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NZ SHOULD RECOGNISE GENOCIDE: ARMENIANS
NZCity, New Zealand
April 15 2015
The Turkish government is trying to deflect from the Armenian Genocide
by focusing on Anzac Day commemorations, says a Kiwi Armenian.
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Sharing Services 0 15 April 2015
As many prepare to commemorate 100 years since the Gallipoli landings,
Armenians in New Zealand are getting ready to mark their own centenary:
the start of mass killings that claimed up to 1.5 million Armenian
lives.
While Anzac Day is universally recognised as a time to honour the
heroism of the soldiers who battled, the "Armenian Genocide" isn't
recognised at all by most countries - including New Zealand.
Many historians say between one and 1.5 million of the two million
Armenians living in Turkey at the time were slaughtered as a deliberate
attempt to keep the Ottoman Empire for the Turks.
But Turkey says it wasn't a genocide and the deaths were mainly due
to unintentional neglect under wartime conditions.
The genocide is marked on April 24, the day before Anzac Day, and the
day that historians say the Ottoman Empire began rounding up Armenian
leaders to kill them.
Rafi Karnik, whose great-grandparents survived the killings, believes
Turkey is deflecting attention away from them by focusing its attention
so heavily on Anzac Day.
"Whole-heartedly I believe the Turkish government wants to commemorate
the Anzacs and the Gallipoli event because for them it's a big battle
as well," he told NZ Newswire.
"But they can't use one [event] to cover up the first human rights
crime in the 20th century."
Just over 20 countries around the world - including France and some
American states - recognise the genocide and the Armenian Society
of New Zealand, of which Mr Karnik's a member, has started an online
petition asking the New Zealand government to do the same.
"It's owing to the Armenian people and to humanity around the world
for this crime to be recognised as genocide," Mr Karnik says.
Just as Kiwis dig up information on ancestors who served in WWI,
some of the 200 Armenians living in New Zealand are only now finding
out about their past - but their stories aren't recognised as truth.
"If I was to come and tell you know how do you know your grandad
was at Gallipoli, you're just trying to make that up, would you feel
offended? It would be offensive because it's something that you know
to be the truth."
Earlier this month, Ngapuhi leader David Rankin called on Maori
to boycott the Anzac centennial commemorations, saying indigenous
people needed to "stand up and fight the oppressor" as the indigenous
Armenians were "slaughtered by the colonising Turks".
He called Turkey the "Islamic State" of its time.
But Mr Karnik says he and many other of the other 200 Armenians living
in New Zealand will mark Anzac Day because they're proud Kiwis, and
will also be commemorating the Armenian Genocide at a local service
on April 24.
Auckland University political scientist Maria Armoudian says there
are very few scholars in the world who would not call the events that
took place a genocide.
"And those tiny few - I wouldn't suggest that they're complete
apologists for the Turkish government - but I would suggest that
they're not doing their homework," she told NZ Newswire.
She believes Turkey isn't recognising the genocide as it may be forced
to pay reparations - and it's become a matter of pride.
When asked by NZ Newswire whether the government had plans to recognise
the genocide, Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully replied: "New
Zealand considers that the resolution of historic issues between
Armenia and Turkey including appropriate terminology is best left to
the parties directly concerned to work through."
NZ Newswire also approached Nejat Kavvas, the former Turkish honorary
consul in Auckland, for comment.
He was unavailable for an interview, but forwarded NZ Newswire a letter
from Turkish diplomat Sukru Elekdag to United States President Barak
Obama which said it was defamation to call an event genocide without
the ruling of an international criminal court.
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
* Historians believe 1-1.5 million Armenians killed by Ottoman Turks
* Dr Armoudian says Armenians were sent on death marches to the desert,
where many died of starvation
* Some Armenians fought alongside Ottoman soldiers at Gallipoli
* Pope Francis urged the international community to recognise the
Armenian Genocide earlier this week
* When the New South Wales parliament in Australia recognised the
genocide in 2013, the Turkish foreign minister said parliamentary
representatives wouldn't be welcome at the centenary commemorations
* Reality star Kim Kardashian, who's of Armenian descent, travelled
to Armenia last week to pay tribute to the massacre.
http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/article.aspx?id=205209&fm=newsmain%2Cnrhl
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
NZCity, New Zealand
April 15 2015
The Turkish government is trying to deflect from the Armenian Genocide
by focusing on Anzac Day commemorations, says a Kiwi Armenian.
Share on print Share on twitter Share on facebook Share on email More
Sharing Services 0 15 April 2015
As many prepare to commemorate 100 years since the Gallipoli landings,
Armenians in New Zealand are getting ready to mark their own centenary:
the start of mass killings that claimed up to 1.5 million Armenian
lives.
While Anzac Day is universally recognised as a time to honour the
heroism of the soldiers who battled, the "Armenian Genocide" isn't
recognised at all by most countries - including New Zealand.
Many historians say between one and 1.5 million of the two million
Armenians living in Turkey at the time were slaughtered as a deliberate
attempt to keep the Ottoman Empire for the Turks.
But Turkey says it wasn't a genocide and the deaths were mainly due
to unintentional neglect under wartime conditions.
The genocide is marked on April 24, the day before Anzac Day, and the
day that historians say the Ottoman Empire began rounding up Armenian
leaders to kill them.
Rafi Karnik, whose great-grandparents survived the killings, believes
Turkey is deflecting attention away from them by focusing its attention
so heavily on Anzac Day.
"Whole-heartedly I believe the Turkish government wants to commemorate
the Anzacs and the Gallipoli event because for them it's a big battle
as well," he told NZ Newswire.
"But they can't use one [event] to cover up the first human rights
crime in the 20th century."
Just over 20 countries around the world - including France and some
American states - recognise the genocide and the Armenian Society
of New Zealand, of which Mr Karnik's a member, has started an online
petition asking the New Zealand government to do the same.
"It's owing to the Armenian people and to humanity around the world
for this crime to be recognised as genocide," Mr Karnik says.
Just as Kiwis dig up information on ancestors who served in WWI,
some of the 200 Armenians living in New Zealand are only now finding
out about their past - but their stories aren't recognised as truth.
"If I was to come and tell you know how do you know your grandad
was at Gallipoli, you're just trying to make that up, would you feel
offended? It would be offensive because it's something that you know
to be the truth."
Earlier this month, Ngapuhi leader David Rankin called on Maori
to boycott the Anzac centennial commemorations, saying indigenous
people needed to "stand up and fight the oppressor" as the indigenous
Armenians were "slaughtered by the colonising Turks".
He called Turkey the "Islamic State" of its time.
But Mr Karnik says he and many other of the other 200 Armenians living
in New Zealand will mark Anzac Day because they're proud Kiwis, and
will also be commemorating the Armenian Genocide at a local service
on April 24.
Auckland University political scientist Maria Armoudian says there
are very few scholars in the world who would not call the events that
took place a genocide.
"And those tiny few - I wouldn't suggest that they're complete
apologists for the Turkish government - but I would suggest that
they're not doing their homework," she told NZ Newswire.
She believes Turkey isn't recognising the genocide as it may be forced
to pay reparations - and it's become a matter of pride.
When asked by NZ Newswire whether the government had plans to recognise
the genocide, Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully replied: "New
Zealand considers that the resolution of historic issues between
Armenia and Turkey including appropriate terminology is best left to
the parties directly concerned to work through."
NZ Newswire also approached Nejat Kavvas, the former Turkish honorary
consul in Auckland, for comment.
He was unavailable for an interview, but forwarded NZ Newswire a letter
from Turkish diplomat Sukru Elekdag to United States President Barak
Obama which said it was defamation to call an event genocide without
the ruling of an international criminal court.
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
* Historians believe 1-1.5 million Armenians killed by Ottoman Turks
* Dr Armoudian says Armenians were sent on death marches to the desert,
where many died of starvation
* Some Armenians fought alongside Ottoman soldiers at Gallipoli
* Pope Francis urged the international community to recognise the
Armenian Genocide earlier this week
* When the New South Wales parliament in Australia recognised the
genocide in 2013, the Turkish foreign minister said parliamentary
representatives wouldn't be welcome at the centenary commemorations
* Reality star Kim Kardashian, who's of Armenian descent, travelled
to Armenia last week to pay tribute to the massacre.
http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/article.aspx?id=205209&fm=newsmain%2Cnrhl
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress