Armenian Orthodox leader urges world to recognize WWI-era killings as genocide

May 7, 2008
Jerusalem Post
Source: AP

The head of Armenia's Orthodox Church took part in Pope Benedict XVI's public audience on Wednesday and urged all countries to recognize that Turks committed genocide against Armenians early last century.

Karekin II sat at Benedict's side during the traditional weekly audience in St. Peter's Square - part of a visit to the Vatican that is the latest high-level contact between Catholic and Orthodox leaders.

Addressing a crowd of faithful assembled in the square, Karekin appealed "to all nations and lands to universally condemn all genocides that have occurred throughout history."

"Denial of these crimes is an injustice that equals the commission of the same," he said. "Many countries of the world recognize and condemn the genocide committed against the Armenian people by Ottoman Turkey."


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KENTUCKY BECOMES 41st STATE TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Armenian National Committee of America
Eastern Region
122 W 27th St, Ste 412, New York, NY 10001
Tel. (917) 428-1918 * Email. ancaer@anca.org

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release ~ 2008-05-01
Contact: Karine Birazian ~

KENTUCKY BECOMES 41st STATE TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

FRANKFORT, KY - The Armenian National Committee of America- Eastern Region (ANCA-ER) welcomed today a proclamation issued by Kentucky Governor Steven L. Beshear recognizing the Armenian Genocide. The "Bluegrass State" proclamation brings the number of states to formally recognize the Armenian Genocide to forty-one. The full text of the Kentucky proclamation is provided below.

The powerfully worded proclamation designated April 24, 2008, as "Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide" in the state of Kentucky, noting that "recognition of the ninety-third anniversary of this genocide is paramount to guarding against the repetition of future genocides and educating people across the Commonwealth about the atrocities of these horrific events."

"Gov. Beshear's proclamation reflects the growing sentiments of U.S. government officials to speak with moral clarity on the Armenian Genocide," stated ANCA Eastern Region Director Karine Birazian. "The burgeoning Kentucky Armenian community's initiative serves as an inspiration to Armenian American activists across the U.S. to redouble efforts to end Turkey's gag rule on U.S. affirmation of this crime against humanity."

The Armenian National Committee of America is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the United States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.


#####



TEXT OF KENTUCKY PROCLAMATION MARKING THE 93RD ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE


Proclamation

By Steven L. Beshear
Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky

To All To Whom These Presents Shall Come:

WHEREAS, One and one-half-million Christian Armenian men, women and children were the innocent victims of a brutal genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Turkish Government from 1915-1923; and

WHEREAS, The Armenian genocide has been recognized as an attempt to eliminate all traces of a thriving, ancient civilization over 3,000 years old; and

WHEREAS, Recognition of the ninety-third anniversary of this genocide is paramount to guarding against the repetition of future genocides and educating people across the Commonwealth about the atrocities of these horrific events; and

WHEREAS, Armenian-Americans living in Kentucky have greatly enriched our state through their leadership in various aspects of society;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, STEVEN L. BESHEAR, Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, do hereby proclaim April 24, 2008, as

DAY OF REMEMBRANCE OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE in Kentucky.

DONE AT THE CAPITOL, in the City of Frankfort this 28th day of April, in the year of our Lord Two Thousand Eight and in the 216th year of the Commonwealth.

STEVEN L. BESHEAR
GOVERNOR



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RECOGNIZING THE GENOCIDE

19 April 2008
Frontier Times, Bulgaria

Another Bulgarian city adopted a declaration recognizing Turkish genocide over Armenians and Bulgarians.

April 17, in Rousse, the Municipal Council approved with 36 in favour, 3 against and 6 abstained a special declaration wherein the town's governors recognize the genocide over Armenians and Bulgarians carried out by the Turkish state and army. Between 1903 and 1913, tens of thousands of Bulgarians were slaughtered by the Turkish in the territories that remained out of the Bulgarian state, and between 1915 and 1918 of over 1.5 MILLION Armenians, having before that, in 1895/6 butchered between 100,000 and 200,000 Armenians.

Besides the recognition of these acts of extreme violence in the beginning of 20th century, the declaration calls for "the Republic of Turkey assuming the responsibility and offer its apologies for the five centuries of enslaving of Bulgarians, for the crimes committed and mass murders perpetrated of all Bulgarians who, under the force of the Berlin Treaty (of 1878), remained within the boundaries of Turkey and to pay indemnities to the heirs of the refugees for their suffering and for the robbing of their properties and possessions that were left on its (Turkey's) territory."

This declaration will be presented to the embassy of the Republic of Armenia in Sofia and also delivered to the Human Rights Commission in the EU Parliament. The declaration was initiated by ATAKA and VMRO representatives and was earlier adopted in the city of Bourgas. Meanwhile, the Turkish consul from Bourgas was reported to have arrived in Rousse and attempted in discussions with the mayor to prevent the adoption of such a declaration. After Bourgas approved the declaration, the Turkish city of Edirne, in a harsh reaction to this, terminated all common projects, and severed all connections between the two cities.

Bulgaria was enslaved by the Turkish between 1396 and 1878. In the first century of slavery alone, the Bulgarian population was diminished from about 2,000,000 to just over 200,000. Mass slaughter was carried over Bulgarians most regularly, with some of the most brutal taking place in 1876 as the April Uprising was crushed, leaving some hundred thousand, including women and children, dead. The modern Turkish state has continually refused to recognize the terror performed over other peoples in its earlier history and has demonstrated especially harsh attitude to the Armenian genocide question.

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.

Knesset panel to consider recognition of Armenian genocide

26/03/2008
Haaretz
By Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondent

The Knesset decided Wednesday that a parliamentary committee will hold an unprecedented hearing on whether to recognize the World War I-era mass murder of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as a genocide.

The decision to hold a hearing, which was proposed by Meretz Chairman Haim Oron, was approved by a 12-MK margin. The government did not oppose the motion.

The Knesset House Committee will decide whether the issue will be handed over to the Knesset Education Committee, as Oron wants, or to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, as requested by Yisrael Beiteinu MK Yosef Shagal. The latter generally holds hearings behind closed doors.

Oron wants the committee to recognize the Armenian genocide, pointing out that similar recognition has been afforded recently by the French parliament and the United States Congress. "It is appropriate that the Israeli Knesset, which represents the Jewish people, recognize the Armenian genocide," said Oron. "It is unacceptable that the Jewish people is not making itself heard."

The Meretz MK added that he raises the proposal every year ahead of Armenian Genocide Day, which falls on April 24.

Minister Shalom Simhon, who represented the government in the Knesset debate, did not object to sending the issue to committee. Simhon said the Jewish people have a special sensitivity to the issue and a moral obligation to remember tragic episodes in human history, including the mass murder of the Armenians.

Nonetheless, Simhon added that, "in the course of time this has become a politically charged issue between Armenians and Turks ? and Israel is not interested in taking a side."

Shagal warned that recognizing the killings as a genocide could have repercussions for Israel's diplomatic relations with Turkey, as well as the fate of tens of thousands of Jews who live in Azerbaijan.

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.

Turkey Blocks EU Funds over Bulgaria's Burgas Recognition of Armenian Genocide

10 March 2008, Monday
Sofia News Agency, Bulgaria

Turkey's government declined to sign a EU-funded cooperation agreement with Bulgaria because of the decision of the city council in the Black Sea city of Burgas to recognize the genocide of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1922.

The funds blocked by Turkey under the PHARE Trans-border Cooperation Program amount to EUR 32 M, the Bulgarian private TV channel BTV reported. EUR 12 M of these are for the 2007-2009 period.

The agreement was supposed to be signed on March 6 by the district governors of the Bulgarian Burgas District, and the Turkish Edirne District but the meeting was canceled by the Turkish side.

"It is not within the authority of the Burgas City Council to take decisions on political matters, especially with regard to this issue as there is no consensus between Turkey and Armenia over it, and the interference by a third party will not be of any help", declared Turkey's General Consul in the city of Burgas on Sunday, March 9.

The Burgas Mayor Dimitar Nikolov also received Saturday a letter from the Edirne District Governor regarding Burgas City Council's decision to recognize the Armenian genocide stating: "This decision is offensive and we denounce it. Until it is canceled we will discontinue all social, cultural, and economic contracts with your district."

Mayor Nikolov, who is from the Sofia Mayor Boyko Borisov's GERB party, expressed his surprise over Turkey's sharp reaction. He said the City Council was going to discuss the matter during its next session.

The Burgas City Council is dominated by members of the extreme right Ataka Party, and of the GERB party. On February 28 it voted to recognize the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, and declared April 24 Day of Remembrance.

Last week members of the rightist Democrats for Strong Bulgaria party of the former PM Ivan Kostov tabled a proposal for recognizing the Armenian Genocide to the city council in Bulgaria's capital Sofia.

Bulgaria's parliament has rejected similar motions by the rightist opposition several times, allegedly because of the ethnic Turkish part Movement for Rights and Freedoms, which is a junior partner in the governing three-way coalition.

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.

'Turkish taboos' and freedom of expression

Saturday, March 8, 2008
Turkish Daily News
Robert ELLIS

A fortnight ago the Danish section of PEN, the worldwide association of writers, held a panel discussion in Copenhagen on Turkish taboos, freedom of expression and media freedom in Turkey. There was general agreement among the four Turkish panelists, a journalist, a novelist, a poet and the president of Turkish PEN, that the four main taboos were the Armenian genocide claims, the Kurdish question, the military and Atatürk.Two of the panelists pointed out that these taboos are characteristic of Kemalist orthodoxy, but that the advent of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government was accompanied by a freer discussion of these issues. Prime Minister Erdoğan's landmark speech in Diyarbakır in 2005, when he became the first Turkish leader openly to admit there was a Kurdish problem, was also mentioned.

The Armenian issue:

Nevertheless, the first taboo, that surrounding the Armenian "genocide," still remains on both sides of the political divide. For example, three years ago in a party address Tayyip Erdoğan said, “Turkey has never committed genocide throughout its history,” and two weeks ago he added, “the character of this nation does not let it commit such crimes.”Therefore, Orhan Pamuk must have behaved like a bull in a china shop when he claimed in an interview with the Swiss daily Tages-Anzeiger three years ago, “30,000 Kurds and 1 million Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody but me dares to talk about it.” The official Turkish reaction was not long in coming, as Pamuk was prosecuted according to Article 301 of the Penal Code for “the public denigration of Turkishness,” but the charge was dropped on a technicality.The recent arrest of the ultra-nationalist Ergenekon gang revealed their plan to assassinate Pamuk and linked them to the murder of the Turkish-Armenian publisher Hrant Dink and the three Christians in Malatya. Indeed, these murders, as well as that of Father Andrea Santoro in Trabzon, can be linked to the virulent strain of ethnic nationalism that arose 100 years earlier during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid from 1876 until 1909.

That period was characterized by extensive massacres of Armenians from 1894-96 and again in 1909. As historian Donald Bloxham said in “The Great Game of Genocide,” the perpetrators believed they were acting in accordance with the true interests of the state.This period was also characterized by a rise of Armenian nationalism and the founding of the two leading revolutionary groups, the Hunchaks and the Dashnaks, in 1887 and 1890. In 1913 the Committee of Union and Progress (“the Young Turks”) came to power through a coup d'état, but it was the outbreak of World War I the following year, and Turkey's alliance with Germany, that sealed the fate of the Armenian people.Turkey's defeat at the hands of the Russian army, aided by Armenian volunteer battalions, on the eastern front in January 1915 was widely blamed on the Armenians, but the turning point came with the Armenian uprising in Van in eastern Turkey on April 20 and the Allied landings at Gallipoli on April 25. On April 24 more than 200 prominent Armenians were arrested in Istanbul and sent to the interior, where most were later executed.On May 27, 1915 the Deportation Law (the tehcir law) was passed to provide for the deportation of the Armenian population for reasons of national security.

This is where the facts are hotly disputed, ranging from Ambassador Morgenthau's telegram to Secretary of State Lansing in July 1915, which spoke of “a campaign of race extermination…under a pretext of reprisal against rebellion,” to Professor Özay Mehmet from Carleton University in Canada, who recently claimed, “the Ottoman Armenians committed treason and were relocated out of the war zone.”So far 22 countries have officially recognized the tragic events of 1915-16 as "genocide" and Barack Obama has pledged recognition as a plank of his campaign.

However, the crux of the issue is not international recognition but that the topic is not open to free debate in Turkey.

'Stab in the back' :

On an academic level, scholars who organized a conference at Boğaziçi University in May 2005 on the Armenian question during the Ottoman Empire were accused by government spokesman, Minister of Justice Cemil Çiçek, of “stabbing the Turkish nation in the back.” The conference was postponed, but after an international outcry it reconvened at Bilgi University four months later.The main Turkish fear is that a discussion of the Armenian and Kurdish issues could once again lead to a partition of Turkey. This view was confirmed by a prominent member of the Armenian community in the United States, Harut Sasunian, who stated in December that the ultimate goal of the Armenians was recognition of their claims and getting amends and land from Turkey.As noted, the main obstacle to freedom of expression in Turkey is Article 301 of the Penal Code, which has resulted in the prosecution of a large number of authors, publishers and journalists. In yet another cosmetic change, the government plans to change the wording from “denigration of Turkishness” to “denigration of the Turkish nation,” which brings us back to square one. But as long as Turkish people are denied a full understanding of their past they will be unable to build a firm foundation for the future.

………….

The views expressed by commentator Robert Ellis are the author's own and reflect neither endorsement nor editorial policy of the Turkish Daily News. Mr. Ellis is a regular commentator on Turkish affairs in the Danish press (meltem@get2net.dk).


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Writer Demirer on Trial for "Armenian Genocide"

05-03-2008
Bıa news centre
Erol ÖNDEROĞLU

I salute all Turks who have shown heroism both during the Armenian genocide and up to now and into the future. For these are the ones who deserve to be honoured. It surpasses human comprehension why the present government sticks to honouring the likes of Talat, Enver and Jemal as their ancestors and NOT those Turks who risked and even gave their lives to save Armenians. Because of this the offer of the government for a historical panel on the Genocide sounds hollow, so does the restoration of the Holy Cross church at Aghtamar island to a museum with no cross on top. The world has eyes to see and ears to hear.

In protest at Hrant Dink's murder, writer Demirer had called on others to commit the same "crime" as Dink had done, i.e. to recognise the factuality of an "Armenian genocide." He is now facing a trial under Articles 301 and 216.

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.”

Trial under Articles 301 and 216
Around a year later, Demirer has been taken to court under Article 301 and 216 for “denigrating the Turkish Republic” and “inciting to hatred and hostility.” The case will be heard at the Ankara 2nd Penal Court tomorrow (6 March).

Temel Demirer and the Solidarity Initiative had said, “We owe something to those being tried for their thoughts and actions, those being obstructed, tortured, imprisoned and killed.”

In a previous statement Demirer said that he believed that there was a genocide carried out against the Armenians in the Ottoman period, that the state was then the “customs of the the Committee of Union of Process”, and that these customs had been continued up to cases like the Susurluk scandal (which revealed connections between the state and contract killings).

Calling on others to commit "crimes" in protest
The indictment prepared by Chief Public Prosecutor Levent Savas on 24 December 2007 is based on police reports and police recordings. According to the indictment, Demirer said the following at the protest meeting:

“We live in a country where murders and silencing the truth are partners. Hrant was murdered not only because he was Armenian but because he said expressed the reality that a genocide took place in this country. If the Turkish intellectuals do not commit 301 crimes under Article 301, then they will be guilty of Hrant’s murder, too."

"There is a genocide in our history, it is called the Armenian genocide. At the cost of his life, Hrant told us all about this reality. Those who do not commit a crime against the murderous state are part of the murder. Those who killed the Armenians yesterday are today attacking our Kurdish brothers and sisters. Those who want the brotherhood of peoples need to face up to this history. We have to commit crimes to avoid that what happened to the Armenians happens to the Kurds. I call on all of you to commit crimes. Yes, there was an Armenian genocide in this country."

The statement was signed by the following:

Fikret Başkaya, İsmail Beşikçi, Yüksel Akkaya, Mehmet Özer, Necmettin Salaz, Ahmet Telli, Ruşen Sümbüloğlu, Tayfun İşçi, Mahmut Konuk, İbrahim Akyol, Abdullah Aydın, Oktay Etiman, Sait Çetinoğlu, Halil İbrahim Vargün, Özgen Seçkin, Zişan Kürüm, Mete Kaan Kaynar, Hakkı Atıl, Mustafa Kahya, Anıl Aslan, Hüseyin Ontaş, Erol Bıyıklı, Cennet Bilek, Serpil Köksal, Selçuk Kozağaçlı, H. İbrahim Vargün, Evrim Kılıç, Yılmaz Erdoğan, Pınar Dursun, Samet Erdemir, Özer Akkuş, Özgür Doğan, Mehmet Toğan, Ramazan Gezgin, Metin Uzunöz, Onur Işık, Hüseyin Gevher, Ülkü Çevik, Hüseyin Güngör, Muzaffer Çelikkol, Rıza Karaman, Metin Ayhan, İrfan Kaygısız, Çağdaş Küpeli, Devrim Kahraman, Tülay Koçak, Ali Ersin Gür, Muharrem Demirkıran, Haldun Açıksözlü, Adil Okay, Confederation of Europe Workers from Turkey (ATIK) (EÖ/GG)

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Erdogan: There Is No Genocide In Our Culture And Civilization

2/9/2008
Turkish Press, MI

An article of faith by Erdogan. This is a racist statement. Does this mean that genocide is embedded in the German culture? I hope the Germans' ears have been perked up by this statement. It also shows the main problem in Turkey pathologically not being able to dissociate themselves from the genocidal regime of the Young Turks.

MUNICH - Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday there was no such thing like genocide in Turkish culture and civilization.
Erdogan replied to questions on several matters after his speech at the 44th Munich Conference on Security Policy in Germany.

In regard to Armenian allegations regarding the incidents of 1915, Erdogan said, "there is no such thing like genocide in our culture. We cannot accept it. We are ready to discuss the matter by the means of documents."

Replying to a question, he said, "we are holding talks with (Iraqi President Jalal) Talabani, because he is president. Our cross-border operation continues in a tripartite mechanism (USA, Turkey and Iraq)."

Upon questions on the Article 301 of Turkish Penal Code, Erdogan said, "we earlier made a legal arrangement on it, but it was not liked by the EU. We are preparing another one now. It will be ready soon."

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.

Formal Apologies Issued by Governments

Wednesday January 30, 2008
Guardian Unlimited, UK
By The Associated Press

How can one forgive and make up without the other side repenting? May be this other side wants to prolong the pain.

APOLOGIES:

- 1998: Canada apologizes to its native peoples for past acts of oppression, including decades of abuse at federally funded boarding schools whose goal was to sever Indian and Inuit youths from their culture and assimilate them in white society.

- 1992: South African President F.W. de Klerk apologizes for apartheid, marking the first time a white leader in the country expressed regret for the system of legalized segregation that allowed 5 million whites to dominate 30 million blacks.

- 1990: The Soviet Union apologizes for the murder of thousands of imprisoned Polish officers shot during World War II and buried in mass graves in the Katyn Forest.

- 1988: The U.S. Congress passes a law apologizing to Japanese-Americans for their internment during World War II and offering $20,000 payments to survivors.

- 1951: West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer acknowledges the suffering of the Jews in the Holocaust and the following year, Germany agrees to pay reparations to Israel. In 1990, the then East German Parliament issues an apology to Israel and all Jews and others who suffered.

NO APOLOGIES:

- The U.S. has never issued a formal apology for the African slave trade or paid reparations to slave descendants. In 2007, Virginia became the first state to apologize for its involvement, followed by Alabama, Maryland and North Carolina. No state has offered reparations.

- The U.S. has never apologized to American Indians for past actions, including forced relocation and broken treaties and promises. American Indians have received compensation for their lands over the years, but no formal apology.

- Armenia has repeatedly requested an apology from Turkey for the killings of what historians estimate was up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I. Turkey maintains the toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

- China has accused Japan of not fully atoning for its invasions and occupation of China in the 1930s and 1940s, including wartime atrocities like the Rape of Nanjing, in which Japanese troops massacred as many as 300,000 people while taking the Chinese city in 1937.

0THER:

- Although Japan issued a carefully worded apology in 1993 to the tens of thousands of women from neighboring countries forced to serve as sex slaves for its soldiers during World War II, parliament never formally approved it. Japan has rejected most compensation claims, saying they were settled by postwar treaties. A fund created in 1995 by the government but run independently has provided a way to compensate former sex slaves without making it official. Many women, however, have rejected the money.

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.

Turkey should improve freedom of speech

24.01.2008
PanARMENIAN.Net

"If Turkey ever wants to be part of Europe, it has to improve its record concerning freedom of religion and expression,” said leader of the Dutch Christian Democratic faction, Pieter van Geel. The Dutch Christian Democrats support Turkish membership of the European Union in principle.

In 2006 the Dutch parliament adopted a law recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Presently, the majority of parliamentarians call on the Turkish government to repeal article 301 which restricts freedom of speech.

! Reproduction in full or in part is prohibited without reference to «PanARMENIAN.Net».

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Denmark Refuses To Recognize Armenian Genocide

Jan 11, 2008
Armenialiberty.org, Armenia
AFP

Denmark does not officially recognize that Ottoman massacres of Armenians during World War I constitute genocide, Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said Thursday.

"In the government's opinion, this is a historical question that should be left up to the historians," Moeller wrote in a written parliamentary answer, indicating that Denmark would not follow the lead of some 20 other countries, including France, that have labeled the killings genocide.

Moeller's note came in response to a question from parliamentary member Morten Messerchmidt, of the far-right Danish People's Party, on whether "Denmark had officially recognized this genocide."

"It is unfortunate that the Danish government refuses to join other countries in recognizing this genocide," Messerschmidt told AFP. "It is as if they fear Turkey's reactions."

Copenhagen's decision "to not recognize this genocide shows that the government indirectly supports Turkey's cowardly refusal to take responsibility for its history the way the Germans did after World War II," he said.

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.

South American Coalition Condemns and Recognizes the Armenian Genocide

22 Nov 2007
HULIQ

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay--The parliament of a South American Coalition representing several countries of the continent, known as MERCOSUR Monday adopted a resolution recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of South America.

MERCOSUR, which is a trade organization representing Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay condemned the “Armenian Genocide, perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire, which took 1.5 million lives from 1915 to 1923.”

The MERCOSUR resolution also expressed its support for the Armenian Cause and called on all countries to recognize the Genocide.

The resolution was introduced by the representatives of Argentina and Uruguay, and after approval by the Human Rights Committee, was approved by the entire MERCOSUR parliament.

MERCOSU member states Argentina and Uruguay have already recognized the Genocide, followed this year by another South American nation, Chile.

The Armenian Genocide was carried out by the "Young Turk" government of the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1916 (with subsidiaries to 1922-23). One and a half million Armenians were killed, out of a total of two and a half million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

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.

Rattling the Cage: Jews of power, Jews of truth

Oct. 31, 2007
THE JERUSALEM POST
Larry Derfner

I thank the Jews of conscience who are on the side of Armenians fighting against the denial of the Armenian genocide. The world is a better place because of them because of the hope they inspire in humans. As to the rest who support the denial, let the suffering of the Armenians be a forewarning to you, since this denial is state sponsored and not carried out by individuals. As the Armenian Genocide presaged the Jewish Holocaust the state denial of the Armenian Genocide will presage the denial of the Jewish holocaust.

How long are Israel and its lobby in Washington going to go on living this ridiculous, transparent lie? How long are they going to hock the world about the Holocaust while acting as Turkey's number two accomplice, number one being the White House, in denying the Armenian genocide? Again, Congress has demonstrated it won't recognize that the Ottoman Empire, Turkey's predecessor, deliberately wiped out about 1.5 million Armenians in 1915-17. Again, the president of the United States has scared Congress off with a big assist from the Anti-Defamation League and other American Jewish "defense" organizations. (Historically, the American Jewish Committee has led the Israel lobby's effort to shut Congress up about the genocide and the Ottoman Empire's culpability.)

This time, the main reason given was American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Without Turkey's good will and cooperation, it was argued, the US would not be able to get weapons and equipment to its soldiers in battle. This is obviously a serious concern - but the White House, Israel and the Israel lobby have been hushing up the Armenian genocide for decades, when there were no American troops in Iraq or Afghanistan. This is not the real reason.

The real reason is that in war and peace, Turkey is a critical strategic ally and economic partner of the US and Israel, and the US and Israel do not want to risk upsetting this ally, so, with help in Congress from the ADL, AJC and the like, they enforce the lie that there was no Armenian genocide. Or if there was a genocide, it is not clear who was responsible. Or if it is clear that the Ottoman Empire was responsible, it is not clear that Turkey should inherit the guilt.

"This is a matter for historians to decide," goes the Israeli and American Jewish establishment line.

The historians, however, decided a long time ago. More than 125 Holocaust scholars - including Elie Wiesel, the late Raul Hilberg, Deborah Lipstadt, Daniel Goldhagen and Yehuda Bauer - have signed ads in The New York Times demanding acknowledgment that the Ottoman Turks committed genocide against the Armenians.

Wiesel testified in Congress on behalf of such a resolution. The International Association of Genocide Scholars - which is studded with Jewish names - holds the same view as a matter of course.

SOMEWHERE around three reputable historians disagree. They are led by Bernard Lewis, who may be the world's foremost scholar of Islam, but who, among world scholars, is certainly the foremost enthusiast of Turkey.

There are probably fewer historians who doubt the Armenian genocide than there are scientists who doubt evolution. Maybe we should reserve judgment on evolution, too.

A key Jewish argument for continuing this policy of denial is that breaking it would endanger the 20,000 or so Jews of Turkey, whose leaders have warned against crossing their government on this matter. But if Israel and its lobby in Washington really believe this, then they've as much as sentenced the 25,000 Jews in Iran to death, haven't they? Is anyone in the Israeli government or AIPAC suggesting that they lower the volume on Iran for the sake of Iranian Jewry? So the Turkish Jewish community isn't a real reason for denying the Armenian genocide, it's another excuse.

The one and only genuine moral argument for public Jewish denial of the Armenian genocide is the Jewish people's historical debt to Turkey. For 500 years, up through the time of the Nazis, Turkey gave life-saving refuge to Jews running from persecution, and did so in a welcoming spirit.

This historical truth can't be denied, either. And it presents Jews with a heavy moral dilemma. For Jews to recognize the Armenian genocide is an undeniable act of disloyalty to Turkey, to which we owe an unpayable debt of gratitude.

But I don't think it's terminal disloyalty, I don't think it's unforgivable disloyalty. With time, it's not something that can't be made up for with other acts of Jewish or Israeli gratitude.

Denying the Armenian genocide, on the other hand, is an unforgivable, terminal betrayal not only of the Armenians, but of truth, of decency, of the legacy of the Holocaust, of ourselves as Jews, of ourselves as people.

What's more, the Jewish moral debt to Turkey is at best a secondary motive in Israel's and the Israel lobby's campaign of genocide denial. Their overriding concern is Israeli security and economics.

Which, of course, is a 100% legitimate concern. Security and economics are the primary concern of every nation, and Israel is part of the family of nations. But the thing is this: If Israel and the Israel lobby can pursue practical self-interest alone, they can't insist that the rest of the world act like Righteous Gentiles.

They can't go on intoning that "the world stood silent" during the Holocaust when they - the leaders of the Jewish world - act as front-line enforcers of silence on the Armenian genocide.

It's one or the other: morality or realpolitik. As a nation of the world, Israel, along with its lobby in Washington, have always chosen realpolitik. What they may not know, however, is that by now the world sees through them.

The world doesn't take seriously what an Israeli leader or an American Jewish macher has to say about the Six Million, not when it sees that same Israeli leader and American Jewish macher shushing everyone over the murders of 1.5 million other innocents.

Thankfully, those politicians are not the only Jewish voices on the Armenian genocide, or on the Holocaust. There is also Wiesel, Lipstadt, Goldhagen, Bauer, Congressman Adam Schiff, Yossi Sarid and many, many others.

Either you value truth first, or you value power first. Every Jew, every person, makes the choice.

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.

Spanish parliament condemns Franco

By DANIEL WOOLLS, Associated Press Writer
Wed Oct 31, 3:41 PM ET

I have a great respect for Spain who can reach into the past for reconciliation with the present. However the denial stance that Turkey is deliberately taking towards Armenians with open support by the American Administration fills me with contempt.

MADRID, Spain - Parliament condemned Gen. Francisco Franco's nearly 40-year dictatorship Wednesday in historic legislation addressing a dark chapter of Spanish history that had been largely off-limits.

The bill sponsored by the Socialist government and passed by the lower house of parliament also makes symbolic amends to victims of the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War. It formally denounces Franco's regime, mandates that local governments fund efforts to unearth mass graves from the Civil War and declares as "illegitimate" the summary military trials that led to the execution or imprisonment of thousands of the general's enemies.

The legislation orders the removal of all Franco-era symbols such as streets and plazas named after him or generals who fought for him. There are dozens of such symbols in Madrid alone.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose grandfather was among the tens of thousands executed by Franco's forces, had made the legislation a top priority and cobbled together an agreement between his ruling Socialists and several smaller parties.

Conservative critics complained angrily that the bill digs unnecessarily at old wounds and does away with a spirit of reconciliation that accompanied the transition to democracy after Franco died in 1975.

The bill pays tribute to all victims of the war, including Roman Catholic clergy and others executed by militia loyal to the elected, leftist Republican government that Franco rose up against in 1936.

It also bans political rallies at a site know as The Valley of the Fallen, which includes Franco's mausoleum. The site is the most potent symbol of the dictatorship and is a magnet for yearly processions of right-wingers nostalgic for Franco's rule.

The legislation, known as the "Law of Historical Memory," must still pass the Senate — considered a formality — and be published in the government gazette before it becomes law. That is expected in November.

The legislation passed despite the fierce objections from Zapatero's conservative opponents, who accused him of being driven by vengeance to rekindle national acrimony doused during Spain's transition to democracy. The culmination was approval of a democratic constitution in 1978.

The process featured an unspoken pact among parties to put the suffering of the war years behind them in the interest of rebuilding. No war crimes trials were held.

Other countries that lived through wartime atrocities did hold trials — junta-era Argentina, or post-Nazi Germany, for instance. But for the most part, Spain is now trying to atone for the past by simply honoring victims, without punishing anyone.

Proponents say the new legislation was a long time coming.

"This is a very important moment for Spain," said Emilio Silva, president of an organization that leads efforts to exhume the bodies of civilians killed by Franco's forces in the war.

"But this law is the beginning, not the end, and it is long overdue. Many, many victims and relatives of those killed have already died without receiving any justice," he said.

Polls show that many Spaniards see the law as divisive.

"For me this reopens wounds I thought we had agreed to close in 1978," said Gonzalo Lopez Orozco, a 34-year-old lawyer. "I don't know what this'll be good for."

Eduardo Zaplana, a spokesman for the conservative opposition Popular Party, denounced the bill as "unnecessary" and "prejudicial to national harmony."

Angel Acebes, No. 2 in the Popular Party, was even more blunt in the run-up to the vote.

"Zapatero wants to divide Spaniards and turn them against each other," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega chided the Popular Party for its stance.

"There isn't a single line of this law that couldn't be backed fully by a democrat." She said the opposition arguments against the law amounted to "shadows."

"The truth, like the light, always makes its way through," she said.

While the Popular Party has pushed itself toward the political center in the three decades since Franco's death, it was founded by a top Franco minister.

The Civil War left a half-million people dead, becoming a proxy fight between Hitler's Germany and the Italy of Benito Mussolini — both of whom backed Franco — and Communist forces including the Soviet Union, which backed Spain's elected left-wing government.

Atrocities were committed on all sides, though the victorious fascists are generally considered to have committed the lion's share.

Many see the Spanish conflict as a precursor to World War II.

______

Associated Press Writer Paul Haven contributed to this report.

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.

Wiesel is Right on Genocide Recognition; Wrong on Armenians’ Quest for Justice

Nov. 1, 2007
The California Courier
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier

The Philadelphia Jewish Voice published on October 28 an important interview with Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. Reporter Charles Smolover asked him to comment on the fact that "some in the Jewish community are reluctant to touch this issue [congressional resolution on the Armenian Genocide] for fear of damaging Turkey’s relationship with Israel."

Mr. Wiesel’s response: "I have been fighting for the right of the Armenian people to remember for years and years. How could I, who has fought all my life for Jewish remembrance, tell the Armenians they have no right to remember? But I understand the [Bush] administration's view. Fortunately, as a private citizen I don’t have to worry about Turkey’s response. But I do feel that had there been the word ‘genocide’ in those days, what happened to the Armenians would have been called genocide. Everyone agrees there was mass murder, but the word came later. I believe the Armenians are the victims and, as a Jew, I should be on their side."

This is a very important and straightforward answer from someone of Mr. Wiesel’s moral stature. As an internationally-acclaimed personality, his pronouncements carry great weight. Despite the fact that the reporter’s question linked the recognition of the Armenian Genocide to possible damage to Israel’s relations with Turkey, Mr. Wiesel remained steadfast on the side of the truth.

Mr. Wiesel, however, was not as forceful back in 1982 when the Israeli Foreign Ministry, under pressure from the Turkish government, asked him to exclude Armenian scholars from an international conference on the Holocaust and Genocide that was to be held in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Faced with the dilemma of not wanting to eliminate Armenian participation or acceding to Israeli government’s demands, Mr. Wiesel resigned as president of the conference. He explained that he chose to remove himself rather than challenge the Israeli government’s demands, because he had to be mindful of the threat to Jewish lives in Turkey.

In recent years, Mr. Wiesel has been much more resolute in defense of the Armenian Genocide. In his introduction to the 1986 French edition of Franz Werfel’s Forty Days of Musa Dagh, he described the brutalities committed by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenian minority as "mass murders aimed at the extermination of a people in its entirety," and called the brutal killings "the first genocide of the 20th century."

On March 7, 2000, he joined 126 Holocaust scholars in signing a joint statement affirming that the Armenian Genocide was an incontestable historical fact and called on Western governments to likewise recognize it as such.

Earlier this year, he joined more than 50 other Nobel Laureates in signing a statement that recognized the Armenian Genocide.

On August 21, 2007 Abraham Foxman, the National Director of the Anti-Defamation League, said he consulted Elie Wiesel before issuing a statement acknowledging for the first time that "the consequences" of the Armenian atrocities were "indeed tantamount to genocide. If the word genocide had existed then, they would have called it genocide."

Mr. Wiesel, however, leaves a lot to be desired in answering Philadelphia Jewish Voice reporter’s second question on whether "the Turks have an obligation to take some responsibility" for the Armenian Genocide?

Mr. Wiesel responded by saying: "No one is asking for the Turks to take responsibility. All the Armenians want is the right to remember. Seven generations separate us from the events that happened in World War I and nobody in his right mind would say that today's Turks are responsible for what happened. The Armenians don’t want reparations; they don’t even want an apology. They want the right to remember. The Turks would gain a lot if they simply acknowledged the reality of what happened. I have spoken with Turkish leaders at the highest level and their attitude about this issue is totally irrational except for one thing, which I do understand. They don’t want to be compared to Hitler. But of course, nobody does."

Just about every single statement contained in the above paragraph is inaccurate. Contrary to Mr. Wiesel’s assertions, Armenians do not need anyone’s permission to remember or mourn their dead. Their right to remember has never been in question. It is also untrue that "seven generations separate us" from the era of the genocide. There are still surviving eyewitnesses of the Armenian Genocide. This writer is the grandson (third generation) of genocide survivors.

Regarding Turkish responsibility, while Armenians do not blame today’s Turks for the killings, they do hold the Turkish state responsible for falsifying and denying the facts of the Armenian Genocide. Furthermore, Mr. Wiesel is wrong in asserting that "Armenians don’t want reparations, they don’t even want an apology. They want the right to remember." The fact is that Armenians do not really care whether Turks apologize for the killings or not. Armenians do insist, however, on obtaining adequate restitution for the enormous damages they suffered. Why is it that the victims of the Holocaust are entitled to reparations and Armenians are not? In contrast to the Jews, Armenians were uprooted from their ancestral homeland losing their property, cultural heritage as well as their lives. One has to agree, however, with Mr. Wiesel’s assertion that "the Turks would gain a lot if they simply acknowledged the reality of what happened." Yet, contrary to Mr. Wiesel’s expectations, and probably that of the Turkish government, there can be no reconciliation between Armenians and Turks without justice, which requires the return of the occupied lands and looted properties, and restitution for the 1.5 million murders.

Since the Philadelphia Jewish Voice describes Mr. Wiesel as an "outspoken advocate for justice," it is hoped that he would live up to that reputation in both the Jewish and Armenian cases. While Mr. Wiesel may not choose to be an advocate for Armenian demands, he should not misrepresent Armenians’ quest for justice!

Interview with Elie Wiesel

PJV#29 November 2007
The Philadelphia Jewish Voice
-- Charles Smolover

Elie Wiesel is a Romanian-born French-Jewish novelist, political activist, Nobel Laureate, Holocaust survivor and outspoken advocate for justice. He is the author of over 40 books, the best known of which is Night, a memoir that describes his experiences during the Holocaust. He is attending the AIPAC Summit in Philadelphia at the end of October and spoke recently with the Philadelphia Jewish Voice.

[...]

PJV: The subject of the Armenian Genocide has been in the news. The U.S. Congress has been debating whether to officially recognize the events in question as genocide, and the Turks, to no one’s surprise, are not pleased. Some in the Jewish community are reluctant to touch this issue for fear of damaging Turkey’s relationship with Israel. What is your take on this issue?

I have been fighting for the right of the Armenian people to remember for years and years. How could I, who has fought all my life for Jewish remembrance, tell the Armenians they have no right to remember? But I understand the administration's view. Fortunately, as a private citizen I don’t have to worry about Turkey’s response. But I do feel that had there been the word “genocide” in those days, what happened to the Armenians would have been called genocide. Everyone agrees there was mass murder, but the word came later. I believe the Armenians are the victims and, as a Jew, I should be on their side.

PJV: If the Armenians have a right to remember, don’t the Turks have an obligation to take some responsibility?

No one is asking for the Turks to take responsibility. All the Armenians want is the right to remember. Seven generations separate us from the events that happened in World War I and nobody in his right mind would say that today's Turks are responsible for what happened. The Armenians don’t want reparations, they don’t even want an apology. They want the right to remember. The Turks would gain a lot if they simply acknowledged the reality of what happened. I have spoke with Turkish leaders at the highest level and their attitude about this issue is totally irrational except for one thing which I do understand. They don’t want to be compared to Hitler. But of course, nobody does.

[...]

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.

Laying memory's ghosts to rest

28 October 2007
Financial Times

Sunday's beatification by the Vatican of 498 "martyrs" killed by anti-clerical militias during the Spanish republic and 1936-39 civil war has resurrected many ghosts at a time when history and memory have returned to haunt Spain.

[...]

There are obvious risks in excavating the pain of the past. Yet the selective memory preferred by the Catholic Church and the right is not the answer. Countries and peoples need a shared narrative of their past, even when that means settling painful accounts with history.

[...]

Turkey is in a similar bind over Armenia. Attempts by France, and now the US Congress, to characterise the first world war massacres of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks as genocide have outraged the government and the Kemalist establishment, and inflamed public opinion.

In calmer circumstances, Turkish politicians and intellectuals will acknowledge the need to come to terms with this blood-soaked chapter in their history - and that Turkey has no hope of ever entering the EU without such a reckoning.

But today's Turks have no knowledge of these horrific events, which have been airbrushed from history, leaving them without the means to make a judgment. There is always a price for suppressing memory.

Copyright The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved.

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.

When truth offends honour

Oct 23, 2007 04:30 AM
The Star
Mark Abley

One of the stupidest trends in Canadian education has been the decline in history teaching. History is a regular victim when school boards and education departments decide that glossy topics like "information technology" outweigh the past.

The trend is unfortunate for many reasons. One of them is this: We can't understand the contemporary world without some grasp of what formed it and deformed it.

Consider the uproar about a resolution now before the U.S. Congress, defining the Turkish killings of Armenians between 1915 and 1923 as "genocide." To Turkey's rulers, and most of its people, the idea is an outrage – an offence against national honour.

Those events happened so long ago that few eyewitnesses remain. One of the oldest survivors, Arousiag Aghazarian, died in Montreal last month at the age of 104. Throughout her adult life she was haunted by the memory of a girl's decapitated head in a pile of body parts, ribbons still attached to her ponytail.

Nearly all Armenians are convinced that their people's destruction was carefully planned. Before the atrocities, 2 million of them lived in the Ottoman Empire (the precursor to modern-day Turkey); about 500,000 survived.

Turkey, however, insists that the killings took place on a much smaller scale. It notes that most occurred in wartime, when the Ottomans were battling Russia; they saw Armenians as an internal enemy.

The rhetoric on both sides is heated. But the Armenians' evidence is strong. "I am confident that the whole history of the human race contains no such horrible episode as this," wrote Henry Morgenthau, the U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. "The great massacres and persecutions of the past seem almost insignificant when compared to the sufferings of the Armenian race in 1915."

Empty rhetoric? Not if you read what Turkey's allies were privately saying. Richard von Kuhlmann, Germany's foreign minister in 1917, deplored "the large-scale destruction of the Armenians" and warned that "this policy of extermination will for a long time stain the Turkish name."

Some Turks were prepared to admit responsibility. Gen. Mehmet Vehib, a celebrated army commander, wrote in 1919: "The massacre and destruction of the Armenians and the plunder and pillage of their goods were the results of decisions reached by the Central Committee (of Turkey's ruling party)."

So why the endless genocide denial by Vehib's successors – a denial that continues to affect how events unfold in the Middle East today?

History is not a bare list of dates and events; history also involves story and psychology. For Turks to admit what many of their grandparents and great-grandparents did would be to acknowledge the most shameful act any people can commit. Small wonder the admission sticks in their throat.

A much smaller admission sticks in ours. From the day its new building opened in 2005, the Canadian War Museum was attacked by veterans' groups who charged that its display concerning the carpet-bombing of German cities during World War II had reproachful overtones.

The veterans finally won. Two weeks ago, the museum changed the display's wording – even though its previous label was factually correct. Viewers are now told: "Allied aircrew conducted this gruelling offensive with great courage against heavy odds."

That's not the point. Or rather, it shouldn't be. As history makes clear, Allied bombs killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people for very dubious military reasons. But we don't like an offence to our national honour.

And so, like the Turks, we sometimes close our eyes to the truth.

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.

Turkish PM calls for reconciliation with Armenia

There is a lack of sincerity in this proposal. The borders with Armenia are blocked by Turkey, the Penal Code Article 301 is in place to punish anyone who openly discusses the genocide and Turkey officially says that there is no genocide. What is Turkey going to do? Give a revisionist history lesson and force Armenia to tear down its genocide memorial otherwise be prepared to be invaded by the 2nd largest Army in NATO? Humility has never been a part of Turkey's approach to genocide, as long as Turkey uses threats as a tool for blackmail against countries that dare to recognize the genocide. Why does not Turkey take seriously the massive scholarly work on the Armenian genocide? Unless that happens Turkey is in denial. It takes more courage for Armenians to stand their ground than Turkey to use threats.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's prime minister called for dialogue and reconciliation with Armenia on Friday as the U.S. Congress weighs whether to approve a resolution calling the 1915 massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks genocide.

"While we search for ways to address this painful issue and develop our relations with Armenia, we cannot live in the past. Our sincere offer for dialogue and reconciliation is on the table," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan wrote in an opinion piece published in Friday's Wall Street Journal, European edition.

"It is incumbent on Armenia to take the next step," he added.

The U.S. House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee backed the resolution last week proposed by a California Democrat with many Armenian-Americans in his district. It must now decide whether to hold a House vote on the resolution.

Turkey has recalled its ambassador to the United States for consultations in response to the vote and has warned that if the non-binding but symbolic resolution is approved by Congress it will inflict great damage on relations between the NATO allies.

The Bush administration has lobbied against the resolution.

Turkey rejects the Armenian view, backed by many Western historians and some foreign parliaments, that up to 1.5 million Armenians suffered genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks.

Many Muslim Turks died as well as Christian Armenians in inter-ethnic conflict as the Ottoman Empire crumbled, it says.

"The truth is that the Armenian allegations of genocide pertaining to the events of 1915 have not been historically or legally substantiated," Erdogan wrote.

Erdogan asked in his opinion piece why Armenia was evading Turkey's offer to establish a joint history commission to examine together the events of 1915 through bilateral dialogue.

Armenia says it would consider taking part in such a history commission if its border with Turkey were opened and normal diplomatic ties established between the two countries.

Turkey shut its border with the tiny ex-Soviet republic in 1993 to protest against Armenia's occupation of territory inside Azerbaijan, Ankara's close Turkic ally.


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.

Courage and history

Thu., October 18, 2007
Ha'aretz, Israel
Michalis Firillas

In the chaos of articles which demean the recognition of the Armenian genocide by US as a big annoyance since Turkey is getting upset there sometime comes a serene article which puts everything in perspective. this article is one worth reading by both the supporters of and those who oppose the resolution. Specially I would like to draw the attention to below:

"apologists are always quick to point out that "this is not a good time" for Turkey to address the Armenian issue. The bottom line is that it is never a good time: There is always some crisis brewing, some hyper-sensitive general, politician or group, too many other things going on. That is the nature of the mix that makes Turkey what it is."

Nations are measured by their history. But we often forget that they are also measured by the way they confront their history. This can be a difficult task, requiring courage, vision and commitment to a different future. It demands more honesty and less pride. It makes a distinction between dignity and shame - and knows how to enhance the former and address the latter. And it requires the involvement of both the political leadership, on the one hand, and the individual citizen, on the other.

Which brings us to the following question: What can we learn from the German response to the Holocaust that might help Turkey alter its attitude toward the Armenian genocide? A loaded question? Obviously. An unfair one? Maybe. But is it a useful one? Definitely, and not only for the Turks. If there is one lesson we must have picked up on during the 20th century, it is that we are all "built" for genocide. There is no culture, polity, community that is immune from this. There are of course many ways of carrying out genocide. You can starve your victims, parch them, march them into the desert, shoot them, rape them, gas them, burn them, bomb them, hack them to pieces. You do not need to be an industrial powerhouse to do it quickly, efficiently. And by most standards, there is at least one genocide taking place right now, in East Africa.

Mentioning Turkey in the same sentence as the Holocaust is anathema to all Turks - and they are right because it is a horrific stigma to bear. "Placing the Turks in the same category as Nazis is intolerable to us," one Turkish official was quoted as saying in The Economist on October 4. But that is missing the point. This is not about comparative genocide - an exercise that invariably devolves into some form of bean counting. But when a state refuses to acknowledge history, it affects the psyche of the nation, perpetuating stasis, first on a moral level and then in every other aspect of life.

When World War II came to an end in Europe, in May 1945, the crimes of Germany were exposed before the world. The horror was such that for a while there were American officials who sought to reduce Germany to an agrarian society so that it could never again perpetrate such criminal aggression.

Things turned out differently, in great part because of Cold War exigencies. But at least in West Germany, a concerted effort was made by its political leadership - and first and foremost by Konrad Adenauer, the country's first chancellor - to restore Germany to the community of nations, foremost through the acknowledgment of the past. Not only did Germany accept responsibility, but it actively sought to preserve that diabolical chapter in its history - in the memory of the state and of every single German citizen.

It can be argued that the Germans were forced into accepting responsibility. They were occupied, crushed, starving, shocked and shamed. All true. But they did take responsibility, with the understanding that they could not escape history and that if they could muster the courage, they could use that experience to build a better future.

Such a tack requires leadership. And the epitome of Adenauer's leadership came with the reconciliation between West Germany and Israel, which began formally in 1952, with the signing of the reparations agreement. This also required a great deal of courage and leadership on the part of David Ben-Gurion, who pushed that accord through in the face of great opposition at home. It did not mean forgiveness by any means. But it was the start of reconciliation, and that is what genuine leaders owe to the future generations of their people.

Turkey's circumstances are different from those of Germany, and so is its historical development. But finding excuses is always easier than doing what is right. Yes, Turkey has simultaneously struggled with at least three massive challenges since its establishment in 1923, the roots of which dated back to the great reforms started in 1839: building a nation-state; modernization; and democratization. By the time Germany perpetrated the Holocaust, it had gone through all these stages, with greater or lesser success. Indeed, apologists are always quick to point out that "this is not a good time" for Turkey to address the Armenian issue. The bottom line is that it is never a good time: There is always some crisis brewing, some hyper-sensitive general, politician or group, too many other things going on. That is the nature of the mix that makes Turkey what it is.

However, all too often the Turkish people are underestimated. This is more frequently done by its own leaders than by foreigners. When Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declares that "there was no Armenian genocide," that is precisely what he is doing: underestimating his people, and their ability to look forward and acknowledge mistakes. For the leader of a party whose popularity stems from the desire of many Turks to remove the shackles of a traditionally paternalistic state - this is no way to usher in change. History is not solely the domain of historians, as Erdogan and others would have us believe. Every Turk has a role in the making of Turkish history, and a stake in the making of Turkey's future. Recognizing past wrongs and calling them by name is difficult, and may even seem insurmountable, but the Turks must find the courage to try to do so.

Michalis Firillas is on the editorial staff of Haaretz.

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.