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SOAD: TURKEY CONTINUES TO HARVEST RICH FRUITS OF ITS CRIME
November 25, 2014 - 10:31 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - As part of their world tour campaign in commemoration
of the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, members of System of a
Down (SOAD) rock band issued a statement calling on people to get
involved in raising awareness about the Genocide and its worldwide
ramifications.
The statement says:
"The first genocide of the 20th century was perpetrated by the Ottoman
Turks against the empire's Armenian, Greek and Assyrian populations.
The failure to prevent the atrocities or punish the perpetrators led
to the modern cycle of genocide.
In the aftermath of this WWI Era mass murder, there were no
Nuremberg-type trials, no international courts to exact justice from
the perpetrators or to offer reparations or rights of return to its
victims. In the place of justice, Turkey bartered its oil rights and
leveraged its geopolitical capital to block Woodrow Wilson's planned
territorial restoration and reparations for Armenia.
The Turkish state, having escaped responsibility for its attempted
annihilation of an entire nation, continues to harvest the rich fruits
of its crime. Its leaders today, emboldened by the world's inaction,
try to enforce a gag-rule prohibiting the U.S. and other governments
from speaking honestly about this atrocity.
Horrific stories of the first modern genocide filled the front pages
of the NY Times starting in 1915. The U.S. humanitarian response to
this crime, from the American Red Cross to Near East Relief, marked
America's emergence as an international humanitarian power. Yet,
sadly, it was the world's failure to punish the perpetrators of this
genocide that set the dangerous precedent of a genocide committed with
impunity that has so emboldened tyrants - from Hitler to al-Bashir -
to use mass murder as a tool of policy and power.
The German army, allied with Ottoman Turkey, seeing Turkey evade
accountability, drew a terrible lesson from this atrocity about
the willingness of the world to turn a blind eye to the planned
extermination of a whole race under the guise of war. One young
German soldier named Adolf Hitler of the Great War later remarked
"WHO NOW REMEMBERS THE ARMENIANS?" as he orchestrated what is now
known as the Holocaust.
Our answer is WE DO!
We will not allow the crime of despots coupled with the greed of world
powers and their interests in resource acquisition to pen our history.
Despite the UN Genocide Convention and numerous ad-hoc international
bodies, including the U.S. Atrocities Prevention Board, this worst
of man-made diseases continues to spread because the world's response
to genocide is viewed as a political choice, not a moral necessity.
By demanding a truthful and just resolution of the Armenian Genocide
we are saying Never Again to all genocides. Never again will we stand
by while people are murdered for belonging to a select race, ethnic,
or religious group as they were in Turkey, Nazi Europe, Cambodia,
East Timor, Rwanda, or Darfur.
There are already brave souls within Turkey, who - at risk of
prosecution, persecution, and even violence - are openly calling for
recognition and reparations for the Armenian Genocide. Many other
Turkish citizens share these humanitarian values, but have not yet
spoken out - intimidated by a government that has, for too long,
obstructed the peace that only truth and justice can bring. It's time
to break this silence.
As we mark this solemn centennial, please join us and the good people
of conscience in Turkey to take a stand for truth and justice, and
ask their President and Parliament to accept the Republic of Turkey's
moral and material responsibility for the Armenian Genocide.
With your help, such a historic step taken by the people of Turkey
in the spirit of human solidarity, heartfelt compassion and justice
will not only heal the wounds of one genocide, but will more broadly
represent a truly transformative step toward a new age - an era
without genocide."
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/185143/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
November 25, 2014 - 10:31 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - As part of their world tour campaign in commemoration
of the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, members of System of a
Down (SOAD) rock band issued a statement calling on people to get
involved in raising awareness about the Genocide and its worldwide
ramifications.
The statement says:
"The first genocide of the 20th century was perpetrated by the Ottoman
Turks against the empire's Armenian, Greek and Assyrian populations.
The failure to prevent the atrocities or punish the perpetrators led
to the modern cycle of genocide.
In the aftermath of this WWI Era mass murder, there were no
Nuremberg-type trials, no international courts to exact justice from
the perpetrators or to offer reparations or rights of return to its
victims. In the place of justice, Turkey bartered its oil rights and
leveraged its geopolitical capital to block Woodrow Wilson's planned
territorial restoration and reparations for Armenia.
The Turkish state, having escaped responsibility for its attempted
annihilation of an entire nation, continues to harvest the rich fruits
of its crime. Its leaders today, emboldened by the world's inaction,
try to enforce a gag-rule prohibiting the U.S. and other governments
from speaking honestly about this atrocity.
Horrific stories of the first modern genocide filled the front pages
of the NY Times starting in 1915. The U.S. humanitarian response to
this crime, from the American Red Cross to Near East Relief, marked
America's emergence as an international humanitarian power. Yet,
sadly, it was the world's failure to punish the perpetrators of this
genocide that set the dangerous precedent of a genocide committed with
impunity that has so emboldened tyrants - from Hitler to al-Bashir -
to use mass murder as a tool of policy and power.
The German army, allied with Ottoman Turkey, seeing Turkey evade
accountability, drew a terrible lesson from this atrocity about
the willingness of the world to turn a blind eye to the planned
extermination of a whole race under the guise of war. One young
German soldier named Adolf Hitler of the Great War later remarked
"WHO NOW REMEMBERS THE ARMENIANS?" as he orchestrated what is now
known as the Holocaust.
Our answer is WE DO!
We will not allow the crime of despots coupled with the greed of world
powers and their interests in resource acquisition to pen our history.
Despite the UN Genocide Convention and numerous ad-hoc international
bodies, including the U.S. Atrocities Prevention Board, this worst
of man-made diseases continues to spread because the world's response
to genocide is viewed as a political choice, not a moral necessity.
By demanding a truthful and just resolution of the Armenian Genocide
we are saying Never Again to all genocides. Never again will we stand
by while people are murdered for belonging to a select race, ethnic,
or religious group as they were in Turkey, Nazi Europe, Cambodia,
East Timor, Rwanda, or Darfur.
There are already brave souls within Turkey, who - at risk of
prosecution, persecution, and even violence - are openly calling for
recognition and reparations for the Armenian Genocide. Many other
Turkish citizens share these humanitarian values, but have not yet
spoken out - intimidated by a government that has, for too long,
obstructed the peace that only truth and justice can bring. It's time
to break this silence.
As we mark this solemn centennial, please join us and the good people
of conscience in Turkey to take a stand for truth and justice, and
ask their President and Parliament to accept the Republic of Turkey's
moral and material responsibility for the Armenian Genocide.
With your help, such a historic step taken by the people of Turkey
in the spirit of human solidarity, heartfelt compassion and justice
will not only heal the wounds of one genocide, but will more broadly
represent a truly transformative step toward a new age - an era
without genocide."
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/185143/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress