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KURDISH LEADERS APOLOGIZE FOR GENOCIDE AT MONUMENT INAUGURATION
http://asbarez.com/113775/kurdish-leaders-apologize-for-genocide-at-monument-inauguration/
Thursday, September 12th, 2013
A scene from the inauguration of the monument. (Photo by Gulisor Akkum,
The Armenian Weekly)
BY GULISOR AKKUM
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey--The Sur Municipality of Diyarbakir held the
official inauguration of the Monument of Common Conscience on Sept.
12, with mayor Abdullah DemirbaĆ~_ apologizing in the name of Kurds
for the Armenian and Assyrian genocides.
"We Kurds, in the name of our ancestors, apologize for the genocide
of the Armenians and Assyrians in 1915," DemirbaĆ~_ declared in his
opening speech. "We will continue our struggle to secure atonement
and compensation for them."
The mayor called upon the Turkish authorities to issue an apology and
do whatever needed to atone for the genocide. "We invite them to take
steps in this direction," he said.
The inscription on the monument at the Anzele Park, near a recently
restored historic fountain, reads, in six languages including Armenian:
We share the pain so that it is not repeated.
The inscription on the monument (Photo by Gulisor Akkum, The Armenian
Weekly)
"This memorial is dedicated to all peoples and religious groups who
were subjected to genocide in these lands," DemirbaĆ~_ said. "The
Monument of Common Conscience was erected to remember and demand
accountability for all the massacres that took place since 1915."
DemirbaĆ~_ noted that the monument remembers all the Armenians,
Assyrians, Jews, Yezidis, Alevis who were subjected to genocide,
as well as all the Sunni who "stood against the system."
Representatives of the Armenian, Assyrian, Alevi, and Sunni communities
also spoke at the opening event. Diyarbakir Armenian writer Mgrditch
Margosian welcomed the opening of the memorial, noting that he awaits
the steps that would follow.
In turn, Zahit Ciftkuran, head of the Diyarbakir association of the
clergy, apologized for the genocide. He recounted the story of a
man who, while walking by a restaurant, notices the following sign:
"You eat, your grandchildren pay the bill." Enthused by the promise
of free lunch, the man goes in and orders food. Soon, they bring him
an expensive bill. "But I was not supposed to pay! Where did this
bill come from?" the man asks. The owner of the restaurant responds:
"This is not your bill. It is your grandfather's!"
Ciftkuran concluded, "Today, we have to pay for what our grandparents
have done."
http://asbarez.com/113775/kurdish-leaders-apologize-for-genocide-at-monument-inauguration/
Thursday, September 12th, 2013
A scene from the inauguration of the monument. (Photo by Gulisor Akkum,
The Armenian Weekly)
BY GULISOR AKKUM
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey--The Sur Municipality of Diyarbakir held the
official inauguration of the Monument of Common Conscience on Sept.
12, with mayor Abdullah DemirbaĆ~_ apologizing in the name of Kurds
for the Armenian and Assyrian genocides.
"We Kurds, in the name of our ancestors, apologize for the genocide
of the Armenians and Assyrians in 1915," DemirbaĆ~_ declared in his
opening speech. "We will continue our struggle to secure atonement
and compensation for them."
The mayor called upon the Turkish authorities to issue an apology and
do whatever needed to atone for the genocide. "We invite them to take
steps in this direction," he said.
The inscription on the monument at the Anzele Park, near a recently
restored historic fountain, reads, in six languages including Armenian:
We share the pain so that it is not repeated.
The inscription on the monument (Photo by Gulisor Akkum, The Armenian
Weekly)
"This memorial is dedicated to all peoples and religious groups who
were subjected to genocide in these lands," DemirbaĆ~_ said. "The
Monument of Common Conscience was erected to remember and demand
accountability for all the massacres that took place since 1915."
DemirbaĆ~_ noted that the monument remembers all the Armenians,
Assyrians, Jews, Yezidis, Alevis who were subjected to genocide,
as well as all the Sunni who "stood against the system."
Representatives of the Armenian, Assyrian, Alevi, and Sunni communities
also spoke at the opening event. Diyarbakir Armenian writer Mgrditch
Margosian welcomed the opening of the memorial, noting that he awaits
the steps that would follow.
In turn, Zahit Ciftkuran, head of the Diyarbakir association of the
clergy, apologized for the genocide. He recounted the story of a
man who, while walking by a restaurant, notices the following sign:
"You eat, your grandchildren pay the bill." Enthused by the promise
of free lunch, the man goes in and orders food. Soon, they bring him
an expensive bill. "But I was not supposed to pay! Where did this
bill come from?" the man asks. The owner of the restaurant responds:
"This is not your bill. It is your grandfather's!"
Ciftkuran concluded, "Today, we have to pay for what our grandparents
have done."