Parliament Archives

EGYPT: A resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide submitted to the Egyptian Parliament supported by 337 MPs

July 28, 2016 By administrator

Egypt genocide A resolution submitted by independent MP Mostafa Bakri calls on Parliament and the government to recognize the genocide of Armenians by the Ottoman state in 1915 reported the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram.

Egyptian MP Mostafa Bakri said he and 336 MPs have asked Parliament to approve the draft resolution in favor of the recognition of the destruction of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 as genocide.

“Parliament must hold a special session on this topic because it was a mass extermination of crime that must be condemned by all parliaments of the world,” said Mostafa Bakri.

“New historical evidence has exposed the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1922,” said Mostafa Bakri, adding that his proposal “comes after the German parliament voted last month in favor of the recognition of the massacre as genocide in 1915, and many other countries should follow. “

Mostafa Bakri concluded that “while the Ottomans committed the massacre of 1915, the Erdogan regime is now moving to commit another crime against his political opponents and minorities seeking independence.”

The proposal comes after another Egyptian MP Emad Mahrous, has demanded Sunday that the Egyptian government grant political asylum to the figure of Fethullah Gulen Turkish opposition.

Emad Mahrous accused Erdogan to exploit the failed coup against him this month to detain hundreds of political opponents and turn Turkey into a dictatorship of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Talaat Khalil, a member who supported the draft resolution Mostafa Bakri, told reporters that the genocide must be condemned by all governments and world parliaments.

“In addition, authors should admit their crimes and even apologize for them,” said Talaat Khalil.

“But it is clear that the arrogant regime of Erdogan will never admit that the massacre [occurred] because he believes a new Ottoman sultan,” said Talaat Khalil.

Talaat Khalil added that Egypt had close relations with both the Armenian people and the Turkish people.

“Egypt has always been a refuge for Armenians since the massacre of 1915,” said Talaat Khalil, arguing that “outside its political responsibility, the parliament of Egypt must recognize the [genocide] against Armenians . “

Khalil concluded by saying that “this should not be considered as a hostile act by the Egyptian parliament against Turkey, but must be seen as a movement that comes from purely humanistic considerations.”

Thursday, July 28, 2016,
Stéphane © armenews.com

Egyptian MPs urge parliament and government to recognize Armenian Genocide

July 26, 2016 By administrator

Egypt armenian genocide

Egyptian MP Mostafa Bakri has called on parliament and ‎the government to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

He and 336 MPs have called on parliament ‎to approve a draft resolution in favour of ‎recognizing the death of 1.5 ‎million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman state in 1915 as a “genocide”, AhramOnline reported.‎

‎Independent MP Bakri calls for a special session on ‎the issue because the crime “should be ‎condemned by all world parliaments.”

“New historical evidence has ‎exposed the slaughter of 1.5 million ‎Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks ‎between 1915 and 1922,” Bakri said.

Bakri concluded that while “the Ottomans ‎committed the 1915 massacre, the Erdogan regime is now moving to commit ‎another crime against his political ‎opponents and minorities that seek ‎independence.”

MP Talaat Khalil supports Bakri’s ‎draft resolution and believes that perpetrators ‎must admit their crimes and apologize.

“But it is clear that the arrogant Erdogan ‎regime will never admit that this massacre ‎[took place] because he believes himself to be a new ‎Ottoman sultan,” Khalil told reporters, adding that Egypt has always been a shelter for the ‎Armenians since the 1915 massacre.

French parliament adopts bill criminalizing Armenian Genocide denial

July 2, 2016 By administrator

armenia france genocide The National Assembly (NA) of France adopted the amendments proposed to the bill on “Equality and citizenship”, which President François Hollande had also promised to make.

The amendments propose to establish 45,000 euro penalty for denying the crimes against humanity, 20Minutes writes. In fact, the document specifically mentions about criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial.

The bill will now be directed for adoption by Senate.

The previous law criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial in France was blocked by the country’s Constitutional Court, following which François Hollande initiated another bill.

Armenian parliament ratifies air defense system deal with Russia

June 30, 2016 By administrator

joined defense With a vote of 102-8 (no abstention), Armenia’s National Assembly on Thursday, June 30 voted to ratify the agreement on creating a joint air defense system with Russia, Yerkir Media reports.

Russia and Armenia on December 23, 2015 signed a collective security deal on a joint regional air defense system in the Caucasus. The agreement was signed by the heads of defense of the two countries, Sergey Shoigu and Seyran Ohanyan.

As Deputy Defense Minister Ara Nazaryan said at the parliament, the deal seeks to improve the air defense system in the Caucasus region.

Earlier on Wednesday, Minister Ohanyan said that under the agreement Armenia will be able to make use of 4th generation multifunctional Russian fighter jets, S-300 missile systems, plus not just air defense but also missile defense facilities.

Kurdish MP Delivers Fiery Speech in Turkish Parliament

May 17, 2016 By administrator

harut-sassounian-small2 BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN

In recent days, scathing speeches by Armenian and Kurdish deputies in the Turkish Parliament have been circulating on the internet. Last week, I presented the bold speech by Armenian MP Garo Paylan, delivered in April on the Armenian Genocide. This week, I would like to share with readers another fearless speech by Kurdish MP Gultan Kisanak. Even though this video was recently posted on the internet, her remarks were delivered in January 2012, shortly after the massacre of 35 young Kurdish civilians by the Turkish military in Roboski village, in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan!

Here are excerpts from her remarkable speech:

“…Those who don’t feel grief or shame for this situation and call themselves Muslim; those who don’t account for this situation, I question their humanity, their Islamic religion, and beliefs. Everyone is aware of what happened there. Is this how blinded your conscience has become? Is this your definition of humanity? …How do you manage to be so reckless and careless about the massacre of 35 people? How do you manage to be so inhumane? First, you are going to stand up and apologize; get upset. That is if you’re a human being as you claim to be. If you have a conscience! But you are not doing any of these things and instead acting as if a fly or a couple of chickens died by an ‘accidental operation.’ Shame on you! …For 90 years, this country has been using the terrorism excuse and committing many massacres…. You are trying to exterminate the Kurdish people! There is no terrorism! … The Military Chief of Staff of this country said: ‘We killed 40,000 people. We bombed the mountains many times. But still this issue does not end.’ You still cannot understand this truth! There are people there; and these people have rights! There are people there whose identity is being denied. There is a Kurdish issue. There is no terror issue….”

Using even harsher language, the Kurdish MP continued: “We are going to make you pay for this! Those who committed this massacre in broad daylight against these civilians and their mules, under the watchful eyes of the police, and those who think they can go around massacring 35 people and threaten the Kurds, will soon realize that they are the losers in these massacres! No one is afraid of death! Is there anything more than death? … How dare you impose your superiority on us! What more do you have over us? What do Turks have more than Kurds? What did Germans have more than Jews? …As equal citizens of this country, everyone is going to freely have their citizen’s rights with their true identity. Living side by side as free citizens with honor, we will never accept to be dishonored. Never! Even if you commit a thousand massacres, we will never accept it.”

When a pro-government MP tried to interrupt her speech, the Kurdish deputy shot back firmly: “Shut up! You have not even shown the strength to condemn the massacre. Shut up!”

Kisanak, who is now the co-Mayor of Diyarbekir, resumed her remarks: “Someone [Erdogan] is saying: ‘We’re not going to allow them [Kurds] to settle down in those areas.’ What ‘settling down?’ We have been here longer than a thousand years. We are deeply-rooted in those cliffs, rocks, Mount Cudi, Mount Gabar, Mount Agri [Ararat], and Mount Munzur. We are in their depths. We are here and have been here since the beginning of history and we are going to be here till the end! What ‘settling down’? We have been rooted here since the beginning. Our ancestors, grandfathers, and graves are all here. Our language, culture is here. What ‘settling down’ are you talking about? …They want to assimilate and annihilate the Kurdish population that has been living here for over thousands of years.”

Calling the killing of 35 young Kurds by the Turkish military “a crime against humanity,” Kisanak continued: “We are not going to let it go — till the end! We will be using all possible international human rights to make them account for their crimes. All those who commanded it, gave the orders, bombarded the place, shredded the bodies of those young children, will give an account to the community for it. Someone said, ‘there was no intent, there is no apology,’ but, ‘there is compensation.’ Be ashamed of yourselves. You know what they call this in our [Kurdish] culture? Blood money! If I have the money, I can commit a crime and pay the money to cover it up. So you think you can kill, then pay and then try to cover it up? Be ashamed of yourselves….”

The Speaker of the Parliament turned off the courageous Kurdish MP’s microphone, forcing her to end her speech!

German Lawmaker Shocks Parliament by Reciting Poem Mocking Erdogan Video

May 13, 2016 By administrator

Detlef Seif, a backbench member of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, has caused a stir in Bundestag by reciting a satirical poem that mocked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as German MPs were debating the fate of the law that was invoked to prosecute the text’s author.

The politician hailing from North Rhine-Westphalia did not recite the explicit satirical poem to support its author, comedian Jan Boehmermann, but rather to show that the text was insulting and lacked satirical merit.

“A person’s honor is under attack here and the justice must decide if these statements are still covered by freedom of expression and press,” Seif told fellow MPs, adding that he was not trying to defend Erdogan.

Yet other lawmakers did not think it was appropriate. Some gasped “unbelievable.” Renate Künast of the Green Party called Seif’s speech “embarrassing.” Christian Flisek of the Social Democrats (SPD) observed that Seif could refrain from reciting the text in its entirety.

“Keep in mind that we are in the German parliament, and that even with quotations one should not forget this fact,” Edelgard Bulmahn, a cive president of the Bundestag, told Seif.

https://youtu.be/WAwQlmq68QU

The speech was broadcast live on national TV. The comedian uploaded Seif’s speech to YouTube, turning the politician into an internet sensation. The footage has already been viewed more than 270,000 times.

The notorious poem has been at the heart of a diplomatic scandal between Germany and Turkey that has sparked an intense debate on the state of the freedom of speech in both countries.

The explicit satirical text was first recited on March 31. The Turkish president then demanded that Jan Boehmermann be sent to trial for insulting a foreign leader under a law (section 103 of the German criminal code).

Angela Merkel gave the green light to the proceedings against the comedian, much to public discontent. She now wants to repeal the law.

If found guilty, Boehmermann could spend up to three years in prison.

Erdogan’s Thugs in Parliament Beat up Armenian & Kurdish MPs

May 11, 2016 By administrator

harut-sassounian BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN

Kicking and punching are becoming a daily routine in the Turkish Parliament. Whenever Armenian or Kurdish Members of the Parliament criticize the government, they are viciously attacked by a gang MPs from Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

In recent days, AKP Parliamentarians have hurled insults and physically assaulted Garo Paylan (an Armenian) and Ferhat Encu (a Kurd) who represent the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in Parliament.

Paylan delivered an unprecedented speech in the Turkish Parliament on April 21, 2016. After greeting the deputies in Armenian, by saying “Parev tsez,” he boldly continued: “Once World War One began on April 24, 1915, Armenian intellectuals, opinion leaders and parliamentarians were, unfortunately, the first to be arrested…. Although they had immunity, they were arrested and taken to Ankara, Ayash, Urfa and Diyarbekir, and on the way, the deputies were murdered by bandits. Of course, after the community’s opinion leaders and MPs were made powerless, and their claims to solve issues through democratic processes became redundant, the Armenian and Assyrian peoples suffered great massacres by decree and were evicted from the ancient lands where they had lived for thousands of years.”

Paylan dared to raise the shameful legacy of the Armenian Genocide which persists to this day in Turkey: “Look at the names of Talat Pasha, Jemal Pasha, and Enver Pasha. In 2,500 places in the country, streets were named after them. Today, unfortunately, we walk in streets named Talat Pasha. Can you imagine going to Germany and Berlin today and walking in streets named after Hitler and Goebbels? Would such a thing be acceptable? Well, in 2,500 places in our country, we walk in streets and avenues named Talat Pasha.”

During his remarks, Paylan recited the names and displayed enlarged photographs of several Armenian members of the Turkish Parliament, including Krikor Zohrab, who were arrested on April 24, 1915, and brutally murdered. The Armenian MP fearlessly proposed that a parliamentary committee be formed to investigate the circumstances of their deaths, identify those responsible for their murders — those who ordered their killings and actually carried them out — locate where their bodies were buried, rebury them with appropriate funeral services, and restore their dignity. Not surprisingly, Paylan’s proposal was rejected by the majority of Parliament.

After expressing his respect for the memory of the perished Armenian members of the Turkish Parliament in 1915, Paylan concluded his speech with traditional Armenian words of condolences for the departed: “Asdvads irents hokin lousavore” (May God enlighten their souls). Throughout his lengthy and courageous remarks, Paylan was repeatedly interrupted by taunts and threats from AKP MPs.

On May 2nd, as a parliamentary committee met to strip opposition members of their immunity from prosecution, Paylan was kicked and punched over 100 times by Erdogan’s AKP members during a 10-minute all-out brawl. Paylan described the assault as “a premeditated lynching because of his Armenian heritage.”

After the attack, when HDP members walked out of the hearing, the committee voted to approve the AKP proposal to lift the immunity of pro-Kurdish HDP MPs. This inflammatory measure is expected to be approved by Parliament shortly! Most Kurdish members along with Paylan will then be arrested on trumped-up charges. Most probably Erdogan plans to announce new parliamentary elections, hoping the AKP will win additional seats vacated by the HDP, giving him enough votes in Parliament to amend the Constitution and establish a powerful autocratic presidential regime.

Meanwhile, Paylan’s fate seems to be sealed! He will either serve a long jail term or suffer the same tragic fate as Armenian journalist Hrant Dink who was assassinated in cold blood by Turkish extremists in Istanbul on January 19, 2007!

All people of goodwill around the world must raise their voices in condemnation of Erdogan’s increasingly despotic rule. It is ironic that Paylan, who was lamenting the killing of Parliamentarian Krikor Zohrab a century ago, may end up dead himself, unless the international community issues a serious warning to the Turkish government to take the strictest measures to ensure the safety of the Armenian MP. Regrettably, nothing seems to have changed in Turkey in the last 100 years!

Turkey: Deputies’ fistfight closes Turkish parliament for two days “The most vilont people soon to be EU Memeber”

April 28, 2016 By administrator

n_98454_1 Violent tension between lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) descended into a brawl during a plenary session on April 27, delaying efforts to pass legislation on an EU migration deal.

Deputies threw punches, pushed and tried to restrain each other in the assembly late on April 27 in a row over deadly operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the southeast.

Fighting erupted after HDP Şırnak deputy Ferhat Encü “commemorated all civilians and children massacred by the security services.”

“I remember the civilians recently massacred by shelling in [the southeastern district of] Silopi. I remember the 34 people, including children, who were brutally bombed by Turkish warplanes in Roboski four years ago,” said Encü.

Turkish warplanes killed 34 villagers, all relatives in Encü, in late 2011 on the border with Iraq in the eastern district of Uludere in the Roboski Massacre.

The acting speaker announced at the end of April 27 session that, following the scuffles, the parliament would not meet again in a full session until May 2.

Lawmakers had been expected to work on April 29 and April 30 on legislation needed for Turks to secure visa-free travel to Europe, a key part of Ankara’s deal with the European Union on stopping uncontrolled migration to Europe.

“You may not like it, but unfortunately these things are true,” he added.

During the speech, AKP deputies reacted angrily and started shouting, declaring Encü a supporter of the PKK.
“You are a murderer. You support murderers. You are despicable. You are a terrorist and a defender of murderers. You should be in jail. You came from the mountains,” the AKP MPs were heard shouting, referring to the Kandil Mountains that are known as the PKK’s headquarters in northern Iraq.

In response, Encü said “those accusing him of being a terrorist are the real terrorists.”

After a fight erupted between the MPs, Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Ahmet Aydın declared a break in proceedings.

Encü later wrote on his Twitter account that he was “not afraid” of the AKP deputies who targeted him in parliament.

“They attempted to lynch me for commemorating the civilians massacred by the security services. They think that the officers don’t kill. Is that so? If you’ve had just a little honor, you wouldn’t say that to me, as 34 of my own relatives were massacred by law enforcement,” he also wrote.

The fight broke out during debates on a draft bill to establish a supervisory commission to oversee law enforcement officers’ compliance with the law, which was opened on April 27.

The draft suggested the commission would be led by the Interior Ministry’s undersecretary and have seven members who would work to enhance the law enforcement complaint system, as well as make it function transparently, improve its credibility, and centralize the recording of processes initiated against law enforcement officers for their alleged crimes and offenses.

While the general assembly was shut, there were scuffles again on April 28 during a meeting of a constitutional commission which was discussing legislation on lifting lawmakers’ immunity from prosecution.

Since interest from both members of parliament and journalists on deliberations over the government-led provisional change in the constitution that would allow parliament to lift legislative immunities was high, the meeting began with a large number of attendees standing in order to follow the debate. The HDP objected to an attempt to usher journalists out of the commission room and asked for a change of the venue.

Tension rose when AKP deputies opposed the HDP’s proposal.

Two Armenians Elected to Syria’s Parliament

April 17, 2016 By administrator

Nora Arissian Becomes First Syrian-Armenian Woman Parliamentarian,

DAMASCUS, Syria (A.W.)—Two Armenians, Dr. Nora Arissian and Jirair Reisian, entered Syria’s 250-seat parliament following elections for the Syrian People’s Assembly on April 13. Arissian, who ran as an independent from the Damascus governorate, became the first Syrian-Armenian woman member of the Syrian Parliament, reported Perio News. Aleppo-Armenian community leader Jirair Reisian was elected to the assembly from Aleppo. The election results were made public on April 16.

Arissian has played an active role in the Syrian and Syrian-Armenian reality, and has long been an advocate of the Armenian cause. Arissian has served as translator at the Syrian Presidential Palace. She holds a Ph.D. in modern history from the Institute of Oriental Studies at the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia; her focus was the Armenian Genocide as documented in Syrian sources. Arissian served as secretary, chief of staff, and interpreter at Armenia’s Embassy in Syria from 1992-2006. Since 2005, she has worked as a lecturer at Damascus University, and has served as the chair of the Armenian studies department since 2013. She worked as translator and adviser at the Syrian Ministry of Culture from 2010-13. She is the editor of Aztag Arabic, an online publication. In 2007, she became the first Armenian woman member of the Arab Writers’ Union in Damascus.

Arissian has been widely recognized for her achievements, and was awarded the Armenian Presidential “Movses Khorenatsi” Medal in 2012 and the Ministry of Diaspora’s “William Saroyan” Medal in 2011.

Reisian, who has been an active member of the Armenian community in Syria, was the candidate endorsed by the Armenian organizations, reported the Aleppo-based Kantsasar. A longtime educator and advocate for the Armenian cause, Reisian serves as the spokesperson of the Armenian Prelacy in Aleppo. He has been the chairman of the Armenian National Committee of Syria for several years. Reisian also served as the principal of the Armenian Sahagian School in Aleppo.

In an interview with Kantsasar ahead of the elections, Reisian said that in the current situation the Syrian people have two expectations from the new parliament: the healing and revival of the country, and the implementation of reforms that will lead to a bright future for Syria.

Source: armenianweekly

Turkey Demirtas: Erdogan Staged Coup Against Parliament, Ruling Party

March 3, 2016 By administrator

Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Co-chair Selahattin Demirtas. (Source: DHA)

ISTANBUL (Today’s Zaman) — Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Co-chair Selahattin Demirtas has said that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined ranks with potential coup supporters and carried out a coup against the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and Parliament in order to prevent anyone from toppling him from power.

“We are living through a coup period right now. We have already had a coup; it’s happened. It was after July 7. And now, we have a coup government leading Turkey,” Demirtas said during an exclusive interview with Haberdar online news portal that was made available on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“There could have been a coup against Erdogan; instead, what he did was to join forces with coup supporters and carry out his own coup against the government. All of which is why the government has been completely bypassed at this stage. Not even a police officer will listen to [Prime Minister Ahmet] Davutoglu,” he said.

Since the June 7 general election of last year, in which the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), Erdogan’s former party, failed to win enough seats to rule as a single party, Turkey has been hit with violence due to clashes between the Turkish security forces and the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) following the end of a settlement process between the government and the PKK last July.

Demirtas said that when Erdogan restarted the war with the PKK, he knew that the government was not in control of all the instruments of the state and that it controlled neither the police, the military nor the bureaucracy.

“When the war that he himself had provoked broke out, Erdogan saw that the government actually couldn’t fight against the PKK effectively. I think Erdogan needed to make a choice. He saw that he was going to lose. The war that he provoked after June 7 caused a level of social outrage he hadn’t predicted as we headed toward the Nov. 1 [2015 snap election]. He had to make a choice. In order to get the state institutions that weren’t tied to him, like the military and the police, to fight for him, he had to strike compromises with them. This is why he had private meetings with the Ergenekon people, the supporters of [ultra-nationalist Workers’ Party (İP) leader Dogu] Perincek, the former BBP [Grand Unity Party] people and so on,” Demirtas said.

Many observers have been surprised by Erdogan’s reconciliation with some factions he was previously distanced from. For instance, he began to speak in friendly terms about Perincek, who recently said that Erdogan is defending what he has advocated. Despite previously supporting the trial of individuals allegedly involved with Ergenekon, a shadowy crime network with alleged links within the state, Erdogan has since said that he was wrong about Ergenekon.

According to Demirtas, Erdogan struck a deal with these factions in order to protect him, his grip on power and the ruling party. This agreement, Demirtas said, required Erdogan to give up his personal aims and his attempts to Islamicize the state, while remaining loyal to the “monstrous [aspect of the] state, which belongs to neither Turks nor Kurds nor Muslims.”

“They told him to be faithful only to supporters of the status quo,” the HDP co-chair said. “So essentially, Erdogan had to make a decision. Erdogan was either going to stand up for his own ‘case’ and problems — and in doing so, was going to be alone — or he was going to ‘sell’ his ‘case’ and in the process save himself. He chose the second option. As a result, he is now in a dirty alliance, having given up on his own case and turned into someone who wouldn’t stand up for his own case,” he explained.

When asked what his new allies could have proposed to Erdogan, Demirtas said it was the protection of his rule, because otherwise he would have had to leave power. “He was already becoming more isolated. Mourners at funerals have been crying that it was Erdogan who started this war. He now understands that a situation has arisen that he didn’t predict. He thought that if he were to start a new war with the PKK, nationalism would increase and that he could benefit from it,” he said.