Turkish Intellectuals Archives

Turkish intellectuals refuse to make apologies for Artsakh visit

December 8, 2017 By administrator

Turkish intellectuals artsakh

The Turkish intellectuals who visited Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) in September habe denied recently published reports that they are facing a criminal proceeding, Agos reports.

In recent comments to the publication, Sait Cetinoglu, Ufuk Uras, Ali Bayramoglu and Erol Katırcioglu said they only responded to Turkey’s Justice Ministry as part of an investigation launched by the Azerbaijani law enforcement authorities. “They haven’t instituted any criminal case against us; neither have we been interrogated for the visit to Artsakh,” they said.

The intellectuals added that they explained the reasons of the visit in a separate letter sent to Azerbaijani top leaders. “But we didn’t apologize to the country’s leadership. We only stated that we frequently visit conflict zones for first-hand information on the ground. We didn’t use such words as ‘our apologies’ or ‘forgive us’. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Chavushoglu asked us to do that but we refused to,” they said.

All the three, who visited Artsakh on September 22 as part of a trip to Armenia, are accused of ‘illegally crossing Azerbaijan’s state border’. They were later included on the international wanted list.

Kerem Öktem: Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide

February 18, 2016 By administrator

101 turkish intelect By Hambersom Aghbashian

This is article No. 101 of this serial.

The first article was published in “Nor Or” on January 9, 2014, ( Orhan Pamuk, one of Turkey’s most prominent novelists, screenwriter, academic and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature). Since then ” Nor Or ” continued publishing this serial weekly, except during newspaper’s yearly vacations, where it highlighted 100 of courageous Turkish intellectuals, advocates of justice and human rights, who have recognized the reality of the Armenian Genocide. Many of them were threatened, others were sentenced for different periods of imprisonment or fines, many imprisoned, some suffered financial loses , others fled the country, etc., but they continued and still continue asking for justice and demand their government to recognize the Armenian Genocide. The first 50 articles were compiled in Part-1 of our published book “Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized the Reality of the Armenian Genocide” and the second 50 articles will be included in Part-2 , and the list goes on.

Kerem Öktem is a Professor of Southeast Europe and Modern Turkey and Deputy Director at the Centre of Southeast European Studies, the University of Graz, Austria which he has joined in September 2014. Before that, he was Open Society Research Fellow at the European Studies Centre, University of Oxford, where he earned his Master degree in Modern Middle Eastern Studies at the Faculty for Oriental Studies in 2001, and completed his PhD at the school of Geography, Oxford in 2006, with a thesis on nation building in Turkey as a socio-spatial project (Geographies of Nationalism). He is a longstanding research associate of the program for Southeast European Studies at Oxford (SEESOX), and alumni of the Mercator-IPC Fellow at Sabanci University, Istanbul. In addition to his academic publications, he is also a regular contributor to Open Democracy and several media outlets. Prof. Öktem’s main interests lie in the connection between domestic politics and foreign policy, nationalism, and the politics of ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities and social movements in Turkey. He is an expert in Middle Eastern Studies, Turkish Politics, and International Relations. ^{(1) (2)}

In his paper titled “The Nation’s Imprint: Demographic Engineering and the Change of Toponymes in Republican Turkey,” Kerem Öktem mentioned:”When the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) declared the deportation law for ‘those opposing the government in times of war’ on 27 May 1915, more than a million Armenians, Syriac Christians, and some Kurdish communities were forced into exile and destruction. In only a few weeks, the government initiated the name change of evacuated villages (Dündar 2001: 65). At the same time, some of these villages were swiftly resettled with Muslim refugees, pouring into the country from the Balkans and the easternmost provinces under Russian occupation. In a directive, the Chief of the General Staff and one of the three leaders of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), Enver Pasha, declared that: “It has been decided that provinces, districts, towns, villages, mountains and rivers, which are named in languages belonging to non-Muslim nations such as Armenian, Greek or Bulgarian, will be transformed into Turkish.”⁽³⁾

On June 25, 2014, Kerem Oktem and Christopher Sisserian wrote an article under the title “Turkey’s Armenian opening: towards 2015″, the following are some abstracts: ” In recent years, an increasing number of individuals and civil-society organizations has begun to engage with the heritage and history of the country’s once substantial Armenian communities and their violent end. This had little impact on government policy until 23 April 2014, when the office of PM Erdogan released a letter offering condolences to the grandchildren of those that perished. This statement was significant; it was the first time a Turkish PM had addressed the issue of Armenian suffering and loss. Turkey’s breach with Israel, whose camp in the United States was once enlisted to do the dirty work of lobbying against recognition of the genocide, meant that this route was no longer open to Ankara. Hence Erdogan’s letter. It is a masterly work that manages to appear to talk about the Armenian genocide without actually recognizing it; that insinuates reconciliation without acknowledging injustice; and that uses words of condolence, while warning its recipients not to establish “a pecking order of suffering” (i.e. not to insist on recognition). ⁽⁴⁾

Under the title ” Professors discuss denial of Armenian Genocide, ” Aaron Lewis wrote on November 8, 2015, in” The Daily Northwestern”: ” In remembrance of 100 years since the Armenian Genocide, professors from four different universities spoke out against denial of the genocide as part of “Denial and Memory,” a conference held at Northwestern on Friday at the Northwestern University campus in Evanston, Illinois, USA, by the Buffett Institute of Global Studies’ Keyman Modern Turkish Studies. Mustafa Aksakal, Rachel Goshgarian, Kerem Ӧktem and Barbara Lyons, where the main speakers. Kerem Ӧktem, a professor at the University of Graz in Austria, discussed memory versus recognition of the genocide and ideas like the Turkish government’s denial of the genocide. He also talked about the connection between societal power groups and recognition of the genocide. “With very little reach out in society, it is important to see how many sides can exist in society,” he said. “Denialists are losing ground.” ⁽⁵⁾

Prof.Kerem Ӧktem is the author and co-author of many books including “World War I and the End of Ottoman Empire: From the Balkan War to the Armenian Genocide“, “Angry Nation: Turkey since 1989”, (2011), “Turkey’s Engagement with Modernity (2009)”, “Another Empire? Turkey’s new foreign policy in the 2000s”, (2012) and many others.

____________________________________________________________________________

1- http://www.suedosteuropa.uni-graz.at/en/people/univ-prof-drkerem-%C3%B6ktemUniv

2- http://ipc.sabanciuniv.edu/en/fellow/kerem-oktem/

3- https://ejts.revues.org/2243#tocto1n2

4- https://www.opendemocracy.net/kerem-oktem-christopher-sisserian/turkeys-armenian-opening-towards-2015

5- http://dailynorthwestern.com/2015/11/08/campus/professors-discuss-denial-of-armenian-genocide/

Gülten Kaya: Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide

January 28, 2016 By administrator

Gülten Kaya is a Turkish music producer and an actress

By Hambersom Aghbashian,

Gülten Kaya is a Turkish music producer and an actress well known for (Yusuf ile Kenan -1979), (Memnu meyva -1979) and (Aklin durur -1975). She is the widow of late Kurdish singer Ahmet Kaya ( born in 1957 in Malatya, Turkey – died in 2000 in his de facto exile in Paris). Gülten Kaya is a political activist and a member of “The Friends of Hrant Dink organization.”

Gülten Kaya was one of the main speakers during “The Friends of Hrant Dink organization” gathering to mark the seventh anniversary of the killing of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink on January 19, 2014, where tens of thousands gathered in Istanbul and marched from Taksim Square to Agos newspaper’s office building in the Pangalti neighborhood of Sisli. In her speech, Gülten Kaya, commemorated not only Dink, but also those who were killed during the Gezi Park Resistance last year. “We are here not only to remember Hrant, but also Ethem [Sarisülük], Abdullah [Cömert], Medeni [Yildirim], Ahmet [Atakan] and those who

died in the Gezi protests,” Kaya said. “You have left mothers and fathers devoid of their children. Sons of this country were shot with treacherous bullets. How can we forget how many homes were broken?” she said. “What is your truth? This is 2014: You are carrying guns in your trucks instead of peace, democracy and human rights,” Kaya added, addressing Turkey’s security forces. ⁽¹⁾

“Taraf” Newspaper wrote on 20th April 2010, “ The anniversary of the 1915s events, this year will be remembered in Turkey, too. The commemoration organized by the “Say Stop!” Group. A group of intellectuals, for the first time in Turkey will commemorate this year on 24 April as the anniversary of the events of 1915. Under the leader-ship of “Say Stop!” group, the commemoration will start in front of the tram station in Taksim Square.

The text of the commemoration activity is as follows: “This pain is OUR pain. This mourning is for ALL of US. In 1915, when our population was just 13 million, in these lands were living from 1,5 to 2 million Armenians. In Thrace, in the Aegean, in Adana, Malatya, Van, Kars … Samatya, in Sisli, Galata … Our neighborhood grocery men, our dressmakers, our jewelers, our carpenters, our shoemakers, our classmates, our teachers, our officers, our orderlies, our deputies, our historians, our composers …They were our Friends. In April 24 1915 it was started “to send them”. We lost them. They are no longer available. The vast majority are no more between us. They have not even graves. But, the “Great Pain” of the “Great Disaster” , with its utmost gravity EXISTS in our conscience. It is growing since 95 years. We are calling all the people of Turkey, who [the people] feel in their hearts this “Great Pain”, to respectfully prostrate in front of the 1915s victims’ remembrance. In black dresses, silently.Lightening candles for their souls, bearing flowers .Because this pain is OUR pain. This mourning is for ALL of US. “⁽²⁾ Gülten Kaya was one of the prominent intellectuals who participated in the commemoration.

“Today Zaman”, wrote on April 20, 2011, “Armenians who lost their lives in the Armenian displacement that took place in 1915, during the final days of the Ottoman Empire, will be commemorated through a variety of events for a second time this year. This year’s commemoration ceremonies will be held in İstanbul’s Taksim Square, Ankara, İzmir, Diyarbakır and Bodrum. A statement with the headline, “This pain is ours,” has been opened up for signatures. More than 100 people including intellectuals, writers and journalists including Ahmet İnsel, Ali Bayramoğlu, Alper Görmüş, Bekir Berat Özipek, Cafer Solgun, Ferhat Kentel, Gülten Kaya, Leyla İpekçi, Mehmet Bekaroğlu, Oral Çalışlar, Orhan Miroğlu, Oya Baydar, Şebnem Korur Fincancı and Ümit Kardaş have already signed the statement. Deputies from the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and independent candidates supported by the party will be supporting the commemoration ceremony to be held in Diyarbak?r.” ⁽³⁾

In response to official statements that the Royal Library of Denmark has agreed “to balance” an Armenian Genocide exhibition by allowing the Turkish government to mount its own “alternative” exhibit, a group of Turkish citizens–including academics, writers, former members of parliament, and mayors–have signed an open letter to the Royal Library,where they said ” It is incorrect to suggest that two different views of what happened in 1915 are possible. Over 1 million Ottoman-Armenian citizens were forced out of their homes and annihilated in furtherance of an intentional state policy. What exists today is nothing other than the blatant denial of this reality by the Turkish government.” They added “ Don’t Stand Against Turkey’s Democratization and Confrontation with its History!” Gülten Kaya (music producer) is one of the intellectuals who signed the petition. ⁽⁴⁾

According to “TodayZaman,” September 26, 2014, “A group of academics, journalists, artists and intellectuals have released a statement condemning in the harshest terms what they define as expressions that include “open hatred and hostility” towards Armenians in Turkish schoolbooks, which were recently exposed by the newspapers Agos and Taraf.” Gülten Kaya was one of the intellectuals who signed the petition. ⁽⁵⁾

_____________________________________________________________________________________

1- www.mirrorspectator.com/pdf/012514.pdf

2- http://www.taraf.com.tr/haber/ 48851.htm

3- http://www.todayszaman.com/news-241521-1915-tragedy-to-be-commemorated-for-second-time-in-turkey.html

4- http://armenianweekly.com/2012/12/18/turkish-citizens-sign-petition-against-denialist-exhibit-in-denmark/

5- http://www.todayszaman.com/anasayfa_group-of-intellectuals-condemn-anti-armenian-statements-in-textbooks_359935.html

Fikret Baskaya: Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The #ArmenianGenocide

September 17, 2015 By administrator

Fikret Baskaya

By: Hambersom Aghbashian

Fikret Baskaya, is a Professor of Economic Development and International Relations and the founder and chairman of the “Turkey and Middle East Forum Foundation”. He is the author of several books and articles on development economics. He also wrote a regular newspaper opinion column. Dr. Baskaya was imprisoned from March 1994 to July 1995 under Article 8 of Turkey´s Anti-Terror Law for writing a book titled “The Bankruptcy of [the] Paradigm”.
On June 1, 1999, Prof. Fikret Baskaya published an article entitled “A Question of History?” in the daily newspaper Özgür Bakis, in which he questioned the viability of the Turkish state’s approach towards the Kurdish problem following the arrest of Abdullah Öcalan.
As a result, he was indicted under the same article of the Anti-Terror Law for “disseminating separatist propaganda through the press”, and was sentenced to 16 months’ imprisonment and a fine on 13 June 2000. He was released from prison in June 2002 after serving one year. He was finally acquitted in 2005. (1)
A day after journalist Hrant Dink’s murder on 19 January 2007, writer Temel Demirer read a press statement in central Ankara, saying that the journalist had not only been killed for being Armenian, but also because he had spoken of an “Armenian genocide.” He continued saying “There is a genocide in our history, it is called the Armenian genocide……”. The statement was signed by Fikret Başkaya, İsmail Beşikçi, Yüksel Akkaya, Mehmet Özer, Necmettin Salaz, Ahmet Telli and more than forty other Turkish intellectuals.

(2) Writer Dr. Fikret Baskaya, journalists Barcin Yinanc, Ahmet Altan of Radikal Newspaper, Ali Bayramoglu of Yeni Safak newspaper, Orhan Kemal Cengiz, Mustafa Aykol, Cengiz Candar, Ismail Besickci, Baskin Oran, Yavuz Baydar, Ayse Gunaysu, Zeunep Tozduman, and many others , criticized the government for not dealing with the Armenian Genocide.

(3) 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. 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.” Fikret Baskaya was one of the prominent Turkish intellectuals who signed the apology.

(4) According to “http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com”, On April 24, 2010, as genocide commemoration events were being held one after the other in different locations in Istanbul, a groundbreaking two-day symposium on the Armenian Genocide began at the Princess Hotel in Ankara. The conference did not simply deal with the historical aspect of 1915; for the first time in Turkey, a substantial part of the proceedings was dedicated to topics such as confiscated Armenian property, reparations, and the challenges of moving forward and confronting the past in Turkey, etc . . Sait Cetinoglu, Mahmut Konuk, Fikret Baskaya, Baskin Oran, Ismail Besikci, Ragip Zarakolu and many others participated and had expressed their ideas. (5)
According to “The Armenian Observer” editorial, “As We See It”, June 9, 2013, by Prof. Osheen Keshishian, “After almost a century of silence, dying the past few decades, some Turkish historians, writers and journalists have seen the light and have become much more vocal and have come out to correct Turkish history, some cautiously and other more abrasively, starting a movement to write unwittingly the facts, the truth of their history, which was altered and disoriented, and to seek justice for the Armenians, the Kurds, and Assyrians.” Fikret Baskaya is listed as one those intellectuals who had the courage to write about those issues. (6)
———————————————————————————————————————
1- http://www.englishpen.org/campaigns/dr-fikret-baskaya/
2- http://bianet.org/english/minorities/105355-writer-demirer-on-trial-for-armenian-genocide
3- www.thearmenianobserver.com, 9 June 2013
4- http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=200_prominent_Turks_apologize_for_great_
5- http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2010/05/3068-minutes-of-ankara-symposium-on.html
6- http://www.thearmenianobserver.com/?p=1822

Newly published book, Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized the Reality of the Armenian Genocide

July 30, 2015 By administrator

Compiled by Hambersom Aghbashian,

This book is a study of a very important issue which sheds light on
Armenian and Turkish history. Many Turkish intellectuals (50 Turkish
historians, physicians, artist, human rights activists, journalists and
others ) who support justice to Armenians and justice to the world, and
have recognized the reality of the Armenian Genocide, blamed the
Ottoman Empire for the perpetrated atrocities, and asked the Turkish
government to admit the Armenian Genocide and apologize for that,
and even to make reparations to the victims ancestors, are researched
and comprehensively presented by the author. It includes a work, which
puts history in the right perspective and proves the veracity of the
Genocide. This is part(1) and part (2) will follow.
The book is published by “Nor Or Publishing Association, Inc.” and
printed in USA.
For copies contact the publisher (Email: Nor-Or@sbcglobal.net), or the author
(Email: hampomg@yahoo.com).

Asaf Savaş Akat Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide

July 2, 2015 By administrator

By: Hambersom Aghbashian,

Professor Asaf Savaş Akat (born 3 February 1943) is a Turkish economist and academic. He served as Rector of Istanbul Bilgi University from 1996 to 1998, where he remains a Professor. He earned his (BS and PhD) degrees from Istanbul University and his (MA) in Economics, from University of East Anglia . He also spent time as a research student at the London School of Economics. Professor Akat began his academic career in 1966 at Istanbul University’s Faculty of Economics, where he became first an associate professor in 1973, then a professor in1980. In 1989 he lectured in Economics at the Marmara University, Istanbul, and in 1993 he was Professor of Economics at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Istanbul. In 1994 he Founded Academic Board, Istanbul School of International Studies. He is the author of many publications and three books on economic issues. His latest, Iktisadi Analiz (Economic Analysis), was published in 2009. Until 2009 Akat was one of the faces of Ekodiyalog, a popular television program in Turkey on economics. He is married to Professor Dr. Nilüfer Göle* a university professor and an authority on Muslim women’s issues. (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 signatories also announced a website related to this apology, and called on others to visit the site and sign the apology as well. The text of the apology is: “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.” Professor Asaf Savaş Akat was one of the signatories. (2)
According to “Today Zaman”, September 26, 2014, “A group of academics, journalists, artists and intellectuals have released a statement condemning in the harshest terms what they define as expressions that include ‘open hatred and hostility’ towards Armenians in Turkish schoolbooks, which were recently exposed by the newspapers Agos and Taraf. A letter accompanying the text of the condemnation, written by historian Taner Akçam, notes that including such expressions as lesson material to teach children is a disgrace. The signees said textbooks in schools should seek to encourage feelings of peace, solidarity and living together over inciting hatred towards different religious and cultural groups. Akçam further wrote: Standing with integrity in the face of history is the prerequisite for establishing the future on the foundations of friendship and peace. I do hope that this signature campaign will be taken as a scream from all of us for the publication of textbooks that we would like to see.” Professor Asaf Savaş Akat was one of the intellectuals who signed the statement. (3)
The conference “Sealed Gate: Prospects of the Turkey-Armenia Border” organized by the Hrant Dink Foundation and Ankara University, Faculty of Political Science, Department of Economics was held in Ankara on November 22-23, 2014. The two-day conference featured 9 panel sessions and 27 presentations and was live streamed in English, Turkish and Armenian on the Foundation’s website www.hrantdink.org. The panel “Beyond Open Borders” chaired by Asaf Savaş Akat discussed the prospects of civil society dialogue and track two diplomacy between Turkey and Armenia in the context of the sealed border (4)
——————————————————————————————————————–* See our article No.48,” Nor Or ” Jan. 15, 2015, page 9.
1- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asaf_Sava%C5%9F_Akat
2- http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=200_prominent_Turks_apologize_for_great_
3- http://www.todayszaman.com/national_group-of-intellectuals-condemn-anti-armenian-statements-in-textbooks_359935.html
4- http://www.hrantdink.org/?Detail=933&Lang=&Home&Lang=en

Iştar Gözaydın, Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide

June 25, 2015 By administrator

By: Hambersom Aghbashian

Iştar Gözaydın, Turkish Intellectuals

Iştar Gözaydın (born April 5, 1959) is a well-known professor of law and politics. She is currently teaching at Gediz University, Izmir, Turkey. Gözaydın has studied at the Georgetown University International Law Institute and New York University School of Law (MCJ: Master of Comparative Jurisprudence), and holds an LLD* degree from the Istanbul University. Professor Gözaydın focuses on the relations between religion and state with reference to modern Turkey, although her research interests also include human rights with special focus on religious discrimination, social theory, nationalism, and modernization discourses.(1) She also produces and presents radio programs in Istanbul since 1995. She produced and performed “Our Rights” radio show aired at Açik Radyo – Istanbul from November 1995 to May 1998, and “Music in Space and Time”, November 1999 to April 2003; also was a Co-producer and co-performer of “Men, Women and Rock’n’Roll” from May 1996 to November 1998. Since April 2003, she is the producer and performer of the weekly radio show titled “Sound in Space and Time” focusing on Johann Sebastian Bach. (2) Professor Gözaydın has also many published books and articles.
On December 19, 2012, Hurriyet Daily News wrote ” The Danish Royal Library has, together with the Armenian embassy, held an exhibition on “The Armenian genocide and the Scandinavian reaction” though due to protests from the Turkish embassy, the library’s director, Erland Kolding Nielsen, has agreed to hold an alternative exhibition titled, “The so-called Armenian genocide.” This decision has caused widespread debate and 37 Turkish intellectuals, including Taner Akçam, Cengiz Aktar, Murat Belge, Baskın Oran İpek Çalışlar and Oral Çalışlar, have in an open letter in Denmark’s leading daily Berlingske called on the library’s director to reconsider his decision. In their view, the Turkish government has followed a policy of denial for more than 90 years, culminating in the murder of Hrant Dink in 2007. To allow the Turkish government to arrange an alternative exhibition will only support this policy. The letter was headlined “Don’t Stand Before Turkey’s Democratization and Confrontation with its History!”. Professor Iştar Gözaydın was one of the signees.(3)
On September 26, 2014, Today’s Zaman wrote “A group of academics, journalists, artists and intellectuals have released a statement condemning in the harshest terms what they define as expressions that include ‘open hatred and hostility’ towards Armenians in Turkish schoolbooks, which were recently exposed by the newspapers Agos and Taraf. A letter accompanying the text of the condemnation, written by historian Taner Akçam, notes that including such expressions as lesson material to teach children is a disgrace. The statement said ‘The revolutions history and history textbooks should be collected immediately, with an apology issued to everyone and particularly to Armenian students. The signees said textbooks in schools should seek to encourage feelings of peace, solidarity and living together over inciting hatred towards different religious and cultural groups. Professor Iştar Gözaydın was one of the many most respected Turkish writers, journalists and intellectuals who signed it.(4)
On April 27, 2015, before the Constitutional Court of Turkey, a potentially groundbreaking lawsuit has been filed by the Catholicosate of Cilicia who is seeking the return of its ancient religious center in Kozan (historical Armenian Sis) in southeast Turkey. The Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia dates back to 1293. Turkey’s Ottoman rulers seized the Catholicosate’s property in 1915, and as a result of that it has been headquartered in Antelias, Lebanon. It is, along with Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Armenia, one of the two centers of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the world’s first national Christian institution. Professor Iştar Gozaydin has been a legal consultant to the Catholicosate on the case.(5)
———————————————————————————————————————
Thanks to Prof. Iştar Gözaydın for reviewing and enhancing this article (H.A.).
*LLD: Legum Doctor (Doctor of Laws in English) is a doctorate-level academic degree in law, or an honorary doctorate, depending on the jurisdiction. The double L in the abbreviation refers to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both Canon Law and Civil Law, the double L indicating the plural, Doctor of both laws.
1- http://ceftus.org/2013/07/19/professor-istar-gozaydin/#.VLqnVC6Al20
2- http://istargozaydin.com/
3- http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/a-controversial genocide. aspx?pageID =238&nID =37144&News CatID
4-http://www.todayszaman.com/national_group-of-intellectuals-condemn-anti-armenian-statements-in-textbooks_359935.html
5- http://www.armenianorthodoxchurch.org/en/archives/12279

Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide Delik Kurban

February 5, 2015 By administrator

By: Hambersom Aghbashian

Dr. Delik Kurban received her bachelor’s degree in political science and international relations from Bogazici University, Istanbul. She received her master’s in international affairs in human rights from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and her Jurist Doctor degree from Columbia Law School. Between 1999 and 2001, she worked as an associate political affairs officer at the Security Council Affairs Division of the UN Dept. of Political Affairs in NY. Currently, she is the program officer for the (TESEV)*, and an adjunct professor of law at the Political Science Department of Bogazici University. She is an editor for Agos, a Turkish-Armenian bilingual weekly and a founding member of the Diyarbakir Institute for Political and Social Research. She has published in the areas of minority and human rights in Turkey, international displacement in Turkey, and on European minority and human rights law.(1)

According to “aghet1915.wordpress.com”, Dilek Kurban is one of the Turkish intellectuals who have recognized the Armenian genocide.(2)

Dilek Kurban was criticized by ” www.tallarmeniantale.com” an Anti-Genocide recognition source, which categorized her as one of the most prominent turncoats, because of her recognition of the Armenian Genocide.(3)

Talia Jebejian wrote on April 25, 2001, “Approximately 140 people, primarily of Armenian and Turkish descent, gathered to participate in A Psycho-spiritual and Educational Dialogue Between People of Armenian and Turkish Descent, sponsored by the Armenian American Society for Studies on Stress and Genocide (AASSSG) and co-sponsored by the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) NY Chapter, The World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) and Fordham University. This open dialogue was held in commemoration of the 86th Anniversary of the Ottoman Turkish Genocide of the Armenians and was met with overwhelming success. Rational and intellectual dialogue was presented and exchanged between the panelists and audience members, resulting in a positive step toward reconciliation between Turkish citizens and Armenians.” She added a list of The facilitators of the program and The panelists participating in it. Dilek Kurban was mentioned as one of the participants.(4)

“hakikatadalethafiza.org.”, wrote under “Background, Situation Analysis”: Turkey and its historic and legal predecessors have a longstanding track record of human rights violations…, Just in the last 100 years, widespread violations were committed in several different periods… The most notable ones were the Armenian genocide of 1915. An estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed or deported from the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and1917. The Republic of Turkey, even though it is a legal successor of the Ottoman Empire, never acknowledged the campaign of persecution of Armenians as genocide. In Dilek Kurban’s book “Reparations and Displacement in Turkey, Lessons Learned from the Compensation Law, Int. Center for Transitional Justice and LSE – Brookings, July 2012 “, it is stated that “Although it can be noted that countries that have the responsibility for massive abuses effectively take on a huge financial and administrative burden by a formal recognition, this cannot be used as an argument to avoid such responsibility.”(5)

Under the title “JUDICIARY AND STATE BEHIND ALIENATION OF NON-MUSLIMS”, Today’s Zaman wrote on March 16 2009 , “Turkey’s non-Muslim communities have been alienated, and it was done by the state and judiciary, said the writers of a new report revealing the facts behind the real estate ownership problems of non-Muslim foundations dating from the Ottoman period.” Zaman quoted Kezban Hatemi, the co-author of the report, titled “The Story of an Alien(ation): Real Estate Ownership Problems of Non-Muslim Foundations and Communities in Turkey,” saying “In the 1930s, it became evident that pushing or directly forcing the few non-Muslims left in Turkey to abandon the country was an explicit state policy,” the report was released as part of the (TESEV)*program. Dilek Kurban, co-author of the report, said that when Turkey became a candidate for European Union membership, it became evident that it was not possible to sustain this state policy toward non-Muslim communities. Kurban started filing lawsuits with the European Court of Human Rights after exhausting avenues within the Turkish legal system.”It was no longer easy for the bureaucracy to take over the assets of non-Muslim foundations, and the government was expected to take legal action to return or pay indemnity for seized assets,” Kurban said.(6)

——————————————————————————————————————— *TESEV : Democratization Program of the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation

1-http://www.archons.org/conference/bio-kurban.asp

2-http://aghet1915.wordpress.com/recognition/

3-http://www.tallarmeniantale.com/TURKISH-SCHOLARS.htm

4- www.atour.com/~aahgn/news/20010425aa.html

5-http://hakikatadalethafiza.org/sayfa.aspx?PageId=196&LngId=5

6-http://setasarmenian.blogspot.com/2009/03/turkeys-treatment-of-its-minorities.html

Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide Alper Görmüş

December 24, 2014 By administrator

By: Hambersom Aghbashian

Ahmet Alper Görmüş (born 21 November 1952) is a Turkish journalist and writer. He is a columnist for Taraf (since 2007) and for Yeni Aktüel. He was the editor-in-chief of the weekly Nokta (2006-7), and was previously a contributor to Aydınlık (1977 – 1980). Following the 1980 Turkish coup d’état Aydınlık was closed down and he worked outside journalism in a variety of roles . Görmüş resumed journalism at Nokta (1986 – 1990), and was then editor-in-chief of Yeni Aktüel (1991 – 1995). He received the Hrant Dink International Award* in 2009, with Amira Hass**. (1)

In December 2008, (200) 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 signatories also announced a website related to this apology, and called on others to visit the site and sign the apology as well. The complete, brief text of the apology says ” 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.” Alper Görmüş was one of the Turkish intellectual who signed the petition which in few days was signed by over 13,000 signatories.(2)

The Armenian genocide was commemorated for the first time in Turkey on April 24,2010, where Intellectuals gathered in Taksim Square to commemorate the killings of Armenians in 1915. A sit-down strike organized by the “Say No to Racism and Nationalism Initiative” in Taksim Square was attended by a group of public figures including Professor Ahmet Insel, columnists Ali Bayramoglu, Roni Marguiles, Alper Görmüş, Ferhat Kentel, Erol Katýrcýoglu , Ümit Kývanç and many others.(3)

www.panarmenian.net (April 20, 2011 ) quoted Turkish Zaman newspaper reporting that “Armenians who lost their lives in the Armenian displacement that took place in 1915, during the final days of the Ottoman Empire, will be commemorated through a variety of events for a second time this year. Commemoration ceremonies will be held in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, Ankara, Izmir, Diyarbakir and Bodrum. The ceremonies are being organized by the “Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism”. Spokesman Cengiz Algan said what took place in 1915 is “a hurt we all share”, and added “We need to confront the realities that have been hidden by the official ideology for 100 years”. A statement with the headline, “This pain is ours,” has been opened up for signatures. More than 100 people including intellectuals, writers and journalists, among them Alper Görmüş signed the statement. “(4)

According to www.noravank.am , July 11,2013, and under the title (Turkey on the threshold of 2015) , it was mentioned that “The representative of the Turkish intelligentsia who writes critical articles for “Taraf” newspaper , Alper Germus, expressed an opinion in connection with assaults against the Armenians in Samatia district of Istanbul saying that the assaults against the Armenians were direct in consequence of “anti-missionary” movement which had been initiated in early 2000s in Turkey, which could be considered as purposeful actions directed to the intimidation of the Armenians on the threshold of 2015. (5)

——————————————————————————————————————–

* The International Hrant Dink Award is presented by the HDV every year on Sept. 15, Dink’s birthday. The foundation states on its website: “The award will be presented to people who work for a world free of discrimination, racism, and violence, take personal risks for their ideals, use the language of peace and by doing so, inspire and encourage others. With this award, the Foundation aims to remind to all those who struggle for these ideals that their voices are heard, their works are visible and that they are not alone, and also to encourage everyone to fight for their ideals.”Each year, the award committee selects one recipient from Turkey and one from abroad.

**Amira Hass is an Israeli left-wing journalist and author, mostly known for her columns in the daily newspaper Ha’aretz

1- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alper_G%C3%B6rm%C3%BC%C5%9F

2-http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=200_prominent_Turks_apologize_for_great_catastrophe_

3- http://www.network54.com/Forum/248068/thread/1272245708/Armenian+genocide+

4- http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/world/news/67693/

5- http://www.noravank.am/eng/articles/detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=12258

Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide Ümit Kurt

December 12, 2014 By administrator

By: Hambersom Aghbashian

Ümit Kurt (born 1984, Gaziantep- Turkey) is a Turkish scholar and a Ph.D. candidate in Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University and a lecturer at Sabanci University (summer courses). His Ph.D. research topic is “The Emergence of a New Wealthy Class between 1915- 1921: The Seizure of Armenian Property by the Local Elites in Aintab” (supervisor Prof. Taner Akcam). He MA degree is from Sabancı University’s department of European studies (2007), topic “Turkey-EU Relations from the Security Perspective: Two Level Analysis” and is B. Sc. degree is in political science and public administration from Middle East Technical University (2006). He was also a “Research Fellow and Erasmus Student” at University of Keele- UK (2005-2006). Umit Kurt is a young scholar with diverse interest in many fields, Political Science, History, European Studies, Turkey-EU relations, Media and Society and others. Turkish is his mother tongue, he is also fluent in English, advanced in Ottoman Turkish version and Armenian, and has a basic German. He is a member of editorial boards of “Turkish Review”, ” European Journal of Economic and Political Studies”, ” Turkish Journal of Politics”, also member of “Sarajevo International and Comparative Law Review”, and ” Türk Eğitim Gönüllüleri Vakfı”. He held many teaching positions, researcher and assistant researcher positions. (1)

Ümit Kurt is the author of several books, including “Türk’ün Büyük Biçare Irk’ı”, “The lost of Turkey’s Great Race.” and Kanunların Ruhu: Emval-i Metruke Kanunlarında Soykırımın İzlerini Aramak (The Spirit of Laws: Seeking the Traces of Armenian Genocide in the Laws of Abandoned Property, 2012) with Taner Akçam. His main area of interest is the confiscation of Armenian properties and the role of local elites/notables in Aintab during the genocide. In an interview with Varak Ketsemanian “The Armenian Weekly-Sept. 23, 2013”, Umit Kurt tackled how the physical annihilation of the Armenians paralleled the confiscation and appropriation of their properties in 1915. “By citing the various laws and decrees that orchestrated the confiscation process, Kurt places our understanding of the genocide within a legal context.”According to Umit Kurt ” A series of laws and decrees, known as the Abandoned Properties Laws (Emval-i Metruke Kanunları), were issued in the Ottoman and Turkish Republican periods concerning the administration of the belongings left behind by the Ottoman Armenians who were deported in 1915. Most of the Armenians properties were distributed to Muslim refugees from the Balkans and Caucasia at that time. Central and local politicians and bureaucrats of the Union and Progress Party also made use of Armenian properties. (2)

The Armenian Studies Program at California State University – Fresno, organized a lecture by Umit Kurt titled ” The emergence of the new wealthy class between 1915-1922: The seizure of the Armenian property by local elites in Aintab,” which revealed the fact that process of genocide and deportation directed at Aintab Armenians was in fact put into practice by local notables and provincial elites. The lecture took place on Sept.17, 2013 and was organized by the Armenian Student Organization.(3)

The “Society for the Armenian Studies ” (SAS), celebrated its 40th Anniversary by organizing a conference titled ” Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th-20th Centuries”. The conference took place on Nov. 21-22, 2014 at Marriott Wardman Park Hotel– Washington, DC. Ümit Kurt (Clark University- MS) was one of the participants. He presented “The Emergence of the New Wealthy Class between 1915-1921: The Seizure of Armenian Property by the Local Elites in Aintab.”(4)

Glendale News-Press, April 25, 2013, mentioned that “For the first time, Umit Kurt, a Turkish scholar at Clark University, addressed a crowd of more than 1,400 people at the city’s annual event to commemorate the genocide of about 1.5 million people in 1915 by Ottoman Turks, a tragedy still denied by modern-day Turkey 98 years later.” As he discussed how the Ottoman Empire deported Armenians before the genocide began and sold their property, Umit Kurt said “The principle was not to give the Armenians even a single inch,”. Councilman Ara Najarian said this year a Turkish scholar was invited “to showcase a trend towards enlightenment by Turkish academics.”(5)

In his lecture at Ararat Eskijian Museum on Sept.15,2013, Umit Kurt “focused on the importance of acquiring Armenian wealth and material possessions to the local Kurds and Turks in Aintab before and during the Armenian Genocide of 1915.” Kurt described a “link between the role of stolen Armenian assets in the integration and stabilization of Turkification, which makes confiscation of Armenian properties a social process”. “The fate of the Armenians was not only linked to the Committee of Union and Progress party (CUP) orders, but behavior of the local elites.” According to Asbarez.com, in the last minutes, Umit Kurt spoke words that made everyone smile. He said, “I don’t work for Armenian people; I work for my own people to reckon their own historical wrongdoings.” (6)

Umit Kurt visited Armenia and was interviewed by Civilnet on May 28,2014. During the TV interview he mentioned that the Armenian National Archives are open for researchers and he could reach to the documents easily, while in Turkey it is not so easy and lot of Armenian confiscated properties archives are disappeared. He mentioned also that an Antab Armenian living in CA-USA has documents of his grandmother’s lost properties which are worth of $50 million today, confiscated and are transferred to Turks. And about making a shift in opinions, he mentioned that the deportation process execution in Marash, in Adana in Dikranagert, in Vaspouragan should be explained ,so that the people become aware of it, although they already know it, and that will make a shift in their position. (7)

Umit Kurt has many new books which will be published, Also he translated two Armenian books into Turkish, and he is currently translating Kevork Sarafian’s “Badmutyun Aintabi Hayots”, Vol. 1. He has numerous articles in English and Turkish, and participated in many conferences.(1). His research focuses on Aintab Armenians and the confiscation and appropriation of Armenian properties during 1915-1921, and we hope this will be continued with researches on Armenians all over other cities in Turkey and we will have a trustful complete study about Armenian’s lost properties in Turkey.

———————————————————————————————————————

1- Comm. with Umit Kurd. Copy of CV received from him on Nov. 29, 2014, upon request.(H.A.)

2- http://armenianweekly.com/2013/09/23/the-confiscation-of-armenian-properties-an-interview-with-umit-kurt/

3http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CE4QFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fresnostate.edu

4-http://societyforarmenianstudies.com/2014/10/14/sas-40th-anniversary-conference-armenians-in-the-ottoman-empire-in-the-19th-20th-centuries/

5- http://articles.glendalenewspress.com/2013-04-25/news/tn-gnp-0425-turkish-scholar-talks-policy-at-glendales-armenian-genocide-event_1_genocide-armenians-turkish-scholar

6- (Asparez.com-Sept. 20, 2013).

7- http://civilnet.am/2014/05/28/confiscation-expropriation-liquidation-armenian-properties-umit-kurt/#.VHbl-MnUiqk