British Columbia Recognizes the Armenian Genocide

"In this country, when a similar motion came to a vote in the Parliament of Canada... The motion read: "That this House acknowledges the Armenian genocide of 1915 and condemns this act as a crime against humanity." That was just over a year ago in the Parliament of Canada; 153 voted for it, and unbelievably, 68 members of Canada's parliament voted against that motion.

They voted against it, I suspect, because they didn't wish to offend the Turkish government. They voted, I suspect, because perhaps they had a Turkish population in their own constituencies or ridings.

Who knows what the reasons were? But what I can say with some conviction here this morning is that whatever the reasons were, they weren't good enough to vote against a motion that I would hope and suspect every member of this House here in British Columbia will support this morning."

Leonared Krog (Naniamo)

April 3, 2006

"Kerop Shabanian, another member of the Armenian Canadian community here in British Columbia, was born in 1912 in the village of Geuldagh. He had a very difficult life, having lost many family members.

Mr. Shabanian arrived in Canada with his son and daughter-in-law, first living in Montreal before moving to Richmond. Though hard of hearing and having poor vision later in life, he would attend every April 24 genocide commemoration, sitting near the back of the hall so as not to draw attention to himself. Invariably, emotions would get the better of him, and he would stand up in his frail body and offer a few touching words to the assembled crowd.

During this year's 91st commemoration, Kerop's seat will be empty. Kerop and Arpine both passed away last year, and they are the last known survivors of the Armenian genocide who lived in British Columbia.

Adrian Dix (Vancouver-Kingsway)

April 3, 2006

"I do not have in my family history anything like what happened to the Armenian people. It's very, very difficult for one who hasn't got that kind of ancestral history to really understand the feelings of the people who do live with this every day, who carry forward

these memories of events that took place, for some, so long ago — almost 90 years ago. It's very difficult to imagine how those people feel, how the Armenian people feel. "

Randy Hawes (Maple Ridge-Mission)

April 3, 2006

We live in a time of unparalleled instances of democide, genocide and ethnocide. As we decry the acts that took place in Armenia some 90 years ago, let me submit to this House and to the nation at large that it is our solemn duty to do everything in our power to prevent such tragedies from happening on our earth.

John Nuraney (Burnaby-Wellingdon)

April 3, 2006

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The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia unanimously adopted a Private Member’s Motion 59, recognizing the Armenian Genocide and to designate April 24th of every year as a remembrance day for the 1.5 million Armenians who fell victim to the first genocide of the 20th Century.

The debate on the Motion, which was sponsored by Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Adrian Dix (Vancouver-Kingsway), commenced at 11:00 p.m. and was voted upon at the end of the allotted one hour according to Private Member’s Motion rules.

MLAs Adrian Dix (Vancouver-Kingsway), Rob Fleming (Victoria-Hillside), Randy Hawes (Maple Ridge-Mission), Dave S. Hayer (Surrey-Tynehead), John Horgan (Malahat-Juan De Fuca), Murine Karagianis (Esquimalt-Metchosin), Leonared Krog (Naniamo), Kevin Krueger (Kamloops-North Thompson), John Nuraney (Burnaby-Wellingdon), Micheal Sather (Maple Ridge - Pitt Meadows), and John Yap (Richmond-Stevenston) spoke in support of the Motion.



To read the Full Text of "Motion 59" scroll down in the page of the Official Report of DEBATES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY , until you find the Motion 59 of the Armenian Genocide Recognition and Remembrance.

A "House Video" is also availabe online, you can find it in this LINK. Find "Monday, April 3, 2006, Morning (Vol. 8, No. 10)" and click on "House Video" link.

After loading the video you can slide the seek button to 11:00 am, where motion 59 begins.

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Another Armenian Beauty Queen Of 2006 !

Tamar Goregian: Miss Iraq 2006

While Iraqi politicians compete ferociously over who will be the next prime minister, nearly a dozen young Iraqi women with different backgrounds and creeds managed to compete peacefully for a beauty title.

The 60th annual Miss Iraq Pageant was held in Baghdad today, an event that was much shunned during the past decades.

After a two-hour ceremony under tight security, 23-year-old Tamar Goregian, the first Armenian Iraqi to win the pageant, officially became the 'Iraqi Queen of Beauty,' AbC News reported .

Pageant organizers hope to send the winner to the New York-based Miss Universe Pageant, in an effort to present a positive image of Iraqi women. The last time Iraq sent a delegate to a beauty pageant was at the Miss Universe contest in 1972, when Wijdan Sulyman represented the country in Puerto Rico.

Organizers and local club owners banned photos and media coverage to protect the girls from hard-line Islamists . Pageant organizers, who asked not to be identified for security reasons, hope that the new Miss Iraq can get a sponsor to pay the Miss Universe entry fee and help her prepare for the event.

"Pageants give women an edge to represent Iraqi costumes and culture, and show that Iraqi women are beautiful and intelligent," a pageant official said.

A U.S. organizer believes this year's winner will be given more opportunities than previous titleholders. The new queen will probably travel the world to create awareness about Iraqi women's issues and rights.

"We will train the new winner and get her prepared for the Miss Universe Pageant, with etiquette lessons, media communication skills, and PR skills," the U.S. organizer said.

Goregian can't wait for the challenge.

"Miss Universe would be a great experience for me. It would broaden my horizon and if I get a chance to compete, I may encourage girls to share this experience and encourage them to enter the [next] beauty pageant."

She also hoped that events like these would help put an end to the violence Iraq has been witnessing in the last three years.

"Maybe beauty is the final step to end violence and preach world peace after all," she said. "The power of beauty surpasses the ugly face of politics and greed."

The young woman added that one day she wanted to own her own business and maybe even become a politician.

Link to ABC article Page 1 , Page 2 .

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The Armenian Grandmaster

He is a 23-year-old Armenian Grandmaster named Levon Aronian. In April, he became the world number three chess player after winning the Linares tournament in March.

Linares is not his sole achievement but it is certainly his greatest so far. Linares is to chess what Wimbledon is to tennis: a fabled tournament played by the world’s best, and Aronian outranked them all. Even current world champion Veselin Topalov!

Winning Linares is no flash in the pan, mind you. Aronian’s resume is packed with achievements: under-12 World Champion, FIDE junior rapid champion at age 14, and member of Armenia’s Olympic team by age 16. Aronian caught the world’s attention by winning the FIDE World Cup in 2005, and now Linares.

Aronian is said to be an ace at blitz play (chess games with very small time limits) and the insane one-minute chess. He is also among the best at Fischerandom Chess, a variant of chess which emphasises creativity and calculation over memorisation of chess theory. Invented by the great Bobby Fischer, Fischerandom is considered by many to be the future of chess play and Aronian will certainly be one of its first heroes.

Link

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Dadrian At Czech Senate To Address Armenian Genocide

A one-day international conference titled 'The Armenian Genocide' will be held on April 4 at the Czech Senate, Noyan Tapan reported, citing the Radio Liberty. The conference has been initiated by the Armenian Club of Prague and Senate member Jaromit Shtetina.

Professor Vahakn Dadrian of the Zorian Institute will make a report on the documents kept in the Turkish archives. Prominent German human rights advocate Tessa Hoffman will present the issue of the Armenian Genocide recognition in the light of human rights. European Armenian Federation Chairperson Hilda Choboian will speak of the European Union's role in the recognition process.

The Turkish views in the coference will be presented by Yelda Ozcan, a Turkish scholar residing in Germany. Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosian will attend the conference.

YERKIR Reported.

When he was asked about the conference, Senator Jaromir Stetina the man who organised this conference, he told Radio Praha that :

This is preparing for a special declaration law in our Senate. This law is very simple - recognising the events of 1915 in Armenia as genocide."

And when he was asked, why should the Czech Republic - a small country with little connection to Armenia - become involved in this way? He said :

"This is not a problem of the Czech Republic, it is a problem of all human beings. The problem of genocide is alive. Last century was a century of many genocides. And genocides are continuing now. There's a genocide of the Chechen people, for example. One month ago I visited Rwanda. In Kigali, I went to a museum of the 1994 genocide. There was one room about the genocide, a genocide which is almost 100 years old. And people in Kigali, in the museum, said we have to recognise all genocides, because we can stop future genocides by this."

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"Voices From Germany"

VOICES FROM GERMANY ON THE OCCASION OF THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Answers, Articles, Essays, Speeches, Eyewitness Accounts”
(Antelias 2005, 418 pages)

This book was recently published by the Catholicosate of Cilicia with the financial support of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. As its title reflects, the book has a diversified content.

The publication has been edited and prepared for publication by Ishkhan Chiftjian, a student of theology in the University of Leipzig in Germany. The foreword is written by His Holiness Aram I who is also the patron of the publication.

In the foreword entitled “Memory and Justice,” His Holiness stresses the undeniable effect of memory on the life of an individual or people and the importance of justice.

The Pontiff then draws connections between the Armenian Genocide and the concepts of memory and justice, emphasizing the urgent and imperative need of recognizing the Genocide and compensating for it.

The introduction by Ishkhan Chiftjian is entitled “Genocide: The Definite Plural.” The editor explains:

1) The multi-faceted character of Genocide;

2) the presence of many terms synonymous to the word “Genocide” in the Armenian Language;

3) the pluralism in the scientific fields that study Genocide (history, politics, etc.). He emphasized that Genocide is a comprehensive blow directed to a people’s unity.

“This publication aims at giving a wider scope to the memory of the approximately one and a half million victims of the Armenian Genocide as well as the numerous cultural riches (churches and schools, literature and press, manuscripts and dialect, etc.) that were destroyed, by collecting and presenting statements, positions, contemplations, questions from Germany on the most cruel incident of the most recent chapter of the Armenian History. What is presented here is only a picture and is not comprehensive,” writes Chiftjian.

52 German authors and one Swiss Genocide Scholars have contributed to the publication.

In the first part, entitled “Answers”, 37 contributors answer to the six questions prepared by the editor sometimes in a few short paragraphs, sometimes in five-six pages. The questions are related to the authors’ first encounter with the Armenian Genocide and the unfolding developments. The contributors to this section include catholic and protestant theologians, spiritual servants, historians, religion scholars, sociologists, linguists, authors, publishers, journalists and students.

Most are acquainted with Franz Werfel’s publication, which has triggered their interest in the issue. Others have gained interest in the matter because of Turkey’s EU bid. Some of these authors have been involved in scientific and publishing work related to the Armenian Genocide (Ralph Giordano, Prof. Dr. Hermann Goltz, Wolfgang Gust, Rev. Manfred Richter, Prof. Dr. Martin Tamcke, etc.).

The contribution of two internationally renowned theologians (Prof. Dr. Wolfhart Pannenberg and Prof. Dr. Jürgen Moltmann) alongside the son of a great and unforgettable friend of the Armenian nation, Johannes Lepsius (Rainer Lepsius - former professor of sociology in the University of Heidelberg) to this section should be distinctively noted.

More details about the book and it's contents, can be found in the website of The Catholicosate Of Cilicia

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SYSTEM OF A DOWN To Launch 3-Day Washington, DC Campaign For Armenian Genocide Recognition

Los Angeles, April 4. ArmInfo. Serj Tankian and John Dolmayan of the Grammy Award-winning band System of a Down will travel to Washington, DC on April 24th for a three-day campaign to urge Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and other Congressional leaders to end their complicity in Turkey's ongoing denial of the Armenian Genocide, rpeorts ANCA.

On the evening of Monday, April 24th - starting at 5:00pm - the multi-Platinum-selling group members will join with the Armenian National Committee of America and Armenian Youth Federation in leading a grassroots demonstration outside the gates of the Turkish Embassy at 2525 Massachusetts Ave, in Northwest Washington, DC. The Turkish government, through its Embassy in Washington, spends millions of dollars each year to bully, threaten, and blackmail the U.S. government not to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

The band members will devote Tuesday, April 25th to providing interviews to the political media in Washington, and, in the evening, hosting a Congressional screening of "Screamers," a new documentary by filmmaker Carla Garapedian about the band's worldwide campaign for Armenian Genocide recognition.

On Wednesday April 26th, System will meet with key Members of Congress to urge them to allow a vote on legislation recognizing the Armenian Genocide, and - at 5:30pm - will participate in the annual Capitol Hill commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. This event, now in its 11th year, is regularly attended by over 30 Members of Congress, diplomats, ethnic community leaders, human rights activists, genocide prevention advocates, and Armenian Americans from across the country.

Many articles had been published about this SOAD Armenian Genocide Recognition Campaign, can be found in the following links:

• System of a Down Members To Urge Congressional Leaders To Recognize Armenian Genocide April 4, 2006

• System to launch 3 days Washington,DC campaign for Armenian genocide recognition April 4, 2006

• System of a Down Rally in D.C. - Hard rockers rally for recognition of Armenian genocide April 4, 2006

• SOAD WANT CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE April 4, 2006

• SOAD Vs Genocide April 5, 2006

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USC Cancels Forum For Genocide Deniers

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier

Every year just before April 24, a number of high-ranking Turkish officials rush to the United States to lobby against a pending presidential declaration or congressional resolution on the Armenian Genocide.

This year is no exception. Five Turkish ministers and other senior officials are coming to Washington, D.C., this week to attend the annual conference of the American Turkish Council. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, who had planned to attend, may not be there due to an ear infection. Gul had scheduled meetings with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, U.S. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and leaders of what the Turks call "the Jewish lobby" in Washington.

More importantly for the Armenian-American community is the U.S. tour of two infamous genocide deniers, retired Ambassadors Gunduz Aktan and Omer Lutem. The former was a member of the infamous Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission (TARC) which collapsed after he demanded a study by an independent third party which, to his dismay, found the "events of 1915" to be genocide.

Aktan and Lutem took their "dog and pony show" on the road last week, starting from Columbia University in New York. Their announced topic was: "Minorities in the Ottoman Empire." This was a misrepresentation of their denialist agenda for the sake of gaining undeserved academic credibility. Here is how the "Turkish Press" reported Lutem’s explanation in his talk for the mass murder of 1.5 million Armenians: "Armenians were not deported. They were merely relocated in different parts of the empire. Some of them died during the transfer."

A couple of days later, their show reached the shores of the Potomac. Aktan and Lutem spoke at the Rayburn House Office Building on the topic of: "The Armenian Allegation of Genocide: Law, Psychology and Politics." The public announcement of their talks shamelessly alleged: "most experts believe that the Armenian case does not constitute genocide," not naming a single such expert. In reality, the overwhelming majority of genocide and holocaust scholars have repeatedly gone on record confirming the facts of the Armenian Genocide. The Turkish announcement also asked the following false and misleading question: "Why did the UN Subcommittee on Human Rights reject the 1985 Whitaker Report that defined the Armenian case as genocide?" The truth is the exact opposite. The UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities -- which is the correct name of the UN panel -- accepted a report in 1985 in which the Armenian Genocide was classified as genocide. This writer participated in the deliberations of that panel in Geneva, Switzerland.

The next day, the two showmen took their performance to their adoring fans at the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA). Aktan was quoted by the Turkish Daily News as saying: "If the U.S. Congress approves [a resolution] on the genocide allegations or if U.S. President George W. Bush uses the term ‘genocide,’ this would certainly have a political impact on Turkish-U.S. relations." Amazingly, Aktan was reported as making the following accurate observation: "it was impossible to convince Armenians that the killings between 1915 and 1917 were not genocide."

On March 24, the Defense Minister of Turkey Vecdi Gonul spoke at the Beverly Hills Hotel, while several thousand Armenians joined by Cong. Brad Sherman protested his appearance. When asked to acknowledge Turkey’s dark past, Gonul told his audience: "these are Armenian claims, and there is nothing to acknowledge." Meanwhile, the touring two-ring circus composed of Aktan and Lutem arrived in Los Angeles, home to the largest Armenian community in the United States. The local Armenian population was prepared to “welcome” them during their planned lecture at the University of Southern California on March 26, the same way they greeted the Turkish Defense Minister two days earlier. However, there was no confrontation between local Armenians and the two Turkish deniers. Officials at USC Center on Public Diplomacy, the sponsor of the event, cancelled the program after being alerted by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), USC students and community leaders of the offensive nature of the planned Turkish talks.

"Genocide denial is a form of hatred and bigotry and it is outside the purview of accepted standards of civil discourse within the academic community. It is deliberate misrepresentation of fact and a scientific fraud which must not be tolerated by the University," wrote Steve Dadaian, the Chairman of ANCA – Western Region, in a letter to USC officials. Dadaian questioned whether USC would sponsor a lecture during which neo-Nazis would deny the Holocaust. . He pointed out that providing a forum for making false statements violated USC’s Code of Ethics.

USC cancelled the event for a very simple reason. According to a USC official, the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles had misrepresented to the USC Center on Public Diplomacy the nature of the proposed event which was supposed to be "on Turkish Civil Society and prospects for improving relations with the Armenian community," and not on “genocide allegations,” as it was subsequently publicized. Judging this latter topic to be "completely inappropriate," USC pulled the plug on the event.

It is not surprising that Turkish officials are now twisting the situation around and misrepresenting the cancellation as an infringement on freedom of __expression. Turkish diplomats should be the last ones to complain about the lack of freedom in the United States given the fact that their country violates the most basic rights of its citizens on a regular basis.

Now Engin Ansay, the Turkish Consul General in Los Angeles, has a serious personal problem. Instead of being able to impress his superiors in Ankara for having provided a platform at a prominent academic institution in the heart of "Little Armenia" for the denial of the Armenian Genocide, he had two senior diplomats in his office far away from home with no place to speak. Consul General Ansay can complain as much as he wants, accusing "the powerful Armenian lobby" for subverting his government’s denialist agenda, but in reality he has no one to blame but himself for this fiasco. It won’t be surprising if he were to be recalled for mishandling the visit of these retired diplomats.

Turkish officials should learn from this experience the following valuable lesson -- genocide deniers are not welcome anywhere, particularly at a distinguished academic institution like USC!


Article Link

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Must Visit : Turquie-Memoire.com

During this month, I will try to shed some light on several Internet resources that provide a lot of details and information about the Armenian Genocide...

Today I'm sharing with you a website titled " Turquie Memoire.com ." In the front page, the visitor will find this interesting message to the Turkish authorities.

The message comes as a picture featuring two places, on the left we see a picture of "Willy Brandt" in 1970 kneeling in the Ghetto of Warsaw, asking forgiveness on behalf of Germany, 25 years after the Jewish Genocide. On right, Didzernagapert in the Republic of Armenia built in 1965 in the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 that's still waiting, for 91 years now, the repentance of the Turkish authorities.



In this website Frederic Solakian had compiled very interesting details about the founders of modern Turkey and their role in the Armenian Genocide, under the title of " The Recycling of the Criminal Young-Turks" which is also available in Spanish . Examining the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide & how did they participated in the building of Modern Turkey in details & many more!

For those who don't know French, can use the google translation to English of this site.

It's a very informative site, do not miss it!

http://www.turquie-memoire.com/index.html

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