Turkish Parliament: Armenian MP 'resurrecting' Armenian genocide staged?

Turkish Parliament: Armenian MP 'resurrecting' Armenian genocide staged? (AN).

Aravot.am asked Edik Gevorgyan, Associate Professor of the Department of Armenian History at the Pedagogical University after Kh. Abovyan, how he estimates the pro-Kurdish “People’s Democratic” part ethnic Armenian deputy Garo Paylan’s speech at the Turkish parliament where Paylan raises the issue of the Armenian Genocide and calls on Turkey to face its history.

Mr. Gevorgyan said that the Armenian deputy’s speech truly gives reason to think, given the current geopolitical developments. 

The historian thinks that the speech seemed staged along with the applauses followed by. “The recent elections in Turkey, the incidents with the Kurds and afterwards, the speeches of the Armenian deputies from various political parties and alliances at the Turkish parliament gives rise to thinking but in all cases it is applauded.

In recent days, I learned from the Internet that Armenian deputy Garo Paylan delivered a speech at the Turkish parliament and on the eve of April 24, has talked about the Armenian Genocide, illustrating even facts and examples, showed the photos of 7 Armenian deputies in the Ottoman empire Parliament (Krikor Zohrab, Bedros Halachean, Nazareth Dağavaryan, Garabed Paşayan, Ohanes Serengulyan, Hampartsum Boyacıyan, Onik Dercakyan), suggested to examine the files of their arrest and murder and so on. In the end, the speech won applauses.

Today, we are living on the threshold of such events when any voicing about the Armenian genocide and Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, especially beyond Armenia, in the international arena, attracts our attention.

In my opinion, in given case, Turkey wants to wash its hands with the help of the Armenian MP and show that it has nothing to do with the internal developments of the region, it is a democratic country where the freedom of expression is at a high level.

While Paylan’s speech must be viewed in the following context: we are standing on the threshold of major events – the April four-day war, the incidents in Artsakh, the Armenian-Russian relations and the following Russian-Turkish strained relations, even today Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit and meetings with top officials of Armenia, the problems discussed in the Armenian and world press that Russia is presenting a package of proposals and these recommendations refer also to the territorial problems.

This is our approach which perhaps is also a private opinion but a historian’s point of view. We know the Turkish-Azerbaijani close relations and the recent Turkish senior leaders statements that they are twin brothers and kinsfolk with Azerbaijan.

This has been voiced through the lips of Davutoglu and others. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister also spoke about it. In short, Armenian deputy’s speech days before the Armenian Genocide seems a bit suspicious, I repeat, Turkey wants to show at the international platform that allegedly it is a democratic country.” Hmmmm.......Islamist style Kabuki theater. 

Iran Stood with Armenians in Grief over 1915 Armenian Genocide: Archbishop.

Iran Stood with Armenians in Grief over 1915 Armenian Genocide: Archbishop. (IranFrontpage).

Speaking in a press conference held on Saturday in Tehran to mark the 101st anniversary of the genocide of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire, Sebouh Sarkissian, the Armenian archbishop in Tehran, appreciated Iran’s solidarity with the Armenian people over the grief, and criticized Turkey over its refusal to recognize the killings.

“Iranians have always shared our grief over the large genocide, in which 1.5m Armenians were killed,” Sarkissian said, expressing Armenians’ happiness with Iran’s solidarity.

“It has been a century since the genocide, and during all these years, we Armenians have always tried to assert our rights, and are hopeful about the future,” he added.

The past century was full of wars and bloodshed, he said, at the same time noting that such problems had not prevented the Armenians from moving forward. “We continued our life and progress,” the Armenian archbishop said.

He further lashed out at Turkey over its failure to recognize and condemn the genocide after one hundred years, adding, “If world figures and organizations express their support in denouncing the genocide, it would cause peace-seeking countries to stand by us so that we would be able to protect our rights.”

“On the 101st anniversary of the genocide, we want to call on Turkish officials either to understand their own history or to recognize the realities of the genocide,” he added.

“After all these years, we still remember the victims of the painful disaster every day and believe that justice will one day be restored to its real position in human life,” Sarkissian continued.

April 24 is the 101st anniversary of the Ottoman Empire’s massacre of Armenian nationals, which took place in 1915. On this day, a ceremony entitled “Genocide and Extremism: from Armenia to Syria” is held in Ararat Club in Tehran.

Quoting materials from Iran Front Page is permitted only if the source is mentioned by name.

#Iran’s #Armenians hold rally in Saint Sarkis Cathedral in #Tehran to mark anniversary of "1915 Genocide".#Armenia pic.twitter.com/ncynMnsvQP

— Abas Aslani (@abasinfo) April 24, 2016

'Islamist Dictatorship' Turkey puts pressure on EU over German project on Armenian Genocide.

'Islamist Dictatorship' Turkey puts pressure on EU over German project on Armenian Genocide. (Newsam).

Turkey is trying to put pressure on Dresden Symphony Orchestra on European level for the project dedicated to the Armenian Genocide committed 100 years ago.

The Turkish Ambassador to Germany has demanded to stop financing Aghet project, orchestra intendant Markus Rindt said.  In his words, this step is an “infringement on the freedom of expression,” dpa agency reports.

Despite Turkey’s pressure, the European Commission agency for education and culture continues supporting the project, Dresdner Neuste Nachrichten newspaper writes.

However, according to Rindt, the agency still met the Turkish side halfway, removing the information on Aghet project from its website. The orchestra itself doesn’t approve this decision.

The European agency confirmed that they have removed the information on the project from their webpage due to doubts on the right wording in the description. The agency representative told dpa that the project implementation had never been called into question. The agency has allocated 200,000 euro to that project.

In November 2015, Dresden Symphy Orchestra launched Aghet musical project, its premiere taking place in Berlin. It is dedicated to the mass extermination of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, which took place 100 years ago during WWI.  Ankara still refuses to recognize these events as genocide, whereas the project website uses that word.


According to the website, the German Empire used to be the key ally of the Ottomans then, and the German officers took part in the massacre. The project which symbolizes reconciliation includes musicians from Turkey, Armenia and Germany, as well as Baltic countries. Following several performances in Germany, the project is planned to be presented in Belgrade, Yerevan and Istanbul in November 2016, Deutsche Welle writes.  Hmmm.......EU leadership = EUnuchs.

Video - Armenian Genocide--A Genocide Denied is A Genocide Repeated.

Obama does not call 1915 slaughter of Armenians Genocide, but a "Great Catastrophe," in final year in office.

Obama does not call 1915 slauagter of Armenians Genocide, but a "Great Catastrophe," in final year in office. (DS)

This year's statement came two days earlier than the April 24 Armenian Remembrance Day, which commemorates the date when exterminations 'deportations'  in Istanbul began in 1915.

In the statement, which was longer than previous ones, Obama defined the 1915 events as the first mass atrocity of the 20th century.

He praised the role of the U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire at the time, Henry Morgenthau, Sr., who was the source of most reports and records on the atrocities. Obama also mentioned Polish jurist Raphael Lemkin, who had studied the 1915 events and later coined the term 'genocide' during World War II and laid the groundwork for genocide convention.

Obama also pointed out the importance of historical remembrence to prevent such event from occurring in the future.

"I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view has not changed. I have also seen that people and nations grow stronger, and build a foundation for a more just and tolerant future, by acknowledging and reckoning with painful elements of the past," he said.

"We continue to welcome the expression of views by those who have sought to shed new light into the darkness of the past, from Turkish and Armenian historians to Pope Francis."

Obama also praised Armenian-Americans that arrived to the U.S. as refugees and formed an important of the nation, along with Armenia accepting 17,000 Syrian refugees.

Top White House officials previously told Armenian-American leaders on Thursday that Obama will not use the term "genocide."

Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of American (ANCA), said that White House National Security officials informed Armenian community leaders that Obama would commemorate his final Armenian Remembrance Day on April 24 without describing the mass Armenian deaths as genocide, an important defeat for Obama's backers because he said before his election that he was going to recognize the Armenian genocide.

He only used the term "Medz Yeghern," Armenian for the "Great Catastrophe," to describe the Ottoman government's decision to exile hundreds of thousands of Armenian civilians.

Armenians accuse the Ottoman Empire of committing genocide in 1915 by killing 1.5 million Armenian Ottoman subjects.

Hamparian accused Obama of "caving in to pressure from Turkey" and "betraying his commitment to speak honestly about the Armenian Genocide." He also blamed the Obama administration for its inaction in recent clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan.


Meanwhile, thousands of Turkish-Americans are also expected to march from the White House to the Turkish Embassy on April 24 and a 24-hour vigil is organized on Massachusetts Avenue where Armenian claims were protested. Hmmm........Erdogan's BFF ......Hussein Obama. Read the full story on the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottomans here.

Some countries, including Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Slovakia and Cyprus have adopted laws that punish genocide denial. In November 2015, after the shootdown of a Russian jet by Turkish F-16's on the Syria–Turkey border, a group of Russian lawmakers have submitted a bill to the Russian Duma on accountability for the Armenian Genocide denial. The bill proposes a fine of up to 500,000 rubles (US$7,500) for any denial of genocide.

İstanbul-based Armenian church daubed with hate messages, glorifying Armenian Genocide

İstanbul-based Armenian church daubed with hate messages, glorifying Armenian Genocide. (TZ).

The Surp Astuanzazh Armenian Church in İstanbul's Bakırköy neighborhood was daubed with hate speech on Tuesday as “1915, blessed year” was written on the side of the building in reference to the massacre of more than 1 million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

Tensions have been growing since Turkey announced in January that it would host international events to commemorate the centennial of the Gallipoli Campaign on April 24, a date that overlaps with the annual commemoration of the massacres, which many countries consider to be genocide.

In addition to “1915, blessed year,” further graffiti on the church stated, “What does it matter if you are all Armenian when there is already one Ogün Samast.”

Today's Zaman visited the site on Wednesday morning and found that the graffiti had been painted over. But an administrator at the church said, “This type of thing happens all the time.” The Armenian Patriarchate of İstanbul refused to comment on the matter. No criminal complaint has been filed. Hmmmm.....Amazing how Turks glorify a Genocide that they claim never happened :)Read the full story here.

Erdoğan: "Some still don't understand Gallipoli. It was the continuation of the struggle of Saladin and Mehmet the Conqueror." #HolyWar

— Ankaralı Jan (@06JAnk) March 29, 2015

Turkish opposition wants to put pressure on authorities using events of 1915 Armenian Genocide.

Turkish opposition wants to put pressure on authorities using events of 1915 Armenian Genocide. (Taz).

The Peoples’ Democratic Party leader, Selahattin Demirtas’s statement that Turkey should recognize the 1915 events as the “Armenian genocide” is a political statement aimed at exerting pressure on authorities through the 100th anniversary of those events, Mazhar Bagli, the board member of Turkish ruling Justice and Development Party, told Trend Jan. 19.

Today, the leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, Selahattin Demirtas said in an interview with CNN Turk that Turkey should recognize the “Armenian genocide”.

Demirtas said Turkey is the successor of the Ottoman Empire, and should be responsible for all its actions.

He also said the Kurds living in Turkey, played a special role in the “Armenian massacre”.

Commenting on Demirtas’s statement that the Kurds were also to blame for the 1915 events, Bagli said the Armenian armed group joined the occupiers in 1915 against Turkey’s civilian population, which caused the anger of representatives of all nationalities in the country, including the Kurds.

“Demirtas’s statement is fundamentally contrary to Turkey’s national interests, and is aimed against the country’s political elite,” Bagli said. “No Armenian genocide has ever taken place in Turkey.” (*It was as a result of that unprecedented massacre that Rafael Lemkin coined the term “genocide”)

He also believes that Turkey will not change its policy with regard to the 1915 events because of such statements by Demirtas.

“Turkey is not a weak state to change its policy due to the statement of the leader of the Peoples’ Democratic Party,” Bagli said.

Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that Turkey’s predecessor, the Ottoman Empire, 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 so-called "genocide" in the world, Armenians have achieved its recognition by the parliaments of some countries.

Most historians concur that the greatest unacknowledged genocide in recent history was the massacre of the Armenians in 1894, 1896, and 1915—it was still "a crime that has no name."

Read more: Genocide: How is it Defined? http://www.infoplease.com/spot/genocide1.html#ixzz3PHxtbwoB

More info on the Armenian Genocide can be read here.

Armenian President Slams Erdogan’s Invitation to Turkey on April 24.

Armenian President Slams Erdogan’s Invitation to Turkey on April 24. (Asbarez)

Erdogan Invites World Leaders to Turkey to Commemorate Gallipoli Centennial on April 24

YEREVAN—President Serzh Sarkisian on Friday responded to an invitation from his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who announced Thursday that he would be inviting world leaders to Turkey on April 24 to mark the centennial of the Battle of Gallipoli, reported the Armenpress news agency.

Erdogan made his intentions known to public during a joint press conference Thursday with Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev who is on an official visit to Turkey.

“On April 24, the day that the Armenian Diaspora has dedicated to commemorate the so-called Armenian Genocide, world leaders will gather in Turkey to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli,” Erdogan said that joint press conference.

In a response made public on Friday by the presidential press service, Sarkisain rejected Erdogan’s invitation, saying that the day coincides with the remembrance of the Armenian Genocide, which was committed by the Ottoman Empire.

Below is the text of the letter to Erdogan provided by the presidential press service.

“Dear Mr. President,

I received your invitation to participate in the commemoration ceremonies marking the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli. Armenian artilleryman, Captain Sargis Torosyan joined the troops of the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Gallipoli and was an officer who was self-dedicated to ensuring the defense and security of the Empire. That same year, the wave of massacres and forceful deportations planned and perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenian people also led to the death of even Sargis Torosyan.

It was as a result of that unprecedented massacre that Rafael Lemkin coined the term “genocide”, and it was the impunity of that crime that prepared ground for the Holocaust and the genocides in Ruanda, Cambodia and Darfur. Leaving aside the significance of the Battle of Gallipoli or Turkey’s disputed role during WWI and WWII, we need to remember that peace and friendship must first be hinged on the courage to confront one's own past, historical justice and universal memory. Alas, Turkey continues its conventional denial policy and is “perfecting” its instrumentation for distorting history.

This time Turkey is marking the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli on April 24, but the battle began on March 18, 1915 and lasted until late January 1916, after which the allies’ operation started on April 25. What is the purpose if not to distract the world’s attention from the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide?

I would advise you to remember in your calls for world peace to make a call to the world to recognize the Armenian Genocide and commemorate the 1.5 million innocent victims. Each of us has a duty to transmit the real story to the future generations and prevent the repetition of crimes and prepare ground for the rapprochement and future cooperation between peoples, especially neighboring peoples.

P.S. Your Excellency, a couple of months ago, I invited you to Yerevan to respect the memory of the innocent martyrs of the Armenian Genocide together on April 24, 2015. Armenians don’t accept being hosted by the guest without receiving a response to the guest’s invitation.”

According to the Hurriyet Daily News, in marking the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli, the Turkish government will organize ceremonies with the participation of 8,500 Australians and 2,000 New Zealanders. The U.K.’s Prince Charles and his two sons, and the prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand, are expected to take part in commemorations.

A day before the April 24 ceremonies in Çanakkale, the government is planning to host a reception and a “Summit of Peace” in Istanbul on April 23, the day when Turkey marks the 95th anniversary of the foundation of the Turkish Parliament.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has signed invitation letters to his counterparts, while President Erdogan has sent letters to the heads of state, accompanied by the message, “We would be delighted to have you with us on the 100th anniversary commemorations of the Battle of Gallipoli.”

During Thursday’s press conference, Erdogan reiterated Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan, emphasizing that “Ankara will continue to back Azerbaijan on the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” reported the Today’s Zaman newspaper.

“I would like to mention this once again: we will continue to extend our support for Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict so that it finds its solution in the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,” Erdoğan said in a joint press conference held with his Azerbaijani counterpart in Ankara on Thursday.

Erdogan also said that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Minsk Group, tasked with negotiating a resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has failed in its mission.

“Turkey is extremely sensitive towards this issue and as Turkey, our position is explicit. It is not possible at all that we will step back from this point [backing Azerbaijan],” Erdogan said stressing the importance of the strategic partnership between Turkey and Azerbaijan in both defense and energy realms.

“Azerbaijan will be strong as long as Turkey is powerful,” Aliyev said, extending his gratitude to Ankara’s continuing support in what he called “justice and international law,” referring to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. More info on the Armenian Genocide can be read here.

Video - The Armenian Genocide Denied by Turkey – Full Movie.

Video - The Armenian Genocide Denied by Turkey – Full Movie.HT: CJR.

A still frame from the 1919 documentary film Auction of Souls, which portrayed eye witnessed events from the Armenian Genocide, including crucified Christian girls.

Documentation about the Armenian genocide in 1915 which Turkey denies down to the present day.

The documentation is based on reports of, amongst others, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin, the American National Archives, the Library of Congress and archives in France, Denmark, Sweden, Armenia, Russia and Turkey.

These documents, hidden for a long time in order not to harm Turkey, leave absolutely no room for doubt about the reality of the Armenian genocide.

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan's most memorable quotes on Genocide:

"It is not possible for those who belong to the Muslim faith to carry out genocide." Source

"We did not commit a crime, therefore we do not need to apologise." - on the Armenian genocide. Source 

"If their historians have claims our historians also have claims,"