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TURKS, ARMENIANS, FOREIGN DELEGATION COMMEMORATE 1915 EVENTS
Today's Zaman, Turkey
April 24 2013
24 April 2013 /HANİFE SEVDE KOSE, İSTANBUL
Turkish Armenians and Turkish civil society groups joined with
a foreign delegation comprising 20 anti-racist and Armenian
representatives from 15 countries to commemorate the 98th anniversary
of the tragic events of 1915 in İstanbul's Sultanahmet Square on
Wednesday.
The foreign delegation, which joined the commemoration for the
first time this year, included the Armenian General Benevolent Union
(AGBU) Young Professionals from Bulgaria, the Roma Center in Romania,
which works for Roma rights, and the AGBU from France and the European
Grassroots Antiracist Movement (EGAM). There were also representatives
from Turkish NGOs.
April 24 is the symbolic date when about 200 Armenian religious and
intellectual leaders were rounded up in İstanbul in 1915 before they
were imprisoned and summarily executed.
In a separate occasion, nearly a thousand of people gathered in Taksim
Square to mark the event.
Protestors have deliberately staged the event in front of the Museum
of Turkish and Islamic Arts in Sultanahmet Square, as the building of
the museum was a prison in 1915 where Armenian intellectual leaders
before they were executed.
During the commemoration, different civil society groups delivered
speeches and urged the Turkish government to recognize the 1915 events
as "genocide." One person protested against the commemoration, saying
"Turkish nation do not do genocide. You are bending the truth."
Immediately, he was taken away from the crowd by the protestors.
A member of the EGAM delegation, Moavia Ahmad, said he was optimistic
about a move that can come from the Turkish government to solve the
issue. "My opinion [about Turkey] has started to change with Turkey's
deal with the Kurdish issue, which is opening doors for other issues
just like the Armenian problem, " said Ahmad. However, he added that
it will be early to comment on Turkey's attitude towards apologizing
for the 1915 events before the 100th anniversary of the events in 2015.
However, many of the protesters think that public opinion should be
changed in such a way that when Turkey recognizes the 1915 events,
there will not be strong opposition to the steps that will be taken
by the government to solve the issue.
Osman Kavala, who attended the commemoration, told Today's Zaman that
public opinion could be changed through giving objective information
to schools and via media. "Opinion may change in a short time period,"
he added.
Marie Anne, an Armenian whose grandparents moved to France from
Anatolia, said they were able to understand the opposition coming
from some Turkish people who say Turks cannot do any wrong towards
Armenians. However, she said we should help them understand that some
tragic events happened in the past.
Another protestor from the Greens and Left Future Party, Nadire
Gul, said every year the number of people who attend the April 24
commemorations has been increasing, in particular those from an
Armenian background.
BDP seeks establishment of parliamentary commission on 1915 incidents
Pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) parliamentary group deputy
chairman İdris Baluken submitted a motion to Parliament in which he
sought for creation of a commission to investigate the 1915 incidents.
Armenia, backed by many historians and parliaments in several
countries, says about 1.5 million Armenians were killed in what is now
eastern Turkey during World War I in a deliberate policy of genocide
by the Ottoman government.
The Ottoman Empire dissolved after the end of the war, but successive
Turkish governments and the vast majority of Turks take the charge of
genocide as a direct insult to national pride. Turkey argues that the
killings occurred at a time of civil conflict in which both Armenians
and Turks were killed and that the casualty figures are inflated.
In 2005, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter to
then-Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and proposed to establish a
joint committee of historians to study the incidents of 1915. However,
the Armenian government has not replied to this request of PM Erdogan.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-313616-turks-armenians-foreign-delegation-commemorate-1915-events.html
Today's Zaman, Turkey
April 24 2013
24 April 2013 /HANİFE SEVDE KOSE, İSTANBUL
Turkish Armenians and Turkish civil society groups joined with
a foreign delegation comprising 20 anti-racist and Armenian
representatives from 15 countries to commemorate the 98th anniversary
of the tragic events of 1915 in İstanbul's Sultanahmet Square on
Wednesday.
The foreign delegation, which joined the commemoration for the
first time this year, included the Armenian General Benevolent Union
(AGBU) Young Professionals from Bulgaria, the Roma Center in Romania,
which works for Roma rights, and the AGBU from France and the European
Grassroots Antiracist Movement (EGAM). There were also representatives
from Turkish NGOs.
April 24 is the symbolic date when about 200 Armenian religious and
intellectual leaders were rounded up in İstanbul in 1915 before they
were imprisoned and summarily executed.
In a separate occasion, nearly a thousand of people gathered in Taksim
Square to mark the event.
Protestors have deliberately staged the event in front of the Museum
of Turkish and Islamic Arts in Sultanahmet Square, as the building of
the museum was a prison in 1915 where Armenian intellectual leaders
before they were executed.
During the commemoration, different civil society groups delivered
speeches and urged the Turkish government to recognize the 1915 events
as "genocide." One person protested against the commemoration, saying
"Turkish nation do not do genocide. You are bending the truth."
Immediately, he was taken away from the crowd by the protestors.
A member of the EGAM delegation, Moavia Ahmad, said he was optimistic
about a move that can come from the Turkish government to solve the
issue. "My opinion [about Turkey] has started to change with Turkey's
deal with the Kurdish issue, which is opening doors for other issues
just like the Armenian problem, " said Ahmad. However, he added that
it will be early to comment on Turkey's attitude towards apologizing
for the 1915 events before the 100th anniversary of the events in 2015.
However, many of the protesters think that public opinion should be
changed in such a way that when Turkey recognizes the 1915 events,
there will not be strong opposition to the steps that will be taken
by the government to solve the issue.
Osman Kavala, who attended the commemoration, told Today's Zaman that
public opinion could be changed through giving objective information
to schools and via media. "Opinion may change in a short time period,"
he added.
Marie Anne, an Armenian whose grandparents moved to France from
Anatolia, said they were able to understand the opposition coming
from some Turkish people who say Turks cannot do any wrong towards
Armenians. However, she said we should help them understand that some
tragic events happened in the past.
Another protestor from the Greens and Left Future Party, Nadire
Gul, said every year the number of people who attend the April 24
commemorations has been increasing, in particular those from an
Armenian background.
BDP seeks establishment of parliamentary commission on 1915 incidents
Pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) parliamentary group deputy
chairman İdris Baluken submitted a motion to Parliament in which he
sought for creation of a commission to investigate the 1915 incidents.
Armenia, backed by many historians and parliaments in several
countries, says about 1.5 million Armenians were killed in what is now
eastern Turkey during World War I in a deliberate policy of genocide
by the Ottoman government.
The Ottoman Empire dissolved after the end of the war, but successive
Turkish governments and the vast majority of Turks take the charge of
genocide as a direct insult to national pride. Turkey argues that the
killings occurred at a time of civil conflict in which both Armenians
and Turks were killed and that the casualty figures are inflated.
In 2005, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter to
then-Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and proposed to establish a
joint committee of historians to study the incidents of 1915. However,
the Armenian government has not replied to this request of PM Erdogan.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-313616-turks-armenians-foreign-delegation-commemorate-1915-events.html