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ARMENIAN JOURNALISTS ADDED IN MURDER LIST
Hurriyet Daily News
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=armenian-journalists--added-on-murder-list-2011-10-18
Oct 18 2011
Turkey
Krikor Zohrab, a legal expert, writer, journalist and a deputy is in
the list.
The Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) has decided to include the
names of Armenian journalists killed during the events of 1915 in
its list of "murdered journalists," mimicking recent actions of the
Contemporary Journalists' Association (CGD.) A special section of the
Press Museum will be dedicated to the murdered Armenian journalists.
"What is important for us is that they are our colleagues; their
religion, language and race are irrelevant," Ahmet Ozdemir, TGC's
deputy secretary-general, told the Hurriyet Daily News in a phone
interview.
CGD added the names of 10 murdered Armenian journalists to its list
in recent months. The TGC, however, plans to add only two names:
Diran Kelekyan, an editor of the daily Sabah and Cihan journals, as
well as a writer and an academic; and Krikor Zohrab, a legal expert,
writer, journalist and three-time deputy in the Ottoman Parliament.
"We took journalism as the criterion. Persons who published poems and
discursions on newspapers do not carry significance for us in terms of
journalistic criteria," Ozdemir said, adding that Zohrab and Kelekyan
were murdered for their professional journalistic activities.
Zohrab and Kelekyan were sent into exile from Istanbul alongside 250
other Armenian intellectuals on the eve of April 24, 1915, the date
regarded as the anniversary of the tragic events of 1915. The two
journalists never returned from their forced exile.
The names of Zohrab and Kelekyan will be added to the TGC's list
and the Press Museum during the coming week following a public
announcement.
"The persons we included in our list may have published discursions or
poems, as they are also prominent representatives of western Armenian
literature, but at the same time they [were] also journalists in every
sense of the word," CGD's Ahmet Abakay told the Hurriyet Daily News
in a phone interview.
TGC's move is significant, although the organization still needs to
push on with such efforts, Abakay said, adding that reviewing the
criteria for journalism was necessary.
"I would prefer not to get involved in the [internal affairs] of
another organization, but I would especially like to underscore this
point that in our country, left-wing journals were once not counted
as newspapers," Abakay said.
"We would like to make space for more Armenian journalists as the CGD.
We also came in very late, but we had neither any documents nor
any information. Official history concealed the truth from us. It
constitutes a crime to conceal from society the names of these
individuals who labored for the Turkish press. We are going to continue
waging this struggle." k HDN
From: Baghdasarian
Hurriyet Daily News
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=armenian-journalists--added-on-murder-list-2011-10-18
Oct 18 2011
Turkey
Krikor Zohrab, a legal expert, writer, journalist and a deputy is in
the list.
The Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) has decided to include the
names of Armenian journalists killed during the events of 1915 in
its list of "murdered journalists," mimicking recent actions of the
Contemporary Journalists' Association (CGD.) A special section of the
Press Museum will be dedicated to the murdered Armenian journalists.
"What is important for us is that they are our colleagues; their
religion, language and race are irrelevant," Ahmet Ozdemir, TGC's
deputy secretary-general, told the Hurriyet Daily News in a phone
interview.
CGD added the names of 10 murdered Armenian journalists to its list
in recent months. The TGC, however, plans to add only two names:
Diran Kelekyan, an editor of the daily Sabah and Cihan journals, as
well as a writer and an academic; and Krikor Zohrab, a legal expert,
writer, journalist and three-time deputy in the Ottoman Parliament.
"We took journalism as the criterion. Persons who published poems and
discursions on newspapers do not carry significance for us in terms of
journalistic criteria," Ozdemir said, adding that Zohrab and Kelekyan
were murdered for their professional journalistic activities.
Zohrab and Kelekyan were sent into exile from Istanbul alongside 250
other Armenian intellectuals on the eve of April 24, 1915, the date
regarded as the anniversary of the tragic events of 1915. The two
journalists never returned from their forced exile.
The names of Zohrab and Kelekyan will be added to the TGC's list
and the Press Museum during the coming week following a public
announcement.
"The persons we included in our list may have published discursions or
poems, as they are also prominent representatives of western Armenian
literature, but at the same time they [were] also journalists in every
sense of the word," CGD's Ahmet Abakay told the Hurriyet Daily News
in a phone interview.
TGC's move is significant, although the organization still needs to
push on with such efforts, Abakay said, adding that reviewing the
criteria for journalism was necessary.
"I would prefer not to get involved in the [internal affairs] of
another organization, but I would especially like to underscore this
point that in our country, left-wing journals were once not counted
as newspapers," Abakay said.
"We would like to make space for more Armenian journalists as the CGD.
We also came in very late, but we had neither any documents nor
any information. Official history concealed the truth from us. It
constitutes a crime to conceal from society the names of these
individuals who labored for the Turkish press. We are going to continue
waging this struggle." k HDN
From: Baghdasarian