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IIGHRS' PRESIDENT SETS RECORD STRAIGHT ON TURKEY'S TREATMENT OF JEWS
By MassisPost
Updated: February 11, 2015
TORONTO -- On January 27, 2015 a Holocaust commemoration was organized
in Ottawa, the capital city of Canada, a country that officially
recognizes the Armenian Genocide. There, the Turkish Ambassador was
one of the keynote speakers.
However, the invitation of the Turkish ambassador to speak drew sharp
criticism from some, including several of the politicians and members
of the public in attendance because of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel
views expressed by some Turkish leaders in recent years. Earlier,
at a meeting of the speakers of 30 European parliaments held in
Prague, Czech Republic, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day,
Turkey was the only European country that did not sign a declaration
against contemporary manifestations - including Holocaust denial -
of anti-Semitism.
"I share those concerns," said Ottawa event co-organizer Floralove
Katz. "However, during the Holocaust, the Turkish government was the
only government in Europe that instructed its diplomats to save as
many Jews as possible."
Wishing to set the historical record straight, Mr. K.M. Greg
Sarkissian, President of the International Institute for Genocide
and Human Rights Studies (A Division of the Zoryan Institute) sent
the following communication to the comment section of the Ottawa
Jewish Bulletin.
K.M. Greg Sarkissian's remarks are as follows:
The invitation of the Turkish Ambassador to speak at the International
Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration in Ottawa on January 27 drew
sharp criticism from several of the politicians and the members of
diplomatic core attending the event, and many Canadians complained.
The organizers showed great insensitivity by inviting the official
representative of Turkey, a country that aggressively denies its role
in the Armenian Genocide, to an event commemorating another genocide,
the Holocaust, both of which are officially recognized by the Canadian
Government.
This distress is all the more painful, since the Turkish Ambassador's
presence was justified by false information, in response to the
criticism raised, causing insult over injury. Event co-organizer
Floralove Katz claimed that "during the Holocaust, the Turkish
government was the only government in Europe that instructed its
diplomats to save as many Jews as possible." In fact, only Jews
of Turkish background were aided by Turkish embassies in Europe,
and then only clandestinely. Yad Vashem has recognized only one
Turkish diplomat for rescuing Jews, Selahattin Ulkumen, the Turkish
Consul-General in Rhodes. Necdet Kent, the Turkish Consul-General
in Marseilles also assisted many Jews to flee France for Turkey,
but it grossly overstates the case to say that "Turkey instructed
its diplomats to save as many Jews as possible." Despite the Turkish
propaganda, current research shows that Turkey was far from welcoming
toward Jews during the Holocaust era.
In commemorating the Holocaust, it is important to remember its
interconnectedness with the Armenian Genocide. Many German soldiers
and diplomats who were active in Turkey during the Armenian Genocide
went on to become influential Nazis. The success of the Armenian
Genocide and the failure to punish those responsible encouraged and
emboldened Nazi leaders in their racist and genocidal plans. On the eve
of WWII, Hitler boasted of his ability to exterminate entire civilian
populations and get away with it, saying, "Who today remembers the
annihilation of the Armenians?"
There are numerous parallels and links between the Holocaust and the
Armenian Genocide, too many to go into here. When commemorating the
Holocaust, it behooves us not only to remember this history, but its
many lessons. As Raphael Lemkin, the man who coined the word "genocide"
referring to many mass atrocities including the Armenian Genocide,
and devoted his life to establishing an international law for its
prevention and punishment wrote, "...the function of memory is not
only to register past events, but to stimulate human conscience."
http://massispost.com/2015/02/iighrs-president-sets-record-straight-on-turkeys-treatment-of-jews/
By MassisPost
Updated: February 11, 2015
TORONTO -- On January 27, 2015 a Holocaust commemoration was organized
in Ottawa, the capital city of Canada, a country that officially
recognizes the Armenian Genocide. There, the Turkish Ambassador was
one of the keynote speakers.
However, the invitation of the Turkish ambassador to speak drew sharp
criticism from some, including several of the politicians and members
of the public in attendance because of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel
views expressed by some Turkish leaders in recent years. Earlier,
at a meeting of the speakers of 30 European parliaments held in
Prague, Czech Republic, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day,
Turkey was the only European country that did not sign a declaration
against contemporary manifestations - including Holocaust denial -
of anti-Semitism.
"I share those concerns," said Ottawa event co-organizer Floralove
Katz. "However, during the Holocaust, the Turkish government was the
only government in Europe that instructed its diplomats to save as
many Jews as possible."
Wishing to set the historical record straight, Mr. K.M. Greg
Sarkissian, President of the International Institute for Genocide
and Human Rights Studies (A Division of the Zoryan Institute) sent
the following communication to the comment section of the Ottawa
Jewish Bulletin.
K.M. Greg Sarkissian's remarks are as follows:
The invitation of the Turkish Ambassador to speak at the International
Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration in Ottawa on January 27 drew
sharp criticism from several of the politicians and the members of
diplomatic core attending the event, and many Canadians complained.
The organizers showed great insensitivity by inviting the official
representative of Turkey, a country that aggressively denies its role
in the Armenian Genocide, to an event commemorating another genocide,
the Holocaust, both of which are officially recognized by the Canadian
Government.
This distress is all the more painful, since the Turkish Ambassador's
presence was justified by false information, in response to the
criticism raised, causing insult over injury. Event co-organizer
Floralove Katz claimed that "during the Holocaust, the Turkish
government was the only government in Europe that instructed its
diplomats to save as many Jews as possible." In fact, only Jews
of Turkish background were aided by Turkish embassies in Europe,
and then only clandestinely. Yad Vashem has recognized only one
Turkish diplomat for rescuing Jews, Selahattin Ulkumen, the Turkish
Consul-General in Rhodes. Necdet Kent, the Turkish Consul-General
in Marseilles also assisted many Jews to flee France for Turkey,
but it grossly overstates the case to say that "Turkey instructed
its diplomats to save as many Jews as possible." Despite the Turkish
propaganda, current research shows that Turkey was far from welcoming
toward Jews during the Holocaust era.
In commemorating the Holocaust, it is important to remember its
interconnectedness with the Armenian Genocide. Many German soldiers
and diplomats who were active in Turkey during the Armenian Genocide
went on to become influential Nazis. The success of the Armenian
Genocide and the failure to punish those responsible encouraged and
emboldened Nazi leaders in their racist and genocidal plans. On the eve
of WWII, Hitler boasted of his ability to exterminate entire civilian
populations and get away with it, saying, "Who today remembers the
annihilation of the Armenians?"
There are numerous parallels and links between the Holocaust and the
Armenian Genocide, too many to go into here. When commemorating the
Holocaust, it behooves us not only to remember this history, but its
many lessons. As Raphael Lemkin, the man who coined the word "genocide"
referring to many mass atrocities including the Armenian Genocide,
and devoted his life to establishing an international law for its
prevention and punishment wrote, "...the function of memory is not
only to register past events, but to stimulate human conscience."
http://massispost.com/2015/02/iighrs-president-sets-record-straight-on-turkeys-treatment-of-jews/