Another Armenian champion was announced today. In what? Of course, chess again.

12 Year Old Chess Player Robert Aghasarian Wins Title Of World Champion

Batumi, October 31, Noyan Tapan. The world juvenile championship of chess (6 age groups) finished in Batumi on October 28. 12-year old Robert Aghasarian (Yerevan) got 9 points from 11 possible ones in the struggle with 81 rivals and wot the title of the world champion.
Armenian delegate 18-year old Hrant Melkumian from Yerevan took the 2nd place with 8 points.

NKR representatives 8-year old Manuel Petrosian and 16-year old Hovik Hayrapetian were the 5th in their age groups.

I was glad to see my senior Turkish friend and human rights activist Ayse Gunaysu’s “Found by Villagers; Covered up by the Military” article published at Hetq.am. The initial report was written for this blog per my request. After I shared it with Hetq’s editor Edik Baghdasaryan, he said he would consider an edited copy for publishing.

Good job, Ayse!

I was going through the cartoons of http://www.karabakhopen.com when I came across to the figure of chauvinistic Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliev cutting a history book with a pair of scissors.

It reminded me of the recent announcement of the infamous Azerbaijani leader that the Armenian Fenocide is a “fantasy.”

Official Azerbaijani fabrication and desecration, once again, has no boundaries.

Armenia’s new Holocaust memorial is a beautiful architectural design.

According to the Russian-language official website of Armenia’s Jewish community, a combined monument of Holocaust and Genocide was opened on October 27, 2006 in Yerevan.

I was hoping to have some Diaspora Armenian organizations to sponsor the construction and once talked to Rima Feller, the head of the Jewish community, about that. Although my request became only available to Blogian readers through the “Yerevan's Holocaust Memorial Repeatedly Vandalized” entry, I am glad to have found out that some Armenian organizations, such as the Armenian Assembly of America, co-sponsored the construction (perhaps with the hope to find allies among America’s Jewish lobbyist groups). According to www.jewish.am, the ruling ruling-coalition member Republican party of Armenia was also a sponsor. More photos at http://www.jewish.am/index.php?option=com_…1&Itemid=69

The memorial features writings both in Hebrew and in Armenian and was designed by architect Ruben Aruchyan.

As seen in the pictures from www.jewish.am, there is a bronze fire-figure on the memorial in memory of victims of all genocides.

The opening ceremony was attended by members of the Jewish community and some Armenian officials.

I am very glad that the monument was finally opened. I wrote earlier this year about the vandalized Holocaust memorial, which was replaced by this new and better-designed monument. Hopefully, those few neo-nazis will leave this new monument alone.

Ara Manoogian at Martuni or Bust!!! has posted a vibrant letter in response to the unresponsive Armenian world regarding the sexual slavery of Armenian children and women.

He quotes a reader as saying, “Trafficking is directly proportional to the level of corruption in Armenia. The fact that Diaspora organizations and churches have done little or nothing to stop trafficking and help trafficked victims is proof of their moral bankruptcy.”

Ara’s post describes well an experience that happened with me earlier this year. A couple of months ago I gave a letter to a member of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Greater Colorado and the Rocky Mountain Region. I was asking this non-profit organization to collect funds for Hetq.am to continue investigating and fighting human trafficking (actually they would only let us use their bank account). There was a donor from Georgia (a senior friend of mine who is not actually Armenian) who had promised to match the donations that would be collected. There were people who were willing to donate, but we needed a non-profit to send the initial donations to. Basically, the Church would only let us use their bank account and that would complete their involvement.

I soon received a call from the mentioned individual who basically said (I am not kidding) that “H” “E” “T” “Q” (the poor guy did not know that Hetq meant “Trace” in Armenian) might sound like a terrorist organization to the American government and that the latter fact might stop the activities of the Armenian Church. Aside from being complete B.S., what he said was ignorant and stupid, but this is generally, as Ara Manoogian writes, our behavior toward human trafficking. Sometimes I wonder I should have let the Church headquarters (it was the Prelacy, the Cilicia seat) know about their “regional leader’s” words, but I was really disappointed and did not want to do anything. Soon Hetq.am opened a PayPal account, and I just asked the people to send their donations online, although I don’t think it had the outcome we were hoping for and of course the donor did not get an estimated amount he could match.

Anyhow, read Ara’s letter and think what you would do if your sister or daughter were in the situation of these children and women. And…

p.s. 2007 Oxford dictionary’s definition of “Armenians.” People exclusively concerned about the official recognition of the Armenian genocide.

p.s.s. I think there is another reason Armenians don’t care about human trafficking – Child molestation and sex/rape with minors is not persecuted in Armenia and people either do it or have no idea that such a thing is happening.

Turkish denialists have suggested a new historic homeland for Armenians – Palestine.
Zaman.com writes on October 26, 2006 of a Turkish regional deputy who said, "The homeland of Armenians is Palestine."

Along with denying the Armenian Genocide, Turkish nationalists have been trying to "prove" that Armenians are not native to historic Armenia – that is nowadays eastern Turkey, the Armenian Republic, Northern Iran and eastern Azerbaijan.

The Turkish deniers used to favore the idea that Armenians were natives of Balkans and Europe and immigrated to historic Armenia in the 6th century, B.C.E.

As recent historic studies suggest that Armenians are native of their historic homeland, Turkish nationalists are looking for new (I mean old) homelands for Armenians in the nearby area. In this case it is Palestine/Israel, where Armenians have indeed lived for thousands of years. But Armenians know well where their motherland is.

I received more information about "A Shameful Act" from Zoryan institute. It is interesting how the press release mentions about the Turkish person who saved Greg's maternal relatives. Greg's mother is from the Maghakyans of Urfa (the same family that I belong to). My great-grandmother, Hakob Maghakyan's wife, was also saved by a Turkish lady from the Genocide.

ZORYAN INSTITUTE OF CANADA, INC.
255 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite 310

Toronto, ON , Canada M3B 3H9

Tel: 416-250-9807 Fax: 416-512-1736 E-mail: [email protected]

www.zoryaninstitute.org

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Torrey Swan

DATE: October, 27 2006 Tel: 416-250-9807

Orhan Pamuk praises Taner Akcam’s “A Shameful Act.”

Nobel Laureate calls it “the definitive account of the organized destruction of the Ottoman Armenians”

The Zoryan Institute announces the release of a new book by Prof. Taner Akçam, A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility.

Akçam draws the title of this book from a statement by Kemal Ataturk, father of the modern Turkish Republic , who, in a closed session of the Turkish Parliament on April 24, 1920, described what the Ottoman State had done to its Armenian citizens as “a shameful act.”

Nobel Literature Prize winner Orhan Pamuk, who was indicted in Turkey for saying “30,000 Kurds and one million Armenians were killed in these lands…” stated, “A Shameful Act is the definitive account of the organized destruction of the Ottoman Armenians, written by a brave Turkish scholar who has devoted his life to chronicling the events. No future discussion of the history will be able to ignore this brilliant book.”

The October 21-27 2006 issue of the Economist observed, “This timely and well researched book by Taner Akçam… highlights at least two things. First, how many foreign observers of the deportations, including Germans and Austrians who were allied to the Turks did conclude that the intention was to kill, not just deport. And secondly, the book helps to explain why the conditions in which these events might be freely discussed in Turkey have never quite fallen into place.”

“One of a handful of scholars who are challenging their homeland’s insistent declarations that the organized slaughter of Armenians did not occur,” said Belinda Cooper of the New York Times, “Akçam is the first Turkish specialist to use the word ‘genocide’ publicly in this context. His work…is breaking new ground.”

Taner Akçam dedicated A Shameful Act “to the memory of Haji Halil, a devout Muslim Turk, who saved the members of an Armenian family from deportation and death by keeping them safely hidden for over half a year, risking his own life.” In the preface, he explained that he first heard the story of Haji Halil “from Greg Sarkissian, President of the Zoryan Institute, when he delivered a paper at a conference in Armenia in 1995. Eight members of his mother’s family were kept safely hidden…” by Haji Halil. He continued that he was “deeply moved by the story, by the humanity that triumphed over evil and by the fact that an Armenian could find in his heart to praise a Turk, in a public forum, for that humanity.” Akçam concluded his dedication by stating that Haji Halil’s “courageous act continues to point the way toward a different relationship between Turks and Armenians.”

“The Zoryan Institute was involved in the English translation and revision of the book for publication, and there are plans for the book to appear in several other languages in the near future, including Hebrew and Armenian,” commented George Shirinian, Director of the Zoryan Institute.

Prof. Roger W. Smith, Chairman of the Academic Board of Directors of the Zoryan Institute, added that, “the more such original and comprehensive works are published, the more Turkish society will be empowered with knowledge to question false narratives imposed by the deep state. Restoring accurate historical memory benefits not only Turkish, but also Armenian society, as it can act as a catalyst for dialogue.”

As Turkey negotiates to enter the European Union, Akçam’s work is particularly important and relevant. Beyond its timeliness, A Shameful Act has been described by Prof. Erik Zürcher as “the state of the art in this field” and is sure to take its place as a classic and necessary work on the subject.

Taner Akçam, a sociologist and historian, was born in Ardahan province, Turkey , in 1953. He was granted political asylum in Germany after receiving a ten-year prison sentence in Turkey for his involvement in producing a student journal, which resulted in his adoption in 1976 by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience. He is the author of eleven scholarly works of history and sociology, as well as numerous articles in Turkish, German, and English. He currently teaches at the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota and with the International Institute for Genocide and Human Right Studies, Toronto .

Taner Akçam, A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility. New York : Metropolitan Books, 2006, 483p. ISBN-13:978-0-8050-793-6.

Hardcover $30.00US, $40.00Can.

One thing I love about learning is that I continuously discover there are so many important things that I have never known or thought about before. The new list includes the terminator gene, Indian simputers, debarking of dogs, the headless chicken of Colorado, etc.

But the most shocking discovery for me was to learn that there are still people living in Armenian Genocide camps.

I received a powerful Power Point photo story about the Sanjak camp in Lebanon by Missak Kelechian. I asked Missak to send me the photographs and give permission to publish them at Blogian. I wish I could share the entire Power Point with you – a moving and sad story.

Here are some new (2006) and old pictures from the Sanjak camp of Armenian genocide evacuees (or the “Starving Armenians” of the American culture of the 1920s and later). The Lebanese government has decided to destroy the old homes and build new roads and a public park instead. It will be flattened out by the end of this year…

I wrote last year about Taner Akcam’s new coming “A Shameful Act” book. It was supposed to be released in April of 2006, but the new publication date has now been set for November 14, 2006.

Many thanks to my friend Lou Ann Matossian for pointing this out.

Was Henry Morgenthau the founding father of Blogging?

Actually, no. But according to BBC news, the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey could have used a blog as a means to let the world know about the Armenian Genocide.

In its October 25, 2006 “Blogs – the new diplomacy?” article, BBC news mentions that the expelled UN official from Darfur has a blog, and it is a good way to get the message (and himself) out of Sudan.

The report also mentions Morgenthau, who tried almost everything to let the world know about the Armenian Genocide. Not being successful with the State Department, Morgenthau sent communication to the New York Times. “The modern equivalent might be to set up a personal website and talk directly to the world instead of to journalists,” BBC writes.

Armenian agony

There was a famous case during World War I when the US ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau, started reporting his conclusion that Armenians were the subject of genocide by the Turks.

"It appears that a campaign of race extermination is in progress under a pretext of reprisal against rebellion," he wrote to the State Department.

His cables to Washington did not have much effect so he began to talk to the New York Times and other papers.

The modern equivalent might be to set up a personal website and talk directly to the world instead of to journalists.