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TURKISH OFFICIALS OPPOSE PLANNED ARMENIAN MONUMENT IN PASADENA
By Brenda Gazzar
Long Beach Press-Telegram
http://www.presstelegram.com/breakingnews/ci_21421057/turkish-officials-oppose-planned-armenian-monument-pasadena
Aug 29 2012
CA
PASADENA - Turkish government representatives say a proposed Armenian
Genocide Memorial "deeply offends" the Turkish people and told
city officials that use of the term genocide is one of legitimate
scholarly debate.
A visit by then-Turkish Deputy Consul General Arif Celik on Aug. 9
about a proposed Armenian monument in Memorial Park, which would be
paid for with private funds, has prompted local Armenians to condemn
Turkish meddling in city politics.
"This is completely against our city values, that a foreign government
comes and interferes in our local business," said Khatchik "Chris"
Chahinian, chairman of the Pasadena-based Armenian Community Coalition.
"This is not an Ankara suburb. Pasadena, it's an American city ... and
Pasadena has been home to Armenians for more than 120 years."
>From 1915 through 1923 as many as 1.5 million Armenians were slain
in what was then the Ottoman Empire. California is among more than
40 states that formally recognizes the Armenian Genocide.
"Our Consulate General got in contact with Pasadena City authorities
to convey the message that the events of 1915 (are) a highly debated
issue by academics, historians and Turkish and Armenian communities,"
the Consulate General of Turkey in Los Angeles said in a statement
Tuesday to this newspaper.
It's clear that adopting "one side's approach and erecting a `genocide
memorial' without paying attention to the other's will actually
damage the ongoing efforts for a just solution to the issue," the
statement said.
Pasadena city officials admitted Celik visited Assistant City Manager
Julie Gutierrez on Aug. 9. In the meeting Celik asked about the
process for monument approval.
While local Armenian leaders have been working with city officials to
erect a monument in 2015 for the 100th anniversary of the genocide,
no official project has yet been submitted to the city.
While most historians assert the mass killings of Armenians that
started in 1915 was the 20th century's first genocide, Turkey - a
strong U.S. ally - has long denied there was a systematic campaign
by the Ottoman Turks to kill Armenians.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, a lead author of the Armenian Genocide
Resolution, said historians around the world have acknowledged the
"plain facts of the Armenian genocide."
"I'm appalled that Turkey would try to enlist the city of Pasadena in
its campaign of denial," Schiff said. It's "the same fable they've been
trying to peddle for almost a century. It continues to be a grievous
ongoing injury that Turkey will not acknowledge the Armenian genocide."
Former mayor William Paparian, attorney for the Pasadena Armenian
Genocide Memorial Committee, said he considered the recent visit of
Celik to City Hall "a diplomatic intrusion by the Turkish government."
For more than 30 years, the City Council has issued an annual
proclamation commemorating the Armenian Genocide on April 24, amended
its Affirmative Action ordinance to make Armenian-Americans a protected
class and even has a sister city in Armenia, he said in a statement.
Since the proposed memorial will have to fulfill strict requirements
to win approval, "no foreign government should be allowed to intervene
in that process," he said.
William Bairamian, executive director of the Armenian National
Committee of America-Western Region, echoed Paparian's concerns,
saying it was "unacceptable" for a foreign government to try to get
involved in an American city's politics.
"We are an organization founded upon communities that were created
because of the genocide in the U.S.," Bairamian said. "We are here
and we are acting as citizens of the U.S."
No U.S. president since Ronald Reagan has recognized the mass killings
as genocide. The U.S. Congress has not passed a resolution on the
matter since 1985.
Vega Sankur, president of the American Turkish Association of Southern
California, said she is not opposed to a monument, only the use of
the term genocide.
"Nobody has proven it to me," she said. "Has there been some cruelty?
I think there was enormous cruelty on both sides and (the Armenians)
ended up on the losing side."
By Brenda Gazzar
Long Beach Press-Telegram
http://www.presstelegram.com/breakingnews/ci_21421057/turkish-officials-oppose-planned-armenian-monument-pasadena
Aug 29 2012
CA
PASADENA - Turkish government representatives say a proposed Armenian
Genocide Memorial "deeply offends" the Turkish people and told
city officials that use of the term genocide is one of legitimate
scholarly debate.
A visit by then-Turkish Deputy Consul General Arif Celik on Aug. 9
about a proposed Armenian monument in Memorial Park, which would be
paid for with private funds, has prompted local Armenians to condemn
Turkish meddling in city politics.
"This is completely against our city values, that a foreign government
comes and interferes in our local business," said Khatchik "Chris"
Chahinian, chairman of the Pasadena-based Armenian Community Coalition.
"This is not an Ankara suburb. Pasadena, it's an American city ... and
Pasadena has been home to Armenians for more than 120 years."
>From 1915 through 1923 as many as 1.5 million Armenians were slain
in what was then the Ottoman Empire. California is among more than
40 states that formally recognizes the Armenian Genocide.
"Our Consulate General got in contact with Pasadena City authorities
to convey the message that the events of 1915 (are) a highly debated
issue by academics, historians and Turkish and Armenian communities,"
the Consulate General of Turkey in Los Angeles said in a statement
Tuesday to this newspaper.
It's clear that adopting "one side's approach and erecting a `genocide
memorial' without paying attention to the other's will actually
damage the ongoing efforts for a just solution to the issue," the
statement said.
Pasadena city officials admitted Celik visited Assistant City Manager
Julie Gutierrez on Aug. 9. In the meeting Celik asked about the
process for monument approval.
While local Armenian leaders have been working with city officials to
erect a monument in 2015 for the 100th anniversary of the genocide,
no official project has yet been submitted to the city.
While most historians assert the mass killings of Armenians that
started in 1915 was the 20th century's first genocide, Turkey - a
strong U.S. ally - has long denied there was a systematic campaign
by the Ottoman Turks to kill Armenians.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, a lead author of the Armenian Genocide
Resolution, said historians around the world have acknowledged the
"plain facts of the Armenian genocide."
"I'm appalled that Turkey would try to enlist the city of Pasadena in
its campaign of denial," Schiff said. It's "the same fable they've been
trying to peddle for almost a century. It continues to be a grievous
ongoing injury that Turkey will not acknowledge the Armenian genocide."
Former mayor William Paparian, attorney for the Pasadena Armenian
Genocide Memorial Committee, said he considered the recent visit of
Celik to City Hall "a diplomatic intrusion by the Turkish government."
For more than 30 years, the City Council has issued an annual
proclamation commemorating the Armenian Genocide on April 24, amended
its Affirmative Action ordinance to make Armenian-Americans a protected
class and even has a sister city in Armenia, he said in a statement.
Since the proposed memorial will have to fulfill strict requirements
to win approval, "no foreign government should be allowed to intervene
in that process," he said.
William Bairamian, executive director of the Armenian National
Committee of America-Western Region, echoed Paparian's concerns,
saying it was "unacceptable" for a foreign government to try to get
involved in an American city's politics.
"We are an organization founded upon communities that were created
because of the genocide in the U.S.," Bairamian said. "We are here
and we are acting as citizens of the U.S."
No U.S. president since Ronald Reagan has recognized the mass killings
as genocide. The U.S. Congress has not passed a resolution on the
matter since 1985.
Vega Sankur, president of the American Turkish Association of Southern
California, said she is not opposed to a monument, only the use of
the term genocide.
"Nobody has proven it to me," she said. "Has there been some cruelty?
I think there was enormous cruelty on both sides and (the Armenians)
ended up on the losing side."