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,

Thousands of Turkish women have posted their photos on social media showing them turning their backs in protest at President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s latest rebuke targeting women.

“It is very interesting that a group here… I beg your pardon but my decency does not permit me to put it another way… turned their backs on me while making the victory sign,” Erdoğan said in the eastern Turkish province of Iğdır on June 1.

“If you have a modicum of politeness, honor and ability, then the place for politics is parliament,” he added, claiming that the women needed to be deputies to have the right to protest the Turkish president.

In response to Erdoğan, thousands of women posted photos of them turning their back on June 2. Photos included not only women, but also some men, and of course cats, almost all accompanied by remarks criticizing Erdoğan.

According to social media analytics firm topsy, the social media action’s hashtag, #SırtımızıDönüyoruz (We Are Turning Our Backs) was used in 122,138 tweets on June 2. The hashtag even topped Twitter’s trending topics list in Turkey and climbed as high as third spot in the global ranking.

Local media reported that the women that were slammed by Erdoğan were supporters of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which is focused on the Kurdish issue.

“We will keep turning our back on this president,” HDP co-chair Figen Yüksekdağ said, while HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş described Erdoğan’s remarks as “a vulgar, immoral insult.”

This is not the first time that women have taken social media by storm in a protest against Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

In July 2014, hundreds of women shared their photos while laughing with hashtags #kahkaha (laugh) and #direnkahkaha (resist, laugh) to protest Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç’s call on them to “not laugh in public.”

Source: hurriyetdailynews

Koray Caliskan: Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide

Turkish women turn their back in protest at Erdoğan