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Daily Bruin: University of California - Los Angeles
December 5, 2014 Friday
Armenian Students' Association holds town hall on divestment resolution
By Eliza Blackorby
The Armenian Students' Association held a town hall Thursday to
educate students about and receive feedback on a resolution it plans
to bring to the undergraduate student government calling for the
University of California Board of Regents to divest from the Republic
of Turkey.
>From 1915 until 1923, Turkish authorities massacred about 1.5 million
Armenians in the then-crumbling Ottoman Empire, leading to the seizure
of Armenian land and forcing a diaspora of the Armenian people.
"This resolution is economic with a political end," said Sevana
Manukian, a fourth-year human biology and society student and a member
of the Armenian Students' Association. "We want (the Republic of
Turkey) to recognize a historical tragedy."
Morris Sarafian, a third-year political science student and a member
of the Armenian Students' Association, said he feels the Armenian
genocide provided a blueprint for persecutors of all subsequent
genocides, including the Holocaust.
The Republic of Turkey, which took power in the area after the Ottoman
Empire fell, still denies the genocide against Armenians. The Turkish
government considers it a crime to bring up Turkey's role in the
Armenian genocide - the government considers it to be "insulting
Turkishness," according to The New York Times.
In 2014, the Human Rights Watch described Turkey as experiencing a
"rollback" of human rights, such as its media censorship and police
teargassing at the Gezi protests in Istanbul.
April 24, 2015, will mark the centennial of what is considered the
start of the Armenian genocide, when hundreds of Armenian
intellectuals were arrested and executed by the Ottoman Empire,
according to The New York Times.
The group decided to bring the resolution forward now because of the
centennial anniversary of the genocide, said Natalie Kalbakian, a
third-year political science student and external vice president of
the Armenian Students' Association.
In 2012, USAC passed a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide
and condemning its denial. The Armenian Students' Association's
resolution aims to take this motion a step further toward more
assertive action against the Republic of Turkey.
The resolution, which is still being drafted by the association, has
two main objectives the group hopes USAC will support.
The first calls for the UC's divestment from the Republic of Turkey.
As of December 2012, the UC Retirement Plan and the General Endowment
Pool both held investments in Turkish bonds, with a base market value
totaling more than $65 million, according to the listings of
investment holdings on the UC Office of the Chief Investment Officer's
website.
Per its investment policy, the UC does not divest from any holdings
unless a foreign regime is recognized by the U.S. government as
committing acts of genocide.
The second provision of the resolution calls for enforcement of an
Armenian Students' Association resolution passed by USAC in 2005 that
called for a boycott of Turkish products in the Associated Students
UCLA store.
Some who attended Thursday's town hall expressed concern that Turkish
students and others from minority groups may feel antagonized by the
language of the resolution or left out of the discussion.
Jodutt Basrawi, president of the United Arab Society at UCLA and a
third-year engineering geology student, said he thinks members of the
Armenian Students' Association should be careful to not criticize
Turkish people as a whole in the language of their resolution.
"The Turkish government doesn't represent all Turks," he said. "In any
Turkish city, you will find opponents of the Turkish government in
regards to Armenian genocide."
Members of the Armenian Students' Association said they plan to focus
the resolution against the government and that they have also reached
out to individual students who are Greek, Kurdish and Assyrian for
feedback on the resolution.
The association will present the resolution to the Undergraduate
Students Association Council on Tuesday, and the council will vote on
it on Jan. 6, said Mikael Matossian, president of the Armenian
Students' Association and a fourth-year environmental science student.
December 5, 2014 Friday
Armenian Students' Association holds town hall on divestment resolution
By Eliza Blackorby
The Armenian Students' Association held a town hall Thursday to
educate students about and receive feedback on a resolution it plans
to bring to the undergraduate student government calling for the
University of California Board of Regents to divest from the Republic
of Turkey.
>From 1915 until 1923, Turkish authorities massacred about 1.5 million
Armenians in the then-crumbling Ottoman Empire, leading to the seizure
of Armenian land and forcing a diaspora of the Armenian people.
"This resolution is economic with a political end," said Sevana
Manukian, a fourth-year human biology and society student and a member
of the Armenian Students' Association. "We want (the Republic of
Turkey) to recognize a historical tragedy."
Morris Sarafian, a third-year political science student and a member
of the Armenian Students' Association, said he feels the Armenian
genocide provided a blueprint for persecutors of all subsequent
genocides, including the Holocaust.
The Republic of Turkey, which took power in the area after the Ottoman
Empire fell, still denies the genocide against Armenians. The Turkish
government considers it a crime to bring up Turkey's role in the
Armenian genocide - the government considers it to be "insulting
Turkishness," according to The New York Times.
In 2014, the Human Rights Watch described Turkey as experiencing a
"rollback" of human rights, such as its media censorship and police
teargassing at the Gezi protests in Istanbul.
April 24, 2015, will mark the centennial of what is considered the
start of the Armenian genocide, when hundreds of Armenian
intellectuals were arrested and executed by the Ottoman Empire,
according to The New York Times.
The group decided to bring the resolution forward now because of the
centennial anniversary of the genocide, said Natalie Kalbakian, a
third-year political science student and external vice president of
the Armenian Students' Association.
In 2012, USAC passed a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide
and condemning its denial. The Armenian Students' Association's
resolution aims to take this motion a step further toward more
assertive action against the Republic of Turkey.
The resolution, which is still being drafted by the association, has
two main objectives the group hopes USAC will support.
The first calls for the UC's divestment from the Republic of Turkey.
As of December 2012, the UC Retirement Plan and the General Endowment
Pool both held investments in Turkish bonds, with a base market value
totaling more than $65 million, according to the listings of
investment holdings on the UC Office of the Chief Investment Officer's
website.
Per its investment policy, the UC does not divest from any holdings
unless a foreign regime is recognized by the U.S. government as
committing acts of genocide.
The second provision of the resolution calls for enforcement of an
Armenian Students' Association resolution passed by USAC in 2005 that
called for a boycott of Turkish products in the Associated Students
UCLA store.
Some who attended Thursday's town hall expressed concern that Turkish
students and others from minority groups may feel antagonized by the
language of the resolution or left out of the discussion.
Jodutt Basrawi, president of the United Arab Society at UCLA and a
third-year engineering geology student, said he thinks members of the
Armenian Students' Association should be careful to not criticize
Turkish people as a whole in the language of their resolution.
"The Turkish government doesn't represent all Turks," he said. "In any
Turkish city, you will find opponents of the Turkish government in
regards to Armenian genocide."
Members of the Armenian Students' Association said they plan to focus
the resolution against the government and that they have also reached
out to individual students who are Greek, Kurdish and Assyrian for
feedback on the resolution.
The association will present the resolution to the Undergraduate
Students Association Council on Tuesday, and the council will vote on
it on Jan. 6, said Mikael Matossian, president of the Armenian
Students' Association and a fourth-year environmental science student.