PM: In 20 years Armenia will be independent, secure, just and intellectual

December 4, 2016 By administrator

pm-secure-armenia YEREVAN. – We must create such conditions which will make the Diaspora want to make investments.

Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan stated the aforementioned on Saturday, responding to questions during an event dedicated to the 110th anniversary of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU).

In his words, the regular address to the Diaspora—as a source of benevolence—is unpromising and wound’s our vanity.

The discussion host Mark Grogoryan, for his part, presented the criticism of actress Arsinée Khanjian in regard to the existence of monopolies and legislative gaps in the country, to which Karapetyan noted that the mentioned issues deserve attention.

Asked which problems hinder Armenia-Diaspora ties, the Prime Minister said: ”It is necessary to create regular contact to listen and understand each other.”

To the question on how he sees Armenia in 20 years, Karapertan responded: ”Independent, secure, just and intellectual.”

Referring to the question on what kind of opposition he dreams of, the PM said: ”Intellectual opposition.”

Responding to the question of a Facebook user on whether he believes in fairy tales, the head of the Government said: ”A person, who grew without fairy tales, is a dangerous one.”

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⁾

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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

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)

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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/

Koray Caliskan: Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide

August 27, 2015 By administrator

By: Hambersom Aghbashian

Koray Caliskan is a Turkish political scientist and assistant professor of political science teaching at Bogazici University in Istanbul, Department of Political Science and International Relations. He is also a columnist at the liberal newspaper, Radikal, and works on the anthropology of capitalism. He has a book on global markets published by Princeton University Press in October 2010. He developed the idea of a TV series on honor crimes, “Menekse and Halil,” screened at a Turkish national channel in 2007-2008. (1)
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 text of the apology was: “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.” Koray Caliskan was one of the intellectuals who signed the apology. (2)
According to “www.atour.com,” on April 25, 2001, Armenian and Turkish Panelists came together in Ground Breaking Dialogue on Genocide at Fordham University” where many intellectuals, historians, scholars, Human Right activists and others participated in it. Koray Caliskan also participated and had his input where he eloquently discussed his own educational history and how there was no mention of the massacres in his elementary and secondary teachings. It was only during his university years that he discovered “curious tensions about what happened in our historical past. “as he described it. And despite Turkey’s constant denial of such a horrific event ever taking place, he believed that “the unbearable silence is produced in such a noisy milieu” and that breaking this silence should be of utmost importance for those who truly want to say that they are Turkish. (3)
Under the head line “Recognition of the Armenian Genocide”, “aghet 1915. wordpress.com” wrote, “The fact of the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman government has been documented, recognized, and affirmed in the form of media and eyewitness reports, laws, resolutions, and statements by many historians, states and international organizations. The complete catalogue of all documents categorizing the 1915 massacre of the Armenian population in Ottoman Empire as a premeditated and thoroughly executed act of genocide, is extensive”. Then added a list of Turkish historian who have recognized the Armenian Genocide. It includes Halil Berktay , Taner Akçam , Murat Belge, Ahmet Insel , Bulent Peker , Salim Deringil, Ali Ertem, Fatma Muge Gocek , Koray Caliskan and many others. (4)
Koray Caliskan and many other Turkish intellectuals, historians, scholars, Human Rights activists, writers and others, where criticized for being friendly to the Armenians Genocide issue and recognizing it, and as Turkish scholars they agree with the Armenians that what happened in 1915 to the Armenians is a Genocide. (5)
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1- http://www.altcine.com/person.php?id=8213
2- http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=200_prominent_Turks_apologize_for_great_
3- http://www.atour.com/~aahgn/news/20010425aa.html
4- https://aghet1915.wordpress.com/recognition/
5- http://www.tallarmeniantale.com/TURKISH-SCHOLARS.htm

Hambersom Aghbashian

The book signing event will be on Sunday 30, 2015 at 6.00 pm

at Armenian Church,

2215 East Colorado Blvd. Pasadena,

Edhem Eldem: Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide

May 23, 2015 By administrator

By: Hambersom Aghbashian

Edhem Eldem

Professor Edhem Eldem (born in Geneva in 1960) is a renowned Turkish historian who teaches at the Department of History at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul. He completed his Ph.D. degree in 1989 at Provence University , (Université de Provence, Aix-Marseille I, Institut de Linguistique Générale et d‟Études Orientales et Slaves), and worked as an associate professor at Boğaziçi University (1989- 91), Tenured associate professor (1991-98) then full professor. He was a visiting professor, Centre d’études du domaine turc, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris (2001-08), then In (2011-2012) he was a fellow at The Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. His research focus lies on the late Ottoman social and economic history, intellectual biographies and the history of archaeology.(1)

According to (http://www.esiweb.org), In September 2005, Prof. Halil Berktay, joined by fellow intellectuals Murat Belge, Edhem Eldem and Selim Deringil, organised a conference on the fate of the Ottoman Armenians. Justice Minister Cemil Cicek attacked the organizers in the Turkish parliament with the familiar charge of “stabbing the Turkish people in the back. And according to (The California Courier), June 2, 2005, ” Fearing that these scholars were about to disclose a version of history which was not in line with that approved by the Turkish government, the Governor of Istanbul called Ayse Soysal, the rector of Bogazici University, and ordered her to cancel the meeting. She declined. She also refused requests later that day from the Chief Public Prosecutor to hand over the texts of the papers to be delivered at the conference.”
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. The brief text of the apology is: ” 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. Professor Edhem Eldem is one of the Turkish intellectuals who signed the apology. (5)
“Today’s Zaman”, wrote on September 26, 2014, “A group of academics, journalists, artists and intellectuals have released a statement condemning in the harshest terms what they define as expressions that include “open hatred and hostility” towards Armenians in Turkish schoolbooks, which were recently exposed by the newspapers Agos and Taraf. The two newspapers recently published reports on hateful remarks targeting Armenians in the textbooks used in history classes. A letter accompanying the text of the condemnation, written by historian Taner Akçam, notes that including such expressions as lesson material to teach children is a disgrace. The signees said textbooks in schools should seek to encourage feelings of peace, solidarity and living together over inciting hatred towards different religious and cultural groups. Edhem Eldem is one of the intellectuals who signed the statement.”(2)
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1- http://www.lisa.gerda-henkel-stiftung.de/content.php?nav_id=3971
2- http://www.todayszaman.com/national_group-of-intellectuals-condemn-anti-armenian-statements-in-textbooks_359935.html

Sanar Yurdatapan: Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide

April 10, 2015 By administrator

By: Hambersom Aghbashian

Şanar Yurdatapan was born in Susurluk in Turkey in 1941. He became famous as a composer and song writer during the 1970’s. In addition to his contribution to popular music, Şanar has written music for films and plays. Following the military coup in 1980, he left Turkey and lived in exile in Germany for 12 years. The Turkish Military regime stripped him from his citizenship in 1983. He returned to Turkey in December 1991 and got his citizenship back in 1992 . Şanar has been the spokesperson of the ‘Initiative for Freedom of Expression’, leading a civil disobedience action, since 1995.(1)

“Sari Aghjik”- translated into Turkey into “Sari Gelin” is an Armenian song which was spread in Armenian populated Turkish provinces in 19th century. The offspring of Armenian Genocide survivors sing the song in different countries of the world. The structure of the melody, base, and lads are Armenian. The word syllables correspond to the structure of the melody only in the Armenian version, whereas there is a mismatch in the Turkish and Azerbaijani translations. The Turks as usual are trying to wipe off this piece from the Armenian heritage in Turkey by depicting it as a part of Turkish culture. In 2004 – Turkish composer Şanar Yurdatapan, defending the cultural rights of the Armenians in Turkey said “The song ‘Sari Gelin,’ which is popular in Turkey, is Armenian.” (2)

According to www.bianet.org ,On Dec.26,2006, A number of leading Turkish intellectuals have launched a new civil disobedience action declaring themselves accomplices of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink whose last prosecution in a series launched by Turkish courts was based on opinions he expressed in an interview with the Reuters news agency. Among those who originally signed the “301 times No! No Limits on Freedom of Thought” campaign, hosted at the website www.301hayir.net, are Prof. Dr. Ali Nesin, Prof. Dr. Gülay Toksöz, Prof. Dr. Kadir Erdin, Prof. Dr. Turgut Tarhanlı, Prof. Dr. Baskın Oran, Doç. Dr. Mithat Sancar, journalist and writer Şeyhmus Diken, journalists Sinan Kara, Adnan Gerger, Bahattin Arı, authors Nihat Ziyalan and Ayşe Günaysu and musician and free speech activist Şanar Yurdatapan. Many other prominent academics, writers, journalists, and human rights activists have signed onto the campaign. Hrant Dink was assassinated in Istanbul on January 19, 2007 in front of the offices of Agos newspaper which he founded. (3)

In response to official statements that the Royal Library of Denmark has agreed “to balance” an Armenian Genocide exhibition by allowing the Turkish government to mount its own “alternative” exhibit, a group of Turkish citizens–including academics, writers, Artists, former MPs , and mayors–have signed an open letter to the Royal Library,asking them them not to Stand Against Turkey’s Democratization and Confrontation with its History! Şanar Yurdatapan was one of the signatories.(4)

According to “Today’s Zaman”, September 26, 2014, “A group of academics, journalists, artists and intellectuals have released a statement condemning in the harshest terms what they define as expressions that include ‘open hatred and hostility’ towards Armenians in Turkish schoolbooks, which were recently exposed by the newspapers Agos and Taraf. A letter accompanying the text of the condemnation, written by historian Taner Akçam, notes that including such expressions as lesson material to teach children is a disgrace. The statement said ‘The revolutions history and history textbooks should be collected immediately, with an apology issued to everyone and particularly to Armenian students.” The signees said textbooks in schools should seek to encourage feelings of peace, solidarity and living together over inciting hatred towards different religious and cultural groups. Şanar Yurdatapan was one of the many most respected Turkish Human Rights activists who signed it.(5)

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”. Şanar Yurdatapan, was one of the Turkish intellectuals who signed the text.(6)

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1- http://freemuse.org/archives/807

2- http://www.sari-gelin.com/5-facts-about-sari-gelin.html

3- http://www.bianet.org/english/politics/90480-retrospective-on-trials-against-hrant-dink

4- http://www.armenianweekly.com/2012/12/18/turkish-citizens-sign-petition-against-denialist-exhibit-in-denmark/

5-http://www.todayszaman.com/national_group-of-intellectuals-condemn-anti-armenian-statements-in-textbooks_359935.html

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

İpek Çalışlar Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide

March 10, 2015 By administrator

By: Hambersom Aghbashian

İpek Çalışlar, Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide

İpek Çalışlar (born in 1947 in Istanbul), is a Turkish prominent journalist and writer. After finishing her high school (Üsküdar American High School), she received her education at Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences. She lived in Hamburg-Germany, 1990-1992, where she researched about ‘Homosexuality’ and ‘women and Islam ‘ issues. In 2003 she visited Iran with her husband where they met Iranian intellectuals and wrote their book “Iran: A Man Dictatorship” in 2004. İpek Çalışlar has worked at the Turkish Cumhuriyet daily for 12 years and served at the Association for Education and Supporting Women Candidates (KA-DER), which defends equal representation of women and men in all fields of life, also at PEN Turkey. Her first literary book “Latife Hanım” has been translated into 11 languages, including Bulgarian, Arabic, German and Albanian. She wrote also “Halide Edip: Biography of Sigma Women (2008) .” (1)(2).

Ipek Çalışlar was tried for her bestselling biography of Atatürk’s first wife, Latife Hanim, under Article 5816 of the Penal Code for a passage that described the founder of the Turkish Republic escaping a life threatening situation in the guise of a woman and she was acquitted.(3)

A group of Turkish intellectuals signed a petition against a Denialist Exhibit in Denmark, an exhibition which was planned by the Turkish embassy to support their point of view concerning the Armenian Genocide . ” Don’t Stand Against Turkey’s Democratization and Confrontation with its History! ” was the message to the Royal Library of Denmark who has given the Turkish government the opportunity to present an “alternative exhibit” in response to the Armenian Genocide exhibition. Ipek Çalışlar was one of the Turkish intellectuals who signed the petition.(4)

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. The complete, brief text of the apology says ” 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.” İpek Çalışlar was one of the intellectual who signed the petition which in few days was signed by over 13,000 signatories.(5)

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, among them Ali Bayramoğlu, Ferhat Kentel, Neşe Düzel, Perihan Mağden and 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”. The text was signed also by İpek Çalışlar.(6)

—————————————————————————————————————————————–1- http://www.todayszaman.com/national_ipek-calislars-biography-of-ataturks-wife-published-in-london_331881.html

2- http://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/İpek_Çalışla

3- http://www.englishpen.org/campaigns/turkey-insult-trials-continue-ipek-calislar-acquitted/

4- http://www.genocide-museum.am/eng/19.12.12.php

5- http://www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/200_prominent_Turks_apologize_for_great_catastrophe_of_1915

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

SERKAN ENGIN: NEVER AGAIN-1915, This is an ethical duty for me as an honest and honorable intellectual.

March 2, 2015 By administrator

By: SERKAN ENGIN Turkish intellectual.

SERKAN ENGIN

Why am I talking about the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian genocides in Turkey? Why would I get myself into trouble? Am I stupid?

I’m talking about these genocides, because this is an obligation from my conscience. This is an ethical duty for me as an honest and honorable intellectual. This is my debt and obligation to humanity. I want to talk about all these genocides perpetrated my Turk ancestors, because in Turkey you must declare the truth loudly, against the lies of the so-called official history.

I’m the child who shouts “The Emperor is naked”. I’m devoting myself to the truth at the cost of my life and freedom, because I want to create and increase awareness about these atrocities, so that similar crimes against humanity won’t be perpetrated again.

I refuse to be “proud of” my ancestors who raped little girls, burned children alive, enslaved women and brutally slaughtered millions of innocent people.

I refuse to shout “How happy is he, who says I’m a Turk” every morning in school playgrounds. I reject the education system which tells our children a racist motto like “One Turk is equal to the whole world”. I don’t want to see any fascist youth in my country, or in any other country. We have to tell our kids “Every humans of the world are equal to each other, whatever their ethnicity, language, belief or gender. I want an education system in Turkey which reveals the importance of art, philosophy, and science.

I am against all kind of heroic tales, because politicians, generals and arms industry corporations use heroic tales for their own benefits, so that they can send poor young men to the war zones to kill each other. I’m an anti-militarist and proud of this. My heart and my pen are my only weapons.

I stand behind all the oppressed people in the world, as an internationalist socialist poet and author, and my mission is to be the voice of them.

I’m a little child in an adult’s body who wants to love the whole world with childish pureness.

Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide 39-Sait Çetinoğlu

November 15, 2014 By administrator

By : Hambersom Aghbashian

Sait Çetinoğlu is a Turkish scholar. His interests include The Young Turks, The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) and Kemalism. He has published many original articles based on research of the National Archives in Turkey.(1)

According to http://www.variant.org.uk , Sait Çetinoğlu, author of The Malta Documents and Economic and Cultural Genocide, 1942-1944, and an organizing member of the Ankara Freedom of Thought Initiative that hosted the “1915 Within Its Pre-and Post-Historical Periods: Denial and Confrontation” conference which took place in Ankara on 24th April 2010, highlighted the dangers that still exist in Turkey for those that seek to expose the genocidal realities of the past. He added “What happened at the conference which we organized in Ankara showed how difficult and dangerous is discussing the topic. Despite the fact that we faced tremendous obstacles, we as socialists of Turkey discussed this question for two days with oppressed people, socialists and poor people of Turkey, and scholars from Turkey and abroad.”(2)

According to The Armenian weekly (April 28, 2010) , ” On April 24, as genocide commemoration events were being held one after the other in different locations in Istanbul, a groundbreaking two-day conference on the Armenian Genocide began at the Princess Hotel in Ankara. The conference, organized by the Ankara Freedom of Thought Initiative, was held under tight security measures. The conference attracted around 200 attendees, mostly activists and intellectuals who support genocide recognition. Among the prominent names from Turkey were Ismail Besikci, Baskin Oran, Sevan Nishanian, Ragip Zarakolu, Temel Demirer, and Sait Cetinoglu.”(3)

According to Lilit Muradyan “Radiolur”, April 25, 2013, ” 10 Turkish intellectuals visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial on April 24 to pay tribute to the memory of the innocent victims. Ali Sait Çetinoğlu , a Turkish intellectual and the founder of the Free University system of Turkey, which publishes brochures presenting the real and undistorted history to the Turkish society said at a meeting with Armenians today , shared his pain for the greatest crime of the 20^th century and said it was an honor for him to stand in front of representatives of a nation, which survived the great calamity and thrived.” “I have devoted my live to revealing that evil. I declare we must not believe the masks of the Turkish authorities and their calls for friendship between the two nations. What we should believe in is their actions” said Çetinoğlu and addressed a question to all attendees: “Have you asked the Turkish intellectuals you met before where their grandfathers were in 1915? Will you ask from now on?”(4)

In a long Study/Article titled “Foundations of non-Muslim Communities: The Last Object of Confiscation“, Sait Çetinoğlu mentioned that “During the process of 1915 Armenian Genocide, the immovable properties belonging to Armenians who left or entrusted them to their neighbors were looted and/or sold by those who turned war conditions as a ground of opportunity. These properties naturally were seized by powerful locals. With decree number 1457-246/7, which was enacted in 25 January 1925, those who had seized these properties became entitled to get deed titles in a short period of time. The main character of the measures introduced after expulsions during the 1923 Population Exchange is that they were systematic measures aimed at disturbing, expulsing and deporting non-Muslims and that they systematically followed each other.(5)

Sait Cetinoglu presented a paper on “The Mechanisms of Terrorizing Minorities: The Work Battalions and the Capital Tax [Varlik Vergisi] in Turkey During World War Two”. He detailed the manner in which the tax was designed to intentionally “exterminate the economic and cultural existence … of the non-Muslim minorities, …[to] loot their properties and living means and, in parallel, to Turkify the economy of the country. This tax”, he clarified, must be assessed as “a continuation of the tradition of the Committee of Union and Progress and has the structure of an ethnic cleansing” mechanism. “The government of that time, through this law that implemented the Capital Tax, achieved in great part its aim of acting to destroy the minorities economically and culturally in order to promote ethnic homogenization.” This genocidal initiative, following in the tradition of the Committee of Union and Progress, he noted, followed other terrible actions against minorities. The anti-Jewish pogroms in Thrace in 1934, the intimidatory campaign “Citizen Speak Turkish” and the mobilization of work battalions for the ‘minorities’ during 1941-42.(3)

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1- http://www.keghart.com/Cetinoglu-Malta

2-http://www.variant.org.uk/37_38texts/report37.html

3- http://www.armenianweekly.com/2010/04/28/ankara-conference/

4-http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/04/25/ask-turks-were-their-grandfathers-were-in-1915-turkish-intellectual-tells-armenians/

5- http://neweasternpolitics.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/foundations-of-non-muslim-communities-the-last-object-of-confiscation-by-sait-cetinoglu/

Turkey: Campaign to Free Nişanyan, Armenian intellectual imprisoned in Turkey

June 4, 2014 By administrator

See below all contact information

Sevan Nichanian – Armenian intellectual, a citizen of Turkey, civil rights activist, former columnist for the liberal newspaper Taraf and bilingual weekly Agos, and eminent linguist – is imprisoned in Turkey in harsh conditions of confinement since January 2, 2014 . It is a situation that can only be described as psychological torture, and his health is deteriorating. The International Committee Freedom and Justice for Sevan Nişanyan [Nichanian] appealed to international agencies and organizations of human rights, and invites wider public to fight for the elimination of coercion and restrictions as facing the Armenian journalist. Liberty and Justice for Sevan Nichanian [Nişanyan]! Collectif VAN, a member of the support committee, relayed by the campaign.

International Committee Freedom and Justice for Sevan Nichanian [Nişanyan]

Urgent appeal to organizations of human rights

May 31, 2014

Sevan Nichanian – Armenian intellectual, a citizen of Turkey, civil rights activist, former columnist for the liberal newspaper Taraf and bilingual weekly Agos, and eminent linguist – is imprisoned in Turkey in harsh conditions of confinement since January 2, 2014 .

The severity and disproportion of the sentence against this intellectual, the continued deterioration of prison conditions, and the imminent threat of new charges and new trials led a group of representatives of civil society and intellectuals to meet and form the International Committee Freedom and Justice for Sevan Nichanian.

Our committee considers imprisonment Nichanian as a travesty of justice and an unacceptable punitive measure that threaten the right of individuals to freedom of thought. The Committee considers that the imprisonment of Nichanian is the obvious manifestation of prejudice and malice. This gross mistreatment is motivated by the fact that this is a dissident intellectual who fights against bad theories and the official historiography generated by the mind (to use that term with indulgence) of the State Turkish.

The International Committee Freedom and Justice for Sevan Nichanian called the Turkish authorities to immediately release Nichanian and to end the campaign of intimidation, harassment and cruelty against him.

The Committee appealed to international agencies and organizations with rights and invites wider public opinion to condemn these acts and to fight for the elimination of coercion and restrictions faced by Sevan Nichanian, in campaigning for freedom of Sevan.

The Committee calls on all sensitive individuals, organizations and citizens of Turkey, to support one of them, an intellectual who was a victim of relentless repressive machinery of the state, who championed multiculturalism and fought for that be able to prevail and prosper, and has been a model in this regard for his fellow citizens.

The committee believes that, in a country where illegal construction is widespread, and where almost all government facilities are built illegally, it is only a pretext to imprison an outspoken critic under the charges of violation of prohibition of construction. Sevan Nichanian is in conditions that can only be described as psychological torture, and his health is deteriorating. Therefore, the Committee requests the assistance of all international organizations of human rights to redress the situation of Sevan Nichanian by restoring his rightful freedom.

Translation: Collectif VAN
(Nota Bene: The Turkish spelling is Nişanyan Sevan Sevan Nishanian in English and in French Nichanian Sevan.)

Liberty and Justice for Sevan Nichanian [Nişanyan]
Ali Ertem, Anjel Dikme Ara Baliozian, Atilla Dirim, Attila Tuygan, Baskin Oran, Can Baskent, Dalita Roger Hacyan, David Gaunt, Doğan Özgüden, Metin Erkan Erol Özkoray, Esther Schulz-Goldstein, Fikret Baskaya, Gerayer Koutcharian, Gurgen Khandjyan Hrant Kasparyan, Hrach Kalsahakian, Hranush Kharatyan Ibrahim Seven Ischkhan Chiftjian Ismail Beşikçi, Karine Khutikyan, KM-Mahmut Konuk Mesut Tufan, Nadya Uygun, Nurhan Becidyan, Perj Zeytuntsyan Raffi Hermonn Arax, Ramazan Gezgin Sait Cetinoglu Sako Aryan, Séta Papazian, Sevak Artsruni, Sibel Ozbudun, Sirri Sureyya Onder, Taner Akcam, Tessa Hofmann, Tigran Paskevitchyan, Demirer, Tzourou Ira, Vahagn Chakhalyan Vartan Tashjian, Yalcin Ergundogan, Zeynep Tanbay.

Address:
Liberty and Justice for Nişanyan [Nichanian]
International Committee
Eschenheimer Anlage 20 AD – 60318 Frankfurt
Germany

Contacts:

Turkey: Can Cetinoglu. Tel: + 905 32 71 84 644; E mail: cetinoglus@gmail.com
Armenia: Sako Aryan. Tel: + 374 77 79 24 64; E mail: sakoarian@gmail.com
Middle East: Hrach Kalsahakian. Tel: + 971 50 614 4787; E mail: kalsahakian@gmail.com
Germany: Ali Ertem. Tel: +49 69 59 70 813; E mail: skd@gmx.net
France: Séta Papazian. Tel: + 33 1 77 62 70 77; E mail: comitedesoutien@collectifvan.org
USA: Nadya UYGUN. Tel: + 1 239 304 18 49; E mail: nad0910@hotmail.com