Thursday, March 16, 2006

Widespread Outrage Over News of U.S. Ambassador Evans’ Recall


Publisher, The California Courier
March 16, 2006
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I reported last week that the State Department had decided to recall Amb. John Evans from Armenia for having acknowledged the Armenian Genocide last year. This callous decision has outraged Armenians worldwide and angered many members of Congress.

By sheer coincidence, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza was in Armenia the day after my column was posted on the Internet. During a press conference in Yerevan, journalists repeatedly asked Bryza and Evans to comment on the recall decision. The two diplomats made a delicate dance around the subject, neither denying nor confirming the news. Since some of their comments were distorted because of mistranslation or inaccurate reporting, here is the transcript of what they actually said in English:

When a journalist asked Bryza in Armenian if Amb. Evans was being "recalled," the Embassy staff mistranslated the question to: "Is it true that Amb. Evans is retiring?" Mr. Bryza answered:

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza "…regarding Amb. Evans, he can certainly comment on his own plans to retire, which I hope are nonexistent, because he is a fantastic ambassador. He, like all of us, serves at the pleasure of the President of the United States. I used to work for the President’s staff; and one thing I learned is that I will not speak about any decision of the President -- it is up to the President to make his decisions. I advise him, but he makes the decisions, including [those] on personnel…."


US Amb. John EvansAmb. Evans then added: "… I want to echo what Mr. Bryza said. We all serve at the pleasure of the President. I hope nobody expects any ambassador to stay forever…the fact of the matter is that I do not know when I will be leaving Armenia and I have not submitted my retirement papers. And I’ll add one other thing and that is: as long as I am the ambassador here, until the day I step on the plane, I will be in charge of this mission." Bryza then added: "Which we hope will be as late as possible."

The news of the Ambassador’s recall was prominently featured on Armenian TV stations that night and subsequently reported by wire services and newspapers in Armenia, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey.

During State Dept.’s daily news briefings on March 8, 10 and 13, a spokesman was repeatedly asked to confirm the recall of Amb. Evans. Reporters were given evasive answers with a promise "to look into it." Finally, in the afternoon of the March 13, the State Dept. issued the following written response to the journalists’ insistent questions, giving the same evasive answer:

“Question: What is the status of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Evans? Was he recalled for statements acknowledging the Armenian ‘genocide’?

Answer: U.S. Ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the President. Amb. Evans and his capable team have the full confidence of the administration.”


Secretary of State Condoleezza RiceThe Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) issued a press release on March 8, announcing that its chairman had written a toughly worded letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asking her to address reports that Amb. Evans is being forced from office for acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. "The prospect that a U.S. envoy's posting - and possibly his career - has been cut short due to his honest and accurate description of a genocide is profoundly offensive to American values," wrote ANCA’s Chairman Ken Hachikian. "It would also represent a new low in our government's shameful complicity in the Turkish government's campaign of denial … by muzzling and punishing an American diplomat for his speech and his acknowledgement of a genocide," Hachikian wrote.

Cong. Grace Napolitano (Dem. of Calif.) submitted a pointed question to Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried on March 8, while he was testifying before the House International Relations Committee, on whether any restrictions are placed on State Dept. officials concerning their use of the term "genocide" when referring to the Armenian Genocide. She also asked for confirmation on whether Amb. Evans was being recalled because of his remarks on the Armenian Genocide. Dan Fried was asked to respond in writing.

Cong. Frank Pallone (Dem. of New Jersey), the Co-Chairman of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian IssuesCong. Frank Pallone (Dem. of New Jersey), the Co-Chairman of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, wrote to Secretary Rice on March 11, expressing his extreme disappointment over reports of the recall of Amb. Evans.

He told her that he is "outraged that the State Dept. is recalling Amb. Evans as retaliation for statements he made in recognition of the Armenian gnocide." He added:"It is simply wrong for the State Dept. to punish Amb. Evans for statements he made that are factually correct."


Secretary Rice has yet to respond to the written questions submitted on Feb. 16 by Cong. Adam Schiff (Dem. of Calif.) during her testimony before the House International Relations Committee. She was asked to assure the Committee that the State Dept. "has not taken – and will not take – any punitive action against Amb. Evans for speaking out about the Armenian Genocide."

Readers worldwide have reacted with anger to the news of Amb. Evans’ recall and indicated their willingness to participate in protest actions in front of U.S. Embassies in various countries as well as the State Dept. in Washington, D.C. Please continue writing to Secretary Rice by e-mailing her at: http://www.state.gov/. Click on "contact us" and then click on "send a message to the Secretary of State."



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Sunday, March 12, 2006

Kurd Sociologist Acknowledges Kurdish Role In Armenian Genocide.

In a Kurdish Conference Bilgi University in cooperation with the Helsinki Citizens Assembly and the Empathy Group, Ismail Besikci said this:



When Ali Bayramoglu, a journalist, asked about the allegations that the Kurds committed the murder of a massive number of Armenians, sociologist Ismail Besikci responded by saying:

Kurd Sociologist Ismail Besikci“The Intelligence Service contained many Kurdish people. Freed from the prison, promised possession, the Kurds were coaxed by the then government into participating in the Armenian genocide. The Kurds then did not act on their own free will. In the killing of many Kurds such as Musa Anter, the Kurds were again used to trigger violence.”



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The farm of the skylarks : Taviani Brothers' Remind Mankind About Armenian Genocide




The Taviani Brothers Receiving The AwardIn July 6, 2005 Noyan Tapan reported that famous Italian film-makers Vitorio and Paolo Taviani brothers , who won a prize at the "Golden Globe" Rome film festival, are going to shoot a film about the Armenian Genocide.

According to the "Marmara" Istanbul daily, the film-makers declared this at the press conference that followed the ceremony of prize distribution. The film on the Armenian Genocide will cost 15 millon euros.
Taviani brothers mentioned that they want to remind the mankind about the events that took place at the beginning of the previous century.



The Taviani Brothers: Paolo and Vittorio TavianiThey film will be based on the Italian novel 'La masseria delle allodole' (The farm of the skylarks). The story, which is partly based on the personal memories of the author Antonia Arslan, tells the story of the exodus of the women of an Armenian family who escape their 'Farm of Skylarks' after all the men, including the children of their family have been savagely murdered there by the Turks. The film will be produced by Grazia Volpi, who previously collaborated with the Taviani brothers on the Tolstoy adaptation 'Resurrezione' (Resurrection).


The Star

Arsinée Khanjian in the set of Egoyan's AraratIn February 28, 2006 Toronto Star reported that Arsinée Khanjian , will be going to Bulgaria to star in a new movie by the Taviani brothers about the Armenian genocide.

About the movie and her role, Khanjian said:
"It's based on a novel that won a lot of awards, it's set in World War I. My character belongs to a family living in Turkey under the Ottoman Empire."

She was delighted to have a chance to work with the Taviani brothers, who have long been on her list of cinematic heroes, especially because of Padre, Padrone (which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1977).
She feels lucky that the legendary Italians would be interested in the subject of the Armenian genocide. Much of the shooting will take place in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv, where Armenian architecture of more than 100 years ago still exists.
One thing is guaranteed. Khanjian, who figured prominently in Egoyan's controversial Ararat, will go down in cinema history as the only actor ever to star in two movies about the Armenian genocide.


The Recent Development

In a recent development, The Council of Europe Eurimages Fund Board of Management agreed at its 99th meeting held on 5 to 7 March 2006 in Strasbourg, to support 9 feature films for a total amount of 3,622,000 Euros. Taviani Brothers' film about the Armenian Genocide was one of those supported films.

Yesterday, Turkish newspaper Zaman Online reported in an article titled "Genocide Movie with Turkish Money" , that The Council of Europe decided to give financial support to the Italian movie "The farm of the skylarks." Expressing the protest of Turkish government for that decision for the reasons explained in the Zaman's report below.

The Council of Europe foundation Eurimages decided to allocate 600,000 euros to Italian Taviani Brothers' new film titled "The farm of the skylarks," which was adapted from Armenian originated Antoni Aslan's novel after its last meeting in Strasbourg.

Euroimages', to which Turkey contributes a million euros yearly, drew reaction from Ankara. Turkish Representative to Eurimages, Ihsan Kabil, told Zaman that the movie insults the Turkish army and calls an army officer a "donkey."

The meeting in Strasbourg was reported to host many discussions about this issue. All members, except Turkey, approved the financial aid for the film, which had previously been approved by a 23-member jury early this week.

Eurimages's Chairman & European Parliament (EP) Deputy Jacques ToubonKabil said Ankara could not prevent the decision despite its diplomatic efforts. He further noted Eurimages's French Chairman Jacques Toubon was quite influential in the decision. "Touban delivered a 15 minute speech during the meeting and explicitly supported the so-called Armenian Genocide. He said Turkey committed the genocide, acting as if he was talking about a historical fact rather than an unproven claim." Kabil and Ahmet Boyacioglu, Turkey's representatives in Eurimages, gave speeches to criticize Toubon's speech and the film.

Toubon, also a European Parliament (EP) Deputy, is known to be a supporter of the Armenian Genocide, Zaman noted.




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