Lately there has been observable Azerbaijani and Turkish obsession about monuments, whether it is destruction of medieval Armenian head stones or protests against Armenian genocide monuments in France.

Why am I putting the words “Azerbaijani” and “Turkish” together again? The thing is that the officials of those two countries (I don’t say nation, since at a recent event Turkish and Azerbaijani students said that Turkey and Azerbaijan are one nation, but two countries. Whatever works.) are honoring the defeat of the Armenian army (read also the massacre of the Armenian civilians) in Nakhichevan, an Armenian region in Azerbaijan where the latest vandalism took place.

As Turkish Zaman reports on 21 March 2006, “A Turkish War Memorial, for Turkish soldiers who died protecting Nahcivan (Naxcivan/Nakhchivan) lands from Armenian occupation during World War I, was opened with a ceremony in Ordubad.” The city Ordubad is Nakhichevan’s second largest city and is very close to the Armenian cemetery (now destroyed) of Hin Jugha (Old Julfa).

Is it a coincidence that the Turkish monument is built next to the site where thousands of Armenian monuments were wiped out just four months ago?

Turkish War Memorial in Nahcivan Opened
By Cihan News Agency, Ordubad
Published: Tuesday, March 21, 2006
zaman.com

A Turkish War Memorial, for Turkish soldiers who died protecting Nahcivan (Naxcivan/Nakhchivan) lands from Armenian occupation during World War I, was opened with a ceremony in Ordubad.

“Turkish Armed Forces will always stand beside its Azeri brothers as was the case in the past,” said Staff Officer Celalettin Bacanli in his speech.

“Have no doubts; the Turkish people and Turkish Armed Forces will always stand beside Azerbaijan, just as they did throughout history,” added Bacanli, declaring the memorial a sign of recognition for Azeri and Turkish brotherhood, as he reminded of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s words, “Azerbaijan’s problem is our problem, its happiness is ours.”

Turkey’s Nakhchivan Ambassador Ismail Sefa Yuceer, Military Attaché of Naxcivan Mehmet Torun, Deputy Governor of Ordubad, Itibar Ismailov; and many citizens from both countries participated in the ceremony.

During World War I, soldiers from some of the divisions under Nuri Pasha were martyred fighting against Armenians.

The location of the Turkish Memorial was determined after talking to witnesses of the war and historians. President of the Nakhchivan Assembly Vasif Talibov also helped in the preparations of the war memorial.

According to a Hetq article in Armenian (20 March 2006), two families in Armenia are claiming that Cher, the American singer whose father is Armenian, is their relative.

Abarantsi?

A more convincing argument is that Cher’s father, Karapet Sargsyan (Garabed Sarkissian), was from Aparan and left for America during WWII. Cher’s alleged cousin tried to meet her in a Moscow concert, but was unsucsefful.

Is Cher really Abarantsi? I would bet so!

p.s. Arapantis are the people of Aparan, a city in Armenia. There are many jokes about Aparanatsis (jokingly called Abarantsis). Aparan is like Armenia’s Arkansas. No offenses, my sweetheart also has Aparantsi roots.

“Metz Yeghern” is the Armenian term for the Armenian genocide, like the Holocaust term “Shoa” for the Jews.

In the last years, Vatican Popes have reffered to the Armenian genocide as “Metz Yeghern” in their speeches.

from www.ihradio.org
As the Catholic World News reports on 20 March 2006,Pope Benedict XVI held a meeting with Catholic Armenians (most Armenians are Apostolic/Orthodox) and said that Metz Yeghern contributed to the division of the Armenian nation.

A tragic history has contributed to the divisions among Armenian Christians, the Pope observed. He mentioned the Metz Yeghern, or "great evil," that saw hundreds of thousands of Armenians slaughtered by Turkish persecutors during the forced migration from the Mediterranean to the land now known as Armenia. While the Armenian Apostolic Church is now established both in that country and in Lebanon, the diaspora caused the Armenian Catholic community to find a new base in Lebanon.

Read the whole article at http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=43071

Mittletdeutsche Zeitung, a German publication, informs in its 19 March 2006 “Türken demonstrieren gegen Vorwurf des Völkermords” article that 1700 nationalist Turks participated in the 18 March 2006 “Talaat Movement” rally.

According to the periodical, Konrad Fromme, a German official, “accused the Turkish nationalists for denigrating the victims of the Armenian genocide.”

Several Turkish organizations of Germany, according to the report, had publicly dissociated themselves from the demonstration.

The German article is available at http://www.mz-web.de/servlet/ContentServer…d=1018881578370.

Thousands of Turkish and Azerbaijani nationalists, according to a German broadcast, participated in an 18 March 2006 rally honoring the chief perpetrator of the Armenian genocide, Talaat pasha.

Turkish and Azerbaijani flags were waived during the “Talaat Movement” rally in Berlin

According to www.Berlin.de, the German court permitted the rally with the exception that the Turkish nationalists would not make genocide denial remarks (the article in German available at http://www.berlin.de/SenJust/Gerichte/OVG/…211/index.html). Ironically, the whole event was meant to deny the Armenian genocide and glorify its perpetrators.

Free Turkish flags for participants (more photographs at http://www.aga-online.org/de/aktionen/detail.php?newsId=120)

A 5-minute German video reportage about the rally is available at http://www.rbb-online.de/_/includes/multim…a__3988655.html.

What happens when French students come across to a group of genocide deniers?

Protesters clash with riot police during a demonstration against a memorial on the 1915 Armenian genocide which should be erected in Lyon, southwestern France, Saturday, March 18, 2006. France has recognised the 1915 Armenian genocide in 2001. The atrocities committed against the Armenian people of the Ottoman Empire during W.W.I are called the Armenian Genocide. (AP Photo/Patrick Gardin/AP – Sat Mar 18, 4:07 PM ET)

French and Turkish protesters clash in demo crash
Sat 18 Mar 2006 11:15 AM ET
[Reuters http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticl…oryId=L18624457]

LYON, France, March 18 (Reuters) – French youths protesting
against a new employment law ended up in an unexpected clash
with Turks demonstrating against an Armenian memorial when their
separate marches crossed paths in this eastern city on Saturday.

Riot police used water cannon to separate the two groups
after about 2,500 Turks opposed to the construction of a
memorial in the city centre to Armenian victims of a 1915
massacre attacked the demonstrating youths, police said.

Around 2,000 people originate from Turkey with Turkish flags, protest against a memorial on the 1915 Armenian genocide which should be erected in Lyon, southwestern France, Saturday, March 18, 2006. The placard reads 'There have never been any Armenian genocide'. France has recognise the 1915 Armenian genocide in 2001. The atrocities committed against the Armenian people of the Ottoman Empire during W.W.I are called the Armenian Genocide. (AP Photo/Patrick Gardin)

The Turks, waving Turkish flags and holding up posters
saying "There was no Armenian genocide," reacted after youths
denounced them as "fascists" and yelled "go home!", police said.

Both sides pelted each other with missiles and engaged in
fist fights, they said, adding that some youths protesting the
employment law were apparently of Armenian origin.

Turkey rejects charges that it massacred 1.5 million
Armenians living in the then Ottoman Empire in 1915.

Many of the survivors fled to France, which now has an
influential Armenian minority of about 300,000. After a long
campaign by them, the French parliament passed a bill in 1998
officially recognising the killing as genocide.

The protest against the new employment law was one of many
marches across France on Saturday aimed at putting pressure on
the Paris government to withdraw the measure that allows
employers to fire workers under 26 more easily.

The conservative government introduced the law to encourage
reluctant employers to take on new staff and help combat
unemployment, which among young people is double the national
average of 9.6 percent.

I sent a letter to [email protected] a week ago expressing my shock regarding a Google “sponsored link” that turned to be the official website of several Turkish nationalists who are “honoring” the main perpetrator of the Armenian genocide, Talaat pasha.

The link was removed by Sunday, 12 March 2006. I do not know what has changed since then, but as of 18 March 2006 (12:05am Eastern Time), the website is back again at Google as a “Sponsored link” while searching “talaat pasha.”

I am not sure where is Google going with its support of genocide perpetrators, but I still hope that this is a “technical error.”

If you have some background on the Armenian genocide and if your e-mail (such as mine) is known to the Turkish intelligence, you might as well receive a letter from “PhD Candidate Ahmet AKTER” requesting “documents on Armenian emigration before 1915.” Before answering “Ahmet Akter,” read the information below.

A number of scholars and activists received such a letter from “Ahmet Akter,” and decided to help him to find resources on the topic (while knowing well that something was wrong with “Ahmet Akter).

George Kooshian was one of those who decided to help “Ahmet Akter.” Here is what Mr. Kooshian found out after sending information to “Ahmet Akter.”

It is very interesting that as soon as I forwarded my website address to
this "student" my entire website was downloaded apparently by Turkish
military intelligence J2. Anyway, my statistics program showed the site
was downloaded by "Genelkurmay Baskanligi." I never received any reply
or thank you for my email to this "Ahmet" fellow.

I suppose this is some kind of honor. Well, let them read what they did
to my father and mother.

So if you receive a letter a similar letter, as the one below, feel free to ignore it, unless you have something that you want the Turkish government know.

From: "ahmet akter" <[email protected]>

Subject: documentary request

I am a Ph.D. student studying on the emigration of Armenians to USA until 1915. Within my thesis I am trying to scrutinize on the issues of;

The causes of emigration
The means/routes of leaving the country
The difficulties that they faced during the journey
The people and the organisations that helped them
Crossing the Atlantic Ocean
Entering the USA
Primary states and cities that they settled
Adaption to the new country
Preservation of the native customs and traditions
The evolution of the Armenian identity
Language problems
Schooling
Local societies and associations that hold the emmigrants together
Restaurants and Coffeehouses
Boardinghouses
Publications
The companies that they worked in and their professions
Developments in the Armenian-American relations
Outstanding leaders
Religious activities and churches
Relations with the motherland – Ottoman Empire
Problems about real estates and land left behind in the Ottoman Empire
and the causes of the return of some to the motherland.

Your invaluable help to my thesis will make the realities about the Armenian emigration more concrete.

I am looking forward to receiving your contributions,
I will be so grateful for any kind of help.

Best wishes for all.

Ahmet AKTER

Will you be one of the 200,000 world citizens who says “enough is enough”? Will you help us gather names? When you sign up, you’ll represent a victim who has been killed, harmed or displaced so you can act as a voice for someone who cannot speak out.

Evil wins when good people do nothing. Take a minute to take action.

Click on http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/internatio…ices/index.aspx to stand in for a victim.

Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen, according to Zaman daily (16 March 2006), visited Sudan and laid a foundation of a new building for a Turkish school for Sudanese Muslims.

Tuzmen was joined by a member of Sudan’s genocidal regime, Khartoum Education Minister Hamid Mohammed Ibrahim.

Stating that Sudan and Turkey have much in common, Tuzmen elaborated, “We share such a common geography, culture and religion and come from a glorious history and this is reflected in our trade.”

Ironically, the ongoing genocide in Sudan has been compared to the Armenian genocide of 1915. Erik Markusen, who continuously visits Sudan, said in August of 2005 that the Sudanese government has adopted the Turkish method of committing the genocide: driving out the indigenous people to the desert without food and water.

The Turkish State Minister did not hide that one of the goals of having a Turkish school in Sudan is to create a denialist atmosphere against the Armenian genocide. Tuzmen stated, “I wish Turkey had been successful earlier and perhaps then we would have dealt more easily with thesis such as the Armenian issue. And that is why I can stand everywhere that is beneficial for the Turkish people.”