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IN A LETTER TO ERDOGAN, ARAM I SAYS THE ARMENIAN PEOPLE STILL WAITING FOR JUSTICE
AsiaNews
Oct 3 2011
Italy
The Armenian Orthodox Catholicos of Cilicia says returning part of the
assets seized from Churches by the Turkish government after 1936 is
not enough. He wants the return of everything seized and lost after the
genocide as well as the recognition of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
Beirut ~V Recent steps by Turkish authorities to return properties
seized from religious minorities after 1936 are ~Sincomplete~T,
Catholicos Aram I Kechichian said in an open letter to Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
For the head of the Armenian Orthodox Church, whose titular see is
located in the Turkish province of Cilicia, justice for the Armenian
people will come only when Turkey acknowledges the genocide of 1915
and when private and Church assets seized at the time are returned.
Here is the text of his letter (translated by AsiaNews):
By way of the press, we have learnt that your government plans to
return properties seized from religious minorities after 1936. Such a
decision undoubtedly stems from recent rulings by the European Court
of Human Rights as well as inquiries by the US Congress into Turkish
pressures on Christian minorities (See Nat de Polis, ~SHistoric
decision: Erdogan returns seized property to religious minorities,~T
in AsiaNews, 29 August 2011).
As spiritual and lawful head of the Holy See of Cilicia (Armenian
Orthodox), which was uprooted from its historic see and installed in
Lebanon, and as representative of the children of the Armenian Church
who were exiled from Turkey and dispersed throughout the world, we
consider your decision of 27 August 2011 to be incomplete and unjust.
The Holy See of Cilicia remains the lawful owner of numerous buildings,
churches, hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, cemeteries and other
properties that belong to the church, seized by Turkish authorities
at the time of the Armenian genocide of 1915.
The same is true for the children of the Armenian people, who are the
lawful owners of houses, businesses, estates and other assets passed
down from their ancestors and lost during the genocide planned and
executed by the Ottoman Turkish government.
Your government's decision may meet the requirements of the European
Union, but it may never be considered as just or legally relevant.
Mr Prime Minister, although taken in the name of justice, your
decision is biased and selective and denies history and democratic
values and principles.
Of course, international institutions like the European Court of Human
Rights and the European Parliament and its parliamentary bodies are
tasked with defending democratic principles and values and ensure
that they are respected; however, the people is the conscience and
memory of such principles and values.
As League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Nobel Peace
Prize winner for 1922 Fridtjof Nansen said in Armenia and the Near
East that the Armenian people never lost hope, bravely working and
waiting. "They continue to wait," he wrote.
Allow me to add that the Armenian people will never cease to demand
justice from Turkey for the Armenian Genocide. The Armenian people
will never cease to demand the restoration of their human rights.
Mr Prime Minister, your attachment to justice and human rights will
gain in credibility only when you recognise the Armenian Genocide.
AsiaNews
Oct 3 2011
Italy
The Armenian Orthodox Catholicos of Cilicia says returning part of the
assets seized from Churches by the Turkish government after 1936 is
not enough. He wants the return of everything seized and lost after the
genocide as well as the recognition of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
Beirut ~V Recent steps by Turkish authorities to return properties
seized from religious minorities after 1936 are ~Sincomplete~T,
Catholicos Aram I Kechichian said in an open letter to Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
For the head of the Armenian Orthodox Church, whose titular see is
located in the Turkish province of Cilicia, justice for the Armenian
people will come only when Turkey acknowledges the genocide of 1915
and when private and Church assets seized at the time are returned.
Here is the text of his letter (translated by AsiaNews):
By way of the press, we have learnt that your government plans to
return properties seized from religious minorities after 1936. Such a
decision undoubtedly stems from recent rulings by the European Court
of Human Rights as well as inquiries by the US Congress into Turkish
pressures on Christian minorities (See Nat de Polis, ~SHistoric
decision: Erdogan returns seized property to religious minorities,~T
in AsiaNews, 29 August 2011).
As spiritual and lawful head of the Holy See of Cilicia (Armenian
Orthodox), which was uprooted from its historic see and installed in
Lebanon, and as representative of the children of the Armenian Church
who were exiled from Turkey and dispersed throughout the world, we
consider your decision of 27 August 2011 to be incomplete and unjust.
The Holy See of Cilicia remains the lawful owner of numerous buildings,
churches, hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, cemeteries and other
properties that belong to the church, seized by Turkish authorities
at the time of the Armenian genocide of 1915.
The same is true for the children of the Armenian people, who are the
lawful owners of houses, businesses, estates and other assets passed
down from their ancestors and lost during the genocide planned and
executed by the Ottoman Turkish government.
Your government's decision may meet the requirements of the European
Union, but it may never be considered as just or legally relevant.
Mr Prime Minister, although taken in the name of justice, your
decision is biased and selective and denies history and democratic
values and principles.
Of course, international institutions like the European Court of Human
Rights and the European Parliament and its parliamentary bodies are
tasked with defending democratic principles and values and ensure
that they are respected; however, the people is the conscience and
memory of such principles and values.
As League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Nobel Peace
Prize winner for 1922 Fridtjof Nansen said in Armenia and the Near
East that the Armenian people never lost hope, bravely working and
waiting. "They continue to wait," he wrote.
Allow me to add that the Armenian people will never cease to demand
justice from Turkey for the Armenian Genocide. The Armenian people
will never cease to demand the restoration of their human rights.
Mr Prime Minister, your attachment to justice and human rights will
gain in credibility only when you recognise the Armenian Genocide.