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Dad bikes 17,000 km via Armenia, Thailand to watch son in Olympics

February 19, 2018 By administrator

A Swiss skier’s father, Guido Huwiler, 55, and his wife Rita Ruttimann have biked 17,000 kilometers through Italy, Armenia, Thailand and a host of other countries to watch their son at the Olympics in PyeongChang, Yahoo Sports reports.

When passing through Armenia, the pair took photos of well-known spots and just gorgeous scenes in the country, posting them on Instagram and describing the warmth of the Armenian people and the breathtaking beauty of the mountains and valleys.

The couple set out from Switzerland on February 2, 2017, with the goal of biking all the way to South Korea. And, with just a week to spare, he made it in time to see his son compete in the Aerials events at Phoenix Snow Park. (Gasser’s mother was there as well, flying in like the rest of the sane planet has done.)

“My dad is crazy,” Swiss free skier Mischa Gasser laughed after his qualifying. “He was a skydiver as well in his younger age. It’s just what they have to do.”

There were some small hiccups. Huwiler and Ruttimann couldn’t bike through North Korea, of course, and couldn’t secure the necessary approval to ride through China. So they took a couple of well-timed plane flights to keep the journey moving.

The duo rode through an astounding 20 countries on their way to PyeongChang, staying in everything from hotels to tents along the way. The full list: Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and finally South Korea.

“They’re here for supporting us and our [Swiss] team,” Gasser said. “All the guys think it’s just great.”

Related links:

Yahoo Sports. Swiss skier’s father biked 10,000 miles to watch his son in Olympics

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Dad bikes, olympics, Swiss

Towards the end in the struggle of genocide monument in Switzerland

March 29, 2017 By administrator

By Fatih Gökhan Diler,

(AGOSS) wiss Court dismissed the last objections concerning the Armenian Genocide monument that is planned to be built in Geneva.

Swiss Court dismissed the last objections concerning the Armenian Genocide monument that is planned to be built in Geneva. This ruling can be appealed until April 19. Approved by Geneva City Council in 2008, the project has changed location two times and postponed due to the pressure of Turkish Foreign Ministry and Turkish organizations in Switzerland. The final location was determined as Trembley Park in Geneva. The court dismissed the objection of the locals on the ground that they reside in a place far away from the park. Legal representative of the objecting party Yves Nidegger is a deputy from the Democratic Union of the Center. He also worked as the legal adviser to the Federation of Turkish Associations of Western Switzerland and represented Federation of Turkish Associations of Western Switzerland in Perinçek v. Switzerland case in ECHR.

Approved in 2008

The art project titled “Streetlights of Memory”, which will honor the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, had gotten the necessary permissions from the city council in 2008. Since then, the project has been causing tension between Turkey and Switzerland.

There are two main issues concerning the monument that disturbed Turkey. First of all, it is designed to commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide, though it is not a “genocide monument” per se. Second problem is about the location, which is very close to UN center in Geneva. This symbolic location disturbed Turkey. In this regard, the pressure from Turkey has gradually increased. Speaking to Agos back in 2014, Stefan Kristensen, coordinator of the project said, “At first, led by Celal Bayar, the eponymous grandson of the infamous Celal Bayar, Turkish organisations in Switzerland began to apply pressure against the project.” Then, Turkey started to use its political and economic leverages in its negotiations with Switzerland. As a result, Didier Burkhalter, Foreign Minister and President of the Swiss Confederation, sent a letter to the Geneva Canton recommending that the authority “refuses to grant a building permit”. Though the letter was a “recommendation”, a new location for the monument was sought. The final location was determined as the northern part of Trembley Park in Saint-Antoine.

Filed Under: Genocide, News Tagged With: Armenian, Genocide, monument, Swiss

Swiss open probe into Ankara’s spying on Turkish community

March 25, 2017 By administrator

A criminal investigation has been opened into allegations that the Ankara government has spied on expatriate Turks. Several academic events in Switzerland were reportedly filmed and photographed by unspecified agents, Deutsche Welle reports.

Swiss prosecutors said on Friday, March 24 they had “concrete suspicions [of espionage] against the Turkish community in Switzerland [by] a political intelligence service.”

The Office of the Attorney General confirmed it had opened a criminal investigation on March 16, after receiving a green light from the Swiss government.

Prosecutors, however, refused to provide details on which specific people or organizations the investigation was targeting.

The investigation follows reports that in January, two men took photos of the participants at a University of Zurich seminar discussing the 1915 Armenian Genocide by Ottoman Turks, a term which the Ankara government vehemently rejects.

Local media reported that other events at the University in late 2016 and early 2017 were filmed or photographed, including one where the editor in chief of the Turkish newspaper “Cumhuriyet” was honored.

On Thursday, March 23, the Swiss foreign minister told his Turkish counterpart that his country would “rigorously investigate” any illegal spying by Ankara on expatriate Turks and urged Turkey to comply with Swiss law.

Close to 70,000 Turkish citizens live in Switzerland, according to Swiss government statistics, while the Turkish embassy’s website refers to 130,000 Turkish nationals.

Deutsche Welle. Swiss open probe into spying on its Turkish community

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Ankara, Spying, Swiss

Dogu Perincek asks for a review of the Swiss Penal Code

January 4, 2017 By administrator

Doğu Perinçek reiterated at a press conference in Zürich that “no court had ever considered the events of 1915 in Armenia as acts of genocide”.

With the support of his government, Doğu Perinçek addressed the media at the Turkish consulate in Zurich with provocative rhetoric, accusing the United States of having some responsibility for terrorist attacks in Europe and demanding a revision of the penal code Swiss.

According to a report by the Swiss newspaper NZZ, Perinçek – the president of the Turkish Patriotic Party – told the press conference Tuesday at the consulate that the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, Brussels, Berlin and Turkey were “all directed from the same place : United States”.

He added that this is due to the fact that the United States wanted to divide Turkey and reject a strong Europe.

Perinçek has also expressed his support for a new initiative by Swiss parliamentarian Yves Nidegger requesting an amendment to the Swiss penal code that would eliminate the reference to genocide or at least require it to be “verified by a competent court”.

The proposal for a criminal amendment follows a decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) of 2015 which reversed a decision of the Swiss Federal Court that Perinçek had violated Swiss legislation by classifying genocide Armenian “international lie”.

Perinçek was formally acquitted by the European Court in September of the accusations of racism, which were originally introduced by a court in Lausanne in 2005. At three separate public events in Switzerland, Perinçek had argued that the death of 800,000 To 1 800 000 Armenians in the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1918 did not constitute genocide.

The Swiss penal code currently stipulates that those who “deny, minimize or attempt to justify genocide or other crimes against humanity” will be punished by imprisonment or a fine.

Wednesday 4 January 2017,
Claire © armenews.com

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide Tagged With: armenian genocide, Doğu Perinçek, Penal Code, Swiss

First passenger train travels through Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world’s longest rail tunnel

December 11, 2016 By administrator

After 17 years and 11 billion euros, the first Gotthard Base Tunnel passenger train departed Zurich on Sunday morning. The express train will save passengers 30 minutes on the trip.

The first passenger train to travel through the longest rail tunnel in the world departed Zurich Sunday morning, after 17 years of construction.

The 57-kilometer (35-mile) Gotthard Base Tunnel officially opened six months ago in a colorful ceremony attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

At 6:09 a.m. the EC11 express train to Lugano was the first regular passenger train to depart for the tunnel after thousands of test runs.

Some passengers shared their excitement ahead of the journey on social media.

The journey through the tunnel takes about 20 minutes, shaving 30 minutes off the route from the north of Switzerland to the south. When the 15-kilometer-long Ceneri Base Tunnel opens in late 2020 it will shave up to an hour off the trip.

Trains will initially travel at 200 kilometers per hour (124 mph) for safety reasons before increasing to 250 kph.

Each day about 50 passenger trains and up to 260 freight trains will use the tunnel. The first flat, low-level route through the Alps bypasses a winding mountain track that was opened in 1882.

The 11 billion-euro ($11.6 billion) tunnel has a maximum depth of more than 2,300 meters (7,590 feet), making it the world’s deepest tunnel, as well as its longest. Nine people died during its 17-year construction, which was completed a year ahead of schedule.

It pushed Japan’s 53.9-kilometer Seikan Tunnel into second place and the 50.5-kilometer Channel Tunnel, which links England to France, into third place.

The official Swiss Tourism account celebrated its opening on Twitter.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: gothard, Swiss, train, tunnel

Interview: In 1915, the Swiss knew all the Armenian genocide through the press

November 21, 2015 By administrator

arton117842-300x447One hundred years, the Swiss were very knowledgeable of the deportations and massacres perpetrated by the Young Turk regime against the Armenians. They provided generous assistance to survivors. The press of the time testifies.

Interview by Pascal Fleury

There are a century, the Swiss already knew everything that suffered the atrocities of Armenians in Turkey. “This is nothing less than the systematic destruction of a people, with the intention of establishing arrested in the Turkish Empire the exclusive domination of Islam,” wrote “Freedom” on the front page its edition of October 13, 1915. Why Switzerland Is is shown similarly secured at the time? And why, a century later, she has still not recognized the Confederation officially the genocide? The explanations of the historian Hans-Lukas Kieser, professor at the University of Zurich and specialist of Ottoman world.

In 1915, the Armenian tragedy was recounted in detail in the Swiss press. How do you explain such an interest in this distant conflict, in full World War?

Hans-Lukas Kieser: To understand this media focus, to remember history in 1915. drama Twenty years ago, the large-scale massacres had been perpetrated against the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. It was between 1894 and 1896, under Sultan Abdülhamid regime. Emergency committees have launched solidarity actions. Their petition to the Federal Council to intervene with the major powers was signed by a record number of 450,000 people in a national humanitarian impulse that has far exceeded partisan or religious considerations. The Federal Council has not really changed, but private initiatives are then multiplied. Swiss missions were opened on the ground. In 1915, this vast support network, which was still in place, was reactivated. The public has been sensitized.

How the Swiss have they been informed of the atrocities suffered by the Armenians in 1915?

The most reliable information on the massacres and deportations were provided by missionaries of relief organizations on the ground. The best known of these eyewitnesses was the Appenzell Jakob Künzler who with his wife, was serving a mission hospital in Urfa in south-eastern Turkey today. Very active in the humanitarian movement, he provided valuable reports to relief committees in Switzerland and Germany. Other Swiss have played the same role as the director of an orphanage, Beatrice Rohner at Marash and Aleppo, who knew the area very well and languages. Information has also been submitted by the Armenian diaspora in Switzerland, informed, and by Ottoman Muslims opposed to the dictatorship of the Young Turks.

“The correspondence was sent by trusted people with mail being strictly censored. Codes were sometimes used, such as the German expression “Weapon” (poor) to “Armenian”. Some reports have gone through the German diplomatic channel, Switzerland does not have a diplomatic representative in Turkey at the time.

The Swiss showed great solidarity vis-à-vis the genocide survivors, as recently recalled the Armenian Catholicos Aram I. What help have they made on the ground?

Swiss aid concerned especially widows, orphans and young women who escaped slavery and forced marriage. Initially, it was to hide and feed. The rescue was very improvised, operating through networks of Muslim friends. The missionaries also hidden men, taking enormous risks to their own lives. In Urfa, for example, Künzler couple sheltered in the hospital under false identities. It provided them with clothes Bedouin smugglers that can lead them to safer areas in the south.

“From 1917, when the dictatorship was more tolerant once completed destruction of shelters have been opened. In Aleppo, the orphanage Beatrice Rohner welcomed more than a thousand children from 1916. In the same city, the Swiss trader Emil Zollinger has even hosted 2,000 refugees. Thanks to the huge financial support came from Switzerland and the United States, the victims were also able to receive food, clothing and medical services.

Humanitarian operations were also conducted in Switzerland …

During the war, mutual aid was limited primarily to clinics. Then, Switzerland has welcomed hundreds of orphans. The best-known work is that of the Waldensian pastor Antony Krafft-Bonnard, who founded an orphanage in 1921 in Begnins (VD), and the following year opened a center in Geneva. Some Swiss politicians have called for a “national home” for the Armenians in the Middle East. Federal Councillors Gustave Ador and Giuseppe Motta spoke in this direction before the League of Nations. But the action was limited in Switzerland. She however continued on the ground, Aleppo and Lebanon, with the management of orphanages and assistance in refugee camps, in collaboration with international organizations such as Near East Relief. Assistance to survivors lasted until the eve of the Second World War thanks to the loyalty of this “humanitarian Switzerland”.

In 1915, reading newspapers, the Swiss already knew all about the scale of atrocities suffered by the Armenians. How is it that a hundred years later, the Confederation still has not officially recognized the genocide?

This can be explained by the character of the international policy of Switzerland. For a century, in this case, it remains on its reservation, opting for a policy of interest. She willingly praises this “humanitarian Switzerland” which has taken a clear stand against genocide and crimes against humanity, but in terms of diplomacy, behaves just like a natural disaster had happened, refusing to take on the Historical facts. But do not put it in the long run, is to deny the …

“Swiss withholding such was observed this year, during the commemorations of the centenary of the genocide, as the pope or the German president will not chew their words. Such lack of courage could be against-productive in the long run. Especially as the historical problem of major crime is now denied accentuates the Middle East and that crimes against humanity are repeated, with new massacres and pushed people into exile.

“A recognition of the genocide by the government would also strengthen the criminal standard against racial discrimination. Is Switzerland wants to keep the universal perspective of this law? The recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights does not require sacrifice. But it is for Switzerland to affirm, while putting the best value.

***** The live Armenian drama in “Freedom”

The French-speaking press has dealt extensively and in detail of the “systematic annihilation” perpetrated against the Armenians in 1896 and 1915. If the term “genocide” does not appear – this neologism was created in 1944 – all criteria crime against humanity described therein black on white. Excerpts from “Freedom” of the time.

“… The Armenian question, which has and will do so much bloodshed, was created by the Sultan himself, who wanted to foment a violent hatred between Muslims and Christians, as it fears nothing as the Topics union between different religions … “

“The responsibility of the Sultan,” August 21, 1896

Mr. Schwarz, a pastor in Freiburg: “… We had no example of such a slaughter organized against an unarmed people, already oppressed for many generations. This people, accustomed by long servitude to have no more confidence in himself, was barbarously decimated; 150,000, maybe 300,000 people perished in the torture or suffering from dismal poverty to which they are reduced, but there was their fault … “” For Armenians, “September 23, 1896

“… Since the beginning of the war (World War, ed), Turks, taking advantage of the general confusion, sate their bigotry in the blood of innocent women, children, old people, nothing found favor in their eyes. News, absolutely reliable sources, tell us the horrors that are committed in the dark recesses of a dying empire, and we dare say that the horrors of European warfare are nothing compared to the atrocities of the barbaric peoples n have not yet been influenced by Christian ideas … “” The Armenian question “, 6 August 1915

“… The deportation of Armenian families in arid deserts, even assuming that these unfortunate arrive at their destination, is a disguised killing and those who go so miserable flock of women and children, under the kicks and butts Ottoman gendarmes, through the deserts of Mesopotamia, are worse off than those who were massacred in their homes and whose bullet or bayonet has finished one stroke anguish and suffering. (…) It is estimated that nearly one million the number of those who have been affected by the massacres and deportations … “

“The extermination of the Armenians”, 12 October 1915

“… The Christian Switzerland, facing these painful elements will do his duty. This is certain death to save the remains of this unfortunate Christian nation. We refuse our Armenian brothers our moral and material support? No ! More than ever, let’s be generous! … “

“Call to Switzerland”, November 23, 1915

> Panel discussion “Tomorrow there are a hundred years: genocide seen by the Swiss press,” Sarkis Shahinian (Switzerland-Armenia Association) and Gilles Soulhac, journalist, this Sunday, October 25th at 18: 30 pm, at the St-Gervais Theatre Geneva, close of the exhibition “Fragments”.

***** A taboo genocide

In Turkey, the use of the word “genocide” is still punishable. But increasingly many voices for the Turks found the memory. Like the grand-son of Jemal Pasha, the “butcher” of Armenians. See RTS2 on Sunday in “Armenian Genocide, the 1915 spectrum”.

http://www.laliberte.ch/news/dossiers/histoire-vivante/en-1915-on-savait-deja-tout-du-genocide-303932#.ViqM8yveJY-

Saturday, November 21, 2015,
Stéphane © armenews.com

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide, Interviews Tagged With: Armenian, Genocide, news papers, Swiss

The On-line Press: Armenian Genocide “Amal Clooney’s latest case”

January 28, 2015 By administrator

http://www.people.com/article/amal-clooney-case-armenia-genocide-trial

amalAmal Clooney’s Next Big Case: Representing Armenia in Genocide Trial

http://www.ibtimes.com/amal-clooney-armenian-genocide-case-5-things-know-about-dogu-perincek-hearing-1797548

Amal Clooney Armenian Genocide Case: 5 Things To Know About Doğu Perinçek Hearing.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/11373115/Amal-Clooneys-latest-case-Why-Turkey-wont-talk-about-the-Armenian-genocide.html

Amal Clooney’s latest case: Why Turkey won’t talk about the Armenian genocide

http://news.yahoo.com/amal-clooney-legal-team-armenian-genocide-case-100725402.html

Amal Clooney on legal team in Armenian genocide case

http://www.todayszaman.com/latest-news_armenian-genocide-denial-case-puts-turkeys-perincek-against-mrs-clooney_371022.html

Armenian genocide’ denial case puts Turkey’s Perinçek against Mrs. Clooney

http://www.armenews.com/article.php3?id_article=107496

Réexamen du négationniste Perinçek par la Grande chambre ( mise à jour 14h20)

 

 

 

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide Tagged With: amal clooney, armenian genocide, ECtHR, Swiss, Turkey’s-Perinçek

Gross and deliberate denial of the Armenian genocide is not protected by freedom of expression

January 26, 2015 By administrator

arton107411-468x319The hearing in this Wednesday, January 28 before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in the case Perincek v. Switzerland will major issue to determine whether the application of the Swiss anti-racist standard in the denial of Armenian genocide is a violation of freedom of expression (art. 10 ECHR). At the time of the commemoration of the centenary of the genocide, the issue is fundamental.

In the first judgment of 17 December 2013, the Court upheld the appeal of Mr. Perincek – convicted in Switzerland by three successive instances of racial discrimination – and held that the conviction of Mr. Perincek by the Swiss courts violated Article 10 of the Convention establishing the right to freedom of expression. The Court has built on the absence of a “general consensus” on the legal definition of genocide of the Armenian experience as well as a pressing social need which could justify the criminalization of Holocaust denial.

To recall, Mr. Perincek visited in 2005 in several cities in Switzerland at the head of an organization called Talaat Pasha Committee (named after the major responsible for the genocide of the Armenians and for that condemned at the time by a military court Turkish) to repeat in public, in six different occasions, that the “Armenian genocide was an international imperialist lie.”

In the past, the European Court had yet clear that the denial of a crime against humanity was one of the worst forms of racial defamation and incitement to hatred (Garaudy v. France).

In this case, since the MEDZ Yeghern was the basis for the definition of legal concepts of crime against first humanity and genocide then, and since the absolute majority of the scientific world as Genocide the extermination of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I, his denial and intentional justification can not be tolerated. In sentencing Mr. Perincek, the Swiss courts have made this plain. The Switzerland-Armenia Association (SAA), which initiated the case in Switzerland by filing a complaint against the applicant was admitted by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights to intervene in this case. On this occasion, the ASA was first wished to recall the need to protect the victims of crime perpetrated in 1915 by the Ottoman Empire. These victims have been forgotten by the Court in its previous judgment.

The ASA then argued that the Swiss courts have carefully examined the case and properly understood the wrongfulness of Mr. Perincek. The ASA is concerned that the Court was substituted for the Swiss courts, contradicting and putting the particular question the consensus on the qualification of the massacres of 1915.

Finally, the ASA announced that it had been deeply wounded by some passages in the judgment of 17 December 2013 and in particular in that the Court has made a distinction between genocide, which leads to a difference in treatment between unhappy victims of genocide.

While the centennial of the Armenian Genocide will be commemorated this year, the ASA hopes that the European Court of Human Rights be no mistake about the will of Mr. Perincek and confirmed in the present case, the wrongfulness of his remarks.

Additional Information:

The following people – accompanied by the Board of the SAA before the Court, Mr. Frédéric Krenc (+32/2/5331085) – will be present at the hearing on 28 January 2015.

Andreas Dreisiebner (German, English) – President of the ASA – Tel. : + 4179 671 8619

Mr. Sarkis Shahinian (French, German, Italian, English) – Honorary President of the ASA – Tel. : + 4176 399 1625

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

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide Tagged With: armenian genocide, Court, denial, Swiss

Perincek comments on Amal Clooney’s participation in court hearings

December 25, 2014 By administrator

PerincekLeader of Workers’ Party of Turkey Dogu Perincek insulted Christians while speaking about reports on Amal Clooney‘s participation in the court hearings on his case,.

Learning about the reports, Perincek said: “this woman can come to the hearings, but even if wife of Jesus comes, they have no chances to succeed”, Oda TV reported.

Amal Ramzi Alamuddin, wife of famous actor George Clooney, will represent Armenia at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the “Perincek v. Switzerland” case. The hearing will be held in Strasbourg next month.

The Government of Switzerland recently decided to petition that the Dogu Perincek case be referred for a review by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). On December 17, 2013, the ECtHR ruled in favor of Armenian Genocide-denying Turkish politician Dogu Perincek’s lawsuit that was filed against Switzerland. The said judgment by the ECtHR was made on the grounds of freedom of speech. In 2008, a Swiss court had convicted Perincek for denying the Armenian Genocide. Dogu Perincek is Chairman of the socialist Workers’ Party of Turkey. In addition, he heads the Talat Pasha organization, which actively fights against the Armenian Genocide’s recognition in Europe.

Filed Under: Genocide, News Tagged With: Amal Ramzi Alamuddin, armenian genocide, court hearings, Perincek, Swiss

Swiss Planned Armenian genocide memorial ruffles Ankara

December 24, 2014 By administrator

memorialBy Amberin Zaman

A proposed art project commemorating the 1915 mass slaughter by the Ottoman Turks of the empire’s Armenian subjects has sparked a tug-of-war between the Turkish government and Switzerland’s ethnic Armenian community, sharpening decades of mutual suspicion and resentment and pitting the federal government in Bern against the local government in Geneva, where the monument is to be placed.

With only months to go before the April 24 centenary of the genocide, the stakes are higher than ever — and so far, Turkey is prevailing. In early December, the Swiss Foreign Ministry declared that it opposes erecting the Armenian monument in the canton of Geneva because “it is important for federal authorities to preserve the absolute impartiality of Geneva,” where the United Nations and various other international organizations are headquartered, Turkey’s semi-official Anadolu news agency crowed.

More likely, the Swiss are responding to Turkish bullying, Armenian activists and diplomatic observers say. The UN has reportedly also sided with Turkey. A UN spokeswoman in Geneva declined to comment.

“It is an international scandal that Swiss diplomacy surrendered so voluntarily to Turkish pressure,” complained Vicken Cheterian, a Geneva-based ethnic Armenian academic in an interview with Al-Monitor. “A beautiful artwork is now in exile in search of a safe haven where it can rest, to reflect the memory of a people sacrificed and humanity in denial.”

The project, called “Reverberes de la Memoire,” or “Streetlights of Memory,” consists of eight lampposts placed in an arc in parkland lying between the International Red Cross building and the Palais des Nations, where the United Nations’ precursor, the League of Nations, once stood. The lamp posts will soar to nine meters (29.5 ft.) and sprout elongated chrome tear drops in which pedestrians can view their own reflections. The pillars will be inscribed with texts about exile and dispossession by acclaimed French Armenian psychoanalyst Janine Altounian, whose parents survived the genocide.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman did not return calls for comment. But Turkish officials speaking on condition of strict anonymity privately acknowledged to Al-Monitor that the Swiss government had been “encouraged” to scupper the bronze memorial, which was conceived in 2008 by the French Armenian artist Melik Ohanian. In keeping with Switzerland’s federal laws, the final say rests with the cantonal government in Geneva, expected to deliver its verdict in mid-January. Stefan Kristensen, a Swiss Armenian activist, says should the local administration follow the Foreign Ministry’s advice, the project organizers will pursue the matter in court. “There is no legal basis for caving to pressure from Bern and Ankara,” Kristensen told Al-Monitor.

Sympathy for the Armenians among the Swiss people is nothing new. In the late 19th century, when the ruling Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II ordered pogroms against the Armenians, more than 400,000 Swiss citizens (13.7% of the population) signed a petition demanding that their federal government intervene with the Sublime Porte to end its brutality.

Swiss pharmacist Jacob Kunzler and his wife, Elizabeth, figure prominently in the Armenian pantheon of heroes. Between 1899 and 1922, the couple saved thousands of Armenian orphans in Turkey and Lebanon.

Moreover, Switzerland has laws that criminalize denying or justifying genocide. In 2007, a federal court found Turkish writer and leftwing  politician Dogu Perincek guilty of racial discrimination for calling the genocide “an international lie” on Swiss soil. The case wound up in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2013. The Strasbourg-based court concluded that Switzerland had violated Perincek’s right to free speech. In March, Switzerland appealed to the ECHR’s 17-judge Grand Chamber to overturn the ruling. Armenia waded in on Switzerland’s side with its own team of lawyers. The latter is said to include Amal Alamuddin, the much-respected Lebanese-born international human rights lawyer married to actor George Clooney. In a further twist, Alamuddin’s great uncle, Najib, is said to have been married to Kunzler’s daughter, Ida.

Perincek was merely parroting Turkey’s official line. Turkey denies that the 1915 tragedy constitutes genocide. Imposing its own version of events — that most of the Armenians died of exposure, starvation and disease during forced deportations to the Syrian desert — has long been a cornerstone of Turkish foreign policy. Sabotaging planned genocide memorials is an integral part of this. Thus, when the ethnic Armenian residents of the California town of Montebello decided to build a monument to honor the victims of 1915 in the mid-1960s, Myron Goldsmith, a retired army major who doubled as Turkey’s honorary consul general, lobbied the city council to prevent its construction.

The episode was colorfully depicted in journalist Michael Bobelian’s 2009 book “Children of Armenia: A Forgotten Genocide and the Century-Long Struggle for Justice.” We learn, for instance, that Goldman accused the Armenians of “concocting a Communist plot” and that the State Department “contacted Montebello’s city council to pressure it to shut down the project.” In the end, the council voted in favor of the monument but “bowed to the State Department’s wishes,” spurning Armenian demands for the genocide to be mentioned in its dedicatory plaque. A former Turkish intelligence officer who requested anonymity claimed in remarks to Al-Monitor that the Turkish government had “wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars” in covert operations to deface Armenian genocide memorials. California is home to the largest Armenian diaspora community in the United States, and three Turkish diplomats were murdered there in revenge killings carried out by ethnic Armenians between 1973 and 1982.

In 2011, the battle against monuments shifted to Kars, a city close to Turkey’s sealed border with Armenia, where a former mayor commissioned a sculpture that was meant to symbolize reconciliation. Turkey’s President (then Prime Minister) Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the work a “freak” and an “abomination” that needed to be demolished and replaced with “a beautiful park.” Demolition of the two giant figures facing each other, hands extended in a gesture of peace, duly began in April of that year, with their decapitation.

“It cost more money to destroy the monument than to build,” observed former mayor Naif Alibeyoglu.

Such actions run counter to the recent softening in Turkey’s official stance — last year, Erdogan went as far as to offer an apology of sorts when he acknowledged the suffering endured by the Armenians in a statement made that April 24.

Using the word “genocide” is no longer a criminal offense in Turkey. Yet, Turkey’s sustained efforts to suppress commemorative monuments are “a pernicious kind of aggression against our right to remember, to celebrate the fact that we are still alive,” said Heghnar Zeitlian Watenpaugh, an art historian at the University of California, in an email interview with Al-Monitor. Should Ankara succeed in permanently switching off Geneva’s “Streetlights of Memory,” the wounds of the past will be even harder to heal.
Amberin Zaman is an Istanbul-based writer who has covered Turkey for The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Daily Telegraph and the Voice of America. A frequent commentator on Turkish television, she is currently Turkey correspondent for The Economist, a position she has retained since 1999. On Twitter: @amberinzaman

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide Tagged With: armenian genocide, Memorial, Swiss, Turkey

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