CBC Ombudsman Rejects Turkish Government's Denial of the Armenian Genocide

May 3, 2008
Armenian National Committee of Canada

It is a shame that Turkey resorts to denial tactics in order to project a clean image to the world. As said in this release “By its persistent policy of denial, the present Turkish Government is making itself automatically the inherent target of responsibility for the 1915 Genocide.”

Ottawa – A well-financed campaign to censor CBC Radio's ‘As It Happens’ program, orchestrated by the Turkish government and its agents, has been rejected by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Ombudsman Vince Carlin.

After a professional examination of the Turkish denialists complaint that CBC “did not give sufficient attention to Turkey’s official claim that the events of 1915 did not constitute a genocide,” Mr. Carlin said, “While not ignoring significant dissent from 'mainstream' views, the journalist must not distort the concepts of 'balance' by giving equal weight to any contending theory.”

The ombudsman added, “In the cases at issue, the preponderance of credible academic work has found that the Turkish government took deliberate action against the Armenian population and those actions fit what became the definition of Genocide.”

The ombudsman elaborated on the journalist’s ethical conundrum of “giving voice to those who deny events which were part of the historical consensus.” On this thorny issue, Mr. Carlin said, “the implications of such notion are evident when one thinks of giving substantial time to those who deny that there was a genocide directed against Jews during World War II.”

In the ombudsman’s view, “ while fairness and balance would impel journalists to be on the look-out for credible contradictory evidence, appropriate weight must be given to broad-based conclusion, in this case not only academic-based, but also endorsed by UN agencies and the Canadian Government.”

The CBC ombudsman concluded his findings by noting that “the concept of balance is not mathematical.” Accordingly, he found that “no violation of CBC’s Journalistic Standards and Practices in treatment of theses items.”

The latest campaign of silencing freedom of speech in Canada was launched after CBC's ‘As It Happens’ program interviewed United States Congressman Adam Schiff (Oct. 18, 2007), Turkish historian Taner Akçam (Oct. 12, 2007), and an official from the Toronto District School Board on the proposed Grade 11 Genocide Curriculum (Dec. 14 2007).

The Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC) cognizant of the campaign, responded to the Turkish government’s misinformation by making essential presentation (testimonies of historians' and scholars, books, and other relevant documents) to the ombudsman to refute the Turkish denialist fabrications.

Aris Babikian, Executive Director of ANCC, commended the CBC ombudsman's findings and conclusions. 'Once again CBC has demonstrated that it is not willing to compromise its journalistic integrity. We congratulate the CBC ombudsman and ‘As It Happens’ staff for not capitulating to the Turkish government’s propaganda machine, threats, intimidation, and bullying.”

“It is high time the Turkish government recognized that its Armenian Genocide denial policy is a bankrupt one and that Turkey can not muzzle freedom of the press and suppress freedom of expression in the civilized world, as it has done in Turkey,” Babikian said, urging the Turkish people to rise against the “Turkish Deep State” and utranationalists who are running the country's denialist policy.

Dr. Girair Basmadjian, President of ANCC observed that “By its persistent policy of denial, the present Turkish Government is making itself automatically the inherent target of responsibility for the 1915 Genocide.”

POLICY AND PERSONALITY: A RIFT OPENS IN TURCO-GERMAN TIES

Friday, February 15, 2008
Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
By Gareth Jenkins

Erdogan was called by his critics a wolf in sheep's clothing. Now that clothing has come off, so that the world sees as he is. Nothing wrong in insisting that Turks should keep their heritage alive in Germany and elsewhere. The problem is while he is saying "assimilation is a crime against humanity", he is not admitting that Turkey has a strong policy of assimilating its minorities since 1923. While he is saying that genocide does not exist in the Turkish culture he is ignoring the genocidal policy against the Armenian population by the Young Turks rulers during 1915-1923. I find this a shame.

The recent angry exchanges between the Turkish and German governments over the integration of Turks living in Germany have highlighted the increasing vulnerability of Turkish policy to the personality of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

On February 10, Erdogan told an audience of around 18,000 Turks in the German city of Cologne that they should resist attempts to assimilate them into German society but should remain faithful to their Turkish traditions (Hurriyet, Milliyet, Yeni Safak, Zaman, Sabah, February 11).

Erdogan had already clashed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the education of the Turks living in Germany. Approximately 2.5 million people of Turkish origin currently live in Germany, around one-third of whom have German citizenship. Erdogan insists that the priority of children of Turkish origin should be to learn Turkish, with German as a second language. He has called for an increase in the number of Turkish schools in Germany and even promised to send teachers from Turkey. In contrast, Merkel has called on all those living in Germany to prioritize learning German in order to facilitate their integration into German society and ensure their full access to public services and employment. She condemned Erdogan’s speech in Cologne and pointedly remarked: “We shall have to continue debating our understanding of integration issues with the Turkish prime minister” (Anatolian Agency, February 11).

Merkel’s statement triggered an angry response from Erdogan. On February 12, he told a meeting of his Justice and Development Party (AKP), “Assimilation is a crime against humanity. I may think differently from Merkel on this matter but I explicitly declare that nobody can dictate to the Turkish community to assimilate” (Hurriyet, February 13).

On February 13, Erdogan went one step further. “We may not agree with Mrs. Merkel on the subject of assimilation and integration. This is true. In any case, if I act according to what she thinks then I am not myself. Nor are we ourselves. We have no desire to be like them” (Milliyet, February 14).

[...]

Erdogan’s latest outburst will have done little to persuade the opponents of Turkish accession in the EU of the error of their ways. Indeed it will have further alienated the very country that Turkey needs most to convince. Relations with France, the other main opponent of Turkish accession, are currently extremely tense, not least over France’s recognition of the Armenian genocide. There appears little prospect of an imminent improvement. But the same could not have been said about Germany. Over the last 18 months, Merkel had reduced the references in her public speeches to her opposition to full Turkish membership. There was hope that the two countries could at least engage in a productive dialogue without being held hostage to public rhetoric. These hopes have now suffered a severe blow. Perhaps most bewilderingly, Erdogan’s outburst came just weeks after a number of Turkish officials, including Gul and Babacan, responded to criticism of the AKP’s reluctance to implement the reforms required for EU membership by promising that 2008 would be “the year of the EU.”

But even more bewildered will be the members of Turkey’s non-Turkish minorities, particularly by Erdogan’s declaration that “assimilation is a crime against humanity.” Over the years, particularly in the predominantly Kurdish southeast and the Laz-speaking northeast of Turkey, the Turkish authorities have changed the names of thousands of villages and hamlets and replaced them with Turkish names. Non-Turkish minorities still face restrictions on the use of their languages and even the names that they can call their children. Unlike in Germany, anyone who takes Turkish citizenship is almost automatically required to assume a new Turkish name. While Erdogan’s insistence on Turks in Germany being educated in their mother tongue is in marked contrast to his refusal to allow education in minority languages such as Kurdish inside Turkey.

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 Leader Criticizes European 'Double Standard' on PKK

09 February 2008
Voice of America
By Al Pessin
Munich

Below it says: "the Turkish prime minister challenged Armenia's foreign minister to provide proof Turkey was responsible for a massacre of Armenians in 1915". True to his word may be Turkey should go ahead and as announced take the case to the ICJ rather than make useless noise in public forums. He is displaying an incredible disregard to an immense literature on the Armenian genocide. This is just laughable.

Turkey's prime minister criticized European nations Saturday for providing sanctuary to groups that support the Kurdish Workers Party, which Turkey, the European Union and the United States have labeled a terrorist organization. VOA's Al Pessin reports from Munich, where Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to the European Security Conference on Saturday.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at Conference on Security Policy in Munich, 9 Feb 2008 Prime Minister Erdogan called on European countries to stop allowing affiliates of the group, known as the PKK, to raise money and promote their cause. The prime minister said he would not name any countries specifically, but he also called for the extradition of PKK members who are held in Europe. He is heard here through an interpreter.

"Countries who apply double standards, or who remain unwilling towards terrorism, in time, will become shareholders of negative consequences of terrorism," he said.

Prime Minister Erdogan said European countries already suffer from drug trafficking used to finance PKK activities.

He also called on the European Union to move forward with Turkey's long-standing application for membership, and he rejected calls by some in Europe to give Turkey a 'privileged partnership' status, short of full membership.

In answer to questions from the audience of senior officials and leading security experts from Europe, North America and elsewhere, the Turkish prime minister challenged Armenia's foreign minister to provide proof Turkey was responsible for a massacre of Armenians in 1915.

And he denied a charge by a Russian questioner that Turkey is harboring Chechen terrorists.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will deliver a major speech at the conference on Sunday. He says he will lay out what he sees as the justification for European involvement in bringing stability to Afghanistan - the need ensure it does not again become a terrorist safe haven. Gates says he wants to convince ordinary Europeans to support additional troop deployments to help the undermanned NATO mission in Afghanistan.

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.

Erdogan advises Obama to outgrow amateur talk

1/23/2008
Turkish Press, MI

If I were Erdogan I wouldn't say “A day may come when you will have to choose between 70 million Turkey and two million Armenia. One has to think carefully before uttering such words. I suggest that he outgrow the amateur period of his political career,”. Let me ask you Erdogan how much does the 70 million Turkey contribute to the USA economy compared to the one million Armenian Americans? I let you have the pleasure to answer this question.

ANKARA - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan dubbed Barack Obama, one of the Democratic frontrunners in the U.S. presidential elections who promised to recognize the killing of Armenians in 1915 as “genocide,” an amateur of politics without explicitly mentioning his name.

“Presidential elections campaigns continue in the United States. Some politicians` discourse demonstrates that they do not have an adequate knowledge of their country`s policies,” said Erdogan in his Justice and Development Party (AKP) meeting yesterday. He noted that Turkey nurtured good relations and a strategic partnership with the United States. “Everybody knows that adoption of such a resolution would cause irreparable damage to Turkish-American relations,” Erdogan said. Ankara-Washington relations cannot be subdued by lobbies, slander and petty internal political calculations, Erdogan said. “A day may come when you will have to choose between 70 million Turkey and two million Armenia. One has to think carefully before uttering such words. I suggest that he outgrow the amateur period of his political career,” 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.

Sour taste of Sudanese visit

Thursday, January 24, 2008
ANKARA – Turkish Daily News

If Turkey were repentant on the Armenian genocide it would have recognized the Darfur genocide instead of courting the Sudan's perpetrator of the genocide.

Sudanese President Omar Hasan al-Bashir's visit to Turkey has shocked international relations experts who openly condemn Ankara's top level contacts with a leader held responsible for humanitarian atrocities in his own country.

“One would think Turkey's leaders would be a little more careful before laying down the red carpet for the likes of President Omar al Bashir of Sudan,” said former United States ambassador to Ankara, Morton Abromowitz. The international community considers Bashir as an illegitimate dictator presiding over a pariah state guilty of crimes against humanity, he said.

“He is a seemingly strange bedfellow for Turkey's AKP [Justice and Development Party] trying to prove to many domestic and Western observers of its balanced, well-calibrated foreign policy, and its attachment to international norms,” Abromowitz said.

Last year, defying Turkish state policy of avoiding contacts with Bashir, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Sudanese capital Khartoum and said that “Muslims would commit such murders.”

Bashir is considered to have given a free hand to the Janjaweed, the Arab militia that commits mass killings and systematic violence against Darfur's population to quell the rebellion launched in 2003 by the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), representing non-Muslim tribal Africans, and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a movement of African Muslims to claim equal rights.

A peace deal was signed in 2006 between the government and rebel factions in the Darfur region, only to incite divisions between dissident groups and exacerbate violence. In June 2006, three rebel groups including the JEM and part of the SLM/A joined forces to form the National Redemption Front (NRF), which opposes the May 2006 peace agreement. At least 200,000 people have lost their life and 2.5 million people have been driven from their homes as aresult of violence in the region.

Government policy alienates experts

The AKP's attempts to form contacts with the al -Bashir government had been blocked by intense resistance from Foreign Ministry officials who asked President Abdullah Gül, at the time foreign minister, to ignore the Sudanese leader's requests to visit Turkey.

But they failed to stop Erdoğan from visiting Darfur in March 2006 to participate in a meeting of the Arab League, where he said that no assimilation or genocide was committed in Darfur.

International relations expert Soli Özel dubbed the visit as “foreign policy fantasies of the government” and lamented the decision to welcome Bashir in Ankara.

“The government claims to be able to speak about everything with everyone. This is nonsense and is a shame to Turkey,” said Özel.

Abromowitz pointed to Turkey's endeavor to persuade the international community that there was no Armenian ''genocide'' in 1915 and noted that Bashir's visit will reduce the persuasiveness of Turkey's thesis.

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 Ultranationalists Try to Silence Prominent Canadians

Armenian National Committee of Canada
January 18, 2008
Comité National Arménien du Canada
E-mail/courriel:national.office@anc-canada.com
www.anccanada.org
Contact: Kevork Manguelian

Turkish Ultranationalists Try to Silence Prominent Canadians

Toronto—The Turkish Government’s propaganda machine tried to intimidate and silence many prominent Canadians who had come forth to make deputations during the monthly meeting of the Toronto District School Board's (TDSB) program and services committee.

During the Jan. 16 meeting the TDSB committee provided an opportunity to two Turkish representatives (Ozay Mehmet of the Council of Turkish Canadians, and Lale Eskicioglu) and four Canadians (Prof. Frank Chalk, director of the Montréal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies; David Warner, former Speaker of the Ontario Legislative Assembly; Leo Adler, prominent criminal lawyer and human rights advocate; and Hon. Jim Karygiannis, MP) to present their points of view on the board’s Grad 11 'Genocide: Historical and Contemporary Implications' curriculum.

The Turkish representatives protested the inclusion of the Armenian Genocide in the curriculum. The prominent Canadians’ group praised the TDSB for its moral fortitude, vision, and commitment to develop such a timely curriculum and asked for the inclusion of the Armenian Genocide in the curriculum.

Mr. Warner read a letter signed by prominent Canadians from all walks of life, urging the TDSB to “stand firm by its decision and not to be swayed by politically-motivated pressure groups.” Among the signatories were Stephen Lewis, Gerald Caplan, Jack Layton, Bob Rae, Joy Kogawa, Amir Hassanpour, Jacques Kornberg.

During the presentations of Chalk, Warner, Adler and Karygiannis, ultranationalist Turks hackled the speakers and tried to stop them from speaking. Several times committee chair, trustee Chris Bolton, was forced to call for order and ask the Turkish representatives not to disrupt the meeting.

After the meeting, members of the Turkish group approached some of the pro-Genocide inclusion speakers and taunted them with abuse and profanities. The scene was reminiscent of the trials of many righteous Turkish individuals who in recent years have challenged the Turkish Government on its denial of the Armenian Genocide and have been silenced under Article 301 of the Turkish penal code.

At the meeting, Aris Babikian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of Canada, tabled a petition in support of the curriculum. The petition carried 2,643 signatures. Among the signatories were many teachers from the TDSB system.

For the past two years the TDSB has been developing 'Genocide: Historical and Contemporary Implications' curriculum for Grade 11 students. The course comprises of three genocide case studies: the Armenian Genocide; the Holocaust; the Rwandan Genocide, in addition to other cases of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

The course has been approved by the Ontario Minister of Education. An overwhelming majority of principals, teachers and program directors have commended the TDSB for this timely project. They have also indicated that they are eager to teach the program.

In the last two months the Turkish denial machine has launched a vicious campaign of falsehood, misrepresentation, unsubstantiated accusations, innuendo and revisionist historical discourse to persuade the TDSB to remove the Armenian Genocide from the curriculum.

######

The ANCC is the largest and the most influential Canadian-Armenian grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout Canada and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCC actively advances the concerns of the Canadian-Armenian community on a broad range of issues.


Regional Chapters/Sections régionales

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Turkey's new envoy says genocide bill impedes reconciliation

11/10/2007
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
By Bridget Johnson, Staff Writer

U.S. lawmakers should not fixate on the Armenian Genocide bill, which is an insult to many Turks and a roadblock to reconciliation between Turkey and the Armenian community, the new Turkish consul general in Los Angeles said.

Reconciliation is based on acknowledgement of the past and not on forgetting it. If the consul thinks the recognition of the genocide is an insult to Turks how about the insult of its denial by Turkey to Armenians?

In a recent interview with the Daily News, R. Hakan Tekin said his country strongly objects to the Armenian Genocide legislation that passed the House Committee on Foreign Affairs last month, which labels as genocide the killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

The committee's 27-21 vote has raised ire in Turkey and was slammed by some U.S. lawmakers and commentators for the potential harm it might do to U.S. relations with Turkey, a longtime strategic ally of America and NATO partner.

Turkey briefly pulled its U.S. ambassador, Nabi Sensoy, back to Ankara after the vote.

"It certainly had an effect on our bilateral relations," Tekin said of the bill, which was shelved late last month under increasing political pressure.

"It's about our history and it's about, in our opinion, a misreading of our history... To many of us, it's even insulting. ...

It is a deliberate misreading of history by Turkey in order to protect a false sense of nationalism.

"We don't know now where it will end," Tekin said Wednesday at the Wilshire Boulevard consulate.

Turkey severed military ties with France after that country's lower house passed a bill last year making it a crime to deny the Armenian killings were genocide.

But the trade with France increased since.

Tekin, who assumed the consul general post six months ago, said lawmakers should not "legislate history." He noted that in 2005 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked Armenian President Robert Kocharian to form a joint commission of historians to study the disputed 1915 events, a proposal that has not been accepted.

This is a fallacy, Kocharian had responded that diplomatic relations has to be established first. How can a discussion take place under condition of blockade on the premise that Armenia and its Diaspora should abandon the pursuit of the recognition of the Armenian genocide?

"We are not scared of our history, and we are not trying to hide anything," Tekin said. "And if this commission is established, we will accept whatever result it reaches. ... It is (time for) the Armenian side to make a move."

Tekin believes it is the size and influence of the U.S. Armenian community that has kept the issue alive.

It is more the influence of Turkey hiding behind the apron of its NATO alliance and its blackmail of the US which has derailed the pursuit of justice by a large citizenry of the USA.

"Why are the Armenian events of 1915 brought to the Congress of the U.S.?" he asked. "Because there is a strong Armenian voting bloc in the country.

It is brought up by US citizens in order to feel that their adopted country reflects their history as recorded in its archives.

"Why is not, for instance, the massacres in Kenya carried out by the then-British imperial government not brought to the Congress? Because there are no Kenyan voters here.

If enough Americans of Kenyan decent get organized and there is sufficient evidence in the US archives that is also possible and it is their right to do so.

"When you politicize history, you pick and choose and you lose objectivity, and then you are prone to the pressures of narrow group interests."

Truth is never subject to politics. This is a lesson Turkey must understand by discarding its PCA 301 which penalizes any discussion on the Armenian genocide under the pretext of insulting Turkishness. Turkey has no lesson to give here to Americans.

Tekin also said Armenians in Armenia appear less focused on the past than the Armenian Diaspora.

Most Armenians are against having an open border with Turkey as long as the latter refuses to recognize the 1915 Armenian genocide, according to a new U.S.-funded opinion poll. Here.

"It doesn't seem that for the Armenians of Armenia proper, it carries that much priority ... because Armenia now has much more serious problems for day-to-day life," he said.

Unfortunately, he said, continued lobbying by Armenian groups in the U.S. on claims that the Turks slaughtered more than 1 million Armenians from 1915 to 1918 hurts chances at reconciliation.

"And that's really sad, in my opinion, because both countries, Turkey and Armenia, have a lot to gain to improve their relations, to establish normal relations in our region," he said. "We need that."

Turkey has a lot to gain by isolating Armenia in order to achieve its long held goal of depopulating it so that it can establish its long sought Turanic empire with the Asian Turkic speaking nations. That was the aim of the genocide and it has not changed so far because Turkey has not recognized it and therefore Armenia does not feel safe having the second largest army of NATO as its neighbour.

When asked about the potential of the resolution to revive hostilities between the two communities, Tekin brought up the history of assassinations of Turkish diplomats in Los Angeles: Consul General Mehmet Baydar and his deputy, Bahadir Demir, slain in 1973 by Gourgen Yanikian at a Santa Barbara hotel; and Consul General Kemal Arikan, shot to death by Harry Sassounian and a second gunman in Westwood in 1982.

A group calling itself Justice Commandos for the Armenian Genocide claimed responsibility at the time for Arikan's slaying.

"(It) has been ignored by many people here that two of my predecessors ... have been killed by Armenian terrorists here in Los Angeles, and nobody speaks about that," Tekin said. Black-and-white portraits of the three slain men adorn the wall outside the door to Tekin's office.

The consul general now receives special protection from the State Department, Tekin said.

Tekin must be happy that Armenians have chosen the rout of democracy and should revise its own policy of denial.

Still, Tekin said Turks and Armenians have a lot in common: They are bonded not only by a border, but by cultural similarities as well.

So Turkey must act accordingly by recognizing the genocide so that the process of reconciliation begins in earnest.

"In a thousand years, maybe we had this trouble period of 20 years, 15 years, and the result here is a hostility," he said. "In Turkey, we don't preach hatred toward Armenia."

Armenians in Turkey have been smothered by the love of the Ottoman Turks to the point that they lost their nationhood in Turkey. Present day Turkey still continues the genocide by its denial. With such demonstrated love there is no room left for hatred.

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.

Armenians of Istanbul are the hostages of the Turkish Government

06.06.2007
PanARMENIAN.Net

Archbishop Mutafian gives publicity to Turkish official viewpoint regarding the issue of the Armenian Genocide, and doesn't forget to mention about “the Armenian armed revolt against the government”.

Since January, 2007 as the Resolution N 106 about the Armenian Genocide was passed in the US Congress, different opinions about the Patriarch of Constantinople Mesrop Mutafian (Mesrop II), speaking against the above mentioned Resolution, have started to appear in Turkish press. The Patriarch's viewpoint, which gave rise to severe criticism both in Diaspora and Armenia, is quite explicable; Mesrop II wants to maintain the fragile but peaceful relations both with Turkish authorities and with the country's population.

According to the Constitution Armenians, Greeks and Jews are considered to be the only national minorities in Turkey. And if the Turkish Government is more loyal towards the Jews, based on the fact that Israel is in friendly relations with Ankara, it is not at all loyal and moreover carries out rather harsh policy towards the Armenians and Greeks. The spiritual leader of the community should by all means be a citizen of Turkey. The truth is that he is elected by the community itself, yet the candidacy must be confirmed by the government first. In fact the Armenian and Greek Patriarchs are functionaries, called to perform their duties and not to permit any announcements contradicting the policy carried out by the Turkish Government. In fact the Patriarch and the Armenian Community of Istanbul have become the hostages of the Turkish Government and this is why the announcement shattering every Armenian in any part of the world should be regarded from a different point of view.

Recently official meetings of the Members of the US Congress Delegation with Turkey's initiative have been held in Ankara, after which the Congressmen headed to Istanbul, where they visited the Armenian Patriarchate in Constantinople. During the meeting of the Congressmen with Mesrop Mutafian issues concerning Resolution on the Armenian Genocide, Hrant Dink's murder, as well as the murders of the Catholic Priest Santoro in Trabzon and three evangelical believers in Malatya were discussed. “Lraber” quotes the Patriarch's words, “Based upon both the intergovernmental relations of Turkey and Armenia and the relations of the local Armenians with the Turkish Nation, we are not positively disposed towards the Resolution about the Armenian Genocide submitted to the US Congress. But at the same time we cannot deny the tragic events of the past. The history will never forgive the Ittihad ve Teraki's (Unity and Progress) act aimed at not only the punishment of the Armenian armed revolt against the government, but also all the Armenians living in Turkey. 1,5 million people of Armenian origin were killed in the Syrian deserts. Today there are 70.000 Armenians living in our country. The Armenians who adopted Islam to avoid deportation shouldn't be forgotten either. Since they continue speaking Armenian, they remain faithful to the Armenian Culture, and regardless their religion we consider them one of us. And we never consider the Armenian Diaspora being an object of dispute. We are Armenians from Turkey and together with our Muslim neighbors we try to maintain healthy social and commercial relations. The time to develop the politics of tomorrow has come. The Republic of Armenia boarders on Turkey, and since it is out of question to change the border lines between the two countries, it is of great benefit to the Armenians of Turkey for two neighboring countries to be in better relations with each other. What we have in common with the Turkish Republic is of political character, with Armenia we are connected with religious and cultural ties. We, the Armenians of Turkey, want nothing but peace”.

In fact the Archbishop Mutafian gave publicity to Turkish official viewpoint regarding the issue of the Armenian Genocide, and didn't forget to mention about “the Armenian armed revolt against the government”. One should really have some very serious reasons to fear for his life and the future of the Armenian Community in Istanbul to call the heroic defense of Van and Sasun an “armed revolt against the government”. Another truth is that it is always easier to judge. Yet the thousands of the Armenian priests, who didn't leave their posts and had their share of sufferings shouldn't be left unmentioned. By the way in Istanbul there had already been a Patriarch, Maghakia Ormanyan who carried out prudent and constructive politics, which aroused frustration among the Armenian intellectuals and political parties. In July 1908 the participants of the mass demonstration in Constantinople broke into the Patriarch's residence and deposed him.

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

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.

Poll Says Passage Of Armenian Resolution Will Worsen Turks' Opinion About The U.S.

5/21/2007
Turkish Press

The article below says:"According to the survey, 78 percent of Turks opposed any U.S. Congressional resolution and almost four-fifths of Turkish citizens favored strong action by the Turkish government if a resolution was adopted, including of suspension of diplomatic relations with the U.S. Of the Turks surveyed, 83 percent would oppose Turkey assisting the U.S. in neighboring Iraq should a resolution pass."
...
"After all, if the parliament of Turkey, or for that matter, Russia or France, were to pass a resolution condemning the United States for the genocide of American Indians in the 19th century, would that lead to acceptance and reconciliation in the US, or merely condemnation of the foreign government which judged American history?" Ken Ballen, leader of Terror Free Tomorrow (which conducted nationwide public opinion survey recently )said.

Mr. Ken Ballen is wrong. What Turkey's survey reflects is the lack of education within Turkey of the reality of the Armenian genocide. In contrast to Turkey USA citizens are fully aware of their history therefore any resolution in foreign parliaments will only confirm what they already know. Therefore my question to Mr. Ken Ballen is: Who has commissioned the survey and what political purpose does it serve? Why is he so eager to interpret the survey in a manner to please Turkey?

WASHINGTON - According to a new nationwide public opinion survey recently conducted by Terror Free Tomorrow, a nonprofit organization, the adoption of a resolution on the so-called Armenian genocide allegations by the American congress would worsen Turks' opinion on the United States, hurting U.S. interests, and deal a major blow on efforts towards reaching a compromise between Turkey and Armenia.
"The passage of the resolution would set back cause it purports to achieve and harden the Turkish public view of Armenians," Ken Ballen, leader of Terror Free Tomorrow said in the poll report.

According to the survey, 78 percent of Turks opposed any U.S. Congressional resolution and almost four-fifths of Turkish citizens favored strong action by the Turkish government if a resolution was adopted, including of suspension of diplomatic relations with the U.S.

Of the Turks surveyed, 83 percent would oppose Turkey assisting the U.S. in neighboring Iraq should a resolution pass.

A plurality of Turks indicated that they would boycott American products with 84 percent of those --who now have a very favorable opinion of the United States-- responded that their opinion would deteriorate if the resolution passes.

73 percent of Turks said a resolution would have the opposite effect and actually worsen relations between Turkey and Armenia rather than promoting reconciliation between the two countries.

"The task of the Congress should be to help promote a neutral, independent and credible mechanism. That neutral forum should not only include expert historians, legal scholars and political leaders from both Turkey and Armenia, but similar representatives from other countries, as well," Ballen said.

"After all, if the parliament of Turkey, or for that matter, Russia or France, were to pass a resolution condemning the United States for the genocide of American Indians in the 19th century, would that lead to acceptance and reconciliation in the US, or merely condemnation of the foreign government which judged American history?" he asked.

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.

Armenian Genocide recognition the only way to enhance Turkey’s prestige

19.05.2007
PanARMENIAN.Net

“The most efficient way to enhance Turkey’s prestige is to acknowledge the atrocities and apologize for them. This would put an end to the mistakes of the past and Turks could meet the future with an open heart,” Director of the Institute of CIS Studies Konstantin Zatulin writes in a letter addressed to Lala Ulker, an advisor at the Turkish Embassy in Moscow.

In his letter Zatulin brings in the words of well-known Turkish writer Ahmed Altan who used to say that the Armenian Genocide is a historical fact and it must not be forgotten.

“I cannot agree with you that the investigation of the Armenian Genocide issue is a task for historians only. As you know, atrocities are assessed by lawyers and not by historians. That is why this outrageous episode of the world history should be given a juridical assessment first of all. Documents are more than enough. Turkey’s policy towards Armenians at those times can be defined as genocide, as it’s interpreted by article 2 of UN 1948 Convention On the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

According to Zatulin, Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide is the most annoying factor in the Armenian-Turkish relations and hampers their normalization. Ankara’s stubborn desire to force Armenia to abandon its position on the Armenian Genocide issue in exchange for normalization of relations cements tension between the two states. I am hopeful that common sense will prevail in Ankara and it will take this painful but courageous and essential step that put an end to hostility between the two peoples,” the Russian politician writes.

Earlier, Ms. Lale Ulker accused Konstantin Zatulin of “jaundice and distortion of history” in response to his article titled “The bill on genocide will keep memory of Genocide awaken.”

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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 assigns persons with knowledge of Armenian in diplomatic posts for struggle against recognizing Genocide

17.05.2007
PanARMENIAN.Net

Turkish Foreign Ministry is going to send diplomats with knowledge of the Armenian language to countries with strong Armenian communities. This step is aimed at displaying the high professionalism in the struggle against recognizing the Armenian Genocide. According to a source in the Turkish MFA, together with Suleyman Gokca three more Turkish diplomats who know the Armenian language will be sent to the country’s consulate in the United Stated, where exists a strong Armenian community. The Turkish MFA will continue preparation of diplomats who know Armenian, APA reports.

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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.

Armenia will never compromise over Genocide issue

02.05.2007
PanARMENIAN.Net

“The policy of establishing relations with Turkey without any preconditions makes sense for Armenia and gives it the diplomatic high ground. Improvement in Turkish-Armenian relations is going to need a deeper basis in civil society, and the establishment of diplomatic relations not only helps in official relations but also in fostering civil society contacts,” Van Krikorian, Co-chair of the Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission (TARC) said in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net.

“Turkey has at various times put forward different conditions and changed those conditions as well as the emphasis on different conditions. At some points it has emphasized the need for Azerbaijan’s consent to the establishment of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia and at other points it has raised issues of border recognition and dropping discussion of the Armenian genocide as conditions. Once again, it is worth noting the victory of nationalist politics over statesmanship. Ironically, the Treaties of Moscow and Kars which set the current border also contain requirements that Turkey give Armenia free access across Turkey. Turkey’s continuing breach of those treaty requirements is a clear indicator that it is not really interested in territorial issues but has manufactured issues to appease domestic political forces holding the country back. Similarly, even though Turkey’s interest in the Turkish presence on Cyprus is great, it has diplomatic relations with Greece. The problem is not Armenian policy, the problem is in implementation and by that I mean in countering the interests which are interested in maintaining or even exacerbating differences rather than solving them,” he said.

“One thing is clear: Armenia will never compromise over the Genocide recognition issue for the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict,” he underscored.

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 Offer of Joint Commission with Armenians Still on the Table

Embassy, May 2nd, 2007
LETTERS

Like a fisherman who has thrown a lure in the lake, Turkey expects Armenians to bite its web of deceit. No deal as long as the Armenian genocide is not discussed freely in Turkey without hindrance from the state and the Turkish army. See Why do we invite them in the first place?.

The comments in a recent letter to the editor suggest that the "immoral" and "irresponsible" UN leadership has bowed to Turkish pressure and Turkey's objection to the reference in a UN exhibit to what is said to be the Armenian genocide. (Re: "Genocide Still a Touchy Term for the United Nations" Letters, April 18) It suggests this decision in turn means the UN is turning a blind eye to rape and murder in Sudan today. This calls for a reality check, to say the least.

Genocide is a very serious matter. It should not be treated with sensationalist claims. It requires the language of knowledge and sound historical research. Fortunately, more Canadians now know that Turkey has proposed to Armenia to form a joint commission of historians, archivists and other experts to investigate the issue free from propaganda, and to share the findings with the international community. But the Armenian side seems to prefer to rely on generally held views rather than engage in a serious study of all archives.

The fact remains that Turks do not deny the tragic human suffering of the Armenians along with others; they reject being portrayed as perpetrators of a crime they have not committed. The Armenian narrative draws false conclusions from a reflection of events whose reality can still be attested through positive historical inquiry. The memory of so many dead, Armenian and Turkish alike, is painful and needs to be respected. But one-sided incrimination is not the proper way for that, especially when the offer for a proper joint study is still on the table.

YONET TEZEL
First Counsellor
Embassy of Turkey
Ottawa, Ont.

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.

Will Ankara’s Armenian initiative work?

26.04.2007
Today's Zaman
By LALE SARIIBRAHIMOGLU
loglu@todayszaman.com

Present day Turkey's rulers in between their four walls of ego, anchored in their imperial past and the second largest army in NATO for no other reason than to keep internal security, are deluding themselves by thinking the world and Armenians are naive to the point of idiocy. They discard voluminous research done by a large body of scholars over time as propaganda and shamelessly think that they can manipulate world opinion through advertising at no other date than on the commemoration of the Armenian genocide.

Yet another April 24 was commemorated by many countries as the day to mourn for the Armenians believed to have been subjected to a so-called genocide during World War I at the hands of Ottoman Turks.

Ankara, denying the event was genocide, does accept that there were killings of Armenians that took place under Ottoman Turkish rule between 1915 and 1918. Ankara however refutes the characterization of the events as genocide and says that the deaths were not the result of a deliberate campaign, but rather took place during the relocation of Armenians within the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

However since around 18 countries worldwide, as well as the majority of US states, recognize the World War I incidents as genocide, Ankara has long faced a difficult task in proving the opposite. This is mainly because it had not launched any tangible initiative, until 2005 when the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) offered the establishment of a joint committee of Turkish and Armenian historians, who would investigate whether the World War I events were indeed genocide.

Under strong pressure, mainly from the hard-line Armenian diaspora, Yerevan has so far refrained from accepting the Turkish offer, which also contained a pledge to open all the Turkish archives without any limitations.

Ankara has long been complaining about the failure of the powerful nations of the world, such as the US, Britain and Russia, to convince and encourage Yerevan to agree to the Turkish offer for the establishment of the joint historians committee. Many Turkish diplomats believe that Yerevan cannot single-handedly take a step to agree on meeting with Turkish historians and that powerful nations should therefore play a role in bringing Yerevan to the table to discuss the matter.

In an attempt to renew its joint committee idea, Ankara launched a campaign on the same day of the commemoration of the so-called Armenian genocide, April 24. Selecting five influential US dailies, including the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, Ankara called on Armenia, in a full page advert, to join the committee in an attempt to shed light on what happened in 1915.

The advert states that third parties can participate in the committee's work, while guaranteeing that Turkey will open all its archives without any restrictions. Turkey is ready to face its past, said the same ad, calling on Armenia to do same.

Such an initiative, as far as I know, comes 88 years after the British High Commissioner based in İstanbul, acting on an Ottoman Turkish request, invited some countries to participate in a commission to investigate the alleged Armenian genocide. This request, turned down by Britain the same year, was proof of reluctance on the part of some European countries to investigate the matter, writes Turkey's veteran diplomat Gürsel Demirok in his latest book "Turks in Europe from the Viewpoint of a Consul General."

But between 1919 and 2005 we have to admit that Turkey did not do much at all to have its case heard through the examination of its archives.

Still Ankara's latest initiatives should not be underestimated, though coming quite late, and should be heard and responded to positively by Armenia as well as by other nations with influence on Yerevan.

One of those countries is of course the US, where there has been an influential Armenian lobby in the US Congress in particular, which could influence Armenia in agreeing to the Turkish offer.

This offer also proves Turkey's sincerity in shedding light on the events of 1915. Perhaps for the first time in its history, Turkey has been displaying its readiness to face the claims and unearth the realities, if possible.

Thus publishing the advert directly taking on Armenia as an interlocutor, Ankara has been doing the right thing. But this initiative can only bear fruit if the powerful nations of the world, in particular the US, take genuine steps to convince Armenia to agree to the Turkish offer of the joint historians committee.

The convening of the committee can also be expected to mark the beginning of establishing confidence between the two neighbors, helping interaction between the peoples of both countries, while contributing to the reduction of historic enmity.


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.

Jewish groups lobby against ‘Armenian genocide’ resolution in US Congress

26.04.2007
Today's Zaman İstanbul

Below it says, "US-based Jewish groups demanded that voting on congressional resolutions urging the US administration to recognize an alleged genocide of Armenians be delayed. "

As if 92 years were not sufficient. Justice delayed is justice denied. At some point in time the US-based Jewish groups have to answer to their conscience.

In a letter addressing influential members of US Congress, including head of the House of Representatives' Foreign Relations Committee Tom Lantos, US-based Jewish groups demanded that voting on congressional resolutions urging the US administration to recognize an alleged genocide of Armenians be delayed.

The letter was jointly signed by B'nai B'rith International, the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA). The letter included an annex -- a letter signed by the Turkish Jewish Community -- which said maintenance of good relations between Turkey and Israel and among Turkey, the US and Israel were crucial at a time when the US faces troubles in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Two separate resolutions are pending at the US Senate and the House of Representatives, urging the administration to recognize the World war I era killings of Anatolian Armenians as genocide. Turkey has warned that passage of the resolutions in the US Congress would seriously harm relations with Washington and impair cooperation in Iraq and Afghanistan. The US administration has said it was opposed to the resolution, yet the congressional process is an independent one. In his message for April 24, which Armenians claim marks the anniversary of the beginning of a systematic genocide campaign at the hands of the late Ottoman Empire, US President George W. Bush remained adhered to the administration policy of not referring to the incidents as genocide.

"Each year on this day, we pause to remember the victims of one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century, when as many as 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives in the final years of the Ottoman Empire, many of them victims of mass killings and forced exile," Bush said. Turkey categorically rejects the claims of genocide and says as many Turks were killed when the Armenians took up arms against the Ottoman Empire in collaboration with the invading Russian army.

Bush, in his message, also called for the normalization of ties between Turkey and Armenia: "Today, we remember the past and also look forward to a brighter future. We commend the individuals in Armenia and Turkey who are working to normalize the relationship between their two countries. A sincere and open examination of the historic events of the late-Ottoman period is an essential part of this process. The United States supports and encourages those in both countries who are working to build a shared understanding of history as a basis for a more hopeful future," he said.

The Bush administration dismissed its former ambassador in Yerevan last year after he violated the US policy and called the events "genocide." Ambassador John Evans was insistent on his stance when he spoke at the National Press Club in Washington and said Turkey should accept "historical facts." He also claimed that Turkey's efforts had played a role in the abrupt termination of his duty as the US ambassador in Yerevan.


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 finds Canadian premier's Armenian "genocide" remarks unacceptable

April 27 2007
Anatolia News Agency
Turkey

The articler below says "Turkey's proposal to establish a joint commission of historians is still on the table and has been brought widely to the attention of the international public opinion. This commission will be open to all concerned and competent historians regardless of their nationality,"

Here is the answer given by the Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan:

"TNA: If there isn't even agreement among the world's leading historians and experts on the 1915 tragedy, what was wrong with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan's call last year to set up a joint committee of historians and experts to deal with the issue together?

OSKANYAN: I've got to be very honest with you here, we think it's not a genuine proposal, it's a smokescreen for Europeans to think that Turkey has made a positive step. Let me explain why we think it's a smokescreen.

Because of three reasons. One, there's already such a commission like many Turkish scholars, Armenians and foreign scholars have debated the issue, they have discussed the issue and they have declared their position. Those scholars wrote a letter to Prime Minister Erdogan when he issued this invitation and they said: Mr. Prime Minister, that issue has been already studied by different scholars and the conclusions are very clear. It is a genocide, so there's no need for further discussion. And second, with the law within Article 301, you can't be serious about such recommendations. I guess that if your scholars are on the commission, study this topic, they can't accept that it's a genocide. This is what it is. You have 301, that says if you say there's a genocide or even discuss the issue of the events of 1915, you can be punished. It's not compatible. Then today there's a vacuum between the Turkish and Armenian governments, between those two states, because there's no diplomatic relations. The border is even closed. So how do you imagine creating that commission among historians? How will they meet? Where? How will they interact? So there are many problems to be dealt with correctly." HERE.

Ankara, 26 April: "We find this reference in the statement of the Canadian prime minister unacceptable, unjust and incompatible with our relations as friends and allies," Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said when commenting on Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's statement on 24 April related to the events of 1915 to which he referred as "genocide".

Releasing a statement, the MFA said, "Turkey remains committed to preserving its good will and constructive approach in order to assure that the events of 1915 are understood correctly in their entirety by the Turks, the Armenians and other nations."

"Turkey's proposal to establish a joint commission of historians is still on the table and has been brought widely to the attention of the international public opinion. This commission will be open to all concerned and competent historians regardless of their nationality," the statement pointed out.

"We regret Prime Minister Harper's statement which will contribute neither to the promotion of the Turkish-Canadian relations nor to a possible rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia. We believe that Mr Harper continues to be misled, and suggest that he encourages competent Canadian historians into studying the events of 1915 on a proper basis," it added.

Genocide recognition sought Ex-U.S. ambassador to Armenia urges Congress to act on legislation

04/24/2007
LA Daily News
BY LISA FRIEDMAN, Washington Bureau

"You cannot have reconciliation without that important stage of recognizing the truth."

WASHINGTON - The former U.S. ambassador to Armenia called on Congress Tuesday to pass legislation officially recognizing the post-World War I slaughter of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as a genocide.

John Evans, who resigned his post after coming under fire from the State Department for calling the 1915 massacres "genocide" during a 2005 speech at the University of California at Berkeley, called congressional recognition the key to moving forward.

"I do believe this Congress should pass this resolution," Evans told a gathering at the National Press Club. "The current state of affairs is not good for Turkey, is not good for Armenia ... and it's not good for America."

Evans' speech marked the anniversary of the start of the massacres. President George W. Bush issued a statement of remembrance, but stopped short of calling the killings a genocide.

"I join my fellow Americans and Armenian people around the world in commemorating this tragedy," Bush said. "The world must never forget this painful chapter of its history."

A resolution on the issue - introduced by Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, and others - has been stalled for years. But with Democrats now in charge of Congress, some believe it's chance of passage is close than ever before.

The administration continues to oppose the bill, citing a likely and dangerous rift between the United States and Turkey if it passes.

Evans, who is writing a book due out in the spring about his tenure in Armenia and his subsequent departure from foreign service, said the State Department does not to his knowledge have a written policy against using the word genocide to describe the massacre of as many as 1.5 million Armenians.

But, he said, the word is "taboo" in Washington and State Department officials refer to it internally as "the g-word."

Nearly two-dozen countries recognize the Armenian Genocide. Turkey, however, strenuously objects to the label.

While Turkish officials widely acknowledge Armenians were killed, they place the number at about 300,000. They also note that Armenians joined forces with the French and Russians in the chaotic aftermath of World War I, and point out that thousands of Turks were killed as well.

Evans on Tuesday said he believes all historical archives on the topic should become public and acknowledged there are unanswered questions on both sides.

"Probably it is not possible to get agreement on all of the history, but if we could get agreement on some of the history, that would be progress," he said.

"You cannot have reconciliation without that important stage of recognizing the truth."

lisa.friedman@langnews.com

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.

Trouble at the L.A. Times

Wednesday, April 25, 2007
LA Weekly
By Daniel Hernandez

Has the censure in Turkey on journalists washed offshore on the shores of the USA? Is America compromising its most enduring and cherished symbol in order to side with denialist Turkey for selfish reasons? Is this a sign for things to come if America remains silent on the formal recognition of the Armenian genocide in order not to offend an ally who does not think twice about threatening the USA on Iraq assistance? America wake up!

An editor kills a Page One story on Armenian genocide, and charges of bias fly

Did the Los Angeles Times kill a front-page article about the fight over the recognition of the Armenian genocide because its writer, Mark Arax, is Armenian?

It’s a question L.A. Times managing editor Douglas Frantz would probably prefer not to address.

News broke earlier this week that Frantz killed Arax’s story in a terse email message to the writer because, Frantz said, Arax had “a conflict of interest” and a “position on the issue.” Frantz was referring to a 2005 letter in which Arax, four other Armenian Times staff writers and legal affairs reporter Henry Weinstein reminded the paper’s top editors to refer to the genocide as genocide, in accordance with the paper’s style rules. The 2005 letter had been well-received, acknowledged, and, sources at the paper tell the L.A. Weekly, forgotten.

But in his recent email to Arax, obtained by the Weekly, Frantz characterized the letter as a “petition,” as in some form of activism. He also told Arax that he “went around [the] system” in a bid to land the story assignment, by dealing with an editor in the Times Washington bureau, Robert Ourlian, who is Armenian American.

So Frantz reassigned the story to Washington reporter Rich Simon, who turned around a decorous and somewhat routine take on Turkey’s ongoing mission to block Congress from recognizing the slaughter of more than 1 million Armenians by Ottoman Turkey during World War I, something several Western developed countries - including France and Canada - have already done. The revised Times article ran under the headline, “Genocide Resolution Still Far From Certain” on Saturday, April 21, four days before Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day in L.A. Arax was given a consolation tagline at the end of the article for having “contributed” some reporting.

Arax, sounding incensed, sent an email to some of his fellow reporters, which made its way to the Weekly.

Here’s how it started: “Colleagues, You should know that I had a Page One story killed this week by Doug Frantz. His stated rationale for killing the piece had nothing to do with any problems with the story itself. In an email to me, he cited no bias, no factual errors, no contextual mishaps, no glaring holes.”

Arax then spelled out the holes he saw in Frantz’s objections, reiterating that the 2005 letter was not a petition, and that the standard process was used with Ourlian to assign and edit the story. And he pushed the dispute up a notch, going so far as to suggest that the only person in the dustup who has a bias or personal stance is Frantz, who lived in Turkey for years.

Said Arax, in his email: “Because his logic is so illogical, questions must be raised about Frantz’ own objectivity, his past statements to colleagues that he personally opposes an Armenian genocide resolution and his friendship with Turkish government officials, including the consul general in Los Angeles who’s quoted in my story. Frantz is heavily involved and invested in defending the policies of Turkey.”

Arax ended the note by sharing the news that he has filed a discrimination complaint against Frantz inside the paper, and that a Times Human Resources Department inquiry was launched. The reporter, based in Fresno and officially assigned to the paper’s West Sunday magazine, declined to speak to the Weekly, citing the internal investigation. Ourlian, the Washington editor, and Frantz, also declined to comment. Times editor James O’Shea and publisher David Hiller did not reply to interview requests.

But Harut Sassounian, publisher of the local Armenian paper The California Courier, has been more than willing to publicly address the dispute. On Tuesday, Sassounian began circulating a scathing article he penned calling for Frantz’s resignation, accusing Frantz of discriminating against Arax because of his ethnic background.

Sassounian framed the dispute in terms the rest of Los Angeles media can easily digest. “By the same logic, Frantz is implying that Latinos will be barred from writing on illegal immigrants, African-American journalists from covering civil rights, Jewish-American reporters from writing about the Holocaust and Asian-Americans [from] covering issues peculiar to their community,” Sassounian wrote.

Sassounian told the Weekly he learned about the matter from people who had been interviewed by Arax and were waiting for his story to be published. He said Arax never called him. The Courier publisher, based in Glendale, said he had recently met David Hiller at a dinner event and had a cordial conversation with him. So he called the Times publisher directly to find out what happened to Arax’s piece. Within minutes, Sassounian said, he got a call back - from Douglas Frantz.

Sassounian said Frantz was “abrupt” and “evasive,” telling Sassounian that there was “no problem” and that the story needed “depth and balance.” Sassounian said he warned Frantz that if it turned out Arax’s story was axed simply because Arax is Armenian, a confrontation would arise between the paper and the L.A. Armenian community, which happens to be the largest in the world outside Armenia. That’s when Frantz went bonkers, Sassounian said.

“He says to me, ‘I’m going to hang up on you! You’ve threatened me! I said, ‘I didn’t threaten you.’ He said, ‘You threatened me. I’m going to hang up.’”

And Frantz did, he contends. Hiller and O’Shea, Sassounian said, treated him much differently. Sassounian said that in conversations with the Times publisher and editor, they apologized for Frantz’s behavior and said they would not tolerate any bias against the Armenian community in their paper’s pages. “They all apologized for his behavior, for accusing me of threatening him,” Sassounian said.

When the Sassounian piece started making the rounds, Frantz quickly shot back, defending his actions to media blog LAObserved: “I put a hold on a story because of concerns that the reporter had expressed personal views about the topic in a public manner and therefore was not a disinterested party,” Frantz told the blog.

But who’s really the disinterested party here?

Frantz was a longtime correspondent based in Istanbul for both The New York Times and the L.A. Times. As Sassounian noted, Frantz is scheduled to be back in Istanbul next month to moderate a panel for the International Press Institute’s World Congress that is titled, “Turkey: Sharing the Democratic Experience.” Among the panelists is Andrew Mango, who Sassounian describes as a “notorious genocide denialist.”

And then there’s the matter of Frantz’s coverage of the Armenian genocide while at The New York Times. In January 2001 the paper ran a correction on Frantz's reporting, for downplaying the genocide. A month later, the Armenian National Committee of America put out an action alert again accusing Frantz of downplaying the genocide and casting it as merely an Armenian allegation. The paper never ran a second correction. Frantz joined the L.A. Times as a reporter in Istanbul, brought on by his friend, then-managing editor Dean Baquet, who left the paper in spectacular fashion late last year and then rejoined The New York Times.

The L.A. Times dispute over Arax’s killed story became public on Tuesday, April 24 - the massacre’s traditional remembrance day. All day long, cars and trucks driving in Little Armenia in Hollywood were draped with Armenia’s red, blue and orange flag. A somber march and rally was held on Hobart Street. The few young people the Weekly spoke with after the Unified Young Armenians rally said they had not heard of the controversy at the L.A. Times, but spoke with a refreshing sense of nuance about the imperatives of history.

“It’s politics,” said Sevak Ghazaryan, 19, a student at Glendale Community College. “Turkey and United States are very close. The United States has a military base in Turkey, and businesswise they import a lot of goods from Turkey for cheap price, likewise for oil. So therefore, Turkey plays a big role in business and economy for the U.S. It’s just politics.”

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 and the Armenian Genocide: Contemporary Reflections

4-24-2007
AINA
Source:www.newropeans-magazine.org
By Dr. Harry Hagopian

The modern-day Turkish establishment and its cohorts continue relentlessly to deny this genocide with rehearsed and glib arguments that are truly farcical were they not also shameful. Simply put, Armenians were almost wiped off the Ottoman map during the period 1915 till 1923 in a dual policy that blended a Turkish Ottoman desire for dominion over a pan-Turkic region with vengefulness for its bitter defeat in WWI

Today, on 24th April, Armenians will commemorate the 92nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. They will remember their forbears - well over one million Armenian men, women and children - who were killed in various odious ways by Ottoman Turkey under cover of WWI.

The serious academic world is well beyond 'researching' the Armenian Genocide. Many international associations and individual experts specialising in the history let alone psychology of genocide have established time and again the unarguable veracity of this event. However, the modern-day Turkish establishment and its cohorts continue relentlessly to deny this genocide with rehearsed and glib arguments that are truly farcical were they not also shameful. Simply put, Armenians were almost wiped off the Ottoman map during the period 1915 till 1923 in a dual policy that blended a Turkish Ottoman desire for dominion over a pan-Turkic region with vengefulness for its bitter defeat in WWI. One need only read Donald Bloxham's thoughtful The Great Game of Genocide: Imperialism, Nationalism and the Destruction of Ottoman Armenians or Taner Akçam's trenchant A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility that uses Ottoman Turkish state documents and contemporary Turkish statements to corroborate that the genocide against Armenians was a gripping historical reality. The city of Trabzon for example, where Hrant Dink's killer purportedly originated from, is simply one example amongst countless others of "killing members of a group" or "deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part" (according to Art II [a] & [c] of the Genocide Convention 1948) where Turkish authorities in 1915 herded thousands of Armenians on boats, set them off into the Black Sea and later drowned them with sheer impunity.

Given this sobering reality, I believe that Turkish contemporary refusal to admit the guilt of its predecessor regime of the crime of genocide is due in part to a psychological phenomenon of individual and collective defensiveness against the perception of being accused by its enemies (Armenians) and by its non-friends (supporters of the Armenian efforts for recognition). As was written in an editorial I read only last week, if Turkey were to be candid about its past rather than hide behind threats, intimidation and obfuscations, it would recall that the Sultan tried to distance himself in 1916 from the actions of the CUP, the 'state within the state', and reassured the British Government that the perpetrators of those egregious crimes would be punished - as was the case with the four trials whose proceedings were included in the government gazette.

Today, this phase of denial intensifies once more despite the encouraging initial steps adopted by Turkey when negotiations for its possible accession to the EU started formally in 2005. Now, however, instead of moving forward, Turkey shows perceptible signs of regression as it passes laws such as Articles 301 or 312 of the Turkish Penal Code that have prosecuted Turks and non-Turks alike, those living in the country or abroad, either for "defaming Turkishness" or for "insulting Ataturk". Those who have suffered the brunt of such laws include the likes of Orhan Pamuk, Perihan Magden, Murat Belge, Ismet Berkan, Hasan Cemal, Elif Safak, Semih Sokmen, Ibrahim Kaboglu, Baskin Oran, Halil Altindere, Murat Pabuc, Eren Keskin, Ragip Zarakolu, Ahmet Onal, Fatih Tas, Rahmi Yildirim, Erol Ozkoray, Osman Tiftikci and Sirri Ozturk, Osman Pamukoğlu, EU Commissioner Joost Lagendjik, HH Karekin II, Michael Dickinson, Ipek Calislar, Abdullah Dilipak and Mehmet Sevki Eygi, Yalçın Ergündoğan and Ibrahim Cesmecioglu, Attila Yayla, Belma Akçura, Cuneyt Arcayurek, Tuncay Ozkan, Taner Akçam, Attila Tuygan and Mehmet Ali Varış. In fact, merely defining the Armenian deportations in 1915 as "genocide" is interpreted as "defaming Turkishness". One such instance occurred when Erhan Akay was convicted to five months of prison for his article in Cagri entitled Time to Confront the Armenian Question After 90 Years.

But it is even more disgraceful in the institutional politics of denial pursued by Turkey when international organisations that are meant to uphold International law and speak out against genocide kow-tow to the political pressures of denial. I cite here how the UN, under its new leadership, bowed recently to Turkey's demands and blocked a scheduled opening of an exhibition at UN headquarters commemorating the 13th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide solely because it had mentioned the mass murder of the Armenians. Ankara was offended by a sentence that explained how genocide came to be recognised as a crime under international law: "Following World War I during which one million Armenians were murdered in Turkey, Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin urged the League of Nations to recognize crimes of barbarity as international crimes." The British-based organisers of this exhibition were willing to omit the words "in Turkey", but this was clearly not enough for the UN aficionados, and the exhibit has been put on hold. Nearer to our own European shores, I also cite the [heretofore successful] Turkish pressures exercised over Germany, as current President of the Council of the European Union, to remove the case of the Armenian Genocide as an illustrative example (the other two are the Jewish Holocaust and Rwandan Genocide) for a pan-European law that is currently being drafted to outlaw genocide denial in all twenty-five EU countries.

When will Turkey decide to follow a post-nationalist attitude to history? When will it realise that every time it strives to curtail any discussion of the Armenian Genocide, it only draws wider attention to the subject and links today's Turkey with the crimes of its predecessor regime? When will certain elements within Turkish society realise that their campaign of vilification, libel, lies and smut on different Internet websites against prominent Turkish and foreign scholars or journalists the likes of Taner Akçam, Robert Fisk or Mike Joseph is not only scurrilous but depicts Turks in the least favourable light? Should Turkey not underline - rather than undermine - its Eurocentric credentials as it seeks to join the EU fold? Indeed, it should revise the Turkish Criminal Code and stop applying its Anti-Terror Law (TMY). It should also stop confiscating books, suspending or trying writers, journalists, publishers, intellectuals, translators and human rights activists, muzzling the press and discriminating against its different minorities instead of protecting them.

Once those rudimental changes are implemented and begin to take root, when Turkish judicial chauvinism expires, and when the Turkish establishment listens to some of its own academics and comes clean on the genocide by recognising it, Armenians would then express their responsibility by showing a necessary measure of soul-searching and dealing politically with their ninety-two-year-old emotional pain. Who knows, such a devolution might well lead toward neighbourliness let alone prosperity and ultimately forgiven friendships between Armenians and Turks - as was the case largely before the heinous pogroms of the late 1800's and the subsequent genocide.

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.

Armenian genocide debate

24-04-2007
Radio Netherlands
by Johan Huizinga

"Let's unearth the truth about what happened in 1915 together". That was the headline of a page-wide advertisement from the Turkish government in some international newspapers. Ankara hopes to win public support over the issue of the Armenian genocide in 1915.

The proposal to let Armenian and Turkish historians investigate the matter together, however, is not new and neither is the support from Washington for this idea. But the timing of the adverstisment, just before the annual commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, was very clever.

In the advertisement, Ankara invites Armenia to establish a joint commission of historians to investigate the 1915 killings of thousands of Armenians in the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Estimates range from 800,000 to 1.2 million Armenians who have died between 1915 and 1917 in the mass killings and deportation of Armenians. However, for mainly nationalistic reasons, Ankara still refuses to acknowledge that what happened was genocide, the planned extermination of an ethnic group.

Thorny issue

The genocide denial remains a thorny issue in Turkish relations not only with Armenia, but with the US, the EU and several European countries as well. That explains the advertisement, which also quotes US President George W Bush and his Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice who are backing the proposal. But according to Professor Eric Jan Zurcher, Turkey expert at Leiden University, neither the proposal, nor the American support is new.

The proposal is a few years old and has been categorically rejected by the Armenian government. The Armenians claim no extra research is needed to establish the historical facts. The Americans support the Turkish proposal since they are bound by the need to maintain good relations with Turkey and the demands from Armenian pressure groups. So in the end, the advertisement very much looks like a publicity stunt to win time for Turkey.

Fruitless debates

And the chances of any joint commission of historians reaching the same conclusions are still very small, fears Mr Zurcher. Historians appointed by the Armenian and Turkish governments will first of all be selected for their loyalty to the national points of view on this issue. So the attempt to find a common conclusion will most likely end up in some fruitless debates.

Then there remains another possible pitfall, warns Professor Zurcher. In the initial stages, Ankara hinted that such a joint commission of historians would get exclusive rights on the issue.

That could bar independent historians from using Turkish archives, for instance and it would possibly silence the debate on the Armenian Genocide for the time being which might be exactly what the Turks are after.

This leaves the Armenians, demonstrating at the Turkish embassy in The Hague, with their clear demands: a penalty on denial of the Armenian Genocide and no Turkish EU-membership without acknowledging the genocide by Ankara. Whether the Armenians will have it their way remains very doubtful however. Although more than 90 years have passed since the atrocities took place, the discussion is a long way from reaching a conclusion.

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.