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[moogey]

TURKISH LAWYER ASKS ANKARA COURT TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Azg Daily

April 2 2010

Armenia

 

A top-notch lawyer in Turkey has urged the court in Ankara and the

government of Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide and remove

all the statues of the former interior minister Talat ***** from

the country as one of the organizers of the Armenian Genocide,

huliq.com reports.

 

According to the source, this may be one of the very rare cases when

the Armenian genocide discussion moves from parliaments to legal field

in courts. In a very rare case, the Armenian genocide discussion

moves from parliament to a legal field in court. Most importantly,

the case originated in Turkey's capital, Ankara.

 

According one of the top Turkish newspapers Haberturk, a famous

Turkish lawyer Bendal Jalil Ezman petitioned the Turkish government

and the court to recognize the Armenian Genocide which happened in

1915-1921 and remove all the statues of Talat ***** from the country

as well as rename all the street names that are named after him.

 

According to the Ezman, after examining the events of those years he

came to the conclusion that Talaat ***** actually committed a crime

and is the author of the Armenian Genocide.

 

Thus, with this connection, Ezman asks the court in Turkey to qualify

those horrific events of killing 1.5 million Armenians as genocide. He

said Armenian citizens of the Ottoman Empire were systematically

slaughtered and Turkey should face its past.

 

"Turkey must face its past. Such a case is opened for the first time in

Turkey," said attorney Ezman. Asked if he fears any negative reaction

he said "if it comes, predestination is something in my head."

 

More members of the Turkish society have come forward in the recent

years acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. As the society aspires for

European Union membership and the government proceeds more democratic

reforms and opening discussions about the past are being made possible

and more people learn about the past dark pages of the Ottoman period

when 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered and deported from their

living place and thus deprived from their fatherland in Eastern

Anatolia as part of a systematic ethnic cleansing program carried be

the government of Young Turks. More than 20 parliaments in the world

have called those events genocide.

 

It's unknown when the court will consider Ezman's lawsuit, the

source reports.

 

 

TURKISH HISTORIAN AFFIRMS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

armradio.am

01.04.2010 16:41

 

Prominent Turkish historian told Taraf newspaper in an interview that

"the Young Turks planned to annihilate the entire Armenian population."

 

Historian Selim Deringil told Taraf that there was also a distinction

between the aims of the Young Turks and their predecessor Sultan

Abdul Hamid at the turn of the 19th century, Asbarez reports.

 

"The difference between Sultan Abdul Hamid and the Young Turks was

that the Young Turks wanted to completely destroy and annihilate the

Armenians, while Sultan Abdul Hamid sought to get rid of a certain

element of Armenians, to diminish their economic dominance and to

create and Islamic bourgeoisie."

 

"There were Armenians [living] everywhere [in Turkey]. The massacre

of Armenians took place in different cities. Today, the official

history states that in all the areas where people were killed there

were Armenians revolts; however, the majority of those were not

rebellions," said Deringil.

 

The historian told Taraf that between 1841 and 1897, 300,000 Armenian

were massacred under Sultan Adbul Hamid. He claims that 800,000 were

murdered during the Armenian Genocide.

 

Deringil also cites the failures of Turkish policy after the

establishment of the modern-day Republic. He told Taraf that at the

onset of the Republic an estimated 300,000 Armenians lived in Turkey,

while today that number has dwindled to 70,000.

 

"Annihilation does not only happen through killings," claimed

Derengil. "If you make life unbearable [for people] they will pick

up and leave."

 

Derengil also criticized Turkish historians, who, he said, spend

all of their time trying to rationalize Turkey's official denialist

position on the Genocide. "They work only to prove that Armenian

assertions are baseless."

 

After World War I, Derengil said, there was plenty of evidence that

demonstrated the crimes, kidnapping and rape of Armenian women in

Anatolia beginning in 1915. He cited that at that time the number of

adoptions was 300,000"

 

"This is worth discussion."

 

 

TURKISH CITIZENS ADVISE ANKARA TO FOLLOW SERBIA'S

EXAMPLE AND APOLOGIZE TO ARMENIANS

Tert.am

16:46 ~U 01.04.10

 

Some people in Turkey believe that Ankara should follow Serbia's

example (as it retains to the Srebrenica massacre) and apologize to

Armenians for the Armenian Genocide so that Turkey can become a full

member of the European Union.

 

Earlier this week, Serbia's parliament passed a landmark resolution

offering an apology for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre - the worst

incident of the Bosnian War - but stopped short of calling it genocide.

 

In an interview with Turkish paper Haberturk, columnist Soli Ozel, who

specializes in international relations, said that since Serbia was on

the path toward EU membership, it was necessary to implement measures

addressing those accusations of genocide directed at the country.

 

"That is, that decision is directly related to EU membership. Serbian

authorities, though it was a difficult decision, made it, while facing

harsh criticism and counter-reaction from nationalists ... But as

for what concerns Turkey, on the issue of the Armenian Genocide,

it has not yet reached that point. But it will be easier for Turkey

from now on to take such initiatives. Turkey's Foreign Ministry needs

to work on that issue," said Ozel.

 

Maya Arakon, a professor of Turkey's Yeditepe University, in turn,

told Haberturk that with that apology Serbia is trying to whitewash

its history in accordance with EU standards, as its aim is to be a

member of the EU.

 

"We too, having before us the Armenian Genocide issue, can take

such an initiative... For the EU, such an apology means progress in

democracy... As we know, we are surrounded by the Armenian Genocide

issue on all four sides. Following Serbia's example, Turkey can

also apologize, without qualifying the 1915 events as genocide,"

said Arakon, adding that it would strengthen Turkey's positions in

the domain of foreign policy.

[MosJan]

[Armat]

Here is what would be expected to happen as a result of it.

 

1st He would be branded as crepto-Armenian

2nd death threats

3rd Chase him out of the country like Orhan pamuk

[moogey]

He's a very brave man - and he is not the only one. He's certainly braver than some of our UK members of Parliament. Every attempt helps,and makes others question the official line on historical events. Also, don't underestimate how damaging it is when reactionary elements in Turkey protest, jump up and down or worse. Edited April 6, 2010 by moogey

[Moushegh]

The demands for acknowledgment of the genocide will never be silenced, ever! It is becoming evident that Turkey is now beginning to accept this fact. Turks may not admit to it now, but deep down inside they know, they know that unspeakable horrors were committed by their people.