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Serzh Sargsyan invites next President of Turkey to Yerevan to confront


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#1 Yervant1

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Posted 27 May 2014 - 09:33 AM

17:11 27/05/2014 » POLITICS

Serzh Sargsyan invites next President of Turkey to Yerevan to confront history

The Armenian Genocide 100th Anniversary Planning Commission held its 4th meeting today at Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex. The meeting was chaired by Commission chairman, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. 
The President specifically said in his opening remarks:
“I would like to inform you that I have sent invitations to leaders of a number of states to visit Armenia in 2015 and specifically on April 24 to pay tribute to the 1.5 million innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide together with us, to raise their voice against the crime of genocide and to record that the Armenian people not only survived this ordeal, but also took the path of revival. We not only survived, but also managed to unite and pave the way towards independent statehood – free Armenia.
“Ankara continues to speak about the necessity of setting up a commission of historians and opening the archives. First of all, it is known that Armenian archives have always been open to all researchers who were interested in the scientific aspect of the issue. Materials kept at scientific institutions and museums have also been open. But the point is that no archive work is needed for confronting the truth of the Armenian Genocide.
“Suffice it to enter any Armenian house or family and testimonies will fill the heart of any listener. Suffice it to visit Tsitsernakaberd on April 24 and see the meaning of that day for every Armenian – both in Armenia and Diaspora. Suffice it to go to any community in the Diaspora and ask how their ancestors appeared there. If the Turkish authorities are interested in the truth, they should come to Armenia and be near the Armenian people on April 24. I don’t think they will be able to speak about opening archives after that. Taking the occasion, I officially invite the next Turkish President – whoever is elected during the upcoming elections – to visit Armenia on April 24, 2015 and confront the clear historical evidence of the Armenian Genocide.
“Nevertheless, we do not feel hatred for the Turkish people. Moreover, we try to create conditions for the Armenian and Turkish peoples to be able to communicate with each other to find a way for reconciliation. This was our aim, and we remain committed to normalization of relations with Turkey without preconditions and opening the Armenian-Turkish border, although we hear only statements from Turkey about such a wish. If the wish is indeed sincere, Turkey knows the path towards reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey.” 
 

Source: Panorama.am



#2 Yervant1

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Posted 27 May 2014 - 09:39 AM

FRENCH AMBASSADOR SAYS HOLLANDE'S RECENT VISIT TO ARMENIA "VERY SUCCESSFUL"

May 26, 2014 | 18:34

YEREVAN. - French Ambassador described as "very successful" the
recent visit of Francois Hollande to Armenia. Henri Reynaud said the
visit testified about the level of friendly relations between the
two countries.

"It was the third state visit of President of France to Armenia
since 2006. Last two visits were made during a year and a half, and
next year President Hollande will pay a visit to Yerevan in April to
participate in the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide," Ambassador said.


The diplomat also noted that the main focus was to enhance trade and
economic cooperation between the two countries.

"The trip started with the Armenian-French business forum. France is
first among Western states in terms of investments in the Armenian
economy. We needed to provide the respective characteristics in terms
of bilateral trade," he added.

News from Armenia - NEWS.am



#3 Yervant1

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Posted 28 May 2014 - 08:58 AM

Sargsyan's invitation to Gul would be justified if Turkish leader
visited Armenia - Turkologist

21:01 * 27.05.14

In an interview with Tert.am, diplomat and Turkologist Ara Papyan said
he doesn't expect the Turkish leader to visit Armenia for next year's
Genocide centennial events despite the invitation by his Armenian
counterpart.


The analyst said Serzh Sargsyan's move could be considered justified
if Turkish President Abdullah Gul did really have an intention to come
to Armenia in 2015.


The Armenian leader voiced the call today at the meeting of the state
commission coordinating the Genocide centennial events. He said
particularly that the Turkish authorities have to be in the country,
next to the Armenian people on the Genocide centennial if they are
really interested in the historical truth.


Commenting on the remark, Mr Papyan said he believes that it signals a
kind of progress but added that he would prefer Turkey to propose such
an initiative.

"It is obvious that the Armenian-Turkish relations have not seen any
progress to date, so the centennial is an opportunity for both sides.
Hence the things can be said to have somehow got off the ground. I
would prefer Turkey to be the initiator as a side facing
responsibility, but I thinkErdogan's speech on Genocide was very
highly valued. So Serzh Sargsyan had to decide on steps out of the
ordinary. If the Turkish side accepts the invitation and visits
Tsitsernakaberd [the Yerevan park where the Genocide memorial and the
Genocide museum-institute are situated], it will be possible to record
a certain progress in the relations," he noted.

Papyan added in the meantime that he doesn't think the Turkish side's
possible rejection will raise the country's advantages. "Whether an
invitation or an address, if they accept it and come to Armenia, it
will be justified. If not, the Turkish side will suffer more losses, I
think. It is a calculated move because something had to follow
Erdogan's speech," he explained.

http://www.tert.am/e...4/05/27/papyan/
 



#4 Yervant1

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Posted 29 May 2014 - 09:55 AM

POPE FRANCIS MAY VISIT ARMENIA IN 2015

18:21 * 28.05.14

In an interview with La Croix, ten days after Catholicos Garegin
II's meeting with Pope Francis in Vatican, Head of the press office
of the Holy See of Echmiadzin Shahe Ananyan said that Pope Francis
may visit Armenia.

"I am ninety percent sure that the Pope will visit Echmiadzin in 2016,
to participate in canonization of the Armenian Genocide victims,"
Ananyan said.

According to La Croix, the visit will be of great importance. It will
suggest Vatican recognizing the Armenian Genocide, which was the case
during John Paul II's visit to Armenia.

http://www.tert.am/e...28/elgise-pape/



#5 Yervant1

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Posted 29 May 2014 - 10:25 AM

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT’S CONTROVERSIAL INVITATION PANNED

 

  • Daily Sabah
  • Updated : 28.05.2014 16:00:20
  • Published : 28.05.2014 15:55:49
 
 
1401282006491.jpg
ISTANBUL — Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan recently created a stir when he invited the next president of Turkey, who will be elected in the upcoming August presidential elections, to the 100th Commemorative Ceremony of the alleged Armenian Genocide planned to take place in Armenia next year.

Expressing at the commemoration committee meeting that Turkey has taken unprecedented steps toward reconciliation with Armenia, Sargsyan also stated that Turkey has continued its "100-year-old policy of denial."

"I officially invite the president of Turkey to Armenia to face the compelling evidence of the Armenian Genocide on April 25, 2015," said the president, who received a wide range of criticism from Turkish media outlets which called his invitation arrogant and impertinent.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at a speech last month expressed his condolences to the grandchildren of Armenians who were killed at the beginning of the 20th century. The Armenian diaspora, along with Armenia, have called on Turkey to recognize the death of 1.5 million people due to the forced emigration policy of Armenians who lived in Turkey during the later years of the Ottoman Empire as "genocide," while Turkey claims 300,00 to 500,000 Armenians were killed along with Turkish people. 


#6 Yervant1

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Posted 30 May 2014 - 10:26 AM

I believe the Armenian President scored a big one against Erdogan.
] COMMENTS[/size][/background]

De Waal: Inviting Turkish authorities to Genocide centennial was clever and positive move

Thomas De Waal, expert at Carnegie Institute, has commented on the invitation made by the President of Armenia to the President of Turkey to visit Armenia in 2015.
“I think this is a clever and positive move from the Armenian government, inviting the Turkish authorities to be part of the Genocide centennial, rather than outside it. It follows a clever and positive move from prime minister Erdogan when he offered condolences to the Armenian people—even if he did not make a full apology,” De Waal told Panorama.am.
De Waal does not expect that either side will change its position on the Genocide and 1915; neither does he expect that the Turkish president will accept the invitation. “But at least we are seeing a competition in positive gestures, rather than a competition in negative statements,” he added.
Related: Serzh Sargsyan invites next President of Turkey to Yerevan to confront history

 



Source: Panorama.am

 



#7 Yervant1

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Posted 30 May 2014 - 10:39 AM

THE BALL IS IN TURKEY'S COURT NOW, SAYS ARMENIAN EXPERT

14:29 * 29.05.14

By inviting Turkey's future president to Armenia for next year's
Genocide centennial events, the Armenian leader actually kicked the
ball to Turkey's court, an orientalist has said, describing Serzh
Sargsyan's move as a heavy blow to the Turkish poltical elite.

At a news conference on Thursday, Ruben Melkonyan, a Turkologist and
a deputy dean at the Yerevan State University's Oriental Studies
Department, said he thinks Serzh Sargsyan's statement had been
elaborated thoroughly enough to create serious problems for Turkey's
political circles in accordance with the letter and spirit of the
21st century information warfare.

"That's one of the proofs that there has been no official objection or
response so far, although in the past couple of days, the Turkish media
have been busy with posting the text of the president's statements in
an attempt to analyze it. It is really a very interesting step, so I
think the Turkish side does have an occasion for long considerations,"
he noted.

The expert said he is under the impression that Turkey now seeks
to spread false statements on the level of high-ranking officials
in an effort to prove that the Armenians society that the country
is really carrying out serious changes, with the Turkish political
circles having made re-evaluations in connection with the 1915 events.

"ôhe Armenian president's statement and the invitation to Turkey's
future president marked an important divide between false statements
and real objectives. That divide is the following: Turkey must give up
the practice of false statements, and if it pursues sincere motives,
Turkey's future president who, in most likelihood, is the current
prime minister must visit Armenia in 2015 to bow to the memory of
the victims," he added.

Melkonyan said he finds that the Armenian leader's attempt to respond
to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's April 23 condolence
address was an important remark in his statement. "Armenia's
top leadership actually evaluated the address as an integrity of
non-constructive and false Turkish statements concealed behind the
veil of good will," he said.

As for further efforts to probe into archive for more historical
records, Melkonyan said he thinks that historians have done their job
long ago, by making public the existing archive documents. He added any
new facts, which may not have been known to date, will simply come to
re-affirm the proven fact that what happened in 1915 really genocide.

The historian said at the end that knowing Erdogan well, he doesn't
expect him to be in Armenia in 2015.

Armenian News - Tert.am
 



#8 Yervant1

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Posted 30 May 2014 - 11:05 AM

SARGSYAN'S INVITATION TO TURKEY'S FUTURE LEADER WAS BATTLE CALL, SAYS DASHNAK POLITICIAN

21:17 * 29.05.14

The call which the Armenian president made earlier this week, inviting
Turkey's future leader to Yerevan for the 2015 Genocide centennial
events, was a kind of battle call to the country, according to a senior
representative of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaksutyun.

"This is no longer an invitation for watching a football match;
it is rather a battle call to Turkey in response to the country's
renewed policies of denial. I believe we will frequently eyewitness
the continuation of those policies until April 24," Giro Manoyan, the
head of the party's International Secretariat in Yerevan, told Tert.am.

President Serzh Sargsyan voiced the call at the Genocide centennial
commemoration commission's meeting on Tuesday. He said particularly
that the Turkish authorities have to be in the country, next to the
Armenians next year if they are really interested in knowing the
historical truth.

Asked why Turkey hasn't responded to the statement so far, the
politician said he doesn't think that a failure to do so would be
surprising at all. "I don't rule out the possibility of their attempt
to ignore the statement just as they did in 2005. After they proposed
creating a commission of historians, Armenia's then president [Robert
Kocharyan] wrote a letter, warning against leaving the entire burden
to historians, and calling efforts to set up a government commission
and establish diplomatic solutions. But they were telling lies to the
world for three years on end, saying that 'Armenia has not responded
to our proposal'. I suppose they will demonstrate the same attitude
to this statement," Manoyan said, adding that he doesn't think Turkey
expected such a response by Armenia.

Armenian News - Tert.am
 



#9 Yervant1

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Posted 16 January 2015 - 10:55 AM

What a cheap ploy!
 

 

Erdogan invites Armenian President to Turkey on April 24

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has invited Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to ceremonies marking the centenary of the Battle of Gallipoli in Canakkale in late April, the Hurriyet Daily News reported.
With plans to hold massive ceremonies to mark the centenary of the Battle of Gallipoli on April 23 and 24, Erdogan has sent out invitations to the leaders of 102 countries, including Armenian President Sargsyan and U.S. President Barack Obama.
The Turkish government is set to organize ceremonies with the participation of 8,500 Australians and 2,000 New Zealanders. The U.K.’s Prince Charles and his two sons, and the prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand, are expected to take part in commemorations.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has signed invitation letters to his counterparts, while President Erdogan has sent letters to the heads of state, accompanied by the message, “We would be delighted to have you with us on the 100th anniversary commemorations of the Battle of Gallipoli.”
Speaking to daily Hurriyet, a government official recalled that along with the many other ethnic groups who fought in the ranks of the Ottoman military, the Armenians also fought at Gallipoli. “We fought together in Gallipoli. That’s why we have extended the invitation to Sargsyan as well,” the official added.

 



Source: Panorama.am

 



#10 Yervant1

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Posted 16 January 2015 - 10:57 AM

Armenia says go f*ck yourself!
 

 

President Sargsyan responds to Turkish PM Erdogan’s invitation

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan responded to Turkish Prime-Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s invitation to visit Centennial commemoration event dedicated to the Battle of Gallipoli in Turkey, reminding his earlier invitation to visit Yerevan on the same day – April 24 – when the Armenians of the world together with the international community will be marking the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.
“Leaving aside the well-known meaning of the Battle of Gallipoli or the controversial role of Turkey in two world wars, one must recall that peace and friendship first and foremost should be based on the courage to confront the past, on the historical justice, as well as on recognition of full-fledged universal memory and not selective approach”, - reads the response, as published by the Press office of the Armenian President.
“I would advise to remember and include in your calls of international peace also a message to the world to recognize the Armenian Genocide and mark the memory of its one-and-a-half million victims. It is duty of each of us to deliver the real and undistorted history to the next generations, thus preventing the repetition of massacres and building grounds for the rapprochement and further cooperation among nations, especially those that are neighbors”, - President Sargsyan wrote.



Source: Panorama.am

 



#11 Yervant1

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Posted 16 January 2015 - 11:46 AM

ERDOGAN INVITES ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TO TURKEY ON APRIL 24

12:52, 16 Jan 2015

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has extended an invitation to
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to ceremonies marking the centenary
of the Battle of Gallipoli in Canakkale in late April, which coincides
with the Armenian Remembrance Day, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

With plans to hold massive ceremonies to mark the centenary of
the Battle of Gallipoli on April 23 and 24, Erdogan has sent out
invitations to the leaders of 102 countries, including Armenian
President Sargsyan and U.S. President Barack Obama.

The ANZAC Troops (Australia-New Zealand Army Corps) disembarked onto
the shores of Canakkkale on April 25, 1915 in a bid to destroy Turkish
artillery units, but were defeated in bloody combat that continued
until December 1915. Ever since, Australians and New Zealanders
have commemorated the Battle of Gallipoli on April 25, on the date
of the first landing, and on Aug 6 to Aug 10, the second landing of
the ANZAC troops.

Marking the 100th anniversary of the battle for Turkey, Australia and
New Zealand, the Turkish government is set to organize ceremonies with
the participation of 8,500 Australians and 2,000 New Zealanders. The
U.K.'s Prince Charles and his two sons, and the prime ministers of
Australia and New Zealand, are expected to take part in commemorations.

A day before the April 24 ceremonies in Canakkale, the government
is planning to host a reception and a "Summit of Peace" in Istanbul
on April 23, the day when Turkey marks the 95th anniversary of the
foundation of the Turkish Parliament.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has signed invitation letters
to his counterparts, while President Erdogan has sent letters to the
heads of state, accompanied by the message, "We would be delighted
to have you with us on the 100th anniversary commemorations of the
Battle of Gallipoli."

Speaking to daily Hurriyet, a government official recalled that along
with the many other ethnic groups who fought in the ranks of the
Ottoman military, the Armenians also fought at Gallipoli. "We fought
together in Gallipoli. That's why we have extended the invitation to
Sargsyan as well," the official added.

However, April 24, 1915 is also the date of commemoration of the 100th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Sargsyan has invited world
leaders to Yerevan on the same day, and neither Sargsyan nor Obama
are expected to accept Turkey's invitation to attend the ceremonies
in Turkey.

http://www.armradio....ey-on-april-24/
 



#12 Yervant1

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Posted 17 January 2015 - 10:54 AM

PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN RESPONDS TO TURKISH PRESIDENT'S LETTER-INVITATION

19:29, 16 January, 2015

YEREVAN, 16 JANUARY, ARMENPRESS. President of the Republic of Armenia,
in response to President of Turkey Recep Tayyib Erdogan's letter
in which the Turkish President has invited the President of the
Republic of Armenia to attend the ceremonies commemorating the 100th
anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Gallipoli in Turkey, has
sent a response letter in which the following is particularly stated:

"Dear Mr. President,

I received your invitation to participate in the commemoration
ceremonies marking the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli.

Armenian artilleryman, Captain Sargis Torosyan joined the troops of
the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Gallipoli and was an officer who
was self-dedicated to ensuring the defense and security of the Empire.

That same year, the wave of massacres and forceful deportations
planned and perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenian
people also led to the death of even Sargis Torosyan. It was as a
result of that unprecedented massacre that Rafael Lemkin coined the
term "genocide", and it was the impunity of that crime that prepared
ground for the Holocaust and the genocides in Ruanda, Cambodia and
Darfur. Leaving aside the significance of the Battle of Gallipoli or
Turkey's disputed role during WWI and WWII, we need to remember that
peace and friendship must first be hinged on the courage to confront
one's own past, historical justice and universal memory.

Alas, Turkey continues its conventional denial policy and is
"perfecting" its instrumentation for distorting history. This time
Turkey is marking the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli on
April 24, but the battle began on March 18, 1915 and lasted until late
January 1916, after which the allies' operation started on April 25.

What is the purpose if not to distract the world's attention from the
100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide?
I would advise you to
remember in your calls for world peace to make a call to the world
to recognize the Armenian Genocide and commemorate the 1.5 million
innocent victims. Each of us has a duty to transmit the real story
to the future generations and prevent the repetition of crimes and
prepare ground for the rapprochement and future cooperation between
peoples, especially neighboring peoples.

P.S. Your Excellency, a couple of months ago, I invited you to Yerevan
to respect the memory of the innocent martyrs of the Armenian Genocide
together on April 24, 2015. Armenians don't accept being hosted by
the guest without receiving a response to the guest's invitation."

http://armenpress.am...invitation.html
 



#13 Yervant1

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Posted 17 January 2015 - 11:01 AM

TURKOLOGIST VIEWS ERDOGAN'S STEP AS "INSOLENCE"

17:04, 16 January, 2015

YEREVAN, 16 JANUARY, ARMENPRESS. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoðan
has crudely violated the norms of diplomatic etiquette by inviting
President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan to Turkey on April
24. In an interview with "Armenpress", Turkologist Hakob Chakryan
mentioned that Erdoðan was aware that on April 24 all Armenians will
be marking the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Therefore,
sending such an invitation is humiliating.

"This is already a violation of all the norms of etiquette. By sending
the Turkish President an invitation to participate in the ceremony
commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on
April 24, Serzh Sargsyan threw the ball in the Turks' court once
again. Now, Erdoðan wants to take a step to respond. This isn't a
very reasonable way of taking the initiative from Serzh Sargsyan. The
Turkish President is competing with Sargsyan, but this time Erdoðan's
step can simply be referred to as insolence," Chakryan underscored,
adding that when inviting Sargsyan, Erdoðan knew very well that Serzh
Sargsyan wouldn't visit Turkey.

http://armenpress.am...-insolence.html



#14 Yervant1

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Posted 17 January 2015 - 11:12 AM

I think the MP is being optimistic, because the world is full of hypocrite leaders, who would sell their souls for interests. I hope and wish that I'm proven wrong on that day and the world will send a strong message to the thugs of Turkey by not going. Any leader who goes to Turkey is a morally bankrupt human being.

HERITAGE MP: TURKEY'S INITIATIVE IS THE HIGHEST DEGREE OF CYNICISM

17:17, 16.01.2015

YEREVAN. - Ankara's initiative to mark the centenary of the Gallipoli
battle on April 24, 2015 will hardly have many supporters in the
world and many people will realize what a cynic country Turkey is,
MP Tevan Poghosyan believes.

The only creative thought was to celebrate one of their victories
on the day marking centennial of the Armenian Genocide, Poghosyan
toldArmenian News-NEWS.am.

Earlier it was reported that Turkish leader Erdogan announced April 24
a day marking the centenary of the Gallipoli battle on April 24, 2015.

He said world leaders will be invited to attend the events.

"This is the highest degree of cynicism. The first reports on the
initiative first appeared last June. At this time we were on a friendly
visit to UK, and even British MPs expressed a very negative attitude,"
said Poghosyan, secretary of Heritage faction.

The MP assured that the initiative will hardy have supporters, and,
once again will reveal the real image of Turkey. Many people will
realize that Turkey is cynical, that it has not changed its policy
of denial and is not ready to face its own history.

"Thus, Turkey officials damaged their image rather than facilitated
implementation of the denial policy," Poghosyan emphasized.

http://news.am/eng/news/248099.html

 

 



#15 Yervant1

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Posted 18 January 2015 - 09:30 AM

April 24 date unrelated to Canakkale massacre - Armenian Turkologists

12:45 * 17.01.15


April 24 does not mark the anniversary of the Canakkale massacre, an
Armenian Turkologist has said, describing the Turkish president's move
to invite the Armenian leader to his country next year as
countermeasure ahead of the Genocide centennial.

"It was obvious long ago that Turkey was taking steps towards the
Dardanelle Battle's 100th anniversary. The decision to mark its
victory's centenary is obviously a political one and is first of all
aimed at diminishing and shadowing the significance of the events
dedicated to the Genocide anniversary," Levon Hovsepyan told Tert.am,
commenting on Recep Tayyip Erdogan's surprise move.

According to him, the international peace summit, which is to take
place in Istanbul on April 23, has been well-timed intentionally to
precede the Genocide centennial commemoration.

"Turkey will try, in the frameworks of such events, to send new
'messages' to the international
community, making calls for the maintenance of peace and universal
human values. Turkey seeks to secure a big international resonance
with the participation of different high-ranking guests," he noted.

Asked how he treats the message sent to President Serzh Sargsyan, the
turkologist replied, "It was a riposte to the Armenian president's
invitation to Turkey's leader for attending the 100th anniversary
[events]. Erdogan in this way actually closed the invitation issue."

In his response message to the Turkish leader's invitation, President
Serzh Sargsyan ruled out the possibility of his viist by saying "it
isn't our rule to be hosted without receiving an answer to our own
invitation".

April 24 is not a significant date for the Battle of Gallipoli, which
lasted only several months, said Ruben Melkonyan, another Turkologist.

"It is obvious from now on that the Turkish side is going to set
several traps in connection with the Genocide centennial. We have
already eye-witnessed the first three of them," he told our
correspondent.

The expert said he doesn't think that the Turkish authorities came up
with the idea all of a sudden, as they had been previously made
considerable efforts to attract the world community's attention to the
events by conducting scientific conferences and issuing memory medals.

Commenting on Erdogan's decision to include Armenia's president in the
list of the 102 country leaders invited to the commemoration ceremony,
Melkonyan said he sees a very interesting trick about the move. "They
are making an interesting reference, by pointing out that Armenians
also fought in the Turkish army then, in 1915."

"And that's the accentuation the letter makes, by saying that 'we
fought together 100 years ago, so let us now celebrate the 100th
anniversary together too.' The Turkish authorities are thus making a
very important step, distracting actually the world community and
superpower leaders' attention from the Armenian Genocide centennial,
the key message of April 24," he noted.

Melkonyan said he sees that world countries' leaders will thus be
facing a dilemma in April, receiving simultaneously two invitations
from two different countries' presidents,

http://www.tert.am/e...utyun24/1561821
 



#16 Yervant1

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Posted 18 January 2015 - 09:38 AM

French-Armenians concerned over Erdogan's message to Armenian leader

14:48 * 17.01.15


The Coordinating Council of French-Armenian Organization (CCAF) has
expressed its concerns over the Turkish president's recent move to
invite the Armenian leader to the country in April for participating
in the commemoration events dedicated to the Gallipoli Battle's 100th
anniversary.

In a statement published in the French-Armenian magazine Nouvelle
d'Armenie, the Council has describes the move as an attempt by Ankara
to derail the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide centennial.

The Council members note that the anniversary, traditionally
celebrated in Turkey on April 25, has been rescheduled to April 24
this year to coincide with the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.

"Ankara seeks to maximum diminish the international reaction to April
24. This tactics falls within the Turks' denial policies, which are
nothing more than a continuation [of Genocide] through other means.

""The Coordinating Council of French-Armenian Organizations has
expressed hope that the sates will manage to wreck the Turkish
authorities' trap - which is becoming more and more cynical - in an
effort to uphold the international diplomacy's moral norms in this
region," reads the statement.

In his response to Recep Tayyip Erdogan's invitation letter, Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan practically declined the invitation offer by
stating that it isn't a commonly accepted practice in Armenia to be
hosted by a guest "without receiving an answer to our invitation".


http://www.tert.am/e...17/ccaf/1562168



#17 Yervant1

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Posted 18 January 2015 - 09:40 AM

Experts: To prevent spread of pan-Turkism, Europe should "put a
straitjacket" on Turkey

by Nana Martirosyan

Saturday, January 17, 16:54

To prevent the spread of pan-Turkism on the threshold of the
centennial anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Europe should put a
straitjacket on Turkey, political expert Levon Shirinyan said at a
press conference on Saturday.

He said that Turkey sponsors the Islamists, who seriously endanger
Europe and the whole world. In this light, he calls on the
international community to start supporting Armenia, which was the
first to suffer from Turkey's actions. "On the threshold of the 100th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, it is necessary to put a
straitjacket on Turkey the way it was done with Germany in the context
of Holocaust", he said. Shirinyan also urges the international
community to recognize the independence of the NKR and support its
sustainable development so that Artsakh and Armenia, together with the
whole world, could fight pan- Turkism.

For his part, theologian Vardan Khachatryan thinks that one should ask
nobody for anything, because history shows that only strong countries
are respected. "Armenia should consolidate the old and the new
Diasporas and launch a serious campaign on Genocide recognition,
otherwise, the international community will keep ignoring the
country", he said.

Both experts believe that only the leaders of Ankara's close partners
will accept Turkey's invitation to attend the events dedicated to the
centennial anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli.

To note, Armenia has set up a special committee to handle issues
related to the events dedicated to the 100th mourning anniversary of
the Armenian Genocide. Leaders of different countries are invited to
attend these events in 2015. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan has invited his Armenian counterpart to attend the events on
the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli.
Sargsyan has rejected the invitation. He has reminded Erdogan that a
few months ago he invited him to attend the 24 April 2015 events in
Yerevan to pay tribute to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims.

http://www.arminfo.a...12E0EB7C0D21663



#18 Yervant1

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Posted 19 January 2015 - 10:04 AM

Sargsyan responds to `Gallipoli' invitation: Before organizing a
commemorative event, Turkey has obligation to recognize and condemn
Armenian Genocide

2015 18:07
NEWS <http://www.agos.com.tr/en/current>


President ErdoÄ=9Fan recently announced that on April 24, the date
commemorated each year as the beginning of the Armenian Genocide, a
ceremony for the anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli would be held; and
alongside other world leaders, invited the President of the Republic of
Armenia Serzh Sargsyan to the ceremony.

Sargsyan has responded to ErdoÄ=9Fan's invitation in a letter in which he
underlines that `peace and friendship first and foremost shall be based on
the courage to confront the past'; and reminding that he had previously
invited ErdoÄ=9Fan to the Commemoration Ceremony for the 100th Anniversary
of the Genocide, adds that `It is not common practice for us to be
hosted
at the invitee's, without receiving a response to our invitation.'

Below is the official English translation of Sargsyan's response in full
as published on the web site of the President of the Republic of Armenia

Honorable Mr. President,

I have received your invitation to participate in the commemoration
ceremonies marking the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli.

Indeed, World War I is one of the terrific chapters of history of humanity,
claiming millions of innocent lives and aborting destinies.

An artilleryman of Armenian descent, Captain Sargis Torosyan also joined
the troops of the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Gallipoli. He was an
officer, dedicated to the defense and security of the Empire, who was
decorated with Ottoman military awards for his loyalty and heroism.
Nevertheless, in that same year, marking the culmination of mass killing
and forced deportation, preliminary planned and perpetrated by the Ottoman
Empire, the wave of massacres did not bypass even Sargis Torosyan. His
parents, brutally killed, and sister, perished in the Syrian Desert, were
among 1.5 million Armenian victims of Genocide.

It was as a result of this very unprecedented massacre that Raphael Lemkin
coined the term `genocide'. And impunity thereof paved a path to Holocaust
and genocides in Rwanda, Cambodia and Darfur.

According to you, the Battle of Gallipoli offers a unique example for both
Turkey and the World as an illustration of friendship born out of war, and
the battlefield, reminding of the bitter heritage of war, stands as an
eternal monument to peace and friendship. Leaving aside the well-known
meaning of the Battle of Gallipoli or the questionable role of Turkey in
World War I and World War II, one shall recall that peace and friendship
first and foremost shall be based on the courage to confront the past, on
the historical justice, as well as on recognition of full-fledged universal
memory but never on selective approach.

Alas, Turkey continues its traditional policy of denialism. Year by year,
`improving' its tools of history distortion, this time Turkey marks the
anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli on April 24 for the first time,
while it began on March 18, 1915 and lasted till late January, 1916.
Furthermore, allies' land campaign- Gallipoli land battle- took place on
April 25, 1915. What purpose does it serve if not a simple-minded goal to
distract the attention of the international community from the events
dedicated to the centennial of the Armenian Genocide? Whereas, before
organizing a commemorative event, Turkey has much more important obligation
towards its own people and the entire humanity, namely the recognition and
condemnation of the Armenian Genocide.

Hence, when calling for international peace I would advise you not to
forget sending a message to the world to recognize the Armenian Genocide,
thus paying a tribute to the memory of 1.5 million innocent victims.

Each of us is obliged to pass on an authentic and genuine history to the
next generations, thereby preventing the repetition of such crimes and
preparing the ground for rapprochement and further cooperation of nations,
especially neighboring ones.

P.S. Your Excellency, a few months ago I invited you to join us in
commemoration of memory of the innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide in
Yerevan on the 24th of April. It is not a common practice for us to be
hosted at the invitee's, without receiving a response to our invitation.

For the Turkish translation of the letter as translated and published by
Agos, click here.
<http://www.agos.com....taniyip-kinamak>

For the official Armenian text of the letter, click here.
<http://www.president...dent-of-Turkey/>

For the official Russian translation of the letter, click here.
<http://www.president...dent-of-Turkey/>


http://www.agos.com....menian-genocide
 



#19 Yervant1

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Posted 19 January 2015 - 01:53 PM

Competing Invitations: Experts say Turkey tries to steal Armenia's
thunder on April 24

Analysis | 19.01.15 | 12:30

By Naira Hayrumyan
ArmeniaNow correspondent


Turkey has started the final and, apparently, most aggressive phase of
opposition to international efforts on the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has invited the leaders of 102
countries, including President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, to come to
Turkey on April 24 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the victory
of Turkey in the Battle of Gallipoli.

In response, Sargsyan reminded about his earlier invitation to Erdogan
to visit Yerevan on the same day on which Armenians around the world
will remember the victims of the massacres perpetrated in Ottoman
Turkey - on the centennial of the Genocide.

"What purpose does it serve if not a simple-minded goal to distract
the attention of the international community from the events dedicated
to the centennial of the Armenian Genocide? Whereas, before organizing
a commemorative event, Turkey has much more important obligation
towards its own people and the entire humanity, namely the recognition
and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide," Sargsyan said in a reply
on Friday.

Judging by the aggressiveness and the scale of its actions Turkey has
serious fears that on April 24 the international community, especially
the United States and a number of Western countries, may recognize the
Armenian Genocide and support the political and legal claim of the
Armenian Diaspora in the international court against Turkey.

Such a claim is being prepared, and the consent of one of the leading
international lawyers, Amal Clooney, to become part of a team
defending the Armenian case at a European court, among other things,
may mean that the trial involving Switzerland and a Turkish denialist
will be widely covered internationally.

An international process on the claims of the Armenian Diaspora
against Turkey may lead to a revision of the foundations of modern-day
Turkey and in Ankara they are afraid of the possible decisions of the
international community for such a revision.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey has pursued
a coordinated fight against the international recognition of the
Genocide.

Yerevan-based Turkey expert Levon Hovsepyan thinks that Ankara fears
the measures that may be taken in the U.S. Senate, Congress and other
instances in connection with the 100th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide.

The Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations of France has noted
with regret that the repeatedly expressed concerns about Ankara's
attempts to interfere with the commemorative events in connection with
the centenary of the Armenian Genocide are getting a factual ground.

"The invitation of foreign leaders to Turkey on April 24 clearly aims
to neutralize the expected presence of heads of foreign states in
Yerevan on the same day, forcing them to make a choice," the Council,
in particular, said in a statement.

Ruben Melkonyan, another specialist in Turkish studies, notes that
Turkey has been spending enormous amounts of money on such activities,
including the invitation of world leaders. In other words, the leaders
of many countries will get two invitations for April 24 - from NATO
member Turkey and Armenia. "Of course, political interest may prevail
here," the analyst says.

Turkey is using the entire set of tools to neutralize the legal claims
of Armenians. One of such means, according to experts, is the
significant worsening of the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict zone and at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

With the help of its ethnic cousin and satellite Azerbaijan, Ankara
appears to be trying to divert the attention of Armenia from the
issues of the Genocide Anniversary by escalating the situation on the
Karabakh frontlines.

http://armenianow.co...ogan_invitation
 



#20 Yervant1

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Posted 19 January 2015 - 02:22 PM

<http://www.independe...phy/robert-fisk>
Robert Fisk <http://www.independe...phy/robert-fisk>

Monday 19 January 2015
The Gallipoli centenary is a shameful attempt to hide the Armenian Holocaust


As world leaders plan to commemorate the First World War battle for
Gallipoli, another horrific anniversary risks being overlooked
Soldiers standing over skulls of victims from the Armenian village of
Sheyxalan in 1915, believed to be victims of the Armenian Holocaust
AFP

When world leaders, including Prince Charles and the Australian and New
Zealand prime ministers, gather at Gallipoli to commemorate the First World
War battle at the invitation of the Turkish government in April, the ghosts
of one and half million slaughtered Christian Armenians will march with
them.

For in an unprecedented act of diplomatic folly, Turkey is planning to use
the 100th anniversary of the Allied attempt to invade Turkey in 1915 to
smother memory of its own mass killing of the Armenians of the Ottoman
Empire, the 20th century's first semi-industrial holocaust. The Turks have
already sent invitations to 102 nations to attend the Gallipoli anniversary
on 24th April -- on the very day when Armenia always honours its own
genocide victims at the hands of Ottoman Turkey.
READ MORE: A History of WW1: The Turkish holocaust begins
<http://www.independe...ns-9299518.html>
The difference between a Holocaust and a holocaust
<http://www.independe...do-9894346.html>
The 1915 Armenian genocide: Finding a fit testament to a timeless crime
<http://www.independe...me-9241154.html>

In an initiative which he must have known would be rejected, Turkish
President Recep Erdogan even invited the Armenian President, Serge
Sarkissian, to attend the Gallipoli anniversary after himself receiving an
earlier request from President Sarkissian to attend ceremonies marking the
Armenian genocide on the same day.

This is not just diplomatic mischief. The Turks are well aware that the
Allied landings at Gallipoli began on 25th April - the day after Armenians
mark the start of their genocide, which was ordered by the Turkish
government of the time - and that Australia and New Zealand mark Anzac Day
on the 25th. Only two years ago, then-president Abdullah Gul of Turkey
marked the 98th anniversary of the Great War battle on 18th March 2013 --
the day on which the British naval bombardment of the Dardanelles
Peninsular began on the instructions of British First Lord of the Admiralty
Winston Churchill. At the time, no-one in Turkey suggested that Gallipoli -
Canakkale in Turkish -- should be remembered on 24th April.

The Turks, of course, are fearful that 1915 should be remembered as the
anniversary of their country's frightful crimes against humanity committed
during the Armenian extermination, in which tens of thousands of men were
executed with guns and knives, their womenfolk raped and then starved with
their children on death marches into what was then Mesopotamia. The irony
of history has now bequeathed these very same killing fields to the
victorious forces of the 'genocidal' Islamist ISIS army, which has even
destroyed the Armenian church commemorating the genocide in the Syrian city
of Deir ez-Zour. Armenians chose 24th April to remember their genocide
victims because this was the day on which Turkish police rounded up the
first Armenian academics, lawyers, doctors, teachers and journalists in
Constantinople.

Like Germany's right wing and revisionist historians who deny the Jewish
Holocaust, Turkey has always refused to accept the Ottoman Turkish Empire's
responsibility for the greatest crime against humanity of the 1914-18 war,
a bloodletting which at the time upset even Turkey's German allies.
Armenia's own 1915 Holocaust - which lasted into 1917 -- has been
acknowledged by hundreds of international scholars, including many Jewish
and Israeli historians, and has since been recognized by many European
states. Only Tony Blair's government tried to diminish the suffering of the
Armenians when it refused to regard the outrages as an act of genocide and
tried to exclude survivors from commemorating their dead during Holocaust
ceremonies in London. Turkey's claim - that the Armenians were unfortunate
victims of the social upheavals of the war - has long been discredited.

Several brave Turkish scholars - denounced for their honesty by their
fellow countrymen - have researched Ottoman documents and proved that
instructions were sent out from Constantinople (now Istanbul) to regional
officials to destroy their Armenian communities. Professor Ayhan Aktar of
Istanbul Bilgi University, for example, has written extensively about the
courage of Armenians who themselves fought in uniform for Turkey at
Gallipoli, and has publicised the life of Captain Sarkis Torossian, an
Armenian officer who was decorated by the Ottoman state for his bravery but
whose parents and sister were done to death in the genocide. Professor
Aktar was condemned by Turkish army officers and some academics who claimed
that Armenians did not even fight on the Turkish side. Turkish generals
officially denied - against every proof to the contrary, including
Torossian's photograph in Ottoman uniform -- that the Armenian soldier
existed.

[image: Ottoman soldiers posing in front of Armenians they had hanged in
public in Alep in 1915]
Ottoman soldiers posing in front of Armenians they had hanged in public in
Alep in 1915

But now Turkey has changed its story. Turkish foreign minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu recently acknowledged that other ethnic groups - including many
Arabs as well as Armenians - also fought at Gallipoli. "We [Turks and
Armenians] fought together at Gallipoli," he said. "That's why we have
extended the invitation to President Sarkissian as well." The Armenian
president's reply to Erdogan's invitation even mentioned Captain Torossian
- although he sadly claimed that the soldier was also killed in the
genocide when he in fact died in New York in 1954 after writing his memoirs
- and reminded the Turkish president that "peace and friendship must first
be hinged on the courage to confront one's own past, historical justice and
universal memory... Each of us has a duty to transmit the real story to
future generations and prevent the repetition of crimes... and prepare the
ground for rapprochement and future cooperation between peoples, especially
neighbouring peoples."

Armenians hold their commemorations on April 24th - when nothing happened
at Gallipoli - because this was the day on which the Armenian intellectuals
were rounded up and jailed in the basement of Constantinople's police
headquarters prior to their deportation and -- in some cases -- execution.
These were the first 'martyrs' of the Armenian genocide. By another cruel
twist of history, the place of their incarceration is now the Museum of
Islamic Arts - a tourist location to which Prince Charles and other
dignitaries will presumably not be taken on 24th April. These killings
marked the start of the Armenian people's persecution and exile to the four
corners of the earth.

Professor Aktar's contribution - along with that of historian Taner Akcam
in the US -- to the truth of Turkish-Armenian history is almost unique. They
alone, through their academic research and under enormous political
pressure to remain silent, forced thousands of Turks to debate the terrible
events of 1915. Many Turks have since discovered Armenian grandmothers who
were 'Islamised' or seized by Turkish militiamen or soldiers when they were
young women. Aktar also points out that other Armenian soldiers - a First
Lieutenant Surmenian, whose own memoirs were published in Beirut 13 years
after Torossian's death - fought in the Turkish army.

[image: An image from 1915. Turkey deported two thirds of the Armenian
population; many were either killed or died of starvation during the
journey]


An image from 1915. Turkey deported two thirds of the Armenian population;
many were either killed or died of starvation during the journey

He has little time, however, for either the Turkish government or Armenian
president Sarkissian. "If you want to honour the Armenian officers and
soldiers who... died for the fatherland (Turkey) in 1915, then you should
invite the Armenian patriarch of Istanbul," Aktar told me. "Why do (they)
invite President Sarkissian? His ancestors were probably fighting in the
Russian Imperial Army in 1915. He is from Karabagh [Armenian-held territory
that is part of Turkish Azerbaijan] as far as I know! This is a show of an
'indecent proposal' towards President Sarkissian... it is rather insulting!"

Many Armenians might share the same view. For several months, Sarkissian
was prepared to sign a treaty with Turkey to open the Armenian-Turkish
frontier in return for a mere formal investigation by scholars of the
genocide. Then-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton supported him, along
with sundry politicians and some Western journalists based in Turkey. But
the Armenian diaspora responded in fury, asking how Jews would feel if
friendship with Germany was contingent upon an enquiry to discover if the
Jewish Holocaust had ever occurred. In the First World War, American and
European newspapers gave massive publicity to the savagery visited upon the
Armenians, and the British Foreign Office published a 'black book' on the
crimes against Armenians of the Turkish army. The very word 'genocide' was
coined about the Armenian holocaust by Raphael Lemkin, an American lawyer
of Polish-Jewish descent. Israelis use the word 'Shoah' - 'Holocaust' --
when they refer to the suffering of the Armenians.

The Turkish hero of Gallipoli, of course, was Lieutenant Colonel Mustapha
Kemal - later Ataturk, founder of the modern Turkish state - and his own
19th Division at Gallipoli was known as the 'Aleppo Division' because of
the number of Arabs serving in it. Ataturk did not participate in the mass
killings of Armenians in 1915, but some of his associates were implicated -
which still casts a shadow over the history of the Turkish state. The
bloody Allied defeat at Gallipoli was to cast a shadow over the rest of
Winston Churchill's career, a fact well known to the tens of thousands of
Australians and New Zealanders who plan to come to the old battlefield this
April. How much they will know about an even more horrific anniversary on
April 24th is another matter.

http://www.independe...st-9988227.html

 






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