Pope Francis denounces 'the ideologically twisted and planned "genocide" of Armenians by Ottoman-era Turks'. (ARNews).
Pope Francis denounced what he called the ideologically twisted and
planned "genocide" of Armenians by Ottoman-era Turks a century ago as he
arrived in Armenia on Friday for a deeply symbolic weekend visit to
mark the centenary of the massacre.
In the most carefully watched
speech of his visit, Francis ad-libbed the key word "genocide" to his
prepared text that had conspicuously left it out.
And rather than
merely repeat what had said last year — that the slaughter was
"considered the first genocide of the 20th century," Francis declared it
genocide flat out on the first day of his three-day visit to the
country.
"Sadly that tragedy, that genocide, was the first of the
deplorable series of catastrophes of the past century, made possible by
twisted racial, ideological or religious aims that darkened the minds of
the tormentors even to the point of planning the annihilation of entire
peoples," he said.
In the run-up to the visit, the Vatican had
backed off using the term "genocide," mindful of Turkish opposition to
the political and financial implications of the word given Armenian
claims for reparations.
But Francis, never one to shy from
speaking his mind, added the word in at the last minute in a speech at
the presidential palace to President Serzh Sargsyan, Armenian political
and religious leaders and the diplomatic corps.
They gave him a standing ovation.
Many
historians consider the massacres of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians
genocide. Turkey rejects the term, says the death figure is inflated
and that people died on both sides as the Ottoman Empire collapsed amid
World War I.
In a largely Orthodox land where Catholics are a
minority, Armenians have been genuinely honored to welcome a pope who
has long championed the Armenian cause from his time as an archbishop in
Argentina and now as leader of the 1.2-billion strong Catholic Church.
His 2015 declaration that the massacres were "genocide" sealed their
affection for him.
In his
initial remarks in the ornate Armenian Apostolic Church in Etchmiadzin,
Francis spoke of the "holy sign of martyrdom" of Armenians who died at
the hands of Ottoman Turks starting in 1915.
With the Apostolic
patriarch Karekin II by his side, Francis praised Armenia for becoming
the first nation to declare Christianity the state religion in 301 and
for keeping alive the "light of faith" even in its darkest times. He
urged all Christians to unite to prevent religion from being exploited
and manipulated today, an apparent reference to the current-day Islamic
extremist attacks on Christians in the Middle East.
"It is vitally
important that all those who declare their faith in God join forces to
isolate those who use religion to promote war, oppression and violent
persecution, exploiting and manipulating the holy name of God," he said.
The
Vatican has long cheered the Armenian cause, holding up the poor nation
of 3 million mostly Orthodox Christians as a bastion of faith and
martyrdom in a largely Muslim region.
German Parliament Recognizes Armenian Genocide by Ottoman Turkey. (Bloomberg).
Germany’s parliament voted overwhelmingly to recognize the Ottoman
Empire’s 1915 killings and deportations of Armenians as genocide,
setting up the next potential source of conflict between Chancellor
Angela Merkel and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Lawmakers
in the 630-member lower house, or Bundestag, passed the resolution on
Thursday by a show of hands, with one vote against and one abstention,
according to the count announced by Bundestag President Norbert Lammert.
The vote puts Germany in line with countries such as France, Russia,
Greece, Sweden and the Netherlands that recognize the events during
World War I as a deliberate campaign of mass killings.
“Turkey’s
current government isn’t responsible for what happened 100 years ago,
but it does share responsibility for what happens going forward,”
Lammert said in a speech to the lower house. Read the full story here.
The Turks entered WW1 with the intention of clearing Anatolia of Christians, they didn't react to an Armenian revolt. By Kyle W. Orton.
The controversy over the 1915-17 massacres of Armenian Christians by the Ottoman Empire is whether these acts constitute genocide. Those who say they don’t are not the equivalent of Holocaust-deniers in that while some minimize the figures of the slain, they do not deny that the massacres happened; what they deny is that the massacres reach the legal definition of genocide. Their case is based on three interlinked arguments:
Unlike the Nazi Holocaust when a defenceless population was murdered only for its identity, the Armenians were engaged in a massive armed revolt, and this is why the Ottoman government decided to deport them.
The intent of the Ottomans was not massacre but the removal of the Armenians, who had sided with one foreign invading power (Russia) and who were showing signs of collaborating with another (Britain), from the militarily sensitive areas as Turkey suffered a two-front invasion in early 1915.
While terrible massacres, plus starvation and the cold, took maybe a million lives during the deportations, when the Armenians reached their destinations in Syria and Iraq, which were also part of the Ottoman Empire, they were well-treated and allowed to rebuild their lives, which would not have been the case had the Ottomans intended their destruction.
Taner Akcam’s A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility presents evidence to undermine every one of these arguments.
The Armenian genocide is marked on April 24, the day in 1915 several Armenian notables in Istanbul were arrested. This date fits rather well with the Turkish narrative.
This timeline, however, misses several key events which show that the deportations were not a reactive policy but a key strategic intention of the Ottomans in entering the Great War—and Istanbul did deliberately enter the war, despite much myth-making to this day that Turkey was forced into it.
The CUP sought the restoration of Ottoman glory, a key component of which was the removal of the Christians from Anatolia, and thought this could be had by war.
The cancellation of the Treaty of Yenikoy, signed on February 8, 1914, under Russian pressure, which called for administrative reforms, namely autonomy, for the Ottoman Christians, and called for an international intervention if the reforms were not implemented, was one of the first acts after the Ottoman declaration of war. With the Armenian reform agreement dead, the legal basis for international interference in the Ottoman realm went with it.
Later Istanbul would also cancel the 1878 Berlin Treaty—the other instrument that dealt with the Armenian Question—and also withdrew from the 1856 Paris Treaty, which ended the Crimean War and inducted the Ottoman Empire into the “family of Europe,” the realm where international law applied, and the London Declaration of 1871. The cancellation of these three treaties freed the Ottomans from all international legal restraints on their behaviour and all legal right for other States to intervene in their internal affairs.
The massacres had stopped by the summer of 1917, though the destruction of Armenian property had not.
There is a significant argument over how many Armenians there were in pre-war Turkey—the Armenian Church says 2.1 million; the Turks say 1.3 million. What is known for sure is that 600,000 Armenians were alive after 1918—thus 600,000 to 1.5 million Armenians were killed, with 150,000-to-200,000 of them having survived the deportations. The number of Armenian women and children taken into servitude or converted within Muslim families is impossible to estimate. Hmmmm.....What is clear is 1. It was carefully & Methodically planned; 2. It were crimes against Humanity, perpetrated by the Ottomans. Read the full story here.
As Pres Obama would say 'You (Turks) did not build that!'
'Islamist' Turkey - 12Th century Hagia Sophia church in Enez to be 'renovated' in to mosque. (HD).
A ruined Hagia Sophia dating back to the 12th century in the western border province of Edirne will be renovated as a mosque, despite former statements made about the possibility of restoring it as a museum.
Following the conversion of two Hagia Sophia into museums, which were initially built as churches and then turned into mosques and, subsequently, museums, the third Hagia Sophia in Edirne’s Enez district will be reconverted into a mosque, according to Foundations General Director Adnan Ertem, despite previous debates on turning it into a museum after reconstruction.
Speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, Ertem said the Edirne Culture Assets Protection Regional Board approved the reconstruction project of the structure, which he called a “mosque” during the interview.
Ertem said the project would start as soon as possible, adding that the Hagia Sophia has been taken into the Foundations General Directorate’s investment program.
Explaining why it should be re-opened as a mosque, Erdem said the building was a “sanctuary that was consecrated as a mosque.”
“It is a foundation that can be put into service in line with its foundational charter. Thus its function will be preserved,” said Ertem.
Enez’s Hagia Sophia is located inside the ancient city of Ainos and although there are no records, it is thought to date back to the 12th century. It is located along the border with Greece and stationed on top of a hill seen from all around.
The district governor of Enez, Fatih Baysal, said in 2012 the usage of the structure as a mosque or not was a matter to be decided after the renovation.
“But even if it is used as a museum or a mosque, this place really needs to be [opened],” said Baysal.
Enez Mayor Abdullah Bostancı said the structure would have similar properties to the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.
The main Hagia Sophia, which has been a museum since 1935, was built in the fourth century and converted into a mosque, when Mehmet the Conqueror took Istanbul in 1453.
Hagia Sophia of Enez
In Enez, on the Gulf of Saros near the Greek border, there are the ruins of the sea facing, sixth century Hagia Sophia church, which was used as a mosque until the mid-1960s. Although the exact construction date of the Hagia Sophia of Enez, also known as Fatih Mosque, is unknown, it is considered to be representative of mid-Byzantine architecture styles.
The church, which was converted into a mosque after the 1456 capture of Enez by Sultan Mehmet II is located at the highest point of the Enez castle. The Hagia Sophia of Enez also offers a great view of Enez Lakes, Maritsa River and Marmara Sea. Hmmmm....The 'Islamist' leadership of Turkey thinks we are idiots, it's pretty obvious the real 'target' is the Istanbul Haga Sophia.
More on this unique Byzantium 12Th century church can be read here. (See Below).
Muslim Brotherhood 'Godfather' Qaradawi Joins US MB Supporting 'Islamist' Turkey On 100th Anniversary Of Armenian Genocide. (GMBR).
Turkish media is reporting that Global
Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi has joined the US Muslim
Brotherhood in declaring his support for Turkey on the occasion of
the 100th anniversary of the genocide of Armenians at the hands of the
Turks during World War I. According a Daily Sabah report:
April 28, 2015 Prominent Muslim scholar
Youssef al-Qaradawi has declared support for Turkey against “vicious
claims” related to the events of 1915.
“There is an increasingly vicious
campaign by some countries to pressure Turkey to take responsibility for
the alleged Armenian genocide in 1915,” al-Qaradawi, the Qatar-based
chief of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, said in a
statement on Monday.
“Attempts to distort history by
exaggerating the number of Armenians killed in the 1915 incidents while
downplaying the Ottoman fatalities will not bring Turkey’s supporters to
succumb to these campaigns,” he said.
“History has not forgotten the victims
of the Crusades, in which European armies committed the most brutal
killings in Jerusalem and the Levant.” Read the rest here.
Armenian Church launching lawsuit in Turkey to reclaim stolen church/lands. (Anca).
WHAT: Press conference announcing lawsuit filed in the Turkish Constitutional Court on April 28th calling for the return of a historical Christian Armenian church and monastery.
WHERE/WHEN:
Wednesday, April 29, 2015, 1:00 pm - Press Conference
National Press Club, Lisagor Room
529 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20045
WHO:
-- Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate of the Armenian Apostolic Church of the Eastern United States
-- Payam Akhavan, former UN prosecutor at The Hague and lead international counsel in this case
-- Cem Sofuogleu, Turkish human rights lawyer and local counsel in this case
-- Teny Pirri-Simonian, Senior Advisor to the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia
-- Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America
On Tuesday April 28th, the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia filed a lawsuit in the Turkish Constitutional Court to regain ownership of the historic headquarters of the Church, which includes the Catholicosate, the monastery and cathedral of St. Sophia, a major Armenian Christian holy site located in the Sis (currently Kozan), in south-central Turkey. This site was confiscated by the Turkish Government following the Genocide of 1915 in which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed or deported by the Ottoman Empire.
This lawsuit reflects the determination of Armenians worldwide, on the Centenary of the Genocide, to reclaim their sacred religious property and Christian heritage in lands where they lived peacefully for centuries.
The Catholicosate which is the administrative center of the church, was moved from Armenia to Cilicia in the 10th century, and after changing a few locations it was finally established in Sis in the year 1295, where it remained until 1921. Under the Ottoman Empire, the Catholicosate of Cilicia was recognized as an independent church. During the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923, the Armenian population of Sis was massacred and deported, and its Christian holy sites were pillaged and confiscated. More here.
In 301 A.D., Armenia became the first nation to adopt Christianity as its state religion. Armenians have had a long historical presence in what is present-day Turkey.
According to Payam Akhavan, a former UN prosecutor and lead international counsel in this legal action, the return of the historical Seat of the Catholicosate of Cilicia “is a litmus test for the Turkish Government’s respect for the human rights of its Christian minorities, their freedom of worship in a culture of tolerance and dignity.
This is a unique opportunity to do justice, to help heal the wounds of the past, to move towards Turkish-Armenian reconciliation, a better future for both nations.”
ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian noted that "The restoration of the Catholicosate would represent an act of justice, a first step toward the legal return of the Armenian Church and its faithful to their lawful place in their rightful homeland, and a meaningful milestone in the Armenian nation's journey toward a just resolution of the Armenian Genocide."
Russia's Armenian Genocide statement might endanger Turkish Stream. (Taz).
Despite the fact that the Turkish authorities urged for justice
regarding the 1915 events, such countries as Russia and France blindly
chose to hold Armenia’s side.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, commenting on the visit of
President Vladimir Putin to Yerevan, said that “each country makes
decisions on its own, and Russia, in turn, made this decision a long
time ago.” This justification could have calmed Ankara down, if not for
Putin's words that the 1915 events are the so-called Armenian genocide.
Ankara expressed serious resentment.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, commenting on the visit of heads
of Russia and France to Yerevan in order to participate in activities
in connection with the “centennial” of the so-called Armenian genocide,
said that this decision casts doubts on the neutrality of the OSCE Minsk
Group.
It is impossible not to agree with it, despite the fact that the Russian
side said that Putin's visit to Yerevan would not affect relations with
Ankara.
"It is quite natural that the president was with other counterparts in
Yerevan,” spokesman for the Russian president Dmitry Peskov said. “It is
very important to thoroughly examine President Putin’s speech. It is
also very important not to forget that at the same time, Turkey is our
strategic partner. We have diversified relations. We believe that the
prospects for the development of our relations are wide."
This will not affect the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant,
however one must not forget that there is also the Turkish Stream
project which Russia greatly needs.
Turkey has already made a statement that it will reconsider cooperation
with a number of countries after April 24 that have lost neutrality on
the issue related to the events of 1915.
Of course, along with Europe, Russia is also on the "black list" of
Ankara. It is not ruled out that after President Putin’s visit to
Yerevan and his statements about the events of 1915, Ankara will
reconsider the issue of the Turkish Stream construction.
The issue of implementation of Turkish Stream project causes controversy
in Turkey. The main reason is Russia’s demand from Turkey to make
additional concessions. Media hasn’t specified what kind of concession
it is, but this led to refusal of Turkey’s BOTAS company from signing an
agreement on discount for Russian gas delivered to Turkey.
Although the sides were expected to sign the discount agreement in March
2015, Turkey hasn’t signed it so far. Another disputed issue is that
Russia has completely isolated Turkey’s BOTAS company from the
construction of the Turkish Stream, which doesn’t meet Ankara’s
interests.
All these facts suggest that the visit of Russian president to Armenia
and his remarks about the “Armenian genocide” first of all put Russia’s
energy interests under threat. Turkish authorities will unlikely miss
the chance to use this for their purposes.
What the Vatican archives reveal about the Armenian Genocide. (VaticanRadio).[GoogleTranslate].
This is probably one of the darkest pages of the twentieth century that the Armenians call Medz Yeghern "Grand Mal", namely the massacres were victims almost a million and a half of their under the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1917.
And that's branded with the Armenians commemorate the centenary of Friday these tragic events, which constitute for them a "genocide." A term that Turkey rejects categorically denying any intention of systematic extermination of the Armenians, preferring instead to speak of "civil war".
At the Vatican, a Mass presided by Pope Francis, was celebrated on April 12 in memory of the victims of this "crazy and terrible extermination" ... The Holy See and Pope Benedict XV, at the time, were among alone have taken the measure of current events, and engaged fully on the diplomatic and humanitarian level, in favor of the Armenians, regardless of their religious sensibilities. This is revealed precious Vatican archives, studied and published recently by Father George Ruyssen, Belgian Jesuit , professor at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome.
What Demonstrate these archives? In What are they exceptional? It is that they clearly show that the Vatican is driven by interests that are not economic and geopolitical interests that were indeed the interests of other powers which also relate the events of the genocide but from another point of view while the Vatican, the Church is essentially driven by an interest, I would say, spiritual and also humanitarian and therefore not by economic, geopolitical or military interests, if you want.
These archives therefore attest that the Holy See was informed about current events at the time and even better, he tried to intervene in favor of the Armenians. In what way?
What happened April 24, 1915? It is a raid, deportation of 300 to 400 Armenians from the capital, so of Constantinople and Istanbul were arrested and deported to the interior of the Ottoman Empire.
Now at that time, the same day, the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Angelo Maria Dolci was informed of these events since two days later, on April 24 (it's a letter of April 27 if I am not mistaken) it sends a report to the Vatican in relating this event, this raid of 300-400 deported Armenians within the Ottoman Empire. Then, gradually, the apostolic delegate comes to collect other information.
It will be informed by the Armenian bishops themselves but also by the Franciscan missionaries, Dominicans and Jesuits who were also present in the Ottoman Empire.
He'll be informed, it will collect reports of these people who are eye witnesses to what is happening today. For example, in Mardin, there occurred this or Trebizond, yesterday there was a deportation. So these people, these monks will write him reports he will know the Vatican. What the Vatican did? Well, the Pope has written twice to the Ottoman Sultan, Mohammed V, who was Sultan at that time to stop the killings, saying, " Well, I am aware of what is happening in the empire and I beg you to stop these killings . " So the first letter of Pope Benedict XV was dated September 10, 1915.
So if I may, I can give a piece of this letter I have here before me
" Majesty, while sorrow for the horrors of the great struggle in which, with the great nations of Europe, is hired the powerful empire of your majesty (the Ottoman Empire) we tear the soul very painful groans echo of an entire people, which in the broad areas of the Ottoman, is subjected to unspeakable suffering arrivals up us. The Armenian nation has seen many of his son sent to their deaths, others many imprisoned or exiled including several clerics and even some bishops. And now it is referred that entire populations of villages and towns are forced to abandon their homes to move in the middle of the Great Plains and suffering in distant places or concentration in addition to moral suffering, they to endure the privations of abject poverty and even tortures of hunger. We believe, Sire, that such excesses take place against the will of the government of your majesty . " There was another letter since the killings will continue.
Following the Pope's letter, the massacres slowdown a little. Things will calm down a little but not much order to stop the killings. The massacres will continue and this is what will result in a second letter of Pope Benedict XV in the same sultan, the sultan Mohammed V, which is dated 12 March 1918.
And there is a letter that, in my opinion, unknown (I do not know her at all), it's a letter that the Pope sent three days before the end of the First World War, that is to say on 8 November 1918, three days before the armistice of 11 November. He sent a letter to President Wilson, the US president when the Pope advocates the independence of Armenia.
The Pope, in a note dated 1 August 1917, refers to this note in his letter. It was a note in favor of peace. Benedict XV intervenes several times during the first World War in favor of peace.
The note of 1 August 1917 mentions various points: the exchange of prisoners of war, etc. But one of the points is the independence of Armenia, is the creation of an independent Armenia. That will be the note of peace from 1 August 1917 will directly inspire the 14 points of President Wilson. He will present after the 1st World War, when the peace conference, the 14 points that are inspired by the note of peace of Pope Benedict XV.
The Holy See has of course worked, you've discussed at length, on the diplomatic front. Is that one can say that he intervened at other levels as well?
On a humanitarian level. The effort of the Holy See is not just a political but also diplomatic effort at the humanitarian level.
Remember that during the First World War, UNICEF, the High Commissioner for Refugees, the international organizations did not exist at the time. During the First World War, what was? The Red Cross and then, the Catholic Church, also Protestants.
The Catholic Church and the Pope is invested in humanitarian terms by sending money to refugees, survivors, orphans. And unfortunately it is a little known point.
By initiative of the apostolic delegate, Archbishop Angelo Maria Dolci (his nickname is the angel of the Armenians), the Pope founded a "Benedict XV" orphanage for Armenian orphans in Constantinople.
And then came those orphans in Italy. And where did they come to Italy? They were housed in the papal palace in Castel Gandolfo. These orphans stayed there about a year. They were hosted by the Pope himself before being transferred to Turin.
A hundred years later, so today, the time is just as tragic. Persecution against Christians are increasingly violent and in several countries: Nigeria, Kenya, Syria, Iraq, etc. The Pope, before these tragedies denounced the indifference of some and even their silence complicit in the atrocities we suffer today.
In your opinion, in what spirit should be approached this centenary in light of what is happening today and what lesson can we and should we draw?
Unfortunately, things are repeated. What we read in the reports sent by the Apostolic Delegate in the reports there a hundred years, one could read today by putting in place of Armenian place names from Nigeria, Kenya, the Syria, Iraq.
Today we can read exactly the same things that happened a hundred years ago. And still, indifference is the same as a hundred years ago. The lesson drawn in, it is this indifference that the Pope, rightly hammered: indifference, apathy powers.
Turkish Nat Def minister: France, UK and Russia ‘responsible for all evil in world’. (Bugun).
Turkey’s Minister of National Defense İsmet Yılmaz says that it was France, Britain and Russia who armed and provoked the Armenians during World War I and that “these three countries have committed every form of evil against all other nations.”
Criticizing the European Parliament and several countries’ acceptance of the term “genocide” for the mass killings of Armenians in 1915, Defense Minister Yılmaz said, “Since we’re the rightful owners of this state, we never brought up the cruelty, injustice, deportations and massacres that were inflicted on us. And so, as we refrained from voicing our own pain, others started putting their pain before ours.”
Defense Minister Yılmaz said on Saturday that while Turkish men were off fighting in the fronts of World War I, the Great Powers wanted to build an Armenian state on Turkish soil and so armed Armenian rebels, and that their deportation to Syria was a precaution to protect the people of Anatolia.
“If there is anyone responsible [for the events of 1915] it is those who armed the Armenian terrorists: France, Britain and Russia,” he said, “It is these three countries that have committed every form of evil against all other nations.”
He added that those three countries exposed the “Crusader mindset that rested in the back of their minds” and called on the Turkish nations to unite in solidarity and undermine their "plans and calculations."Hmmmm......And the Future heir of the British throne, head of the English Church go's to the event listening how Jesus is just a mere Prophet, Guess the future of the English Church is pretty bleak..... I wonder what Churchill would have said and Done.
Members of Congress Disappointed With Obama's cowardliness Reluctance to Call 1915 Events Genocide. (AINA).
WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers on Wednesday evening honored lives lost during
the Armenian genocide 100 years ago -- and pressed the global community
to recognize what happened, urging President Barack Obama to lead on the
issue.
"We must speak the truth and not dishonor those who
died," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. "We will continue to
insist on the truth until it is widely accepted and apologized for."
White
House officials this week said Obama would not refer to the 1915 events
as genocide, despite the fact that he did call it that when he was a
senator.
"Genocide is genocide. That is plain and simple and
cannot be called anything else. Just last week Pope Francis, in a
historic acknowledgement, tells us that he knows it. He called the
events from 100 years ago the first genocide of the century. And he is
right," said Democrat Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey.
Armenians
accuse Turkey, heirs of the Ottoman Empire, of massacring 1.5 million
Armenians in 1915. Other groups, like the Greeks and Assyrians, also say
their ancestors died during the genocide.
Turks claim that events in the early 20th century claimed the lives of both Armenians and Turks during the First World War.
In
2008, Barack Obama, then a senator and presidential candidate, said:
"The Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a
point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an
overwhelming body of historical evidence. The facts are undeniable."
Lawmakers expressed their frustration with the president's decision.
"They
try, but they'll not put us down. I promise you that," said Republican
Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Florida. "Facts are stubborn things."Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman of California agreed.
"What
kind of world power can be cowed into denying [the genocide]?" he said.
"Genocide denial is the final act of a genocide. First a people is
destroyed, and then the perpetrators try to destroy the memory of the
destruction. But genocide denial is also the first step in the next
genocide."
A statue in memory of the genocide will be unveiled on
Friday in Las Vegas's Sunset Park, according to Nevada Rep. Dina Titus, a
Democrat.
"I was very disappointed that our own president didn't
live up to his promise," she said. Titus referred to the Turkish state
as the "enemy."
"We need the facts to be known, that 1.5 million
Armenians died, not by accident, but by design," said Rep. Judy Chu,
Democrat of California. "We threaten our future on denial, explaining
the genocide away, attributing it just to the cost of war makes it
easier the next time a people is singled-out or targeted for
extinction."
Chu mentioned the unveiling of an Armenian genocide
statue last week in Pasadena. The structure, fashioned like a tripod,
resembles the structure used by Ottomans to hang Armenians, according to
Chu. In a year's time, 1.5 million drops of water, or teardrops, are
expected to fall from the top of the structure.
Attendee Simon
Shahinian, an intern in Maryland Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen's
office, said that Turkey would most likely not recognize the genocide
anytime soon.
"[Recognition is] something I really want to see
happen," Shahinian said. "And it's frustrating that the U.S. hasn't
recognized it."
More than 20 countries and 40 U.S. states recognize the Armenian genocide. Hmmmm........Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. - Abraham Lincoln
If Turkey denies the Armenian genocide of 1915, it is (also) to hide the massacres of 1895. (DI). [Googletranslate].
The Armenian Genocide was the first genocide of the 20th century. In 1895, Muslims made a real massacre.
"For centuries, the Turks simply lived like parasites on the backs of the people busy and industrious. They imposed their economic extinction, stole their most beautiful girls to take them by force in their harems, took Christian male infants by hundreds of miles to make the Muslim soldiers. I do not intend to describe the terrible vassalage and oppression that lasted five centuries. My goal is simply to emphasize this innate attitude towards the Muslim Turkish people who are not of their own race and religion, that they are not human beings but merely slaves allowed to live when they are of interest to their masters, or can be destroyed without mercy when they ceased to be useful.This attitude is reinforced by a total disregard for human life and an intense pleasure in inflicting physical pain, which is not unusual among primitive peoples. "- ( Henry Morgenthau , US Ambassador to Constantinople from 1913 to 1916)
In all, two million Armenians were either displaced from their ancestral lands, or eliminated, much like the Europeans want this to happen to the Jews in Palestine today.
For this, the Ottoman Turkish Muslims, who do not tolerate Christians - nothing is new - organized genocide to rid the Armenian and Greek. Thus 1.5 million people lost their lives between 1915 and 23, during and after the First World War.
This is the genocide which the Turks now deny the existence (they have not always denied).
But before that, between 1894 and 1896, about 300 000 to 400 000 inhabitants of Armenian Christian villages were massacred in pogroms organized by special regiments of the Sultan Abdul-Hamid II , also known as the "Red Sultan" for the massacres he committed against the Ottoman Armenian population.
The worst of these massacres took place in 1895
300,000 civilians, mainly men, were savagely, Islamically slaughtered. It must be said that Armenian Christians were far more educated, wealthier inhabitants of the old Turkish Empire, but also already the so-called - the infidels, non believers in Islam.
The massacres were -officially destined for undermining the Armenian nationalist sentiment and frighten the Armenians. Sultan Abdul-Hamid II was frightened by the liveliness of the activity of Armenian political groups, and wanted to curb their growth before they acquire greater influence by spreading ideas about civil rights and autonomy. However, according to historians, he was not considering as his successors, the Young Turks, the Armenians to disappear as a people.
The testimony of Vilbert, Shipley and Prjevalsky, representatives of France, Britain and Russia, totally contradicts the thesis of non genocidal massacre
"We, gentlemen Vilbert, Shipley and Prjevalsky, representatives of France, Britain and Russia have become convinced, and arrived at the conclusion in functions of the evidence before us, the Armenians were massacred without age or sex, and that, in fact, for a period of three weeks between August 12 and September 4, it is no exaggeration to say that the Armenians were absolutely hunted like wild beasts, were killed where they were found, and if the killing was not more important it is, I think, only to the extent of the mountains of this region, which has allowed people to spread and s escape more easily.
In fact, and speaking with a full sense of responsibility, I am forced to admit that was imposed on me the conviction that it was not so much the capture of the Murad agitator, or suppression of a pseudo -revolt, who were wanted by the Turkish authorities but the outright extermination of Ghelieguzan and Talori "(in Armenian massacres in which the sword of Mohammed and Armenian atrocities )"
US President Grover Cleveland wrote, December 2, 1895 in his message to Congress:
"Some events in Turkey have continued to cause concern. Reports of massacres of Christians in Armenia, and development, there and in other regions, in the spirit of a fanatical hostility against the Christian influence, causes a natural fear (since dubbed Islamophobia) for safety men and women devotees, belonging to American missionary societies abroad, and who reside in Turkey under the guarantee of law and practice for the legitimate practice of their educational and religious mission. "
When in 1896 the US threatened the Sultan Abdul Hamid II to cease the "persecution" of Armenians, the latter, in its reply, did as his successor Erdogan today: he denied any persecution of Armenians, but declared that the Ottoman Empire had received thousands of Muslim refugees who fled the oppression of Christian Bulgaria and Russia.
'Angry Man of Europe' Turkey: "Russia knows genocide well, we won't forgive Germany and France" (HD).
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan Friday has called on
Vladimir Putin to condemn killings in Syria after Vladimir Putin
described the 1915 events as "genocide", Anadolu agency reported.
Putin used the word "genocide" to qualify what happened to Armenians
during the First World War in a statement released on the Kremlin's
website Thursday.
“April 24, 1915, is a mournful date, related to one of the most
horrendous and dramatic events in human history, the genocide of the
Armenian people,” Putin said in a letter called "World Without
Genocide."
"Hundreds of thousands of people were killed in Syria. I wish Putin
could have made a statement about it and condemned (Bashar Al-) Assad
and shared these pains," Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan
said Friday in response to Putin’s statement.
Davutoglu also reacted to Putin's statement. "Any position that
disturbs and insults our history, abuses our trust," he said on Friday.
Turkey said on April 24 that it rejected and condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin calling the 1915 mass killings of Ottoman Armenians a "genocide."
"Taking into account the mass atrocities and exiles in Caucasus, in the Central Asia and Eastern Europe committed by Russia for a century; collective punishment methods such as Holodomor as well as inhumane practices especially against Turkish and Muslim people in Russia’s own history, we consider that Russia is best-suited to know what exactly “genocide” and its legal dimension are," a foreign ministry statement said.
Turkey also condemned Duma's April 24 resolution that described the 1915 events as "genocide."
"The only thing that Russia can do in this issue is to leave its biased attitude aside and encourage Armenia and the Armenians to respond positively to the calls of Turkey for peace and friendship," the statement added.
FRANCE:
Turkey condemned France's "unjust and partial attitude" to the deaths of Armenians in 1915 late on April 24.
"French President Francois Hollande participated, as he had announced long time ago, at the ceremony held in Yerevan on 24 April, 2015, which instead of being a commemoration for the losses incurred in the past, turned out to be an occasion to slander Turkish identity, history and society," the Foreign Ministry said in a separate statement.
The statement added that Hollande had "regrettably reiterated his support to the Armenian nationalist narrative."
Russian President Vladimir Putin also attended the events in the Armenian capital held to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1915 incidents, which heard Hollande urge Turkey to end its refusal to recognize the deaths as "genocide."
"It would have been expected from President Hollande that during these ceremonies he would acknowledge that, regardless of religion or ethnicity, all Ottoman citizens endured tragic sufferings during the process of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire," the statement added.
"Such an approach, which does not discriminate between the sufferings of those who belong to different religions, would have undoubtedly been seen as a positive and embracing attitude by the 600,000 Turks living in France."
France "unfortunately preferred to continue its discriminatory approach and Turkey unequivocally rejects and condemns France's unjust and partial attitude."
GERMANY:
The ministry also criticized German President Joachim Gauck on April 24 after he referred to the 1915 incidents as "genocide."
The response from the ministry came one a day after Gauck referred to the tragedy of a century ago as a "genocide" in remarks he made at a memorial service at the historical Berlin Cathedral.
The ministry said in a statement his comments were "baseless allegations directed towards Turkish identity, history and society."
It added: "Contrary to law and historical facts, President Gauck has not the right to attribute on the Turkish people a crime which they have not committed."
"It is expected from the authorities who represent social unity, integrity and harmony, to take the sensitivities of all the members of the society into consideration and express a more embracing approach," it read.
The statement went on: "In this sense, it is astonishing that President Gauck has also disregarded the opinions of hundreds of thousands of Turkish-German citizens whom he also represents."
It sait the “Turkish nation will not forget and forgive President Gauck's statements." Read the full story here.
Pres. Putin on Armenian Genocide: "There is and cannot be any justification for mass murder of any people." (RP).
While on a visit to Yerevan, President Putin took part in a memorial ceremony for the Armenian genocide’s victims at the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex.
Before the ceremony, Mr Putin laid flowers at the memorial and visited the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Museum.
The Tsitsernakaberd memorial symbolises mourning for the 1.5 million Armenians who died during the tragic events of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire. The memorial complex was built in 1967 and comprises the Hall of Memory, The Reborn Armenia Memorial Column, and the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends, ladies and gentlemen,
I am grateful to President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan for the invitation to take part in today’s memorial events.
We have sincere sympathy for the Armenian people, who went through one of the greatest tragedies in human history. More than 1.5 million peaceful people were killed and injured, and more than 600,000 were driven from their homes and suffered mass repression. Numerous priceless architectural monuments and sacred objects were destroyed and ancient books and invaluable manuscripts were burned.
The events of 1915 shook the entire world. Russia felt these events as its own grief. Hundreds of thousands, even millions of defenceless and homeless Armenians found shelter in the Russian Empire and were saved.
It was Russia’s diplomatic efforts that secured international condemnation of the violence inflicted on the Armenian people. At the initiative of Sergei Sazonov, Russia’s foreign minister, Russia, France and Britain, as the French President recalled just now, made a joint statement in which they directly called these events a crime against humanity and civilisation.
Relations between the fraternal peoples of Russia and Armenia have always been characterised by particular spiritual closeness and mutual support. This was the case during the dramatic events of a century ago, during the Great Patriotic War, and during the devastating Spitak earthquake.
Today too, we share the Armenian people’s sorrow.
Friends, I want to emphasise that hundreds of cities around Russia are holding more than 2,000 memorial events today. Not only members of the large Armenian community in Russia, which counts around three million people, are taking part, but so are tens of thousands of people of other ethnic backgrounds.
Russia remains resolute in what has always been its consistent view that there is and cannot be any justification for mass murder of any people.
Russia has signed and initiated a number of international legal acts that lay the foundations for modern international criminal law, including the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The international community must do everything possible to ensure that these tragic events never happen again, so that all peoples can live in peace and harmony and not have to know the horrors that arise from religious enmity, aggressive nationalism, and xenophobia.
Sadly, we see that neo-fascism is once again rearing its head in many parts of the world, radical nationalists are seeking power, and anti-Semitism is on the rise. We also see signs of Russophobia. We need to ask ourselves why this is happening and what is the cause? In all of our actions in critically important parts of the world, we must think first of all about what will happen next, think about the consequences.
At the same time, as we remember the tragic events of past years, we should also look to the future with optimism, believe in the ideals of friendship, good-neighbourliness, and solidarity, learn goodness and harmony and learn to respect each other and respect each other’s interests. This is the only way to make the world a better, more stable and safer place.
Friends, we are with you. Thank you for your attention.
Video -
Francois Hollande : "Recognizing the Armenian Genocide , is an act of peace."
Hmmmm....."It is not possible for those who belong to the Muslim faith to carry out genocide."Source. Armenian genocide: Kurdish leaders show their moral 'Superiority' and example to Turkey by facing their crimes.(IBT).
Selahattin Demirtas, the Kurdish co-chairperson of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP): During the Armenian Genocide, there was no Kurdish state. Kurds did not have any political authority to rule their own lands, either. So they were not the planners or organisers of the Armenian Genocide; the Turkish Ottoman regime was.
But some of the Kurds were recruited in a branch of the Ottoman Army called the Hamidiye corps [literally meaning "belonging to Hamid" (Abdul Hamid II, the then-Caliph of Islam and Sultan of the Ottoman Empire)] and under the command of the Ottoman Army, they engaged in the killings of Armenians.
Today – 100 years after the genocide - Kurds in Turkey still do not have any political authority in their own lands but they do recognise the Armenian genocide, commemorate the victims and call the Turkish government to apologise to the Armenian people.
'Without hesitation, I recognize the Armenian Genocide'
"Both during my deputyship and before that - when I was a human rights lawyer - my stance toward this issue has never changed.
"Just because some people have covered up such a tragic historical incident by saying that 'the official history [of the Ottoman Empire and Turkey] is not like that', I will not bow to it," said Demirtas. "Whatever happened should be acknowledged."
When asked whether Kurds also had a role in the genocide, Demirtas responded: "Everybody including the Kurds did. But the political authority was the Ottoman regime led by Talaat Pasha, and Djemal Pasha. Whoever gave the orders, carried out the project and made the decisions [regarding the Armenian Genocide] – that is, the ideology of the government of Union and Progress - should be brought to account before history."
Demirtas said that for Turkey to be a democracy, facing and recognising this issue is of great significance:
"I think that the AKP government is the political authority that [claims to have] inherited the legacy of the Ottomans the most... If you lay claim to the entire heritage of the Ottoman Empire, then you should lay claim to this incident, as well. So [they should] get up and apologise."Read the full story here.
Turkish Armenian Genocide denial - No mass graves of Armenians on Azerbaijani and Turkish lands. (Taz).
There are no mass graves of the Armenians either on Azerbaijani or
Turkish lands, Valeh Hajiyev, the first deputy chairman of the
Azerbaijani State Committee for Work with Diaspora said at the Khojaly
monument opening ceremony in Izmit, Turkey, the state committee told
Trend April 23.
He said that the Turks did not commit an act of genocide against the Armenians at any stage in the history.
The Khojaly monument was erected by the municipality of Izmit in one
of the city parks on the initiative of the Federation of
Turkish-Azerbaijani Societies.
Hajiyev said that the opening of the monument on the eve of the 100th
anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Canakkale is of particular
importance.
"The monument, erected in memory of the Khojaly genocide victims, is the best answer to the Armenian lie," he said. Hmmmm.....Embolded by Obama's 'coverup' they now will try to rewrite history.
Mass Grave of Armenian and Assyrian Genocide Victims Discovered In Turkey. SOURCE
Zirabebaba, Turkey — Missionaries of the At Anycost Jesus Mission are reporting the discovery of a mass grave near the village of Zirabebaba, Turkey. The report says that in late October, 2006, local villagers digging a new grave came across a cave containing the remains of approximately 40 people. It is assumed the remains are of Assyrian Christians and others who were massacred in the Assyrian Genocide of 1915. According to local history over 300 had been killed at the site. With the long history of denying the Assyrian Genocide, local police and military units told villagers to keep the discovery quiet.
As the news has leaked out, local police visited villagers and demanded they tell who gave the news. Villagers were also warned to prevent anyone from visiting the site.
According to the report, "experts" have indicated that the bones are part of a group of at least 120 Assyrian Christians from the village of Oguz who were massacred on June 14, 1915.
Having suffered the loss of nearly two thirds of their population during the Assyrian Genocide which peaked in 1915, the community continues to suffer most recently in Iraq where over 100,000 are refugees in neighboring Jordan and Syria.
PanARMENIAN.Net — Turkish Gendarmerie has instructed local villagers of a southeastern region to keep silence about a mass grave, discovered on October 17, that might contain remains of Armenian Genocide victims. According to a Kurdish newspaper published in Turkish Ulkede Ozgur Gundem, villagers from Xirabebaba (Kuru) were digging a grave for one of their relatives when they came across to a cave full of skulls and bones of reportedly 40 people. The Xirabebaba residents assumed they had uncovered a mass grave of 300 Armenian villagers massacred during the Genocide of 1915. They informed Akarsu Gendarmerie headquarters, the local military unit, about the discovered remains. Turkish army officers, according to the Kurdish newspaper, instructed the villagers to block the cave entrance and make no mention of the remains buried in it. The officers said an investigation would take place. The newspaper reported on the developments and the Turkish military's attempt to hide the news. Journalists, who had arrived to obtain more information, were denied access to the cave.
Newly found mass grave believed to be from the Armenian genocide manipulated in Turkey
While for an American diplomat a simple word like genocide can mean end of a career, it doesn’t seem Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide is simply a refusal to label the mass murder of 1.5 Armenians a “genocide.” There is much more than that.
Turkey is not simply rejecting the word genocide; the denial is on micro level as seen in recent developments. The skeletons of a newly discovered mass grave thought to be from the Genocide, for example, have been reportedly changed and displaced by the Turkish Historical Society.
The Zaman newspaper from Turkey reports on April 24, 2007 that David Gaunt – a historian from Sweden – had traveled to Turkey this week to participate in a joint investigation of the mass grave. After seeing the site, Prof. Gaunt refused to continue his participation because the initial photographs of the mass grave (taken by a Turkish-language Kurdish newspaper) from October of 2006 – when it was discovered – were quite different from the site he was taken to. He told Zaman, “My impression is that this grave is one in which no scientific research can be carried out. The grave has undergone numerous changes so it is not recognizable.”
Apparently Prof. Gaunt’s fear turned to be true: the Turkish Historical Society had manipulated the mass grave.
The Turkish cover up of the Armenian Genocide is not simply a war of a term, but a refusal by the ultra-nationalist Turkish foundation to admit that their government, in the words of Turkish historian Taner Akcam, has committed a crime against Turkey’s native Armenian population. No wonder why, as the founder of Boulder’s Alternative Radio David Barsamian said past Sunday, Turkish Ambassadors use passive voice when justifying the genocide, “something terrible happened.”
Turkish military opens 'Cleansed?' archives of 1915.(Taz).
Turkey’s armed forces opened the military archives of 1915, Anadolu Agency reported Apr. 23.
The documents disclosed, show that Turkey was paying particular
attention to the safety of the Armenians during their resettlement
within the country.
Aside from that, numerous facts are indicated in the disclosed
documents about the Armenian gangs and deserters, who subjected the
civilian population of Anatolia to extermination in 1915.
Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that Turkey's predecessor, the
Ottoman Empire allegedly carried out ”genocide” against the Armenians
living in Anatolia in 1915. Turkey in turn has always denied "the
genocide" took place.
While strengthening the efforts to promote the "genocide" in the
world, Armenians have achieved its recognition by the parliaments of
some countries. Hmmmm....."It is not possible for those who belong to the Muslim faith to carry out genocide."Source.
At #Peace Conference Erdogan #live slams: We don’t believe our ancestors committed cruelty. All of Armenians claims re 1915 are baseless.
Mohammad Ali Jamalzadeh witnessed some of the atrocities committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenian minority.
He was among a group of Iranian nationalists working in Ottoman-ruled Baghdad during World War One.
As British forces approached Baghdad, Jamalzadeh, together with two Swedish officers of the Persian gendarmerie force and a few fellow Iranians left the city for Istanbul.
On their travels, Jamalzadeh described what he saw as "brutal and shocking". Later he wrote a diary about what he saw as "the mass murder and looting of Armenians". Source.
