George Clooney: There was Armenian Genocide, no argument about it

October 27, 2015 By administrator

George Clooney

Famous actor George Clooney said there was genocide in Armenia in 1915, and there is no argument about it.

“Now, history has changed and the Turks don’t want to talk about it anymore. And because we have military bases in [Turkey], suddenly those same politicians who before could say, ‘Yes, there was a genocide,’ can’t talk about it now,” Clooney said in an interview with The Frame on Southern California Public Radio.

Clooney said the actor cannot make policy, but can really “make moments louder that matter to you”.

“I’ve had conversations with senators where I’ll say, “Can we talk about the Armenian Genocide?” and they’ll say, “Absolutely not, because Turkey is our partner in the war on terror,” he added.

Turkey When Fetullah Gülen supported the Armenians?

October 26, 2015 By administrator

The Turkish newspaper Atik, pro-AKP, which in the past had allegedly said in insult, the imam Fetullah Gülen state of Armenian origin by his mother, re-attack again the former ally of Erdogan titrating:

“The betrayal of Gülen on the so-called Armenian genocide”

(translated from Turkish by Erwan Kerivel)

“A new betrayal of the leader of the terrorist organization fetullahci (members of the Brotherhood) Fetullah Gülen has been updated. While he was in charge of sermons Kirklareli, it appeared that in a letter sent to Armenian Patriarch Caloustian about the so-called Armenian genocide, he used outrageous. (…) In the letter the leader of the terrorist organization, the following words are written: “I can only curse those who have committed a great genocide against the Armenians in the year 1915. Among those who were murdered and massacred were such great men we can look at it with deep emotion (sensitivity), I respectfully pay tribute to these men. “

Kirklareli letter dated 6 May 1965

Writes journalist Ariane Bonzon in Slate dated December 23, 2013 after the revelation of the scandal of corruption in the AKP government that will end the privileged relations between Erdogan and Gulen, accused of ordering a plot with the intention of overthrowing the powers that be.

“… When Prime Minister [Erdogan] offers Fethullah Gulen to return to Turkey in 2012, supporters of the latter are convinced that it is to stop it. Many have the impression of having been deceived by the Turkish Prime Minister.

Is this open war provided a chance for Turkish democracy? The fact that a neo-brotherhood acts which should be held within the parliamentary framework, for an opposition party, or an investigative press, is worrying. The gülénistes can they also be a democratic force, while they are themselves divided between the grassroots movement, open to dialogue, and those who practice their occult power in the upper echelons of the administration and of government ? This double confrontation within the Islamist galaxy is not only an earthquake for the AKP. It also carries the seeds the beginning of a fracture within the New Brotherhood and highlights the deep gap in the private Turkish democracy a real alternation of power. “

Monday, October 26, 2015,
Jean Eckian © armenews.com

Prominent genocide researchers: What is your next step? Are you going to kill 15-20 million Kurds now?

October 25, 2015 By administrator

Ronald Grigor Suny, prominent genocide researchers
Photo: Berge Arabian

By Fatih Gökhan Diler

One of the most prominent genocide researchers in the world, Ronald Grigor Suny was in İstanbul for “Critical Approaches to the Armenian Genocide Conference” that is organized by Sabanci University. We made an interview with Suny; he shared his evaluations on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and his views on the events in Kurdistan from the perspective of the Armenian Genocide.

What were your expectations concerning 2015 and were they met?

Generally, I am an optimistic and positive person and I can say that I feel quite content with the developments that happened this year. We made progress, it was important to hold this conference in İstanbul. Also, the reference books on the genocide are translated into Turkish and this is also important for me. Two of my books will be published by Aras Publishing. “A Question of Genocide” which was prepared by me, Fatma Müge Göçek and Norman Naimark, translated into Turkish by The Turkish Historical Society. These are very big steps. If someone who lives in Turkey or who can read Turkish want to learn what happened in 1915, if they want to do some serious reading about the deep and dark periods of the foundation of Turkish Republic, they can find the material they need now. You have to deal with this issue honestly and you have to spare a lot of time, but now you have the material. 15 years ago, this was out of question. In the last 15 years, there has been an intense interaction among Turkish, Kurdish and Armenian scholars. The history of the western Armenians is being integrated into late Ottoman history and early Turkish Republic history, though those people were wiped away from the country. This is a part of the history… Without discussing the WW I and the Armenian question, you cannot understand Ottoman frontier. These are the parts that cannot be separated.

What did 100th anniversary change in the world, in Armenia and in Armenian Diaspora?

I think it was like going public. There were TV shows and interviews on the radio; some articles were published in the newspapers. Today, there is more awareness compared to the times when I was young like you. This is progress. However, as I was observing from outside, Turkey went to the opposite direction. Last year, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s letter of condolence was a step forward, but now look at the things that is happening in Kurdistan this year; the Kurds are “accused” of being “Armenian”. Being Armenian is considered like a curse. Prime Minister Davutoğlu says that they should be careful about the Armenian Diaspora again. The country goes through bad times now. Maybe the country will overcome these bad times and begin to move forward again, but for now, I cannot be very optimistic.

Many people say that the Kurds have replaced the Armenians. What do you think about this?

Do you know what is really interesting? 100 or 150 years ago, the most rebellious society in the Ottoman Empire was Kurds. Kurds were rebelling constantly and the Ottoman Empire was trying to oppress them. Russian and British armies were also trying to influence them. Compared to the other problems, Armenians were a minor issue. Armenian self-defense teams might have revolted in some places, but most of the time they were objections against high taxes and exaggerated as “rebellion”. The Armenian question was “solved” by genocide; this is the most horrible way to do it. This solution created another problem: the Kurdish question. In Turkey, millions of people don’t live as equal citizens. They cannot offer education in their mother tongue. They don’t have the right of autonomy. This is interesting: while some Kurds prefer armed struggle, HDP tries to solve this issue in a legal and peaceful way. This situation is parallel to II. Tanzimat Era after 1908; at that time, most of the Armenian political activists abandoned their revolutionary objectives and demanded reforms in order to be recognized in the constitutional system. They demanded their rights and wanted autonomy to some extent and protection from the assaults of the Kurds. In short, they wanted their own canton in the Ottoman Empire. Of course, there were some Armenians who didn’t abandon armed struggle, but they were the minority. On the other hand, Ottoman government claimed that all the Armenians are rebels and separatists, especially after 1913. They told that all Armenians demand an independent state and this led to the genocide. And today, it is much harder, because millions of Kurds live there. The society in Kurdistan is organized and united. There are a lot of Kurds in the west too. Istanbul became the city with the highest Kurdish population. Today, Kurds are allies of the US in Syria and they are the only force that we can count on in terms of fighting against ISIS in Iraq; as you can see, this is an issue with many different aspects. The government tries to make people believe that all Kurds are PKK guerillas and to start a war, instead of solving this issue with HDP by making a credible and reasonable organization; this is a really wrong decision.

You have probably heard the police announcement during Cizre blockade; they were saying, “Armenians love you, you are all Armenians.”

Interestingly, the most horrible thing they can say is “Armenian”. For those people, being Armenian is below being Kurdish. For many years, they have been trying to solve the problems not by reconciliation, but by resorting to violence and this is the heritage they have now. But you know what? This cannot work. What is your next step? Are you going to kill 15-20 million Kurds now? Turkey and Turks will be damaged because of what is happening now, because an oppressive and authoritarian state emerges and they are losing their chance to constitute a modern democracy.

“I think there is link between the Kurdish question and the Armenian Genocide. The police who shouted, ‘Armenians love you. You are all Armenians’ obviously draws this parallelism.”

Do you think that the current insight would be different, if Turkey were ready to confront 1915 like HDP?

Absolutely. Hrant Dink was always saying that if Turkey could manage to become democratic, there wouldn’t be any problems left about the Armenian Genocide. A democratic Turkey would recognize the Armenian Genocide anyway. The struggle that is carried by a part of the Turkish society, which consists of people supporting progress and libertarianism, for a pluralist and democratic Turkey is same with the struggle for making the Armenian Genocide recognized. In this sense, though the Armenian Genocide is only an item on the list, it is at the center of the struggle for democracy. There is another issue with Kurdistan now and it is related to the Armenian Genocide. Of course, some people don’t want these two to be related. They say, “No, the Armenian Genocide is about the past and we are dealing with it. But the Kurdish question is an issue concerning the present. Don’t make them intermixed.” I think there is link between the Kurdish question and the Armenian Genocide. The police who shouted, ‘Armenians love you. You are all Armenians’ obviously draws this parallelism.

What will happen after the 100th anniversary?

We are almost at the end of 2015 and we can say that the Armenian Genocide is broadly discussed this year. But time passes. What will happen after the 100th anniversary?

Of course, we are losing the momentum. This is inevitable. But I think that we achieved many things. Now, there is sufficient amount of books, films and documentaries on the genocide. Many countries recognized the genocide. We now have a solid foundation that we didn’t have 15-20 years ago. For instance, New York Times uses the word “genocide” without hesitating. There are still some states that hesitate to do it, but some big steps were taken. All these production will continue, though not with the same speed. The Armenian Genocide will continue to be a part of the history of those lands.

Popular figures like Kardashian family, Kanye West, George Clooney and System of a Down were active in 2015. What do you think about that?

Kardashians’ visit to Armenia created a major effect. In those days, the Pope also put out a declaration. The impact of the popular figures is beyond argument. When SOAD writes a song about the genocide, it creates a bigger effect than the works of the scholars. In fact, this is also good for us. We began to offer classes not only on Holocaust, but also on the Armenian Genocide.

Source: Agos

France: Centennial of the Armenian Genocide: The Sobering gallery organizes an exceptional auction

October 24, 2015 By administrator

On the occasion of the commemoration of the centenary of the Armenian Genocide, the gallery organizes Sobering October 29 sale to exceptional auction of 100 new works and emerging international contemporary artists. This event is organized for the benefit of the association for research and archiving of the Armenian Memory (ARAM).

Will be presented for sale works by artists such as Mounir Fatmi (Morocco), Lawrence Weiner (USA), Jonathan Monk (United Kingdom) The Chapuisat Brothers (France), Paul Winstanley (United Kingdom), Tania Mouraud ( France) … With an exceptional starting price set at € 200.

The funds will participate in the further work undertaken for years by ARAM.

The auction will be organized in three stages:

The first part of the auction from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

A recital organized by Adam Barro, bass-baritone, from 20h30 to 21h. He will be accompanied by Fanny Crouet (coloratura soprano), Anne Quéré (piano) and Peter Bedrossian (duduk)

The second part of the auction 21h at 21:45

The works will be visible until Sobering sale on the stand at the fair YIA 2015, the 22 to 25 October 2015 at the Carreau du Temple (stand 65) on 28 and 29 October in the Hotel Industry, 6th Paris (Salle Chaptal) and online.

Online catalog of the auction:? Http://soberinggalerie.com/ page_id = 3164

Patricia Kishishian and the team of the Gallery Sobering dedicate this event to the memory of Christian Artin Varoujan (ARAM Association), who has worked with great generosity and kindness to the preservation of the Armenian memory.

The entire evening will be held in the Hotel Industry, 4, Place Saint-Germain-des-Prés, 75006 Paris

Sobering Gallery

87 rue de Turenne 75003 Paris

soberinggalerie.com

https://www.facebook.com/100years100artists

https://twitter.com/soberinggalerie

Saturday, October 24, 2015,
Stéphane © armenews.com

Recep Marasli Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide

October 22, 2015 By administrator

By: Hambersom Aghbashian,

Marashli, His Eminence Archbishop Barkev Mardirossian, Primate of Artshakh and Ali Erdem
Recep Maraşli (the son of a Kurdish father and a Turkish mother, born 1956 in Erzurum-Turkey), is a journalist, writer, author, publisher and political activist. He was detained during the 1980’s in the Diyarbekir prison, infamous for the brutal torture of political prisoners.( He was arrested for the first time at the age of 17 and spent 16 months in prison). Upon his release, he founded the “Komal” publishing house, where he published works on the history and situation of the Kurds. Turkish authorities closed his publishing house several times. In total, Recep Maraşli was detained in Turkish prisons for more than 15 years. Maraşli and his future wife Nuran, a journalist were both in a prison in Diyarbakir in 1985. Once again in freedom, they met and married. In 1999 Recep Maraşli fled from Turkey to Germany, and Nuran managed to follow a year later together with their little son. Maraşli published a book on the history of the Armenians in 2008, “The Armenian National Democratic Movement and the 1915 Genocide,” and now lives with his family in Berlin. Next to his work as an author, he is also active as an artist and graphic designer; and his wife Nuran Maraşli works as an intercultural assistant.
According to ” The Ukrainian Weekly, May 31, 1998 “, “The Vasyl Stus Freedom-to-Write Award has been inaugurated to recognize an international writer who has been imprisoned for the peaceful expression of his or her views, and whose courage in the face of censorship and oppression has been exemplary. The award is named in honor of Ukrainian poet Vasyl Stus, who was the last Ukrainian writer to die in the Soviet gulag. The first recipient of the Vasyl Stus Award, is Recep Marasli, who has suffered a long history of persecution, censorship and imprisonment in Turkey, and has a long list of detentions. Mr. Marasli has written extensively about Kurdish and Armenian issues. (1)

In her long article “Critical Interventions: Kurdish Intellectuals Confronting the Armenian Genocide” ( The Armenian weekly – April 29, 2009), Bilgin Ayata wrote, ” A number of Kurdish intellectuals and activists articulated their objections to the use of the term Great Catastrophe in the apology campaign (released in 2004 in Turkey- HA) with a joint declaration that stated “It’s not a catastrophe, but genocide—this is the entire matter at heart,” a dozen Kurdish intellectuals and activists sharply criticized the failure of not calling the events genocide. One key figure behind both the Dialogue and Solidarity with the Victims of Genocide initiative of 2004 and the declaration “Great Catastrophe or Genocide?” is the Kurdish publisher Recep Marasli. ” Marashli forcefully argues that ‘genocide is not a matter of documentation forgery’ (evrak sahtekarligi), and criticizes the ongoing debate about archives and documents in order to find a proof.” (2)
Ayse Gunaysu, a contributor to the same Weekly, wrote the following in November 8, 2009, in her article headlined ” Kurdish MP challenges Turkish Parliament on Armenian Genocide,” ” Speaking about the Kurdish intellectuals and activists who first talked and wrote about the Armenian Genocide in Turkey, I have to mention the book of Recep Marasli, who was one of the victims of the horrible tortures at Diyarbakir Prison in the 1980’s and who served 15 years in various prisons. In the preface to his book (Ermeni Ulusal Demokratik Hareketive 1915 Soykirimi), Marasli writes how he first wrote about the Armenian Genocide in 1982, when he was in the Alemdag Prison. It was the first and worst years of the military rule.(ASALA also was active). During these days, Recep Marasli with a number of his fellow prisoners secretly prepared and circulated a pamphlet about the Armenian Genocide in the Alemdag Prison. He thinks it may well be the first structured writing about the Armenian Genocide in Kurdish circles. Some of the inmates thought that Marasli was of Armenian origin.(3)
According to ” http://www.kurdishaspect.com” Recep Marasli and Dr. Choman Hardiwas, were the speakers at a “Seminar on Nationalism and Genocide: The Case of Turkish Nationalism and the Armenian Genocide” which was chaired by Dr. Surhan Cam of Cardiff University and was organized by Kurdish Studies and Students Organisation and the Kurdish Society at SOAS, on 22nd April 2010, at KLT, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. (4)
According to “http://news.am”, May 3, 2010, ” Recep Marasli, a renowned Kurdish public figure and historian, told at the conference organized by Armenian democrats of Belgium that ‘Germany is partially guilty in perpetration of Armenian Genocide in 1915,’ and added ‘Germany was closely cooperating with Young Turks then. While planning genocide, they got major support from Germany. Germany could not be unaware of the preplanned genocide.’ A passage from his book about the Armenian Genocide reads: ‘Massacre perpetrated by Turkey against Armenians is genocide and Turkish government is in charge of it. It is an undisputable fact. Genocide recognizes no motivations. Genocide, perpetrated against Armenians is the major crime against humanity and it should be condemned.'” (5)
“Armenian Genocide Research Center” wrote on May 6, 2010, about “Ankara Symposium on Genocide, Consequences” which was held on April 24, 2015, in Ankara. The Symposium was attended by many Turkish intellectuals, who had the chance to express their opinions. Among them were Sait Cetinoglu, Fikret Baskaya, Baskin Oran, Adil Okay, Ismail Besikci, Ragip Zarakolu, Henry Theriault, Eilian Williams, Recep Marasli and others.
Recep Marasli discussed the role of the Kurds in the Armenian Genocide. Even though the Kurds did not participate in the planning and decision-making process, he said, they were not mere collaborators, but part of a strategic alliance with the genocide committers. (6)
On 25 January 2011, “hayastaninfo.net,” quoted Pervin Buldan, a member of the Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party from Igdir, addressing Turkish parliament members, she said “Rafael Lemkin says genocide is not only about the extermination of the representatives of a nation but also annihilation of its cultural and national values. Today, of the 913 Armenian monuments remaining after 1923, 464 have been totally destroyed, 252 left to a state of dilapidation, and 197 in urgent need of restoration. Many of the Armenian religious buildings are being used as stables or storehouses, and many others have been turned into mosques.” She continued and mentioned that “The Kurds were the first who publicly recognized the Armenian and Assyrian Genocide of 1915-16, long before Turkish intellectuals and Recep Marasli, a Kurdish intellectual, writer, and political activist, was the first. (7)
According to “Public Radio of Armenia”, February 15, 2013, ” Recep Marasli is also a member of the Frankfurt-based organization struggling against genocides. Members of the organization visit Armenia every year on April 24 to pay tribute to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims. Marasli told reporters in Yerevan “Turkey will not recognize the Armenian Genocide before 2015, as it is aware the issue is political, and the consequences may be very serious, and Ankara is wary of this.” The radio added that “According to Marasli, the issue of the Armenian genocide has become a topic of discussion in Turkey after Hrant Dink’s assassination. Turkish intellectuals, NGOs and the youth are interested in the issue and are ready to face it. (8)
On March 5, 2015, “artsakhpress.am” wrote, ” As part of the commemorations of the Armenian Genocide centenary, an exhibition entitled “My Beloved Brothers, Armenians in Turkey 100 Years Ago”, portraying the lives of Ottoman-Armenians, was recently held in the Alevi Center of Hamburg (Germany). The cultural event was organized by the well known Turkish writer Osman Koker. A debate held on the exhibition’s last day was attended by Wolfgang Goust, a journalist who worked for 25 years for the German exhibition Spiegel, and Martin Dolzer, an ethnic Turkish parliament member from Hamburg and many other intllectuls. Turkish writer Recep Marasli said many Armenian churches on Turkey’s territory are now used as mosques. “Apologizing is not enough; [descendents of the perpetrators] ought to be ashamed,” he said, adding that the grandchildren and grand-grand-children of the genocide orchestrators and perpetrators have not abandoned the wealth accumulated illegally by their ancestors. (9)
On April 23, 2015, Recep Maraşli was hosted in Armenia by “Western Armenia” state owned TV Chanel, and during the interview that was translated by Sarkis Hatspanian,
he mentioned that the first time he seriously was interested in the Armenian genocide was in 1981, in the prison, while (ASALA) was an active organization and his friends started talking about the Armenian Genocide. Later on, during his imprisonment period in those years in Turkey, he was more interested and it took him four years to study the Armenia Genocide issue. According to him, he had mentioned about the Armenian Genocide in the court during his trial in 1985 and that was the first time where this issue was publicly spoken about. He published his book “The Armenian National Democratic Movement and the 1915 Genocide,” in 2008, (650 page- in Turkish), the 4th edition of it will be published in1915. (10)
According to “Public Radio of Armenia” , April 27, 2015, ” Members of the Frankfurt-based “Union Against Genocide” and the Berlin-based “Support for Genocide Victims”, Turkish organization visited the Stepanakert Memorial, Gandzasar and other places of interest and had meetings with the leaders and journalists in Artsakh.” “On a first visit to Artsakh, the Turk visitors were aware that they will be blacklisted by Azerbaijan, but were not worried about it. Recep Marasli considered that being included in Azerbaijan’s “black list” should be treated as an honor, and added that he and Ali Erdem, another member of the organization are ‘Personae Non Grata’ in Turkey, as well. Years ago they fled Turkey to survive. At Stepanakert memorial, the Turkish activists paid tribute to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims and visited the graves of the freedom fighters. According to Marasli, the struggle of Artsakh is a just cause. They pledged to raise the issue in Europe upon their return. (11)

—————————————————————————————————————————————
1- http://www.ukrweekly.com/old/archive/1998/229821.shtml
2- http://armenianweekly.com/2009/04/29/kurdish-intellectuals-confronting-the-armenian-genocide/
3- http://armenianweekly.com/2009/11/08/gunaysu-kurdish-mp-challenges-turkish-parliament
4- http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc041410KSSO.html
5- http://news.am/eng/news/20559.html
6- http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2010/05/3068-minutes-of-ankara-symposium-on.html
7- http://hayastaninfo.net/39-autoren/ayse-guenaysu/556-kurds-turkey-armenians-genocide
8- http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/02/15/consequences-of-genocide-recognition-may-be-grave-f
9- http://artsakhpress.am/eng/news/13719/apology-not-enough-for-genocide-
10- http://westernarmeniatv.com/en/media/english-recep-marasli-sarkis-hatspanian/
11- http://www.armradio.am/en/2015/04/27/europe-based-turkish-activists-visit-artsakh/

Atom Egoyan: Armenian Genocide fuelled the Holocaust

October 22, 2015 By administrator

Canadian Armenian filmmaker Atom Egoyan newest work, Remember, was presented at Festival du Nouveau Cinéma last week and attempts to bring a material reality to the unfathomable tragedy of genocide, The Link Newspaper reports.

After success at the Venice Film Festival, the Oscar nominee presents a tale that revolves around Zev Guttman (Christopher Plummer), a Holocaust survivor struggling with dementia. He tries to track down and kill the Nazi leader of his block at Auschwitz, who killed Zev’s family before escaping to North America under an assumed name.

Due to his failing memory, Zev must constantly be reminded of his mission through a letter written by Max (Martin Landau), a fellow Auschwitz survivor and the organizer for Zev’s journey.

“It focuses on the questions of memory and justice and how to deal with unresolved history. It’s fuelled by the notion of trauma. The two characters are both survivors,” said Egoyan.

Anti-Semitism and the formation of hate play a central role in Remember, exemplified in a powerful scene where Zev visits the home of a neo-Nazi (Breaking Bad’s Dean Norris). At first, the man believes Zev is a Nazi as well. After Zev is forced to admit that he’s Jewish, the man becomes furious, forcefully screaming threatening anti-Semitic profanities.

“It’s horrifying in that moment; we understand the mechanics,” Egoyan said. “We see what triggers hate. When the trust is betrayed, he has to find a reason for his sense of pain and it converts into this extraordinarily violent anti-Semitism.”

This is Egoyan’s second film with Plummer. Their first collaboration, Ararat, also focused on themes of genocide, specifically the Armenian massacre during World War I.

From 1915 to 1918, the former Ottoman Empire was responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians in what is now the Republic of Turkey. Many of the persecuted were burned alive, drowned or given poisonous drugs. Others were subjected to death marches, where they were forced to wander toward the Syrian Desert, deprived of food and water. Raphael Lemkin used these events as a reference when he first coined the word genocide in 1943.

Egoyan said that as an Armenian, he can relate to Remember’s theme of mass murders left unresolved, especially since the institutional perpetrators have never admitted guilt, and the Turkish government still hasn’t recognized the methodical mass murders as genocide.

“I’m bringing my own sort of history, but I’m also understanding the persistence of what fuelled the Holocaust,” he said.

The Ottomans committed the Armenian genocide with the oversight of the German government. During his reign, many of Hitler’s key friends and policy makers could be directly connected to perpetrators in World War I. Evidence suggests that Hitler used tactics gleaned from the Armenian genocide as a template when executing his Final Solution.

More and more institutions are recognizing the Armenian genocide. Within the past year, Pope Francis acknowledged the genocide at his service in Rome, going as far as to say: “Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it.”

Egoyan is proud that the Catholic Church supports the plight of the Armenians, though he’s more pleased to hear that the German and Austrian governments have acknowledged their roles. He feels that their admission of responsibility has opened a new constructive dialogue.

“Some extraordinary things happened this year,” he said. “People are beginning to understand [the genocide] as a template for things that happened afterwards.”

“I used to always boycott Turkey,” said Egoyan.

As a young man, the Canadian director was passionately involved in a political Armenian student group at the University of Toronto, dedicated to bring awareness to issues of genocide and a destructively selective state memory. This year, however, Egoyan attended a wedding in Turkey for the daughter of Hrant Dink, the Armenian journalist assassinated by a Turkish nationalist in 2007.

When the director entered Turkey for the first time, he discovered a community of Armenians that were never driven out, a people on the frontline of forming a new dialogue around the genocide. At the time, these groups gave Egoyan hope for a new dynamic in the conversation between the Turkish government and Armenians.

“When I went in the summer all this seemed very possible. Literally three weeks after I got back it all went to hell. It’s very scary what’s happening in Turkey right now.”

Though the dialogue process may have broken down as political tensions in Turkey increased, Egoyan believes that there are enough progressive forces to shift the discussion, just as he has witnessed in the 28 countries who acknowledge the genocide around the world.

“Since I was a student, Canada has recognized the genocide,” he said. “That was an extraordinary moment. There’s a huge shift in contagiousness.”

Jewish organization urges to recognize Armenian Genocide

October 22, 2015 By administrator

The Jewish Council for Public Affairs at its annual meeting last week called on Jewish community organizations to lobby Congress and the White House to formally recognize the Armenian genocide. A JCPA spokesman on Wednesday confirmed that the resolution was the umbrella group’s first recognition of the Armenian genocide.

The Reform movement has called the massacres a genocide, but many other organizations have resisted such moves, Asbarez reported.

The resolution calls for the Jewish community to work with Armenian-American groups to advance recognition of the genocide.

“We must not let the politics of the moment, or the U.S. government’s relationship with Turkey, sway our moral obligation to recognize the suffering of the Armenian people,” it says.

France: Mandate for referral to the Constitutional Council

October 20, 2015 By administrator

The Court of Cassation received a request on Article 9 of the Gayssot Act, which makes the challenge of the Holocaust a crime, decided October 6, 2015 to ask the primary question of constitutionality (QPC) to the Council Constitutional, this law is “likely to create an inequality before the law and justice.”

The referral decision of the Court of Cassation of QPC for the Gayssot Act is a significant event.

We need the views of Armenians in France is taken into account in this debate and Mr Philippe Krikorian is determined to defend it. He will seize the Constitutional Council a request for voluntary action; its constituents are more numerous, the greater the scope of its arguments.

This decision was preceded by a few days the hearing on 13 October 2015 the Court of Cassation on our appeal against the refusal to transpose the Framework Decision of 28 November 2008 the European Council (under advisement to 12 November). Appeal of Aix en Provence Court and the State Council, seized of the same litigation against the French executive, who reported being both incompetent, it is logical that the indications of Conflict court Me Krikorian took in December 2014 the Administrative Court of Marseille.

The form of voluntary intervention mandate is available HERE

simply print it, complete it, sign pages 1 and 2, sign on page 3 and send it to me at the address listed Krikorian before October 27, 2015.

Greece President: We will continue supporting Armenian Cause

October 20, 2015 By administrator

Greece will continue to support the Armenian Cause.

The President of Greece, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, stated the aforesaid at his talk Monday in Athens with Catholicos Aram I of the Great House of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Aram I, for his part, first welcomed the conference titled “Peaceful Coexistence of Religions and Cultures in the Middle East,” and which Greece had organized.

The Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia also highly praised the stance of Pavlopoulos, who has supported the Armenian Cause ever since entering politics and today maintains this stance as the President of Greece.

President Pavlopoulos, in turn, stated that he has respect for the Armenian people and their just cause, and also praised the Armenian community of Greece.

Armenia News – NEWS.am

Is Germany showing too much deference toward Turkey over Armenia?

October 17, 2015 By administrator

Was the massacre of Armenians 100 years ago genocide? The German parliament is hesitant to say it was. Is this because they don’t want to anger Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan?

That would be really be a serious case of political pragmatism: according to advance reports from this Saturday’s edition of the Hamburg-based news magazine, “Der Spiegel” (17/10/2015), the German government is going out of its way to win over Turkey. The report says that the approval of the Armenian Resolution that was so hotly debated this April in parliament will be postponed. It claims that the governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Christian Social Union (CSU) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) have “quietly” agreed to delay the pending final reading of the bill for as long as possible. The article does not name sources.

Other sources claim that the resolution has been delayed due to efforts by the CDU. The opposition Green party insists that the parliament, or Bundestag, must recognize the massacre of Armenians one century ago as “genocide” before the end of this year. Green party leader Cem Özdemir criticized: “The coalition is stalling, but the clock is running out, for the commemorative year is quickly coming to an end.”

Gauck and Lammert speak out clearly

In April, parliamentarians observed the 100th anniversary of the displacement and annihilation of Armenians at the hands of their Ottoman rulers. According to Armenian accounts, some 1.5 million members of the Armenian minority community were killed in what is today Turkey, between April 1915 and 1917. Turkey on the other hand, says that 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians were killed, and that just as many Turks died during the same period. Ankara speaks of an atmosphere of civil war and of famine.

Nothing infuriates Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan more than when the term “genocide” is used in this context. The resolution of the Bundestag avoids any clear classifications of it. Bundestag President Norbert Lammert (CDU), and Federal President Joachim Gauck, on the other hand, did not mince words on the subject. Both gave speeches this year clearly defining the historical incident as genocide carried out on the Armenians by the Turks. Both instances led to angry reactions in Turkey. “The Turkish people will not forget German President Gauck’s words, nor will they forgive him,” was the response that Ankara’s foreign office released after Gauck’s speech in the cathedral of Berlin in April.

Merkel flies to Turkey

One thing is clear at the moment though, the German government needs Turkey in tackling the refugee crisis. Turkey is an important – right now the most important – transit country for refugees from the Middle East who hope to reach Europe, and especially Germany. Currently, two million refugees are in Turkey. Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to get President Erdogan to cooperate more closely with the EU than he has until now. The chancellor will fly to Turkey this Sunday to that end.

Merkel is thus meeting the Turkish president under difficult circumstances. A Turkish-EU action plan agreed to this week in Brussels stipulates that Turkey will improve the registration and care of refugees in exchange for EU cash.

Announcements of Merkel’s trip led to mixed reactions in Berlin: A general election is being held in Turkey on November 1. This spring, Erdogan’s governing conservative Islamic party AKP lost its absolute majority, and is now hoping to recover it. Germany’s opposition Green and Left parties fear that Merkel’s trip could unwittingly turn into an electoral boost for the president.

Source: dw.com