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Armenian Genocide Commemorations List and related articles


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#1561 Yervant1

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Posted 05 September 2017 - 10:17 AM

New Documentary Links 1915 Genocide
        To Recent Azeri Massacres of Armenians
        By Harut Sassounian
        Publisher, The California Courier
 
A new Armenian Genocide documentary will be screened in many theaters across the United States and also available “on demand” as of October 7, 2017. Unlike other documentaries on the topic, this one is different and more relevant to today’s non-Armenian viewers. The documentary titled, “Architects of Denial,” and sub-titled “Genocide denied is genocide continued,” links the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 to contemporary massacres of Armenians by Azeris, ethnic kins of Turks, in various cities of Azerbaijan, and threaten to kill Armenians living in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabagh (Artsakh).
The documentary is produced by two Hollywood celebrities, Dean Cain and Montel Williams. It interviews world famous personalities and experts on the Armenian Genocide, some of them for the first time, such as Julian Assange (WikiLeaks), FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, prominent international lawyer Geoffrey Robertson, Prof. Taner Akcam, one of the first Turkish scholar to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, Dr. Gregory Stanton, President of Genocide Watch, Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan, Tom de Wall, an expert on the Caucasus region, Former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans, Cong. Adam Schiff, former Kurdish mayor of Sur, Diyarbakir in Turkey, Abdullah Demirbas, His Holiness Catholicos Karekin II, Bako Sahakyan, President of Artsakh, Prof. Ugur Ungor, an expert on the Armenian Genocide, Baroness Caroline Cox, a member of the UK House of Lords, eyewitness accounts of survivors of both the 1915 Armenian Genocide and the massacres in Baku and Sumgait, Azerbaijan, since 1988, and earlier in the 20th century, and this writer.
The interviews were conducted in several countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Armenia, Artsakh, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Russia by camera crews sent to these places at major expense and great risk. The documentary also weaves the commonality of various genocides from Cambodia to Sudan (Darfur), the Holocaust, the Bosnian and Rwandan genocides.
Here are important excerpts from statements made by some of those interviewed by the documentary-makers:
Julian Assange: “Turkey has gone all around the world aggressively lobbying diplomatically to make sure there are no references to the Armenian Genocide, including even the major powers such as the United States.”
Pres. Serzh Sargsyan: "The leaders of Turkey and Azerbaijan announce from time to time that they are one nation, but live in different countries. And naturally along with that one nation, they are injecting the ideology of denial."
Perhaps the most scandalous revelation in the documentary was made by Sibel Edmonds who was fired from her FBI job for informing her superiors about the involvement of high-ranking U.S. politicians in illegal Turkish schemes: “The justification to the excuse the United States government has been using, we are doing this [denial of the Armenian Genocide] for sensitive diplomatic relations. This is a hypocrisy that I have been witnessing, especially with inside knowledge of what takes place in the United States. It started with trying to do the right thing and we fought criminal activities bought and abused and basic retaliation for that.”
Explaining why Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert killed the genocide recognition bill at the last minute, Sibel Edmunds stated: “It was a move that came with a price. He had bribery with cash to lock this vote. He also took bribery in the form of sexual favors during his junket trips to Turkey in a particular hotel that he would stay. Sexual favors would be delivered to him – under-age males. Also it was delivered in his townhouse; it was bribery, foreign bribery which constituted treason. But that was a very small portion of what the FBI has already gathered. In Chicago, he also was directly involved with the notorious Turkish network that handled very large percentage of heroin-related activities, operations, sales in the United States, including receiving cash in suitcases from these particular people, and he and his Chief of Staff; their evidences were monitored. They were bugged not only for audio, but also for video. The FBI had in its possession, starting from 1997 slam dunk evidence in their hands, criminally implicated Dennis Hastert. The State Dept. knows, many people in Congress whom I testified to, they know. And I said, ‘you watch, there would be no accountability and mockery of the entire system.’”
The documentary also shows an original footage in which Azeri soldiers barbarically cut off the heads and ears of Armenian soldiers and civilians during Azerbaijan’s attack on Artsakh during April 2017!
Finally, the documentary-makers question several members of Congress who refuse to answer whether they believe the Armenian Genocide actually took place, except Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (Dem.-Texas) who is shown giving a speech at an Azeri energy conference, where she boasts:” I am a member of the [congressional] Azerbaijan Caucus, enthusiastic member, and supportive member!”
The documentary-makers then ask Cong. Johnson on camera: “do you deny that the Armenian Genocide happened?” She shamelessly answers: "I do deny that!" This is a major scandal for a serving member of Congress to make such a categorical denial which is rarely denied by Members of Congress. The Armenian-American community nationwide and their friends should support her opponent in the next election and those in her district should vote against her to remove her from Congress. Once one of these denialist scoundrels is kicked out of office, other members of Congress will be very careful not to deny the Armenian Genocide. We need to make an example of her!


#1562 Yervant1

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Posted 07 September 2017 - 10:03 AM

PanArmenian, Armenia
Sept 6 2017
 
 
Armenian Genocide workshop slated for Sept. 14-17 in Germany
 

A workshop on the Armenian Genocide will be held at the University of Potsdam in Germany on September 14-17.

Four institutions - the University of Michigan (the United States), Lepsiushaus Potsdam (Potsdam, Germany), the USC Institute of Armenian Studies (Los Angeles, U.S.) and the Sabancı University (Istanbul, Turkey) - will participate in the 4-day event.

Titled "Workshop on Turkish-Armenian Scholarships (WATS) 2017 - European Approaches to the Armenian Genocide", the event seeks to shed light on the murder of 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire between 1915-1923.

Some three dozen countries, hundreds of regional government bodies and international organizations have so far recognized the Armenian Genocide. Turkey denies to this day.

http://panarmenian.n...eng/news/246194



#1563 Yervant1

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Posted 13 September 2017 - 08:53 AM

Shock Ya!
Sept 12 2017
 
 
George Clooney’s Documentary Architects of Denial Premiering in Theaters and On Demand          

By Karen Benardello

George-Clooneys-Documentary-Architects-o

The historically reflective documentary, ‘Architects of Denial,’ is set to premiere in select theaters and On Demand across America on October 6. The movie, which features interviews with, and footage of, such notable public figures as Oscar-winning filmmaker, George Clooney, former American President, Barack Obama, and WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, traces the turbulent modern history of the Armenian people.

‘Architects of Denial’ focuses on the Armenian people’s decimation by Ottoman Turks at the onset of World War I until the present, a period during which they’re threatened by Turkey, as well as its ally, Azerbaijan. It also chronicles the Armenian Genocide of 1915, and includes interviews with its survivors, who detail the horrors they or their family members had experienced. The movie also features discussions with experts, who graphically illustrate the real connection between the historical denial of the genocide with present-day mass exterminations in conflict zones around the world.

 

“Since the end of World War II, every civilized nation on earth has adhered to the principle of never again, and that’s why we made this film,” said one the documentary’s executive producers, Montel Williams. “We know if we allow this genocide to be forgotten, we run the risk of repeating the evils of humanity’s collective past.”

“Genocide is a horrible thing to see. It’s a horrible thing to have happen,” added Williams’ fellow executive producer, Dean Cain. “What’s even worse about that, especially for the Armenians who are still survivors of that and descendants of that, is to not call it what it is.”

For more information on ‘Architects of Denial,’ visit the film’s official website, as well as its Facebook page.

http://www.shockya.c...ters-on-demand/


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#1564 Yervant1

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Posted 14 September 2017 - 08:50 AM

Huffington Post
Sept 13 2017
 
 
“Architects of Denial”: A Must See Validation of the Armenian Genocide
09/13/2017 07:20 am ET
Marc Berman Editor in Chief, Programming Insider

Painstakingly documenting the Armenian genocide (or what is also known as the Armenian Holocaust), documentary feature “Architects of Denial” goes in search of the sheer acknowledgement of this tragic piece of history. But admitting to these wrongdoings from yesteryear, something the mainstream media and the average American were once oblivious to, does not come without its ongoing – and surprising — present day controversy.

Executive produced by former daytime talk show host Montel Williams and actor Dean Cain, and directed by David Lee George, “Architects of Denial” tackles the organized mass murder of an estimated 1.5 million Christian citizens, most of them Armenian, by the Ottoman Empire during World War I (between 1915 and 1923), and the resistance by the Turkish government, the successor of the Ottoman Empire, and other authoritative bodies (including the United States) to admit this did indeed occur.

For the Turks, the genocide never happened; they will not admit anything, as the film explores. Yet there were executions into mass graves, and death marches of men, women and children across the Syrian desert to concentration camps, all resulting in deaths from exhaustion, exposure and starvation.

“Turkey has gone around the world aggressively lobbying to make sure there is no reference to the Armenian genocide,” noted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in the film. “Major powers, such as the United States, do not recognize the Armenian genocide.”

For the Armenian community, and without the appropriate validation, the genocide has simply never ended. Genocide denied is genocide continued is the underlying message of this film, and the lack of validation in present day by some only magnifies what could have been the entire destruction of these innocent people.

“Once the world eventually recognized there would be trials as a result of the Holocaust in World War II, and people would be accountable for their actions, anyone involved in the Armenian genocide probably have kept their mouths shut for fear of being held responsible,” said Montel Williams. “But what I just did not expect, I don’t think any of us did, was the reactions by some, and the ongoing denial among our politicians, over a film where the truth finally prevails.”

Two such politicians seen in denial in the film are Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas and Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee.

Initial Controversy Over Film Release Quickly Reversed

This past August, Caruso Affiliated Holdings, which runs the Americana at Brand mall in Glendale, California, an area heavily populated by the Armenian community, initially denied an outdoor billboard promoting “Architects of Denial,” referring to it as being “too political.” But it quickly backed down following responses from State Senator Anthony Portantino, who represents Glendale, and the Glendale chapter of the Armenian National Committee of America, headed by Artin Manoukian.

“I thought to myself that Hollywood has long-celebrated thought provoking and hard-edged filmmaking that stimulates conversations about historical event,” said Portantino in a statement posted to his web site. “It seems like labeling art as ‘too political’ was an odd reason to deny the appropriate free _expression_ of a historical documentary. As a former filmmaker and current State Senator, it was important for me to share my concerns and urge reconsideration.”

“I wish for the life of me I could see in the eyes of those politicians in this world who get angry when you even bring this subject up,” noted Williams. “These people have been able to lie for so long maybe no one along the way caught in this lie wants to admit their wrongdoings.”

According to History

On the eve of World War I, there were a reported 2.13 million Armenians in the declining Ottoman Empire. By 1922, and following the aftermath of the genocide, that number was down to under 500,000, a result, according to the Turkish government, of a devastating war. Repeatedly, and to this day, Turkey officials cite there was no premeditation in the deaths of the Armenian population at the time, maintaining that the loss of Turkish Muslims and Armenian Christians was from the violence around the bloody battlefields of World War I.

Turkey also disputes Armenia’s count of the death tally, claiming in the vicinity of 300,000. But most historians refer to this mass loss as the world’s first true genocide, and many worry that future genocides will go unrecognized as a result.

“I have always been a stalwart champion and voice for those who have no voice, especially right now at a time when this country has turned its back on everyone,” said Montel Williams. “When we start denying atrocities like genocide, and when we start denying the fact and truth for any segment of society or this world, someone has to take a stance.”

“Like so many people, I had no idea the extent of the Armenian genocide,” he added. “There needs to be a voice – a platform – to educate, to inform and to acknowledge. Too many countries – too many people — are still not admitting this happened, and with this film we are acknowledging history. We are validating these people and we are proclaiming that denial is no longer an option.”

The Armenian Viewpoint

Armenians mark the date April 24, 1915, when several hundred Armenians were rounded up, arrested and later executed as the start of the Armenian genocide. Known as Red Sunday, the Ottoman government imprisoned an estimated 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders of the Ottoman capital, Constantinople, and later those in other centers, who were moved to two holding centers near Ankara.

After that, ordinary Armenians were turned out of their homes and sent on death marches through the Mesopotamian desert without food or water. Frequently, the marchers were stripped and forced to walk under the scorching sun until they dropped dead. Anyone who stopped to rest was shot and killed.

Ultimately, the Armenian population was blamed for siding with the Russians during the war and the Young Turks began a campaign to portray the Armenians as a threat to the state.

This was not the first massacre of the Armenian population; earlier attacks were reported in 1894, 1895, 1896, and in 1909. And it was not the last, with the unfounded brutality continuing between the years 1920 to 1923. Turkish military officials, soldiers and ordinary men sacked Armenian villages and cities and massacred their citizens, murdering hundreds of thousands of Armenians.

“People wanted this to just sort of disappear; they did not want to accept this,” said Dean Cain. “There are still three states, and the federal government of the United States, that have not recognized the Armenian genocide and I think that is because of politics. Maybe Turkey does not want to pay reparations; maybe the United States does not want to damage its relationship with Turkey. It is tough for society to take ownership for the bad things that have happened.”

“Whatever the underlying reason is, it is time for resolution,” he added. “Our only agenda is to speak the truth. There are no political repercussions.”

“Architects of Denial”

Told through the eyes of the survivors with insights from Julian Assange; Sibel Edmonds, founder of the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition; Genocide Watch founder Dr. Gregory Stanton, and Academy Award winning actor and director George Clooney, “Architects of Denial” tackles the persecution of these innocent individuals and the countries – and the politicians – who refuse, even today, to acknowledge the enormity of these mass crimes.

Not for the faint of heart, “Architects of Denial” nonetheless is a critical piece of documentary cinema that cannot be marred by any resistance.

“The end result with our film, I hope, is the acceptance and the recognition that the Armenian genocide existed,” noted Montel Williams. “Once you educate people, you cannot deny the truth.”

“There is a strong resigned determination that this story will be told,” added Dean Cain. “I think there will be a lot of happy tears in the Armenian community and I am truly proud to be a small part of helping them gain recognition.”

For a look at “Architects of Denial,” click here

Initial participating markets (and theaters) slated to debut “Architects of Denial” on Oct. 6 are New York / Village East Cinema, Beverly Hills / Laemmle’s Music Hall 3, Pasadena / Pasadena Playhouse, Boston / Embassy Waltham Cinema, Detroit / AMC Forum 30, New Jersey / Cherry Hill, Washington, D.C. / AMC Hoffman Center 22, Denver / Westminster Promenade, and Minneapolis / Eden Prairie Mall 18.

http://www.huffingto...4b06b71800c34f6



#1565 Yervant1

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Posted 15 September 2017 - 09:18 AM

And yet your Israeli government plays politics with the Armenian Genocide and helps the deniers!

ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia

September 13, 2017 Wednesday
 
 
Knesset Vice Speaker: If the world did not forgive the Armenian Genocide, there would probably not be a Jewish Holocaust

September 12

Yerevan

Tatevik Shahunyan. On September 12, Gagik Minasyan, the leader of the Armenian-Israeli parliamentary friendship group, met with an Israeli delegation headed by the Vice- Speaker of the Knesset, leader of the parliamentary friendship group Israel-Armenia Tali Ploskov.

Welcoming the visit of the guests to Armenia, Minasyan highly appreciated the cooperation of the friendship groups. He expressed hope for even greater consolidation and development of relations, which is important both in terms of economics and humanitarian contacts. Minasyan, in particular, noted that economic relations, despite the availability of potential, are unsatisfactory. In this context, the interlocutors emphasized the importance of the "Armenia-Israel Public Forum" initiative, considering it the best platform for the development of Armenian-Israeli relations.

The head of the Armenian-Israeli parliamentary friendship group said that the Armenians are particularly sympathetic to the Jews, which is due to the historical communions of the two peoples.

Addressing the Artsakh problem, Minasyan noted that Armenia is firm in resolving the conflict by peaceful means, while Azerbaijan is trying to resolve the issue by military means, which is also evidenced by the April four-day war that was unleashed last year.

The meeting also touched upon the process of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In the assessment of the leader of the friendship group, historical justice has not yet been achieved. "The unrecognized and unpardonable crime opens new doors for a new crime," Minasyan emphasized. He expressed the hope that the process started on this issue in the Knesset of Israel will bring the process to its logical conclusion.

The leader of the parliamentary friendship group Israel-Armenia, Tali Ploskov, thanked for the warm welcome, also stressed the need to deepen diverse relations. According to Ploskov, over the past two years, quite a bit of work has been done - bilateral contacts have been intensified, direct flights between the two countries are being implemented, which promotes new cooperation.

Turning to the process of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Tali Ploskov noted that the members of the Knesset of Israel understood the pain of the Armenian people - the question was heard, but, unfortunately, he received a political color. In this context, Ms. Ploskov reiterated her thoughts in Tsitsernakaberd during last year's visit to Armenia: "If the world did not forgive the Armenian Genocide, there would probably not be a Jewish Holocaust."

Ploskov emphasized that Israel supports the efforts of the OSCE MG in resolving the Karabakh conflict, and believes that the problem should be solved exclusively by peaceful means.

Other issues of bilateral interest were also discussed. Members of the friendship groups emphasized the need to deepen ties in the field of economics, high technology, agriculture, tourism, culture, and the expansion of contacts between the two peoples.

 

 



#1566 Yervant1

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Posted 19 September 2017 - 10:04 AM

PanArmenian, Armenia
Sept 18 2017
 
 
Turkey tried to bar scholars from Armenian Genocide conference
 

Turkish authorities have attempted to prevent scholars based in Turkey from participating in a conference in Berlin titled “Past in the Present: European Approaches to the Armenian Genocide.”

The Workshop on Armenian-Turkish Scholarship (WATS) is a series of international academic workshops, founded at the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan in 2000 as the “first forum where Turkish, Armenian, and other scholars could create a community of Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian, and other scholars to conduct an informed debate” relating issues surrounding the fate of Ottoman Armenians, an event generally accepted as the Armenian Genocide.

Despite the efforts of Turkish nationalists who deny the established facts of history, the latest workshop, the tenth in the series, took place on 15-18 September at the European Academy Berlin, co-organized by the University of Michigan, USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies, and Lepsiushaus Potsdam, under the auspices of Dr. Martina Münch, Minister for Science, Research, and Culture of the State of Brandenburg.

The conference has come under sustained attack by Turkish ultra-nationalist political circles in Turkey and Germany. Long-time deniers of the Armenian Genocide in the international arena declared that the conference will “serve imperialism and the interests of Kurdistan” and framed the Kurdish issue as forming “the second Israel,” clearly an anti-Semitic slur.

"We consider that a democratic society requires a free exchange of ideas, and such pressure on academics in Turkey has already had a chilling effect on university scholars, who have in the last decades help to build up a high level of academic professionalism and achievement," said the Workshop for Armenian-Turkish Scholarship and the Lepsiushaus Potsdam in a statement.

"We demand as well that the Turkish state desist from interfering in intellectual exchange and _expression_ outside of Turkey. There is no substitution for independent research and the presentation of research findings in academic settings and in scholarly meetings. These exchanges are fundamental to academic freedom. Such interference infringes on the democratic order in Turkey and in hosting countries."

Some three dozen countries, hundreds of local government bodies and international organizations have so far recognized the killings of 1.5 million Armenian in the Ottoman Empire as genocide. Turkey denies to this day.

http://panarmenian.n...eng/news/246647



#1567 Yervant1

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Posted 20 September 2017 - 09:19 AM

PanArmenian, Armenia
Sept 19 2017
 
 
Armenian Genocide documents from Vatican archives arrive at AGMI

The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in Yerevan has received documents from the secret archives of the Vatican about the events of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire.

Part of the valuable documents acquired with the help of Italian entrepreneur of Armenian origin Artur Asatryan, were transferred to the museum, AGMI said in a statement.

Manana Hakobyan from the TV show "Of Armenian origin" transferred the documents to the Institute and said that at the moment only a part of the documents have been digitized.

Also, Armenia's ambassador to the Vatican Mikayel Minasyan has also facilitated the transfer of the documents.

Some three dozen countries, hundreds of local government bodies and international organizations have so far recognized the killings of 1.5 million Armenian in the Ottoman Empire as genocide. Turkey denies to this day.

http://panarmenian.n...eng/news/246706



#1568 Yervant1

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Posted 20 September 2017 - 09:22 AM

PanArmenian, Armenia
Sept 19 2017
 
 
Only a democratic Turkey can recognize Armenian Genocide: MP
 

Without facing the Armenian Genocide, Turkey can neither settle the Kurdish issue nor can it establish democracy, Turkish-Armenian lawmaker Garo Paylan said at the 6th Armenia-Diaspora conference in Yerevan on Tuesday, September 19.

According to him, the Turkish state was, unfortunately, founded without acknowledging the Genocide, Aysor.am reports.

Paylan said the use of the term Genocide in the Turkish parliament is considered a crime.

"The West is turning a blind eye to human rights violations in Turkey the same way it did when the Genocide was being perpetrated," the lawmaker said.

The fight for democracy is a rather difficult process, Paylan said, as Turkey has been turning into a nationalist country in the past two years.

"Only a democratic Turkey can recognize the Genocide and open the borders with Armenia," Paylan said, adding that "we don't have the right to leave the issue of Genocide to the next generation."

http://panarmenian.n...eng/news/246691



#1569 Yervant1

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Posted 22 September 2017 - 01:50 PM

MediaMax, Armenia
Sept 22 2017
 
 
Armenia awards German MP for contribution to Genocide recognition
 
 

middle_1506060029_3253391.jpg
Cem Ozdemir

Photo: https://armenianweekly.com

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Yerevan/Mediamax/. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan awarded the Medal of Mkhitar Gosh to Co-chair of Alliance ‘90/The Greens political party, member of the German Bundestag Cem Ozdemir.

 

 

The corresponding presidential decree states that Cem Ozdemir is awarded for his notable contribution to global recogniztion of the Armenian Genocide.

In September 2016, Cem Ozdemir said in the interview to Mediamax that the Bundestag resolution on the Armenian Genocide cannot be overruled.

Cem Ozdemir is the author of the “Remembrance and Commemoration of the Genocide of Armenians and Other Christian Minorities 101 Years Ago” resolution. The Bundestag adopted it by a majority vote on June 2, 2016.

http://www.mediamax..../society/25313/



#1570 Yervant1

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Posted 25 September 2017 - 09:47 AM

168.am
 
08:41 | September 25 2017
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Alan Whitehorn: It is Easier to Hate Than to Love
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Alan Whitehorn is a distinguished genocide scholar, writer, author of books, Emeritus Professor at the Department of Political Science of Royal Military College of Canada.

 It took a long way for Alan Whitehorn to re-unite with his ancestral roots in Armenia, but not a long decision to start writing about genocide. Alan Whitehorn is an author of poems and books about the Armenian Genocide and has brought significant contribution to genocide recognition and education not only in Canada, but beyond its boundaries as well.

“My family is half Armenian and half English-Canadian. My grandmother was an orphan of the Armenian Genocide. All her family members were killed. She was discovered wandering in the streets. She didn’t know her name or age. She lived in refugee camps and orphanages from one place to another for over ten years – first in the Ottoman Empire, and eventually in Greece. Finally, she was adopted by an Armenian family in Alexandria, Egypt. My mother was born in Alexandria and met my father during WW II. My mother’s brother and sister and parents went to Soviet Armenia – an area they had never been before. They were to re-populate Armenia after WW II by coming to the homeland. In the case of my grandmother and my grandfather, they had been born in Western Armenia. From the mid-1940s to the 1960s the family was separated by the Cold War. We were in Canada, while my mother’s side of the family was in Soviet Armenia.” Alan Whitehorn adds with pride that his uncle is Armenak Alajajian, who became one of the most famous Soviet athletes from Armenia – the most famous Armenian Olympic basketball athlete. Armenak Alajajian was included in the 50 Greatest Euro League Contributors (2008) of FIBA European Champions Cup and Euro League history.

Going Back to Roots

Alan Whitehorn tried multiple times to go to both Soviet Armenia and the Republic of Armenia – the piece of Armenia that remained after the 1915 Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire that wiped out Western Armenia’s indigenous Armenian population. He wanted to see his relatives and ancestral homeland, however, every time something would happen and interrupt his plans.

“Between the early 1960’s and 2004, I tried four times to go to Armenia, and something would happen and I wouldn’t make it. The first time was in 1963, the last time was in 2001 – when the planes stopped flying after September 11. I finally made it in 2005. It was an overwhelming experience. I was coming as a senior academic, but also someone who had lived for more than five decades in the diaspora. You come with a lot of expectations and stereotypes, and you discover how complex, how dynamic and how rich the history of Armenia is. As a professor of political science, you know a lot, but you learn more when you travel to a country for the first time. My trip to Armenia in 2005 was a particularly moving experience. I ended up writing a lot of poems about my visits to different sites, hearing stories, recalling what people were telling me about their family experiences and accounts about the Armenian Genocide. The book ‘Ancestral Voices’, which came out in 2007, is a collection of poems from my travels through Armenia in 2005.”

After his first visit to Armenia in 2005, Alan Whitehorn has been travelling to Armenia for five weeks every year till 2015.

In Search of Roots: the Path that Led to Writing About the Armenian Genocide

As a person who was always interested in self-education, Alan Whitethorn began writing as a political scientist about the Armenian Genocide almost by accident.

“Several decades ago I had heard a lot about the Armenian Genocide. There were not as many books on the Armenian Genocide as there are now. I wanted to learn more. I wanted to know more from primary sources and sources contemporary to the actual events. I went to the archives of the Toronto Globe (now the Globe and Mail) of 1915 and I went through the newspaper microfilm files and I looked at every page of every day for the entire year of 1915. I looked at what was reported, what we knew and what we didn’t know. I was surprised how much was written.

Not always on the first page, but a lot was written. We have seen the equivalent of Americans’ writings of what was in the New York Times and in other newspapers. I took notes, photocopies from the microfilm, which was of terrible visual quality – not like the modern digital technology now. I created a file for my own interest,” says Alan Whitehorn about his efforts to learn more about the Armenian Genocide. He put the files to the side, until about ten years later when a Consul from the Turkish Embassy had written to the Globe and Mail and was denying the Armenian Genocide. “This was too much. I went back to my files of ten years earlier. I went to my notes and photocopies and typed a letter to the Globe, responding to the Turkish Consul. I quoted from the 1915 headlines from the Toronto Globe articles and they published the letter. Who knew that a little letter in reply to someone who was denying the Genocide would become the beginning of a new phase in my life and career, both as an academic and human rights activist?”

Alan Whitehorn did not have any intent or plans to become a genocide scholar, but unexpectedly the Turkish Consul’s denial of the fact of the Armenian Genocide put him on that path. Following the publication of the response letter, Alan Whitehorn was invited to give a paper to a conference on ethnic and religious minorities in the Ottoman Empire. In his overall academic work Alan Whitehorn cooperated with Lorne and George Shirinian, both brothers and sons of orphans of the Armenian Genocide who had been  “Georgetown Boys and Girls”. Over the years, Lorne Shirinian, as a writer and publisher, and George Shirinian, as Executive Director of Zoryan Institute, collaborated with Alan Whitehorn in writing about what happened to Greeks, Assyrians and Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.  In 2001, Lorne Shirinian and Whitehorn “produced a little booklet that was intended to help the members of the Canadian Parliament and others to learn about the Genocide. It is called ‘The Armenian Genocide: Resisting the Inertia of Indifference’. We ended up going to Parliament Hill and giving copies to senators, members of the House of Commons and their staff and did lobbying. At that time, a number of key figures of the Armenian diaspora were lobbying very long and hard. To my pleasant surprise, we eventually succeeded first in the Senate, then the House of Commons and finally with the Prime Minister recognizing the Armenian Genocide. During the debates, some of my poems were read both in the Senate and the House of Commons during parliamentary discussions and debates,” said Alan Whitehorn and went on adding that it didn’t come easily, as there was pressure and intimidation attempts by a foreign government.

Working for Recognition and Education

An important phase that happened in efforts at education about genocide was when the Toronto District School Board started thinking of offering a course on genocide and human rights. Toronto is the largest district school board in Canada, and what Toronto does often is copied by other smaller boards. The discussion was what content and which case studies to include in the education curriculum. A number of scholars and the Armenian community lobbied to include the Armenian Genocide as one of the most important cases of the 20th century. The Turkish community, including its Embassy, lobbied against.

“As someone who is now increasingly writing on the Armenian Genocide and learning more and more, I wrote a letter making a case for why the Armenian case study should be included in such a course. The school board publicly circulated all written submissions and made it available to anyone who was interested. One of the interested parties was the Turkish government. It was interested to see who was writing to recommend that course. Not surprisingly, I experienced backlash. I was doing a lot of writing and lobbying for the recognition of the Genocide, and now I was writing a letter! I was also teaching a course on Genocide and Human Rights at the Royal Military College of Canada.” Professor Whitehorn added that a foreign government began to take greater interest and show significant unhappiness with the work he was doing on the Armenian Genocide and even tried to silence him. There were attempts to lobby and even to threaten the Canadian government to stop him from teaching not only on the Armenian Genocide and human rights, but in other areas as well.

One can frighten or try to silence an academic from publishing scholarly articles or poems, but that wasn’t for Alan Whitehorn. “As a result of that increased attention and threats from overseas to a Canadian academic, I wrote the book ‘Just Poems: Reflections on the Armenian Genocide’. To me, that’s one of the most important books that I have written, as it was clear there were threats not only to me, but the Canadian Government as well. There was a significant risk personally. The book is a collection of poems on the Armenian Genocide. Most of them were written in the troubling 2008-2009 period.” Many of the poems are available in the Armenian language as well. Aram Arsenyan, who is considered one of the best translators in Armenia, transcribed the poems to make them available in Armenia. “We also worked together on a collection of poems for the volume – ‘Return to Armenia’, which came out in 2012. It includes poems from older volumes, including ‘Ancestral Voices’, and new poems as well. It is in a bilingual format – the same poem is both in English on one page and in Armenian on the facing side.”

The First Encyclopedia in English on the Armenian Genocide  

Several years before 2015, the 100th memorial of the Armenian Genocide, Alan Whitehorn was asked by ABC-CLIO, a major educational publishing house in the U.S., to contribute a number of entries on the Armenian Genocide, which would become part of a four-volume encyclopedia entitled ‘Modern Genocide’. “I was asked to do thirteen entries for this encyclopedia, and most importantly, the seven overview essays (introduction, causes, the perpetrators, victims, bystanders, consequences and international reaction) that would begin the large section on the Armenian Genocide.”

There are ten genocides covered in the volumes and the Armenian Genocide, as a major case study, is one of them. As there was increasing demand for a separate volume on the Armenian Genocide, Alan Whitehorn published in 2015 the first encyclopedia in English on the Armenian Genocide – ‘The Armenian Genocide: The Essential Reference Guide’. Any encyclopedia is a collaborative effort and Whitehorn received much-valued assistance from several people, particularly George Shirinian and Vartan Matossian.

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There is a challenge when publishing something about the Armenian Genocide as the denial by the Turkish government is so determined, ongoing and malevolent. “When anything is written in such an encyclopedia it needs to be ‘bullet-proof’, which means that it needs to be not only accurate, but also that it can stand up to possible deliberate misinterpretation by those with malevolent intent. You have to be extra careful and need to do additional editing. You need to make sure it cannot be misconstrued. The book, consisting of 425 pages, has about 150 entries, a timeline, primary documents and an extensive biography. The goal of the encyclopedia was to answer questions regarding the Armenian Genocide for the general audience and scholars around the world,” said Alan Whitehorn. Shortly after the encyclopedia was published, he had major health issues and was unable to lecture and promote the encyclopedia and the publication of his next book was greatly delayed. “My sickness was so severe that I couldn’t even look at the computer screen for fifteen or twenty seconds because of pain. Now almost three years later, I am able to do work, albeit at a slower pace. In the new book that is going to be published next year, there is a chapter looking at an analysis of phases and stages of genocide. I am happy to say that the pioneering genocide scholar Gregory Stanton has modified and expanded his eight stages of genocide to ten stages now, and he included two stages similar to that which I had suggested in some of my earlier writings.”

Humanity Does Not Learn Sufficient Lessons From History

Genocide is not accidental – it goes through stages leading to genocide. What we see now happening in the Middle East has gone through many phases that describe the steps leading to genocide. Even now, one century after the Armenian Genocide, such genocidal acts are happening in the Middle East. Could the fact of past genocides not being recognized by the world be one reason why such atrocities are still happening? Could the international community’s failure to recognize genocides in the past unleash the hands of perpetrators and powers with malevolent intent to commit new genocides?

“Yes, we can make comparison with today. I think the more genocides you study and the more you look at the academic literature, the more you can see similarities in terms of not only causes but phases, stages, elements, or dimensions. A number of them are striking. The first is you have some kind of ethnic, linguistic or religious polarization and intolerance. You have separate and unequal divisions, but also non-acceptance. You add to that history of inequality, crises, or war. A war unleashes, first of all, more executive malevolent power and lessens democratic pluralistic constraints. The other thing is that amidst war and crisis there is a sense of urgency and willingness to do more desperate, violent and dramatic deeds. You combine that with individuals who are ambitious, who think authoritarian means are the swifter way. Then combine that with unacceptance of the ‘other’, that being different is unacceptable, intolerable, and link it with the tendency to portray the ‘other’, somehow in cooperation with an outside enemy – another government, another force. If you look at Syria today, as was the case in the Ottoman Empire of WW I, you see many of the same preconditions and, and ultimately a similar outcome.”

What is the role of public opinion of the great powers? What is the role of bystanders? Most of the world is composed of bystanders. Do they help to stop the destruction, conflict, the persecution? Or do they focus on other things? Perhaps they say it’s too far away and not their concern?

“As a political science professor, one of the things I tried to teach my students is that it is sadly easier to hate than to love, it is easier to be fearful than feel secure. It is partly because the outside environment seems to be more threatening. We do not feel in control of things, and this is even more so when war occurs. Thus, the challenge in Armenia in WW I, Rwanda in the 1990s and Syria and Sudan today is ‘How do you get the global community engaged in a sustained way?’. One of the striking things about Syria and the Middle East is many of the roots of the problems go back to the post–WW I settlements and agreements that didn’t really recognize the demographic, ethnic and linguistic composition in the Middle East. It was a peace treaty process that paid more attention to the interests of Britain, France and the bigger corporations. I think we are paying the price today because when the boundaries were drawn, they were not paying attention to the ethnic and linguistic composition and they were thinking in terms of economic and military influence of the French and British and others.”

“Genocide recognition is always important because I think we learn by knowing what happened, and sometimes we need to learn and to re-interpret. I am a strong believer in the importance of military hard power to stop genocide during urgent times, but it is not enough. You need the more time-consuming soft power of education. In the long-run, education is a firmer foundation. In the Ottoman Empire, genocides against the Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians and the others were stopped by foreign armies. The German Nazi genocide of the Jews, the Slavs and the Romani were stopped by the allied armies in WW II. The Cambodian Genocide was stopped by the Vietnamese army. We realize that military hard power as a last resort is needed to stop genocide, but in the long-run to fully put an end to and prevent genocides and stop them from reoccurrence, education is key.”

Armenia Today: A Need for Paradigm Change

When speaking of Armenia, Alan Whitehorn is not optimistic about the future of the South Caucasus. “One of the interesting things is that had the next book come out earlier, my warnings about the future of the South Caucasus and Armenia would have been a cautionary tale ahead of the 2016 conflict, but would not have been as stark as it would be today. I am much more pessimistic today than I was two or three years ago – and I was quite pessimistic then. The closing chapter of the next book suggests that there needs to be a paradigm change. Armenia cannot continue the path it has been on. It is not sustainable in terms of demographics and armed conflict.”

Alan Whitehorn’s new book will discuss ways and mechanisms of re-building peace in the South Caucasus. “Much of the book will be focused on the Armenian Genocide of course – the history leading up to the genocide, analytical writing of genocide leading to the Armenian case study, but also looking at Armenia’s future in a very frank way. One of the areas that increasingly people are agonizing over is the depopulation of Armenia. At some point, there is a critical mass and a time when you reach that critical mass. Coming from Canada, I suggested that we have a history in North America in which we experience waves of immigration as a way of re-generating ourselves. Maybe Armenia needs to reflect more deeply on its emigration crisis, how it occurs and from where it occurs. Maybe Armenia should do like Canada and accept immigrants more widely.”

In private conversations during his visits to Armenia Alan Whitehorn has tried to explain the benefits of immigration and the negative side of depopulation in Armenia, however he found resistance among local Armenians toward different immigration policies. “Unless they come to Toronto and Vancouver to see these incredibly diverse cities, I think it is very hard in Yerevan to conceptualize immigration waves and diversity and explain to people how they work. For example, this is one of my provocative examples – there are apparently about a thousand medical students in Yerevan from India. Many of them are able to pick up Armenian successfully for whatever linguistic reasons. Given that India is overpopulated, Armenia is underpopulated, maybe some of those medical students could be immigrants to Armenia. Many hard-working, bright Armenians had to go to Russia, Canada and other countries to find a better life. Migration is a key part of global history. What was striking for me after so many visits to Armenia was to see so many young people whose fathers, or sometimes both fathers and mothers, were out in other countries to work for so many years. It really hit me – the number of young twenty-year-olds that were living with grandparents.”

Alan Whitehorn is not optimistic about economic development prospects in Armenia and in the South Caucasus. “The economic conditions are less than promising in Armenia. Unless you have a greater sense of altruism in the government stratum and less entrenching of power and enriching private wealth, the country’s opportunities are not as good as they should be. Ultimately, closed borders and ongoing threats of war are going to stop Armenia from having a bright dynamic future.”

As war and other conditions prevent Armenia’s economy from growing, Alan Whitehorn believes that the status-quo in Artsakh is not a viable long-term option. “Weaponry on both sides of the conflict are getting more and more dangerous. The status-quo is not a viable option. As a political scientist, I say that. As a diaspora Armenian, I am always hopeful. If we could survive the Armenian Genocide, we can survive anything. The lectures I give on the South Caucasus and international relations are somehow more pessimistic than my lectures on genocide because for the Genocide the worst has passed, but for the South Caucasus the worst is likely ahead, unless there is a paradigm change.”

By Kamo Mailyan
Toronto-Yerevan

 

https://en.168.am/20...9/25/21265.html



#1571 Yervant1

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Posted 29 September 2017 - 10:03 AM

Armenpress News Agency, Armenia
September 27, 2017 Wednesday


Varujan Vosganian's The Book of Whispers published in English



BUCHAREST, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The American Yale University
Press has published the English copy of Varujan Vosganian’s The Book
of Whispers. The official issue is scheduled for October 24.

The book was translated from Romanian by Alistair Ian Blyth. The book
was published under the Margellos Republic of Letters series.

“The Book of Whispers has become an international phenomena”- the
publisher says in the introduction section.

“A harrowing account of the Armenian Genocide documented through the
stories of those who managed to survive and descendants who refuse to
forget.

The grandchild of Armenians who escaped widespread massacres during
the Ottoman Empire a century ago, Varujan Vosganian grew up in Romania
hearing firsthand accounts of those who had witnessed horrific
killings, burned villages, and massive deportations. In this moving
chronicle of the Armenian people’s almost unimaginable tragedy, the
author transforms true events into a work of fiction firmly grounded
in survivor testimonies and historical documentation. Across Syrian
desert refugee camps, Russian tundra, and Romanian villages, the book
chronicles individual lives destroyed by ideological and authoritarian
oppression. But this novel tells an even wider human story. Evocative
of all the great sufferings that afflicted the twentieth century—world
wars, concentration camps, common graves, statelessness, and
others—this book belongs to all peoples whose voices have been lost.
Hailed for its documentary value and sensitive authenticity,
Vosganian’s work has become an international phenomenon”, Yale
University Press said.

Recently Varujan Vosganian presented his novel in Poland’s Zygmunt
Haput literature festival.



#1572 Yervant1

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Posted 29 September 2017 - 10:10 AM

Mr. minister there is a big difference between condemned and recognition, I'm sure you know the difference but refuse to say it means denial! Double talk.

Armenpress News Agency, Armenia

September 27, 2017 Wednesday


UK among first countries to condemn Armenian Genocide – British Minister



YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The United Kingdom condemned the
atrocities and pogroms still hundred years ago, ARMENPRESS reports
Minister of State of UK for Europe and the Americas at the Foreign &
Commonwealth Office Alan Duncan announced during the joint press
conference with the Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian,
answering the question if he thinks that the international recognition
of the Armenian Genocide would have prevented a number of crimes, the
Holocaust, Rwanda and many terror acts happening today.

“We were among the first to condemn still at that time. I visited the
memorial complex, it was a very emotional moment for me. There are
clear evidences here, in Yerevan, showpieces of the British parliament
of 100 years ago on condemning the Genocide”, he said.

Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian added that in May 1915
Great Britain, together with Russia and France, issued a relative
statement characterizing the Armenian Genocide as a crime against
humanity.

Minister of State of UK for Europe and the Americas at the Foreign &
Commonwealth Office Alan Duncan is in Armenia on September 26-28 at
the invitation of Armenian FM Edward Nalbandian.

 



#1573 Yervant1

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Posted 03 October 2017 - 12:22 PM

Commentary
        How Turkey Destroyed or Disposed
        Its Historical Archives and Documents
        By Harut Sassounian
        Publisher, The California Courier
 
For several decades, the Turkish government and its propagandists have been announcing that the state documents, particularly the Ottoman archives, are fully open and available to any researcher from around the world.
What Turkish officials and their supporters do not say is that many documents of the Ottoman archives have been removed, destroyed, sold or disposed of. In addition, some of the most sensitive archives are still closed to outsiders.
Last month, Turkish journalist Uzay Bulut posted a revealing article, “Turkey Uncensored: A History of Censorship and Bans” on the PhilosProject.org website regarding the status of Turkish archives and documents going back to several centuries. Ms. Bulut is free to expose such secrets because she no longer lives in Turkey. She is currently based in Washington, D.C.
In Turkey today, Wikipedia’s website is blocked by governmental order because Wikipedia refused to delete articles revealing that the Turkish authorities are supporting the Islamic State terrorists. Furthermore, 127,000 websites and 95,000 individual Web pages are blocked by Turkey, according to journalist Bulut.
This modern-day banning of thousands of websites is the continuation of Ottoman Sultan Bayazid II’s decree of 1485 A.D. imposing the death penalty on anyone printing books in Turkish or Arabic. The ban remained for more than two centuries, Bulut reported. “That prohibition is widely cited by historians as one of the major reasons for the intellectual and scientific collapse of Islam at the dawn of the industrial revolution.”
The Turkish Republic, during the rule of its founder Kemal Ataturk as of 1923, continued the tradition of censorship by banning “at least 130 newspapers, magazines and books, according to Mustafa Yilmaz and Yasmin Doganer’s book, 'Censor During the Republican era (1923-1973).’” Turkey’s second Prime Minister (1950-1960), Adnan Menderes, banned 161 publications, according to Bulut.
Returning to archival censorship, Bulut quoted Turkish-Jewish historian Rifat Bali who “explained the history of disposed or destroyed state archives in his 2014 book, ‘The Story of Destruction of Plundering: Printed or Written words, Dead Letters, Archives Thrown Out (or Sold) for Scrap.’ …The archives of many political parties, the Senate, and several other governmental or non-governmental institutions in Turkey are either closed to public use or no longer exist.” According to Bali, “the archives of the political parties closed down during the September 12, 1980 coup d’état were sent to SEKA (Cellulose and Paper Factories) as scrap paper.”
The Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) archive is the most important one because it is the party of the founding years of the Republic. As Bali wrote: “Some say it [the archive] was burnt. Some say it was thrown away on September 12. Some say, no it hasn’t been thrown away. It is here. So it is a mystery today. A large part of the archive is nonexistent.”
In addition, Bali reported that “the archives of the presidency, the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and the Ministry of the Interior are closed.” Interestingly, Bali noted the strange story of how “confidential documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were found at a scrap dealer in Ankara in 1998. For the ministry had sold 15 steel safes to a scrap dealer. It was then understood that the ministry sold the safes because of a lack of space at the ministry without even looking what was inside them.”
Bali also reported in his book several other examples of the destruction of important documents:
-- “Many of the Turkish Institute of History’s documents – including a letter by Ataturk – have been thrown away;”
-- “All minutes of the proceedings of the Senate that was established with the 1961 constitution and remained active until the September 12, 1980 coup d’état were sent to the Cellulose and Paper Factories (SEKA);”
-- “When the state-funded Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) moved to a new building in 1965, its authorities said that ‘old documents do not fit a new building’ and sent some of the documents of the archives to SEKA;”
-- “When a shortage of paper emerged at SEKA in 1980s, state institutions were called on to send their old papers to the factory. Many archives at institutional level were thus gone;”
-- As recently as 2013, Turkish National Library's old books in Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac were sold by the ton, “as there were no librarians who could read in those languages.”
As an investigative journalist Uzay Bulut concluded: “with so much information withheld from the Turkish public, state propaganda has created masses who blindly follow whatever state authorities − who have lost their moral compass and never object or speak out even when they see brutal violations of human rights, who do not respect differing opinions or the right to dissent, and who promote an extremely inaccurate version of history – have to say.”
The next time Turkish government propagandists write “our archives are open,” you can send them a copy of this article, the revelations of which from distinguished Turkish journalist Uzay Bulut will shut them up!


#1574 Yervant1

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Posted 04 October 2017 - 09:20 AM

Armenpress News Agency , Armenia
October 2, 2017 Monday


'I know a lot about Armenians' – Jussi Biorn on grandmother's Genocide
memoirs & more



YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. Norwegian missionary Bodil
Catharina Biorn had dedicated herself to serving the Armenian people
during the Armenian Genocide. Becoming aware of the sufferings of the
Armenian people, she went to Mush – at the same time helping the
Armenians elsewhere in the surrounding parts. She cared and treated
the orphans, saved the lives of numerous women and children. She also
founded an orphanage in Alexandropol – the present day Gyumri. 102
years later, the grandson of Bodil Biorn – Jussi Biorn is in Armenia.

Jussi Biorn gave an interview to ARMENPRESS.

Mr. Biorn, what did your grandmother tell you about those days, what
can you recall?

We lived in the same house in Norway, and she told me a lot. I know
many things – even the names of the surviving children. My grandmother
always touched upon this subject. She wrote down her memoirs. I don’t
know exactly how many children she saved. She worked for nearly 30
years in Mush, Gyumri and Aleppo. I think she didn’t even count the
number of children. My grandmother always helped those who suffered,
those who really needed help. After the genocide she was in Aleppo,
she founded an orphanage there, she brought together the sick
children, treated them and returned them to their families.

What do you know about the Armenian Genocide from your grandmother’s
memoirs, or other sources?

I know a lot about what had happened. I’ve read my grandmother’s
memoir and letters many times. Undeniably – the genocide did indeed
happen.


What is the stance of Norway for the Armenian Genocide issue? Why
doesn’t the country which respects human rights the most recognize it?

Undoubtedly, the Armenian Genocide indeed happened. It doesn’t need
evidence. Everybody knows about it, even Turkey. It is shameful for
Muslims; they must explain why they’re lying for 100 years on. I
believe they prefer to live in a lie.


And to what extent is the Norwegian society aware of it? What stance
does it have?

A lot of people know about it. However their number is small in
Norway. I am doing my best also with reporters and tourists, for them
to get to know Armenia, and be aware of the Armenian Genocide fact.
Many lawyers and journalists in Norway know about the genocide. I
believe, Armenians shouldn’t forget the genocide, but they should also
look into the future and develop.

What do you think is the reason of certain countries for not
recognizing the Armenian Genocide?

Money is the problem. Those countries have a business-cooperation with
Turkey, also tourism flow.

What do you think can Armenia do, which it hasn’t done, for the
recognition of the Genocide?

I think it has been recognized everywhere already, if not officially
then at least from within. You also have popular Armenian actors,
renowned representatives of other areas, who also contribute to it. I
think you have done your best, you never forget the Genocide.

Your father is ethnically Armenian, what do you know about Armenia and
Armenians?

I visit Armenia often. I know many people here, the capital and even
cab drivers. I have toured the entire country, I’ve also been to the
bordering regions. I’ve been hosted in villages, I’ve talked to
people, I helped some of them in their work.

What do you love the most in Armenia?

I love the hot summer of Armenia. You have wonderful cafes and
restaurants. Also the fact that Armenians easily interact with others,
wherever they are.

When are you planning to visit Armenia again?

My next visit will perhaps take place next month. I come here often. I
wish good future to Armenians. I hope Armenia will gradually open more
opportunities for its youth.

Interview by Anna Grigoryan



#1575 Yervant1

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Posted 06 October 2017 - 08:17 AM

EU SCOOP
Oct 5 2017
 
 
Armenian-Bulgarians Celebrate the Liberation of Bansko with a Monument

Sofia, Bulgaria -

702380c0-0b6a-4f01-b2d1-5005fc19cef6.jpe

A monument was built in the town of Bansko to commemorate the liberation of the town from Ottoman rule on October 5, 1912. The town is celebrating the 105th anniversary of its freedom.

The site  was created with the help of the Armenian community of Bulgaria. It’s called “Hachkar”, which means “Stone Cross” in Armenian. The memorial has the following quote from the famous Bulgarian poet and freedom fighter Peyo Yavorov: “Brothers, throw down your fezes. From today, you are free Bulgarians." 

The people of Armenia and Bulgaria are both Orthodox Christians and both suffered during the Ottoman rule. Dubbed “The Turkish Slavery,” Ottoman subjugation cost the lives of countless Orthodox Christians, including 1.5 million Armenians during the genocide of 1915 to 1917 and 15,000 to 30,000 Bulgarians during the month of the April Uprising.

Bulgaria has a sizable Armenian population that financed multiple similar memorials, many of which include quotes from Yavorov, who was a strong supporter both of the Bulgarian Armenians and the liberation of their country from Ottoman rule.

(Picture From 24chasa.bg)

https://www.euscoop....tion-from-turks



#1576 Yervant1

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Posted 06 October 2017 - 08:26 AM

Pasadena Weekly, CA
Oct 5 2017
 
 
Former ‘Superman’ Dean Cain focuses on the Armenian Genocide in the documentary ‘Architects of Denial’

Posted by Carl Kozlowski | Oct 5, 2017 | |

Prime_web_100517.jpg?zoom=1.5625&resize=
 

Dean Cain rose to stardom in the 1990s by playing the ultimate superhero in the ABC series “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.” While he has maintained a steady career in the decades since by starring in an endless assortment of TV movies and guest-starring roles on series, he has also become a real-life hero by using his notoriety to bring awareness to human rights campaigns around the globe.

Cain serves as an executive producer on the new documentary “Architects of Denial: Genocide Denied Is Genocide Continued,” which focuses on the Armenian Genocide and explores how similar atrocities still afflict the Armenians and many other populations including in Sudan. Teaming with veteran talk-show host Montel Williams to help draw funding and attention to the project, he appeared with Williams and an array of stars and politicians, including US Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, at the film’s red carpet premiere on Oct. 3 in Hollywood, prior to its opening Friday at the Laemmle Playhouse 7.

“Neither Montel nor I are Armenian, but I was a history major at Princeton, and I’ve traveled the world and been to lots of places with Montel doing charity work for children and other charities,” says Cain, speaking by phone from Washington, DC, where he was lobbying congresspersons to endorse House Resolution 220, authored by Schiff, which would formally recognize the Armenian Genocide and inspire faster labeling of other genocidal actions.

“We don’t agree politically on everything, but one thing we agree on is that genocide is wrong. This very first genocide of the 20th century has been swept under the rug, hidden and whitewashed by governments because no one wants to take responsibility,” Cain said. “If you don’t acknowledge it, you allow it to continue, and the media ignores Turkey and Azerbaijan now with how they treat Armenia, plus there are atrocities in Sudan and persecution of Christians elsewhere.”

“Architects” traces the turbulent modern history of the Armenian people, from their decimation by Ottoman Turks at the onset of World War I until the present, when they are threatened by Turkey as well as its ally, Azerbaijan. It chronicles the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and includes interviews with its survivors, who detail the horrors they or their family members had experienced, and experts, who graphically illustrate the real connection between its historical denial with present-day mass exterminations in conflict zones around the world.

While Cain and Williams don’t appear in “Architects,” they are in the midst of producing and appearing in another documentary in which they have conducted on-camera interviews with Syrian Armenians, the Armenian president, foreign minister and prime minister. The  focus of that film is to show how the lives of many Armenian families have come full circle from fleeing into Syria nearly 100 years ago, only to flee back home now because of persecution from Muslim extremists in that nation.

“This is the first time anyone has put together one huge statement of how familial relations are affected by genocides and refugee situations around the planet,” says Cain. “[Wikileaks founder] Julian Assange has not given interviews on this subject, and we specifically ask congressmen on camera about their denial that the Armenian Genocide took place, after they’ve taken money from Turkish lobbyists.”

With more than 100 congressional sponsors of House Resolution 220 already lined up, Cain feels optimistic that his efforts will pay off soon with a vote. But he also notes that there will always be another place in need of some heroic help.

“This has gone on throughout history, but modern travel and technology has given us the tools to monitor and stop genocidal actions faster than before,” says Cain. “I’ve spent the last few days educating congressmen on the issue, and they seem receptive. We’ll see if we can get it done.”

“Architects of Denial” opens Friday at the Laemmle Playhouse 7, 673 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. For more information, call (626) 844-6500 or visit laemmle.com/theaters/6.

https://www.pasadena...hitects-denial/



#1577 Yervant1

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Posted 06 October 2017 - 08:34 AM

Here we go again, the game of Genocide politics. It must be election time! Never enough members to pass it.

 

Asbarez.com
 
 
Over 100 Members of Congress Back Passage of Genocide Prevention Measure
HRes220_cosponsors.jpg

HRes220 co-sponsors

H.Res.220 Leverages Lessons of Armenian Genocide to Prevent Future Atrocities

WASHINGTON—In the wake of the Armenian Genocide epic “The Promise,” on the eve of the national release of “Architects of Denial,” after a long summer of Congressional district meetings, and amid a renewed drive by Representatives Jackie Speier (D-CA), David Trott (R-MI) and their Armenian Caucus colleagues, the number of U.S. House cosponsors on H.Res.220 cleared one hundred this week, signaling growing support for passage of this bipartisan measure leveraging the lessons of the Armenian Genocide to prevent future atrocities across the Middle East and around the world, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

“We are gratified to see the growing bipartisan backing for the adoption of H.Res.220 and are encouraged that each of the top U.S. House leaders, from both sides of the aisle, have records of supporting honest American remembrance of the Armenian Genocide – from Speaker Ryan and Majority Leader McCarthy to Democratic Leader Pelosi and Democratic Whip Hoyer, as well, of course, Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel of the Foreign Affairs Committee,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. “We look forward to supporting the ongoing efforts H.Res.220’s authors and cosponsors to secure its adoption by the full U.S. House.”

“The Promise” and “Architects of Denial”’ – their Washington, DC premieres and the work of filmmakers to impact U.S. policy on the Armenian Genocide – have played a key role in challenging U.S. complicity in Ankara’s ongoing denial of the Ottoman Turkish government’s mass murder of over 2.5 million Armenians, Greeks and Assyrian/Chaldeans from 1915-1923. In March, “The Promise” director and producer Terry George and Eric Esrailian, respectively, joined the ANCA in meetings with key House leaders. Just last week, “Architects of Denial” Executive Producers Dean Cain and Montel Williams wrapped up a series of meetings with legislators in the run up to the October 6th release of their documentary. These films, in addition to Joe Berlinger’s “Intent to Destroy”, Shant Mardirossian and George Billard’s “They Shall Not Perish”, and Micah Smith’s ‘Faithkeepers”, all released in the past year, have drawn unprecedented attention to the Armenian Genocide and its consequences.

This growing spotlight on Turkey’s genocidal history and the ongoing aggression against Armenia and Artsakh by both Azerbaijan and Turkey have resonated with lawmakers, as seen during over 200 district meetings held by ANCA Western Region and Eastern Region local advocates this past summer, urging support for a myriad of Armenian American community concerns, including passage of H.Res.220 and the Senate Armenian Genocide Resolution, S.Res.136.

Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Jackie Speier (D-CA) and Dave Trott (R-MI) have been vocal in rallying support for the human rights measure. Rep. Speier recently led an educational and cultural trip to Armenia, coordinated through the Embassy of Armenia, joined by Armenian Caucus founder and Co-Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Co-Chair David Valadao, and Representatives Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) and Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI). Representatives Gabbard, Pallone and Valadao also traveled to the Republic of Artsakh.

U.S. Representatives David Trott (R-MI) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) are the lead authors of H.Res.220. This genocide prevention measure stresses that “proper commemoration and consistent condemnation of the Armenian Genocide will strengthen our international standing in preventing modern-day genocides,” and, building upon the 2016 official U.S. designation of an ISIS genocide against Middle East minorities, specifically calls for the following: “[T]he United States, in seeking to prevent war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against Christians, Yezidis, Muslims, Kurds, and other vulnerable religious and ethnic groups in the Middle East, should draw upon relevant lessons of the United States Government, civil society, and humanitarian response to the Armenian Genocide, Seyfo, and the broader genocidal campaign by the Ottoman Empire against Armenians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Greeks, Pontians and other Christians upon their biblical era homelands.”

The Senate, Armenian Genocide Resolution, S.Res.136, was introduced by Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) with the bipartisan support of Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Tom Udall (D-NM) earlier this year on April 24th, the international day of commemoration of the Ottoman Turkish Government’s murder of over 1.5 million Armenians from 1915-1923. The resolution calls on the President to “work toward an equitable, constructive, stable, and durable Armenian-Turkish relationship that includes the full acknowledgment by the Government of the Republic of Turkey of the facts about the Armenian Genocide.” It goes on to urge that “the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide.” Other cosponsors of the measure include Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

A full listing of cosponsors for H.Res.220 is provided below. Genocide prevention advocates interested in thanking resolution cosponsors or urging their U.S. Senators and Representatives to support passage of Armenian Genocide legislation can take action on the ANCA’s March to Justice Advocacy platform by visiting anca.org/preventgenocide

Genocide Prevention Resolution (H.Res.220) – Cosponsors
(listed in alphabetical order – updated as of 10/05/2017)

Pete Aguilar (D-CA)
Karen Bass (D-CA)
Gus Bilirakis (R-FL)
Mike Bishop (R-MI)
Michael Capuano (D-MA)
Salud Carbajal (D-CA)
Tony Cardenas (D-CA)
Joaquín Castro (D-TX)
Judy Chu (D-CA)
David Cicilline (D-RI)
Katherine Clark (D-MA)
Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
William Clay (D-MO)
Mike Coffman (R-CO)
John Conyers (D-MI)
Lou Correa (D-CA)
Jim Costa (D-CA)
Joe Courtney (D-CT)
Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
Joseph Crowley (D-NY)
Peter DeFazio (D-OR)
Jeff Denham (R-CA)
Ted Deutch (D-FL)
Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)
Daniel Donovan (R-NY)
Eliot Engel (D-NY)
Anna Eshoo (D-CA)
Adriano Espaillat (D-NY)
John Faso (R-NY)
Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)
Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Ruben Gallego (D-AZ)
John Garamendi (D-CA)
Tom Garrett (R-VA)
Jimmy Gomez (D-CA)
Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ)
Luis Gutierrez (D-IL)
Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI)
Jared Huffman (D-CA)
Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)
Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
Joe Kennedy (D-MA)
Ro Khanna (D-CA)
Ruben Kihuen (D-NV)
Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL)
James Langevin (D-RI)
Brenda Lawrence (D-MI)
Barbara Lee (D-CA)
Sander Levin (D-MI)
Jason Lewis (R-MN)
John Lewis (D-GA)
Ted Lieu (D-CA)
Daniel Lipinski (D-IL)
Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
Alan Lowenthal (D-CA)
Nita Lowey (D-NY)
Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)
Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY)
Doris Matsui (D-CA)
Betty McCollum (D-MN)
James McGovern (D-MA)
Grace Meng (D-NY)
John Moolenaar (R-MI)
Seth Moulton (D-MA)
Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)
Grace Napolitano (D-CA)
Richard Neal (D-MA)
Rick Nolan (D-MN)
Donald Norcross (D-NJ)
Devin Nunes (R-CA)
Frank Pallone (D-NJ)
Edwin Perlmutter (D-CO)
Chellie Pingree (D-ME)
Jared Polis (D-CO)
Kathleen Rice (D-NY)
Jacky Rosen (D-NV)
Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
Edward Royce (R-CA)
Tim Ryan (D-OH)
Linda Sanchez (D-CA)
John Sarbanes (D-MD)
Janice Schakowsky (D-IL)
Adam Schiff (D-CA)
Brad Schneider (D-IL)
Brad Sherman (D-CA)
John Shimkus (R-IL)
Albio Sires (D-NJ)
Christopher Smith (R-NJ)
Darren Soto (D-FL)
Jackie Speier (D-CA)
Tom Suozzi (D-NY)
Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
Mark Takano (D-CA)
Dina Titus (D-NV)
Paul Tonko (D-NY)
David Trott (R-MI)
Niki Tsongas (D-MA)
David Valadao (R-CA)
Timothy Walz (D-MN)
Maxine Waters (D-CA)
John Yarmuth (D-KY)

 
 


#1578 Yervant1

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Posted 07 October 2017 - 08:50 AM

LA Times, CA
Oct 5 2017
 
 
'Architects of Denial' a powerful look at the Armenian genocide
 
By Gary Goldstein
Oct 05, 2017 
2IEBF44REBFZ5BUDK35SLR4REM.jpg
 

The powerful documentary "Architects of Denial" posits that denying such world atrocities as the 1915-18 killings of about 1.2 million Christian Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, which became the modern republic of Turkey, results only in history repeating itself. Producer-director David Lee George persuasively backs up this theory by taking a frank look at the horrors of the Armenian genocide as well as the modern-day persecution of Armenians by forces in Turkey and its ally, Azerbaijan.

The movie also deftly places the systematic annihilation of Armenians within the context of latter-day genocides in such places as Sudan, Rwanda, Cambodia and Guatemala. Most dramatic, however, is the narrative's chilling reminder of how a lack of accountability over the Armenian genocide led Adolf Hitler to believe that the world would also turn a blind eye to his "Final Solution."

George combines a wide array of strong, if at times grisly, archival footage and photos with remarkable interviews with two centenarian survivors of the killings, plus moving commentary from many Armenians whose relatives perished in that first massacre and/or more recent conflicts across Azerbaijan.

Historians, academics, genocide experts, authors and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange also provide perspective about such issues as how the United States (taken to task here at great length), Britain and others, under political pressure from the Turkish government, which disputes that a genocide took place, officially avoid using the G-word to describe this historical reality.

‘Architects of Denial’

In English, Armenian and Turkish with English subtitles.

Not rated

Running time: 1 hour, 42 minutes

 
 
Advertisement
 

Playing: Laemmle Music Hall, Beverly Hills; Pacific Glendale 18; also on VOD

http://beta.latimes....1005-story.html

 


#1579 Yervant1

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Posted 08 October 2017 - 08:47 AM

Armenpress News Agency , Armenia
October 6, 2017 Friday


Armenian community of Norway seeks official recognition of Genocide



YEREVAN, OCTOBER 6, ARMENPRESS. Approximately 2000 Armenians live in
Norway, according to statistics. The majority of Armenians live in
Oslo, while the other overwhelming part live in the country’s south,
and a small group of Armenians reside in northern regions.

Narine H. Harutyunyan, director of external relations of the Armenian
Apostolic Church community of Norway, and finance director of
Brownells, conditionally divides the Armenian community to two parts
-the Armenian cultural community and the Armenian Apostolic Church
community. The cultural community was formed in 1989 by
Lebanese-Armenians and Iranian-Armenians, while the church community
was formed later in 2012. It was created by Armenians who arrived in
the country from Armenia.

The first flow of Armenians into Norway began in 1970 from Iran,
Middle East and Armenia. The overwhelming majority of immigrants in
the past 20 years are from Armenia, but Armenians from Syria aren’t
few either.

“As it was mentioned numerously, Armenians are hardworking people. It
is also seen among the Armenians of Norway. Armenians of Norway carry
out activities in various sectors. For example healthcare, economics,
music, high technologies, woodworking, construction, arts etc. I can
reassure that all of them are high class professionals of their work.
There are renowned Armenians in various sector, but I wouldn’t want to
point out someone in particular. I can only say that every
Norwegian-Armenian, regardless of everything and employment, is first
of all introducing himself of being from the country which was the
first to officially adopt Christianity in the world. And we also don’t
miss the chance to tell about the centuries old history”, Harutyunyan
told ARMENPRESS.

Speaking about the preservation of the language, she said it is one of
the most painful issues of the Armenian community. Armenians living in
Norway are few in number and are spread all across the country,
therefore it is difficult to establish an Armenian school.

Harutyunyan says they want to organize Armenian language courses in
Norway, and also establish Armenian dance studios.

Commenting on tourism matters, Harutyunyan says only two small travel
agencies offer tour packages to Armenia.

“It is mainly us Armenians that inspire our European friends to visit
Armenia. We had guests from Norway at my wedding, which took place in
Armenia”, she said, adding that after returning to Norway their guests
were speaking about Armenia with admiration.

Speaking about the Artsakh and Armenian Genocide issues, Harutyunyan
said there is no big centralization regarding Artsakh in Norway. But
in terms of the Armenian Genocide, she said both the church and
cultural communities regularly bring up the matter on various
occasions. Narine Harutyunyan noted that the society in Norway has low
awareness on the issue. Even the textbooks, in which the WW 1 is
taught, don’t mention the Armenian Genocide.

“We try to inform our Norwegian colleagues about it. We had tried to
raise the issue of the Armenian Genocide in relevant bodies, but we
didn’t succeed because of interference of the Turkish Embassy. I would
like to mention that the Christian Democratic Party of Norway is the
only party which has recognized the genocide, internally. And we know
that if we succeed in raising the issue in the Parliament then we will
have endorsers”, she said. Kragero is the first municipality of Norway
to recognize the Armenian Genocide – thanks to Bodil Catharina Biorn.

Every year on April 24, the Armenian community visits the memorials of
Fridtjof Nansen and Bodil Biorn, lays flowers for the memory of the
1,5 million victims.

A torchlight procession took place during the 100th anniversary
events, a mass was held with officials, clergymen and others in
attendance.

Anna Gziryan



#1580 Yervant1

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Posted 12 October 2017 - 10:05 AM

PanArmenian, Armenia
Oct 11 2017
 
 
Armenian editor to appear in French court for decrying Genocide denier
 

The editor of Nouvelles d'Armenie, an France-based magazine covering Armenia-related issues, Ara Toranian will face a "defamation lawsuit" brought against him for comparing a negationist of the Armenian Genocide to Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson, Libération reveals in article on the matter.

While each genocide has its specificities, negationism always stems from the same hateful mechanism. It represents the same insult to the memory of the victims, the same provocation for the survivors and their descendants, the same attack on human dignity, the newspaper says.

According to Libération, it is the defenders of memory, historical truth and dignity who should be on the accuser's bench and the deniers on those of the accused, and not the other way around.

The French law does not allow for the prosecution of the deniers of the Genocide of the Armenians.

Libération's article is signed by such prominent figures as Charles Aznavour, Bernard-Henri Lévy, Alain Terzian, Raymond Kévorkian, Robert Guédiguian to name a few.

http://panarmenian.n...eng/news/247495






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