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Turkey Rights Groups Demand Apology, Compensation, and Restitution for Genocide
By Contributor on April 19, 2015 in Headline, News //
Human rights organizations in Turkey'under the umbrella group `100th
Year ` Stop Denialism'' have issued the following statement:
An indelible, massive crime was committed in these lands, 100 years
ago'a crime that will remain irreversible, irremediable, and
unforgivable. During the genocide of 1915, Armenians and other
Christian peoples of Asia Minor, among them Assyrians and Rums, were
targeted by a systematic politics of extermination, and destroyed
along with their social organizations, economy, arts and crafts, and
historical, and cultural heritage.
Our initiative, `100th Year ` Stop Denialism' was established to
commemorate the genocide on April 24, in Istanbul and Diyarbakır. The
initiative brings together (in alphabetical order): Anatolian Cultures
and Research Association (Aka-Der), Human Rights Association `
Committee against Racism and Discrimination, Nor Zartonk, Platform for
Confronting History, Turabdin Assyrians Platform, and Zan Foundation
for Social, Political, and Economic Research. Our initiative is also
supported by the Gomidas Institute (London), the Armenian Council of
Europe, and Collectif Van (Paris), whose representatives will be
joining us.
Shame and responsibility are the basis of the `100th Year ` Stop
Denialism Initiative's' conceptualization of the commemoration. We
believe that any commemoration of the crime of genocide on these lands
will have to express the responsibility of genocide denial itself, and
the shame felt by the descendants of the peoples who have had the
opportunity for growth, development, and enrichment in the absence
of``due to the absence of``the peoples who fell victim to genocide.
While this understanding constitutes the ethical core of our acts of
commemoration on April 24, our concrete demands are for recognition,
apology, compensation, and restitution.
Our initiative's commemorations begin at 11 a.m. on April 24, in front
of the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts on Sultanahmet Square, where
we will hold a moment of silence in memory of the victims. This
building was known as the central prison in 1915; individuals from the
Istanbul Armenian community, including intellectual leaders, were
arrested in their homes, detained here, and then sent off to the
HaydarpaÅ?a train station.
After the moment of silence, we will begin our `Genocide March,'
walking in silence from Sultanahmet to Eminönü, and then crossing over
to HaydarpaÅ?a by sea. The detainees of April 24, 1915 were deported
from HaydarpaÅ?a to the depths of the country'in actual fact, to their
deaths. Here, our `Genocide March' will end with another
commemoration.
>From HaydarpaÅ?a, we will proceed to the Å?iÅ?li Armenian Cemetery to
commemorate Sevag Å?ahin Balıkçı, who fell victim to ethnic-hate murder
on April 24, 2011 while on mandatory military duty in Batman, and
express our support to the Balıkçı family in their pursuit of justice.
Before and after the events of the `100th Year ` Stop Denialism
Initiative,' the constituents of the initiative will participate in
two other events. Representatives of the Armenian Council of Europe,
who were invited to Istanbul by the Human Rights Association `
Committee Against Racism and Discrimination, will hold a commemoration
on Beyazıt Square at 10 a.m. on the same day, April 24. Members of the
HRA Committee Against Racism and Discrimination, human rights
defenders, and activists against genocide denial will participate in
the commemoration of 20 Henchak Party leaders and members who were
executed by hanging on June 15, 1915``yet another mass execution, of
symbolic import, during the period of the Armenian Genocide.
A protest march organized by Nor Zartonk will start out at 6:30 p.m.,
from Galatasaray Lycée and head toward Taksim Square, followed by a
100th year commemoration event led by the Platform for Commemorating
the Armenian Genocide, at 7:15 p.m., at the Taksim end of Istiklal
Street.
Concurrently, in Diyarbakır, the Human Rights Association Diyarbakır
branch and the Gomidas Institute are jointly organizing a
commemoration of Armenian and Assyrian victims in the ruins of Surp
Sarkis Church, at noon on April 24, with support from the Diyarbakır
Bar Association and the Zan Foundation.
The struggle for genocide recognition and against denialism will end
neither on April 24, 2015, nor on Dec. 31, 2015. Until the state of
the Republic of Turkey and the majority following official ideology
recognize the crime and take steps toward compensation for the
irreversible and irremediable losses, we will persevere in our pursuit
of justice for the genocide victims of Asia Minor and for their
descendants, who are dispersed around the world or who continue to
live under the conditions of genocide perpetuated by denial.
100th Year ` Stop Denialism Initiative
http://armenianweekly.com/2015/04/19/turkey-rights-groups-demand/
By Contributor on April 19, 2015 in Headline, News //
Human rights organizations in Turkey'under the umbrella group `100th
Year ` Stop Denialism'' have issued the following statement:
An indelible, massive crime was committed in these lands, 100 years
ago'a crime that will remain irreversible, irremediable, and
unforgivable. During the genocide of 1915, Armenians and other
Christian peoples of Asia Minor, among them Assyrians and Rums, were
targeted by a systematic politics of extermination, and destroyed
along with their social organizations, economy, arts and crafts, and
historical, and cultural heritage.
Our initiative, `100th Year ` Stop Denialism' was established to
commemorate the genocide on April 24, in Istanbul and Diyarbakır. The
initiative brings together (in alphabetical order): Anatolian Cultures
and Research Association (Aka-Der), Human Rights Association `
Committee against Racism and Discrimination, Nor Zartonk, Platform for
Confronting History, Turabdin Assyrians Platform, and Zan Foundation
for Social, Political, and Economic Research. Our initiative is also
supported by the Gomidas Institute (London), the Armenian Council of
Europe, and Collectif Van (Paris), whose representatives will be
joining us.
Shame and responsibility are the basis of the `100th Year ` Stop
Denialism Initiative's' conceptualization of the commemoration. We
believe that any commemoration of the crime of genocide on these lands
will have to express the responsibility of genocide denial itself, and
the shame felt by the descendants of the peoples who have had the
opportunity for growth, development, and enrichment in the absence
of``due to the absence of``the peoples who fell victim to genocide.
While this understanding constitutes the ethical core of our acts of
commemoration on April 24, our concrete demands are for recognition,
apology, compensation, and restitution.
Our initiative's commemorations begin at 11 a.m. on April 24, in front
of the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts on Sultanahmet Square, where
we will hold a moment of silence in memory of the victims. This
building was known as the central prison in 1915; individuals from the
Istanbul Armenian community, including intellectual leaders, were
arrested in their homes, detained here, and then sent off to the
HaydarpaÅ?a train station.
After the moment of silence, we will begin our `Genocide March,'
walking in silence from Sultanahmet to Eminönü, and then crossing over
to HaydarpaÅ?a by sea. The detainees of April 24, 1915 were deported
from HaydarpaÅ?a to the depths of the country'in actual fact, to their
deaths. Here, our `Genocide March' will end with another
commemoration.
>From HaydarpaÅ?a, we will proceed to the Å?iÅ?li Armenian Cemetery to
commemorate Sevag Å?ahin Balıkçı, who fell victim to ethnic-hate murder
on April 24, 2011 while on mandatory military duty in Batman, and
express our support to the Balıkçı family in their pursuit of justice.
Before and after the events of the `100th Year ` Stop Denialism
Initiative,' the constituents of the initiative will participate in
two other events. Representatives of the Armenian Council of Europe,
who were invited to Istanbul by the Human Rights Association `
Committee Against Racism and Discrimination, will hold a commemoration
on Beyazıt Square at 10 a.m. on the same day, April 24. Members of the
HRA Committee Against Racism and Discrimination, human rights
defenders, and activists against genocide denial will participate in
the commemoration of 20 Henchak Party leaders and members who were
executed by hanging on June 15, 1915``yet another mass execution, of
symbolic import, during the period of the Armenian Genocide.
A protest march organized by Nor Zartonk will start out at 6:30 p.m.,
from Galatasaray Lycée and head toward Taksim Square, followed by a
100th year commemoration event led by the Platform for Commemorating
the Armenian Genocide, at 7:15 p.m., at the Taksim end of Istiklal
Street.
Concurrently, in Diyarbakır, the Human Rights Association Diyarbakır
branch and the Gomidas Institute are jointly organizing a
commemoration of Armenian and Assyrian victims in the ruins of Surp
Sarkis Church, at noon on April 24, with support from the Diyarbakır
Bar Association and the Zan Foundation.
The struggle for genocide recognition and against denialism will end
neither on April 24, 2015, nor on Dec. 31, 2015. Until the state of
the Republic of Turkey and the majority following official ideology
recognize the crime and take steps toward compensation for the
irreversible and irremediable losses, we will persevere in our pursuit
of justice for the genocide victims of Asia Minor and for their
descendants, who are dispersed around the world or who continue to
live under the conditions of genocide perpetuated by denial.
100th Year ` Stop Denialism Initiative
http://armenianweekly.com/2015/04/19/turkey-rights-groups-demand/