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WORKING TOGETHER WITH ANCIENT NEIGHBORS
http://asbarez.com/108712/working-together-with-ancient-neighbors/
Monday, March 11th, 2013 |
The Assyrian Genocide Monument in Yerevan
BY VARANT MEGUERDITCHIAN
The Turkish Ambassador to the European Union, Egemen Bagis, recently
compared the Assyrian Genocide to 'masturbation'. The comment was
reportedly made during a discussion with a Swedish parliamentarian of
Assyrian descent at an event organized by Assyrians earlier this year.
Whilst we can't substantiate exactly what the Turkish Ambassador
thinks about the Assyrian Genocide, we know the matter is much more
serious for the Assyrians themselves.
When Assyrians think of the genocide that befell their people in
the early part of the 20th century, they think about discrimination,
violence, rape, murder, deprivation, deportation and injustice. This
I've learnt while actively working with Assyrian and Greek Diasporan
communities to advocate for genocide recognition.
The parliament of South Australia became the first legislative body
in the world to recognize the genocide of the Assyrians and Greeks in
2009. In a motion, the South Australian Legislative Assembly stated:
"this House condemns the genocide of the Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians
and other Christian minorities; and all other acts of genocide as
the ultimate act of racial, religious and cultural intolerance."
This recognition was followed by the motion in Sweden in 2010, when
the Reichstag called on the Swedish executive to pressure Turkey to
recognize the 1915 genocide against Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians.
The return of churches resolution in the Unites States Congress in
2011 was also significant. It was a concrete acknowledgement of the
Turkish appropriation of Armenian, Assyrian and Greek assets under the
genocidal policies of the Ottoman state and its successor governments.
In Armenia, the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, Hovik Abrahamyan
called for universal recognition of the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian
Genocides in 2010. And in 2012 a monument dedicated to the victims
of the Assyrian Genocide was revealed in Yerevan. The plaque on the
monument reads: "To the innocent Assyrian victims of 1915." It makes
no reference to the word 'genocide'.
The present-day Assyrian community in Armenia numbers at 7,000.
Primarily based around four centers, Arzni, Verin-Dvin, Dimitrov and
Ardakers; Assyrians maintain their culture and learn their native
Assyrian language in government schools. During my last visit
to Armenia, I met with Arsen Mikailov, a leader of the Assyrian
community. Arsen explained that Assyrians moved to the region when it
was part of the Russian Empire in the early 19th century to escape
Ottoman tyranny. He is proud that the community is well-integrated
into Armenian society, suggesting that "much of this is due to the
common history of our peoples."
"After all, the Ottoman Turks regarded Assyrians as the same 'millet'
as the Armenians, and in 1915, we met the same fate," said Arsen.
The Greek community in Armenia is much smaller than it once was,
with many returning to Greece after 1991. The 2001 Armenian census
recorded that there were 1,176 Greeks in Armenia that year and numbers
have stabilized. The village of Yaghdan in Lori province was founded
and is still populated by Greeks. In Yerevan there is a Sunday Greek
school where children learn language and history and immerse themselves
in Greek culture. Eduardas Polatsidis, the son of Greek migrants who
arrived in Armenia from the Black Sea coast in the early 20th century,
has been working actively for greater acknowledgement of the suffering
of the Greeks.
"The Greek community in Armenia thus far does not have a monument
dedicated to the memory of the Greek Genocide," said Eduardas when
I met him in Yerevan.
As Turkey looks to build allies in the middle-east and in the broader
region, it has also attempted to approach Greeks and Assyrians. The
Turkish Ambassador's meeting with Assyrians in Sweden is one such
example. These are the actions of a genocide denialist government
seeking to befriend the victim group and prevent any further advocacy
on the matter of genocide recognition.
Beyond the moral imperative, Armenians have a political
responsibility. We must look to build our own coalition of support
for justice. Where better to start than with those groups who were
subjected to the same violence, under the same polices, implemented by
the same perpetrators - our ancient neighbors the Greeks and Assyrians.
While the political influence, organization and strength in advocacy
of Assyrian and Greek diasporan groups has not been substantiated
nor tested as our own, much can be achieved from further encouraging,
supporting and collaborating with these groups.
In 2007, ten years after reaffirming the historical reality of
the Armenian Genocide, the International Association of Genocide
Scholars (IAGS) resolved that Greeks and Assyrians were subjected to
"qualitatively similar" genocides to that of the Armenians.
The more than 70 legislative bodies and 20 nation states that have
recognized the Armenian Genocide must follow the IAGS' example in
affirming the historical reality of the Greek and Assyrian Genocides.
The Armenian diaspora can and must play its critical role in achieving
this objective.
Similarly, the government of Armenia has to do better. The Armenian
republic has never denied the Assyrian or Greek Genocides, and members
of the Armenian parliament have often recalled the two genocides in
parliamentary addresses. Despite this, there is no definitive record
of condemnation of the Assyrian and Greek Genocides.
The appropriate course of action in Armenia should be the announcement
of a presidential decree on May 19, affirming the historical reality
of the Greek Genocide, condemning this crime and expressing sympathy
for the victims. May 19, 1919 is the date Mustafa Kemal-Ataturk,
the founder of modern-day Turkey, initiated the second phase of Greek
ethnic cleansing and genocide in the Pontian-Greek city of Samsun on
the Black Sea. It is the day designated by the parliament of Greece
in 1994 for commemoration of the genocide of the Greek Pontians.
A parallel Armenian presidential decree should follow on August 7 -
the day designated by Assyrians for remembering the suffering of their
people: first during the Assyrian Genocide, and later as subjects to
massacre in northern Iraq in 1933.
It is estimated that alongside the 1.5 million Armenians, the
Ottoman-era genocides also claimed the lives of 750,000 Assyrians
and at least 500,000 Greeks. Having lived side by side for millennia,
the Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians were once again brought together
in genocide. We must now come together in the struggle for its just
resolution.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
http://asbarez.com/108712/working-together-with-ancient-neighbors/
Monday, March 11th, 2013 |
The Assyrian Genocide Monument in Yerevan
BY VARANT MEGUERDITCHIAN
The Turkish Ambassador to the European Union, Egemen Bagis, recently
compared the Assyrian Genocide to 'masturbation'. The comment was
reportedly made during a discussion with a Swedish parliamentarian of
Assyrian descent at an event organized by Assyrians earlier this year.
Whilst we can't substantiate exactly what the Turkish Ambassador
thinks about the Assyrian Genocide, we know the matter is much more
serious for the Assyrians themselves.
When Assyrians think of the genocide that befell their people in
the early part of the 20th century, they think about discrimination,
violence, rape, murder, deprivation, deportation and injustice. This
I've learnt while actively working with Assyrian and Greek Diasporan
communities to advocate for genocide recognition.
The parliament of South Australia became the first legislative body
in the world to recognize the genocide of the Assyrians and Greeks in
2009. In a motion, the South Australian Legislative Assembly stated:
"this House condemns the genocide of the Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians
and other Christian minorities; and all other acts of genocide as
the ultimate act of racial, religious and cultural intolerance."
This recognition was followed by the motion in Sweden in 2010, when
the Reichstag called on the Swedish executive to pressure Turkey to
recognize the 1915 genocide against Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians.
The return of churches resolution in the Unites States Congress in
2011 was also significant. It was a concrete acknowledgement of the
Turkish appropriation of Armenian, Assyrian and Greek assets under the
genocidal policies of the Ottoman state and its successor governments.
In Armenia, the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, Hovik Abrahamyan
called for universal recognition of the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian
Genocides in 2010. And in 2012 a monument dedicated to the victims
of the Assyrian Genocide was revealed in Yerevan. The plaque on the
monument reads: "To the innocent Assyrian victims of 1915." It makes
no reference to the word 'genocide'.
The present-day Assyrian community in Armenia numbers at 7,000.
Primarily based around four centers, Arzni, Verin-Dvin, Dimitrov and
Ardakers; Assyrians maintain their culture and learn their native
Assyrian language in government schools. During my last visit
to Armenia, I met with Arsen Mikailov, a leader of the Assyrian
community. Arsen explained that Assyrians moved to the region when it
was part of the Russian Empire in the early 19th century to escape
Ottoman tyranny. He is proud that the community is well-integrated
into Armenian society, suggesting that "much of this is due to the
common history of our peoples."
"After all, the Ottoman Turks regarded Assyrians as the same 'millet'
as the Armenians, and in 1915, we met the same fate," said Arsen.
The Greek community in Armenia is much smaller than it once was,
with many returning to Greece after 1991. The 2001 Armenian census
recorded that there were 1,176 Greeks in Armenia that year and numbers
have stabilized. The village of Yaghdan in Lori province was founded
and is still populated by Greeks. In Yerevan there is a Sunday Greek
school where children learn language and history and immerse themselves
in Greek culture. Eduardas Polatsidis, the son of Greek migrants who
arrived in Armenia from the Black Sea coast in the early 20th century,
has been working actively for greater acknowledgement of the suffering
of the Greeks.
"The Greek community in Armenia thus far does not have a monument
dedicated to the memory of the Greek Genocide," said Eduardas when
I met him in Yerevan.
As Turkey looks to build allies in the middle-east and in the broader
region, it has also attempted to approach Greeks and Assyrians. The
Turkish Ambassador's meeting with Assyrians in Sweden is one such
example. These are the actions of a genocide denialist government
seeking to befriend the victim group and prevent any further advocacy
on the matter of genocide recognition.
Beyond the moral imperative, Armenians have a political
responsibility. We must look to build our own coalition of support
for justice. Where better to start than with those groups who were
subjected to the same violence, under the same polices, implemented by
the same perpetrators - our ancient neighbors the Greeks and Assyrians.
While the political influence, organization and strength in advocacy
of Assyrian and Greek diasporan groups has not been substantiated
nor tested as our own, much can be achieved from further encouraging,
supporting and collaborating with these groups.
In 2007, ten years after reaffirming the historical reality of
the Armenian Genocide, the International Association of Genocide
Scholars (IAGS) resolved that Greeks and Assyrians were subjected to
"qualitatively similar" genocides to that of the Armenians.
The more than 70 legislative bodies and 20 nation states that have
recognized the Armenian Genocide must follow the IAGS' example in
affirming the historical reality of the Greek and Assyrian Genocides.
The Armenian diaspora can and must play its critical role in achieving
this objective.
Similarly, the government of Armenia has to do better. The Armenian
republic has never denied the Assyrian or Greek Genocides, and members
of the Armenian parliament have often recalled the two genocides in
parliamentary addresses. Despite this, there is no definitive record
of condemnation of the Assyrian and Greek Genocides.
The appropriate course of action in Armenia should be the announcement
of a presidential decree on May 19, affirming the historical reality
of the Greek Genocide, condemning this crime and expressing sympathy
for the victims. May 19, 1919 is the date Mustafa Kemal-Ataturk,
the founder of modern-day Turkey, initiated the second phase of Greek
ethnic cleansing and genocide in the Pontian-Greek city of Samsun on
the Black Sea. It is the day designated by the parliament of Greece
in 1994 for commemoration of the genocide of the Greek Pontians.
A parallel Armenian presidential decree should follow on August 7 -
the day designated by Assyrians for remembering the suffering of their
people: first during the Assyrian Genocide, and later as subjects to
massacre in northern Iraq in 1933.
It is estimated that alongside the 1.5 million Armenians, the
Ottoman-era genocides also claimed the lives of 750,000 Assyrians
and at least 500,000 Greeks. Having lived side by side for millennia,
the Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians were once again brought together
in genocide. We must now come together in the struggle for its just
resolution.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress