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FOREIGN DELEGATION TO COMMEMORATE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN ISTANBUL
April 24, 2013 - 14:21 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - On April 24, Turkish people commemorating the 98th
anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide will be joined for the first
time by a foreign delegation composed of 20 anti-racist and Armenian
representatives from 15 countries, Today's Zaman reported.
"The delegation consists of two main groups; one group is represented
by people who work in organizations fighting racial discrimination,
and the other group is from the Armenian diaspora," said Levent
Å~^ensever from DurDe! (Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism!)
The organizations include the Armenian General Benevolent Union
(AGBU) Young Professionals from Bulgaria, the Roma Center in Romania,
and France's AGBU office. There are also representatives from the
Netherlands, Czech Republic, Italy, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina
fighting against racism.
The delegation came together this week with representatives from
Turkish civil society organizations in Istanbul, including the
Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples
(MAZLUM-DER), the Hrant Dink Foundation and the Human Rights
Association (Ä°HD).
"It is historic for the delegation to commemorate April 24 in
Istanbul. It was unthinkable 10 years ago," said Benjamin Abtan,
president of the European Grassroots Antiracist Movement (EGAM),
which was created two years ago to combat racism and anti-Semitism.
The first commemoration ceremony in recent years was held in 2010 in
Taksim Square, in İzmir and in Diyarbakır. This year a commemoration
is planned in Ä°zmir and Adana.
The Ä°HD will mark April 24 at 12:30 p.m. at the Sultanahmet Museum
of Turkish and Islamic Arts, which was a prison in 1915 when prominent
Armenian figures were held before they were imprisoned and then killed.
Following the commemoration at Sultanahmet, the group will visit the
grave of Sevag Balıkcı, a young man of Armenian descent who was
killed on April 24, 2011 while serving in the Turkish Armed Forces
(TSK) as a conscripted private. His death is believed to be a hate
crime committed because of the victim's ethnic background.
Ragip Zarakolu, Turkish human rights activist, publisher and one
of the founders of the Ä°HD in Turkey, said that the first April 24
commemoration was held in Ä°stanbul in and that commemorations were
held until 1922.
"It is significant that the April 24 commemoration is returning to
Istanbul," he said.
Answering questions from Today's Zaman, Zarakolu said that Turkey
has been having its own "spring" in the 2000s despite its problems.
"Turkey has been going through a period of detachment from the official
paradigm for the first time. This official paradigm is Kemalism. Having
this detachment will increase respect for all the good things that
the founder of the Turkish Republic [in 1923] Kemal Ataturk did for
the country. But instead he was made a cult. Turkey cannot go forward
with the values of the Committee of Union and Progress [Ä°ttihat ve
Terakki Cemiyeti (CUP), popularly known as the Young Turks] of 100
years ago," he said.
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/155623/Foreign_delegation_to_commemorate_Armenian_Genocid e_in_Istanbul
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
April 24, 2013 - 14:21 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - On April 24, Turkish people commemorating the 98th
anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide will be joined for the first
time by a foreign delegation composed of 20 anti-racist and Armenian
representatives from 15 countries, Today's Zaman reported.
"The delegation consists of two main groups; one group is represented
by people who work in organizations fighting racial discrimination,
and the other group is from the Armenian diaspora," said Levent
Å~^ensever from DurDe! (Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism!)
The organizations include the Armenian General Benevolent Union
(AGBU) Young Professionals from Bulgaria, the Roma Center in Romania,
and France's AGBU office. There are also representatives from the
Netherlands, Czech Republic, Italy, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina
fighting against racism.
The delegation came together this week with representatives from
Turkish civil society organizations in Istanbul, including the
Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples
(MAZLUM-DER), the Hrant Dink Foundation and the Human Rights
Association (Ä°HD).
"It is historic for the delegation to commemorate April 24 in
Istanbul. It was unthinkable 10 years ago," said Benjamin Abtan,
president of the European Grassroots Antiracist Movement (EGAM),
which was created two years ago to combat racism and anti-Semitism.
The first commemoration ceremony in recent years was held in 2010 in
Taksim Square, in İzmir and in Diyarbakır. This year a commemoration
is planned in Ä°zmir and Adana.
The Ä°HD will mark April 24 at 12:30 p.m. at the Sultanahmet Museum
of Turkish and Islamic Arts, which was a prison in 1915 when prominent
Armenian figures were held before they were imprisoned and then killed.
Following the commemoration at Sultanahmet, the group will visit the
grave of Sevag Balıkcı, a young man of Armenian descent who was
killed on April 24, 2011 while serving in the Turkish Armed Forces
(TSK) as a conscripted private. His death is believed to be a hate
crime committed because of the victim's ethnic background.
Ragip Zarakolu, Turkish human rights activist, publisher and one
of the founders of the Ä°HD in Turkey, said that the first April 24
commemoration was held in Ä°stanbul in and that commemorations were
held until 1922.
"It is significant that the April 24 commemoration is returning to
Istanbul," he said.
Answering questions from Today's Zaman, Zarakolu said that Turkey
has been having its own "spring" in the 2000s despite its problems.
"Turkey has been going through a period of detachment from the official
paradigm for the first time. This official paradigm is Kemalism. Having
this detachment will increase respect for all the good things that
the founder of the Turkish Republic [in 1923] Kemal Ataturk did for
the country. But instead he was made a cult. Turkey cannot go forward
with the values of the Committee of Union and Progress [Ä°ttihat ve
Terakki Cemiyeti (CUP), popularly known as the Young Turks] of 100
years ago," he said.
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/155623/Foreign_delegation_to_commemorate_Armenian_Genocid e_in_Istanbul
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress