EU Conference Calls on Turkey to Recognize its Christian Holocaust
April 5, 2007
HNASabri Atman agreed that the current Turkish position regarding the genocide and the silence by the EU countries is ethically unacceptable. "33% of the [Turkish] population was Christian. Today in Turkey, the total number of Christian people only amounts to 0.1% of the population. What happened to these people? What happened to the Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks? Where are they? Where did they disappear to?" he asked.
Brussels - A conference related to what has been often called as the Christian Holocaust, that is the destruction and genocide of Christian Assyrians, Greeks and Armenians, was held early last week in the European Parliament in Brussels.
The event was hosted by the European parliamentary groups of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left, and the Seyfo Center, an Assyrian institution working on increasing wider public awareness of the genocide of the Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks by Turkey.
The genocide took place in the years between the end of the Ottoman empire and the creation of the Turkish state by Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Ataturk). It has been estimated that at least 3.5 million Christians were slaughtered and another 2 million were forced to exile.
The panel speakers included MEP Eva-Britt Svensson of the GUE/NGL, Sabri Atman, Director of the Seyfo Center, Prof. Dr. David Gaunt, Sodertorns University College, Sweden, MEP Markus Ferber of the EVP-ED, and Dr. Willy Fautre, Director Human Rights Without Frontiers, a major human rights NGO. The panel was chaired by Ms. Nicme Seven of the Assyrian Youth Federation.
MEP Svensson called for Turkey's membership in the EU, but not without first complying with the Copenhagen criteria regarding the genocide as well as the "unrestricted opening of Ottoman archives for the world to see." Svensson further stated that "in a democratic environment, such issues should be discussed openly and not suppressed. Turkey should not be an exception."
Sabri Atman agreed that the current Turkish position regarding the genocide and the silence by the EU countries is ethically unacceptable. "33% of the [Turkish] population was Christian. Today in Turkey, the total number of Christian people only amounts to 0.1% of the population. What happened to these people? What happened to the Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks? Where are they? Where did they disappear to?" he asked.
Atman also addressed some of the counter arguments offered by some Turkish politicians that "Armenian organizations were fighting against the Turkish authority for independence and for that reason hundreds of thousands of Armenians lost their lives. This is just complete fabrication. How about the Assyrians, which Assyrian organization was fighting for independence? "
Prof. Gaunt provided an answer to Mr. Atman's questions by stating that "evidence shows that Assyrians did not have any armed offensive measures". Gaunt also provided a historical overview of the genocide and how it expanded past the Ottoman areas and well into Persia. He also completed a book on the Assyrian genocide.
Dr. Willy Fautre, focused on the specific Assyrian experience during the genocide and the current activities of Turkish groups in Brussels, the capital of Belgium and the European Union. On the Assyrian experience, Fautre stressed that "based on the formal definition of Genocide, the widespread persecution of the Assyrian civilians indeed constituted a form of Genocide. Up to now the international community has been hesitant in recognizing the Assyrian experience as a form of genocide. However, the Assyrian Genocide is indistinguishable, in form, from its Armenian counterpart."
Fautre also provided numerous accounts of blatant interference and activities by Turkish groups in Belgium to suppress any talks and actions that shed light on the genocide perpetrated by Turkey. He called on the Belgian government to take action by recognizing the genocide unambiguously as well as have their government members do so and by screening their candidates regarding the genocide and to swear the allegiance to the Belgian state.
MEP Markus Ferber stressed that the evidence, he has seen, shows that over 3 million people (Assyrians, Greeks and Armenians) were victims of genocide by Turkey and that his party will only support membership if Turkey faces its past and addresses it. Ferber went even further and opposed a full membership of Turkey, offering insted the status of "privileged partner."
Finally, Ms. Nicme Seven explained that the conference was held at this specific week when Turkey's chief EU negotiator Ali Babacan is to travel to Brussels to attend the intergovernmental conference for the restart of membership talks with Turkey.
EU accession negotiations with Turkey have been at a standstill for almost a year for reasons related to the Cyprus problem, Turkish obligations towards EU and Cyprus and the European public's profound opposition to the EU membership of Turkey, a Muslim country.
The European Parliament conference hall was filled over capacity by mostly Assyrian family members of genocide victims and survivors who traveled from various European countries and even the USA.
The conference was concluded by the signing of a joint press statement by the panel speakers, in which it was stressed among others that Turkey must come to terms with the genocide of its Christian minorities before obtaining EU membership.
The governments of various EU member-states, among which France and Greece, have also stressed the necessity for Turkey to acknowledge the genocides of Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians before eventually acceding to the European Union.
From AINA and other sources
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
HNA
Sabri Atman agreed that the current Turkish position regarding the genocide and the silence by the EU countries is ethically unacceptable. "33% of the [Turkish] population was Christian. Today in Turkey, the total number of Christian people only amounts to 0.1% of the population. What happened to these people? What happened to the Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks? Where are they? Where did they disappear to?" he asked.
Atman also addressed some of the counter arguments offered by some Turkish politicians that "Armenian organizations were fighting against the Turkish authority for independence and for that reason hundreds of thousands of Armenians lost their lives. This is just complete fabrication. How about the Assyrians, which Assyrian organization was fighting for independence? "
Brussels - A conference related to what has been often called as the Christian Holocaust, that is the destruction and genocide of Christian Assyrians, Greeks and Armenians, was held early last week in the European Parliament in Brussels.The event was hosted by the European parliamentary groups of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left, and the Seyfo Center, an Assyrian institution working on increasing wider public awareness of the genocide of the Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks by Turkey.
The genocide took place in the years between the end of the Ottoman empire and the creation of the Turkish state by Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Ataturk). It has been estimated that at least 3.5 million Christians were slaughtered and another 2 million were forced to exile.
The panel speakers included MEP Eva-Britt Svensson of the GUE/NGL, Sabri Atman, Director of the Seyfo Center, Prof. Dr. David Gaunt, Sodertorns University College, Sweden, MEP Markus Ferber of the EVP-ED, and Dr. Willy Fautre, Director Human Rights Without Frontiers, a major human rights NGO. The panel was chaired by Ms. Nicme Seven of the Assyrian Youth Federation.
MEP Svensson called for Turkey's membership in the EU, but not without first complying with the Copenhagen criteria regarding the genocide as well as the "unrestricted opening of Ottoman archives for the world to see." Svensson further stated that "in a democratic environment, such issues should be discussed openly and not suppressed. Turkey should not be an exception."
Sabri Atman agreed that the current Turkish position regarding the genocide and the silence by the EU countries is ethically unacceptable. "33% of the [Turkish] population was Christian. Today in Turkey, the total number of Christian people only amounts to 0.1% of the population. What happened to these people? What happened to the Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks? Where are they? Where did they disappear to?" he asked.
Atman also addressed some of the counter arguments offered by some Turkish politicians that "Armenian organizations were fighting against the Turkish authority for independence and for that reason hundreds of thousands of Armenians lost their lives. This is just complete fabrication. How about the Assyrians, which Assyrian organization was fighting for independence? "
Prof. Gaunt provided an answer to Mr. Atman's questions by stating that "evidence shows that Assyrians did not have any armed offensive measures". Gaunt also provided a historical overview of the genocide and how it expanded past the Ottoman areas and well into Persia. He also completed a book on the Assyrian genocide.
Dr. Willy Fautre, focused on the specific Assyrian experience during the genocide and the current activities of Turkish groups in Brussels, the capital of Belgium and the European Union. On the Assyrian experience, Fautre stressed that "based on the formal definition of Genocide, the widespread persecution of the Assyrian civilians indeed constituted a form of Genocide. Up to now the international community has been hesitant in recognizing the Assyrian experience as a form of genocide. However, the Assyrian Genocide is indistinguishable, in form, from its Armenian counterpart."
Fautre also provided numerous accounts of blatant interference and activities by Turkish groups in Belgium to suppress any talks and actions that shed light on the genocide perpetrated by Turkey. He called on the Belgian government to take action by recognizing the genocide unambiguously as well as have their government members do so and by screening their candidates regarding the genocide and to swear the allegiance to the Belgian state.
MEP Markus Ferber stressed that the evidence, he has seen, shows that over 3 million people (Assyrians, Greeks and Armenians) were victims of genocide by Turkey and that his party will only support membership if Turkey faces its past and addresses it. Ferber went even further and opposed a full membership of Turkey, offering insted the status of "privileged partner."
Finally, Ms. Nicme Seven explained that the conference was held at this specific week when Turkey's chief EU negotiator Ali Babacan is to travel to Brussels to attend the intergovernmental conference for the restart of membership talks with Turkey.
EU accession negotiations with Turkey have been at a standstill for almost a year for reasons related to the Cyprus problem, Turkish obligations towards EU and Cyprus and the European public's profound opposition to the EU membership of Turkey, a Muslim country.
The European Parliament conference hall was filled over capacity by mostly Assyrian family members of genocide victims and survivors who traveled from various European countries and even the USA.
The conference was concluded by the signing of a joint press statement by the panel speakers, in which it was stressed among others that Turkey must come to terms with the genocide of its Christian minorities before obtaining EU membership.
The governments of various EU member-states, among which France and Greece, have also stressed the necessity for Turkey to acknowledge the genocides of Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians before eventually acceding to the European Union.
From AINA and other sources
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 9:55 AM
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