish-geopolitical-competition.html#ixzz3v0xUKh7K

100 Years After Armenian Genocide, This Photographer Brings Survivors Into The Light

December 17, 2015 By administrator

Movses Haneshyan, 105, approaches a life-size landscape of his hometown, Musa Dagh. (Photo copyright: Diana Markosian)

“They’ve been in exile, and a century later they are being confronted with their home.”

BY Sara Elkamel Associate International Editor, The Huffington Post,

The 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide this year has been an opportunity for historians, writers and artists to revisit the memory of the massacres and deportations carried out by the Ottomans beginning in 1915. Exhibitions around the world revisited the archives, exploring Armenian culture, resistance during the genocide and the immediate aftermath of the genocide.

Diana Markosian, an Armenian-American photographer whose work has included topics such as the lives of young Muslim girls in Chechnya and the legacy of the Virgin Mary, took the retrospective moment to stage confrontations between the past and the present. Her project, “1915,” currently exhibited at New York University’s Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, profiles three living survivors of the genocide as they revisit memories of what they left behind, and what they lost.

In October 2014, Markosian set out to find genocide survivors residing in Armenia. She met 10 survivors, but only three — Movses Haneshyan, Mariam Sahakyan and Yepraksia Gevorgyan — still had memories predating the genocide.

Markosian retraced their steps, traveling back to sites they fled and still remembered. In an attempt to retrieve pieces of their lost homelands, she brought back mural-sized panels capturing potent landscapes from Turkey, and displayed them in the places these survivors now live in Armenia.

When Haneshyan, who is now 105 years old, looked at the photograph of his childhood home, “he paused and started dancing towards this image,” Markosian recounts. It was the sort of moment the photographer had hoped to capture when embarking on this project. She went on to photograph all three survivors’ encounters with images from their past.

ARS Participates in First International Day for Genocide Commemoration at U.N.

December 17, 2015 By administrator

Hovnanian School students at the Dec. 9 event

By Anahid M. Ugurlayan

On Dec. 9, the Armenian Relief Society (ARS) participated in an historic day for the Armenian people. It marked the first United Nations (U.N.) observance of the International Day for the Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime. This commemoration, which will take place every year on Dec. 9 going forward, was established pursuant to a U.N. General Assembly Resolution (69/323), passed on Sept. 11, 2015, that was sponsored by Armenia and co-sponsored by 84 nations.

Dec. 9 is not an arbitrary date—it also marks the date on which the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide went into effect 67 years ago. Raphael Lemkin, a legal scholar and Polish-Jewish refugee, was the catalyst behind the convention, coining the word “genocide” after studying the horrors of the Armenian Genocide and before losing 49 members of his family during the Holocaust.

The program began with a moving performance by the U.N. Symphony Orchestra of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Air.” In their welcoming remarks, Mogens Lykketoft, president of the 70^th Session of the U.N. General Assembly, and Jan Eliasson, deputy secretary-general of the U.N., delivered a powerful message—one that was echoed by all of the speakers—that stressed the importance of honoring victims of genocide while also redoubling efforts to prevent genocide altogether by, in the words of Eliasson, “catching the tremor before the earthquake.” Indeed, the promise of “never again” has been repeatedly broken and continues to be broken around the world.

Ambassador Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, permanent representative of Armenia to the U.N., thanked the 84 nations who co-sponsored U.N. General Assembly Resolution 69/323, making this observance possible. Mnatsakanyan stressed that this day calls on all nations to remember the victims of genocide as well as the “admittance of past inaction” and “reclaiming justice.” He applauded the efforts of civil society, the media, and academia in raising awareness and knowledge of the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Mnatsakanyan also noted that Dec. 9 was a “shameful reminder” that the international community cannot claim the elimination of genocide or genocidal tendencies despite the fact that there are many early warning signs in every instance, from violation of rights affecting vulnerable groups to hate speech to incitement to violence. He ended his remarks by stating, “We commemorate to prevent.”

The keynote address was delivered by Adama Dieng, U.N. special adviser on the prevention of genocide. He congratulated Armenia for its hard work in bringing the commemoration to fruition. Dieng stated that the seeds of genocide are being sown as we speak, citing the example of the Yazidis and other migrant groups, communities that are being destroyed simply because of their beliefs. He stressed the importance of acting now to stop genocide from being part of the present and future.

The keynote speech was followed by three panel presentations. The first, delivered by Pablo de Greiff, special rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, explained that a multi-pronged approach must be adopted to prevent genocide, most notably by strengthening civil society, on which serious constraints have been placed by 60 countries as of late.

The second presentation was delivered by David Tolbert, president of the International Center for Transitional Justice. Specifically mentioning the Armenian Genocide, he noted that the list of genocides is long and that genocide can only end if states take responsibility for their actions and end denialist practices. Tolbert explained that transitional justice requires that truth tellers be immune from prosecution and that reparations be given as a form of redress. He stressed the importance of creating memorials to the victims of genocide and modifying curricula in schools to teach children about genocides.

Lastly, Elisa Von Joeden-Forgey, Assistant Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Stockton University, stated that there is no society that is not complicit in genocide and that there is no society that is not vulnerable to it. She explained that there are distinct patterns to genocide (e.g., targeting reproductive symbols of group life), and that education is key in preventing genocide. Remarks were also delivered by the chairs of General Assembly Regional Groups, specifically by representatives from Cyprus and Israel, both of whom echoed earlier remarks about commemorating genocide by preventing it.

The program ended with the U.N. Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Einekleine Nachtmusik.”

The timing of the International Day for the Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime at the U.N. on the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide is a powerful reminder of the commitment of Armenia and the Armenian people to genocide awareness and prevention efforts. The ARS was honored to be present on this historic day and thanks the Permanent Mission of Armenia to the U.N. for its leadership in making this commemorative day a reality. The ARS also thanks the Hovnanian School for allowing many of its students to attend the momentous event.

Source; Armenian weekly

Aslı Erdoğan Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide

December 17, 2015 By administrator

Aslı Erdoğan Turkish Intellectuals

By: Hambersom Aghbashian,

Aslı Erdoğan (born 1967) is a prize-winning Turkish writer, human rights activist and former columnist for Radikal newspaper. Born in Istanbul, she graduated from Robert College in 1983 and the Computer Engineering Department of Boğaziçi University in 1988. She worked at CERN* as a particle physicist from 1991 to 1993 and received an MS in physics from Boğaziçi University. She began research for a PhD in physics in Rio de Janeiro before returning to Turkey to become a full-time writer in 1996. Her first story “The Final Farewell Note” won third prize in the 1990 Yunus Nadi Writing Competition. Her first novel, Kabuk Adam (Crust Man), was published in 1994 and was followed by” Mucizevi Mandarin” (Miraculous Mandarin) a series of interconnected short stories in 1996. Her short story Wooden Birds received first prize from Deutsche Welle radio in a 1997 competition and her second novel “Kirmizi Pelerinli Kent” (The City in Crimson Cloak), received numerous accolades abroad and has been published in English Language translation. Aslı Erdoğan was the Turkish representative of International PEN‘s** Writers in Prison Committee from 1998 to 2000. She is widely traveled and has an interest in anthropology and Native American culture. From December 2011 to May 2012, at the invitation of the Literaturhaus Zurich and the PWG Foundation, Erdoğan was Zurich’s “writer in residence”. ⁽¹⁾

On Feb. 2, 2007, “www.icorn.org” wrote: ” The Turkish writer Asli Erdogan was a friend of Hrant Dink and, deeply affected by his murder, she wrote to her friends, . . . today my name was listed on the death list because I sold Agos newspaper on the streets with a handful of intellectuals, but it is more important for my voice to be heard.” ICORN also published Asli Erdogan’s letter entitled ” We left a deep, invisible mark behind us” where she wrote” … It was a long, silent walk. Thousands and thousands of people were slowly walking, side by side, under an unexpected winter sun, a luminous sky, reminiscent of spring. A compact, homogeneous crowd was filling the avenues, the streets, the squares. There were blood-red carnations. Black signs spelling out the same message in three different languages.’ We are all Hrant, we are all Armenians.’ Hrant’s face emerges above arms, above heads, an intact face, bearing no signs of aging, with his gentle, comforting smile… Thousands of people, in mourning, heartbroken, intently turned to that face with a sense of loss even deeper than if he had been one of them. ⁽²⁾

In December 2008, two hundred prominent Turkish intellectuals released an apology for the “great catastrophe of 1915”. This was a clear reference to the Armenian Genocide, a term still too sensitive to use so openly. The signatories also announced a website related to this apology, and called on others to visit the site and sign the apology as well. This is the complete, brief text of the apology: My conscience does not accept the insensitivity showed to and the denial of the Great Catastrophe that the Ottoman Armenians were subjected to in 1915. I reject this injustice and for my share, I empathize with the feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers and sisters. I apologize to them. Aslı Erdoğan was one of the Turkish intellectuals who signed the apology.⁽³⁾

According to http://setasarmenian.blogspot.com, under the title “24 April, the anniversary of the 1915s events, will be remembered this year in Turkey, too.”, Taraf Newspaper of 20th April 2010 wrote ” A group of intellectuals as Ali Bayramoğlu, Ferhat Kentel, Neşe Düzel, Perihan Mağden, Sırrı Süreyya Önder, for the first time in Turkey, will commemorate this year on 24 April as the anniversary of the events of 1915, under the leader-ship of “Say Stop!” group. The commemoration will start in front of the tram station in Taksim Square. The group will be dressing in black and carry photos of massacred Armenian intellectuals who were deported from that station.” the following abstracts are from the text of the commemoration activity, “This pain is OUR pain. This mourning is for ALL of US. In 1915, when our population was just 13 million, 1,5 to 2 million Armenians were living in these lands…. In April 24, 1915 it was started “to send them”. We lost them. They are no longer available. They have not even graves. But the “Great Pain” of the “Great Disaster” , with its utmost gravity EXISTS in our pain”. Aslı Erdoğan, was one of the Turkish intellectuals who signed the text. ⁽⁴⁾

Asli Erdogan was invited to Yerevan-Armenia to give readings from her work . She was chosen as the first Turkish writer to be invited by the Armenian Writers for a conference. ⁽⁵⁾

^{____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________}

*CERN: The name CERN is derived from the acronym for the French “Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire”, or European Council for Nuclear Research, a provisional body founded in 1952 with the mandate of establishing a world-class fundamental physics research organization in Europe. Today, CERN is often referred to as the European Laboratory for Particle Physics.

**PEN: PEN International promotes literature and freedom of expression. It is a forum where writers meet freely to discuss their work; it is also a voice speaking out for writers silenced in their own countries.

1- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asl%C4%B1_Erdo%C4%9Fan

2- http://www.icorn.org/articles.php?var=56

3- http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=200_prominent_Turks_apologize_for_great

4- http://setasarmenian.blogspot.com/2010/04/good-thoughtful-and-ugly-from-turks-on.html

5- http://aslierdogan.com/haberler.asp?ssid=162

Pianist Evgeny Kissin reiterates decision not to perform in Turkey

December 15, 2015 By administrator

Prominent pianist Evgeny Kissin said he would not perform in Turkey until its government acknowledges that the mass murder of Armenians in 1915 was genocide, the New York Times reports.

“I personally believe that if people in such countries learn that some musicians refuse to play there because they are dismayed by what their rulers do, that will make intelligent-thinking people more aware,” he said in an interview with the paper.

Kissin also added that he does “not judge or condemn colleagues who perform in totalitarian countries – it’s a personal choice.”

On May 26, Kissin gave a special concert at Carnegie Hall titled “With You, Armenia: A Concert to Commemorate the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.” Sponsored by the Yerevan Perspectives International Music Festival, the event was part of an international tour featuring the impressive Hover State Chamber Choir, founded by Sona Hovhannisyan, who conducted the impressive 25-voice ensemble in the rewarding first half of the program. There were arrangements of Armenian folk songs and liturgical works, several contemporary selections, a Britten carol and the world premiere of a choral setting of Psalm 3 by the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki composed in remembrance of the Genocide.

Earlier in the framework of Yerevan Perspectives International Music Festival, Kissin performed on April 2 a solo concert in Armenian National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet.

The New York Times. Evgeny Kissin Will Indulge His Love of Yiddish Poetry at Carnegie Hall

Akın Birdal: Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide

December 13, 2015 By administrator

By: Hambersom Aghbashian,

Akın Birdal (born 2 January 1948, Niğde Province, Turkey) is a Turkish human rights activist and politician. He was a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey for the Democratic Society Party (DTP) (2007 to 2009) and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) from 2009 to 2011. He is an honorary President of the Human Rights Association of Turkey (IHD), having been its Chair from 1992 to 1998. He has published a number of essays and short stories. Birdal is an agricultural engineer by training, graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Agriculture, Soil Science Department. He went on to do a master’s degree in business at the University of Gazi. His academic career, begun in 1979, was cut short by the 1980 Turkish coup d’état. Birdal co-founded the Human Rights Association of Turkey in 1986, and became its Secretary-General. He was elected its Chairman in 1992. On 12 May 1998, Birdal barely survived an assassination attempt. The Turkish Revenge Brigade claimed responsibility. In 1999 he was sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment under Article 312 (of which he served 14 months). He was adopted as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. In 2002 Birdal was one of the founders of the Socialist Democratic Party, becoming its chairman, but stepped down after becoming Vice President of the International Federation for Human Rights. In July 2007, he stood as an independent candidate and entered the Turkish Parliament, representing Diyarbakır. He was awarded Jaime Brunet Prize for Human Rights (1999).

On February 9, 2001, “www.wnd.com” posted its article “Turkey lashes out over genocide charges” where it was mentioned ” The human rights activist, Akin Birdal, faces a possible sentence of six years in prison for the offense of ”openly insulting and vilifying Turkishness” during a panel discussion in Germany last year. According to the Anatolia news agency, the Turkish prosecutor quoted Birdal as having said: ”Everybody knows what was done to the Armenians. Turkey must apologize for what it did to the minorities.”⁽¹⁾
In “A Handy List of Turkish Turncoats”, “www.tallarmeniantale.com”, ‘Akin Birdal, Writer, Honorary President of the Human Rights Association’ is listed with many other Turkish intellectuals as turncoats for supporting the Armenian cause, recognizing the Armenian Genocide and criticizing the Turkish government and the officials as they never seem to comprehend the importance of self-criticism concerning their past, and for Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide.⁽²⁾

According to a press release on March 2001, “The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) called on the U.S. State Department to protest the prosecution of a Turkish human rights activist on charges that he had called on Turkey to apologize for the Armenian Genocide. The activist, Akin Birdal, is the former president of the Istanbul-based Human Rights Association and Turkey’s leading human rights advocate,” it mentioned, and added “The Armenian Genocide-related charges currently against him carry a maximum prison sentence of six years. According to a March 1st Associated Press (AP) article, Birdal’s lawyer Sedat Aslantas said earlier that his client had made remarks about Turkey’s treatment of minorities in general and not particularly the Armenians.” The AP story also noted that “dozens of writers, journalists and intellectuals have been jailed under Turkish laws which limit freedom of speech.”⁽³⁾

In her article “They say ‘incident’. To me it’s genocide”, (The Guardian- February 27, 2005), Nouritza Matossian mentioned the following concerning Orhan Pamuk’s trial for his one sentence in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger as he mentioned that ‘Thirty thousand Kurds and a million Armenians were killed in Turkey.’ Matossian wrote “Akin Birdal, vice-president of the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues, emphasizes: ‘No matter we have come to the 90th year of “incidents” Orhan Pamuk talked about, these will of course be discussed on domestic and international platforms. The aggressions carried out against Pamuk are those which have been carried out against thoughts. Pamuk is not alone.’ Pamuk has cut the Gordian knot. He has become the hero of every right-thinking person in Turkey and every Armenian worldwide.⁽⁴⁾

Edmond Y. Azadian wrote an article on March 20, 2014 in The Armenian Mirror- Spectator under the title “From Talat to Erdogan- The Same Old Racist Genocidal Policy,” the follwing are some abstracts: ” On March 16, Erdogan gave an interview to the BBC threatening to expel “100,000 illegal migrant workers from Armenia. We close our eyes to their situation, but what am I going to do tomorrow? If necessary, I will tell them, ‘get out and go to your country.’ They are not my citizens; I am not obliged to keep them in our country.” He added “ Akin Birdal, representing the Peace and Democracy party in the parilament, has said that this blackmail raises the question whether we are returning to 1915.”⁽⁵⁾

_____________________________________________________________________________

1- http://www.wnd.com/2001/02/8122/

2- http://www.tallarmeniantale.com/TURKISH-SCHOLARS.htm

3- http://www.atour.com/~aahgn/news/20010305c.html

4- http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/feb/27/turkey.books

5- http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2010/03/24/from-talat-to-erdogan

European Democrat Students association adopts resolution condemning Armenian Genocide

December 12, 2015 By administrator

European Democrat Students (EDS) pan-European student and youth political association has adopted a resolution that condemns the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

The resolution was put on the agenda of the meeting of EDS Council in Yerevan at the suggestion of the Youth Organization of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA). Youth Organization of RPA became a member organization of EDS this year, according to the press service of RPA’s Youth Organization.

The resolution condemns genocides committed against Armenians, Assyrians, and Pontic Greeks in the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th century and the early 20th century. The documents calls on Turkey to come to terms with its past and recognize the Armenian Genocide. It is noted that the denial of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey’s authorities leads to new genocides in the world.

‘During the meeting of our Council, today many discussions took place and a resolution condemning the Armenian Genocide was adopted by a majority of votes. Wu urge all EU countries to recognize and condemn the Armenian Genocide. I should say that EPP also has an official condemnatory stance on this issue. The Armenian Genocide was recognized by parliaments of many countries, and we wanted EDS also to have its official position on the matter,” EDS Chairman Giorgos Chatzigeorgiou said.

UN Observes First International Day of Remembrance of Genocide Victims

December 11, 2015 By administrator

UNITED NATIONS (Public Radio of Armenia)—Armenia’s Mission at the United Nations co-hosted the first ever observance of the International Day of Remembrance of Genocide, an effort which was successfully adopted by international body due to the efforts of Armenia.

Attended by a large number of representatives of UN member states and observers, international organizations, think-tanks, civil society organizations and media, as well as members of Armenian-American community and school students, the meeting in observance of the International Day began with a minute of silence in remembrance of the victims of genocide. Opening remarks were delivered by the President of the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft, the Deputy Secretary-General of the UN Jan Eliasson and the Ambassador and Armenia’s Ambassador to the UN Zohrab Mnatsakanyan. The panel featured the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Mr. Adama Dieng, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence Pablo de Greiff, President of the International Center for Transitional Justice David Tolbert and First Vice President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Assistant Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Stockton University Prof. Elisa von-Joeden-Forgey. Statements on behalf of the UN member states were delivered by Chairpersons of regional groups.

In his remarks, Mnatsakanyan noted that the International Day established pursuant to the UNGA Resolution 69/323 of September 11, 2015, calls for a manifestation of a collective sense of a duty before all victims of the crime of genocide. He reconfirmed Armenia’s commitment to promote and support international efforts to underpin the significance of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and to consistently and resolutely construct rigid foundations for prevention. In this regard, the Ambassador of Armenia recalled the unanimous adoption of the respective resolutions initiated by Armenia and adopted by the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council earlier this year, expressing appreciation to all the partners for their unwavering support. He recalled that in April 2015 Armenia hosted a Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide.

Referring to the remarks by the President of the General Assembly and the Deputy Secretary General, who had stated earlier that by honoring the memory of the victims of the Genocide, the international community reaffirmed its commitment to prevent this horrendous crime, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan noted that the International Day would render dignity to the victims of past inaction and would help reclaim justice. Mnatsakanyan further remarked that 9 December would not merely mark the adoption of a landmark international legal instrument, but also send a powerful message to ignite political, legal and moral responsibility “for defying and ultimately halting the repetitive nature of this crime”, as a “moral and political imperative” to consistently elaborate a rigid system of prevention.

“Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it”, stressed the Ambassador of Armenia, suggesting that, to eliminate genocidal tendencies, it will be imperative to analyze the causation of past cases, and that “every pattern of discrimination, every violation of rights affecting vulnerable groups, every exclusionary ideology, climate of impunity, denial of genocide and hate speech, as well as incitement to violence” are exactly compelling early signs, which beg early action.

The panelists elaborated on the nature, causes, and consequences of genocide, empirical analysis of genocidal patterns, and their relationship to long-term prevention, the importance of memorialization and dignity of genocide victims, their right to remedies and reparations, guarantees of non-recurrence and accountability, the links between genocide and other human rights violations, and prevention and punishment of genocide.

The UN Secretary-General issued a message on the first observance of this International Day, calling upon the international community “to recognize the need to work more concertedly to protect individuals from gross human rights violations and uphold our common humanity”. The event, which also featured musical performance by the UN Symphony Orchestra, was widely publicized in the UN, as well as in local and international media. The UN Department of Public Information launched a social media campaign “‪‎GenocideVictimsDay” and “‪‎PreventGenocide”, a special slogan (“Remember the Victims Prevent Genocide”) and logo for the International Day.

Upon the initiative of Armenia, in September 2015, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted resolution A/RES/69/323 proclaiming this International Day, which encourages all Member and Observer States, all organizations of the United Nations system and other international and regional organizations and individuals to observe the International Day in order to raise awareness of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and its role in combating and preventing the crime of genocide, as well as to commemorate and honor its victims. It acknowledges that victims of this crime call for a form of memorialization, which plays an important role in the prevention of genocide. 9 December also marks the day of the adoption of the Convention in 1948. The resolution 69/323 followed up on another important resolution, initiated by Armenia and adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2015 which recommended to the UN General Assembly to proclaim such International Day. These resolutions and the first observance event add to the continued efforts of Armenia to promote consolidated international action against the crime of genocide.

Armenian Deputy speaker talks Genocide with Argentina, Paraguay Presidents

December 11, 2015 By administrator

Deputy speaker of the National Assembly Eduard Sharmazanov attended Thursday, December 10, the inauguration ceremony of Argentina’s President-elect Mauricio Macri to meet with the latter afterwards.

Congratulating Macri on behalf of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Sharmazanov hailed the country’s efforts in helping the local Armenian community, as well as Macri’s personal contribution to the development of bilateral ties between Argentina and Armenia.

The Deputy Speaker also expressed appreciation for organizing events in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide centennial in Buenos Aires.

Following the inauguration, Sharmazanov also met with the country’s Vice President Gabriela Michetti and Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra. The latter stressed the local Armenian community’s role in Argentina’s life, expressing confidence that “the community unites two friendly nations separated by the ocean.”

Also, on Thursday, Sharmazanov met with Paraguayan President Horacio Manuel Cartes Jara in Buenos Aires.

At the meeting, the Armenian deputy speaker expressed satisfaction over Paraguay’s recent recognition of the Genocide.

“The best way to prevent genocides is to condemn them,” Sharmazanov noted, adding that the civilized world has no right to refrain from condemning past crimes.

The Paraguayan President, in turn, expressed solidarity with the Armenian people on the Genocide centennial.

Yerevan to host Second Global Forum on Armenian Genocide in 2016

December 10, 2015 By administrator

PanARMENIAN.Net – Major efforts are underway to organize the Second Global Forum, commemorating the Armenian Genocide on April 23, 2016, secretary of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee, Chief of Staff of the Armenian President’s office said, according to Artsakhpress.

“The Yerevan-hosted forum will focus on the crime of genocide and the refugee crisis,” Vigen Sargsyan said, adding that the subject is rather topical and of great international interest.

According to the official, the international struggle against the crime of genocide was a key factor in view of events commemorating the Armenian Genocide centennial.

As he reminded, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution, co-authored by 90 states on Armenia’s initiative.

“The United Nations New York headquarters marked the first-ever International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime on Wednesday, December 9. The event was hosted by the President of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft, with the Secretary-General’s special representative and Armenia’s permanent representative to the UN Zohrab Mnatsakanyan participating. Also, the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute co-sponsored the project,” Sargsyan noted.