Orhan Kemal Cengiz, Turk Intellectuals Who Recognized The Armenian Genocide.

February 22, 2014 By administrator

By:Hambersom Aghbashian

Orhan Kemal Cengiz (born in 1968) is a Turkish lawyer, journalist and human rights activist. He received his law degree from University of Ankara in Turkey in 1993 , worked in London from 1997 to 1998. A Turkish NGO that works on human rights issues ranging from the prevention of torture to the rights of the mentally disabled. He writes for Today’s Zaman (English-language daily based in Turkey) and Radikal. (daily liberal Turkish language newspaper, published in Istanbul ) . After threats were made to his life in 2008, for his work on the Malatya Bible murder case ,he asked for, and eventually received, a bodyguard. His request was supported by Amnesty International. (1)

Orhan Kemal Cengiz has actively been involved in human rights issues by appearing at meetings and seminars in many other countries including Demark, Bosnia, Armenia, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, and Albania. He is the author of many articles and has written several legal handbooks relating to human rights issues. In addition, he has translated several other works relating to human rights (2). On October 18, 2013 Cengiz wrote in RADICAL about the progress in negotiations on Turkey’s accession to the EU, and mentioned that while the European Commission is pleased that the “activities in Turkey marking the anniversary of the Armenian genocide [on April 24] could take place peacefully and unhindered ”, one recalls that not so long ago, in 2005, an academic debate on the Armenian question held in Istanbul caused significant tensions.(3)

In 2003, he published the report “ Minority Foundations in Turkey: An Evaluation of Their Legal Problems”, which attracted the attention of the government and the European Union. “We were not only talking about the legal gap,” he tells ESI(European Stability Initiative) , “we were also talking about this huge mentality which criminalized the very existence of Christians in Turkey.” Cengiz founded and co-founded various civil society organizations concerned with human rights, such as the Human Rights Agenda Association (2003), which he still chairs, the Civil Society Development Centre (2004), which provides capacity-building support for Turkish NGOs, and new sections of the Izmir Bar Association. (These include a section dealing with torture, which initiated 2,000 legal cases, another section dealing with human rights, and an international committee)( 4).

According to Orhan Kemal Cengiz , Turkish newspapers have exposed attempts by official institutions to control academic research on the Armenian genocide. Out of thousands of master’s theses and Ph.D. dissertations in the social sciences are written each year in Turkey, only four theses have been written on the issue and they all reflect Turkey’s official position on the massacres. He added ” True, the Armenian taboo has been broken in Turkish civil society and intellectual life, yet, it continues to exist in this or that form in the official realm”. (5)

” Will Erdogan visit Genocide Memorial in 2015? Orhan Kemal Cengiz ‘s reaction” . Under this title Armenpress (Dec.2, 2013), stated that Orhan Kemal Cengiz, a well known Turkish writer and publicist who recognized the Armenian Genocide, wrote in an article in “Al-Monitor” that the Turkish nationalists accused the prime minister saying ” Erdogan has done many things to upset us, don’t be surprised if he apologizes to the Armenians”. And after a long analysis he concludes that” If Erdogan doesn’t turn the world upside down with a last- minute surprise , we are likely to see more refined and sophisticated version of Turkey’s denial policy of the past century.(6)

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1-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orhan_Kemal_Cengiz.

2 -http://www.archons.org/conference/bio-cengiz.asp

3-http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/4248991-brussels-finally-hands-out-good-grades

-http://www.armeniangenocidedebate.com/kunta-kinte-039armenian-seed039-denial-racism-orhan-kemal-cengiz

5-http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/fa/contents/articles/originals/2013/12/turkey-armenia-genocide-academic-research-media-exposure.html

6-http://armenpress.am/eng/news/742270/will-erdogan-visit-genocide-memorial-in-2015-orhan-kemal-cengiz%E2%80%99s-reaction.html

Also featured in Nor Or Feb. 20, 2014 No 8

Elif Shafak, Turk Intellectuals Who Recognized The Armenian Genocide.

February 15, 2014 By administrator

By:Hambersom Aghbashian

Elif Şafak ( born 25 October 1971, Strasbourg, France) is a Turkish author, columnist, speaker and academic. She holds a Masters degree in Gender and Women’s Studies and a Ph.D. in Political Science. “As Turkey’s bestselling female writer, Şafak is a brave champion of cosmopolitanism, a sophisticated feminist, and an ambitious novelist who infuses her magical-realist fiction with big, important ideas…”. She is one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Turkish and world literature. Her books have been published in more than 40 countries, and she was awarded the honorary distinction of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2010. (1)

Shafak has published twelve books, eight of which are novels. She writes fictions in both Turkish and English. Her first novel, Pinhan (The Mystic) was awarded the “Rumi Prize” in 1998. Her second novel is Şehrin Aynaları (Mirrors of the City). Shafak greatly increased her readership with her novel Mahrem (The Gaze), which earned her the “Best Novel-Turkish Writers’ Union Prize” in 2000. Her next novel, Bit Palas (The FleaPalace), has been a bestseller in Turkey and was shortlisted for the Independent Best Fiction Award.

Shafak wrote her next novel in English. The Saint of Incipient Insanities was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Her second novel written in English is The Bastard of Istanbul, which was the bestselling book of 2006 in Turkey and was long listed for the Orange prize. The novel, which tells the story of an Armenian and a Turkish family through the eyes of women, brought Shafak under prosecution but the charges were ultimately dismissed.

In her book Black Milk. Shafak explored the beauties and difficulties of being a writer and a mother.. . The Forty Rules of Love sold more than 600 000 copies, becoming an all time best-

The Bastard of Istanbul

seller in Turkey and in France, awarded with the Prix ALEF – Mention Spéciale Littérature Etrangère..Her latest novel, Iskender (Honour), has topped the best-seller lists (2)

After publishing her book “The Bastard of Istanbul” in 2006, Julie Bosman wrote on Feb.10, 2007 (The New York Times -Books) that “it is the best seller in Turkey”, and that ” She travels with a bodyguard now and has been placed under official police protection in Turkey”. “Ms. Shafak was sued by a nationalist Turkish lawyer, Kemal Kerincsiz, whose rightist group has also sued dozens of others, including Orhan Pamuk, Turkey’s best-known novelist”. (3)

According to Armenpress, May 21,2013, ” The Bastard of Istanbul” was translated into Armenian by Maro Madoyan- Alajanian (American Armenian literary critic), who underscored that “Elif Safaq must be known to the Armenian society. Her novel is dedicated to the consequences of the Genocide. Safaq is hiding because of continuous persecution initiated against her by the Turkish extremists”.(4)

According to Aravot.am (May 30 2013), Elif Şafak, was charged under Article 301, which is about insulting national identity. In order to escape the persecutions of nationalists, the 42-year-old Turkish woman now lives in London. (5)
On December 24, 2007,Myrthe Korf wrote some details of the story which are interesting.(6)

Elif Safaq is also one of TED’s guests. TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, under the slogan “ideas worth spreading”.

In addition to writing fictions, Shafak is also a political scientist. She continues to write for Haberturk, a major newspaper in Turkey, as well as several international daily & weekly publications, including The Guardian website. She has been featured in major newspapers and periodicals, including the Washington Times, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, The Economist and The Guardian.

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1- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elif_%C5%9Eafak

2- http://www.elifshafak.com/biography.asp

3-http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/10/books/10shaf.html?_r=0

4-http://armenpress.am/eng/news/719615/

5- http://en.aravot.am/2013/05/30/154590/

6- http://myrthekorf.nl/2007/12/the-bastard-of-istanbul-by-elif-shafak/

Turk Intellectuals Who Recognized The Armenian Genocide.

January 18, 2014 By administrator

By: Hambersom Aghbashian

Hasan Cemal ( born in 1944 in Istanbul, Turkey) is a Turkish journalist, writer and the grandson of Ahmed Djemal Pasha*. He is best known for acknowledging and apologizing for the Armenian Genocide, a crime which was perpetrated by (Ittihat ve Terakki party and its leaders Enver Pasha, Talaat Pasha and Hasan’s grandfather Djemal Pasha). His 2012 book on the Armenian Genocide (written in response to the 2007 assassination of his friend, Agos editor-in chief, Hrant Dink) is titled (1915: Ermeni Soykırımı), (1915: Armenian Genocide).

In 1965, Cemal graduated from Ankara University with a Political Science degree, and in 1969 began working for the weekly Hakkı Devrim. Between 1981-1992, he was the chief editor of the Cumhuriyet newspaper. In 1992 he became the editor of the Sabah newspaper until 1998. From 1998-2013, he worked for Milliyet newspaper. He conducted interviews with notable PKK leaders such as Abdullah Öcalan and Murat Karayilan. Some of Hasan Cemal’s works include, “1915: Armenian Genocide; 2012”, “Be One with Peace; 2011”, “Turkey’s Military Problem; 2010”, “I Liked This Republic; 2005”, “Kurds; 2004”, “No one should be mad, I Wrote Myself; 1999”, “The Story of Özal; 1989″,”Fear of Democracy; 1986″, “Waking up to the Sound of Tanks; 1986”, etc..

Hasan Cemal always believed in the official Turkish governmental narrative that the genocide did not occur. However, after he traveled to Armenia and visited the Armenian Genocide memorial, he published a book entitled “1915: The Armenian Genocide”. The book would go on to be a bestseller in Turkey. Cemal remarked in his book, “To deny the Genocide would mean to be an accomplice in this crime against humanity”. The book highlights Cemal’s personal transformation and his experiences in Armenia and how he turned from a Genocide denier to a recognizer. While Cemal was in Armenia, he had an opportunity to meet and have lunch with Armen Gevorkyan, the grandson of the man who executed his grandfather Djemal Pasha in 1922.

According to Armenpress (13 Nov., 2013), Cemal wrote in an article published in Turkey’s T24 online newspaper that” Turkey must understand the pain felt by Armenians in the aftermath of 1915, and it must share that pain and present the tragedy to society at large, ahead of the forthcoming centennial of the genocide”. He also added that “Armenians are a people from Anatolia. Their roots and their motherland is in Anatolia. Armenians, like the Kurdish people, had lived in Anatolia before the Turks appeared there. The truth is that Turkey has not yet accepted the fact that the Armenians were cut off from their historical roots and their motherland in 1915”.

On March31, 2011,during an event which was organized by the AGBU Asbeds at UCLA, Cemal was the main speaker and said that he came to express his grief and apologize for the 1915 genocide. He also added that “History cannot be covered up. You cannot forget your roots”. Hassan Cemal apologized to all Armenians for the Armenian Genocide. He also has insisted that the Turkish government should also apologize to the Armenians for the Armenian Genocide as well.

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*Ahmed Djemal Pasha was a key figure in the Young Turks’- Ittihat ve Terakki party’s government and an Ottoman military leader (Minister of Marine) and one of the military triumvirate known as the Three Pashas ( Enver, Talaat, Djemal) that ruled the Ottoman Empire during World War I, and is seen as one of the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide. He was executed in July 1922 in Tbilisi, Georgia, by Stepan Dzaghigian and Petros Ter Poghosyan, as part of Operation Nemesis, in retribution for his role in the Armenian Genocide.

Featured in: Nor Or Weekly – Thursday January 16, 2014

Turk Intellectuals Who Recognized The Armenian Genocide.

January 10, 2014 By administrator

By: Hambersom Aghbashian

Ferit Orhan Pamuk ( simply known as Orhan Pamuk – Born, Jun 7, 1952- Istanbul- Turkey ) is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. One of Turkey’s most prominent novelists, his work has sold over eleven million books in sixty languages, making him the country’s best-selling writer. Pamuk is a Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University(NY). His novels include The White Castle, The Black Book, The New Life, My Name Is Red and Snow. As well as the Nobel Prize in Literature (the first Nobel Prize to be awarded to a Turkish citizen), Pamuk is the recipient of numerous other literary awards. My Name Is Red won the 2002 Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger, 2002 Premio Grinzane Cavour and 2003 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. The book was translated into 24 languages.
In 2005, Pamuk was put on trial in Turkey after he made a statement regarding the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. “Thirty thousand Kurds have been killed here, and a million Armenians. And almost nobody dares to mention that. So I do.” , remarked Pamuk. “What happened to the Ottoman Armenians in 1915 was a major thing that was hidden from the Turkish nation; it was a taboo. But we have to be able to talk about the past.” added Pamuk. A criminal case was opened against him based on a complaint filed by ultra-nationalist lawyer Kemal Kerinçsiz*. The charges were dropped on 22 January 2006. Rallies were held to burn his books. However, Kemal Kerinçsiz, appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal which ordered the court in Şişli to re-open the case. On March 27, 2011, Pamuk was found guilty and ordered to pay 6,000 liras fine for his stand point. The charges against Pamuk caused an international outcry and led to questions in some circles about Turkey’s proposed entry into the European Union.
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*Kemal Kerinçsiz (B.1960 in Edirne, Turkey) is a Turkish lawyer, famous for filing complaints against more than 40 Turkish journalists and authors (including Orhan Pamuk and the late Hrant Dink) for “insulting Turkishness”. On 5 August 2013 Kerinçsiz was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment as part of the Ergenekon ( a Turkish nationalist underground organization) trials.

Source is (Nor Or- Jan. 9, 2014)