GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL TO BE COMMEMORATED IN ISTANBUL

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GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL TO BE COMMEMORATED IN ISTANBUL

Monday, December 8th, 2014
http://asbarez.com/129677/genocide-centennial-to-be-commemorated-in-istanbul/

People in Istanbul commemorate the Armenian Genocide

Groups Aim to Bring Together Turks and Armenians from Around the World

ISTANBUL--Turkish and Armenian-American organizations are working
together to commemorate the centennial of the Armenian Genocide on
April 24, 2015 and to encourage Armenians from around the world to
attend, DurDe and Project 2015 said Monday. The concerted campaign
by Ottoman leaders a century ago resulted in the deaths and exile of
the vast majority of Armenians from their homeland.

While Turkish groups have organized memorial events in Istanbul
for the past several years, Turkish NGO DurDe and Project 2015, a
US-based organization, are working to ensure that a large contingent
of Armenians come to Turkey for the historic centennial commemoration.

"We encourage and welcome Armenians from around the globe to assemble
with citizens of Turkey in Istanbul to participate in these memorial
events," said Levent Sensever of DurDe. "As Turks, we want to express
our solidarity with Armenians as we pay our respects to the victims
and survivors of this terrible crime, and press our government to
recognize the genocide."

The events in Istanbul will include a public assembly in Taksim on
the evening of April 24. It will also include a memorial service at
Å~^iÈ~Yli Armenian Apostolic Cemetery (È~XiÈ~Yli Ermeni Gregoryen
Mezarligi), where Sevag Å~^ahin Balikci is buried; Balikci was an
Armenian soldier serving in the Turkish military and murdered by
a Turkish soldier on April 24, 2011. Information about the planned
events can be found at www.armenianproject2015.org.

"As Armenians, we are going to Istanbul to memorialize the brutal
massacre of our family members, and to remind the world that 100
years later, we are still seeking justice and accountability from
the Turkish government," said Sarah Leah Whitson, board member of
Project 2015. "For many of us, this is a first return to the lands
of our ancestors, who lived here for thousands of years before their
murders and expulsions 100 years ago."

Discussion of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey remains a highly
sensitive subject in Turkey and subject to criminal sanctions. The
Turkish government has prosecuted journalists, writers and academics
for making reference to the Armenian Genocide. However, past
commemorations of the Armenian Genocide in Istanbul have taken place
without incident, and with the benefit of municipal police protection.

In 2014, then-Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan expressed his condolences
to the grandchildren of "Armenians who lost their lives in the context
of the early 20th century" but failed to acknowledge the role of the
Ottoman government in systematically causing these losses. The Turkish
government has refused to recognize the massacres of the Armenians
as genocide.

"As Turks, we are striving to broaden the space to discuss the events
leading to the near total destruction of one of the region's oldest
indigenous communities," Sensever said. "We want to demonstrate to
the world that while the Turkish government may not be ready to come
to terms with this country's past, we as citizens of Turkey are ready."

DurDe is one of Turkey's leading civil and human rights organizations,
working to combat racism, nationalism and hate crimes. It is an
activist network that in recent years has played an important role
in organizing commemorations for the Armenian Genocide in Istanbul.

Project 2015 is a US-based non-profit organization comprised of
Armenians, Turks and Americans to encourage wide participation in
the commemoration events in Istanbul.

"Commemorating the Armenian Genocide in the place where the crimes took
place will be a deeply meaningful experience," said Nancy Kricorian,
Project 2015 board member. "Our presence in Istanbul will be a form
of resistance to erasure and denial."