TURKEY CARRIES OUT PROPAGANDA AGAINST FACT OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE EVEN IN PRISONS OF COUNTRY

Noyan Tapan
Nov 16, 2007

ADANA, NOVEMBER 16, NOYAN TAPAN. In one of the prisons of Adana the
actors of the Chukurova's Center of Culture and Art have staged the
"Yell: the tale of the so-called Armenian Genocide" performance.

As the Turkish press reports, the performance has been staged within
the frameworks of the cultural events organized by the management of
the prison for the prisoners.

Idris Shahin, the Head of the Chukurova's Center of Culture and Art,
declared that the above-mentioned performance "telling about the
tale of the Armenian Genocide" will also be performed in a number of
villages of Turkey.

TURKEY'S NEW ENVOY SAYS GENOCIDE TALK IS HARMFUL

By Bridget Johnson Staff Writer

The Daily News of Los Angeles
November 11, 2007 Sunday
VALLEY EDITION

INTERVIEW: DIPLOMAT IN L.A. BELIEVES FOCUS ON PAST PREVENTS
RECONCILIATION WITH ARMENIA.

U.S. lawmakers should not fixate on the Armenian Genocide bill, which
is an insult to many Turks and a roadblock to reconciliation between
Turkey and the Armenian community, the new Turkish consul general in
Los Angeles said.

In a recent interview with the Daily News, R. Hakan Tekin said his
country strongly objects to the Armenian Genocide legislation that
passed the House Committee on Foreign Affairs last month, which labels
as genocide the killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during
World War I.

The committee's 27-21 vote has raised ire in Turkey and was slammed
by some U.S. lawmakers and commentators for the potential harm it
might do to U.S. relations with Turkey, a longtime strategic ally of
America and NATO partner.

Turkey briefly pulled its U.S. ambassador, Nabi Sensoy, back to Ankara
after the vote.

"It certainly had an effect on our bilateral relations," Tekin said
of the bill, which was shelved late last month under increasing
political pressure.

"It's about our history and it's about, in our opinion, a misreading
of our history... To many of us, it's even insulting. ...

"We don't know now where it will end," Tekin said Wednesday at the
Wilshire Boulevard consulate.

Turkey severed military ties with France after that country's lower
house passed a bill last year making it a crime to deny the Armenian
killings were genocide.

Tekin, who assumed the consul general post six months ago and oversees
12 Western states, said lawmakers should not "legislate history." He
noted that in 2005 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked
Armenian President Robert Kocharian to form a joint commission of
historians to study the disputed 1915 events, a proposal that has
not been accepted.

"We are not scared of our history, and we are not trying to hide
anything," Tekin said. "And if this commission is established,
we will accept whatever result it reaches. ... It is (time for)
the Armenian side to make a move."

Tekin believes it is the size and influence of the U.S. Armenian
community that has kept the issue alive.

"Why are the Armenian events of 1915 brought to the Congress of the
U.S.?" he asked. "Because there is a strong Armenian voting bloc in
the country.

"Why is not, for instance, the massacres in Kenya carried out by the
then-British imperial government not brought to the Congress? Because
there are no Kenyan voters here.

"When you politicize history, you pick and choose and you lose
objectivity, and then you are prone to the pressures of narrow group
interests."

Tekin also said Armenians in Armenia appear less focused on the past
than the Armenian diaspora.

"It doesn't seem that for the Armenians of Armenia proper, it carries
that much priority ... because Armenia now has much more serious
problems for day-to-day life," he said.

Unfortunately, he said, continued lobbying by Armenian groups in
the U.S. on claims that the Turks slaughtered more than 1 million
Armenians from 1915 to 1918 hurts chances at reconciliation.

"And that's really sad, in my opinion, because both countries,
Turkey and Armenia, have a lot to gain to improve their relations,
to establish normal relations in our region," he said. "We need that."

When asked about the potential of the resolution to revive hostilities
between the two communities, Tekin brought up the history of
assassinations of Turkish diplomats in Los Angeles: Consul General
Mehmet Baydar and his deputy, Bahadir Demir, slain in 1973 by Gourgen
Yanikian at a Santa Barbara hotel; and Consul General Kemal Arikan,
shot to death by Harry Sassounian and a second gunman in Westwood
in 1982.

A group calling itself Justice Commandos for the Armenian Genocide
claimed responsibility at the time for Arikan's slaying.

"(It) has been ignored by many people here that two of my predecessors
... have been killed by Armenian terrorists here in Los Angeles, and
nobody speaks about that," Tekin said. Black-and-white portraits of
the three slain men adorn the wall outside the door to Tekin's office.

The consul general now receives special protection from the State
Department, Tekin said.

Still, Tekin said Turks and Armenians have a lot in common: They are
bonded not only by a border, but by cultural similarities as well.

"In a thousand years, maybe we had this trouble period of 20 years,
15 years, and the result here is a hostility," he said. "In Turkey,
we don't preach hatred toward Armenia."

Armenian Genocide denial campaign reached Turkish prisons

16.11.2007 20:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A performance titled `Tales about so-called Armenian
Genocide' was staged in a prison in Adana, Turkish media reports. The
performance was shown in the framework of cultural events for
prisoners and will be also staged in some Turkish villages, Yerkir
reports.

Greenway park plaque will mention Armenian genocide

Greenway park plaque will mention Armenian genocide
Final wording to be determined by city, Turnpike Authority


By Thomas C. Palmer Jr.
Globe Staff / November 17, 2007

A park being donated for the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway by the
nonprofit Armenian Heritage Foundation will include a plaque that
refers to all immigrant groups but also makes an explicit reference
to the Armenian genocide of the early 20th century.

more stories like thisWording suggesting the park commemorates the
1.5 million deaths of Armenians around 1915 at the hands of Turks
contradicts the intentions of planners over the last decade, who
insisted the Greenway not be politicized or be a place for statues,
plaques, or memorials.

Although the wording for a plaque is not final, officials of the
Mayor's Central Artery Completion Task Force, an influential advisory
group, acknowledged at a meeting this week that the specific historic
event would be mentioned.

Nearly 100 years after it occurred, the Armenian genocide remains an
intensely emotional issue. Turkey, an ally of the United States in a
part of the world where the United States has few friends, rejects
the term genocide. The Turkish government has said a proposed
congressional resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide would
severely damage US relations.

In Boston, the final say on the plaque will be made by the
Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and the City of Boston, which both
support the proposed wording. The city and the agency are negotiating
with the task force and the Armenian Heritage Foundation, a local
group that is sponsoring the park, on the project.

The park and plaque are the result of a campaign by the local
Armenian community since 2000 to find a Boston location for a
commemoration of their ancestors. Because the gift of a park was
opposed by some planners and community activists, the plaque's
proposed wording has been broadened to refer to the diverse set of
immigrant groups that, like the Armenians, sought refuge in the
Boston area.

One objection has been that the Armenian Heritage Foundation did not
follow the specific public process for Greenway proposals approved by
the Federal Highway Administration.

"I would like to go on record that this is not acceptable as a
process," Anne Fanton, a member of the task force, said Thursday. "We
want to be certain that this never happens again."

The proposed park, with a 60-foot-diameter paved labyrinth, a
sculpture, and water jet and reflecting pool, has been hailed as
inspired in design and supported by many in the North End community.

The issue of the plaque's wording surfaced several times during a
Thursday meeting on the park. North End community leader Nancy Caruso
said she understood from previous private meetings that the park
would be dedicated to all immigrants but not have a specific
reference to the genocide.

But, asked specifically whether there would be mention of the words
"Armenian genocide," task force cochairman Rob Tuchmann said, "There
will be."

James M. Kalustian, representing the Armenian Heritage Foundation,
the group sponsoring the park, agreed. "The current wording as being
discussed includes a reference to the Armenian genocide," he said.

Yesterday, Erkut Gomulu, president of the Turkish American Cultural
Society of New England, who has opposed placement of the park on the
Greenway, said any plaque should not reference a specific group's
history.

"It's supposed to be inclusive of all communities, right?" he said.
"It's claimed it will not be a memorial. On the other hand it will
have 'genocide' in the wording."

The board of the conservancy that will assume responsibility for
operating the Greenway once it's completed has called for a
moratorium of at least five years on any memorials.

"An awful lot of people have worked hard to try to get to a place
that works for everyone," said conservancy chairman Peter Meade. "We
want the Greenway to become a noncontroversial place where everybody
in our community is welcomed."

But Meade's organization does not have an active role in the
discussion.

Tuchmann said he did not consider the park or the plaque a memorial.
Genie Beal, a member of the task force and chair of the board of the
Boston Natural Areas Fund, yesterday agreed.

"It says 'Armenian genocide' in the last line. I think that's a good
solution," said Beal. "It's not a memorial, it's a 'thank you' " to
the foundation for the gift of a park.

AXA to pay descendants of victims of the Armenian genocide - report

11.18.07, 2:31 PM ET


PARIS (Thomson Financial) - Insurance company AXA will on Monday make
the first of a series of payments to descendants of victims of the
Armenian genocide, Le Parisien reported.

The company will pay 1 mln usd to three Franco-Armenian charity
organisations, the report said.

In total, around 14.5 mln usd will go to descendants of people who
took out life insurance policies in what is now Turkey, before 1915.
A further 3 mln usd will go to humanitarian and educational
organisations.

All the payments are due to be made by the end of 2008, the paper
reported.

Human Rights Supporters Condemn Congresswoman Harman For Genocide Denial At

Los Angeles, CA - Over one hundred and fifty human right supporters, led by
the Armenian Student Association and the Armenian Graduate Student
Association at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) organized a
demonstration on Saturday, November 10, 2007 on their campus to highlight
the genocide denial being practiced by Los Angeles area Congresswoman Jane
Harman (D-CA-36).  Last month it was revealed that Harman had secretly
issued a letter in opposition to the Armenian Genocide resolution (H. Res.
106), while publicly being listed as a supporter of the measure.

Expressing solidarity with the demonstrators were representatives of the
Darfur Action Committee and Members of both the UCLA Undergraduate and
Graduate Student Governments.  A number of media outlets covered the
protest, which included a broad cross-section of human rights supporters,
young and old, who were united in their belief that Harman's deceitful
actions on the genocide bill fall far beneath even the most basic ethical
standards that her constituents have a right to expect.

Harman was at UCLA to be honored by the Dashew Center for International
Students and Scholars.  Sources indicate that Congresswoman Harman and the
Dashews have a decades old relationship, as evidenced by Congressional
remarks on September 10, 1996 and involved participation in Dashew Center
events in 1998 and 2001.  At the event, Harman was awarded the Jacoby
International Award, though it was not made clear why she was being granted
this little known honor.  As onlookers watched, a number of Turkish students
attended the Dashew event to express their solidarity with the
Congresswoman.

"Jane Harman should be ashamed of herself," commented UCLA AGSA Executive
Officer Raffi Kassabian.  "As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, for her
to argue that the 'time is not right to recognize the Armenian Genocide' is
outrageous.  Clearly, Jane believes it is better for Congress to remain
silent in the face of Turkish denials and threats.  Her failure to speak
truth to power is immoral and, quite frankly, an embarrassment," he added.

Last month, Harman was the focus of a demonstration that shut down a
political event in Lakewood, California.  The Lakewood event brought
together over one hundred activists from the Armenian Youth Federation who
hail from in and around the 36th Congressional District represented by
Harman.  Human rights champions in the Los Angeles area have vowed to
highlight Harman's immoral position on the Armenian Genocide at all public
events she attends in California and elsewhere.  To date, thousands of
emails have been sent to her legislative aides to convey their disgust with
the Congresswoman's denial of the Armenian Genocide and opposition to H.
Res. 106.

The Armenian National Committee of America is the largest and most
influential Armenian-American grassroots political organization. Working
through a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the US and
around the world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns of the
Armenian-American community on a broad range of issues.

TURKEY'S NEW ENVOY SAYS GENOCIDE BILL IMPEDES RECONCILIATION

By Bridget Johnson, Staff Writer

Los Angeles Daily News, CA
Nov 11 2007

U.S. lawmakers should not fixate on the Armenian Genocide bill, which
is an insult to many Turks and a roadblock to reconciliation between
Turkey and the Armenian community, the new Turkish consul general in
Los Angeles said.

In a recent interview with the Daily News, R. Hakan Tekin said his
country strongly objects to the Armenian Genocide legislation that
passed the House Committee on Foreign Affairs last month, which labels
as genocide the killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during
World War I.

The committee's 27-21 vote has raised ire in Turkey and was slammed
by some U.S. lawmakers and commentators for the potential harm it
might do to U.S. relations with Turkey, a longtime strategic ally of
America and NATO partner.

Turkey briefly pulled its U.S. ambassador, Nabi Sensoy, back to Ankara
after the vote.

"It certainly had an effect on our bilateral relations," Tekin said
of the bill, which was shelved late last month under increasing
political pressure.

"It's about our history and it's about, in our opinion, a misreading
of our history... To many of us, it's even insulting. ...

"We don't know now where it will end," Tekin said Wednesday at the
Wilshire Boulevard consulate.

Turkey severed military ties with France after that country's lower
house passed a bill last year making it a crime to deny the Armenian
killings were genocide.

Tekin, who assumed the consul general post six months ago and oversees
12 Western states, said lawmakers should not "legislate history." He
noted that in 2005 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked
Armenian President Robert Kocharian to form a joint commission of
historians to study the disputed 1915 events, a proposal that has
not been accepted.

"We are not scared of our history, and we are not trying to hide
anything," Tekin said. "And if this commission is established,
we will accept whatever result it reaches. ... It is (time for)
the Armenian side to make a move."

Tekin believes it is the size and influence of the U.S. Armenian
community that has kept the issue alive.

"Why are the Armenian events of 1915 brought to the Congress of the
U.S.?" he asked. "Because there is a strong Armenian voting bloc in
the country.

"Why is not, for instance, the massacres in Kenya carried out by the
then-British imperial government not brought to the Congress? Because
there are no Kenyan voters here.

"When you politicize history, you pick and choose and you lose
objectivity, and then you are prone to the pressures of narrow group
interests."

Tekin also said Armenians in Armenia appear less focused on the past
than the Armenian diaspora.

"It doesn't seem that for the Armenians of Armenia proper, it carries
that much priority ... because Armenia now has much more serious
problems for day-to-day life," he said.

Unfortunately, he said, continued lobbying by Armenian groups in
the U.S. on claims that the Turks slaughtered more than 1 million
Armenians from 1915 to 1918 hurts chances at reconciliation.

"And that's really sad, in my opinion, because both countries,
Turkey and Armenia, have a lot to gain to improve their relations,
to establish normal relations in our region," he said. "We need that."

When asked about the potential of the resolution to revive hostilities
between the two communities, Tekin brought up the history of
assassinations of Turkish diplomats in Los Angeles: Consul General
Mehmet Baydar and his deputy, Bahadir Demir, slain in 1973 by Gourgen
Yanikian at a Santa Barbara hotel; and Consul General Kemal Arikan,
shot to death by Harry Sassounian and a second gunman in Westwood
in 1982.

A group calling itself Justice Commandos for the Armenian Genocide
claimed responsibility at the time for Arikan's slaying.

"(It) has been ignored by many people here that two of my predecessors
... have been killed by Armenian terrorists here in Los Angeles, and
nobody speaks about that," Tekin said. Black-and-white portraits of
the three slain men adorn the wall outside the door to Tekin's office.

The consul general now receives special protection from the State
Department, Tekin said.

Still, Tekin said Turks and Armenians have a lot in common: They are
bonded not only by a border, but by cultural similarities as well.

"In a thousand years, maybe we had this trouble period of 20 years,
15 years, and the result here is a hostility," he said. "In Turkey,
we don't preach hatred toward Armenia."

EXPLAINING THE FATE OF THE 'GENOCIDE RESOLUTION'

David Merahn

Turkish Daily News
Nov 12 2007

The past few weeks have shown a dramatic turn around in one of
the most contentious issues facing American-Turkish relations: the
so-called Armenian Genocide resolution. After the Oct. 10 vote in
the Committee of Foreign Affairs, it looked like the resolution was
on a path towards a general vote in the House of Representatives.

Turkish officials were outraged, and sympathetic Americans railed
against the measure on the floor of Congress. Then, all of a sudden,
the resolution found its support decreasing, as many Representatives,
including co-sponsors began to drop out. From outside Congress, this
seemed like a dramatic and sudden turn around. The media seemed to
lack a cohesive explanation, and other stories, mostly surrounding
Turkey's southern border, distracted from the issue.

On the surface it looks like that if this resolution were ever going
to succeed it would have been now; the Speaker of the House, who sets
its agenda, is Nancy Pelosi. She is from California, a state that
has a substantial and powerful Armenian constituency. Yet discussions
with three leaders in congress, Congresswoman Kay Granger (R-Texas),
Congressman Ed Whitfield (R-Kentucky) and Congressman Robert Wexler
(D-Florida), reveals why this resolution needed to be defeated and
the multifaceted effort that was executed to ensure that it was -
efforts taken by both those in Turkey and the US.

These discussions revealed that on the larger scale Turkey's reaction
was extremely important. Initially many criticized Turkey for the
threatened actions, which would weaken both the U.S. and Turkey
itself. However, as Rep. Whitfield points out "while it sounds tough,
Turkey was right to speak out, there is no reason for [the resolution]
to pass. Prime Minister Erdoðan is a mature and measured leader,
and I believe he wouldn't put our continued work together at risk."

Turkey's aggressive reaction, which included governmental threats
accompanied by civilian protests, demonstrated the importance of the
issue in Turkey, an importance of which many in the U.S. were unaware.

The measure was also opposed by informed and powerful figures within
the American foreign relations community. "The resolution has been
opposed in a letter from all living Secretaries of State, and three
Secretaries of Defense, that is a diverse group of people, and I
think it took a lot of my colleagues by surprise," said Rep.

Whitfield. A point further supported by Congresswoman Granger: "Many
in congress think that because it's just a resolution and doesn't have
any action attached to it, they don't see it as important as it is,
to take action against an ally." She goes on to highlight how the
legislative nature of the resolution led to a more flippant approach
to the issue, "If you don't understand how it's viewed in Turkey it's
easy to think it's not such a big deal - I mean we pass resolutions
to congratulate sports teams."

How the change came?

The fact that the Turkish reaction took many in Congress who originally
supported the resolution by surprise opened the door to begin the
process of changing their minds. However, supporters really began to
drop after action taken by their fellow Representatives. As Granger
commented, "A lot of people worked very hard to change our colleagues'
minds, literally one by one when needed."

Congressmen like Robert Wexler made a point to demonstrate how
important it is to preserve the two nations' "strategic partnership,"
saying, "My sense is that most people have great empathy for the
tragedy and suffering of the Armenian community but they understand
[Congress members'] first priority is to protect American lives and
anything that disrupts the safety of the troops, like this resolution
might, will make them stop and ask 'why are we doing this?'" The
combination of all these collective efforts makes it look like the
resolution has been defeated for now.

While it is unlikely that the resolution will be called to vote anytime
soon, the prospect is not entirely removed: "The resolution has been
around forever, it's one of the reasons we formed the Turkish caucus
in Congress," Granger said.

The U.S. and Turkish relationship has been strained, regardless of
whether the resolution is ever called to vote. While the governments
of the two nations have had several high-ranking meetings in the
past weeks and are collectively ushering in a new phase of their
relationship, the potential lasting damage from the resolution is
its effects on popular sentiment.

With Turkish opinions of America already at an all time low, this
most recent incident is only salting a wound that has already been
in need of treatment for sometime, a sentiment best summed up by
Congressman Whitfield: "Turkey is a vital part on our war on terror
and a key diplomatic ally, but what's more important than all that is
the relationship between the two nations, and the two peoples. We need
to stop thinking these relations matter only when there is a crisis."

* David Merahn is with the BAC Military Science.

ASSYRIAN GENOCIDE SCHOLAR TOURS U.S.

By Rosie Malek-Yonan

Assyrian International News Agency
Nov 12 2007

Like an umbilical chord still connected to its bitter past, the
Assyrians cannot detach from the events perpetrated against their
nation by the Ottoman Turks, Kurds and Persians in the shadows of
WWI. The past looms unsettled. The past waits patiently and stubbornly
to be made right so that the Assyrian nation can finally be at
peace. The Assyrian nation has been mourning its dead for 92 years. It
is time to lay them to rest with honor. It is our human right.

Assyrian nationalists and educators such as Mr. Sabri Atman are
doing their part to educate and create worldwide awareness of the
recognition of the Assyrian Genocide.

This week, Assyrians of America welcome Mr. Atman in their midst. His
arrival in the U.S. is indeed a bittersweet encounter for the Assyrians
of this region. We are reminded of the importance of remaining vigilant
today in safe guarding our history and our past to ensure our nation's
future so that it may be free from oppression and persecution.

Mr. Sabri Atman, founder and director of the Assyrian Seyfo Center in
Europe, is presenting a lecture on the topic of the Assyrian Genocide
entitled "Genocide, Denial, and the Right of Recognition." The
five-city American tour that began in Los Angeles on November 9th
at the Assyrian American Association of Southern California, will
continue on to San Jose (November 10th), Turlock (November 11th),
Detroit (November 16th), and end in Chicago (November 17th) before
he heads for Armenia with the same powerful message.

I had the honor of attending Mr. Atman's lecture in Los Angeles. He
presented the facts clearly and succinctly. But what was most striking
about his presentation was his unshakable conviction to demand justice
for his Assyrian nation from the Turkish government.

"Today we are not blaming every Turk or Kurd for the past events. But
this was done to us in their name," said Mr. Atman.

Indeed, the silence of the majority and the opposition of many today
to recognize the Genocide of the Assyrians, Armenian and Greeks,
only emphasizes the support of the denial of these Genocides.

Mr. Atman carried with him a palm size reddish stone from his homeland
in Southeast Turkey where he is banned from ever visiting.

The stone is a constant reminder of the bitter memories of not just
his family's past but also the past of the Assyrian nation that is
perpetually battling 92 years of defiance by the Turks.

Like most Assyrian families, the death of his grand parents at the
hands of the Ottoman Turks, is a memory that follows him daily. "The
Assyrian nation has inherited incredible scars."

"We Assyrians live in many different countries, but our existence is
not recognized. Our fundamental rights are not recognized," said Mr.

Atman. According to him, the year 1915 was one of the dirtiest pages
of Turkish history and consequently, "the Assyrian people did not
just suffer a tragedy. They suffered a genocide!"

It is true that as children, we Assyrians grew up learning and hearing
about the atrocities committed against our nation during WWI.

"We shed tears of blood," resonated Mr. Atman. A statement I know
only too well when I remember the eyes of my own grandmother, who was
a survivor of the Assyrian Genocide. She was one of the lucky ones,
unlike the rest of her family.

"We are the grandchildren of the Genocide. They owe us an apology."

An apology that is long overdue.