Calls for Boycott of Turkish Film That blatantly Denies Assyrian, Greek, Armenian Genocide.

Calls for Boycott of Turkish Film That blatantly Denies Assyrian, Greek, Armenian Genocide. (AINA).

The American Hellenic Council (AHC) recently released a statement, urging the Greek American community and all descendants of the Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian Genocide, to boycott the new Turkish-produced film The Ottoman Lieutenant. "The film is a blatant attempt to repudiate the upcoming movie, The Promise, and mislead impressionable youth into believing the Genocide was a 'two-sided' event," reads a part of the statement.

Related: Assyrian Genocide

Signed by AHC Executive Director Ioannis Fidanakis, the statement also calls for the public to join an AYF-initiated letter writing campaign to local theaters to educate them about the purpose of this film.
Following is the statement:

We, the American Hellenic Council (AHC), in solidarity with the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) Western United States, urge the Greek-American community, as well all descendants of the Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian Genocide, to jointly boycott the recently released film, The Ottoman Lieutenant. 

The movie, which was produced by a Turkish production company, was released on March 10 and stars Michiel Huisman, Hera Hilmar, Josh Hartnett, and Ben Kingsley, is set in Ittihadist Turkey at the time of the Genocide. The film is a blatant attempt to repudiate the upcoming movie, The Promise, and mislead impressionable youth into believing the Genocide was a "two-sided" event. 

Although we at the AHC, acknowledge that Ottoman Turks were affected by the state of war throughout the Empire, like all Ottoman citizens, their suffering cannot be equated with a systematic campaign of extermination, which befell the native Greek, Armenian, and Assyrian peoples of Eastern Thrace and Anatolia. 

Therefore, we ask the Greek-American community to refrain from paying to watch this film in theaters or supporting it in any way. Those interested in joining an AYF-initiated letter writing campaign to local theaters to educate them about the purpose of this film should contact us at ioannis@americanhellenic.org. 

Sincerely,
Ioannis Fidanakis
Executive Director
American Hellenic Council

Video - Armenian Bishop Armash Nalbandian: Countries Supporting the Turkish Criminals in Syria Bear Responsibility for Genocide.

Video - Armenian Bishop Armash Nalbandian: Countries Supporting the Turkish Criminals in Syria Bear Responsibility for Genocide. HT: MEMRI.

Bishop Armash Nalbandian, Primate of the Armenian Church of Damascus, accused Turkey of giving militants in Syria instructions "to target Armenian places, churches, and schools, and to target the very identity of the Armenians." Bishop Nalbandian, speaking on the Egyptian ON TV channel on January 28, said that a new genocide was taking place in Syria and that "the Arab and non-Arab countries that support the Turkish criminals in Syria bear responsibility for the new genocides." Recognizing the Armenian genocide and condemning it would "send a message to the world that genocides should never take place," he said.

Deployment of heavy weapons in several Turkish prisons raises fears about mass killing of political prisoners.

Erdogan quote 2013. 

Deployment of heavy weapons in several Turkish prisons raises fears about mass killing of political prisoners. (TM).

Amid claims that the Turkish government is planning to stage riots in Turkey’s prisons to eliminate political prisoners, heavy weapons have been deployed in Silivri, Şakran and Sincan prisons out of security reasons in a move that raised concerns about the mass killings of prisoners.

According to a statement from General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses on Thursday, security measures have been upgraded to the highest level in 387 prisons across Turkey while aerial defense systems including anti-aircrafts were installed in Silivri, Sincan and Şakran prisons.

Since the possibility of an aerial attack on prisons seems low, the installation  of anti-aircrafts in three prisons has led to claims whether they will be used to attack the prisoners as anti-aircrafts are used to demolish concrete walls.

Earlier this month, lawyer Ömer Turanlı called on human rights organizations and the relevant commissions of the EU to immediately monitor incidents taking place in Turkey’s prisons while expressing grave concerns about the safety of his clients due to claims of a staged riot.

In a series of messages from his Twitter account, Turanlı, who represents some former police officers and police chiefs who were jailed in mid-2014 for taking part in a massive corruption investigation, wrote:

“There are concrete and serious claims about a meeting being held to order opening of gates [of holding cells] in Silivri [prison] and the shooting down of those arrested. … I am calling on human rights organizations and the relevant commissions of the EU to immediately monitor incidents taking place in Turkey’s prisons.”

Turanlı had announced from his Twitter account plans by the Turkish government to commit mass killings of people jailed over alleged or real links to the faith-based Gülen movement in a staged riot in Silivri Prison.

According to the lawyer, recent news reports that portrayed the sketch of an electronic circuit board as a prison break map of inmates who are imprisoned for real or alleged ties to the Gülen movement in pro-government media outlets confirm the claims about plans by the government for the mass killing of inmates.

In September a pro-Justice and Development Party (AKP) Twitter troll named Ahmet Üstün (@ustunn_ahmet) called on the government to make plans for the massacre of all Gülen sympathizers who are currently behind bars.

“There should be no other inmates in the prisons where FETÖ members are jailed. Special execution teams should be deployed there. FETÖ and its jailed members should know that only the dead bodies of FETÖ members who make escape plans can be taken out of jail. The guns of prison guards should be taken away, FETÖ members including military members, police officers, prosecutors and judges should be collected in one or two prisons. PÖH [special police units] should operate with the authority to kill 24/7,“ wrote Üstün in a series of tweets. Hmmm......'Ottoman Justice'. Read the full story here.

Some of the revelations from this anonymous guy came true. He is now saying Erdogan plotted massacre in prisons under false mutiny. https://t.co/fNmnFXngAz

— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) November 17, 2016

Video - Turkish soldiers Execute in cold blood two Kurdish female PKK fighters captured alive.

Turkish soldiers captured alive two Kurdish female fighters was executed. @BBCNews @cnni @CNN @TheSun @AP @AFP pic.twitter.com/8omlfbkL88

— Sîdar (@simbelazer) October 29, 2016

Photo circulating of the 2 Kurdish Gerilla POW's murdered by Turkish State Military;Turks continued subjugation of Kurds @ their lands. pic.twitter.com/nuU3oVpock

— DeanParkerYPG (@DeanParkerYPG) October 30, 2016

On an uncertain date in November 1942, this photograph was taken of an SS unit executing anti-Nazi partisans in Belarus......similar tactics.

Geneva conv: Art.3. Prisoners of war are entitled to respect and honor. Women shall be treated with all consideration due to their sex.

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) October 30, 2016

Pope Francis denounces 'the ideologically twisted and planned "genocide" of Armenians by Ottoman-era Turks'.

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.

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.

More on the Armenian Genocide can be read here.

Complete text of resolution on #ArmenianGenocide adopted by Bundestag
https://t.co/rkpLOqNaYm pic.twitter.com/2QRn1jM9CZ

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) June 2, 2016

German resolution also claims the Ottomans committed genocide against the Assyrians, Syriacs and Chaldeans: https://t.co/LJYjj5IIsi

— Ankaralı Jan (@06JAnk) June 2, 2016

VIDEO: Armenians celebrate #Germany's genocide resolution today - @HasanSari7 pic.twitter.com/Z8uwLalibO

— Conflict News (@Conflicts) June 2, 2016

TURKEY: Senior AKP lawmaker: German MPs of Turkish origin who signed genocide bill should not set foot in #Turkey https://t.co/qLyF4VyTpK

— Conflict News (@Conflicts) June 2, 2016

Justice Minister Bozdağ: "You burn Jews in ovens, then you get up and decide to accuse the Turkish nation of genocide."

— Ankaralı Jan (@06JAnk) June 2, 2016