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Arsine Khanjyan: Turkey will recognize Armenian Genocide when it is able to look at its own “bloody” history

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11:21, 17 September, 2012

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS:

Turkeywill recognize the Armenian Genocide only when it finds strength in itself to look at its own “bloody” history and realizes that their actions were nothing but a crime. It is necessary also that the members of the Turkish society ask themselves, who am I in reality with my bad and good qualities and genetic memory. This was reported to Armenpress by the Canadian Armenian famous actress and producer Arsine Khanjyan. According to her, this all will come true, when the Turkish people themselves begin clarifying the history and exert pressure.

“They should understand that they have lived in lie for so many years and each of them will feel that in their families there is a part of that “crime”, that their grandfather was one of the implementators of the crime of the year of 1915”, – said Arsine Khanjyan. The actress is certain that the denial policy is to the detriment of the current generation. “This very denial makes them a part of that continuous crime”, – said the actress.Armeniashould pay a great attention to the Armenians living inTurkey, notwithstanding the fact if they are still Christians or forcibly made Muslims. They should join the other minorities living inTurkeyand make concrete actions. “I hope that we will come to a certain result in that case. At least, I hope”, – said Arsine.

In this issue the actress highlights the role of the international community as well. “The international community is responsible for the denial as Turkey. The international community should cease all the discussions and negotiations on this issue and look at this problem without political interest”, – said Arsine emphasizing that not only Armenians should cry about it but also the allies. According to her, notwithstanding that Holocaust was recognized byGermany, the Turkish cannot find strength in them to accept the reality. There is only one reason,Turkeylacks civilized society. “People never forget about a crime, genocide. The further generations ofArmeniaandTurkeywill always face this part of the history of their countries and it will never be forgotten. And for the sake of the Armenian and Turkish generations the international structures should exert pressure to settle the issue”, – said Arsine.

In the years of 1892-1923 the Turkish government organized the Armenian Genocide, during which mass deportation and massacre of more than 1.5 million people from the Western Armenia, Cilicia andOttoman  Empirewas carried out. Conditionally the beginning of the Genocide is considered to be the April 24 1915, when 600 Armenian intellectuals were arrested and then killed inConstantinople.

Knesset to Discuss Genocide Bill Tuesday

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JERUSALEM—The chairperson of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, on Sunday has permitted the discussion of a bill recognizing the Armenian Genocide. The debate is scheduled for Tuesday, reported the Haaretz newspaper.

Knesset chairperson Reuven Rivlin decided to permit the debate for Tuesday after Meretz party leader Zehava Gal-On asked for the issue to be discussed in the Knesset last week but it was delayed due to deliberation on another bill.

Israel’s foreign ministry asked to postpone the discussion until after the Knesset hears a report on Israel’s interception of Turkish ships bound for the Gaza Strip. Gal-On refused and pressed for the Armenian Genocide bill to be placed on the agenda.

Gal-On said she did not want to cause problems with Turkey and she wanted relations with the country to improve. But she said she believed the Foreign Ministry was using the comptroller’s report as an excuse to avoid dealing with the controversial Armenian issue, reported the Jerusalem Post.

In December, the Knesset’s Education Committee hosted an unprecedented discussion of the Armenian Genocide and the need for Israel to officially recognize the matter.

At the time, a representative of the Foreign Ministry relayed the ministry’s opposition to the bill. “This subject, given the current atmosphere, could deteriorate our ties with Turkey. Our relationship with Turkey is very fragile and sensitive right now, and we cannot cross the line – we must approach the subject intelligently. Such a decision could have very serious strategic consequences,” said the representative.

Rivlin also commented during the discussion in December. “The subject doesn’t come up in the Knesset because of events that take place between Israel and Turkey, nor because we are trying to take advantage of the political situation to get even. I first entered the Knesset in ‘88, and a year later we made a suggestion for a day concerning the Armenian tragedy. We were prevented from speaking about it as a ‘holocaust,’ though we most definitely felt that as humans, as Jews, as citizens of Israel that aren’t Jews, we must bring this subject up, and flood the public with the questions that arise, because we are obligated to prevent denial of the tragedy,” said Rivlin.

“We are standing in front of all the peoples of the world, and saying that denial of a holocaust is something that Humanity cannot agree with. We didn’t come to discuss something political, rather moral,” continued Rivlin.

Gal-On said at the time that “this is an exciting moment, in my opinion, that the Education Committee is holding an open discussion, with a great deal of participation. For years, Israel always considered relations with Turkey. That is the central issue in terms of recognition of the murder of the Armenian people, which has yet to take place in Israel’s Knesset.”

“Unfortunately, relations with Turkey are very tense, and I think that it is in our interest not to make them worse. Israel’s government must advance relations regardless of the Armenian issue; it is a historic and moral obligation,” said Gal-On.

Otniel Schneller, also among the upcoming discussion’s sponsors, was the only one who expressed outright opposition to an official recognition by Israel of the Armenian genocide in December. “We cannot disconnect the discussion from the fact that we must rehabilitate our ties with Turkey – it’s an existential necessity,” he said. “We need to fit in the Middle East even if it is difficult,” said Schneller, in December.

Romney nominated a pro-Armenian activist in the USA vice president position

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17:30, 11 August, 2012

Yerevan, August 11, ARMENPRESS: The Republican Mitt Romney fighting for the position of the USA president made a decision to nominate a member of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan from the Virginia state as a vice president. Ryan is famous for his pro-Armenian positions. He was one of the NO 252 resolution supporters of the House of Parliaments in the Armenian Genocide recognition and condemn, he is a member of the Congress committee on the Armenian issues. The Armenian trial committee in the USA marked him A. Senator Biden has also been assessed with such a mark. “A member of the House of Representatives Ryan was highly appreciated from A to F due to the legislative and political positive activity in the Armenian Genocide Recognition. He positively displayed himself also in the human rights the American Armenians are concerned about and other foreign political issues”, ANCA informed in response to the question raised by “Armenpress”.

Romney will officially represent the vice president on August 11 during the visit to Norfolk. Romney’s candidature for the presidential position will be officially nominated in the republican Congress to be held in Florida August 27-30.

DNA Study Busts Myth that One Million Appalachians are of Turkish Descent.

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BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN

For decades, Turkish pseudo-historians and propagandists have made bizarre claims about Turks being the ancestors of various ethnic groups around the world, including Native Americans, African-Americans, and the strangest of all — Melungeons — a little-known group of dark-skinned residents of Appalachia.

To counter Armenian political activities in Washington, the Turkish government regularly reaches out to anyone who could be co-opted with all-expense paid trips, special gifts, and other financial inducements, including funding studies and conferences on the alleged Turkish origin of Melungeons. Even though these one million Appalachians do not carry much political clout in Congress, Ankara is interested in claiming them to be of Turkish descent, hoping to strengthen its political and economic clout in the United States. [Read more…]

Steve Jobs had asked the Turks: “You subjected 1.5 million Armenians to genocide. How did it happen?”

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December 21, 2011 | 11:04

What Turkish tour guide Asil Tuncer said, with respect to Apple Inc.’s founder, the late Steve Jobs’ visit to Turkey, caused great uproar in the country. The guide claimed that Jobs considered the Turks as enemies, and he did not even shake hands when bidding farewell to the tour guide.

Tuncer noted that when they had approached the Hagia Sophia, in Istanbul, and he had told that it was a church at first but then it was turned into a mosque, Steve Jobs had asked: “You, Muslims, what did you do to so many Christians? You subjected 1.5 million Armenians to genocide. Tell us, how did it happen?” [Read more…]

AGHET – German filmmaker Eric Friedler “Armenian Genocide”

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AGHET [produced by NDR (German public television)], a new award-winning documentary made by German filmmaker Eric Friedler compellingly proves the truth of the genocide of the Armenian people. Using the actual words of 23 German, American and other nationals who witnessed the events, and armed with archival materials, AGHET expertly takes on the challenge that PM Erdogan hurled at the world by stating: »Prove it.« AGHET incorporates never-before-seen footage and documents – making it one of the best researched and presented documentaries on the Armenian Genocide. More than just a historic retelling of the Genocide, the film also delves into the ongoing campaign of denial that the Turkish government has mounted since these events occurred in World War I.

AGHET was debuted on NDR in April, 2010. Friedler has assembled an impeccable cast, who bring to life the original texts of German and U.S. diplomatic dispatches and eyewitness accounts, interspersed with never-before-seen footage of the Genocide and its political aftermath. The film, applauded by Nobel Prize laureate Gunter Grass, has sparked renewed debate throughout Europe and has won several international awards. It is now being showcased around the world on television, in major film festivals and has been seen by members of the U.S. Congress. [Read more…]

Taner Akcam: “In Turkey, genocide denial is an industry”

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10:44, January 26, 2012

Taner Akçam, Ph.D.

Born in the province of Ardahan, Turkey. Taner Akçam graduated from Middle East Technical University in Ankara and emigrated to Germany, where he worked as a research scientist in the sociology department at the Hamburg Institute for Social Research. Akçam earned his doctorate from the University of Hannover with a dissertation on The Turkish National Movement and the Armenian Genocide Against the Background of the Military Tribunals in Istanbul Between 1919 and 1922.
The following interview with Prof. Taner Akcam, the Robert Aram, Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marion Mugar Chair in Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark University, appeared in Le Monde on Jan. 7. The interview was conducted by Guillaume Perrier. Below is the interview in English.
Q. What is your opinion, not about the genocide denial law itself, but about the effects it can have on the debate among intellectuals and civil society in Turkey? [Read more…]